Cleaning .22 bores? .22 LR specifically

What's your thoughts on cleaning .22 LR bores in regards to accuracy? I've read conflicting opinions. I have read articles that suggest that .22 bores sort of "condition" themselves and that cleaning them disturbs that conditioning, diminishing accuracy (ie group tightness.) Others say .22 bores foul just like any other, and built up fouling is detrimental to accuracy.

I'm talking strictly about bore cleaning. Of course actions etc. need to get the crud out, especially semi autos.

One of my current projects is simple group shooting with my .22s, seeing what ammo guns like and if I can tweak things to tighten groups. I was wondering how bore cleaning might affect things.

I would value any insights you might have.

I always start with a clean bore when new/first acquired. But pretty much after that, Ill only clean when accuracy function dictates. (22 LR)

I shoot Bullseye in Winter with a RF. I used to Clean before start then again at Christmas lay over. Now I just do it @ Christmas lay over. Even then sometimes I dont feel its necessarry. That gun sees about a case of ammo a season. CCI TGT mostly.

CW

Like longshot, clean bore when accuracy declines. Then feed it enough to get it back in the groove, and leave it alone.

I learned the hard way, cleaned my ruger 10/22 the night before a big rabbit drive. POI shifted at least 2.5 inches at 100 yards. Took near 200 rounds to get it back to normal. Never again.

Same for big bores. Outsides, frames, external and internal hardware probably gets a lick and a promise. But I leave the bore be as long as possible.

I do like a little Carnuba wax in my BLL because of the way it cleans and protects bores between shootings.

I clean as need on 22s as most above posters. I believe all barrels break in and season over time and use. I also believe due to the "mildness" and small bearing surface rimfires take a little longer in this. There is also the carbon ring that can develop in the front of the chamber throat area that may need addressed from time to time.

When accuracy testing a rifle or ammo I start with a normally clean barrel. I then fire 10 rounds to season with the ammo. this group isn't part of the testing per say. This first group does a few things. It warms the barrel and gets it to a consistent level. It warms me getting me up to my best for the day. I helps to season the barrel to the new ammo removing any inconsistencies between ammos lubes and such. Last it proves the bench set up and my technique. With some ammo combinations going from one to the other with out cleaning and seasoning the powders and lubes interact and cause inaccurate results until the barrel acclimates to the new ammo.

When I switch ammo in testing I give the bore a good cleaning . Then season with the 1st 10 rounds of the new ammo as above.

Actual cleaning is as important as when. good equipment, fresh brushes as they do wear out, Jags and properly fitting patches. A good solvent for powder fouling and leading. (I like shooters choice benchrest mixed 50-50 with kroil) Use a bore protector and solid vise or system got holding the rifle. Keep the rod centered and don't bow it working to hard. A lot of rimfires need to be cleaned from the muzzles making this more important as bowing uncentered rods can cause damage to rifling and crown.
A very simple cheap cleaning cradle can be made from a heavy card board box and some tape. Find a box on the desired size. tap top end flaps down inside or outside I like out side its just easier for me. On center of long side cut to vees . lay a soft cloth in the vees and then the rifle this helps hold the rifle steady when cleaning.

When testing consistency is the key do everything the same everytime

Ok fine I’ll admit it.... I have never cleaned a 22 bore!

Having 22 long rifles that are pre 1898 - they were shot with black powder. Accordingly, any new additions and those in the safe are always cleaned to remove the black powder foul after each trip to the range

We were instructed to shoot 50 rounds after cleaning to get the best accuracy after cleaning (Remington 514 T's) . We were also taught to clean the bore and shoot a box of any new ammo we wanted to try to get the most accurate judge of it's accuracy. By my own trials I feel that 10 rounds after cleaning will put you back in the ball park. For accuracy testing I used my BSA target rifles of known grouping ability. I have also tested with an accurized bull barrel Ruger 10-22.

What really surprised me when testing was that some cheaper ammo would outgroup match ammo. Federal ammo sorted for rim and inspected for condition turned in 3/4" 5 shot groups from the bench at 100 yards on a dead windless day.

Now for the actual difference...for a hunting rifle it doesn't matter. The difference is on the order of 1/4" average at 50 yards. Is the 1/4 going to make a difference for what you are doing? In a world class match maybe for head of squirrel no.

they need to be cleaned. if you dont clean them, you will get a carbon build up in the leade that will require a jackhammer to remove. after cleaning, they will typically take a few rnds fired to settle down for accuracy.

