Never clean a .22 rifle

[Picher]

Being a gun tinkerer, part-time gunsmith, and competitive shooter for many years, I'll share these thoughts:

All 22LR ammo has a wax coating, even copper-washed bullets. Some wax is harder than others and seems to not grunge up semi-auto actions as quickly. I don't use Wolf in my semi-autos for that reason, but choose Winchester Dynapoint, Federal bulk-pack, etc. when accuracy isn't paramount.

More .22LR barrels are damaged more by cleaning than by shooting. It's not the bronze brush as much as the dirty cleaning rod or bore snake that does it. Many priming compounds contain ground glass that stays in the barrel. A cleaning rod can pick the grit up and turn itself in to a rod saw very quickly.

Barrels that are cleaned from the muzzle generally have the shortest accurate life because the crown and last inch are the most important and most easily damaged parts of the bore. Even when cleaning from the breech end, a good rod guide should be used to mnimize rod/bore contact.

I've never seen corrosion in a .22 LR barrel that has been left dirty, but have seen it in bores that were cleaned, but not coated with a protectant afterwards.

For benchrest shooting, barrels cleaning need varys from barrel to barrel. Some older barrels need cleaning on each benchrest target 30-40 rounds for optimum accuracy. Some almost never need cleaning.

Leading often occurs in some barrels, just ahead of the chamber and a well-used brush is used to scrub that out, then a wet or dry patch run through prior to the next target.

I just run a dry patch through my rifle after each target, but never after the final target of the day. Then, before firing again, I'll run a dry patch through. That way, the wax protects the bore from corrosion. At the end of the season, I'll often clean the barrel thoroughly, then use Break-Free to preserve it.

Barrels take anywhere from 5 to 12 rounds to settle down after bore cleaning. Since they also take about 5 shots to warm properly, shooting a clean bore isn't a big problem. Serious first-shot flyers are more prevalent in semi-auto rifles primarily due to the differences between hand-operated and rifle-operated return-to-battery.

Actions are another situation, however. Semi-autos may need to have the barrel and bolt faces cleaned after 200 rounds, or each shooting session. Failure to clean those surfaces can cause poor ignition, misfires, failures to extract or eject, and jams.

Magazines and feed ramps should be cleaned whenever build-up causes misfeeds.

The average bolt-action rimfire can shoot for a long time before needing cleaning if top groups are not a goal. If a rifle only groups 3/4" or worse, or if cheap ammo is used, group size is not appreciably improved by cleaning.

Every long-time shooter has their own method of cleaning or not-cleaning. Take the time to check your bore often. A dry patch will often tell whether leading is occurring. Small silver flakes will be caught in the cloth. Don't wait until it's heavily leaded before cleaning.

Picher

[jakeswensonmt]

My 10/22 get so filthy after a brick I can't imagine not cleaning it. A six-petaled flower of waxy crud forms on the crown, and the barrel gets matte and nasty. I'd be ashamed if someone saw it looking like that, even if it still shot perfectly.

[JWT]

There's just something about putting a gun away without cleaning it that goes against my judgement. Probably because my dad always insisted that we clean our guns after shooting them, even just a few shots.

.22s may be different animals, but with the wax etc. on some of the ammo I can't avoid cleaning the barrels......it just doesn't seem right.

[Alwaysloaded]

Ive got a marlin .22 long rifle semi auto, had it for about 11 years now. Shot probably 20,000 plus rounds through it, and have never cleaned it once. Just put a few drops of oil on bolt and down barrel and lean so it runs out. May sound crazy but it works

[Trapper L]

I have a few target 22s like Anshutzs and Winchesters and Remingtons. None will ever get a barrel cleaning. I clean the actions and etc but not the barrel. I did that once to a Model 75 and it took almost a brick of ammo before it started shooting again. I don't know anybody shooting rimfire in competition that cleans the barrel.

[grimjaw]

I clean the action more thoroughly than the barrel. The barrel gets a boresnake coated with Hoppes sometimes, or a nylon brush if it gets neglected. I did *not* pay much for my .22s, and don't see any reason to spend three times their worth in cleaning gear yearly.

jm

[joab]

I have a Savage 6A hat has not been cleaned in 25 years

I think I may have run a patch through it back in 92 or so and occasionally I will spritz the action with what ever aerosol I have handy, I think the last time was pre Y2K

Never had any failure or malf what so ever and it is still as accurate as that day 25 years ago when I shot a snake through the head at a verified 125 yards
My eyes were much younger then

[surg_res]

I don't own a .22 worth more than $150. With that said, and even though I firmly believe the opposite with centerfires, if I shoot the life out of it and never give it but an occasional simple scrub, then I'm saving time and money. Of course, I'm usually just plinking away at soda cans, and squirrels from 40 feet, so accuracy isn't my goal.

