how often should i clean my 22

[775barber]

how often should my 22 rifles and pistols be cleaned. I know 22 is a dirty round but i am curious as to how often they should be cleaned

[BETH]

i clean mine after every use at the range

[rcairflr]

You will get a number of different opinions on this, for me, I clean it after every shooting session. My guns never get put up dirty or unoiled.

[jack404]

i put all mine away clean

drag the ones aint been used in a few months out and give them a work over as well

[langenc]

Originally Posted by 775barber

how often should my 22 rifles and pistols be cleaned. I know 22 is a dirty round but i am curious as to how often they should be cleaned

Every couple thousand rounds

[Albtraum]

Don't store them dirty, or at least run a bore snake through the barrel.

If you take it out and shoot less than... ~100 rounds or so, I'd say it's fine to put it away.

[LDBennett]

While the barrel of the 22LR gun does get dirty from the firing, it is easily cleaned. Many who have 22's don't ever clean them but maybe once a year or less often. But the problem develops over time if the gun is a semi-auto. With every cycle the gases blow burned and un-burned powder residue into the open action. This gets into every crack and crevasse of the action and over time builds up. You have a choice though. Forget about the junk going into the action and clean it with a complete tear down when the gun quits working or flush and wipe out that residue after each range session. The latter is enough to probably never have to take the gun completely apart to thoroughly clean it in your lifetime. The former should not be attempted without a book or video of disassembly procedures.

For bolt and pump guns little to no powder residue fall inside the action. The barrel and bolt face need to be cleaned but no regular teardown are ever necessary if you buy the gun from new.

Semi-auto pistols and revolvers are very dirty after being shot and need a thorough cleaning by field stripping every time they are used.

I clean my guns after every range session. There are NO dirty guns in my safes. Regular cleaning minimizes or eliminates the need for complete tear downs for cleaning.

Just like there are different opinions about how often to bath yourself, so there are different opinions about how often to clean guns. For me cleanliness is next to godliness.

LDBennett

[GunHugger]

My 22 rimfires are the only guns that I put away after shooting without cleaning the bore. I clean the powder and crap from the action, wipe the exterior with Weapon Shield and leave the bore untouched.

I found that they like a fouled bore and shoot tighter groups. So rather than needing to fire 20 rounds to get it back after cleaning I just don't do a bore cleaning very often. There is no harm in doing what I do.

When accuracy drops I will then clean the bore with a cleaning rod, Hoppes, brass brush, cleaning patches. I have no use for bore snakes...they are only good for a half*** cleaning of the bore so I either do it right or not at all with my rimfires.

[carver]

Originally Posted by GunHugger

My 22 rimfires are the only guns that I put away after shooting without cleaning the bore. I clean the powder and crap from the action, wipe the exterior with Weapon Shield and leave the bore untouched.

I found that they like a fouled bore and shoot tighter groups. So rather than needing to fire 20 rounds to get it back after cleaning I just don't do a bore cleaning very often. There is no harm in doing what I do.

When accuracy drops I will then clean the bore with a cleaning rod, Hoppes, brass brush, cleaning patches. I have no use for bore snakes...they are only good for a half*** cleaning of the bore so I either do it right or not at all with my rimfires.

I'm the same way! I have never owned a rifle, of any caliber, that would shoot as good clean, as it does fouled.

[LDBennett]

Talking about cleaning methods for the bore of 22's, I use the Otis System.

It is a plastic covered steel cable which you feed through from the chamber end, pulling it with either a cleaning patch or the provided bore brush. The patch has six working areas. I can clean any 22 bore with two patches (the Otis unique circular patches). I use one side three times initially (a new area of the patch wetted with their solvent each time) then pull the wetted brush through about 5 or more times. I then use the other side of the wetted patch for three more times to remove the fouling the brush released. I follow that with two pull throughs of a dry patch and one pull through of the last area of the dry patch that I saturate with gun oil. Bore cleaning is easy this way, and not messy at all. There is no reason to not clean a 22 bore when it is this easy. I have not noticed that my 22 gun barrels need fouling to shoot well but maybe my personal accuracy limits are worse than GunHugger's (??).

LDBennett

[carver]

Originally Posted by LDBennett

Talking about cleaning methods for the bore of 22's, I use the Otis System.

It is a plastic covered steel cable which you feed through from the chamber end, pulling it with either a cleaning patch or the provided bore brush. The patch has six working areas. I can clean any 22 bore with two patches (the Otis unique circular patches). I use one side three times initially (a new area of the patch wetted with their solvent each time) then pull the wetted brush through about 5 or more times. I then use the other side of the wetted patch for three more times to remove the fouling the brush released. I follow that with two pull throughs of a dry patch and one pull through of the last area of the dry patch that I saturate with gun oil. Bore cleaning is easy this way, and not messy at all. There is no reason to not clean a 22 bore when it is this easy. I have not noticed that my 22 gun barrels need fouling to shoot well but maybe my personal accuracy limits are worse than GunHugger's (??).

