Boomer 454 - thanks for the clarification. A good deep cleaning certainly wouldn't hurt and would eliminate one possible cause.
I don't want to turn this into a "how to clean your rifle" thread but I will relate my experience with a particuarily bad fouling barrel that was giving me similar results as you are having.
1 - soak the barrel with Kroil, or if that is not available Hoppes, let it soak for a couple of hours then run a couple of patches through it, then soak a brush with Kroil and brush, followed by another wet patch to push out the crud, followed by a couple of clean dry patches.
2 - put some foaming bore cleaner in and let soak for a couple of hours then dry patch.
3 - In a bad fouling barrel it is unlikely to be clean the first time you do this procedure so repeat the soak and brush with Kroil as outlined in step 1, followed by another soak with the foaming bore cleaner.
4 - repeat as necessary until the first patch after the foaming bore cleaner comes, if there is still a layer of carbon the barrel may quickly copper foul again. Using this procedure I could usually get 150 rounds through it before groups would start opening up again.
5 - Order a Teslong bore scope ($49.95) from Amazon - it will clarify cleaning procedures. WARNING - it may also show you some other thing that may cause sleepless nights but if the barrel shoots good ignore those things.
drover
p.s. - I have tried most of the foaming bore cleaners and they all seem to be about the same, I generally use Gunslick because it is the less expensive and generally available in my area.
Last edited by drover; 12/03/20. Reason: add ps
