Cleaning and patterning shotgun.

[kytrkyhntr]

got a few used choke tubes this off season and had an opportunity to pattern them all today. All shots were with a dirty barrel because I tried to pattern it about 3 days ago and the wind was bad. My question to you is, after you pattern your gun would you clean it? I patterned it dirty and I'm not sure if it'd be worth cleaning? Maybe run a of through it just to get debris out of it. What do you do?

[g8rvet]

See how it shoots best. My old 870 shot slightly better without much cleaning. 

[Spitten and drummen]

Not me. My guns pattern better dirty and the difference between clean and dirty barrel has been marginal. I keep my action clean and lightly lubed but my barrels wont be cleaned until turkey season is over for me

[LaLongbeard]

If it patterned well dirty and you don't have the time or desire to clean it then recheck the pattern to see which is better, leave it alone. My Wingmaster has a better pattern first shot with clean barrel but not enough to worry about. After I shoot during the season I run a rag thru  the barrel to remove powder and then a patch with denatured alcohol, Zero oil in barrel. If the gun gets wet I will wipe it down inside and out with oiled rag, but before I hunt again the bore gets a alcohol patch.

[Turkeyman]

Not me. My guns pattern better dirty and the difference between clean and dirty barrel has been marginal. I keep my action clean and lightly lubed but my barrels wont be cleaned until turkey season is over for me

X2. During turkey season I only shoot once through a clean/dry barrel. I want to know what it does through a dirty.

[kytrkyhntr]

If it patterned well dirty and you don't have the time or desire to clean it then recheck the pattern to see which is better, leave it alone. My Wingmaster has a better pattern first shot with clean barrel but not enough to worry about. After I shoot during the season I run a rag thru  the barrel to remove powder and then a patch with denatured alcohol, Zero oil in barrel. If the gun gets wet I will wipe it down inside and out with oiled rag, but before I hunt again the bore gets a alcohol patch.

good call, I was thinking maybe just run a patch through it prior to hunting to get debris out and maybe an alcohol patch. It's a little benelli and when I shoot that tss through it it appears far more dirty than than my 12 gauge mossberg that I've used forever. I also don't shoot apex through the mossberg I just shoot hevi shot or Winchester. Maybe it's the shell?

[M,Yingling]

just started shooting a sxp 20 ga that thing likes clean barrel run snake thur it every 3 shoots

[Tail Feathers]

After I sight check each year I don't disassemble the gun until after season is over.  I do run a bore snake thru to clean the barrel tho.

[Gooserbat]

My old 870 shoots it's best with 5-10 shots then it opens up a little. The difference between clean and 5 is about +5% and after 10 is about -5% so I don't worry about it much.

[Coop1082]

Your going to get mixed reviews here. All guns are different. My main hunter (Franchi Affinity 20) shoots its best after its been scrubbed squeaky clean, has a dove load put through it, then is boresnaked. From that point I know I can shoot it, snake it, and run a acetone patch through it and it will shoot about as good as it can for 12-15 shots before I need to deep clean again. My SA-20 however you can shoot constantly without cleaning it a bit and it feels like it gets better every trigger pull. My 12g BPS is 2 shots max and you better scrub it down or the pattern crumples. 301 .410 likes it super clean also. You get the drift here. You truly won't know until you've spent some time with the gun at the range. Me personally I like to start patterning with a gun completely clean and dry of any bore solvent or oil. After the initial shot I'll bore snake it twice and check it again to see if it improves any. If it improves with a slightly fouled bore, you might send another to triple check. If it doesn't, clean it between shots. To be fair most of our patterns are complete overkill and a few pellets swung here and there won't matter but if your reloading and shooting TSS like a lot of us do, you want every trigger pull to be worth it.

[mhamby]

Mine patterns about the same either way, see what produces the best pattern for yours.

[Greg Massey]

Not me. My guns pattern better dirty and the difference between clean and dirty barrel has been marginal. I keep my action clean and lightly lubed but my barrels wont be cleaned until turkey season is over for me

X2. During turkey season I only shoot once through a clean/dry barrel. I want to know what it does through a dirty.

X3

[B Rogers]

What do you all find best to remove the plastic buildup in chokes/barrels from wads? I have scrubbed with Hoppe's but still see a little in there. My gun is dipped so I'll need to be aware of that fact before dousing with just anything.

[Tom007]

What do you all find best to remove the plastic buildup in chokes/barrels from wads? I have scrubbed with Hoppe's but still see a little in there. My gun is dipped so I'll need to be aware of that fact before dousing with just anything.

Bore snake usually gets it. If not take a brush, (whatever gauge your gun is), put in a battery drill on cleaning rod, and hone it a bit. Then run a clean bore snake through it. Worked for me.....

[B Rogers]

Thanks. Just saw this last post, but I went down earlier and experimented a bit after scouring the web. I found folks posting all kinds of products but one fella said Rem oil loosened it right up for him. So I figured I'd try the easy suggestion I found. I sprayed Rem oil in the barrel and let it sit for a few minutes, wrapped a patch around a 12 gauge brush (I'm cleaning a 20 gauge btw) and sprayed it with hoppes spray oil (their equivalent to Rem oil). I made two passes and it was clean as a whistle. I was fully prepared to get the drill out but there was no need. I thought I'd share the quick fix with everyone.