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Tips for cleaning a .22LR?

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Juna

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So I'm having a heck of a time cleaning my .22 LR firearms. I'm new to .22 LR, relatively speaking. No matter how small I cut the patches, I have a hard time getting them through the barrel.

Does anyone just use a spray cleaner followed by a spray lubricant on a .22 LR? Tips? I have no trouble cleaning any of my other firearms, but the small size of the .22 LR barrels is giving me a hard time.
 
i usually cut the patch into thirds or quarters, and then fold them in the rod.

But I'm no expert on cleaning, that might not be the right thing to do.
 
You should buy .22 caliber patches to clean with, cutting patches would be a major pain. Or you could just buy a boresnake like some people have mentioned. I have never used one, nor intend to in the future.
 
Tips for cleaning a .22LR?
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Don't.

I'm of the mindset that unless a .22 is malfunctioning or accuracy is extremely affected by fouling, leave it be. I've got over 5k worth of rounds downrange through my Ruger MK III and it's just getting better as it "seasons".

Of course, that's just one way of looking at it. YMMV.
 
Either buy the correct sized patches or systmaticly downsize the ones you have until you get to the correct size. It is a pain but don't you love the smell of burnt powder and gun oil?
 
kingpin said:
I'm of the mindset that unless a .22 is malfunctioning or accuracy is extremely affected by fouling, leave it be. I've got over 5k worth of rounds downrange through my Ruger MK III and it's just getting better as it "seasons".
Click to expand...

I am of the same school of thought. I break down my S&W M41 and clean out the action and face and things there but generally leave alone the barrel. I do have a bore snake but only rarely (every month or so ~1000+ rounds) do I actually give it a run through.
 
I'll clean the action but seldom clean the barrel. If known accuracy falls way off then I will clean the barrel.
 
I bought a Hoppe's 9 .22 rifle cleaning kit that had the best patches for smallbore barrels. I ran out so I'm cutting patches down until I can find the good ones in bulk.
 
I think the accuracy of more .22 rimfire barrels has been degraded by cleaning too much than by not cleaning enough.
Like others have said, unless accuracy starts going away, it really doesn't need cleaning.
.22 rimfire ammo usually leaves a nice protective coating of wax/lube in the bore.
I have a Winchester 52 that hasn't been cleaned in 20 years, and will still shoot well under an inch at 100yds with the right ammo.
Steve
 
I use the 1" round cotton flannel patches from Pro-Shot and I have never had a problem with them in my .22 rimfires or my .223 rifles.
I did get some .223 patches because midway had a sale on them and they will not go down the bore of my .223, I use them for a .243 and they work fine. No wonder they had a sale on them that week!

I use carb and choke cleaner, brake cleaner, Kroil and if it's real dirt I'll get out the JB Bore paste to really scrub it clean. I agree with XTerminator, if it is still shooting well leave it alone. My Marlin 925 started opening up about double what it should shoot, I cleaned it very well then shot again and the group was still bad. After about the 10th shot it was back to what it should be doing and I recheck it about every 100 rounds or so.
 
Juna, addressing your stated problem of not being able to get a patch through your barrels - it might be that you are trying to use the wrong jag on your cleaning rod. For .22's, I really prefer the loop type (looks like a greatly enlarged sewing needle eye) as opposed to the solid jag. They make it much easier to get a regular .22 sized patch through the barrel.

Having said that, I'm of the same school as kingpin008 and several others here. I rarely clean my .22 rimfire barrels (centerfire is a completely different story). .22 ammo is unique in that they usually have lubrication on the bullets that prevents leading and precludes constant cleaning. After several hundred rounds (or thousands in some cases), it isn't a bad idea to do a thorough cleaning. But if you do it after every session, you'll be cleaning out the "seasoning" in the barrel each time.
 
So I'm having a heck of a time cleaning my .22 LR firearms. I'm new to .22 LR, relatively speaking. No matter how small I cut the patches, I have a hard time getting them through the barrel.
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Lose the rod and go with any pull thru available to you.
Boresnake, Patchworm or a simple weed wacker .095 line melted at one end and cut on a diagonal at the other. Cheap effective and it'll pull patches larger than .22 through your bore.


Here's my handgun version but you hopefully get the idea!
wheelwacker.jpg

CRITGIT
 
I have a confession to make. Please dont chastise me(too bad). :D

My dad gave me a marlin semi auto .22 when I was about 14. I never cleaned it. When I was about 27 I was dispatching a possum off my back deck with it and it jammed on me. I couldnt get it to do anything. Locked up. My brothers best friend is a good gunsmith so he took it over to him. Couple days later he brought it back laughing at me. The action was so filthy that it finally ground to a halt. I was amazed at how much faster it cycled afterwards. :banghead:
 
By and large, there is no need to clean the bores of .22 RF weapons. The actions can be sprayed down and drained as needed, but the bores are protected by the lubricated coatings on the bullets.
 
I clean my Anschutz rifle and Exemplar pistol with brass brush and felt with thootpaste. :cool:
 
Like others have said, buy .22 patches, or a .22 kit. I however, usually only clean the action on my .22s, but on centerfire .22s (.223) I clean every time I shoot.
 
ljnowell - Ok, no chastising. ;)

But, just this for any others reading this and taking some of the advice given here.

I don't think any of us saying to not clean the bores of your .22 very often are saying don't clean the action. That needs to be cleaned fairly regularly or it will gum up for sure and cause all sorts of problems.
 
+1 on the Boresnakes. The 22's I use are just as dirty as other calibers so I don't understand why some of you guy's don't believe in cleaning them.
 
The manual for a few of my guns said to not bother cleaning the barrels. After being an avid bore cleaner for years, I caved in and tried it. No problems :scrutiny:.


But when I did, I used to use the loop from the gun cleaning kit. Using the jag will just jam it up like the other guys said :banghead:.
 
The reasons I worry less about cleaning .22s than other guns are A: they use soft ammo that won't tear up the bore nearly as quickly, and B: They are for fun. If there's any such thing as a critical, life saving shot coming from a .22, I've never encountered it. I am shooting neither bad guys nor the trophy of a lifetime with a .22.

I clean them, but intermittently, and not with nearly the same vigor as a defensive arm. I blast the action with gunscrubber, and run a boresnake through it a couple of times, let it dry, and oil it lightly.
 
The 22's I use are just as dirty as other calibers so I don't understand why some of you guy's don't believe in cleaning them.
Click to expand...
Because they don't need cleaning. The bullet lube protects the bore. YOu are more likely to wear out a barrel with over cleaning than with shooting.
 
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