LDBennett

I like the Otis system too! One of the best inventions for firearms in a long time!

[bamajoey]

Originally Posted by GunHugger

My 22 rimfires are the only guns that I put away after shooting without cleaning the bore. I clean the powder and crap from the action, wipe the exterior with Weapon Shield and leave the bore untouched.

I found that they like a fouled bore and shoot tighter groups. So rather than needing to fire 20 rounds to get it back after cleaning I just don't do a bore cleaning very often. There is no harm in doing what I do.

When accuracy drops I will then clean the bore with a cleaning rod, Hoppes, brass brush, cleaning patches. I have no use for bore snakes...they are only good for a half*** cleaning of the bore so I either do it right or not at all with my rimfires.

[gun runner]

I clean my .22's about every 1000.

[Donnie D]

When I can no longer see light thru the barrel.

Donnie D

[Renee]

I clean mine after every outing. Usually the next day.
It is easier to get the power residuals off the firearm & clean the barrel when it doesn't sit forever.
I try & us the Remington standard velocity in the dark green with the blue end when I can find it. It leaves Zero particles of power in the fired barrel of my High Standard,. It is very clean. It shines like a Diamond in a Goat's Ass.
These firearms cost some $$, why get lazy & mess them up.
R.

[CJ_56]

I clean my rimfires every 11 years whether they need it or not. And that's just how long it took before my old Marlin 60 took before it stopped cycling and forced me to clean the action. Once in a great while I did run a rag (hillbilly style - a piece of cotton tied on a string with a nail tied on the other end to get the string through) through it once a year or so. There were no bore snakes in those days.

Lots of barrel makers will tell you NOT to over clean the bore. They say it will just clean out the lube your rifle needs to be more accurate. I'm talking to quality barrel makers say that.

Every rifle is different. Some need to be cleaned often. I would never let a handgun go a long time between cleanings. I generally clean those every time. Same goes for shotguns. Now those things are dirty. But a .22 doesn't have that much powder even if it is dirty powder. The thing to avoid is using oil on the action because it collects powder residue and that will make you have to clean the gun a lot more often.

That old 60 I have - I've probably cleaned it less than 10 times since I bought it 24 years ago. It's got probably 150,000 rounds through it. It still works perfectly. My new 60 (a 2009 model) needs to be cleaned more often though. I've probably cleaned it 10 times or more. It gets to where it won't cycle. Every rifle is an individual.

Generally it is true for most people that cleaning too often decreases your accuracy. I know it takes me about 50 rounds to foul a barrel so that it shoots right if I clean a rimfire really well. Some of the bench rest shooters will clean after every 10 rounds though. They use very tight bores and they can still maintain accuracy if they clean really often. But keep in mind that the fastest way to wear out a .22 barrel is to clean it really often. I know a guy who is a world class rimfire BR shooter. He replaces barrels after about 800 rounds. I can shoot that much in a day easy.

[Big Shrek]

Depends entirely in what state you reside in...

If you live in Arizona/dry climates....practically every 10 years...

If you live in Florida/humid or swampy climates...after every range visit/hunting trip.

[cpttango30]

I clean the actions when they need it.

I clean barrels hummmmmmm last time I cleaned a rimfire barrel was hold on a minute oh about 9 years ago.

For my semiauto pistols I clean the action after every outing. my bolt guns might get it every 4 or 5 outings.

[rcairflr]

Originally Posted by CJ_56

I clean my rimfires every 11 years whether they need it or not. And that's just how long it took before my old Marlin 60 took before it stopped cycling and forced me to clean the action. Once in a great while I did run a rag (hillbilly style - a piece of cotton tied on a string with a nail tied on the other end to get the string through) through it once a year or so. There were no bore snakes in those days.

Lots of barrel makers will tell you NOT to over clean the bore. They say it will just clean out the lube your rifle needs to be more accurate. I'm talking to quality barrel makers say that.

Every rifle is different. Some need to be cleaned often. I would never let a handgun go a long time between cleanings. I generally clean those every time. Same goes for shotguns. Now those things are dirty. But a .22 doesn't have that much powder even if it is dirty powder. The thing to avoid is using oil on the action because it collects powder residue and that will make you have to clean the gun a lot more often.

That old 60 I have - I've probably cleaned it less than 10 times since I bought it 24 years ago. It's got probably 150,000 rounds through it. It still works perfectly. My new 60 (a 2009 model) needs to be cleaned more often though. I've probably cleaned it 10 times or more. It gets to where it won't cycle. Every rifle is an individual.

Generally it is true for most people that cleaning too often decreases your accuracy. I know it takes me about 50 rounds to foul a barrel so that it shoots right if I clean a rimfire really well. Some of the bench rest shooters will clean after every 10 rounds though. They use very tight bores and they can still maintain accuracy if they clean really often. But keep in mind that the fastest way to wear out a .22 barrel is to clean it really often. I know a guy who is a world class rimfire BR shooter. He replaces barrels after about 800 rounds. I can shoot that much in a day easy.

