Post pattern cleaning

[tha bugman]

Do you think that there would be an issue with cleaning the gun after you have pattern tested it and are good to go?  Could cleaning the barrel only improve results that you already have?  I know I have done it in the past but was just wanting everyone's thoughts on this.

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

If I only shoot once to check  POI before season I will pull a bore snake through it and call it good. I have a hard time cleaning from the muzzle. If I have to shoot much more than once to correct POI before season I will pull the barrel off and give barrel a good scrubbing. If I am testing a choke or shell I will pull her all apart and and give it a good going over. After season she will get pulled apart and cleaned as well. But I lean a little toward OCD side.

[dirt road ninja]

I don't remove the barrel once season has started, a quick bore snake and call it good. I do my patterning and testing that way, so i know what i can expect. Not that there is a big difference.

[bbcoach]

One more thing, prior to patterning, make sure your barrel nut is hand tight and then give it a couple of extra clicks with some pliers.  Once your patterning is done, don't take your barrel off until the season is over.  Also check and make sure your barrel is completely seated against the receiver before tightening.  Little things that get over looked that may cost you a bird.

[Eview326]

Do you guys have any experience with the eBay boresnakes? They're only a couple dollars vs. the Hoppes at around $20


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[Izzyjoe]

Us turkey hunters have some strange ways, but a lot them are learned from experience. Like missing a bird, and then checking your gun and finding the poi has changed, and the last thing you did was remove the barrel. Set it up and leave it alone, maybe run a bore snake through it, but maybe leave it be. Thats your call, you have to shoot it enough to know what works. And far as eBay bore snakes,I'd just soon have the real thing for a few bucks more!

[mtns2hunt]

Us turkey hunters have some strange ways, but a lot them are learned from experience. Like missing a bird, and then checking your gun and finding the poi has changed, and the last thing you did was remove the barrel. Set it up and leave it alone, maybe run a bore snake through it, but maybe leave it be. Thats your call, you have to shoot it enough to know what works. And far as eBay bore snakes,I'd just soon have the real thing for a few bucks more!

Never noticed a change in POI after removing my shotguns barrel. I am shooting again this weekend and will see if there is any difference. I do clean my shotgun every time I take it out. After thirty years should have noticed it tho. I agree on the ebay snakes: don't buy them, instead go for quality and spend the extra bucks. In the long run you will be glad you did!

[1iagobblergetter]

I've read on here some guys get better numbers on the second shot than the first after cleaning..
If I shot quite a few shells while patterning I'd go by what my last shot patterned. If it was still real good I'd just leave it alone or boresnake it. If it went from good patterns to not so good because of a bunch of shells being shot through it I'd clean it.
Maybe I'm wrong,but I always keep in mind I'm most likely only  going to shoot a handful of times in turkey season. Imo you should be able to go by how your gun functions when patterning and what you do to get it back on track...

[Happy]

I just take the barrel off and clean it good after season. Before season I run a dry patch to get the oil out and check my pattern and point of poi. After that it's a dry patch and I hunt it. I won't remove the barrel again till after season.

[Gobspur]

I just take the barrel off and clean it good after season. Before season I run a dry patch to get the oil out and check my pattern and point of poi. After that it's a dry patch and I hunt it. I won't remove the barrel again till after season.

x2 exactly.

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[LaLongbeard]

I polished my 870 barell again this year and checked a new batch of Nitro shells. There was a 59 pellet difference between the first spotless shot and the 5 th unclean  shot. Not enough to really matter but I did re clean the barell and will start with a spotless barell. I have iron sites on the 870 so never noticed a poi difference, maybe scope users may be different. I do hand tighten the mag cap then couple clicks with pliers  and have two marks on cap and barell ring to make sure everything is the same. This has worked without issue for a long time. Unless the gun gets soaked in a rain I leave it alone till seasons over.

[mtns2hunt]

This sounds more like shooting a muzzle loader then a shotgun. I have never had these kind of issues and neither have my buddies. Turkey always flops.

[Gobble!]

I take my barrel off and clean it after every shot. Always tighten my barrel nut the same way. Never experienced a POI change.

[tha bugman]

One more thing, prior to patterning, make sure your barrel nut is hand tight and then give it a couple of extra clicks with some pliers.  Once your patterning is done, don't take your barrel off until the season is over.  Also check and make sure your barrel is completely seated against the receiver before tightening.  Little things that get over looked that may cost you a bird.

I don't think I could take the barrel off at this point.  I was going to in order to install some new iron sights and I could not make the cap move at all.  I guess I will work on that issue post season.  Probably from the recoil in the vise has it supertight up against the barrel and the cap.