22lr clean or don’t clean, how to clean!

[kouleerunner]

I clean my 22s after every time I use it, same as my centerfires. It's the way I was taught, a clean rifle is a reliable and accurate rifle.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by kouleerunner

I clean my 22s after every time I use it, same as my centerfires. It's the way I was taught, a clean rifle is a reliable and accurate rifle.

Define your type of cleaning.

Because I’ll wager it’s way different than mine.

Some guys consider a boresnake with WD or brake kleen a cleaning, while others use one piece rods, pre cut patches, push jags, solvents specific to carbon, powder and lead removal, followed by a rust preventative.

Big difference in what is considered cleaning.

[morinj]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Define your type of cleaning.

Because I’ll wager it’s way different than mine.

Some guys consider a boresnake with WD or brake kleen a cleaning, while others use one piece rods, pre cut patches, push jags, solvents specific to carbon, powder and lead removal, followed by a rust preventative.

Big difference in what is considered cleaning.

This is the extent that I’m cleaning my .22s, I’m wondering if it’s doing more harm then good.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by morinj

This is the extent that I’m cleaning my .22s, I’m wondering if it’s doing more harm then good.

Boresnake, or full on?

[morinj]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Boresnake, or full on?

Full on, one piece rod, brush, patch’s, solvents, end result is a super shinny bore!

[Dean2]

If you shoot a 22 a lot you will inevitably get a carbon ring just ahead of the chamber. These need to be removed or they will create accuracy, feeding and pressure issues. There are various ways to clean those but it only requires cleaning that small part of the area ahead of the chamber. Carbon remover like Butches Bore shine, Carb Cleaner etc. can be left to soak and reapplied to remove. Some on guns that have been left uncleaned for many 1000s of rounds are bad enough that you actually need a brush and JB paste to get rid of them.

If you are using lubed lead bullets the barrel, even on high end target guns does not need regular cleaning. If you are getting lead build up there is something wrong with the gun or the ammo. The lube won't build up on its own but if you change bullets and they have different lubes it may take a while for the new bullets to settle in and many guys accelerate this on target guns by cleaning the bore. I always use a bore guide, one piece rod and patches if I actually do clean the bore.

Trigger group, bolt externals and internals need to be kept clean.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by morinj

Full on, one piece rod, brush, patch’s, solvents, end result is a super shinny bore!

Chances of doing harm are Very low.

You have to ask yourself, why, and what for.

Match shooting is very rare these days, but rust and politicians will always be the biggest threats to our firearms.

Everything in moderation as they say.

[W921]

I guess it would depend on the time of year and how the rimfire was being used.
Example in the winter if you bring it inside a warm house or truck you get condensation.
Even if you leave it in your truck during the winter there must be a bit of a heat cycle that you get condensation.
I really like hoppes9 as protection.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by W921

I guess it would depend on the time of year and how the rimfire was being used.
Example in the winter if you bring it inside a warm house or truck you get condensation.
Even if you leave it in your truck during the winter there must be a bit of a heat cycle that you get condensation.
I really like hoppes9 as protection.

Hoppes #9 bore cleaner provides zero protection, quite the opposite as it contains ammonium hydroxide, which is quite caustic.

[W921]

I've been using #9 all of my life with all my guns.
With center fires that I was going to carry a lot and in conditions that I was concerned about corrosion I would always leave a light coat of #9 in the barrel.
I've never had rust with #9
I've never had corrosion either and if anybody would it would be me.
This is how I clean a gun thats been used with smokeless powder. I usually bring the gun in the house and run a patch soaked with #9 in it. Place the gun muzzle down on a rag in the gun safe and forget about it until the next time I'm in that room doing something else. Then I will run another patch through it.
It might take me a few days or a few months to clean a gun.
I generally leave all rifles with #9 in barrels muzzle down on rags for storage up to a year. Then every year everything will get a new coat.
I don't use oil because I'm concerned that if I need a gun quickly I won't have time to clean it out first. Also in really cold weather oil gets sticky in actions.
With #9 I have never had pressure concerns,rust or corrosion.
I know there are new solvents that work way better than hoppes#9 . I don't use them because I'm concerned about them being to aggressive or harmful in my old iron.
When I was a young fellow I use to even use hopped #9 like aftershave. Its good stuff!
Hey my #9 is old stock you used to be able to buy it in big 2 quart glass bottles. Have they changed it?

[RickF]

I have two custom-barreled competition silhouette rifles that are accurate enough to tell the difference. One has a Benchmark 2-groove, the other is a Lilja tight bore.

In both I start to see a little bit of accuracy drop off after about 300 rounds so that is roughly their cleaning interval. I use Canadian Tire fuel injector cleaner on patches for the heavy lifting followed by kroil. It takes 20-30 shots for the bores to settle down after the cleaning, no doubt laying down lube on the bare bore. Call it one shot per inch of barrel.

My sporters get cleaned occasionally.

[W921]

Originally Posted by RickF

I have two custom-barreled competition silhouette rifles that are accurate enough to tell the difference. One has a Benchmark 2-groove, the other is a Lilja tight bore.

In both I start to see a little bit of accuracy drop off after about 300 rounds so that is roughly their cleaning interval. I use Canadian Tire fuel injector cleaner on patches for the heavy lifting followed by kroil. It takes 20-30 shots for the bores to settle down after the cleaning, no doubt laying down lube on the bare bore. Call it one shot per inch of barrel.

My sporters get cleaned occasionally.

With cast bullets and smokeless powder I use to use Canadian tire carburetor cleaner.

