cleaning a 22lr my thoughts

seen a lot on this lately so I thought id share my thoughts on the subject
then you are more then welcome to comment what you do and we will make a bit of info for people who might be having issues

personally I have a fair amount of experience with 22lr probably more than any other firearm i started shooting sporting rifle (basically small bore with a scoped rifle) competitively in the junior ranks at 14 years of age and was shooting in the club team until 23years when life took me in a deferent direction
in that time i estimate i have shot 85,000 rounds or so of match grade 22 ammo probably a lot less than some out there and even on this forum

so the old wifes tale is that you never clean a 22 barrel and while most hunters farmers and average shooters may for the most part be ok using this theory and never notice an issue for the most part if you shoot a lot and suddenly find yourself missing shots that you normally wouldn't its probably time to clean your barrel

what happens is eventually after 1000's rounds you get a carbon build up in the bore and this starts to affect accuracy
hunters wont notice till it gets really bad

target shooters will notice a lot sooner simply because they are looking to be more precise and will notice even the slightest change in the rifles performance

so when do i clean? i wait till i see a deuteration of accuracy not one bad target but several in a row.. one bad target can be coursed by a lot of things
when that is depends on the barrel could be 1000 rounds but could also be 10'000 rounds+

how do i clean my 22 barrel? i use a mild solvent such as hopes number 9 any of the 1000's of similar products a couple of wet patches wait 10 mins and a couple of dry ones do it again if required i refrain from using brushes unless i have to and even then only nylon
NEVER clean from the muzzle

I've been told it takes 1000's of rounds to get your accuracy back after cleaning is this true? absolutely not... it is 100% true that you need to refoul your barrel
but depending on your barrel this only takes between 5 and 20 rounds (normally around 10)

the other time i clean a 22 barrel is if i am switching ammo its important to start off with a clean barrel when trying new ammo because of oils or waxes on the bullets

anyway thats me and how i go about a 22lr
cheers
rambo

I clean mine after every use as I do with all my rifles . Accuracy doesn't seem to be overly affected - I still hit what I am aiming at being it minute of drinks can or minute of small animal vital parts .
I don't target shoot though so not trying to shoot the wings off a fly at 50 paces ....

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Originally Posted by Ftx325

I clean mine after every use as I do with all my rifles .

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Ditto, but I guess there's degrees of cleaning. If I'm feeling particularly serious about bagging a rabbit, I might put a couple of rounds in to the dirt before starting the "hunt". I think the phrase "never clean a 22" is used to justify putting wet/dirty rifles back in the safe. That's gun abuse in my book!

I VERY seldom clean barrel,but would be lucky if fire 50 rounds a year through my 22lr...the outside however gets the oily rag treatment every outing... my old Remington singleshot taught me not to clean barrel...that was half a box before it settled back down again.

@Ftx325 and @MB

if that's what you prefer do it that way im not gonna try and stop you certainly better than a rifle that hasn't been cleaned 50years bet be known that you will have flyers from the 1st few rounds 99% chance that wont affect hunting accuracy though

and you put them away fouled with the wax and oils from the bullets which will stop the bore from corroding aswell as anything you could put in there not dirty and wet :ORLY:

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I VERY seldom clean barrel,but would be lucky if fire 50 rounds a year through my 22lr...the outside however gets the oily rag treatment every outing... my old Remington singleshot taught me not to clean barrel...that was half a box before it settled back down again.

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yep exactly what i do
oily rag on the outside every use

I never clean till the action ( 10 / 22) starts to become unreliable , accuracy at this point is still highly acceptable to over 100mtrs on rabbits for me.
I run sub sonic which as we all know are dirty little buggers . Maybe every third action clean ( around 1200 - 1500 rounds ) I will drag a pull through down the barrel 2-3 times and that's it.
As Rambo mentioned a few shots are required for it to settle back down after a clean but by the time I run half a mag through it's business as normal.

The cleaning rates can vary from make to make and rifle to rifle. I have a French Unique that will flawlessly cycle a thousand rounds but the action isn't as tight as the Ruger.
Son's CZ 452 bolt starts to fail to extract after 200 - 300 rounds.
Like Rambo I am not a big fan of over cleaning and also there's a big difference between a target rifle at club level and a working rifle in rabbit infested Central Otago.

