Ok I am sure that this has been asked before but during hunting season I feel better when I have a very slight amount of oil or rust preventative in my barrel because of course the gun is exposed to some of the elements. Now not enough oil of course to spike pressures or anything like that but just enough for insurance. How do you guys handle this and what are you thoughts? Thanks!!

Cue the blue tape!

No oil in the barrel. Cover the muzzle during wet weather.

Too much oil could be a very bad thing and not necessary as when you fire if you don't blow up your barrel the oil is out anyways. I use blue tape black tape what ever kind of tape you have will work but I like black. HAPPY HUNTING

Nope - no oil.. Nuthin'...

Put oil in your bore, then see where your first shot goes.. Then check the second.. You might be surprised..

I don't use tape either.. I keep the muzzle down when it's snowing and I refuse to hunt in rain.. But that's just me..

An oil patch followed by a dry patch is no danger at all, BUT be sure your rifle will shoot to POA with the bore treated with oil. Several of my rifles throw the first round from a squeaky clean bore. I always clean my bbls prior to the season, shoot a fouler, check zero with a group, and leave them fouled throughout the entire season.

Here in La the humidity is high and it rains often. That said, the method I use has never caused corrosion from the elements. If I hunt in rain, I just run dry patches down the pipe.

loder

I never use oil during season. If you have oil in the barrel your first shot is not going to be at the correct POI. When it is raining or my gear gets wet I just wipe it down and run dry patches down the barrel and I have never had a problem with a gun rusting or anything if you take care of it every night you will have nothing to worry about. I live in western washington and as most of you have heard it is pretty wet up here so if it works here it should work anywhere.

the key phrase you said if "followed by a dry patch". If you just run a wet oil patch through your rifle and they shoot it your POA will be different than it would be with a dry barrel. If you are going to oil the barrel then you should run a dry patch or two so there isn't an over run of oil in your barrel that may cause damage. HAPPY HUNTING

I clean my rifle down to the metal and then fire two fouling shots. Then the bore isn't cleaned again until after hunting season is over unless I fall in the creek. I cover the muzzle with a strip of black plastic electricians tape and cut a second strip that I wrap around the barrel as a back up if I shoot thru the first piece.

Lawman......When in the vault, yes my rifle barrels will have oil down inside the barrel but once on a hunt, I run an oil patch down that barrel followed by 2 dry patches.

I then place a piece of electricians tape over that barrel and go hunting. Now doing so will keep moisture out of the barrel to some degree and any rain that might fall during that time. If I shoot, I replace that piece with a new piece of tape over the barrel etc.

Sounds great thanks for the advice. So you guys using the electrical tape I assume just shoot through the tape at the moment of truth right?

I have hunted in some pretty nasty storms and to this day have never seen the need to put electricians tape over the end of my barrel. I have never had a problem with a barrel rusting up on me I just take care of it when I get back to camp or the house if it is raining. Putting tape over the end of a barrel just doesn't make since to me. help me out here guys I am just not getting it what are the advantages?

For me the tape isn't about keeping water out of the barrel, as I usually carry my rifle at the ready and not slung. With nasty weather comes the possiblity of slipping or falling and jaming my barrel into the dirt. Electricians tape keeps me from geting a plugged barrel. Tape doesn't affect POI either from what I can tell so it is just a little insurance to keep me from going back to camp to clear a barrel obstruction of from having to carry a cheap cleaning rod in my pack.

I use mystery oil because I really like surprises.

If you are crawling around in gator deep snow all day long and have a handful of the normal awkward ass landings, you can pack a dandy snow plug in your barrel. I have never worried a great deal about rain, but I have driven snow into my barrel that has ended up poked in there tighter than a bull's ass. CP.

but i thought I read someplace that deer are afraid of electricians? or was that butchers??

hmm, yeah maybe butchers, so don't use freezer tape. so no blue tape or freezer tape

I see what you are talking about I carry a cleaning rod in my pack just in case something like that happens, it has not happened yet but I want to be ready if it does.

I have buggered up two barrels that oil and tape would have prevented damage to. One was from a T*** floating rain when I had molly in the barrel, had to pour the water out before making a shot. The other was from dust in the Safari Car with no muzzle cap or tape. Dust bulged the barrel slightly and I had to pound on the bolt to reload, turned a shoulder shot into a broadside Texas Heart Shot (least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

Some of the custom barrel makers warn against shooting with dry cleaned to bare metal bores. So now wet then dry patches with Break Free, Hoppes or Kroil and then tape or balloon. A loose fitting leather cap is ok as long is it will get blown off by the gases before the bullet gets there.

Always check your zero but good barrels seem less affected by the oil and cold first shot thing. The heavy fowling barrels stay fouled all season and I sort of hope I can finish off the barrel quicker and get a new one.

I also keep the muzzle down and I don't know haw many times it has ended up in the snow. I always use tape of some sort

Tape doesn't bother impact up close, but for some reason I've never shot a long range target with it on, and I have time to remove it before longer shots and always do so.

