I watched a video about cleaning a rimfire. His response was almost never. I do know that some need to be shot in after cleaning to get it to settle back down. And sometimes it seemed like Why did I even bother cleaning it? Years ago my smith asked if I ever cleaned my 22. I said no. He cleaned it and used Rem-Oil or WD40 in the barrel. I like to never got it shooting groups again.
How often do you clean your rimfire?
- Thread starter pyscodog
- Start date
The only 22LR rifles I have are a couple Win 9422's and a Win model 74 I got from my grandfather that has countless rounds through. To my knowledge, short or douching out the action with brake cleaner I'm not sure I've ever cleaned the barrels in them.
In recent years my 17 WSM gets shot the most and my 17 HMR's less. Those three shoot a copper jacketed bullet like a CF and I clean them similarly. Shooting sage rats where I'll go through a few hundred rounds a day I'll usually swab out the chamber maybe a couple times a day if they feel like they're not wanting to chamber quite as easy but if accuracy doesn't change I'll shoot them till it does.
My Sav. model 93 17 HMR after cleaning is a little more sensitive and will take 15-25rnds before it settles down. The one doesn't really like to be clean and shoots better dirty. My Sav. A17 and Bmag 17 WSM don't seem to care. I've always been going to get the model 93 real clean then maybe run some patches of JB through it to see if that changes anything but a thought is all its been and I never have.
There's no real comparison of course but my dad has a Lilja barrel on his Ruger 77/17HMR and forget about it that thing cleans up sooooo much easier and faster than does my factory barreled Savages.
In recent years my 17 WSM gets shot the most and my 17 HMR's less. Those three shoot a copper jacketed bullet like a CF and I clean them similarly. Shooting sage rats where I'll go through a few hundred rounds a day I'll usually swab out the chamber maybe a couple times a day if they feel like they're not wanting to chamber quite as easy but if accuracy doesn't change I'll shoot them till it does.
My Sav. model 93 17 HMR after cleaning is a little more sensitive and will take 15-25rnds before it settles down. The one doesn't really like to be clean and shoots better dirty. My Sav. A17 and Bmag 17 WSM don't seem to care. I've always been going to get the model 93 real clean then maybe run some patches of JB through it to see if that changes anything but a thought is all its been and I never have.
There's no real comparison of course but my dad has a Lilja barrel on his Ruger 77/17HMR and forget about it that thing cleans up sooooo much easier and faster than does my factory barreled Savages.
DiRTY DOG
Well-known member
22lr/22mag are entirely different animals than 17hrm. The great debate over cleaning rimfires is generally focused on 22lr which is filthy.
Most 22lr bullets are bare lead or copper washed lead and then coated with wax/lube. A new/clean barrel is soon seasoned with bullet lube, imagine the seasoning on a cast iron pan; kinda, but softer. Barrel fowling tapers off and accuracy is consistent for a long time.
Cleaning a barrel removes that wax seasoning. Even simply changing ammunition can throw it off and it it takes a few shots for accuracy to level off again.
So 22lr bores don't need to be cleaned much. But the bore is not the only part of the barrel that gets dirty.
The crown gets dirty and starts accumulating buildup. Eventually it can effect accuracy.
The chamber gets dirty too, both from bullet lube and from burnt powder residue. Eventually cases start to stick in the chamber and cause malfunctions, like failure to seat properly and failure to extract.
Then there's the face of the barrel/chamber and the face of the slide (semi auto) that slam together. Powder residue can and does build up and can actually damage those dirty faces from repeated smashing into each other with gritty residue between the two surfaces. High count semi autos often have this type of damage that looks a bit like pitting. That same buildup of residue clogs the extractor claw and clogs the recess in the face of the slide so the rim does not seat completely flush on a chambered round. This can also start to effect the firing pin functioning. Use a tooth pic or similar every once in a while to clean out those hard residue deposits.
General gunk inside the action can cause malfunctions, hinder smooth slide operation, cause issues with the feed ramp, and all sorts of other issues.
In short, most folks should keep their chamber and action clean but leave the bore alone. The perfect cleaner is a Hornady One Shot Gun Cleaner, spray it in the action, scrub with a brush, swap down with a Qtip including the chamber, and spray the action again to rinse it off and act as a dry lube. Then spritz the rails to keep them moving freely. It doesn't have to be perfect and in many cases you don't even need to disassemble anything. Just don't use any oil which attracts powder residue and turns it into mud.
Most 22lr bullets are bare lead or copper washed lead and then coated with wax/lube. A new/clean barrel is soon seasoned with bullet lube, imagine the seasoning on a cast iron pan; kinda, but softer. Barrel fowling tapers off and accuracy is consistent for a long time.
Cleaning a barrel removes that wax seasoning. Even simply changing ammunition can throw it off and it it takes a few shots for accuracy to level off again.
So 22lr bores don't need to be cleaned much. But the bore is not the only part of the barrel that gets dirty.
The crown gets dirty and starts accumulating buildup. Eventually it can effect accuracy.
