Deer rifle...how often do you clean it?

[Backwoods101]

Just last month I was having trouble ejecting spent rounds so I cleaned up the ol smith and Wesson .243 for the first time in 30 years…good as new!


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[muzzlebrake]

When the shot groups get bigger than 1 moa @100 they may need cleaning.

[Muddy Bud]

Barrel won’t get cleaned until it starts opening up. Might be 2/3/400 rounds.

Wipe dirt off on occasion.

If it gets wet I DO break it down and clean and oil it.

Y’all clean your guns too much. Lol

This right here.

[cwill]

I have always wiped mine down with some breakfree after each range or hunting trip even if it didn't get wet. I clean the bores maybe once yearly depending on how much I shoot.

[Chase4556]

I wipe mine down and oil/grease it often. However, I don’t touch the barrel until groups open up. Usually on a hunting rifle it will take YEARS and YEARS to shoot enough for groups to open, so sometimes I just get a wild hair and do a deep clean of the barrel every couple years. Actually doing a reset right now on all the rifles I won’t shoot this season. I also don’t remove the action from the stock unless I can get back to the range before my next hunting trip, as the zero can change with different receiver screw torques and what not. It’s all different rifle to rifle though.

Some rifles will have a different point of impact or just not group as tight with a clean barrel and prefer a fouled bore. That’s why I don’t do any barrel cleaning during the season. I want to know exactly what the rifle will do, and that unknown isn’t something I want to be thinking about if that big ol’ buck walks out at 200yds. All the rifles I’m cleaning now will go to the range to get fouled and make sure everything is happy happy before I hunt with them again.

[Nate Riley]

I'm a bow hunter. I let a kid borrow my deer rifle I never use. I broke it in and sighted it in, and cleaned and put it up. He probably shot 6 rounds through it. Should I clean it now or wait until the end of the Season, or both?

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You would need to shoot a few fouling rounds if you cleaned the barrel anyway. So, I would just wipe down the outside and put it up. Like Trophy8 said, most people clean too much.

[tdwinklr]

Wipe down outside every time it’s carried, complete clean after each season

This.

Several other comments in here are either jokesters(don't know why...) or just lazy. If you're sighting in your rifle with several shots or just shooting often, it should be cleaned afterward. Its going to corrode if you just let it sit with powder, copper, lead, etc. in the barrel. Some say, "oh I'll just blow the soot out of it when its dirty and its good as new." No.

[Deerguy]

If it's a gun that means something to me, I keep it fairly clean. Maybe not each time I use it, but for sure once a season. Other guns, I never clean. I've got a .270 that is my main gun and I've cleaned the bore maybe twice in 40 years. Every 5 years or so, the bolt gets gummy and I'll clean the bolt, but thats about it. I've got several rifles are 10+ years old that have never been cleaned. Auto shotguns are a different story.

[sharpstick35]

almost never. its a tack driver and I haven't given it more than a wipe down in years.

[Duckologist]

Mines stainless so I dont mess with it

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[bullets13]

glad i'm not the only one...

[texas_legend]

clean barrel after the season if just hunting.

[savage1134]

That's why I love G96 gun treatment. Easy to wipe down. Aerosol can. Barrell after season.

[Mike D]

Barrel won’t get cleaned until it starts opening up. Might be 2/3/400 rounds.

Wipe dirt off on occasion.

If it gets wet I DO break it down and clean and oil it.

Y’all clean your guns too much. Lol

^^^^^^^ Yep this.


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[Mike D]

This.

Several other comments in here are either jokesters(don't know why...) or just lazy. If you're sighting in your rifle with several shots or just shooting often, it should be cleaned afterward. Its going to corrode if you just let it sit with powder, copper, lead, etc. in the barrel. Some say, "oh I'll just blow the soot out of it when its dirty and its good as new." No.

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