Oil will affect the first shot, but at normal ranges for normal people your wobble will be worst enemy.

Me... I have taken to bore coating all my tubes these days. Before that for normal issues, oil the barrel and run some dry patches. For accurate situations, foul it with 2-3 shots and leave it the rest of the season.

Bore dry.
No oil.

Your right! If I was a deer that butcher tape would scare the hell out of me!

Lefty C

My grandfather used to keep oil down the barrels of his rifles all the time. He also kept them loaded and whould reoil them once a week. Needless to say he hadn't shot one of his guns in a while once and when he did the bullet only went about 4 feet from the muzzle.

Oil will change the POI for the first shot out the bore, dry-patched or not.

At least, for me and my rifles, it does.

No oil in my barrels during hunting season. For that matter, no barrel cleaning during hunting season.

I just wrap the sucker up in blue tape and rock it!

I've used the little balloons my son makes water bombs with. They fit perfectly over the barrel, keep crud and water out, leave no adhesive behind and you can shoot right through them.

You can buy them at just about any dollar store.

I hunt with dry, fouled bores. I always put electrican's tape over the muzzle. Cheap insurance.
If I wanted to leave a thin coating of oil, I'd oil the bore normally, then run a dry patch through it. That takes out the excess. I'd check zero just to make sure it was where it needed to be.
Tape over the muzzle is not to keep moisture out. It's to keep snow, dust and dirt out in case of a fall or accidently jamming the muzzle into the ground. E

I always use electricians's tape, dry bore. That said, I just ran a test with five rifles the bores of which were clean, lightly oiled (finished the cleaning w/ an oiled patch). I was surprised that none of them threw a flyer on the first shot, no signs of pressure different than follow on shots. Despite the fact that I've proven it doesn't matter (to me, at least), I'm still going with dry, fouled bore, tape over muzzle.

Hunt with a dirty bore and tape it.

I read somewhere that oil in a barrel will give a hydraulic effect when the bullet goes down the bore. There is nowhere for the oil to go and as it builds up in front of the bullet, it can put a wrinkle in the bore. The author had a cut open barrel to prove his statement. And it was a bit wrinkled.

It tends to make sense as any fluid under enough pressure will deform and even cut steel. And oil being squeezed past a bullet in a bore has boo coo pressure.

Lotsa difference between oil in the barrel and what's left behind when you run an oily patch followed by two dry patches down a bore. hundreds of thousands of GI's have been doing that for lotsa years. I've been doing it for about 60 w/o a problem.

No oil in my barrels after final range check unitl after the hnt is over.

I got a feeling the snow's a might deeper in your neck of the woods.. It's rare when it's over a foot here during season..

My rifles will not put the first shot from a clean, oiled barrel into the group no matter how many dry patches I run through it. However, If I run Shooter's Choice and then dry patches through the clean bore, they will.

When cleaned of all copper fouling, my factory barrels need three to five shots down the tube before they settle in and shoot their best groups. My Pac-Nor barrels will group when clean. They also don't copper foul as much as my factory tubes.

I don't know why the difference between oil and Shooters Choice, just know that is what I have observed.

What will cause you problems is an oily chamber,
because the brass cannot grip the sides of the chamber and increases bolt thrust.
I talked to a farmer last weekend who says he has never cleaned his rifle.
He also says all his kills have been less than 100 ft.
My experience tells me that You should keep your rifle clean and fire a few fouling shots before hunting season. Then leave it alone unless you are in the rain or get snow in the barrel by tripping and falling or whatever. Then I thoroughly clean it after season is over for storage.
If I don't fire fouling shots the POI is not the same.
At close range it is no big deal though.
whelennut

Test the individual rifle. Some of my rifles change the point of impact with an oily bore, some don't. Eezox is a superior rust preventative and it forms a dry surface; most of my rifles shoot to the same spot with or without Eezox in the bore.

Hate to go against the trend, but I do run a patch with scant oil on it, couple drops max. Range experience shows no significant difference in point of impact, at least out of my rifles.

I don't put tape over muzzle unless I'm out west where i'm mostly walking. It's a waste of time in the southeast when stand hunting.

I have a number of hunting rifles, some need a fouling shot to group well, some don't. I will tape a barrel in bad weather and have shot several head of game at over 300 yards with no problem. That said, anyone who doesn;t see the need to tape a muzzle has never hunted in Alaska!

Each to their own. I use it and a quick glance tells me if the bore is clear or not after a fall or busting through thick brush.

Makes sense Dave. I made my comment about stand hunting where I'm not walking a great distance to my stand. If walking a lot during hunting then it makes more sense to me.

It sure doesn't hurt to be extra cautious.

Anyone as clumsy as I am should use tape over the muzzle as I do no matter what rust preventative they use in the barrel.

I'm such a klutz I need all the help I can get.

I am now at the advice of a very good gunsmith and a barrel maker running a patch with Kroil through my barrels after cleaning. My first gunsmith who built my first rifle said to never put oil in a barrel, but I am now.