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

@Ftx325 and @MB

if that's what you prefer do it that way im not gonna try and stop you certainly better than a rifle that hasn't been cleaned 50years bet be known that you will have flyers from the 1st few rounds 99% chance that wont affect hunting accuracy though

and you put them away fouled with the wax and oils from the bullets which will stop the bore from corroding aswell as anything you could put in there not dirty and wet :ORLY:

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The 22 of mine that gets used 99 % of the time is a stainless Marlin pappose so simple to just run a rod with an oily patch down the removed barrel a couple of times when home . Just a force of habit I think more than anything . And I find cleaning my rifles relaxing and something I enjoy doing (yep , definitely a fruit loop!)
I don't get carried away though with brushes scrubbing it out so 'clean' is used loosely for that rifle . I wouldn't want to use it as a drinking straw .....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I VERY seldom clean barrel,but would be lucky if fire 50 rounds a year through my 22lr...the outside however gets the oily rag treatment every outing... my old Remington singleshot taught me not to clean barrel...that was half a box before it settled back down again.

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Same as me @mickey Duck

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Originally Posted by Ftx325

The 22 of mine that gets used 99 % of the time is a stainless Marlin pappose so simple to just run a rod with an oily patch down the removed barrel a couple of times when home . Just a force of habit I think more than anything . And I find cleaning my rifles relaxing and something I enjoy doing (yep , definitely a fruit loop!)
I don't get carried away though with brushes scrubbing it out so 'clean' is used loosely for that rifle . I wouldn't want to use it as a drinking straw .....

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Same, just patches.

Watching with interest. I haven't settled into a routine yet and have read heaps of different opinions online. I think you're onto it with the differing opinions between hunters and target shooters. I think with target shooters - not only are they monitoring accuracy more closely, but they go through a lot of rounds. I'm only shooting 2 or 3 weekends a month but going through at least 500 rounds in that space of time. Only two dead rabbits since I got my FAL but 100s of dead A4s.

There is a thing called Carbon Ring. It is a ring shaped carbon build up just around the throat of the barrel.

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=747449
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=418652
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum....php?t=1118746
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...is-it.3912845/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...-ring.3929225/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...-ring.3849274/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...hroat.3820581/

All 22LR guns will suffer from this and it will affect accuracy. Different grades of ammo would build up this carbon ring at different pace. Match chamber will experience this a lot faster than sporting chamber. But plenty of CZs can get it quickly too. Once you have it, cleaning with a patch or snake will not do. you really need to use solvent or scrub it.

Some ammo also leaves a lot of wax residue. When I use CCI STANDARD VELOCITY on my Kidd 10/22, after 150~200 rounds or so there would be so much wax build up that the rounds will not be loaded properly into the chamber, resulting in FTF. This can be cleaned with a snake, but the wax is sticky and can makes the snake very hard to pull. I have snapped a snake doing this. Imagine my headache at the time having a bore snake stuck in the barrel.

But after I switched to SK Magazine, which is a much cleaner ammo, I do not get this problem for 1000 rounds or more.

When I worked on pest board my Ruger 10/22 were cleaned about every 5000 rounds which worked well. That was when the rifle would start to jam or misdeed, a clean and she was way again, shot many thousands of rounds during my 30 years of pest control. My JW 15 after a fair few rounds will start to leave the shells in the chamber sometimes , after a clean using Hoppes and a bit of a scrub she's all good again.

I do a deep clean of any new rimfire I buy.
But I usually just oil the barrel and then before I leave I do 3 pull throughs. Still kills and hits what i aim at but I'm not an anal target person.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ultimitsu

There is a thing called Carbon Ring. It is a ring shaped carbon build up just around the throat of the barrel.

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=747449
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum...d.php?t=418652
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forum....php?t=1118746
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...is-it.3912845/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...-ring.3929225/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...-ring.3849274/
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...hroat.3820581/

All 22LR guns will suffer from this and it will affect accuracy. Different grades of ammo would build up this carbon ring at different pace. Match chamber will experience this a lot faster than sporting chamber. But plenty of CZs can get it quickly too. Once you have it, cleaning with a patch or snake will not do. you really need to use solvent or scrub it.

Some ammo also leaves a lot of wax residue. When I use CCI STANDARD VELOCITY on my Kidd 10/22, after 150~200 rounds or so there would be so much wax build up that the rounds will not be loaded properly into the chamber, resulting in FTF. This can be cleaned with a snake, but the wax is sticky and can makes the snake very hard to pull. I have snapped a snake doing this. Imagine my headache at the time having a bore snake stuck in the barrel.

But after I switched to SK Magazine, which is a much cleaner ammo, I do not get this problem for 1000 rounds or more.

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you got it

Three passes with a bore snake style pull through, last run with a bit of oil on the tale end of the pull through. that's it for me.

Bore snaked my norinco once in 40yrs.Deadly little shooter with its 14in barrel.

I use those VFG felt things, work real good on any .22 dia rifle be it centre fire or rim. It really huks the crud out.

