Do you clean you .22 lr rifle/pistol??

[LoneStarWings]

I clean the the barrels with a Bore Snake. I find traditional cleaning rods to be a bit tedious on .22's. Aside from that, it's the same as anything else. Toothbrushes, q-tips, cotton patches and pipe cleaners with Hoppe's #9, (shooters choice if it's really dirty) and CLP for lube/rust prevention. On my marlin 795 I've had good results with a very light coat of plastilube grease as the lubricant, but i use oil for my .22 pistol.

 

[The_Pretender]

It was my understanding that with a Marlin 60 you were not to clean the barrel as you may damage the micro-rifling or whatever it was called. However, you should clean up everything else. They used to be advertised as not needing cleaned. (barrel)

 

[VA27]

Two words: Bore Snake. After each day's shoot I drag a bore snake through the barrel (and each chamber in the cylinder, if it's a revolver). Then every blue moon or so, a complete teardown and cleaning. I've bought enough really filthy 22s that still worked perfectly to be too picky about cleaning a range gun.

If I am going to depend on it for something critical (match, defense, survival) I'll clean her up inside and out beforehand.

 

[Ughh]

It was my understanding that with a Marlin 60 you were not to clean the barrel as you may damage the micro-rifling or whatever it was called. However, you should clean up everything else. They used to be advertised as not needing cleaned. (barrel)

Really...?

Anyone else with Marlins or Marlin model 60s that can elaborate?

 

[CajunBass]

I make a lot of jokes about cleaning my 22's every February29th or so, but the truth is I simply don't obsess over cleaning them. If they need cleaning, I clean them. For a gun I'm using for squirrel hunting and don't fire a dozen times a day, that might mean I don't clean it all hunting season. If I've been at the range and shooting up a brick of ammo? It might get cleaned when I get home, or a day or two later.

Cleaning might involve stripping the gun down. Usually not, but it might. It might be just taking a Q-tip and some Hoppes and cleaning what I can through the ejection port. There is no hard and fast rule.

Either way won't "hurt" the gun as in damage it. It might affect the function though. Some guns are no doubt worse than others for that.

 

[Sav .250]

I sure hope that "someone" isn`t your personal advisor as well.

You don`t have to do anything but they seem to last and perform better when clean.
Different strokes for different folks.................

 

[skidooman603]

Ive got a Compass Lake Engineering .22 upper that is one of the most expensive pieces in my safe. Bet your ass I clean it every time out (twice a week in the winter) and kiss it and tuck it back into bed til next time

 

[Peter M. Eick]

My S&W 41's get cleaned every time and usually I hit them with the ultrasonic. My 22LR Rifles get detailed cleaned every time also. Just not the intense cleaning like the 41's because I can't get them in the ultrasonic.

 

[ArmedBear]

Anyone else with Marlins or Marlin model 60s that can elaborate?

The manual says the bore doesn't need cleaning. Personally, I run a bore snake through it, but not a hard metal rod. The bore snake doesn't come out dirty, so I suppose the micro-groove barrel really doesn't need cleaning.

I also have 39s, but I don't recall what their manuals say about it. As they are takedowns, they can be cleaned easily from the breech end, though, even with a rod.

 

[Bart B.]

Ughh comments:

How does lead bullets affect cleanliness and accuracy?

It's not the lead bullets that effects accuracy. It's the powder and primer residue that settles at the bottom of the bore. As more and more rounds go down the barrel, that residue builds up enough to deform bullets a tiny bit. That deforms them enough to upset their balance and they don't shoot as straight.

How does hollow points affect barrels and accuracy? I know in centerfire you should refrain from practicing with too many hollow points but is this the same case in .22 lr?

The fact that competitive centerfire rifle shooters use hollow point bullets 99.99999% of the time should dispel this myth about hollow points hurting centerfire rifle barrels. There is no difference the barrel has against solids or HP bullets; it's the bullet's body that contacts the barrel, not their tips. Same applies to rimfire ammo for .22's.

If one watches a smallbore rifle match where folks on the US Olympic team are shooting, you'll notice they clean their rifles every 100 to 200 shots. So does everyone else who wins the matches and sets records along the way. They'll use bronze brushes pushed and pulled back and forth through those super accurate barrels without any concens at all. It takes half a few shots to "condition" the barrel after cleaning it, but who cares if best accuracy is attained this way?

Should you look through a magnifying glass into the chamber of a .22 rimfire barrel when it's new, you'll see shiny steel all the way around the front of the chamber where the rifling starts. As ammo starts being shot in it, that residue from each shot resting at the bottom of the chamber's front starts eroding away and etching the barrel steel. This area appears darker than the normal steel and cannot be removed. It starts at the bottom then works its way up each side. When it's about half way up (to the 3 and 9 o-clock points), top smallbore competitors either set the barrel back an inch or more or rebarrel. Accuracy at this point has degraded too much to be competitive. About 25,000 to 30,000 rounds have been fired at this point.

In the mid 1980's when the top smallbore match ammo makers changed their priming compounds, barrel life got cut in half. Rimfire match barrels used to last 50,000 or more rounds with excellent accuracy, but that changed when an explosion in one plant's primer making section killed a few people. The primer compounds had to be changed to make them safer to make and put in case rims. Accuracy's not been quite as good since then; most of the smallbore records set before then still stand.

