.22LR barrel cleaning

[epogee]

I've never cleaned a .22 LR, and I've done plenty of target shooting over the years, to a fairly precise level too, when I'm in practice (97s to 99s).

The worst thing I imagine is the cold air causing condensation in the barrel. If you take your rifle out and don't shoot, then there's nothing pushing that water out of the end of the barrel. Also, if you shoot several rounds, the barrel warms up. If you are just shooting single shots, it won't warm significantly if it's .22. Hot - to -cold cycling will cause condensation and if that doesn't evaporate relatively quickly, it may stick around in the barrel for a period, and that can lead to rust, which is bad news on the inside.

 

[Bowland blades]

I've never cleaned a .22 LR, and I've done plenty of target shooting over the years, to a fairly precise level too, when I'm in practice (97s to 99s).

The worst thing I imagine is the cold air causing condensation in the barrel. If you take your rifle out and don't shoot, then there's nothing pushing that water out of the end of the barrel. Also, if you shoot several rounds, the barrel warms up. If you are just shooting single shots, it won't warm significantly if it's .22. Hot - to -cold cycling will cause condensation and if that doesn't evaporate relatively quickly, it may stick around in the barrel for a period, and that can lead to rust, which is bad news on the inside.

You don't mention what discipline you actually shot and what you won during that time . That would be good to know because the serious comp shooters i have known are fanatic about cleaning and spend a fair amount of testing batch numbers of the best , then they buy real heavy amounts ( the sort of not which would not be allowed to store by the vast majority ).
I haven't ever bothered with serious .22 target comps but i certainly clean my RF rifles frequently and well , you just cannot replicate state of dirty but you can replicate the state of clean

 

[epogee]

No, not a serious competitor these days. In the 90s I did a lot of outdoor 200,300,500yd target shooting. (7.62mm). Was selected in the Asburton 100 at Bisley many many years ago. Also shot for Wales in a schools competition at Bisley. I used to compete in the postal leagues .22 rifle 25yd prone, but interest in prone disciplines has dwindled over the last 30years at our club, and Covid saw off a few of the remaining prone shooters, so no longer enough to have a specific .22 prone night. These days I only shoot occasionally at a mixed shooting evening on the range, which isn't the best environment for .22 precision! Larger calibre rifles definitely need cleaning regularly though! My 7.62mm would be cleaned after every detail (so after 8-12shots).

 

[safer]

After every use as any other rifle.
Ballistol Robla to loosen, patches to remove the dirt and then very light coating of Ballistol Gunex for protection. Still a mirror finish inside the barrel. Well...it is a Sako P94S

 

[M@tt]

You don't mention what discipline you actually shot and what you won during that time . That would be good to know because the serious comp shooters i have known are fanatic about cleaning and spend a fair amount of testing batch numbers of the best , then they buy real heavy amounts ( the sort of not which would not be allowed to store by the vast majority ).
I haven't ever bothered with serious .22 target comps but i certainly clean my RF rifles frequently and well , you just cannot replicate state of dirty but you can replicate the state of clean

Most target comps allow fouling shots because the clean barrels don't shoot the same as a fouled barrel.
A clean barrel is only good for one shot, and unless you clean it again before the next shot you'll be shooting through a slightly dirtier barrel, getting progressively dirty until it reaches its optimum foulness.
Once this optimum condition is reached, each shot pushes out the same amount of fouling as it lays behind.
If this wasn't the case, then a 22lr barrel would become a .17, either that or clean itself, in short order.

Those fastidious cleaners are likely those that either leave their rifles un-shot for quite a while, or have got stuck in the whole "well, that's what we have always done" rut, handed down by shooters since the days of the black powder cartridges. A bit like the whole "ease springs" myth.

 

[gixer1]

Those fastidious cleaners are likely those that either leave their rifles un-shot for quite a while, or have got stuck in the whole "well, that's what we have always done" rut, handed down by shooters since the days of the black powder cartridges. A bit like the whole "ease springs" myth.

