1st shot from a clean barrel - hardball gun

I'll start off with that I'm shooting my hardball Range Officer quite a bit, and the problem could obviously be me, so that would be a valid reply. 

Having said that, my RO seems to dial-in after about 5-10 rounds and shoots to call.  It seems consistent and accurate to where the POA was when the trigger was released, and if I did proper follow-through.  It stays consistent up to 150 rounds in a practice session which is where I get a bit "jumpy" after that many hardball rounds.

I've got an EIC match this weekend and I now need an 8-point leg to achieve Distinguished.  Thinking of competing with a clean gun, but dirty barrel.  I was going to stop by the range this afternoon and shoot a few rounds until the RO dialed-in again.

Thoughts on this?  I couldn't find anything from a forum search, so I apologize if this has already been discussed at length somewhere.

Is it possible for a gun to shoot better with a dirty barrel?

Doug

most guns shoot to a different spot with a clean barrel, but mine usually only take one round to get back and the first is only a little off

I've put over 1k through my hardball gun this year without cleaning and it still shoots just as well.  Do you think you really need to clean after every session?

Hardball is hardball! In otherwords do what you think is going to make it shoot a 10 the first shot! I personally have never had issues from a clean DRY barrel; always spot on. If you feel more comfortable with a fouled bore then by all means foul it. Leg matches are extra mental, so get rid of that lingering in the back of your mind "is it gonna be a good shot because my barrel is clean" and know that your in the 10 to start with.
Jon

Steve B wrote:I've put over 1k through my hardball gun this year without cleaning and it still shoots just as well.  Do you think you really need to clean after every session?

Part of my goal is to minimize the possibility of an alibi failure.  A fellow bullseye shooter (and forum member), once told me that a gun never failed from being too clean.  So, cleaning should help reach that non-alibi goal.

The Range Officer runs well for ~120 rounds or so, and starts failing to lock back on am empty mag as first indication of being "too dirty".  I have not run into any FTF/FTE issues within ~150 hardball loads and 17lb spring.

The clean barrel is suspect to overall accuracy for a few rounds.  This would be long-line shots during an EIC match.

Jon Eulette wrote:Hardball is hardball! In otherwords do what you think is going to make it shoot a 10 the first shot! I personally have never had issues from a clean DRY barrel; always spot on. If you feel more comfortable with a fouled bore then by all means foul it. Leg matches are extra mental, so get rid of that lingering in the back of your mind "is it gonna be a good shot because my barrel is clean" and know that your in the 10 to start with.
Jon

Good perspective.  That's why I like talking to all you experienced shooters on this forum.  Thanks.  I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow.

I'm going to foul the barrel this afternoon.

Doug

The Range Officer runs well for ~120 rounds or so, and starts failing to lock back on am empty mag as first indication of being "too dirty". 

Good thing the Hardball match is only 30 shots.  Prep the gun and the sights for that match and don't re-clean it.  
I don't think you would need to request an alibi for the slide not locking back on an empty magazine. 

Rob Kovach wrote:

The Range Officer runs well for ~120 rounds or so, and starts failing to lock back on am empty mag as first indication of being "too dirty". 

Good thing the Hardball match is only 30 shots.  Prep the gun and the sights for that match and don't re-clean it.  
I don't think you would need to request an alibi for the slide not locking back on an empty magazine. 

Agreed.  Slide lock doesn't trigger an alibi.  I haven't continued to run my gun past 150 rounds to see where it would actually fail for an alibi, so I should be more than good enough to go for the EIC match tomorrow.

Thanks.

I shot 500 rounds through my RO, got tired of the greasy nasty look and it still wouldn't fail to feed, cycle or eject so I cleaned it so I'm happy.  Where I see a significant difference is with my 22 conversion.  It seem to needs 10-20 rounds to be at the peak and then will trail off slightly after 300 rounds or so slightly.  All that is completely anecdotal, if I had a ransom rest I suppose I could actually validate or disprove it.

I am sort of on the same page. I clean my hardball gun every couple of hundred rounds just as a hedge against alibis.  I am also fortunate enough to be able to shoot at my home so I always fire 5 -10 rounds after cleaning before I put it in the case. I never really targeted it to see how much, if any, it moves from clean but I do it anyway. Could be just superstition.

you don't have to clean the barrel to keep it functioning, just the gun and the chamber.