My grandfather, who was a farmer, had an old 22 that he tossed around like the rest of his old rusty tools. He didn't even own a cleaing rod, let alone worry about cleaning it--and of course it shot just fine. On the same note, he also had one of those old SxS DB "farm" shotguns with the external hammers, even more rusty and beat up than the 22. That gun always made me nervous by its condition, however, he shot it like it was new.

[Brad Clodfelter]

The ole clean or not clean rimfire thread always gets a lot of opinions.

But that in itself is a good thing. We all are set in our ways. But sometimes our set ways keeps us from seeing the light at the edge of the horizon.

Brushing out a rimfire barrel won't harm a thing, and a matter of fact will help the gun to shoot even better more times than not. A brush will clean the heavy burn't powder fouling that gets in the throat area of a rimfire barrel. It will also keep a barrel from leading up. Some barrels may take longer than others to start shooting back to where they were prior to using a brush, but a true precision cut barrel will be back on in about 5-10 shots. If your barrel takes a whole box to get to shooting again, it more than likely isn't a very precision barrel to begin with. My Benchmark barrel on my Suhl, or the original Suhl barrel as well, didn't take many shots at all after running a brush through them to be back to shooting like it was. I brush my barrel after about every 200-300 rounds. It shoots holes for groups.

Cleaning a rimfire barrel is a good thing as long as it's done the right way. On a bolt action rifle, you need a good bore guide that lines up with the bore perfectly. A good hard cleaning rod like the Denny Phillips cleaning rod with a Rockwell hardness of 35 is an exceptional rod. Denny polishes his rods to near chrome like shine. The hardness and the mirror like finish, helps to keep contaminents from sticking to the rod when your pushing it through your barrel. Bill Calfee has even said that Denny's rods are a perfect rod. A hard rod is less likely to bend when pushing it through the bore, thus keeping its straightness after years of use. I would say it's safe to say that more rimfire barrels were wore out prematurely by using cheap rods that are bent and not straight or of the proper hardness, and not using a good bore guide, and improper cleaning methods. When you use a bent rod, or a rod that's not of proper hardness, or an aluminum rod, your actually killing the life of your barrel.

Brad

[Hardtarget]

When I was a kid I went to see an exhibition shooter that worked for Marlin. I think it was Col. Lawson. He talked about cleaning his rifles.All he did was wipe down with an oily cloth...and said he had several hundred thousand rounds through that gun. I've looked at my model 60...it NEEDS cleaning! ( not near his round count!).

Mark.

[Picher]

Call me nuts, but I think the worse thing you can put through your barrel is a dirty bore snake!!! It can hold all kinds of grit and abrade sharp edges of the rifling and crown.

It would be interesting to do a test where three identical rifles are purchased. One bore is never cleaned, another is cleaned after every 100 rounds with a properly fitting steel rod and benchrest quality bore guide, and the third cleaned with boresnakes, clean and dirty.

The problem is, unless they were all stainless barrelled benchrest rifles shooting top match ammo, it would probably take about 100,000 rounds through each barrel to see much difference in accuracy. :-)

Picher

[Selfdfenz]

I agree with one of the earlier comments regarding the dirt and grit on the cleaning rod shaft being problematic. Grit and such sitting on a metal surface of a metal cleaning rod, that has no "give", to my mind is a less desirable scenario than the same material sitting in/on the fibers and woven matrix of a bore snake which can give and flex. Not saying I have any scientific data to support one system being better or worse than the other but it seems that would be hypothetically correct.

Both problems are easy to circumvent. Back in the day I was taught to run a patch down the rod or pull the rod through a patch on every pass. Fast forward to the present, I wash my bore snakes periodically and completely.
For rim fires I rarely use either anymore. I keep a spool of high test salt water fishing line in the cleaning tray and make a new pull-thru when I decide to clean something.

Re the original question: I'm of the school of thought that the barrels of rim fires can go w/o cleaning after every use. From an accuracy POV they can go many, many, many rounds between cleaning depending on the unit in question. As long as the action is crude-free enough to function and the rifle isn't too dirty to handle I just do a wipe-down and get as many goobers out of the action or bolt area with patches and cotton swabs as possible. A little lube where needed and back to storage. That's also the school of thought that adheres to the idea that constant disassembly/assembly of firearms causes more ware and opens up the tolerances more than just shooting it.

Best
S-

[johnbt]

Common nylon fishing line is highly abrasive. That's why good rods have silicone carbide inserts in the line guides. You aren't using it enough to do any real damage, but someone else might be tempted to use it frequently. The real problem would be pulling it out of the muzzle at an angle and wearing a groove in one side of the crown.

John

[rampage841512]

As someone has already said, do what the manual says. Mine said clean it after shooting it. So I did, and do, with all my firearms.

[Picher]

We were taught to run a bronze brush back and forth through a barrel at least 10 times to get fouling out, especially centerfires. The benchrest folks taught me to grind the threads off brushes and push them through from breech to muzzle, then take them off the rod, spray with brake cleaner and run them through again...do not pull them back through!!! The grit on the brush can quickly damage the crown, especially, sharp target crowns.

