What is the current consensus on cleaning 22 rimfires? Should they cleaned every time they're used? Should they not be cleaned at all? Or should they cleaned before end of season storage? I've always cleaned my rimfires at the end of hunting season before storing them, and left them dirty all season. Just read an article recommending against cleaning them due to rifling wear. Thoughts?
Cleaning 22LR?
- Thread starter Maritime Storm
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Rifling wear ? Nonsense . A brass bore brush doesn't cause rifling wear . Personaly , I use a BORESNAKE on all of my rifles .Takes about 30 seconds to pull one thru the barrel when you get home .
Bill in Utah
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I clean them when I know I'll not be shooting it in the next few months or when it starts to have functioning/accuracy issues.
If it is a blued gun, I do clean off the powder residue and wipe the finish down.
I used to clean them every time and while no issues, I'd rather spend the time trimming brass or something else if the cleaning is not needed.
Just got back from blasting a few hundred water bottles. Nice day and fun fun fun... 
Take care, Bill
Take care, BillBefore S. O. B.'s broke into our house and stole it (among 13 others) my Ruger 10/22, bought new in 1972 had been cleaned once when it had actually misfired.
Bit of a hijack here,,BILL, ever refill your quart oil bottles with water, replace in original cardboard boxes and compare just how many botles a particular bullet, or load will penetrate? Bit of trouble, but very revealing!
Bob
Bill in Utah
Staff member
Originally Posted By: alreadygone
Before S. O. B.'s broke into our house and stole it (among 13 others) my Ruger 10/22, bought new in 1972 had been cleaned once when it had actually misfired.
Bit of a hijack here,,BILL, ever refill your quart oil bottles with water, replace in original cardboard boxes and compare just how many botles a particular bullet, or load will penetrate? Bit of trouble, but very revealing!
Bob
BillJust curious though, is their a reason one shouldn't use aluminium cleaning rods in a rifle? I've only ever laid eyes on a brass one once in my life.
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is their a reason one shouldn't use aluminium cleaning rods in a rifle?
Here's something that I dug out of the archives
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Below is the letter to Colt and their reply from engineering on the
use of cleaning rods. This material will apply to all weapons.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
May 21, 1987
Colt Industries Inc.
Attn: Product Engineering Manager
P.O. Box 1868
Hartford, CT 06102
Dear sir:
A controversy exists locally among Colt shooters as to the effect of
using an aluminum cleaning rod, such as the Model 41600 manufactured by
Outers, in the AR-15 barrel. It is reputed that the aluminum material used
in the cleaning rod has been found to be abrasive to the barrel. It is
further alleged that the proper rod material should be stainless steel or
brass.
I find this a bit hard to believe and would appreciate your views on
the subject. Several important clients, including SWAT team members of
local agencies, have brought this to my attention. Your courtesy in
advising me on this matter will enable me to set the record straight.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest
convenience.
Very sincerely yours,
Richard M. Bash
Owner
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
COLT'S REPLY
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
June 4, 1987
Historically, some percentage of persons in the firearms industry and
firearms using community have avoided cleaning rods that were felt to be
abrasive to the barrel.
COLT'S REPLY continued
These "abrasive" rods are most often aluminum, brass, wood (shotgun),
plastic coated, etc., or any rod made of a material that is softer than the
barrel material.
The theory is that the soft rod material becomes contaminated by grit
or particles of hard materials that worked themselves into the rod through
use, storage, etc. The then contaminated rod, when used, tends to abrade
the surface of the barrel that it comes into contact with.
The interesting thing is the letter suggests brass as acceptable and
many people believe brass is very bad because it is very soft. Some people
believe a steel rod, especially one with a finish on it, is the worst kind
of rod to use as it approaches barrel hardness.
I believe the choice of cleaning rod material is another of those
personal choices that many people have or do make and are not going to be
readily convinced that their choice is wrong.
I believe a soft rod could become contaminated enough, and if used
vigorously enough, (probably in the wrong manner), could certainly damage a
barrel.
I do not believe those incidents are very common, nor do I believe
that the fear of contamination to the point of it being a problem occurs
very often.
