Seasoning a bore

[RyanJames170]

So I’ve seen this mentioned a few times and I was curious to what it was, how you did it, and why you may want to do it? Is it fir dealing with a imperfect bore, leading or accuracy?

[RU shooter]

The only time I would "season" the bore is only to eliminate the first shot variable outa the group IE I'd sight my rifle in for hunting season , usually 3 shots for zero and I would not clean the barrel till seasons over . I know the first shot with my gun with a squeaky clean barrel is gonna put that first shot out of the group so I leave it fouled . That's about the only seasoning I do others may have different thoughts on the matter

[Texas by God]

I thought it was a muzzleloading thing. But I leave my smokeless rifles "fouled" for years.

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[DougGuy]

Every time I clean my deer rifle I fire a fouling shot and then I don't clean or shoot it again until season opens. This insures the first shot out of a cold barrel on opening day will be dead on at 200yds, it's never failed to hit where it's zeroed using this method. It may go years between cleanings and foulings. I only clean it if it looks like it's zero has drifted.

For a revolver or an autoloader shooting cast, I never shoot hardcast anyway, so my cast boolit loads you can scratch with a thumbnail, I use soft alloy and soft lube, once the throat is correct for the size boolit, the boolit seals in the bore perfectly and leaves a "black bore" which is what I call a seasoned bore, if I run a patch through it, it comes out black/dark gray with powder and lube residue, this "seasons" the bore for the next shot, and it serves to lube the front of the next shot fired as well. I never have to clean these.

[mehavey]

It's a mythological muzzle-loading term wherein newbies are told they don't
have to clean the barrels after a shooting season if they use [Brand-X (https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/making-homemade-bore-butter.794403/#post-10116423)] combo
of olive oil and beeswax.

Needless to say, the bore looks a badly-laid gravel pit covered w/ a layer
of white crud when they pull it out of the closet at next season's start.
The first indication of season's start is a spate of "my gun won't fire" emails.

[centershot]

Back in the days of muzzle lading rifles, barrels were made of iron, not steel as they are today. And yes, just like momma's cast iron fry pan, you needed to "season" the barrel. Cleaning it with hot water and soap would dissolve the BP fouling but leave the "seasoning" intact. If you are using a muzzle loader of modern production you needn't worry about seasoning, the barrel is STEEL, not CAST IRON.

If you're shooting cast bullets in a modern firearm, rifle or pistol, then Doug Guy's description is spot-on, IMHO. Treat your gun like a .22 RF natch rifle, clean it only when accuracy falls off. I extend this to all my guns, except the muzzle loaders, they get cleaned after each use. Seems to work for me.

[country gent]

There is a process done by some shooters where the new barrels first 100 rds are fired in a very controlled manner. 1 rd and clean 10 times 2 rounds clean 5 times 3 rounds and clean 5 times then 5 rd groups 3 times and clean then 10 rd groups and clean to 100 rds. This thought to smooth throats and tool marks and to help relive stress. Between cycles a soak is done looking for jacket fouling if it shows then the previous cycle is repeated.

On barrels I have done this on they seem to be much more consistent 1 st shot cold.

Thru the process you will slowly feel a difference in the jag patch combos tension in the bore as it smooths, Also the barrel will clean much easier

[charlie b]

What you describe is a break in process, not what was referred to as 'seasoning'.

mehavey explained where 'seasoning' a barrel came from.

[mehavey]

Someone's going to have to point to a source that later 19th-century barrels (save for canon) were made of cast iron.
(I do know that mid 1800s Springfield's were supposedly Damascus/mandrel wrapped), but Bessemer's process opened things up after 1850/60

[swheeler]

I season mine with salt and pepper usually, but occasionally add some Creole seasoning, you spice it up a little.:bigsmyl2:

[whisler]

As I understand it, 18th century muzzleloader barrels were made of wrought iron, not cast iron and were skelp welded around a mandrel.

[10x]

I "season" my rifle bores with a alox/grease lubed cast bullet after a session firing with powder coated bullets.
The other option is to run a patch with powder solvent down the bore and then dry patches and a final patch with light oil so it does not rust.
I treat my cast bullet guns like 22 rimfires. Accuracy does not go away if I don't clean, I service to avoid rust.

[DonHowe]

I guess it depends on what is meant by "seSoning". I have heard smallbore shooters refer to "conditioning" bores. In the latter case we condition or season a bore every time we fire .22 RF or cast bullets from squeaky-clean barrels. It is going to take at least a few shots to "foul" or "condition" a cleaned barrel before customary accuracy for that barrel is attained. My BPC rifles get cleaned meticulously after every outing but my benchrest single shot lead bullet smokeless powder rifle would only get brushed and wiped out with dry patches during shooting season. Same with my RF rifles, the reason being to leave a film of bullet lube in the bore.
Smallbore and .22 RF benchrest competitors know "conditioning" to be fact. Whether starting from a clean bore or even switching brands of .22 RF ammunition, a varying number of shots will be required before the barrel/bullet/lube reaches equilibrium. These are commonly called "fouling shots".