I’d say quite the opposite - it’s the people that don’t clean that are stuck in the “what’s the point, it needs to be dirty to shoot accurately”


Show me any top class F-class or precision shooter that doesn’t clean their barrel….you won’t find them from my experience.

 

[Smellydog]

Most target comps allow fouling shots because the clean barrels don't shoot the same as a fouled barrel.
A clean barrel is only good for one shot, and unless you clean it again before the next shot you'll be shooting through a slightly dirtier barrel, getting progressively dirty until it reaches its optimum foulness.
Once this optimum condition is reached, each shot pushes out the same amount of fouling as it lays behind.
If this wasn't the case, then a 22lr barrel would become a .17, either that or clean itself, in short order.

Those fastidious cleaners are likely those that either leave their rifles un-shot for quite a while, or have got stuck in the whole "well, that's what we have always done" rut, handed down by shooters since the days of the black powder cartridges. A bit like the whole "ease springs" myth.

Yes and no.
Black powder guns weren't meticulously cleaned after use.
The use of animal or vegetable based bullet lubes protected the barrel very well from the salts left behind from burning black powder.
Most old guns lived above the fireplace to keep them warm, the fouling being hygroscopic and then dissolving the salts to make a caustic solution hence forth was avoided.

 

[Smellydog]

Show me any top class F-class or precision shooter that doesn’t clean their barrel….you won’t find them from my experience.

Is F class center fire only?

Any soft lead bullet with a measure of high pressure derived from a rapid and hot chemical reaction needs a bullet lubricant to separate it from the steel of the barrel.
A 22 bullet on its own does not carry enough lube to achieve separation in a rifle length barrel. It takes a lot to coat the barrel.
Removing it will have a possible negative effect for a number of shots.
If one has a rifle that is not affected so, one is extremely lucky.

 

[M@tt]

I’d say quite the opposite - it’s the people that don’t clean that are stuck in the “what’s the point, it needs to be dirty to shoot accurately”


Show me any top class F-class or precision shooter that doesn’t clean their barrel….you won’t find them from my experience.

Show me an F-Class shooter that shoots a clean barrel for their first scoring shot.

 

[gixer1]

Show me an F-Class shooter that shoots a clean barrel for their first scoring shot.

Lots of them. Convertible sighters are just that - convertible! I have done just that with my first shot on many occasions.

 

[gixer1]

Is F class center fire only?

Any soft lead bullet with a measure of high pressure derived from a rapid and hot chemical reaction needs a bullet lubricant to separate it from the steel of the barrel.
A 22 bullet on its own does not carry enough lube to achieve separation in a rifle length barrel. It takes a lot to coat the barrel.
Removing it will have a possible negative effect for a number of shots.
If one has a rifle that is not affected so, one is extremely lucky.

Lead is microscopically coating the barrel from the very first round, so it’s consistent. You can consistently clean a barrel but you can’t consistently maintain the level of dirt.

The precision heavy barrel 22’s are scrubbed clean after every session.

And after seeing recent testing with my barrel I will be cleaning it.

It would be very difficult to improve on a single hole group.

Regards,
Gixer

 

[M@tt]

Lots of them. Convertible sighters are just that - convertible! I have done just that with my first shot on many occasions.

OK, but but these aren't sighters, they are blow-off shots, it occurs before the sighters, with the targets down. If you don't take advantage of the fouling or blow off shots, you need to know your cold bore zero and adjust as the barrel warms up and gets dirty.
NRA Rule 301 covers it for MR, F-class and Any-Rifle events. It is also Message11 on the radio.
Whenever I've shot similar matches there is a period before the sighters, around 1 or 2 minutes IIRC, where the shooter is allowed to fire as many shots as they want into the sand.
Then the convertible sighters.

