Seasoning the Bore

[dale2242]

SO, I clean my bore spotlessly and want to test some loads.
How many shots do you run through the bore before you feel you will get accurate results from your test loads?
Lets talk about cast as well as jacketed.....dale

[btroj]

5 to 10 cast will get a uniform bore condition.

Jacketed is good to go after 1 in my opinion.

[hithard]

Every bore is different. But you should see things start to settle in after a few rounds five or six atleast. On the cast side of things I run a couple of patches through after a hundred or so shots, just a touch of sweets followed by some rubbing alcohol. You don't want to scrub it clean, think of it as a cast iron skillet. For J's I hardly ever clean, unless I notice groups opening up or any sign of copper deposits.

[runfiverun]

I have counted 7 to 11 in several rifles.
that's a clean barrel till lube shows up fully at the muzzle.

[WHITETAIL]

I am with you on this one.
My Cowboy needs 10 shots to season the bore.:Fire:

[44man]

I am crazy, take a clean barrel and shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yards. One gun takes one shot first.
Jacketed was the worst and ALWAYS needed one shot. I would ruin an IHMSA shoot by missing the first chicken. JUST ONE. To shoot 39 because of a lost chicken.
I test lubes without any sort of seasoning too. No cleaning between.
A clean barrel is OK with some but a disaster with others, I will not hunt unless my gun has at least one shot fired, in the ground or whatever.
I don't think I have ever needed more then one shot. I just point a clean gun downrange and shoot once, then go to groups.
You need to evaluate your gun, some will need more, some lubes need more.

[shredder]

I have found over the years that my rifles generally have a happy place right away with a boolit/bullet or not at all. If my load takes 7-10 shots to "settle down" I have already moved on to another load that will shoot right off the bat. I want first shot accuracy from a cold fouled barrel for the most part, not hot barrel zero. When combined with a powder of the correct burning rate, often the load wants to shoot right away and only takes some minor tweaking of the powder weight, or maybe seating depth.
Each to their own, every rifle is a law unto itself and so are most of the folks that shoot them! I am also a hunter, so keep my requirements in mind. The competition target shooters have another method all together to keep the rifle shooting for a prolonged period.

[44man]

The way it is. I have never understood 10 shots or 40 shots to "settle."

[41 mag fan]

Just did some testing again on my 45-70 after cleaning the bore. My first 5 rds were all over the map. My next round they settled right in. So for me on this latest shooting tests, it took 5 rds.

[303Guy]

Perhaps the first shot conditions the bore by applying lube. Not sure why it would take five or ten shots to stabilize. Would the type of lube have any influence? How about pre-lubing the bore?

[jonp]

Depends on how rough the bore is but one jkt and a couple cast.should do it I think however if you want the same conditions on each shot then clean it after each shot.

[Von Gruff]

Run a patch of ER through the bore first and then try a first shot. That can be a help to pre-conditioning the bore.

[dale2242]

ER= Eds Red?....dale

[runfiverun]

yep.
you can also just use some atf.

[Larry Gibson]

The way it is. I have never understood 10 shots or 40 shots to "settle."

I'm in this camp; take that many shots and someting is wrong with the load or lube. I like to hunt with a clean bore. I've also had so many loads where the "foulers" (I used to think I needed to shoot 2 - 5) go to group at 100 and 200 yards that if they don't then I change loads. Haven't found a rifle yet that failed to shoot to group from a clean bore. In below freezing weather where lube will harden in the bore and cause a flyer I prefer to hunt with a clean bore.

Larry Gibson

[44man]

Clean bore is good but better to sight in with clean.
Muzzle loader needs a clean bore, not good to keep a dirty gun for the season. Never seen a difference with them.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I do sometimes see a first shot flier. Question comes is it a bore/lube/barrel/heat problem, or a shooter that needs to get warmed up? Hard for me to tell.

[LittleBill]

I would ruin an IHMSA shoot by missing the first chicken. JUST ONE. To shoot 39 because of a lost chicken.

This is enough reason right here to fowl the bore. ;-)

[Von Gruff]

ER= Eds Red?....dale

Yes, E R is Eds Red.

[Lloyd Smale]

John linebaugh allways said that his guns really settled in at around 50 shots and he never cleaned the bore unless it was leaded. I never put this to the test but sure dont have any reason to doubt him. I am like him though in that my cast shooting revolvers rarely see a brush in the barrel.

[44man]

No way 50 shots! He might have been talking about smoothing tool marks.
Clean barrels are two choices that I can't define. Either too slippery or too much friction.
I have never needed more then one shot to condition the bore from either of those two conditions.
Seasoning might be a big myth. My wife will ruin a cast iron frying pan!
I don't clean my revolvers because ONE, I am lazy, TWO, I need to waste a shot before hunting.
The BFR revolvers have hand lapped Badger barrels, shot one to thousands have never changed. The last Ruger Hunter was cleaned out of the box and my friend shot 1/2" groups at 50 yards from shot one.