So you say you don't clean your barrel....?

[Gjmen22]

I'm not here to start another thread about how to clean a rimfire barrel. Everybody seems to have there own special way and secret sauces. The question is for the people that say they don't clean often. Do you mean you don't even push or pull a dry patch at the end of the day? At the end of the day I pull a patch worm through to get the gunk out. Years ago I saw some pitting in the first 7"-8" of my Anschutz MPR 64 barrel. All if not most of the pitting was at the 6 O clock position. I was told at the time this was probably due to (for lack of a better word) residue, left behind from the primer and this is what was pitting my barrel. So now, when I pull one of my rimfires out and go shooting, it can take maybe a dozen shots before it settles in. But I also notice, towards around 50-60 rounds, I'm really on target. So I started wondering today, does it take 50 + rounds to "season" my barrel? Should I leave the barrel alone and not pull a patch through at the end of each day of shooting? If I leave the primer residue/gunk in the barrel for a week or 2, am I at risk of pitting the barrel? So many questions. Any help would be appreciated.

Gjmen22

 

[justin amateur]

The rifling/bore of my Lilja and Shilen barrels don't require much more than a couple of dry patches pulled through,
but the chambers need serious scrubbing after about 250 shots, to clear the carbon ring.

 

[cwmoss]

Early on when first started shooting smallbore silhouette back in the late 80's, I cleaned the barrel after every 10 rounds, like I did my highpower rig. A fellow who is still one of the top rifle silhouette shooters said I was gonna wear that barrel out from just cleaning it (the 22lr). I asked for his recommendation and he said he might clean his smallbore once a year maybe. He said when the accuracy starts to drop off, then clean it. Been doing that ever since. I do clean it once when it is new to get the factory stuff out. And he said don't use a brush, but if you insist, use a nylon one.

 

[marks_a18138]

How I clean mine. http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2018/04/rimfire-barrel-cleaning-eleys-recommended-methods/

 

[hlee]

I pull a bore snake through mine every few 100 rounds, unless I forget, and then it is as often as I remember. Takes about 10 shots to settle back down.

 

[flatland1]

I have several 22RF rifles with custom bbls, including V-22 & 40Xs with Bartlein & Krieger cut-rifled bbls, and a couple of CZ457s with Shilen ratchet rifled button-rifled bbls. Rather than try to keep track of how many rounds I've shot through each of them, I just put a couple of wet patches followed by a couple of dry ones through each bbl after every range session. I always use a rod guide, and don't brush unless I get some leading out with one of the wet patches. I've thought about using BoreTech Rimfire Blend, but honestly have had plenty good results with plain old homemade Ed's Red, which is equal parts of kerosene, Dexron II ATF, mineral spirits, and acetone - which I keep in a glass container because the acetone will soften plastic.

To the OP - I doubt what you're seeing in your Anschutz bore is pitting - it's more likely a fine roughness due to the ground glass in the priming compound of 22RF ammo. I've seen in the bore of a nice old Anschutz 1611 prone rifle I traded for years ago that still shot very well, and in every one of the 52Ds & 40Xs that I bought from the CMP. A few years ago, I bought a new Anschutz 2011 prone rifle. Borescoped the bbl with my Hawkeye when I received it, and again after 40-50rds of std vel match ammo, and the borescope showed just the faintest beginning of the same sort of roughness I'd seen in all my other 22RF target rifles. That's just one more reason I wipe out the bores regularly - and at least in the custom bbls on my rifles, it seldom takes more than a couple of rounds before they're shooting to the same POI as they were zeroed at.

 

[Gjmen22]

I have several 22RF rifles with custom bbls, including V-22 & 40Xs with Bartlein & Krieger cut-rifled bbls, and a couple of CZ457s with Shilen ratchet rifled button-rifled bbls. Rather than try to keep track of how many rounds I've shot through each of them, I just put a couple of wet patches followed by a couple of dry ones through each bbl after every range session. I always use a rod guide, and don't brush unless I get some leading out with one of the wet patches. I've thought about using BoreTech Rimfire Blend, but honestly have had plenty good results with plain old homemade Ed's Red, which is equal parts of kerosene, Dexron II ATF, mineral spirits, and acetone - which I keep in a glass container because the acetone will soften plastic.

To the OP - I doubt what you're seeing in your Anschutz bore is pitting - it's more likely a fine roughness due to the ground glass in the priming compound of 22RF ammo. I've seen in the bore of a nice old Anschutz 1611 prone rifle I traded for years ago that still shot very well, and in every one of the 52Ds & 40Xs that I bought from the CMP. A few years ago, I bought a new Anschutz 2011 prone rifle. Borescoped the bbl with my Hawkeye when I received it, and again after 40-50rds of std vel match ammo, and the borescope showed just the faintest beginning of the same sort of roughness I'd seen in all my other 22RF target rifles. That's just one more reason I wipe out the bores regularly - and at least in the custom bbls on my rifles, it seldom takes more than a couple of rounds before they're shooting to the same POI as they were zeroed at.

