Gun cleaning/shooting ? And more....

[Cooter]

I've heard talk of a 'fouling' shot - in instances where excessive oil may be in the barrel from a past cleaning. So is just running a dry patch or two to get that excess oil out good enough?

And after how many shots ought she be cleaned? Say on opening day you shoot 3 times, is accuracy gonna suffer if you don't clean that barrel?

And finally, duct or elect tape is OK on the end of your barrel with no adverse affects on accuracy?

Ooops, one more....anyone know where to get a synthetic or laminatic stock for a Rem 700 Mtn rifle long action with a floor plate? And does anyone have experience bedding Rem 700 rifles? Thanks, later.

[Stratosman]

Alot of that depends on the powder and probably the bullets you are using, as well as the gun... I run a dry patch through mine and it shoots fine.. Never tried the foul shot but have though about it....

When shooting target practice I usually clean after 4 shots, no more than five. I have never shot more than twice in one day while hunting.

As far as the tape on the barrel, just try it when you are practicing, you might see no ill effect.

[96trigger]

I don't clean my gun after sighting practice. I clean it before, shot a half dozen times to make sure all is well, and then its not cleaned again until after the season. I haven't noticed any difference in accuracy after shooting for a deer season, I usually only shoot a couple of shots a year at deer. However, the first shot after I've cleaned it almost always off the mark. If something happens that I have to clean my gun before the end of the season, I will send a few rounds through it to foul the barrel.

This is also for a shotgun with a rifled barrel.

[bigbucks]

I'm assuming he was talking about his ML, but he didn't say that.

I always or at least always try to fire one or two caps after cleaning my ML. I've fired 7-10 shots without cleaning, but those last few are very tough to load & it probably did affect the accuracy. I guess I've fired three times once or twice actually hunting. One time it was when the deer were way too far, thank heavens I didn't hit them, it took three shots to scare them. The other was to finish off a deer I'd hit poorly.

[96trigger]

OOPs sorry, then yes, cleaning should be done more often.

[Cooter]

I was referring to my rifle, deer sized centerfires in general.

[picksbigwagon]

my two rifles (17 HMR and a AR-15 .223) are dirty girls. I clean them once or twice a season, but they don't shoot tight groups until there are 3-5 shots down the barrel. the groups start opening up after about 50 rounds, so cooter, get that barrel dirty tomorrow and let it be for the next 10 days.