I always put a coating of oil in my barrels to protect them. I have been told to remove the oil before I shoot as it can harm the berrel? How could this harm the gun by shooting it with a coat of oil in it? Some lubes advertise the a coat of oil in the bore helps with velocity and accuracy but dosen't this contridict what some people say about it harming the bore?  What is the truth? Thank you!

I've always been told to take the oil out before shooting. I've been told this is because the oil can cause some sort of bulge in the barrel and it can blow up. Hope this helps, Mike.

run a dry patch down the bore before shooting, to much oil you can ring a barrel or worst case (lots of oil) blow the barrel. an oil pluged barrrel is the same as a dirt filled barrel interms of shooting.

If you clean the bore with CLP and then run a dry patch through it leaves a very thin film of oil in the bore for protection and is safe to shoot.The same rule applies for just lube/protectants.Apply the oil to the bore and then run a dry patch through.A small amount of oil will do no harm.In fact I would rather have a thin film of oil in the bore rather than a layer of surface rust which will undersize the bore considerably.
The problem is if you leave enough oil in the bore that it migrates and pools.Having this much oil in the bore can cause pressure increases due to the fact that the oil does not compress reacting as a solid under pressure...and being that it does not compress undersizes the bore increasing pressures as the bullet slams into the oil.This will ring the barrel.
Excess/pools of oil in the chamber can also cause problems such as set back etc..
So oil the chamber and bore,work the oil in well with a patch or mop.Then run a dry patch or mop through to remove the excess.Thats enough to protect the bore from corrosion and allows immediate use if needed.
That said I always dry patch the bore again before use.Often times oil will cause fouling to release from the bore after sitting for a few days and I like to get that out.
Raymond
Raymond

I used to shoot with the barrle with oil in it before I knew better. Now I will remove it. All my guns seem to be ok and still shoot well so I don't think I hurt the barrel.

Beware the oil in the tube!!!!

Folks come in all sort of mentalitys, and this is fitting.

"Light coat" to some folks means that the stuff dosn't dripp off after application.


Accuracy with oil in the barrel will NOT enhance accuracy, but will rather detract from it.
Accuracy is consistency, and the can be no consistency between the first shot and last shot, if there initially was oil in the barrel. the first 2 shots burns and essentially "Squeegees" the oil out.
The next three shots will travel down a bore that is carbon fouled and not oil coated.

If you store your rifle muzzle up, and adhere to the almost dripping mentality, there will be excessive oil in the chamber.
Bad JuJu.
Oil in the chamber increases bolt thrust  to the point that it can be damaging to the rifle.

2 solutions.
Blankwaffe's method, or
Punch the bore and swab the chamber before shooting.

Chrome bores suffer little from environmental effects so why oil more than a hint?

The primary reason is to keep the existing carbon(It's always there..) fouling from drawing moisture and the practice came from long ago.

Just the lightest amount will serve well.
Past that and it's a new can of worms.


S-28

Yeap oil in the bore will cause the first shot to string off or called a flyer.
At the competitions its common practice to pop a couple foulers before the match or before starting a target.
Raymond

All things in moderation.  Indeed, the first round may be a flyer that squeegees out the oil.

I personally run a patch saturated with CLP through the bore after cleaning and then one dry patch.  No problems that I've seen and no flyers either.

Just my $0.02 worth

Steve

I don't spend half the day cleaning my barrels. A few minuets passes with a CLP patch. Let sit for 10 miumets and the brush it 4-5 passes. them dry patch twice and then a light coating with a CLP patch.I then always dry patch it when I get to the range. It's SOP for me. It always lifts more fouling out when I dry patch it after it's sat with CLP in there for  days or weeks.  I store it with a light CLP in there and Dry patch it at the range before fireing.  Simple anough. WarDawg

Wardawg,

Keep doing what you are doing as SOP.

Let the rest of us overcomplicate a simple thing.


Battle rifles are simple. the fussing begins when we sharpen them too far or expect too much.

S-28

I have been told, anecdotally, that with a dripping wet bore, the first bullet may "squeegee" with enough lateral force to bulge a thin barrel.

do i buy it?  i dunno....

better to be safe?? sure...mop out the bore with a few patches before shooting.  good kharma.

A little off topic, but I doing a little reading on FP-10's website and they had a section on barrel cleaning. They mentioned wrapping the barrel brush with the patch that is used in the barrel. I tried it and it worked wonders. In other words, I took my bristled brush and wrapped a .22 patch around it. The patch came out dirty as hell. Is this a well known trick that I, foolishly, just learned, or is this new to others?

Does it really matter?

I use my worn brushes just for the method you brought up. A new brush its just to tight with a patch.