Clean rimfire bore?

NickCWinter

It was in the magazine: Do clean the works of your .22 rimfire after use, but you need not clean the bore every time. Your opinion?

MIKE WISKEY

i agree, unless there is a build up of fouling a clean bore will not shoot any better that one with several thousand rounds through it nor will cleaning make it last any longer. unless done properly, cleaning will put much more wear on a bore than shooting will (this is for both rimfire and center fire).

mark christian

Since the .22 rimfire went smokeless there have probably been more .22 barrels worn out by cleaning than by shooting. By all means clean the action, particularly on auto loaders, but spare the barrel from any heavy handed cleaning. In the case of my own .22 match rifles and pistols I NEVER clean the inside of their barrels. A single pass of the cleaning rod is equal to shooting over 500 rounds of match grade ammunition (some say even more than that number) and as Mike mentioned, you gain nothing from cleaning these barrels anyway. If you MUST do some kind of cleaning (I KNOW that you want to) simply use a single patch soaked in whatever cleaner you are using and push it through and out of the bore- do not pull it back throough and then remove it. Avoid using a bristle brush of any kind (copper, brass, ect.) as they are simply not needed and will really wear out the delicate rifling. Go out and shoot your rimfire and have some fun!

Mark T. Christian

trooperchin

Can someone please explain this ???

Go Army Beat Navy
IF you wanna have fun join the cavalry

buckdeer

"trooperchin" those guys that posted above are correct you do not need to clean 22 rimfire barrels, the actions yes, barrels no. the reason is that the 22 rimfire is a lead bullet at very low velocity where as a centerfire round is a copper jacketed bullet and much higher velocities. the high velocity of the later will create a much larger amount of fiction between the bore and bullet thereby causing small amounts of jacket to imbed in the rifling. the rimfire doesn't have this problem. if you were to shoot lead bullets in a centerfire round at very low velocity you wouldn't have to clean them much either.

Der Gebirgsjager

I, for one, don't feel very good about these answers. I have had many .22 rifles come through my shop that had lost accuracy due to leaded barrels. Some were restored to passable accuracy by removal of the fouling. Also, powder ash, wax, copper coatings, and lead will attract moisture (soak it up) from a humid environment allow the moisture to accumulate in the bore in the residue and between the residue and the surface of the bore and result in rust. Taking any firearm from a cold out-of-doors winter environment into a warm house will cause condensation, and for that reason alone one should run a dry patch followed by an oiled patch through the bore (and wipe down the exterior of the firearm) before putting it away, fired or not.

jonk

I clean my bores about every 2000 rounds, with one patch wet, one dry, one oiled, and one dry. With centerfires, I clean after every shoot but use bore guides when possible.

"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf

NickCWinter

Thanks for the info. Now, if they'd just come up with an easier way to field strip a Ruger Mark II.

hondo

NickCWinter,checkout the speed strip kit for the MKII at www.majesticarms.com...............Hondo

king999

Interesting! a month or two ago, I recommended (in this forum) no bbl cleaning on 22's. A bunch of the guys jumped all over me for saying that you'll do more harm than good cleaning the bore. Now, an article in AR bears me out and suddenly you agree with what I said months ago.
Morty
Have fun, be careful!

NickCWinter

Hondo - Thanks for the site reference, re, Mk. II field stripping kit!