Cleaning frequency for 223 Rem?

J

JerryinPA

New member
I bought a new Tikka T3 in 223 Remingon in May. I have a couple of hundred rounds through it. I cleaned it thoroughly and often during the early period for what some folks would call the "breaking in" period.

Now that it is a "mature" rifle, my question is this:

How often do you really need to clean a 223 bolt action?

I go to the range every couple of weeks and I only shoot 20 to 30 rounds. There isn't any difference in accuracy between the first shots of the day and the last of the 30 or so of the day.

So, how often does a 223 really need cleaned?

Regards to all,

Jerry.
 
I generally clean my rifles, regardless of how many round went through them when I get home from the range. For one they are easier to clean that day and less likely to rust till the next time I go. The exception is if I plan to do daily shooting or hunting with it for about a week, I may not. Regardless of the activity, I allways clean them before they go in the safe. I dont want to have to remember which ones needs to be pulled back out to clean at a later date.

Burned powder residue will attract moisture. Oil will not. Nothing will ruin accuracy in a rifle faster than pitting caused by an unclean barrel.
 
Jerry,

Clean it every time you use it - old Marine Proverb. I too have a T3 in .223 and have enjoyed the rifle greatly. I did send the rifle back for the stock, which Beretta did without any fuss and was very prompt about it. Speaking with the reps, this rifle does not have a break-in procedure. Like Bo Clerke said, a good barrel is a good barrel. These seem to be good barrels (Tikka and other makers stainless problems not included). I have over 400 rounds through my early 2004 example and it shots better than a couple of my heavy barrels. I have seen very little difference in groups when either fired cold-clean or fouled. My vote is to clean your rifle and know where it shots cold-clean.

God Bless,

Mike
 
I clean after each range day. Unless I fired less than 10 rounds or so for some reason. Then I'd just wipe the exterior.

In the dog town, I'll clean after each box of 50 rounds.
 
I never fire more than 20 rounds without cleaning my 223 , they could go a lot longer but i like the piece of mind i get by keeping my rifle barrels clean.
 
I clean mine once or twice a year whether it needs it or not. With modern powder and primers (especially primers) cleaning is not necessary. I say "shoot it until your accuracy falls off, then clean it until accuracy is restored". Over cleaning has killed more rifles than shooting ever will.
 
Quote:
I clean mine once or twice a year whether it needs it or not. With modern powder and primers (especially primers) cleaning is not necessary. I say "shoot it until your accuracy falls off, then clean it until accuracy is restored". Over cleaning has killed more rifles than shooting ever will.



Not if the cleaning is done properly with a good bore guide and cleaning rod.
 
Here here Michael! I clean mine three or four times a year , need it or not. However I keep it wiped off etc. The 223 is a great cartridge. Tikka 223 T3 lite. extremely accurate.
Carl
 
A notice a couple of the 'occassional' cleaners live in arid portions of the west where the rapid formation of rust may not be a concern. Here in the midwest, a quick step outside the airconditioning this time of year is like stepping into a sauna. Protecting the bore with a coat of oil in much of the country is a must! Even in the winter, drizzle, flurries, and condensation are all rust formers. I always clean the same day.
 
You haven't experienced RAGE until you fail to clean a rifle after use, then find a rusted chamber the next time you take it out. In my experience, I find no reason not to clean a rifle after it is used.
 
Your location summary is correct and at the very same time incorrect.

I now live in Arizona and you are correct, most of the year the outside humidity is minimal. That is unless you have swamp cooling. For those of you that don't know about swamp cooling. This is where water is dribbled over pads and air is sucked through them, evaporation cools the air, about 20 degrees, the wet cooled air is ducted into your house with a very big fan. Relative humidity is very high in your house.

You are also discounting life experience. I lived for the first 24 years of my life in upstate New York. Humidity and condensation are/was always a factor to deal with. Then factor in the fact that my father owned a gunshop with a range in the back yard. We shot a lot more than the average gun owner. Excluding black powder guns and old military ammunition we almost never cleaned. Sure we wiped down the gun after a rain and ran a patch through the bore to remove water and condensation, but that is not cleaning in the way you fellas are talking about. I hate to break it to you guys that swear to a heavy cleaning regiment, we shot hundreds of firearms and never had rust and I do mean never.

There was a time when constant cleaning was important. Primers were the usual culprit in ammunition manufactured before the 1950's (Military primers, especially match grade primers were a problem up into the mid or late 1950's). These mercury primers created a salt that drew moisture if it was not cleaned. Before that it is well known that black powder was extremely hard on firearms and cleaning was absolutely necessary.

Modern day powder and primers do not have a tendency to draw moisture. As a matter of fact I believe that the carbon and graphit left behind after shooting will coat your barrel and to a degree protect it from rusting. I believe in a dry barrel. For many years I've heard about military (Army and Navy) and other tests that prove that oil is one of the very worst rust preventers. Seems wrong doesn't it. They say that water lives very nicely UNDER a nice coating of oil, with the oil even preventing the water from evaporating. I can not swear to the validity of these verbal reports, but I absolutely believe they are correct.

Lets look at shotgun barrels. I have no trouble believing that more shotguns are put away and never cleaned than any other firearm. It is also my belief that many shotguns are shot thousands of times more than the average rifle. I do see some rust, but very little. Most rust is on the outside where uncleaned oily hand prints leave nasty marks.

I love the very predictable remark about proper cleaning and barrel life. It is true that a chamber or barrel crown guide is necessary to reduced inappropriate barrel wear. I have many of them, the cheap ones went into the trash, the ones I use are chamber and bore specific. Believe it or not I clean some of my rifles frequently. My PD and other relatively long range rifles, including my M1 garand, get plenty of cleaning. But they are shot alot and this cleaning is to restore accuracy and remove copper fouling.

If you want to see some real sport with those that believe in a constant cleaning regiment? I like to ask about what cleaning rod material they prefer. Brass, aluminum, stainless steel, hard steel or hard steel with some sort of coating. Better yet state that your choice is an absolute with little room for variation.

I am an absolute believer in a hard steel coated rod. I like shooters choice and I use sweets 7.62. I wipe down between the two with laquer thinner. Ending with a wipe down with Kroil, I let it sit for a short time then patch dry and put the gun away.

THis is all great fun and can be educational. Now feel free to jump in and tell me how wrong I am. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Common my fellow shooting brothers, lets play.
 
maybe because I'd much rather shoot than clean, mine (probably have 6 or 10 right now) don't get cleaned that much. Especially if I'm shooting PD's. I think somewhere between never and 200 rounds is close. Otherwise I'll run a patch with butch's boreshine maybe twice a year or so.
 
I live and hunt in Oregon, land of the wet sky. I typically scrub a rifle down thoroughly about once a year. I am careful to wipe all my guns down with an oily rag after shooting, however, and have only seen rust on a gun once. This particular rifle was left in the trunk of a car for several days in the winter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif. My experience isn't scientific by any means, but my pistols, rifles, and shotguns shoot/handle/group/function perfectly without constant cleaning. Todd
 
Maybe we need to talk about what we consider "cleaning".

I always wipe down, detailed wipe down, after having a gun in the field. Many times I will run a bore snake thru with a touch of "breakfree", or some other cleaner/lube.

BUT I dont use a brush, cleaner, patches, cleaner, every time I shoot. I dont disassemble anything to any detail(field strip alot), every time I shoot/hunt.

Carl
 


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