So for us ignorant folk who clean their barrels each time we use our .22 firearms:
Please explain to me how using a carbon fiber cleaning rod, with a plastic tip and cloth patches will wear out my barrel made of very hard steel.

[mr.t7024]

My .22 bolt action rifles once a year. They will have about 200 rounds through them and before I put it away

My Marlin 60 twice a year or after 500 rounds and before I put it away

My Ruger Mark II and my Buck Mark after 250 rounds.

If it is too cold outside I utilize my workshop. I use brake cleaner and a little and I mean little bit of oil

If it is nice outside,above 50 degrees I use a parts brush and gasoline ,it works wonders and cheaper than brake cleaner. BTW when I use gas, the fire arm is allowed to completely air dry and I use oil sparingly.

This works for me! Cliff

[LDBennett]

Many rifles including 22 have the barrel ruined by excessively cleaning them the wrong way. That is, using a steel rod, stainless steel brushes, way too strong of a homemade copper solvent, and using the rod from the muzzle end rather than from the breech end. The common damage is from a steel cleaning rod used from the muzzle end. A muzzle guide helps if there is no other way than to clean from the muzzle (lever gun, some autos and pump guns and others) but a pull through cable like the OTIS, is still better yet.

Pull through "rods" (actually a plastic covered wire cable like OTIS uses), the correct solvent left in the bore for no longer than the instructions direct, and only nylon or brass cleaning brushes will not hurt the bore.

The only negative about cleaning the bore after every shoot is that some people think the bore shoots best fouled. I have not seen that in my experience. I often shoot strings of 100 rounds starting off with a clean and lightly oiled bore and have not ever seen a difference in accuracy from the beginning to the end. No one shoots more accurately than Bench Rest shooters and they clean often during a match. But your experience may be different(?).

LDBennett

[CJ_56]

I often shoot strings of 100 rounds starting off with a clean and lightly oiled bore and have not ever seen a difference in accuracy from the beginning to the end. No one shoots more accurately than Bench Rest shooters and they clean often during a match. But your experience may be different

Wow I've seen a LOT of difference. It depends on the rifle. Remember those BR guys are shooting with very tight chambers and bores and it takes a lot less to cause problems from fouling. A number of top barrel makers (including some BR barrel makers) suggest not cleaning the barrel that often because it removes the lube your bore needs to stay accurate. For example I found this comment on barrel maker Lilja's web page:

"Match quality bullets have a wax coating on them that aids accuracy. It may take 10-50 shots to "lay" a good coating of it down in the barrel and using solvents will only remove this desirable wax coating."

Originally Posted by rcairflr

So for us ignorant folk who clean their barrels each time we use our .22 firearms:
Please explain to me how using a carbon fiber cleaning rod, with a plastic tip and cloth patches will wear out my barrel made of very hard steel.

Well (and this only applies to you "ignorant folks" - everyone else can ignore this) it's easy enough. It's all that pure ignorance energy. It's powerful stuff. Sometimes it can work to your favor but usually it doesn't. So be careful about being so ignorant while cleaning your bore. You could rip right through the side using a toothpick too hard if you aren't careful. Again, it's the ignorance.

Of course I realize that the non-ignorant out there know that it's really hard to wear out a barrel with a nylon brush and a carbon fiber rod. It's the people using hard steel rods and stainless steel brushes all hooked up to a high speed drill that really wear out their barrels quick. And believe it or not I have seen people do exactly that. But since you're ignorant and all you won't need to worry about this. It's different for you. Watch out for those toothpicks. Even touching the barrel with one that happens to be hanging out of your mouth while you're shooting can spell instant disaster for your barrel. Why it's liable to blow right up in your face if you do that!

[mr.t7024]

CJ56 I would never have thunk of using a High speed drill ... thanks for the idea... lol. Cliff

[targetacqmgt]

Originally Posted by jack404

i put all mine away clean

drag the ones aint been used in a few months out and give them a work over as well

What he said-

[targetacqmgt]

Originally Posted by LDBennett

Many rifles including 22 have the barrel ruined by excessively cleaning them the wrong way. That is, using a steel rod, stainless steel brushes, way too strong of a homemade copper solvent, and using the rod from the muzzle end rather than from the breech end. The common damage is from a steel cleaning rod used from the muzzle end. A muzzle guide helps if there is no other way than to clean from the muzzle (lever gun, some autos and pump guns and others) but a pull through cable like the OTIS, is still better yet.

Pull through "rods" (actually a plastic covered wire cable like OTIS uses), the correct solvent left in the bore for no longer than the instructions direct, and only nylon or brass cleaning brushes will not hurt the bore.

The only negative about cleaning the bore after every shoot is that some people think the bore shoots best fouled. I have not seen that in my experience. I often shoot strings of 100 rounds starting off with a clean and lightly oiled bore and have not ever seen a difference in accuracy from the beginning to the end. No one shoots more accurately than Bench Rest shooters and they clean often during a match. But your experience may be different(?).

LDBennett

Good data I will add to my TECH documents