I am not arguing or disagreeing with anyone, well one person, but if you read barrel care from every premium barrel maker you will get a TON of good info. The only problem is for the opinions are all different. Most barrel makers and gunsmiths will tell you that crown damage is the most common cause of degraded accuracy. Most all of the barrel makers will tell you, other than JB patching the barrel that the patches should only be pushed out the barrel, and not back in because of the carbon that can be on the patch. There are alot of ways to protect the chamber, but once you have used the Possum Hollow guides, you will be spoiled for life. They have O rings that seal them and keep them in place and you can get an adapter for the end, so you can put the solvent on the patch when the patch is already in, not dripping on your stock. We all "gun nuts", that frequent forums, mostly are in the minority when it comes to cleaning or having any idea on how to clean a gun barrel. I would venture to guess that most folks that hunt are satisfied if there gun will put 3 rounds on a paper plate at 200 yds. Good shooting to all.
Many do indeed fall into this category.Like I said..for many ( and I know quite a few that are in this group), if their rifle is minute of deer at 100 yards why go to all the trouble..For many 3" or even 5" groups at the distances they are shooting is all they need,so it matters not to some of these folks if they ever shoot tiny groups consistently. To them.they only care if there is a deer on the game pole at the end of the deer season,not if they can shoot 1/2" groups from a bench. I don't have a problem with folks like this at all,never have. The problem I have is with some of these people that make these false claims is that no one never needs to clean their rifles.Here's one reason why......
About 25 years ago I got into one of these same types of debates at a deer camp with a person whose attitude was just like this. This person...according to his statements over the camp fire.. was he always "got his deer" every year and laughed and in a big mouth way ridiculed me at my explaining to a few there I didn't know what I was talking about,and that how much effort I put into my pre season with all of my shooting and cleaning..was
Wasted money...
Wasted Money ...That was his big mouthed statement.. The very next morning on opening day the 8 pointer I had hanging that afternoon I took at 370 yards which was shot in an open field ended my season that year but not his. This very same deer ole big mouth tried to hit with his semi-auto 30-06 and 3 clips of ammo at less than 50-100 yards when it walked directly under his stand. After having all that lead shot at him,and no injury to him,the deer bolted and ran over 300 yards out of the woods where ole Bucket Mouth had his deer stand and then 250 yards across the long field I was hunting to a ravine. I heard all of the shots from his pre-dawn shooting session,and was watching the field. When the deer came out of a gully in the field I was hunting and I had a clear view of him,since it was well past sunup then.No blood was on him,and I was far enough away from the other hunters and Ole Bucket Mouth,I decided to take the shot.I knew my rifle and load and had the utmost confidence in my shooting ability,so I eased the safety off my 26" Westerner and took a good rest and made the shot. The deer took a hop to the left and collapsed in the field not 10' from where I shot him..After making this frigging huge argument that I had shot his deer from under him even when I proved there was only 1 hole in the deer exactly where I claimed there was..and after skinning the deer after getting it out of the field. We removed 1 270 Winchester Nosler Partition bullet from it's hip where the bullet came to a stop. That night around the campfire,Ole Bucket Mouth started complaining there was had to be something wrong with his scope,after all he never misses, when in fact it was his almost smooth bore in that 30-06 that was the real culprit. His nephew,my host at their family hunting area,came to me after the first of the year..long after the deer season ended.He asked me to explain to him what to do with his uncles rifle. I told him what I would do it,and he in turn passed this on to his uncle.He declined my invitation to come over and work on it and eventually,in July of the next year, the loud mouth took the rifle to a good gun smith I had recommended to the nephew, to have a new scope put on it instead ($300). His claims to the smith was there was nothing wrong with the barrel and never had been and that his scope had to be bad....After the smith checked the rifle over the smith recommended a complete cleaning of it,instead of a purchasing a new scope first, he reluctantly had the smith do it .( Total cost at the time $35)..He sold that rifle to the gunsmith after shooting it 2 times ( 2 clips of very old ammo) claiming the rifle and scope wasn't accurate anymore. Ole Bucket mouth made a big stink with the smith that he had screwed up a perfectly shooting rifle by cleaning it..the smith being a honest person bought the rifle from him,paying him well more than the book value of the rifle was just to satisfy him since he claimed the smith did something on purpose to his rifle just to buy it...Old Bucket mouth got to buy a brand new gun and scope to shoot out of the deal..I never went back to hunt with them after that even though I was invited,but heard Ole Bucket Mouth still complained years afterwards he was screwed in the deal.I had need of the smiths services a few years after that incident,and when I asked him about it,he laughed about it then when told me the rifle was a tack driver with Core-Locs and open sights..The smith kept the rifle and put on a peep sight on it and sold the 6 power Leupold scope to a friend of mine,which I eventually got from him in a trade,and kept for many years. The smith hunted with that 30-06 until he died 10 years later..taking several deer and 2 elk with it..
Now..I won't say the majority of folks are like ole Bucket mouth..but I sure as heck have seen my fair share of people like him in my life. What works for me and how I do things is a lot different than these types of folks..and now, just as back then with Ole Bucket Mouth, nothing is ever going to change their minds or attitudes. Some of these types of folks have ingrained some really ignorant ideas in their heads,and no amount of proof will ever change them.That's life I suppose...and they have their own opinion on what works best for them and how they do things.To me the problem comes when they try to pass BS off as facts to those who don't know or understand..and then go out of their way to give measure of validity to it. Sighting a rifle in before hunting or shooting for groups is something everyone should do..along with practicing with it at the different ranges you intend to shoot is just plain common sense,along with proper rifle cleaning. The majority of folks I know,my self included,won't clean them
completely till after deer season,unless they get completely soaked in water or snow.There's nothing wrong with doing that..but..convincing some people like ole Bucket Mouth that the benefits of proper rifle care and practice is the best way to do things can and usually is a effort in futility..Pig headed my grandmother used to call these folks...Even though 3 pages of discussion seems to be a-lot of wasted effort to some...I feel it is the right thing to do.Others have the opportunity to learn from these types of discussions if they are wanting to find out about the subject,and can see both sides of it. It's all up to the individual to determine what they want from their rifles..and how much effort they want to put forth..to achieve it for the way they do things..
Mac