Does anyone remove the brush from their bore snake?

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Originally Posted by johnd

I use those VFG felt things, work real good on any .22 dia rifle be it centre fire or rim. It really huks the crud out.

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Likewise. Been using them for several years.
If I decide to not do a full wet solvent dung out, a clean with VFG felt cleaners or even the VFG Super Intensive felts is the way to go.
If testing between brands I'll give the barrel a going over with VFG felts.
The Super Intensive ones can keep on top of carbon ring build up.

I see AHG Anschutz now market them.

Yes, also used them in CF.

Still have the last of a very old supply of similar felts in 177 cal that are fired thru an air rifle to clean the barrel.

I can’t remember the last time I cleaned my Sako 22, probably well overdue for a clean and some Breakfree.

Still shoots fairly well - if I do my bit.

@rambo-6mmrem

Am thinking my T1x is overdue a clean as i'm starting to get significant fliers with match ammo.

Can a 22lr handle centrefire cleaners?

I only have boretek eliminator on hand...

Otherwise I'll track down some more mild cleaners. I think I have a good deal of carbon and lead to remove

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Originally Posted by kiwi303

@rambo-6mmrem

Am thinking my T1x is overdue a clean as i'm starting to get significant fliers with match ammo.

Can a 22lr handle centrefire cleaners?

I only have boretek eliminator on hand...

Otherwise I'll track down some more mild cleaners. I think I have a good deal of carbon and lead to remove

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@kiwi303 Id just buy some hopes number 9 mate
Just about anywhere that sells rifles will sell it and it’s cheap
Bore tech Eliminator is probably ok though
They say on the bottle you can leave it in long term
Although I wouldn’t i would remove it and use proper oil for long term storage

Will Hoppes 9 remove carbon rings? I've heard of using brake cleaner. The idea of scrubbing worries me about doing damage.

If things get too dirty I chuck some carbin killer through it. Im a bit of a clean freak when it comes to my riffles so clean everything well after every shoot.

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Originally Posted by Rush

Will Hoppes 9 remove carbon rings? I've heard of using brake cleaner. The idea of scrubbing worries me about doing damage.

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Just use #9 for what it's good for, a dab on each wrist and maybe behind the ears and sniff away for hours. Whilst I love #9 and flood my rifle bores with it before storing it struggles to remove obstinate leading and carbon rings and Cu in CFs. The point to remember is carbon is insoluable so most of the snake oil claims about disolving carbon are no true.
The only way to remove bad carbon rings is by mechanical methods using a bore paste like Iosso. I only short stroke the chamber and then just enough to remove the carbon. And then stop once the carbon is removed. I check with a bore scope. If you continue scrubbing you will get black forever. This is parent metal, microscopic, but never the less, metal. It is important to not let the carbon ring get to the stage be it CF or RF that you need to wail into it to remove it.

For general cleaning of my RFs I use Boretech Rimfire Blend. It is supposed to remove lead and carbon (there's that claim again). I find it OK.

Most of the black that comes out with whatever cleaning product is loose carbon muck and is not the nasty harder to eliminate ring.

I still like good old Hoppes #9 for storage. There are better products out there for storage though.

I like Brakleen using it mostly in my CFs for flushing between different types of solvents. I buy a carton at a time which lasts me ages, not just for rifle cleaning.

Over the years I have tried all the various carbon "solvents" plus a few other like Mercury Outboard Top Engine cleaner, Subaru Top Engine cleaner. I have yet to try CLR. I am hesitant about putting an acid in my bores.

I did find Slip 1000 quite an effective cleaner.

i find if you get the barrel wet with hopes like wet and leave it or an hour hopes will loosen most things
bore tech rimfire is awesome but its bloody expensive as all bore tech products are good but pricy

if its really stubborn a few passes with a wet nylon brush be very careful!!!

have herd of people using warm soapy water and a nylon brush apparently that works well never tried it although i use exactly that on my black powder rifles which at the end of the day is just carbon so don't see why it wouldn't work on a 22 as long as you make dam well sure you get the water out

You're right about the Rimfire Blend being expensive. I made the mistake of buying it from a H & F shop. I plain needed it at the time. First and last time I shopped in H & F.

But I guess expensive is relative. If you've spent a small fortune on a rifle why not care for your investment with a maybe expensive bottle of something that's effective and will last ages.

Loose carbon/burnt powder is relatively easy to remove. Carbon rings as in CF however is actually a build up of several layers virtually fused to the metal. I have only one rifle that gives me shit with carbon rings and it's a CF not a RF. It is really bad with the WW760 I use. I didn't even understand the existence of carbon rings until one developed in that rifle. It took ages to remove.