Shooting alot of lead .22's....should I be worried about barrel leading?

[WonderNine]

I have a Marlin model 60 that I should almost exclusively with the Remington lead "golden bullets" hollowpoint 550 round value packs now. My gun doesn't like the copper jacketed Federal 550 round value packs, they don't cycle the action, I have to pull the action after every shot to get it to cycle, but it will shoot the Remingtons all day long without a single jam. Strange as they both supposedly have the same specs....but apparently the Federal stuff is weaker, I guess they gotta cut corners somewhere with the copper jacketing....my father's stainless model 60 behaves the exact same way....

So I've had about 1,000 rounds through the gun so far with only one light cleaning and I'm starting to worry that my accuracy will suffer or that the barrel might get leaded up and I will have a Kaboom!

Anyone have any advice as to what I should use to clean the barrel with that will remove any possible lead deposits?

 

[juicy]

always clean your rifle after you shoot, then wait like 300-400 rounds and give it a through cleaning.

 

[ojibweindian]

I'm pretty sure that a .22lr doesn't move fast enough to really worry about barrel leading. Unless, of course, the barrel is just rough as you-know-what. I don't think accuracy is going to suffer because you haven't cleaned your .22. I have a 22WMR which has seen about 500 rounds thru its tube, and I have yet to scrub its barrel. It still holds about 2.5 inches at 100yds.

 

[Art Eatman]

When I was a kid, most of my allowance and birthday/Christmas money went for .22 ammo. TLOK how many rounds I put through my 550 Remington. Thousands, anyway...

Mostly, I just kept it oiled against rust. The grease on the bullets pretty much takes care of the barrel, whether you run a patch through or not.

Art

 

[WonderNine]

I'm pretty sure that a .22lr doesn't move fast enough to really worry about barrel leading.

The .22lr's that move at 1400 fps don't move fast enough to cause barrel leading, but the .45LC's at 800 fps do?

I don't get it.

 

[JohnKSa]

The .22lr's that move at 1400 fps don't move fast enough to cause barrel leading, but the .45LC's at 800 fps do?

The reason 22s don't lead much has nothing to do with velocity. It has to do with it being much easier to get a relatively small 40 grain bullet spinning compared to a larger diameter 300 grain bullet.

If the barrel is smooth (no machine marks) in a .22, you should never have to do anything other than patch the bore occasionally to remove carbon. If you shoot the copper coated ammo, you may have to occasionally use some copper solvent to get rid of the copper fouling which should be pretty minimal for the reason listed above.

 

[Mannlicher]

I have a Model 60 Marlin Glenfield that has gone years between cleanings. I would guess that this rifle has had over 5K rounds through the barrel.

Still works great. Many folks swear by their Ruger 10/22 rifles. These old Marlins will shoot with them all day long, and will be shooting after the Ruger quits.

Don't worry about a lil lead in the barrel.

 

[Crimper-D]

Had a buddy perform a lead removal 'ritual' on one of my .22's after I'd let him shoot about a brick of HV's (brand unknown) through it. Results were minescule, but he was a "Neat Nut" and insisted - for the results obtained, I'd say the whole leading thing in rimfires is overdone.
I'm of the " Boresnake em every year wheather they need it or not! "
school of .22 maintainance

 

[Ironbarr]

For Whatever It's Worth...

I'm no pro when it comes to firearms but here's a quick tale.

I have a Winchester Model 02-22 - single shot/bolt - born in 1903. It came to me when I was about 9 or 10. It stayed mostly in the closet, even through 20 years of navy career. Only occasionally was it exercised, and cleaned and stowed maybe twice a year.

In recent years (and since there's a 150 acre farm in the family now) I've been shooting (hell on squirrels) it. Then I got busy again. In past two years I got into guns again - bought some, got a CHP ticket - all that; which got me into serious servicing of the "armory".

With this renewed emphasis, I remembered the .22 that I hadn't shot in a while. Doing a "standard" clean, lube (and pet), I noticed some "stuff" dropping from the barrel sometimes while rodding it. On tight inspection - it was lead. I had just been introduced to the Bore Snake so I bought one in .22. Let me tell you, it took good two hours wrestling with the snake, 18" barrel, Hoppes and the shed door knob. Can't say there was a pound of lead in that barrel, but there was sure enough to scare me - I'm glad I never fired that rifle until getting it all out - those bullets were running out of space.

So, a Bore Snake, some solvent, and a door handle to hang the snake loop on goes a long way to peace of mind.

Again - FWIW.

 

[JohnKSa]

" Boresnake em every year wheather they need it or not! "

You might want to remove the bristle part of the boresnake. Most people recommend avoiding the use of metal brushes in a rimfire. As pointed out, there's not much fouling, and rimfire bores tend to be a bit more delicate than centerfires.

 

[HeavyHaul]

I'm with Crimper-D, on this one. Got a 10-22 and a 513-T that shoot better than I do, And a Bore-snake once a year is about all the bore maintanance they get.

Bill

 

[c_yeager]

I think its worth noting that Volquartson will void the warrenty on one of their barrels if you use a bore brush of any kind.

edited t o add: I think they mean a metal brush of some kind. I boresnake with the bristle part removed is OK.