Sighted in and patterned my burris fastfire 3 on my A391. Found it very interesting that my 1st and second shot out of my deep cleaned barrel was a 8" wide pattern at 15yrds. On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th shots at 15 yards the pattern was about the size of a silver dollar and it was knocking holes out of my target. Deep cleaned my barrel again ran patches down the barrel till the patches were clean and moved back to 40yrds with turkey ammo. 1st shot with a clean barrel put up 238, 2nd shot 269, 3rd shot was 248. Aparently my gun doesnt like a clean barrel. I now will just run a brass bore brush down my barrel and push patches till they are clean. What are you guys experiences?
My 870 21" 20gauge likes a fouled barrel better as well
Mine are polished, I get a more consistent run of patterns if I clean it down, shoot it, dry brush and dry patch. I figure it's like my rifles and fouled bores. When I clean them they are always off until I get a round or two down the barrel and then they settle in. That's why I rarely clean a rifle, I don't touch them until accuracy falls off.
My father told me shotguns are like rifles. They shoot better with a slightly dirty barrel. He was right.
My Mossberg prefers a slightly dirty barrel, but there is a point of diminished patterns when it gets too dirty. Then a quick run or two of the bore snake and it's as good as it was.
My barrels always shoot better dirty
Everyones results are so interesting! Seems like a lot of people on here push the deep clean and polish to improve patterns and myself and everyone else that has posted in here has not shared the same experience where a deep clean helps improve patterns.
My BPS shoots Fed. #7 heavywt. Best with a squeaky clean bore. My 11-87 patterns best slightly dirty
Oconeeguy, do you think if you shot a different load through your bps that it too would prefer a clean barrel, or do you feel it is load specific
Quote from: batsonbe on April 07, 2016, 09:19:35 PM
Everyones results are so interesting! Seems like a lot of people on here push the deep clean and polish to improve patterns and myself and everyone else that has posted in here has not shared the same experience where a deep clean helps improve patterns.
My patterns and pattern numbers improved after a deep clean and polish. My old 835 would typically be 110-120 with 3.5" HV #6 Winchesters on a fired/brushed/patched barrel when I got it. After a deep clean and polish it would be 140-150 on a fired/brushed/patched barrel.
Would you deep clean after each shot
No dry brush and dry patch after each shot. Both 870's are the same way
Thats exactly what mine prefers. I thought most people deep cleaned or were saying a mirror clean barrel patterned the best for them.
With my 870 on a squeaky clean barrel I may shoot 270 with hevi13 3" 7's and then clean it down to the metal again and shoot 220. If I clean it to the metal, shoot it, then brush/patch I'll be 240-250 consistently.
Shotguns are the women of the gun world; no one knows what they want, how they want to do things, or when they will do things, no 2 that look just alike will like the same combos. And like we do with women we try to figure them out and throw money at them to see what they prefer.
I plan on finding out if my experience is shell specific or not. The only way is to start out with a deep cleaned barrel, and shoot several rounds of the same load (same box/lot number as well), sequentially, letting the barrel cool a bit between each shot.
Anyone try just running a dry patch through the barrel between shots after letting the barrel cool back down ? I do ALOT of card shooting with custom built barrels and can say on some days if my pattern starts to fall off I can run a dry patch through and it will come out really wet. After doing so my gun will come right back. Sometimes it takes a wet patch of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and acetone then a dry patch to bring it back. I also have guns that do shoot better dirty. Some chokes will come back if I take a metal pick and clean the plastic out of the wad stoppers I never see that mentioned here either.
The whole point of cleaning a SHOTGUN barrel is to reduce friction that comes from the wad,and also some powder....its not like that of a rifle where accuracy can/would be robbed due to the carbon build up affecting the rifling . In my experience,I got my best results from a thorough cleaning to start,then run a boresnake with some solvent on it then another to dry it up after each shot.
I deep cleaned. Then after each shot run a bore brush then patches till they come out clean has given me the best results
My patterns are atleast 40% better with a deep cleaned barrel, time and time again.
Quote from: Tom Foolery on April 08, 2016, 03:40:37 PM
With my 870 on a squeaky clean barrel I may shoot 270 with hevi13 3" 7's and then clean it down to the metal again and shoot 220. If I clean it to the metal, shoot it, then brush/patch I'll be 240-250 consistently.
