TargetTalk

Hey,
I will be getting a smallbore rifle probably sometime later this week, and I wanted to know about maintenance. How often do you clean your rifle? What do you use? how many shots does it take after the cleaning to bring it back to "normal"? Also, how many shots does it take to "break-in" a new rifle?
Thanks!

personally.....i rarely clean it.


ill usually wipe the bolt and scrub extractors out with some CLP after ~500-700 rounds or so....

i almost never clean the bore......the only time i do is if i had work done on it...or if i am lot testing ammo......i may clean it out after several thousand rounds or so......but theres really no need.

most people i know will scrub it out really well when they notice accuracy starting to degrade....and that takes a good while..


after cleaning the bore...it really shouldnt take more than 10 rounds to "season" the bore and have it shooting consistent.


as for "break -in"......its as long as it takes for you to feel your gun is going to run reliably.......and shoot the way you want.....theres no real set number.

The reason for the break-in question is because i have a competition in 2 weeks. I just wanted to know if it will be ready by then.

in my opinion....if you shoot a few hundred rounds through it.....and you dont have a problem.....for all intensive purposes, its broken in.


people are going to stress a certain "break-in" procedure.......ive never seen any evidence that it actually does anything.....

pretty much the best way to break in a gun is with a few hundred rounds and a day at the range.

My experience - others may disagree:

How often do you clean your rifle?

After every shoot

What do you use?

Nylon brush to remove the debris, VFG felt with Boretech Rimfire blend and then 3 or 4 dry patches.
Maybe a Phosphor Bronze brush every 1000 rounds.

how many shots does it take after the cleaning to bring it back to "normal"?

3 or 4 (in my barrels).

Also, how many shots does it take to "break-in" a new rifle?

A bit more difficult to answer - some are reputed to start performing immediately if they've been lapped and well crowned and chambered, others may take hundreds or even thousands of rounds to shoot the burrs off.
I've heard it suggested that barrels that start to perform quickly may have a shorter accurate lifespan - something to do with the hardness of the steel maybe.

FWIW, I recently shot a Walther that had only had a couple of hundred rounds through it and it performed exceptionally well.

silentfury214 wrote:The reason for the break-in question is because i have a competition in 2 weeks. I just wanted to know if it will be ready by then.

More important would be to find a batch of ammo that shoots well from your new rifle - that can make a HUGE difference.

KennyB wrote:

silentfury214 wrote:The reason for the break-in question is because i have a competition in 2 weeks. I just wanted to know if it will be ready by then.

More important would be to find a batch of ammo that shoots well from your new rifle - that can make a HUGE difference.

You don't want to be trying to batch test ammo with a new barrel / gun. For a start it will take you a while to set it up for yourself and secondly it will need time - rounds down it - to properly settle in.

Rob.

I clean my barrel after every two training sessions. I use 2-3 patches of Kroil, then push about 5 dry patches down. After about 1000 rounds I will use a bronze brush. And after every 5000 rounds or so I will use a mild abrasive (USP paste, Boreshine, Iosso paste, Flitz Etc).

After every training session or match, I will remove the bolt and clean it off/remove all the junk from the action. Then I will regrease the bolt.

Dont worry about the break in. I shot a 200-16 the first time out with my rifle.
Matt

Worth a read:

http://www.targetshooting.co.nz/ubbthre ... l#Post4932

I clean our KK300's after every shoot, but only push a couple of felts through one way, down the bore, and just clean the bolt face and breech with tooth brush. It takes 5 shots to resettle, these go in the bank.
Its difficult to tell how long to settle in with a new rifle, I think most of it is the shooter getting used to the gun.
Good Shooting
Robin

I rarely clean my rifle, even less often my free pistol. The rifle probably every 1000 or so rounds and / or when the bolt looks a bit dirty. I just lightly clean the barrell, nothing abrasive, and then clean and re-oil the bolt.

Rob.

I clean the rifle after I shoot. Normally three dry VFG felts through the barrel, a wipe of the loading area and bolt with a lint free and lightly oiled cloth, and an old toothbrush over the bolt face/ejector lugs.


Every 1000 rounds or so (or if the range is dusty or wet) I'll use the alternate wet/dry felt routine with Shooters Choice, after which I take the action out of the stock so that I can take out the loading tray to make sure that there's no solvent remaining.

At this point I'll clean around the breech face and ejector slots etc. then reassemble. Slightly less frequently, the bolt will be taken apart, wiped and (very) lightly lubed.


After cleaning with a solvent my 1913 might take two or three shots to settle down. Nothing dramatic

KennyB wrote: I've heard it suggested that barrels that start to perform quickly may have a shorter accurate lifespan - something to do with the hardness of the steel maybe.

Kenny,

IIRC Geoff Kolbe suggested the length of the settling-in period was related to the throat angle; a shallow angle settled down much sooner, but wore out faster, and a steeper throat angle took longer to reach it's best.

Tim