Should I Clean My 22 Rifle Ever

[photoracer]

I clean my competitive rimfires every now and then. The real key is keeping the lube to a minimum. The barrel gets lubed by the ammo itself. If you use lead bullets inspect the barrel now and then. On pistols its the beech and slide that gets dirty. Also you will get some buildup from the copper coatings which come off fairly easier than most people think. Still most shooters like me clean them thoroughly only about 1 time a year. If it starts doing something wrong that is the time to clean it.

 

[ColonelHurtz]

Clean the action and spare the bore.

 

[RugerFan]

IMHO, more barrels have been damaged by "cleaning" (i.e. aggressive cleaning, especially with steel rods) than anything else.

I use a teeny bit of Ballistol on a bore snake, a few passes and that's it, folks. Most of my cleaning is all about the receiver.

YMMV...

 

[willy]

plus 1 for the 66 nylon. great rifle! My dad cleans his 66 every time he shoots it"old Marine" 40 some years old and still accurate. I shoot alot of shorts through a break barrel. I use a q tip and some solvent on the breech so lr's will fit that's it. I do blow out the residue every once in a while. Don't tell him, he bitch me out.

 

[-Z/28-]

Use a brass rod, not a steel one. Wouldn't the cleaning/not cleaning apply to AR .223's as well?

Looks like a lot of people don't clean their 22s and still shoot good groups. My 223 AR-15 is almost the same caliber. Do I need to clean my AR barrel or should I just leave it alone until the accuracy decreases? I usually just use Walmart Federal ammo through it.

No, AR-15s are not the same. 22 autos like the 10/22 are blowback operated(the recoil opens the action). AR-15's are gas operated. If you allow the gas system to get fowled up, the rifle will malfunction.

 

[Pinecone]

I shot on my college rifle team. The rifles got cleaned ONCE per year. At the end of the season.

Most people clean WAY too much.

 

[garyad]

I like to keep my stuff clean just because. Still trying to figure out why someone needs to shoot 500 birds with a rifle before they can compete with it.

 

[dist1646]

I clean all my 22's but 1 remington nylon 66
was told if I took it apart it's next to impossible to put back together

The Nylon 66 is simple to strip down for cleaning and put back together. They seem to run forever without it though.

Op, I inherited my grandfathers .22 and I can't tell you how many thousands of rounds were put through it before accuracy deteriorated due to lead build up. My grandfather used a simple wood dowel and patches for normal cleaning. When the accuracy finally started to deteriorate, I cut a Lead Away cleaning cloth and cut it into patches and used them to remove the build up. Then followed that up with a normal cleaning. The accuracy came back 100%.

 

[smokey]

Your .22 will tell you when it needs cleaned.

From a gunsmith: inspect the bore to insure you have no leading or obstructions before shooting.

I've replaced dozens of .22 barrels that were bulged or completely obstructed because of lead buildup.

Si vis pacem, para bellvm.

Keep a rough log of your groups and your shot count. Once groups start being effected, it's probably about time to clean out the fouling and start over. The interval between bore cleanings will be determined on the bore itself and how easily it fouls due to how smooth it is and the type of rifling. It's heavily effected by the type of ammo shot through the gun.

If you shoot good match stuff like wolf match or eley green tag, the bullets will be properly lubed and the barrel really shouldn't build up any absurd amount of fouling through thousands of shots. If you shoot crappy bulk pack lead ammo, they're likely not properly lubed and often cause leading in the last few inches of the barrel. Depending on the lead fouling, it can effect accuracy, or lead to squibs and a damaged barrel. Pistols generally don't foul as bad as rifles, because even crappy ammo has enough lube to work in the shorter length pistol barrels.

As a rule, the barrels need waaaay less cleaning than the actions. Feel free to scrub up the bolt groups and around the extractor to your heart's content.

 

[alucard0822]

I do like some others here, clean and lube the reciever eafter firing a brick or two, boresnake the barrel once and check for leading. My 10/22 has a lapped match barrel, so with decent ammo, not much fouling sticks to the bore. I have actually "cleaned" it by shooting Wolff or mini mags a couple times, where some old cheap ammo left a bit of lead fouling, followed it up with good ammo, it busted up the lead, and blew little flakes out till the bore was clean after a few rounds.

 

[BlackBart]

From a gunsmith: inspect the bore to insure you have no leading or obstructions before shooting.

I've replaced dozens of .22 barrels that were bulged or completely obstructed because of lead buildup.

Si vis pacem, para bellvm.

Welp......there you go. Never thought a 22 would bulge a barrel but if he says so, I believe it.

 

[Mark75H]

I agree with clean it when it tells you to.

Some guns run cleaner than others ... the 10-22 runs VERY clean, as does the Nylon 66 ... the Marlin 60 on the other hand ... runs into fouling of the action much sooner. I generally clean the breech and bore when I clean the action on my Marlins. I've only cleaned my Nylon once and that was when I first got it.

Barrels ... again the same. I've had more experience with wax fouling .22's than lead or powder residue. Unless the ammo runs real sooty or waxy, thousands of rounds between running a boresnake thru my .22's


In response to the gunsmith's comment ... we know lots of owners completely neglect their guns ... the damaged barrels may have easily fired 10's of thousands of rounds without cleaning. I agree ... inspect and clean as necessary

 

[Boom Boom]

I was told the same thing about my Browning BuckMark.

The Buckmark is close to stupid easy to disassemble/assemble.

As for cleaning, none of my 22LR bores ever need more than a few patches pulled through. The only time it gets more complicated is if you shoot the cheap ammo that causes bad lead fouling.