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I have always wondered about this. My usual practice in cleaning a firearm is to run a light patch of oil through the barrel after I have cleaned it and before storing it. Then when I get ready to shoot it again I will first run a bore snake through the barrel which dries it and take it to the range.

I did the usual google search and got all sorts of opinions from...don't shoot with oil in the barrel you might blow it up, to just "bad things can happen" or there will be negative pressure on the barrel and you will ruin it, etc. etc....to the other side which said oh that is okay! we did it in the marines all the time! you get better groups if you have a light film of oil in the barrel, etc. etc. etc.

I did not see any hard scientfic testing one way or the other.

What do you folks think?

dlh

Here is a video from Mike Lamb on how to break in a barrel. At 3:10 into the video Mike explains why you should clean the barrel to remove any oil before breaking in the barrel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVCrDjH3mmQ

I find it difficult to see how a coating of oil would increase the pressure inside the barrel anywhere close to what the charge in the ammunition would. I suppose if you filled the barrel up with oil and shot straight up it might be a problem. I know I have shot a MAC10 with oil coating the barrel and for the first 10 rounds or so there was more flash from the barrel. I suppose oil that burns off could leave more residue that powder alone, so the gun would get dirtier, but I usually just run one final patch through the barrel after cleaning. I also work the action 3-5 times to work the oil around. I guess this could leave more in the chamber since I don't wipe it afterward.

Sometime, I keep a well oiled barrel and shoot it at the range. No harm that I can detect. Other than a small mist of oil flying out of the barrel.

I leave a light coat of LCP in my barrels after cleaning. I do it to protect the bore. The barrel isn't "wet" per se, but it does have a thin film on it. I do this with both long and handguns. Look at it this way..... if you have to draw your carry gun, are you going to tell the bad guy, "wait a sec, while I run a patch through this bore.....then I'll deal with you directly"? No. Are you going to carry your handgun with a dry unprotected bore, against your sweaty body, during hot humid Texas summers? You shouldn't.

Rifles and shotguns are no different. Run a wet patch of whateverpleasesyou through your bore, then run a dry patch through to soak up the excess, leaving a thin film behind. No worries.

I'm with TAM on this, though I use Fireclean.

On another note, there are those who think "breaking in" a rifle barrel is waste of time.

30+ years of shooting first shot with a light film of oil in the barrel here as well.
I notice it leaves a black ring around the hole in the paper...

I agree with TAM, but in general I'd accept "we did it in the Marines" before I'd accept most of the gun "advice" I find on the internet.