 

[gixer1]

OK, but but these aren't sighters, they are blow-off shots, it occurs before the sighters, with the targets down. If you don't take advantage of the fouling or blow off shots, you need to know your cold bore zero and adjust as the barrel warms up and gets dirty.
NRA Rule 301 covers it for MR, F-class and Any-Rifle events. It is also Message11 on the radio.
Whenever I've shot similar matches there is a period before the sighters, around 1 or 2 minutes IIRC, where the shooter is allowed to fire as many shots as they want into the sand.
Then the convertible sighters.

I can’t see any mention of it is some of the F-class COF. Or any in the book I’m looking at here…

 

[M@tt]

Perhaps the bit that says "Shot under NRA conditions" and those are the conditions printed in the relevant paragraphs of the Bisley Bible?

 

[Bowland blades]

Most target comps allow fouling shots because the clean barrels don't shoot the same as a fouled barrel.
A clean barrel is only good for one shot, and unless you clean it again before the next shot you'll be shooting through a slightly dirtier barrel, getting progressively dirty until it reaches its optimum foulness.
Once this optimum condition is reached, each shot pushes out the same amount of fouling as it lays behind.
If this wasn't the case, then a 22lr barrel would become a .17, either that or clean itself, in short order.

Those fastidious cleaners are likely those that either leave their rifles un-shot for quite a while, or have got stuck in the whole "well, that's what we have always done" rut, handed down by shooters since the days of the black powder cartridges. A bit like the whole "ease springs" myth.

Having known a good few very serious international .22 competitors , they all cleaned ! why? 1. because you cannot replicate the state of dirty , but if you don't start with a known clean you have to work to an un-known base line !
I must now state that i now tend to ignore the .22RF cleaning maybe too much now now . It takes only one or two shots only to re-season most rifles if you need vastly more ? That's most likely because inter-dental corrosion pits need filling .
99% of .22rf shooters of course would not be able to decern the difference in the accuracy because the human is not capable to really shooting well and mixes up ammo types / brands . The serious competitor though will travel out of the UK just to test the best ammo via lot number and then have them shipped into the UK for them !
All depends on an individual shooters level of need / desire and there just aint many that need it !

 

[Johnyt]

I do a lot of .22lr target shooting, not quite international standard but I shoot for the county and won a good number of club medals over last 10 or so years. My more recent proud moment is coming top of the first LSR division in the DSRPA postal leagues. Mostly because the chap who previously always came first dropped out but hey I'll take it!
Any way I can say with some certainty that regular barrel cleaning does make a positive difference. I give a nylon brush through after every shoot and then a thorough clean after approx 1000 rounds as recommended in the Anschutz user manual. I use the Paul Clean System here.
I also have a Smith & Wesson semi auto which I care a bit less about, just a fun gun for in house rapid fire comps. I strip and clean this as and when it's looking extra crusty.
The only one I thoroughly clean after every single session is my Chippa .357mag LBR. The forcing cone craps up a lot shooting cast lead, a real pain to clean if you leave it too long.

 

[Smellydog]

I do a lot of .22lr target shooting, not quite international standard but I shoot for the county and won a good number of club medals over last 10 or so years. My more recent proud moment is coming top of the first LSR division in the DSRPA postal leagues. Mostly because the chap who previously always came first dropped out but hey I'll take it!
Any way I can say with some certainty that regular barrel cleaning does make a positive difference. I give a nylon brush through after every shoot and then a thorough clean after approx 1000 rounds as recommended in the Anschutz user manual. I use the Paul Clean System here.
I also have a Smith & Wesson semi auto which I care a bit less about, just a fun gun for in house rapid fire comps. I strip and clean this as and when it's looking extra crusty.
The only one I thoroughly clean after every single session is my Chippa .357mag LBR. The forcing cone craps up a lot shooting cast lead, a real pain to clean if you leave it too long.

Have you tried boiling water. Seems to lift lead easily.