This is what I am seeing. the ugly one id at 6 O'clock, the other is at the same spot in barrel but at 12 O'clock.

 

[Penguins]

I see people say they clean their barrel after every 100-200 rounds but i don't think the round count should be the basic factor of cleaning your barrel.
Your load and cleaning oil play a vital part in this IMHO.
I clean whenever there's carbon. different guns different care.

 

[...]

4 yrs of NCAA and 3 yrs competition after that......clean my barrel maybe 1x in that time....

 

[BlastersAreCool]

I started cleaning every 1/2 brick per a couple sources at first... but then got lazy. It turned into every brick for a little while. Now, like alot of guys who take 22lr seriously, I just clean whenever I change lots/ ammo types OR when accuracy appears to degrade. If I had to guess its every 1k or so. Less than 2k rounds. Hope that helps!

 

[PAYDIRT]

I have a P-54 Sako I've had since I was a kid, I can count on one hand how many times I've cleaned it, and it's stupid accurate. I have a 455 that NEEDS cleaned every 200 rounds or so. I just pull a snake through it before I shoot it.

 

[orkan]

When I say I don't clean my 22lr barrels, I mean I don't clean them, almost ever. Though during testing, troubleshooting, when they are new, or various other reasons... they'll get cleaned. However, when I've got one shooting, I won't clean it until I'm shown some very specific solid reasons to start.

22LR Barrel Cleaning

It's truly not necessary to clean 22LR bores as often as people think.

www.snipershide.com

 

[GetReal]

I clean my Vudoo about every other range trip. I was shooting today on a dirty barrel that I didn't clean last range trip and had excellent 50 and 100 yd accuracy.

 

[Gjmen22]

When I say I don't clean my 22lr barrels, I mean I don't clean them, almost ever. Though during testing, troubleshooting, when they are new, or various other reasons... they'll get cleaned. However, when I've got one shooting, I won't clean it until I'm shown some very specific solid reasons to start.

22LR Barrel Cleaning

It's truly not necessary to clean 22LR bores as often as people think.

www.snipershide.com

Great job on the video. I feel like you made it just for me.

 

[GetReal]

My dirty bbl work yesterday...

 

[whatsupdoc]

Any rifle that has a carbon steel barrel gets a patch or two of oil though it after shooting. Now whether that is considered cleaning is up to the individual. I do it simply to prevent pitting of the barrel.

 

[orkan]

Great job on the video. I feel like you made it just for me.

Because I did. It is a video response to this thread.

 

[Gjmen22]

Because I did. It is a video response to this thread.

@orkan It was great and I appreciate it and Im sure a lot other readers did as well. Maybe I should start a thread on thoughts of sorting ammo by rim thickness, the how to's, and if it's really worth it. Oh jeez, I be that would make a great video.

 

[Eoddave27]

@orkan It was great and I appreciate it and Im sure a lot other readers did as well. Maybe I should start a thread on thoughts of sorting ammo by rim thickness, the how to's, and if it's really worth it. Oh jeez, I be that would make a great video.

I had a friend just do a pretty extensive test on sorting by rim thickness. He doesn't have the article finished yet but after talking to him his verdict was it wasn’t worth it. I believe he shot 10 5 round groups with 10 different ammo‘s. It was 10 groups of 5 sorted and 10 groups of 5 not sorted with each ammo. He tested everything from cheap Remington ammo to Lapua Midas +. He did his testing with a V22 at 100 yards. He is a pretty reliable source with a pretty solid resume. If he said it isn’t worth the time to sort I would tend to believe him. Once he gets the full article done I will post a link.

 

[Gjmen22]

I had a friend just do a pretty extensive test on sorting by rim thickness. He doesn't have the article finished yet but after talking to him his verdict was it wasn’t worth it. I believe he shot 10 5 round groups with 10 different ammo‘s. It was 10 groups of 5 sorted and 10 groups of 5 not sorted with each ammo. He tested everything from cheap Remington ammo to Lapua Midas +. He did his testing with a V22 at 100 yards. He is a pretty reliable source with a pretty solid resume. If he said it isn’t worth the time to sort I would tend to believe him. Once he gets the full article done I will post a link.

I am anxious to see the results. Thank you

 

[Pocket]

I love that you point to the 10...

My dirty bbl work yesterday...

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