The chamber gets dirty too, both from bullet lube and from burnt powder residue. Eventually cases start to stick in the chamber and cause malfunctions, like failure to seat properly and failure to extract.
Then there's the face of the barrel/chamber and the face of the slide (semi auto) that slam together. Powder residue can and does build up and can actually damage those dirty faces from repeated smashing into each other with gritty residue between the two surfaces. High count semi autos often have this type of damage that looks a bit like pitting. That same buildup of residue clogs the extractor claw and clogs the recess in the face of the slide so the rim does not seat completely flush on a chambered round. This can also start to effect the firing pin functioning. Use a tooth pic or similar every once in a while to clean out those hard residue deposits.
General gunk inside the action can cause malfunctions, hinder smooth slide operation, cause issues with the feed ramp, and all sorts of other issues.
In short, most folks should keep their chamber and action clean but leave the bore alone. The perfect cleaner is a Hornady One Shot Gun Cleaner, spray it in the action, scrub with a brush, swap down with a Qtip including the chamber, and spray the action again to rinse it off and act as a dry lube. Then spritz the rails to keep them moving freely. It doesn't have to be perfect and in many cases you don't even need to disassemble anything. Just don't use any oil which attracts powder residue and turns it into mud.
Zastava223rem
Member
Truth be told, not often at all. Doesnt seem to make sense but my .22 Mag gets shot the most and it seems to lose accuracy after cleaning and takes a bit to come back. Last time I took it to the range I was able to stack 3 Federal 30 gr TNT bullets into about 1/2" at 100 yards. Its an old marlin 783 Tube fed. Killed more groundhogs with that thing than I could ever try to recount.
I have a Glock G44 that I purchased last february and it has probably got an honest 1k rds or so down it, probably more. It is filthy but still runs. Cleaned it after purchase and havent touched it since. I need to strip it before I have sights installed.
For what its worth, my dad used to have an AMT Lightning pistol and that thing was insanely unreliable and needed cleaned every few mags. It was accurate when it did work but if you got through 10 rds without an issue, you'd better go get a PowerBall ticket. The only ammo it ate with any sort of predictability was Federal Lightning in the blue box.
I have a Glock G44 that I purchased last february and it has probably got an honest 1k rds or so down it, probably more. It is filthy but still runs. Cleaned it after purchase and havent touched it since. I need to strip it before I have sights installed.
For what its worth, my dad used to have an AMT Lightning pistol and that thing was insanely unreliable and needed cleaned every few mags. It was accurate when it did work but if you got through 10 rds without an issue, you'd better go get a PowerBall ticket. The only ammo it ate with any sort of predictability was Federal Lightning in the blue box.
Plant.One
Well-known member
i clean my action on my 22's when it stops cycling properly. soon as i start to get FTF/FTE... apart it comes. suppressed use most of the time means thats every 500 or so rounds depending on the gun.
the barrel ... rarely. other than maybe a quick pass with a boresnake anyway and a light spray of rem oil or hornady one shot if they've been out in the weather to ensure there's no moisture in there.
both of my HMR"s like to be run with dirty barrels. so i only clean then when accuracy falls off. when the group goes from 1¼ to 4" - ... i know its time
takes me... half a box of ammo to get them fouled enough to shoot "normal" again.
my R-93 gets a quick clean of the action every few hundred rounds. the action on my A-17 gets cleaned when it starts to gum up and FTF/FTE.
between cleanings both will occasionally get a quick patch with rem oil in the event of being out in the elements.
the barrel ... rarely. other than maybe a quick pass with a boresnake anyway and a light spray of rem oil or hornady one shot if they've been out in the weather to ensure there's no moisture in there.
both of my HMR"s like to be run with dirty barrels. so i only clean then when accuracy falls off. when the group goes from 1¼ to 4" - ... i know its time
takes me... half a box of ammo to get them fouled enough to shoot "normal" again.
my R-93 gets a quick clean of the action every few hundred rounds. the action on my A-17 gets cleaned when it starts to gum up and FTF/FTE.
between cleanings both will occasionally get a quick patch with rem oil in the event of being out in the elements.
Carry a shoe polish can w/pull throughs made by cutting string trimmer line to length; point on one end and press other end against a soldering iron. Couple of drops of Rem Oil and a pass or two after the match or other day at the range keeps the buildup in check.
Regards,
hm
Regards,
hm
SlickerThanSnot
New member
by now i figured everybody in the free world knew how to make a patch pull through from weed trimmer line.
i use it on more than 22rf also.
i use it on more than 22rf also.
I don't clean my 22's as often as some I'm sure. I talked to my gunsmith/shooting buddy and he said he cleans his before it ever goes back in the safe. He just can't put it up dirty. Another friends says he doesn't clean every time but with my "new to me" 40X, he'd give it a good cleaning and start with a clean barrel and go from there. I ran a wet patch of Tactical Advantage through the barrel and it came out as clean as it went in. I guess the previous owner liked clean barrels. After two more wet patchs coming out clean as the first, I just ran some dry patchs through it and called it good. I didn't use a brush, maybe I should have but didn't. Bore is very bright and shiny.