How often do you clean your Ruger 10/22?

I rarely clean the barrel. I clean the chamber about each 700 rounds. If I don't clean the chamber it will occasionally misfeed. Also had one fire out of battery, about 2k rounds without cleaning. Trying several different types of .22 ammo, it takes about 40 rounds to season the barrel to the different ammo. Really shows up going from "normal" ammo to match ammo. Oh, this is on a 10-22.
For everthing .22, go to rimfirecentral.com

You're supposed to clean a 10/22..!?

Lol, whoops can't say I actually have.

I'll get back with you in a few years when I find out.

I clean mine everytime. It is so easy to do, almost like a military rifle. Keep it clean and the innards all slicked up with some oil, it'll never let you down.

Don't have a 10/22 but on any 22 maybe once a year or when accuracy falls off.

When it starts to malfunction

Just buy a can of CLP and blast the chamber and let it drip down the muzzle. Thats it for me. .22 LRs rifle are meant to be left as is. Be very careful when running the rod when cleaning . Those rifling can get damage if ramming too hard.

Once every 15 years so twice so far. Still have never had a single malfunction with the gun.
I have had a few bad cartridges but they are expected with cheap .22 rimfire.
T

I boresnake it with every trip to the range, but that's about it. That's really all it needs unless it gets really nasty. Field stripping it isn't exactly hard, though.

osteodoc08 said:

When it starts to malfunction

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Exactly.

My 22's get cleaned totally every 500rds. Takes 5 shots to reseason the bbl. Accuracy starts to drop around 500rds.

I believe I cleaned my 1966 model back in '75 or so, then I got to feeling guilty last year while cleaning a new CZ, so I cleaned it again. So, I guess for me I'm on a 37 year interval. It wasn't malfunctioning, though, and it was still very accurate even with bulk ammo, so I guess it was just guilt that drove me.

EDIT: I do wipe it down every time that I have it out -- I don't clean it internally, though. When I cleaned it last year there was no rust or damage, and it cleaned up to look nearly new. Pretty amazing for a 46 year old gun that's seen as much action as this one.

I run an Otis patch and/or a jag through the bore, generally with CLP, I almost never scrub the bore of my 10/22s (or other .22lr guns, for that matter)
I clean the chamber while I'm at it.

I spend a lot more time on the moving parts of my .22lr guns than the bore, for that matter, I spend more time on the moving parts of all my guns than I do on the bore.

As to "when" - I clean them when they need it or when I'm putting them away for an unknown amount of time after firing.

Every other brick of ammo I blow out the action and run one patch through the barrel.

HoosierQ said:

I clean mine everytime. It is so easy to do, almost like a military rifle. Keep it clean and the innards all slicked up with some oil, it'll never let you down.

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+1.

I may clean it after two trips, but that's tops.

I do the whole military thing also, taking it down to the innards and using brass brushes to scrub and Birchwood Casey spray cleaner.

That's the way I treat all the guns.


But HEY! If your 22 is functioning like a champ after tons of rounds..........more power to ya!!!!!!

I'm sure a lot here are old enough to remember the .22's at the carnival's plinking the moving ducks.

Can you imagine how many rounds went through those bad boys...

I inherited my dad's, which he cleaned regularly once after each war, whether it needed it or not. I bore snaked it and hosed it with gunscrubber.

The difference is, it's not a high precision rifle to begin with. (Unless you buy one of the varmint ones or modify it.) The bullets are soft and won't wear out the rifling much over time like jacketed bullets will.

I usually run a bore snake down the barrel after every couple of range sessions and I disassemble and clean everything else when I decide it looks particularly grundgy. Weird thing is, it's the only gun I own that I'm not a fanatic about cleaning, all others get thorough cleaning after every use.

When it starts to seem really "grimy" when I pull back the bolt.

I clean the action when it starts getting really cruddy. As for the bore: I haven't cleaned the bore of a 22 rimfire since I was in high school. Everything I've ever read says that cleaning rods are far worse on the bore than the stuff left inside them, and that accuracy is essentially unchanged. My practical experience backs this up. I probably have 5K rounds through my most used 22 rifle and it groups exactly the same as it did with a pristine bore.

I received mine in 1987 when I was very little. Shot the heck out of that thing (back when a brick of ammo was $10... miss those days).

Didn't own a cleaning kit or know it should have been cleaned or oiled.

Joined the Army and learned how to field strip weapons and had a uhoh moment when I realized I should have cleaned my 10/22.

Got out of the Army, secured my rifle (the only one that my brother had not pawned off!) and cleaned it. Shot like crud after that. Accuracy is still good for plinking and squirrels, just not for headshots on squirrels.

I usually clean after every trip to the range because I enjoy cleaning my guns. The 10/22 is extremely easy to break down and clean so why not?

I at least run a bore snake through it, if not a full clean each time.