Cleaning rimfires

Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
7,407
Location
S. UTAH
I know a lot of people fire a lot of rounds through their centerfires without cleaning. Are rimfires any different? Are you seeing long term accuracy without cleaning rimfires?
 

16Bore

WKR
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
3,020
Plated vs. jacketed bullets for starters. 22LR is dirty in general. Cheap ammo even worse. But I shoot a pile of cheap ammo and don’t give a shit. Function stops before the accuracy does on my 10/22’s. Old bolt action head space gets goofy when it gets dirty and sends little dribblers.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
1,780
I used to get a lot of fouling with lead nose..22...switched to copper it's better but 22 is just dirty. Usually the action stops before accuracy falls off.
 

jaredg

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Messages
117
Location
N. Utah
I will clean an action but quit cleaning centerfire and rimfire barrels a long time ago. I stopped because they shot tighter without cleaning. On my centerfires, when the groups open up, it's time for a new barrel. Just my experience / opinion
 

rayporter

WKR
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
4,251
Location
arkansas or ohio
Competition rimfire shooters dont clean much. they like to go 100 to 200 rounds before cleaning. it takes several to many shots to condition the barrel after cleaning.
 

Rob5589

WKR
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
6,243
Location
N CA
I clean my semi autos more than any gun I own. Primarily the action since even good rimfire ammo is fairly dirty.
 

Erno86

FNG
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
31
After each range session...or hunting excursion --- I'll at least swab the chamber with an oil laden Q-Tip; because of possible sweat residue being on the cartridges when I load them.
 
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
635
Location
NE MO
I have a Savage 25 pump that likes to be clean to shoot but it’s the anomaly. The other few dozen .22s I own shoot far better dirty. My 10/22 hasn’t seen a bore brush or patch in several cases of ammo now and is still outshooting my Kimber.

BTW anyone want to buy a Kimber Super America? I’m ready to let it go.
 

Lawnboi

WKR
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
7,693
Location
North Central Wi
Iv got 700 recorded shots now this spring without a cleaning. Still holding same groups. Up until now I didn’t record enough to figure out if cleaning helped or didn’t.

I do clean my chamber and action more often on my 22lr. Run mainly eley ammo and the lubricant gets all over everything.
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2019
Messages
2,052
I shoot maybe 5k rounds a year through a few guns... don’t know if it’s right or wrong but I generally spray down the chamber with bore scrubber and drop a 22 bore snake through the barrel maybe three times after a big session. Rarely clean the guns laying around for shooting pests on my property but those are only 5-10 shots per week.

Really like the federal auto match and really dislike Remington thunderbolts but surely you’ll get a pile of other suggestions.
 
Top