 

[JTH]

Model 72 Winchester

My bolt action model 72 gets the bore cleaned after I shoot it. Of course this is a collectable. Had it for 43 years and it was used when I received it for Christmas when I was 13 from my parents. Special rifle to me!

 

[Smith357]

Every time I shoot a gun it gets cleaned.
USMC indoctrination.

If I'm shooting in a match, I will clean a rifle barrel when accuracy drops off, and a keep my handgun cleaned and oiled for proper function.

 

[krmgator]

ANY gun that goes to the range gets cleaned after; even the .22. Maybe al holdover from my Army days or when I was a kid and my stepdad the cop would take us shooting.

It just doesn't feel right to shoot, have fun and let it sit dirty.

 

[wishin]

Just a habit, but after every shoot!

 

[bhk]

Multiple things to consider here. Centerfires require more bore cleaning for two reasons. The tend to build up metal fouling and the bore can rust if it gets moist for any reason (rain/high humidity). With rimfire .22s (short, long, and long rifles), metal fouling should not be an issue and the bullet lube provides a degree of rust protection. For hunting and plinking guns, bore cleaning is not usually needed unless they get unusually wet. For target .22s, there are other issues to consider. Some benchrest shooters worry about priming compound grit and powder abrasives building up at 6 o'clock and causing wear issues. They tend to clean more. Some brush the chambers, but not the bores. I read that Ely goes zillions of rounds on their test barrels without cleaning. Pick your poison, I guess.

While the bores may or may not need cleaning, it is always important to clean fouling from the action, bolt face, magazines, etc, to insure proper functioning.

Be careful with cartidges like the .22 magnums and the 17 rimfires. They have no bullet lube and the bores can rust in a wet/humid environment if the bore remains uncleaned and unprotected.

 

[Ughh]

It's not the lead bullets that effects accuracy. It's the powder and primer residue that settles at the bottom of the bore. As more and more rounds go down the barrel, that residue builds up enough to deform bullets a tiny bit. That deforms them enough to upset their balance and they don't shoot as straight.
The fact that competitive centerfire rifle shooters use hollow point bullets 99.99999% of the time should dispel this myth about hollow points hurting centerfire rifle barrels. There is no difference the barrel has against solids or HP bullets; it's the bullet's body that contacts the barrel, not their tips. Same applies to rimfire ammo for .22's.

Really? Because I thought that lead, non jacketed bullets can tend to leave more lead fouling in your barrel as its shot; simply because it's not jackted...

 

[mljdeckard]

It's LESS critical to me because my .22s aren't guns I trust my life to.

.22 bullets are lead, which won't tear up your barrel like a high-velocity jacketed round will. .22 barrels last pretty much forever.

That said, if I try to crank more than a few hundred rounds through my .22 1911 kit without hosing it out with gunscrubber, it will start to give me jams. For say, a .22 bolt rifle, if I had one, I might pull the boresnake through it a few times a year.

 

[wrs840]

I'm a guy who cleans a lot because I enjoy it. Maybe not after every shooting session, but almost. As long as it's limited to patches, Hoppes no. 9 solvent, and RemOil, is there any actual mechanical or functional downside to this OCD habit?

Les

 

[dagger dog]

I was recently given an old Remington model 12 pump first models produced in 1906?,.22 rimfire rifle, it was a basket case, ( handed to me in peices), and had been badly neglected as far as cleaning was concerned. The wax from the bullet lube had compacted into crevices to the point where you could not determine where the metal stopped and the detrius began.

In cold weather there was no way that this rifle could perform the action that it was designed to do, eject, replace,and fire the next cartridge in the magazine. As a matter of fact I have no doubt that was the reason the rifle was disassembled and left to rust in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers of which it was found.

I dug out the impacted wax , and washed the small parts in solvent, along with removing the wax from all the nooks and crannies within the reciever.
That done the rifle was reassembled, with a replacement (made from a balll point pen spring) for the missing trigger return spring, was found to fire and function perfectly even with the takedown screw replaced with a 5/16" stove bolt!.

There is no doubt in my mind that this old shooter was laid to rest, only for the reason that it was neglected.

Most firearm owners were raised with the values that ,the said arm will pay back to the owner the same care that it recieved.

 

[Zach S]

Rarely.

My 10-22s dont get shot much. I clean them when the clock gets set an hour ahead, then they go back in the gun socks.

My only .22 pistol is an AMT Hardballer that I rebuilt into a dedicated host for a Ciener conversion. I dont think I've ever actually cleaned it. Quick wipe-down and lube.

Another is an AR15 with a KKF bbl, and a Ciener conversion. Every brick or so, I clean the chamber with a nylon brush, hose the bolt down with CLP and wipe of the chamber adapter. I woudlnt do that much, but it got so cruddy once that the chamber adapter got stuck in the bbl.

My GSG5 is a PITA to field strip. I dont think I've cleaned it. But it only has a brick or two through it.

They all run fine with federal bulk, despite my neglect.

 

[7.62x54mmR]

I clean every rifle/pistol i shoot no more than a day after i shoot it

 

[Savage Shooter]

Anyone else with Marlins or Marlin model 60s that can elaborate?

I clean my marlin 60 action whenever it starts to jam or ftf on me. The barrel I clean every 500 rounds or so but I shoot remington golden bullets. I clean the barrel with a rod and have not noticed any accuracy issues.

 

[cleetus03]

Rode HARD & Put up WET.................is the only life my .22 knows!