"Worn out" .22 rifle

[fatelk]

I was talking to a friend recently. He was telling me about an old .22lr Marlin 60 that his dad had given him. He was real proud of the accuracy back when he was a teenager; he could out-shoot any of his brothers or cousins with it.

He was lamenting that it wore out years ago. He had shot many, many thousands of rounds through it; brick upon brick back when ammo was cheap. I asked him how it was worn out. He said it was no longer accurate, and had a tendency to jam. I asked how often and how well he cleaned it. He said that it had never been cleaned, even once.

That's quite a testament to the old model 60, that it will go that long without cleaning. I'm looking forward to helping him give it a thorough cleaning, action and bore, and scraping out decades worth of gunk. It will be good to see if we can bring back any of it's accuracy and reliability.

[fast ronnie]

There's an old Remington gallery .22 I know about that needs a new liner in the barrel. It, too has seen many rounds through it. That may be an option if nothing else works.

[725]

You might try cleaning it. Try one of those electrolysis jobs and plate the lead off. They are amazing.

[M-Tecs]

In 22 match rifles you start to see barrel erosion at about 20,000 rounds but accuracy generally doesn't go south until 50,000 plus rounds. Some of the junior team rifles have 250,000 rounds through them and the are still shooting well. The wear is mostly from the priming compound.

A good cleaning may be all that is needed.

[Sensai]

I gave a Remington 22 to my grandson about twenty years ago. Last year he brought it to me and said that it wasn't accurate any more, and asked if I could get a new barrel for it. He had looked down the barrel and the rifling was worn completely out. I stripped it down and plugged the muzzle with a plastic plug. I filled the barrel with Kroil and let it set for three days. Pushing a tight patch through from the breech produced some really funny looking lead spirals from the muzzle. A thorough cleaning with Hoppe's #9 and a coating of Kroil produced a "like new" looking barrel with pretty riffling and a shiny bore. There may have been a time, when ammunition manufacturers had pride in their product, that 22's didn't need regular cleaning; but I believe in cleaning them after each use. As long as you do it right, cleaning too often can't harm them, but not cleaning can!

[bob208]

most of the .22's I have worked on were badly leaded. I cleaned them with the old G.I. bore cleaner. they all shot like new after that. now some of the others suffered from over cleaning. the chambers were rubbed out of round or the muzzle was worn.

[michael.birdsley]

I can not fathom never cleaning a .22 or any gun. Now I understand it doesn't need to be done all the time but, never?


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[KMac]

My wifes Step Grandfather had a Remington Speedmaster 552 that he shot thousands of rounds through without ever cleaning it. When he died it went to my wifes uncle, who in turn gave it to my FIL. He played with it a little bit and eventually gave it to me. It had been jamming for a long time and wy wifes Step GD would use his pocket knife to dig around in the action to get the jammed shell out. When I disassembled it there were gouges in every location you could imagine.
Had to replace the trigger assembly because it was so bad that it was not repairable. I had to polish out multiple gouges and had to take a small file to the bolt because there were muliple gouges on it it. Finally got it working good and it is my personal 22 now and I wouldnt take for it.
My FIL then gave my son a Marlin model 99 that I think was made around 1967 for Christmas that he had picked up real cheap. It is a beautiful gun that looks almost unfired but he got it real cheap because it jammed constantly. He said since I had fixed the Speedmaster 552 that he was confident I could make that Marlin work too.
Got it a taken apart and the only thing wrong with it was someone had used WD40 to clean the action. Had a thick varnish in it that made it jam constantly.
Had a fun time getting all of that gunk out but once it was cleaned up she shoots perfect and is one fine .22.
.22's can be shot out but you would be surpised how many can make fine weapons after they get something they havent seen for decades, a good cleaning.

[country gent]

Cleaning the 22 rimfire will normally restore alot of the original accuracy. There are some areas to look at close when cleanig a rimfire thats never been cleaned or neglected. Clean the bore good with a brush rod and quide. Then patchs and jags. get it good and clean. Areas to look for at look at the bore good for pitting where moisture was helpd under the fouling and or corrosive priming may have been used. Pay attention to the throat and or leade for carbon build ups this hard ring will destroy accuracy quickly as it swages the bullet down small. Match shooters will use a brass 22 mag case or a brass tool turned up with a face cutter on the end to remove this carbon ring. Last if the gun isnt ejecting empties look at the chamber close and 22 shorts with corrosive primers powders may have worn a ring in the chamber and LR are being mechanically locked into this spot.