Many more barrels are damaged by improper practices during cleaning
than by cleaning rod material. That is, cleaning from the muzzle end rather
than the breech; improper rod diameter; jointed rods whose joints do not
match, leaving sharp edges; attempts to reverse brushes, rags, etc. in mid
barrel; improper or worn out chamber brushes and tools; and, probably the
worst offender, old, outdated, improper and contaminated cleaners.
The M16/AR15 has a chrome plated bore and chamber which is a great
help in protecting the barrel surfaces. The use of a sound good quality rod
and proper cleaning procedures is more important than the rod material.
Engineering Dept.
Makes sense to me, I would think the aluminium rod would wear long before the rifling would be hurt.
If you want to be safe with your rifling do wgat the benchrest .22 shooters do. Use a bore guide and a hardned steel rod or carbon fiber. Alu. and fiberglass will wear a barrel. Course its your rifle, Good Luck
I clean all the mechanical parts, but I don't use any sort of brush to scrub the barrels. I have some camo parachute cord type stuff that Walmart sells in the camping section that I tied a bunch of knots in, and a string with a weight on it so I can pull it through the barrel. I squirt some Super Lube in the barrel before I pull the rope through. A couple dozen knots and 2 or 3 passes and the barrel is nearly spotless, and left unscratched.
My Ruger MKII used to get so dirty in only a few hundred rounds that it would start jamming. I decided to try something different for lube since none of the oils and greases I'd previously tried worked that well. I took the bolt out and hung it up and sprayed it with a heavy coating of Super Lube, then left it for several days so the solvents would evaporate. I then used a cotton cleaning patch to rub the oil and teflon into the surface as best I could. I sprayed it down again and hung it up for several days to build up another layer of the oil on it. It's slick as snot, and the bolt slides freer than it ever has. I've since fired about 500 rounds through the gun, and the inside of the action doesn't look any dirtier than it did after only 50 rounds using Break Free CLP, Tetra Grease, and any of the other lubes I had tried.
Have never use them personally, but boresnake, as mentioned earlier does seem like a viable choice.
Bob
Bob,
I thought that they were neat when they came out.
But I've seen muzzles of SMLEs with a noticeable deformation of the crown through use of pull throughs. The cord gets abrasive particles adhered, and wears a nice groove if the owner does the same repetetive drag each time he cleans it.
I would think that if it is possible that a soft cleaning rod does accumulate abrasives on it that any rope type bore cleaner would do the same.
It seems like either way it would take alot of cleaning before you'd see wear. a casual shooter would never know.
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Bob,
I thought that they were neat when they came out.
But I've seen muzzles of SMLEs with a noticeable deformation of the crown through use of pull throughs. The cord gets abrasive particles adhered, and wears a nice groove if the owner does the same repetetive drag each time he cleans it.
That was part of my question, how can an aluminium rod wear the hardened steel rifling of a gun barrel?
22 rimfire rifles don't need cleaning like the big bore center fire rifles. In most cases all one needs is to wet patch the bore from the rear a couple times and then perhaps 3 dry patches about every 1000 rounds or so. The wax substance on the bullets acts as a preserative to keep rust out.
The important thing is not to ever ding the crown. That's what keeps the bullet accurate.
If you have an automatic (semi) then you have no choice but to clean from the muzzle. Just be very careful when cleaning this type of barrel.
All you really need is to keep the action clean and lubed.
Durango
The new rifle is a new H&R Sporster, I'm trying to avoid creating a less than accurate small game rifle. My previous small game gun is a Marlin 55GDL in 12 Guage, With shotguns, leaving them dirty is a major no-no.
Maritime Storm,
Can you show some pics of your rifle??? If it's a single show it's accuracy will improve allot over time.
I'd just push a couple patches from the breech end trough the barrel and soak it for a short while and them patch it dry.
For myself usually I shoot a generic name brand like CCI "Blazer" ammo through it for about 500 rounds before I consider scoping it for accuracy. Like I said 22 lead rounds smooths out the slight imperfections over time so the more you shoot the more accurate it'll get. I've read that most barrels won't peak until thousands and thousands of rounds are fired. Remember for accuracy try many brands of ammo as you can afford.
In addition rememebr not to ding that crown. It's the number one item in accuracy!!!!
Durango
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