how often should i clean my 22

i clean mine after every use at the range

 

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.

 

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

 

Every couple thousand rounds

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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!

 

:yeahthat::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

I clean my .22's about every 1000.

 

When I can no longer see light thru the barrel. :lmao2:

Donnie D

 

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.