Beyond the break-in period, how often (# of rounds) do you guys clean your high end match barrels?  I'm down to needing a barrel for my SPR upper plus I'm thinking next of building a 16" Recce style rifle.  Haven't decided on the barrel mfg., but they will probably be Douglas, Kreiger, Lilja, etc.

I've been shooting tactical match bolt guns for 5 years and have always followed the norm of firing no more than 20rounds (max 30) between cleanings.  I might be at the range all day and never shoot more than 40rds.  But that's bolt guns.  It seems kind of counter productive to have a combat style rifle (Recce) and limit youself to one mag between cleanings.

So, how much do you shoot between cleanings?  And what if any is the limit before accruacy degrades and/or excessive barrel wear occurs?

Thanks!
-Red-

Clean my M1A after every match, 50 round course of fire plus 5 sighters. have gone back to back matches 105 rounds no problems. I clean bolt face, chamber and bore.  and re lube the op rod guide track everytime. maybe twice a season i pull the stock off to take car of rust, dust and dirt. gas system 400 rounds plus or minus.

with an ar you should easly go the same distance if not more and not loose any accuracy.

CMP cof 10  rounds 10 mins
10 rounds 60 sec
10 rounds 70 sec
20 rounds 20 min (more like 12 for me i rush it)


clean is mainly soaking the barrel with butchs run a bronze brush down to remove carbon, and repeat till no carbon is in the bore, butch does remove copper not as agrresive as some but well enough for me.

You should still clean it every time you shoot.  The difference is HOW you clean it and what you clean it with.  Basically, you should baby it more.

IMO, I reccomend:
Rifle Cradle
Sinclair Cleaning Link
Dewey male-threaded rod (NOT the Dewey 'service rod')
A good quality rod guide.
Brass rod accessories.

Brownell's sells male threaded accessories like brass core brushes.

I do clean every firearm that I own each and every time I go out to shoot it.  Regardless if it's 5 rds or 300 rds.  Some of my friends think I'm anal that way.  And I do have all the right cleaning equipment.  JP bore guide, Dewey Rod, etc.

I typically don't think much of firing 100-300 rounds through a Colt Chrome lined barrel in a day.  But my question is regarding high $$$ match barrels.  Again, I've always been taught no more than 20rds between cleanings and that seems impractical in the AR platform (or any semi-auto for that matter).

Thanks Gregory_K for you input.  That's what I'm looking for. Anyone else?

I shoot moly-coated bullets for two reasons: it cuts down on deposits in the bore, and it makes cleaning much easier.  I clean at the end of the day every time the rifle is fired, but the bore only needs 2 patches wet with Kroil and to dry patches.  Every 500 rounds or so I follow that with 2 patches loaded with JB Bore Paste, a dry patch, 10 passes with a bronze brush and Sweet's 7.62 followed by a 15 minute soak, 2 dry patches, and a squirt of brake cleaner through the gas tube to remove any residues.  I then condition the bore with Midway Moly Bore Prep.  I find that the first shot is in the group at 300 yards.  I may not need the Sweet's since I've never seen a blue patch after break-in is done, but I want to be sure I don't  have any copper lurking in there.  I will fire as many a 100 rounds in NRA Highpower and Long Range competition with no loss in accuracy at distances as long as 1000 yards.  I could probably go 200 rounds or more before cleaning, especially since I use Vihta Vuori N-550 powder which is very clean-burning, but I prefer to clean after 100 to be sure.  Highpower is a stringent test, especially since we shoot the 200 and 300 yard stages first and finish at 600 on the most difficult target.

well, i dont have a HIGH dollar barrel, but i have a SS ER shaw match heavy bbl...and all i do is squirt break free down the bore, let it soak for 5 minutes, then pull a boresnake through.  Clean as a whistle.

im a lazy bastidge.