If folks use weedeater line, it would be a good idea to make a muzzle cap with a hole smaller than bore size that would center the line, preventing it from rubbing on the last inch of barrel and crown.

Picher

[Wisby]

Single shot .22 lr that worked great untill you cleaned it.

[saltydog452]

Chamber, recessed bolt face, and extractor need occasional cleaning. Magizines also for competitive semi autos.

salty.

[Selfdfenz]

"Common nylon fishing line is highly abrasive."

Sorry johnbt I just don't buy that. Reference?

Best

S-

[oldbillthundercheif]

do what the manual says

Nah, do what The Clodfelter says. He's better than a manual.

[jhgreasemonkey]

My marlin 80 was so dirty that it wouldnt eject a round from the chamber after each shot. Ran a bore brush through it and cleaned the chamber, it was pretty gunked up. Works fine when clean. That was probably years of build up since I got the rifle used and it needed to be cleaned.

[Brad Clodfelter]

oldbillthundercheif,

Not sure I take that as a compliment or not, but hey you got your way of thinking. I can tell you this much that most people who shoot sanctioned rimfire matches and win, are cleaning their rifles after every target from what I seen. Some will use patches only for so many shots, and others will brush and patch after so many shots. But most I know are running a brush through the barrel after so many shots if they want their barrel to shoot its best.

I don't think any manual is a cleaning bible to how to correctly clean a rimfire barrel. A lot of thoughts on cleaning of the do's and dont's to what works for some and what works for others. Your an adult, you decide what is right for you.

Brad

[oldbillthundercheif]

Yes, it was a compliment.

I can tell you this much that most people who shoot sanctioned rimfire matches and win, are cleaning their rifles after every target from what I seen.

Damn... times have changed. The last big smallbore match I shot was in '96 and the "wait until the round won't chamber before you clean" crowd was still fairly dominant back then. In this case, change is good.

And as far as fouling shots go, I bet you are right that 10 is plenty. I always ran a box through my rifle just to be on the safe side. There is nothing worse than shooting a sub-standard card and not being sure if it was you or the rifle...

[Brad Clodfelter]

Ok then thanks. Sorry for not knowing which way to read ya.

The rimfire benchrest guns that are being produced this day and age will amaze you just how damn accurate they are. My Suhl seems to shoot better groups than score, but I'm still learning. It will shoot 50yd 5 shot groups in the low .1's a lot of times. My best group to date was .076ctc. Just a hair bigger than this smiley I brush my barrel every 4-6 boxes.

Brad

[JohnKSa]

I can tell you this much that most people who shoot sanctioned rimfire matches and win, are cleaning their rifles after every target from what I seen. Some will use patches only for so many shots, and others will brush and patch after so many shots. But most I know are running a brush through the barrel after so many shots if they want their barrel to shoot its best.

YES. If you are a benchrest competitor, you will get slightly better accuracy out of your rimfire by cleaning it frequently with a brush. The guys who do this will also usually admit that it's hard on the barrel.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...9&postcount=41

http://members.cox.net/benchrest/Rim...es.html#Assort

See article #74.

This guy found that cleaning frequently and thoroughly with a brush shrank his average group size (average of 8 groups) by two hundredths of an inch...that's 0.02". He also notes that he wore out two rimfire barrels in the last year or so. That's pretty amazing considering that a rimfire barrel should normally last several lifetimes.

[Brad Clodfelter]

John,

I've read that many of times over and over. Maybe the guy just wasn't using the best rod or bore guide either. There's a lot of maybes there that you or I just don't know. I do know that my original Suhl barrel that I recently had Gene Davis take off my Suhl to put a Benchmark barrel on, was still shooting itsy bitsy holes for groups. It probably would out shoot a lot of barrels at least for groups in my honest opinion. The barrel was stamped 11/74 meaning Nov of 1974 for when it was made. I bought it from a guy in MI who said he used a brush to clean it. He bought it from a guy in CA. The guy in CA bought it from a guy in NC. The guy in NC bought it from someone else not sure of the state. So that's at least 5 owners who owed this Suhl that still shot holes for groups when I rebarreled it. I would bet money that a many of a rod with a brush was ran through the bore. It shot great when I bought it, and even when I had the original barrel taken off for a new Benchmark barrel as I said. Most people would die to have a barrel that shot this good straight from the factory. I know I put a many of a brush and rod through the bore. I ask Gene Davis to borescope the Suhl barrel because I plan to later put it on a another gun. He said the barrel looked good to him according to the borescope. That's a barrel that is 33 years old with several I don't know how many thousands of rounds through the bore.

I'll leave you a tidbit of how it shot at 25yds with Eley Biathlon EPS. This was .021ctc from a wore out brushed barrel by the way. At 50yds it would shoot in the low .2's are less quite often.



Here's another where I actually was shooting out my aiming point which was dead center.



Now if cleaning a barrel the right way with the right bore guide and a good hard rod wears out a barrel, my Suhl barrel must have been hardheaded.

No hype here, just the cold hard truth.