Cleaning “precision” .22lr rifles

[lapua]

Gents, ive had rimfires for years (cz/brno) but never cleaned one.

what do you guys do that shoot high end .22lr’s?

tips, tricks, hacks, kit etc appreciated, from those that know and do it.

[Mattnall]

1. Wipe it down if it gets wet or dirty on the outside.

2. Shoot it.

I don't think you've been doing anything wrong all this time.😎

[1066]

Like most of us I've spent donkeys years shooting .22's and a good few of those years shooting NSRA prone competitions,  along with most other shooters of the time, I very rarely cleaned the barrels of my rifles and seemed to do ok, never feeling that the rifles were letting me down.

After a 30 year break in competition rimfire shooting I have been having a play are .22 bench rest - my view of barrel cleaning has now changed. I've found that after a deep clean of my BSA Mk5 International, the barrel (Using Eley Tenex) takes around 15-20 shots to regain accuracy - it continues shooting well for around 80-100 shots then the group starts to open out a little. This slight loss is enough to make a difference in benchrest shooting. The reality is 100 with 7 "X"'s  will beat a 100 with 4 "x"'s. Years ago, when I was shooting prone, a ton was a ton and good enough.

I would suggest you do some experiments to carefully select your ammunition and then experiment with cleaning - trying to eliminate as many variables as possible.

[KatoomDownUnder]

Depends on what you're doing. If it's just going to be taken out and shot without sighting in etc then I'd leave the bore alone and just wipe everything else down but every now and then run a patch/felt through to get rid of carbon build up. If you're shooting competition with say an ISSF level rifle, then have a look at what the majority of the top shots do. You'll find they clean their rifles after each match but will generally only use patches or VFG Felts. They can get away with this as each match has a period for sighters, that and some will put rounds down range a day or two before a match. When I was competing I'd scrub the bore on my KK300 about twice a year to reduce the lead fouling but would put about 50-60 rounds through after to get it back on track before the next match. I was shooting an average of 3 training sessions/matches a week plus a monthly comp so 180-250 rounds a month min. I'd go with a one piece stainless rod and appropriate jags and brushes. A good quality gun oil is a must and there's plenty to choose from. Boretech's Rimfire blend is good for cleaning bores and Ballistol's Universal oil will do wonders but I'm not sure how it goes with lead. 

 

You'll get a thousand or more differing views on cleaning and a lot with come down to your experience and what you find works for you in your circumstances.