[W921]

One other thing about hoppes#9. I think its mostly kerosene. If you have an old stuck rusted motor that hasn't ran in years. If you pour kerosene down each cylinder and just keep adding more every month and checking it,eventually the kerosene seems to eat the rust but not hurt the internals of the motor and it will free up the motor.
I don't know how it technically does it but it does.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by W921

I've been using #9 all of my life with all my guns.
With center fires that I was going to carry a lot and in conditions that I was concerned about corrosion I would always leave a light coat of #9 in the barrel.
I've never had rust with #9
I've never had corrosion either and if anybody would it would be me.
This is how I clean a gun thats been used with smokeless powder. I usually bring the gun in the house and run a patch soaked with #9 in it. Place the gun muzzle down on a rag in the gun safe and forget about it until the next time I'm in that room doing something else. Then I will run another patch through it.
It might take me a few days or a few months to clean a gun.
I generally leave all rifles with #9 in barrels muzzle down on rags for storage up to a year. Then every year everything will get a new coat.
I don't use oil because I'm concerned that if I need a gun quickly I won't have time to clean it out first. Also in really cold weather oil gets sticky in actions.
With #9 I have never had pressure concerns,rust or corrosion.
I know there are new solvents that work way better than hoppes#9 . I don't use them because I'm concerned about them being to aggressive or harmful in my old iron.
When I was a young fellow I use to even use hopped #9 like aftershave. Its good stuff!
Hey my #9 is old stock you used to be able to buy it in big 2 quart glass bottles. Have they changed it?

I do the same thing and all my Hoppes is old stock too. Would be interested to hear if the new formula is different because the old stuff was great for protecting metal and bores, lubing firing pins so they work in -49. I have enough of the old big bottles to do me for life.

[kouleerunner]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Define your type of cleaning.

Because I’ll wager it’s way different than mine.

Some guys consider a boresnake with WD or brake kleen a cleaning, while others use one piece rods, pre cut patches, push jags, solvents specific to carbon, powder and lead removal, followed by a rust preventative.

Big difference in what is considered cleaning.

You are 100% correct. Wager accepted.

I use a 1 piece rod with a brass jag, typically use butchers bore shine, with on a tipton vice, with a bore guide. I run several patches until it comes clean, often leaving the boreshine on for a bit for copperfouling if nessesary. I have used a boresnake, with hoppes in the field, more as en emergency measure, or rust preventative from time to time, but not a standard practice. I also use boresnake on my shotguns. I have a dedicated setup in my gun room, separate from my reloading equipment.

I suspect you may have lost the wager.

[elkhunter11]

After a proper cleaning, it can take 20 rounds , before the top level of accuracy returns to my precision 22lr rifles, so I am not going to clean my rifle every time I go out to shoot 50 rounds or so. I never use a boresnake in my rifles, and after a proper cleaning, I do run a patch with G-96 down the bore to prevent corrosion.

[260 Rem]

Not just after cleaning, but also when changing from one type of bullet lube (petroleum/wax/copper wash)... takes several rounds to wash out one lube and lay down the next.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Not just after cleaning, but also when changing from one type of bullet lube (petroleum/wax/copper wash)... takes several rounds to wash out one lube and lay down the next.

I only use wax lubed bullets, but even then, when I change loads, I ignore the first group.

[260 Rem]

Yes...and also a good practice when testing different ammunition to determine which is the best shooter.
And....wax based lubes pick up less “pocket crud” than a pocket full of petroleum based lubes in the gopher patch.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by kouleerunner

You are 100% correct. Wager accepted.

I use a 1 piece rod with a brass jag, typically use butchers bore shine, with on a tipton vice, with a bore guide. I run several patches until it comes clean, often leaving the boreshine on for a bit for copperfouling if nessesary. I have used a boresnake, with hoppes in the field, more as en emergency measure, or rust preventative from time to time, but not a standard practice. I also use boresnake on my shotguns. I have a dedicated setup in my gun room, separate from my reloading equipment.

I suspect you may have lost the wager.

Wanna try again........
I use a bit of JB’s bore brite In the throat, and I use a home brew of Kroil, Butches, Barnes, and Outters Nitro solvent for cleaning my rimfires.

Don’t take it personally, no two cleaning regimes are alike.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Yes...and also a good practice when testing different ammunition to determine which is the best shooter.
And....wax based lubes pick up less “pocket crud” than a pocket full of petroleum based lubes in the gopher patch.

The waxy lube on my loads is not the hard dry lube used on some, it does get greasy in warm weather, so I would never carry it loose in my pocket.

[Prairiekid]

When I had a Anschutz Fortner, I cleaned it weekly. It just made everything operate better, the accuracy was still limited by me. For a quick cleaning you can beat a Patch Worm.

[morinj]

Just picked up the new cz 457, anybody recommend a pre shooting type procedure, maybe run a patch to remove any factory grease/oil! I really like this rifle and want it to last!!

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by morinj

Just picked up the new cz 457, anybody recommend a pre shooting type procedure, maybe run a patch to remove any factory grease/oil! I really like this rifle and want it to last!!

Push a dry patch followed by a patch of Butches Bore Shine, let sit for 2 mins, then push a dry patch, if it comes out clean, push a patch with brake cleaner on it, followed by a patch of G96, or Eezox.
Then remove the action from the stock, wipe everything down, and remove all lubricants from the under surfaces that contact the bedding areas on the stock, a wipe with some brake cleaner is a good first step.
Disassemble the bolt and degrease the internals, and if you must lubricate it a dry Teflon spray lube is best, or powdered graphite.
Torque the action screws to manufacturers specs on re assembly.