I haven't brushed a .22 bore in years. All mine clean up nicely with Hoppes on a patch. I am going to start using a .17 cleaning rod though, the .22 rod is just too close for comfort in my opinion.

I'm not a competitor so I clean my .22s every five years or so or if the extraction gets sticky. If they get wet, I strip and clean.

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I run a bore snake through after a shooting session-- that's all. I have no idea how many rounds have been put through my Grandfather's Remington Model 4 (made in 1907)-- but its a lot!

I've shot more .22lr ammo than most people on this planet. I shot competition for years and used to go through 35,000-40,000 rounds or rimfire ammo a year. I did that for years. I rarely cleaned the barrel on any of my guns, but I was extremely diligent in cleaning all other parts. I carried a chamber brush to each shoot and I cleaned the chamber area before going to the line to shoot for score. On handguns (semi) the rails need to be cleaned and oiled for best results regarding reliability. I'd clean the barrels about once a year at most and then fire about fifty rounds to get it back to where it was before I cleaned it. I have NEVER found any high speed ammo that shot better than std. velocity target ammo and every gun seems to have one "above all" preferred brand on ammo. I have shot every brand of ammo available in this country for groups and when I found a brand/lot number that was the best I bought enough to last at least half a year and sometimes longer.

After a days shooting I push a patch wet with Hoppe's through the bore and then a couple of dry patches.

Never had an accuracy problem. Never had point of aim shift more then a 1/4".

Both my 10/22 & 39D seem to prefer Rem Std Velocity.

I use a 6mm brush to clean the chamber with solvent.(I bend it in an L shape). I then pull a bore snake to remove the excess solvent.

I bought a ex Canadian 22rf martini and that one taught me a good lesson. The barrel had lumps of leading for about the first couple inches. OK, I figured a couple passes with a bore brush would clean it out. Nope no way. Scrub, patch it out and let soak for a couple days. This went on for a few months. In the meantime had bought a better cocking lever and wanted to try it out. Most of these 22's basically were hand fitted. Went out side and put a few rounds down the tube and firing pin hits where its supposed to. Went back in the house and just looked at the bore. All the lumps were gone. ran some hoppes soaked patches and sure enough they were gone. Bore brush didn't pick up any lead flakes either scrubbing or patching. My 1895 Win SRC in 30-40 Krag had lumps of copper nickle or cupro nickle on the tops of the lands which proved even harder to remove. Frank

I mildly clean. Normally if I run a brush a few times either dry or with remoil, sometimes with hoppes, mostly for chambers sake. By a few I mean no more than a dozen but often just a couple. Then I patch with remoil. Often I'll only patch with remoil a couple times then dry a couple. I like a clean chamber so I'll sometimes work on just that with a brush giving the bore only one pass each way. I don't ever clean a 22 or any rifle spotless. I don't shoot my 22 for accuracy so I don't notice any difference. Course I clean the action well and often for reliability.

I used to pull a bore snake through after each range session, thinking of just bullet lube/carbon buildup. Maybe I'll start doing that again.

Thorough cleaning and then rebreaking in is not really viable, since I'm currently trying lots of different types of ammo.

I run a cleaning patch down the bore after about 400 rounds with my Marlin model 60 and do a complete cleaning of the action also. I'm more interested in cleaning the action, when I bought the rifle the PO had shot it till everything was heavily encrusted in powder residue and he ended up having a live round stove piped in the action. Once cleaned up the rifle has been able to accurately shoot just about anything I feed it, just don't want to spend hours picking crud out of the action again. I always run a dozen or so rounds through it after a cleaning before expecting any accuracy out of the rifle.

I use to shoot benchrest 22 I never clean it unless accurate fell off. one off the guys I shot with use to clean after 25 rounds and wore out the barrel on this rifle.

I do shoot competitively and I tear down my dedicated Marvel 1911 conversion for a thorough cleaning once a year. Between the major cleanings I use a bore snake, and a Q-tip and patches to clean and wipe out the action about every 250-300 rounds or so. I clean the magazines far more than the gun or barrel, and they are spotless before going to any match. This is what works for me, YMMV.