Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best bore corrosion protection that won't throw off your first shot?

I have been fairly cavalier on this using whatever is on hand with the assumption that running a dry patch through afterwards nullifies any change of impact. Yet I have seen as much as a six inch change, but this was from running goop like 3 in 1 and WD 40 down the barrel. At times I have had to pour the water out of my barrel to prevent permanent damage before the shot. I am slowly working on DBK'ing all my rifles but even with this I would like added protection. The belt & suspenders approach suits me just fine.

3m electrician's tape over the muzzle.

DBC is corrosion protection.

I think that most any, solvent, oil, degreaser, etc., will affect the first round from a rifle susceptible to such. Fortunately, it seems (at least with our rifles), only the “smaller” bore stuff, the first shot is affected by a “clean” bore. I never clean during hunting season! If I feel I must clean..... a “fouling round” or two will be sent downrange, prior to hunting/shooting.

Hell, thinking more about it ....I rarely clean! memtb

The barrel being made out of stainless steel helps a bit.

Putting corrosion aside, if you're pouring water out of the barrel then how much does the wet bore throw off the shot?

Upon carefully reading the OP’s post, I agree with Idaho Shooter. Hunt with a “fouled” barrel....covered with electrical tape! Blue, seems to be the “fire’s” favorite....but black has worked for me! memtb

Must be blue. Black is bad luck.

I don't hunt with an oily bore because, as mentioned, it can affect point of impact. Many of my big game rifles will shoot to POI with a clean bore so I hunt them that way. If not, I make sure they are fouled before I hunt. And I always cover the muzzle with electrical tape. Most of my barrels are DBC coated as well and the majority are stainless. I haven't had much in the way of of corrosion problems, but most of my hunting is in relatively dry environments so apart from the occasional big storm during elk season my rifles are used in fairly hospitable conditions.

After my hunting rifle(s) are sighted in I do not clean the bore. Only after hunting season do I give them a good cleaning and treatment with rust corrosion protection. Birchwood Casey Sheath/Barricade is my protectant of choice.

No. It must be black to not scare the quarry. Blue would never work.

I've got red, white, green and orange for color coding power tools quarterly out in the work truck...

Yes tape from no on although I do forget. Campfire blue if possible. DBC for sure but I still like a little Eesox or frog juice just to be sure, Bottom line is to get rid of the rifles that have first shot aberrations.

Elmer Keith reported that Hoppe's #9 would provide protection without affecting the first shot.
I haven't tried Hoppe's but have found that Corrosionx works great. I shove a wet patch down the bore followed by a dry patch. Some of the best groups I have ever fired (from several rifles) were from a clean barrel after this treatment.

Cheers,
Walt

blue is ok if you want to maintain the status quo but if you want to eliminate cold bore flyers and actually increase fps and accuracy you best use orange tape to cover the muzzle.
Big Ed

Blue promotes curiosity and brings them in closer. Thanks for the info on the orange. I'll give that a try. I know the black yields terrible accuracy and I gave up on that color years ago. I have a buddy that still uses black and he can't shoot for crap. I'll give him a roll of orange for Christmas and I bet that fixes him right up.

Made about a 200 yard shot so couldn't have been off that much. I have not run an accurate gauge on that barrel but can detect no damage. Not something I want to test. This incident was a down pour that caught me off guard and I had about 20 deer in front of me so could not take shelter or get tape, poncho etc.

Agree don't clean a rifle during the season unless it is something like the above incident. Tape in my pack but sometimes I will drop this when stalking to reduce snags and silhouette. My better barrels will put the first shot with the oiled then dry patch routine within a half inch or less of the main post fouling group, these are the keepers.

I've graduated to stainless only

Hoppe's #9 is what I season the bore with though I do run a dry patch after letting the bore soak overnight. I still hunt with a fouled bore but fouling shots always group with the rest. I should add that I use Sweets 7.62 to clean the bore than when it's clean I season overnight with Hoppe's #9

Tape over the muzzle



Trystan

best advise leave your bore dirty,people clean their rifles to much !

I've always wondered what people think they mean when they talk about "seasoning" the bore. What exactly do you think Hoppe's #9 is doing to your bore to "season" it? It sure doesn't work in the sense of seasoning a cast iron skillet, and we're not talking about food seasoning, so ??
Also, Hoppe's #9 has zero rust prevention qualities, which is easy to test yourself on a bare piece of steel.

This has proved true for me at least with the good barrels. Old Hoppe's, Corrosion X, Frog Lube, Tetra, Eesox, Gun shield and probably others I forgot all work with the dry patch routine. In wet weather I will even do this over fouling along with tape as the carbon can absorb moisture or it can work it's way under copper fouling. Once it does that it can become acidic.

Some barrel makers such as Hart advise not to shoot a completely dry barrel. I trust their advice.