Reg bullets to monolithics, cleaning required? And another odd question

[Alberta Bigbore]

With some reading, i find comments that one should completely clean a bore between switch from one kind of bullet to another. Example Corelok, to barnes ttsx.



Another question for the more knowledgeable .

After a nice easy break in, ( although was told by many to just cleangun and barrel, the light oiled patch after, then shoot away, including by a gunsmith) i started to play with different rounds in the mark V. Used cheapy factorys for my basic break in, then onto soe eldx 162. Norma whitetails 150. Vortx 150 ttsx. And today 139 LRX. No i dont reload. Yet!


So after a flubbed moose hunt today, i brought out the 7mag out and tried some 139 LRX factories for first time. Wow after shotn1 and 2 thought i had it made.

. Shot 1. Bull. Cool 10 min, Shot 2. Made hole 1 a little wider. 10 min cool between shots. ( im a believer the first shot counts, when going for accuracy finding a load to settle on so let cool up to 10 mins.
Shot 3, high 1/2 in and 1 inch right. Cool for 10, shot 4, in hole 3. Wtf. Cool 10. Shot 5, in hole 1 and 2 making a beautiful raged hole punch. Could i have touqued my hand weird for shots 3 and 4?? Changed target, and re did 5 shots. Same scenerio result. Just find it very odd.

The 150ttsx, i get ragged hole for 3 , 5 or 7 shot groups. So dunno what was up with the LRX 139gr

[fps plus]

My experience has been that monoliths don’t like to shoot as well after regular core bullets have been shot before them without the barrel being cleaned .

[Dick284]

Clean all the gilding metal from regular bullets out of your bore before switching to Monolithics. Regular cup/core gilding metal is way harder than the metal used in the Monolithics, and therefore when the monolithic travels over the harder gilding metal the Monolithics are literally stripped of copper at a disproportionate rate. Barnes talked to this back in the day(read the manual)

And expect to spend some time cleaning your bore, as deep cleaning copper isn’t an easy task (Teslong borescope) proves this out, as even if the wonderful Wipeout is used, you’ll find various layers of carbon and copper in your bore, and the carbon is the SOB to remove(JB’s or Iosso) again the borescope proves this out.

Then again maybe your rifle doesn’t like the 139 LRX’s………

[elkhunter11]

Some barrels will tolerate switching from cup and core to monometals, and back, some won't. I do a full clean between, just in case. As for the 139gr LRX, it hasn't shot as well in my rifles as the 140 or 150 TTSX.

[Pathfinder76]

Breaking in barrels is a waste of time. Some barrels will be affected by going from gilding metal to solid copper and some won’t. Copper is EASY to remove compared to carbon and we have a plethora of powder with copper cleaning agents in them and they absolutely work. If you have a barrel that is a struggle to get copper out of get rid of it. Shooting groups while allowing a barrel to cool between shots is a great way to know nothing about your setup.

[elkhunter11]

I will add, that I don't wait 10 minutes between shots either, I shoot a three shot group, then let the barrel cool. If there is an issue with bedding or a stressed barrel that moves as it heats up, I want to know about it. As for needing a second and third shot, it's nice to believe that one shot will always be all that is required, but that isn't always the case.

[Pathfinder76]

If you insist that you never need a second shot then don’t shoot a rifle with a magazine in it. Solid bottom receivers are available (and more accurate) as are a bunch of single shot options.

[birdseye]

My 300Wby shoots Accubonds,Ballistic tips and E-Tips all the same without cleaning and all sub moa.The rifle just shoots awesome,found thecright load recipie and seating depth and its been lights out since 🤷*♂️

[LJalberta]

I’ve not noticed a difference between cleaning a barrel and not cleaning a barrel when switching to monos. This is in both a 6.5 CM and a .308 and having tried Barnes TTSX, LRX, Hammer Hunters and Cutting Edge monos in both. I used to clean before switching. Then got lazy and just switched. Sure enough, no difference noted. I normally shoot lead bullets due to costs, but have done load dev on each of the above to play around with monos for hunting. So no shortage of switching.

I’ve now gone away from cleaning entirely unless I notice a degradation in accuracy.

[3blade]

I had 1.5-2.5 inch groups with the 139 LRX out of a Christensen Mesa 7 mag. Kicked a little hard and primers a little flattened. I did not pay that much money for poop groups, so switched to 150gr ttsx. One ragged hole, noticeably less recoil. Sold the LRX

Several others across different forums have had issues with factory LRX, that resolved with a switch to TTSX. IMO barnes may be pushing the LRX a little too hard to achieve published stats, and a slightly tighter chamber or less jump makes them misbehave.

We’ve all heard about monos not liking other fouling. I think it’s barrel dependent, but they are all I use so I can’t say for sure.