Cleaning 22 Rimfires

Match Director

linoww posted this 27 December 2024

I clean chambers but seldom barrels.It seems sometimes different ammo takes a few to settle when changing brands but sometimes not.I'd like to hear somebody's carefully run test results

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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RicinYakima posted this 27 December 2024

At the end of the day, I push one dry patch through the chamber and bore. The reason is that I bought three Remington 40X's from CPM several years ago. Each had "the Shadow" from the glass from the primers never being cleaned from in front of the chamber.

Ruger 10/22 just gets the action sprayed out with carb cleaner once a year, bores never. Once a rifle is declared a "match" rifle, one dry patch. Rest get clean once in a while.

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Glenn R. Latham posted this 27 December 2024

Funny you should ask, Pat. Since I started shooting 22 BR I clean a lot. I have a Patch Worm (https://patchworm.com/product-category/pocket-field-kit/) and I pull it thru the bore every few targets (25 bull plus sighters). I've been using Shooter's Choice since I've had such good luck with it in my centerfire CB guns (no first shot flyers). I pull a wet patch thru and turn the patch over and pull it thru the bore again. I leave the bore wet and never use a dry patch unless I'm changing solvents. That's about all it takes except for the dreaded carbon ring.

I found out about the carbon ring here: https://web.archive.org/web/20170223110913/httpwww.rrdvegas.com/rimfire-cleaning.html

It's a VERY in-depth article on cleaning 22 RF barrels. I checked my CZ MTR and sure enough it had the carbon ring. I got some solvent specifically for that (https://www.boretech.com/products/c4-carbon-remover). After cleaning with Shooter's Choice I dry the chamber & leade area and stick a tight wet patch (or bore mop) of C4 in the front of the chamber area and let it soak until the carbon is gone. First time I did it there was 5 or more years of a carbon ring in there and it took a few 20-30 minute soaks, checking with the Chinese bore scope, to get it all out. Now I do it after I get home from every match, but some guys stick a mop of C4 in the chamber when they're changing targets.

The biggest change I found after getting the carbon ring out was no more first shot flyers! At the 25 yard indoor matches I aimed at the top of the sighter bull to be sure the first shot didn't drop into the record bulls. After that first shot the rifle settled right in. Don't ask me why only the first shot, and it didn't matter if it was a clean or fouled barrel. After getting the carbon ring out, no more first shot flyers. My buddy has a CZ MTR also and his was doing the same first shot thing, but he didn't clean it hardly at all. He brought it over a couple weeks ago and we got the carbon ring out of it. We'll find out Saturday if that did the trick but I'll bet it did.

Some folks get the carbon ring out with a bronze brush. Some say they twist the brush back and forth in the chamber/leade area but that gives me the willies!

I checked my other 22 rifles (should check the pistols now that I think of it!) and they had the carbon ring too. They will all get it, but it doesn't seem to have the same effect on all of them. Hard to say why, but it could be the size of the chamber. In a standard .228" diameter chamber the carbon ring might not constrict the leade area enough to bother the bullet. My CZ MTR has a VERY tight chamber and bore/groove diameter. It's been a while since I slugged it but I believe the GROOVE diameter was only about .219"! Yes, that's a typical BORE diameter. The chamber is likewise snug. The wax scrapes off the CCI Std, Vel. ammo when chambering.

Glenn

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Glenn R. Latham posted this 27 December 2024

OK that link for the cleaning article didn't work, I'll see if I can find another link.

OK, this seems to work:

https://tinyurl.com/9wdchc2d

Glenn

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Hornet posted this 27 December 2024

That IS a very extensive article and a quick browse through it shows that it might take a bit o time and some bore-scope checks to fully evaluate it. An initial run through says that it has a lot of good information. Thanks for the link. (As usual, I'm sure there will be other responses that claim that it is entirely wrong...)

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pat i posted this 27 December 2024

Thanks everyone. Glenn that extensive article and your cleaning method seems a good way to go. Do you use a patchworm or rod on your MTR? I have both a patchworm and 20 caliber rod with a guide and nylon brushes since like you said the CZ bores are supposed to be tight. I just checked and no carbon ring yet but I ordered some C4 just to have on hand in case it shows up. It looks like there's differing opinions on using a rod but with a loose patch so the rod doesnt bend it should be alright I'd imagine. Down another rabbit hole I go. Rich if someone didn't tell you everything you were doing was wrong these forums wouldn't be any fun. Glenn let me know if getting rid of the ring helped your friends rifle.