[Sur-shot]

My regiment for cleaning all used guns and "shot out" guns is to plug the chamber, after taking the action out of the stock, then fill the bore with Shooters Choice copper bore solvent. Set the gun in the corner of the work bench with a rag on the floor and leave the gun for 7 days, checking every day to make sure the level of solvent stays the same. On the 8th day, I scrub the bore with a bronze brush. That bath will remove chunks lead or copper or both and if she has rifling left, she will go back to shooting, otherwise a liner with a new chamber will do wonders, usually.
Ed

[jmorris]

My old model 60 wouldn't run through brick after brick of ammo, but it doesn't take too long to get the hunks of crud out of it to get her going again.

Might be able to go a little longer if you ran one completely absent of any lubrication though.

[JSnover]

Filthy .22s are a pet peeve of mine. I've met too many people who owned a semi-auto rimfire and said something like, "it's a good gun, just jams sometimes. I don't know what's wrong with it." Every one of those actions were filled with so much crud I was surprised they only jammed "sometimes."

[Soundguy]

What hardness are commercial 22lr projectiles being made with today? Is it possible the lead is too soft?

[LAGS]

Clean it up really good, possibly do a chamber or even a Bore casting.
Then you will know what you are working with.
Then you can decide if it will shoot like you want it to, or whether you want to go to the expense of getting the barrel liner put in.
You can pick up a Model 60 for less than what a liner job will cost.
But if it was a rare or antique model like an old Winchester, then a liner is well worth it, if it is getting into the Un Shootable Condition.
But leave the Originals the way they are , for as long as you can.

[fatelk]

I've never actually seen the rifle in question, and he's several hours away. For a common, inexpensive rifle, I'm sure he would never consider spending money on gunsmithing for it, but the next time I visit I'll be sure to help him give it a thorough cleaning.

It will most likely be several months, but when I do I'll try to remember to find this thread and let you all know how it worked.

[tdoyka]

i have a marlin 25n youth rifle that i got around 1985ish when i was 13 y.o.. i was taught if you use it, you clean it. i did that until i was 17y.o. when i "forgot" to clean it. i would wipe down the outside of my rimfire, but i wouldn't touch the inside. i don't remember how many shots it took(around 5000 or so)but when it did i had to take out the spent brass with my pocket knife(the chamber and rifling where completely dirty and filled up with gunk and spirals). i spent a few days with shooter's choice and kroil till it was completely clean. i clean it only if it when the knife and my fingers have to clear out the spent case. it took about 100-150 rounds until it would do 1/2 - 3/4" at 50 yards(7 shots). completely clean barrel it would do around 1 1/2 - 2" at 50yards(7 shots). i think it was cci mini mags(32gr truncated hp) would do 1/4" at 50 yards. i hunted with the mini mags(22lr). everything else that i shot(remmys, winny, federals,...) came in a brick(500 shots) that was cheap. i think the last time i bought a 22lr brick it was $16 or $17.

my little 25n has shot about 50,000-60,000 rounds(could be a little more) and it still does a 1/2" group at 50 yards. i don't take it out much anymore, the 20vt is alot better and about the same cost as a 22lr.

[Tackleberry41]

What hardness are commercial 22lr projectiles being made with today? Is it possible the lead is too soft?

Probably depends on who made it and the ammo. Something like the rot gut wildcat might use some questionable lead, dirtier powder/primer etc, while match grade stuff it wont be an issue.

Some 22 can take alot of abuse, some cant. Those old marlins can usually take alot of abuse and keep going. Where the ATI GSG522 I have couple hundred rounds and your gonna have to clean it or it stops working. A factory carbine 10/22 can go a long time without cleaning, go tricking it out and they get a bit more picky.

[Sensai]

What hardness are commercial 22lr projectiles being made with today? Is it possible the lead is too soft?

I'm not real sure about the lead, it's the lube/coating that I think the manufacturers have cut costs on. At one time, I remember, there were two basic types of lube on 22LR. I'm talking about hunting/plinking rounds, not target quality rounds. One was the "plated" that looked like copper coating, the other was the wax or wax-like coating. I think that the wax coating was better, but you had to keep them in the box or they would pick up lint and crud from your pocket. Some if the rounds that I have seen lately don't even look like they have any lube, and make gray marks on paper if you drag the nose across the paper. I think that they probably do the same thing in the rifle bore. Don't confuse what I'm talking about with the "dry lube" coatings on some good ammo.

[Soundguy]

I agree, I think the cheap plain lead ones are a bit soft and lube is dubious. I have old boxes of 22lr and the projectiles are much harder.

[ShooterAZ]

I inherited a "worn out" Winchester Model 62A takedown from my Grandfather in 1977. Upon first inspection of the bore, it appeared to be a smooth-bore. I did some long term "soaks" with Hoppes #9, carefully patching and brushing in between. Low and behold, some rifling began to appear. I slowly kept at it until all the fouling was removed. I truly believe that it had never been cleaned! It is a fine shooter now, and I just run a bore snake through her now when done shooting. It's one of my favorite rifles.