Ashy Larry
WKR
If you're working up some loads, how many shots will you fire before a cleaning. Do you run a dry patch down the barrel occasionally?
When new, run a dry patch down the bore to get rid of any junk then shoot it until it stops shooting well. The current barrel on my match 308 has well over 1,500 rounds on it without a patch ever being out through it and averages just under 1 MOA for 10 round groups. The 223 Tikka T3 SL that gets shoot the most is above 3,000 rounds and still averages around 1.25 MOA for 10 round groups and he never been cleaned.
People WAY over clean.
Is that a stainless barrel?
I only clean if I see a decline in accuracy. I'm not the best at documenting details but I know my 6.5-06AI which I shoot the most usually goes about 200-300 rounds before I see any change.
When new, run a dry patch down the bore to get rid of any junk then shoot it until it stops shooting well. The current barrel on my match 308 has well over 1,500 rounds on it without a patch ever being out through it and averages just under 1 MOA for 10 round groups. The 223 Tikka T3 SL that gets shoot the most is above 3,000 rounds and still averages around 1.25 MOA for 10 round groups and he never been cleaned.
People WAY over clean.
I guess it depends on your expectations. If my guns shot like that I'd clean them, and lacking improvement, rebarrel them, or sell them. The X ring of an F-class target is .5 MOA.
You shoot a 6lb .223 in 1,000 yard F-Class and average .5 MOA for 10 round groups?
Whats interesting is all the "1/2moa all day long" rifles that people have. A couple years ago my partner and I shot a major sniper match. I shoot a reletively unique rifle and lots of people ask how it shoots. I generally respond with "about 1 MOA" as that's the truth- I can guarantee that gun will hit a 1 MOA target at 100 yards with significantly better than 95% certainty. The usual response is and was disdain for such a bad shooting rifle, as all of theirs are "sub half MOA all day long". That match had three different stages where you shot .75-1.25 MOA targets at 70-100 yards. There were three people out of 120 that cleaned all three stages. My partner, myself, and another shooter that had a "1 MOA" rifle.
It isnt a .5 MOA gun if it won't hit a .5 MOA target with every round, starting cold.