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linoww posted this 27 December 2024

Didn't 20 or so years ago somebody make a little brass cutter to get rid of that carbon ring?(Canfee?) .I remember reading about it in precision shooting.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Glenn R. Latham posted this 27 December 2024

George, yes I saw that cutter article in Precision Shooting years ago. Getting the size perfect to get all the carbon out might be a trick, plus these match barrels have the rifling extend so far back that it engraves the bullet when it's chambered. Cutter might run into that.

Pat I haven't used a rod much on the MTR because I haven't had a problem with leading, requiring a brush, just using the Patch Worm. I've heard the 20 caliber rod is a good way to go if you need a rod. I ran across some info on using a plastic brush but don't recall the details, but I bought a couple anyway. Guess I have to try and find that post now.

The Patch Worm is pretty much required in the 10-22T. You can drill a hole in the back of the receiver so you can clean from the back but I haven't done that. I have had some leading problems with the 10-22T but the Patch Worm patches with Shooter's Choice are tight enough to get it out. For some reason the 10-22T doesn't like Eley lube, both varieties I've tried leaded pretty bad. First patch looked like it was covered with Christmas tree tinsel! Same ammo didn't lead in the MTR.

Glenn

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Ross Smith posted this 27 December 2024

very good subject!

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Idahocaster posted this 27 December 2024

One dry patch through the bore after shooting is all I do, but my 22s are all plinkers. No match shooting here.

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Ed Harris posted this 27 December 2024

When I was on NRA staff I asked champion smallbore shooters what theiir drill was.Col. Maurice Kaiser, George Stidworthy, Lones Wigger and Pres Kendall. All of them USAMTU. To a man, at the end of shooting one wet patch to keep fouling soft and to protect bores from condensation during transport. Two dry patches to move loosened fouling and priming residue before firing. Type of solvent not important. Mostly Hoppes. Later Shooters Choice.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Aaron posted this 27 December 2024

22 rimfire is NASTY fouling. We were taught to clean after every shooting session to keep the actions from gumming up with beeswax and grit. Man the 22's can get really dirty. Like going #2, one cleans after every session.

Hoppe's #9 on a bristle brush. 10x through the bore. Patches until they come out white. Last patch with oil of your choice. That's the way the NRA taught it in the 60's. Still works for me today. I clean EVERY firearm after EVERY shooting session. A clean gun is a happy gun.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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RicinYakima posted this 27 December 2024

Certainly interesting and as some good theories, but don't know how valid they are. Still, a lot of work went into the article and pictures.

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Ed Harris posted this 27 December 2024

Stidworthy was convinced more barrels were worn out by cleaning rod wear than by shooting. The ground glass used in rimfire primer mix is abrasive and causes frosting in the origin of rifling if not removed. Once the surface is roughened it causes lead buildup. Frosting starts at 6:00 and gradually moves up the sides until it meets at the top, causing a ring at about 100,000 rounds. Then barrel must be set back and rechambered. Wet patching and leaving bore wet keeps the fouling softer so that dry patching before shooting then removes most of the lead and primer residue, prolonging barrel life.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Aaron posted this 27 December 2024

You better clean those guns or Chesty Puller and Gunny R. Lee Ermy will haunt you.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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pat i posted this 27 December 2024

As an aside I tried to use that rubber Limbsaver thing I bought that SUPPOSEDLY slides up and down the barrel to once again SUPPOSEDLY dampen the vibrations. To say this thing was a gigantic PIA would be an understatement. I figured I'd start 3/4 of an inch from the muzzle and move it back a quarter inch at a time to see what happened. I oiled up the inside of the limbsaver and the barrel and got it on at my 3/4 inch starting point after 15 minutes of fighting with it. 10 shots with no gizmo and 10 with showed no difference in group size. Next was 1 inch from the muzzle. No luck moving it. It felt like it was welded to the barrel! I twisted, pushed, swore at, and prayed and the damned thing wouldn't move. Finally said the hell with it went to remove it. Once again it wouldn't budge. Ended up having to cut it off. It now resides in the bottom of a garbage can where it belongs. At least it was a cheap experience unlike most things I try that don't work out so I didn't lose much.

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RicinYakima posted this 27 December 2024

My worse 40X was an early 722 version, stamped USMC. The shadow was almost at the top of the leade.

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pat i posted this 28 December 2024

You better clean those guns or Chesty Puller and Gunny R. Lee Ermy will haunt you.

Not to mention in the immortal lyrics of Tom Waits........Chesty Morgan and Watermellon Rose

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sluggo posted this 28 December 2024

^Raise my rent and take off all your clothes.

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pat i posted this 28 December 2024

^Raise my rent and take off all your clothes.

I tip my hat to you sir for having such discriminating taste in fine music!!

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Cleaning 22 Rimfires

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