Vinegar bath?

[KGB]

Hey guys, I was told by a couple of guys that the best way to clean the 22 rimfire rifle is the vinegar bath…. No, it wasn’t April 1, no… Both are swearing by it, saying the vinegar cleans all the gunk and cr*p out of it…
Any thoughts?

[Dick284]

Nope, don’t do it.
You’ll start corrosion and possibly start to remove bluing.
Varsol and brake cleaner are far better choices.

[Hunter5425]

It will remove bluing very effectively so be careful if you go that route. Rimfires have mostly carbon with a bit of lead fouling so most generic gun solvents will do the job, I have used CLR to take fouling out of neglected guns but have never used non firearm cleaners other than that and Ed's Red for my shotguns.

[fps plus]

Not a good choice . When you can take the blueing off or etch the bore and there are so many other dedicated cleaning solvents why bother with vinegar. Use vinegar for making pickles and cleaning your toilet .

[Dean2]

The internet has been great for YouTube appliance fix videos and the like but it has also spread a whole wack of bad, and in some cases, downright dangerous misinformation. Like the others have said, regular solvents work fine on carbon. If you have a really tough carbon ring a little carbon solvent like Hoppes 9, Butch's or Bore Tech and if it is a REALLY tough ring some JB Paste is all you will ever need to get it out. Outside of that I never clean a 22Rf unless the groups start to open up. You can usually shoot many thousands of rounds before you need to worry about the carbon ring or cleaning the barrel. The only part of a 22 I clean regularly is the carbon off the bolt and extractor.

[Dewey Cox]

Wait, you guys clean your .22's?

[KGB]

Thanks guys, that’s what I thought! Just wasn’t sure why but somehow I knew it wasn’t a good idea…

[Grizzly Adams1]

Vinegar will remove the gold finish from Russian refurbs, that says something. Acetic acid.

Grizz

[Twisted Canuck]

I can't believe anybody recommended that to you. Unless you ran their dog over, or cozied up to their wife or something. Terrible idea. So bad. Do like Dean said, Hoppes #9 when it needs it, and a nylon brush, a little elbow grease.

Vinegar.

[Halfton]

I love it when you guys reply with straight forward honest answers without mocking the op....Good on you all....and yup I agree, Vinegar is a terrible choice.

Jim

[stob]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Wait, you guys clean your .22's?

tooo funny... as a kid i probably put 8 bricks through a Winchester semi until the action gummed up ... then i learned to clean my tools,

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Wait, you guys clean your .22's?

I clean a 22lr, every few thousand rounds, since there is no copper fouling, and I only use quality ammunition, that is lubed, so lead build up isn't a concern.


I don't even use bore snakes or WD40 on my rifles, let alone vinegar.

[270person]

I use G96 in my rimfires because it works just fine and I dont worry if a little gets splashed on those fancy CZ wood stocks.

Spray into barrel, let sit 15 minutes, a couple of passes with the brush and run dry patch through until it comes out clean. If its a CZ rimfire you have use a .20 size rod and brush. Not a .22.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by KGB

Thanks guys, that’s what I thought! Just wasn’t sure why but somehow I knew it wasn’t a good idea…

Vinegar is for pickles or to disinfect your jewels after messing with the dirty kurva

[Twisted Canuck]

And we will let sns2 have the last word on that topic, what more can you add?