You called that one correctly. I AM a clean bore/rifle snob.

Doodaddy » Sat Sep 03, 2016 7:05 am

Jason wrote:
I only use Tipton carbon fiber rods now, as they work great and I never have to worry about having one be slightly bent/bowed and have it rubbing without knowing it.

Are you using a bore guide with the rod?

Doesn't everyone? If you are shooting an Anschutz, make sure you use a guide made for it because the bore isn't in the center of the bolt.

Jerry G wrote:Doesn't everyone? If you are shooting an Anschutz, make sure you use a guide made for it because the bore isn't in the center of the bolt.

Sadly no. I've seen more than I wish to have stomached shove a bare rod down the bore with no guide because "it doesn't hurt anything since it's coated."

Bore guide?

DavidABQ wrote:Bore guide?

Bore guide....rod guide...whatever you want to call it. There are different names. It's what guides the rod to be in the center of the bore to reduce or eliminate contact with the bore and the cleaning rod.

Doodaddy wrote:

DavidABQ wrote:Bore guide?

Bore guide....rod guide...whatever you want to call it. There are different names. It's what guides the rod to be in the center of the bore to reduce or eliminate contact with the bore and the cleaning rod.

I should be using one of those?

DavidABQ wrote:

Doodaddy wrote:

DavidABQ wrote:Bore guide?

Bore guide....rod guide...whatever you want to call it. There are different names. It's what guides the rod to be in the center of the bore to reduce or eliminate contact with the bore and the cleaning rod.

I should be using one of those?

Yes. Cleaning without a bore guide is what I would describe as a "guaranteed gamble". What I mean by that is that it's guaranteed you're causing damage to the bore of that barrel each time that rod is inserted into the bore, but it's a gamble on how long before the barrel is too far gone. I can't tell you how many people have said "you can ruin a barrel by cleaning it", but they missed what the truth is: "You can ruin a barrel by improperly cleaning it."

Once the fundamentals of cleaning are established in a shooter's routine, there comes a tremendous amount of personal preference or rifle specific needs. This can go as far as solvents, to mixtures of solvents, to shape patches, size patches, how many strokes, stroke direction, frequency of cleaning, frequency of brushing, regimen in general, etc etc. I developed mine by watching the fellow benchrest shooters at the big matches and experimenting from what I observed. Silhouette discipline doesn't demand that sort of frequent cleaning, but the cleaning principles are the same as benchrest rifle and a silhouette rifle are both rifles shooting the same type ammo.

This guy wrote a fantastic article regarding cleaning. About 5/8 of the way down, he speaks on the rod guides, but I'd give the entire thing a read. There is a lot of good information in there.

http://www.rrdvegas.com/rimfire-cleaning.html

I suppose I need to go get one. I wonder if I have a good excuse to buy a new barrel?

DavidABQ wrote:I suppose I need to go get one. I wonder if I have a good excuse to buy a new barrel?

Hard to say. Unless you're shooting often on a bench, you'll never know if there is accuracy loss or how bad. Rod guides aren't expensive and can save some serious headache in the future, but if you're looking for an excuse to replace the barrel, I'd say a "fresh start" wouldn't be a bad idea. New guide and new barrel!

I shoot primarily standing up so I guess there goes my excuse for a new barrel.

Thank you fot that cleaning link

DavidABQ wrote:I shoot primarily standing up so I guess there goes my excuse for a new barrel.

Thank you fot that cleaning link

Yep. Most here shoot standing up on reactive targets rather than bench on paper. That's why I said you'd have to shoot regularly on the bench to have a reference of accuracy and its possible change.

A new barrel can bring confidence and that's invaluable!

Doodaddy wrote:

DavidABQ wrote:I shoot primarily standing up so I guess there goes my excuse for a new barrel.

Thank you fot that cleaning link

Yep. Most here shoot standing up on reactive targets rather than bench on paper. That's why I said you'd have to shoot regularly on the bench to have a reference of accuracy and its possible change.

A new barrel can bring confidence and that's invaluable!

It almost seems like if you do see what the rifle is doing off the bench you may or may not want a new barrel. I think David just needs to shoot more. That is just my opinion. I know for a fact I need more trigger time to get where I want to be... I just need more ammo so I can have more trigger time.

Ohhhhh, trigger time! How I wish for more trigger time. Maybe I could advance to A!

The Wife will probably shoot down the new barrel.
Mark is also right that I need more trigger time.

I better spend my money on ammo.

DavidABQ wrote:Ohhhhh, trigger time! How I wish for more trigger time. Maybe I could advance to A!

The Wife will probably shoot down the new barrel.
Mark is also right that I need more trigger time.

I better spend my money on ammo.

I agree, money on ammo is a good investment. I'll just dry fire in the meantime.

My son....I did ny share of cleaning as a child