.22 lr cleaning

[barretcreek]

What is your cleaning routine for .22 lr rifles and pistols and what do you use? Interested in bringing the target rifles out of hibernation.

[lyman]

for target guns,

if they have been in storage, a good once over and general clean,
punch the bores with hoppes , brush, and then dry patch till almost clean,


shoot,,, often, and don't clean the bore again unless groups go wonky,


learned that from several Smallbore guys

[High Plaines Doug r]

I don't try to scrub the barrel on my .22lr guns maybe 5-10 passes per match with a bronze brush and a little Hoppies or GI bore cleaner but I do try to scrub the chamber especially of the semi-autos a little bit. The rest is just wiping grit off the bolt face and Breech and maybe fingerprints off the rest.

[Art]

I clean my .22s a lot more than most but it's pretty perfunctory. After a range session one pass with a brush soaked in solvent, dry patch, patch barely damp with CLP. Wipe down metal with a a sightly oily rag.

Yeah, everyone here will say I clean the bore too much.

[Fred Pillot]

Don't listen to this BS. A bronze brush will screw up your barrel way faster than any lead bullets you will fire through it. Use solvent, and if you need to scrub in the throat, use a nylon brush with a patch soaked with solvent. Work slow, slow. Over time, the lead will come out.

[Pete D.]

.22s are easy. As noted in the post #2, the procedure is simple. Beyond pulling a boresnake through the barrel after shooting there is little to do. I have two very nice target rifles, an Anschutz biathlon rifle and a Feinwerkbau rifle that I use for smallbore prone. Wipe down the outsides of the guns, boresnake and a little oil, put away.

[bruce]

Cleaning .22 LR firearms is not do difficult. A properly sized cleaning patch dampened w/ solvent is pushed through the chamber and bore followed by a dry patch. If there is buildup of lube on the muzzle, wipe it off w/ the damp patch. That's about it for a bolt-action of single shot firearm. For a semi-auto, you will need to give attention to the bolt face and breech wiping away any fouling, etc.
A soft brush may be useful for small hard to reach areas. If fouling is hardened, remove it with a brass scraper. Wipe the exterior of the firearm down with an oiled cloth. If dealing with a revolver, you will need to also give attention to the ejection system. There is little to do on a single-action. On a double-action, you will want to wipe out under the ejector star, etc. From time to time you may also want to use a phosphor-bronze brush to clean the charge holes in the cylinder. This will make loading/ejection easier. HTH. Sincerely. bruce.