Shotguns are the women of the gun world; no one knows what they want, how they want to do things, or when they will do things, no 2 that look just alike will like the same combos. And like we do with women we try to figure them out and throw money at them to see what they prefer.
They are also prone to getting angry and hanging up at the worst possible time!
BTW, my 870 Super Mag also likes it on the dirty side. I guess this is also like some women..... :you_rock:
polishing your barrel will allow it to stay cleaner longer. especially out of a real short barrel gun. my 21" barrel is totally trashed after just a few shots. if I deep clean and polish my barrel before the season I know I can hunt all season long and shoot a limit of birds with the expeception of cleaning it after rains or what not. my second shot is always better than the first . why I don't know, but over all I get better patterns out of a clean barrel vs a dirty one
Is there anyone reputable that I can send my barrel to for a deep clean?
im sure sumtoy or rob Robertson polish barrels. but theres no reason to send it to anyone. its very simple. all you needs is the solutions and power drill. i used a scotch pad and hoppes #9 for the cleaning part. and i used mothers mag polish for the polish part. gave me a mirror finish.
Quote from: RiverRoost on September 01, 2016, 09:29:40 AM
Is there anyone reputable that I can send my barrel to for a deep clean?
Here are the guidelines http://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel
Some barrels shoot better clean, some slightly dirty and some very dirty. The only way to find out how yours shoots is to clean it, then shoot without cleaning between shots, until patterns either degrade or get better. Then you know.
Thanks,
Clark
Quote from: allaboutshooting on October 13, 2016, 10:07:30 PM
Quote from: RiverRoost on September 01, 2016, 09:29:40 AM
Is there anyone reputable that I can send my barrel to for a deep clean?
Here are the guidelines http://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel
Some barrels shoot better clean, some slightly dirty and some very dirty. The only way to find out how yours shoots is to clean it, then shoot without cleaning between shots, until patterns either degrade or get better. Then you know.
This !
The only way to find out what your gun likes best is to try it all.
I deep clean and polish befor each season then use a dry swab or bore snake after returning from a
hunt or after I have fired my gun, and if I have shot several rounds 8-10 I will run alcohol patches
followed by dry patches through it.
Thanks,
Clark
Been shooting my BPS for over twenty years and never deep cleaned although I do clean it more and for a longer period at the end of the regular season. Tube is bright and clean with no apparent impact on patterns. Seems to shoot the same clean or dirty. Have always been told that wad plastic builds up in barrel but never noticed this. Still I like my guns clean, always have, so I will try the deep cleaning as described in this post at the end of the season. Kept away from it because some of the techniques I have read about use a drill to turn the brush. Too much risk of damage with this method in my opinion.
Quote from: mtns2hunt on October 27, 2016, 09:59:00 PM
Been shooting my BPS for over twenty years and never deep cleaned although I do clean it more and for a longer period at the end of the regular season. Tube is bright and clean with no apparent impact on patterns. Seems to shoot the same clean or dirty. Have always been told that wad plastic builds up in barrel but never noticed this. Still I like my guns clean, always have, so I will try the deep cleaning as described in this post at the end of the season. Kept away from it because some of the techniques I have read about use a drill to turn the brush. Too much risk of damage with this method in my opinion.
The "Deep Cleaning" method uses a combination of the chemical action of the solvent, I like Hoppe's #9, and the agitation of the brass/bronze brush in the bore, to remove the "gunk" that has accumulated from shooting. The chemical action of the solvent, left to work, is equally as important as is the agitation of the brush.
The technique is safe even for chrome-lined bores and does not use any abrasive materials or brushes on drills.
Deep Cleaning is the only way that I've found to determine whether a barrel patterns better "squeaky clean", slightly fouled, or well fouled. Many of my guns are different and I have some that pattern better in each of those conditions.
I start out just after Deep Cleaning, and shoot without cleaning in any way between shots, until the patterns get better or degrade. For some, it makes a real difference and for some, not so much but i learn a lot about each gun by doing that.
Deep Cleaning link http://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel
Thanks,
Clark
Like barrel break-in of a hunting rifle....mostly myth, as Americans we tend to over think so many things we do. JMHO