A rifle left uncleaned after firing accumulates fouling, a residue of burnt propellant and metal shaved from the bullet's jacket, along the inside of the barrel. Left long enough, this residue attracts moisture and begins to pit the steel with rust, and a pitted barrel loses accuracy in a way that cannot be undone by cleaning after the fact; the metal itself has been damaged. Routine cleaning after use is therefore not primarily about appearance, since a rifle can look clean on the outside while fouling builds invisibly inside the barrel where it matters most.
It can be inferred from the passage that once a barrel has been pitted by rust,
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Correct answer to question 116 (Paragraph Comprehension): later cleaning cannot restore the accuracy that was lost
Method
The passage says a pitted barrel loses accuracy in a way that cannot be undone by cleaning after the fact, since the metal itself has been damaged, supporting the second choice directly.
Updated: November 2026
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