[makdaddy03]

Anybody read the Question and Answer article in the "American Rifleman June 2003" about cleaning 22 rimfires? What do you think of the reply?:confused:

[Standing Wolf]

If people choose not to clean their guns very often, that's fine with me. Every gun I own gets thoroughly cleaned after every trip to the range.

[P95Carry]

Can't comment on the article but .... would say that, I do find a fair degree of cleaning seems wise (for me) because of the inate dirtyness of .22 ammo.

Both my .22 semi pistol and also rifle .. both will eventually tend to malfunction if left too long.

I see it this way ..... crud builds up ..... both as powder particles on and around slide and ........ more important ... general crud and bullet lube build up in the extractor claw recess beside breech .... probably eventually helping prevent full bolt closure and thence a light strike ...... because case not seated against breech face and so inadequate ''anvil'' effect.

For me anyways .... after several hundred rounds ... a substantial clean is always beneficial .....

[J Miller]

Didn't read the article, don't get American Rifleman. But every gun I shoot gets cleaned. Rimfire or centerfire. I don't buy into the b.s. that 22's don't need to be cleaned, or that they are self cleaning. Bull pucky!
I have picked up and fired gun club .22's that were so caked with lube and powder fowling that my hands were black from it. If they had been repeaters they would have never functioned.

In my opinion this not cleaning a .22 is abuse. Just as over cleaning it would be.

[Nick96]

Don't know if it's the same article, but I read something a while back about not cleaning the barrel of a .22 rimfire. The theory being that the brushes & solvents caused more wear than shooting .22's through it.

Don't know I'd really buy into that though. I have a couple of pretty old .22's with thousands of rounds and hundreds of barrel cleanings - without any ill effects. Regardless of barrel cleaning though, everything else that typically gets cleaned should continue to get cleaned. That said though, my old Ruger Mk-1 only gets a take down and thorough cleaning after a couple thousand rounds. After each trip to the range though, the barrel and any other area I can reach with solvent soaked brushs & patches get cleaned - then wiped & oiled.

[MoNsTeR]

Don't clean the bore.
Clean the action as necessary.

[Longbow]

I only use solvent on the action and chamber, the rest of the barell is left uncleaned. I notice that the accuracy and POI is not the same when I clean the barell. I takes a couple of rounds (20-25?) before the accuracy and POI comes back to normal. That's something I observed during my bullseye days.

[Dorrin79]

well, here's one for you...

I keep all my guns clean, including my 10/22, but NOT my MKII Target.

As some of you may remember I had alot of problems with it when I first got it. (jammed constantly) I finally resolved that by shooting the heck out of it with hyper-velocity ammo until the action loosened up.

I've now noticed a pattern. If I clean & lube the gun, it chokes on the first 3-5 mags of ammo next time I take it out. After 3-5, it stops having problems.

So, my new policy on the MKII is not to clean it. I'll probably still give it a good scrubbing every 2K rds or so, but no more regular cleaning.

[MJRW]

Clean a .22? I don't understand. Was that a typo?

[B27]

Unburned propellant residues are hygroscopic. They absorb and hold water.
I never put an uncleaned firearm back in my safe and feel that in Atlanta's humid climate that is the best course.
Of course, to each his own.:)

[9mmepiphany]

sorry old time .22 match shooter here...from the days when i shot on the ROTC rifle team, we never cleaned our rifles. granted this was with bolt actions rather then semi-autos which are somewhat less tolerent.

in my handguns, especially wheelguns, i always wipe down the action, especially the ejector star, but usually just leave the bore. if it was an dirty batch of ammo, i'll run a dry patch, once, down the bore.

[Dave Markowitz]

I generally do not clean the bore of a .22 after I shoot it. I will clean the action, however. This keeps the gun functioning properly while at the same time doesn't put extra wear on the bore.

[Logistar]

IIRC my Marlin 60 manual stated to clean the action approx every 500 rounds. They seemed to indicate that cleaning the bore was not very important.

I have 120 rounds through it since I last shot it. I guess I ought to clean it but I just keep waiting until I shoot another 300 rounds first. ;)

Logistar

[Handy]

Of course you clean the crud out, but there is no burned on crud in the barrel.


Prove it to yourself: I "clean" my .22 barrels by pushing a lightly oiled Q-tip through the bore. Shiny-new.