Ruger Mark II stainless

[Reddot]

About 6 years ago I purchased a Ruger Mark II stainless .22. Which I have shot a lot. By a lot I mean probably over 10,000 rounds through it. I purchased a flexible LED flashlight from Harbor Freight and when I shown the light down the barrel I couldn't see any lands or grooves. Does this mean that I have shot the barrel out? I clean the gun after every outing but I never payed attention to the lands and grooves until now.

[JDFuchs]

with 22lr being a very soft lead i don't think so. I would bet its just a good deal of leading that has been there a while and is acting like a smooth bore.

[454PB]

Yeah, maybe 100,000 rounds might wear it some. The rifling is pretty shallow on most .22 rimfires, try a soft brass brush to give at a through cleaning.

[HeavyMetal]

I would suspect it's lead buildup but without knowing you cleaning "style" I won't make a statement on the barrel condition.

22's won't shoot out a barrel in your lifetime but a harsh brush and a steel rod will end rifling in short order if you let it rub when it travels up and down the bore. Ruger barrels are very soft I've cut several of them down to put sleeves over them.

Another possiblity is oil in the barrel. Lot of people like to put just a touch to much gun oil on there guns.

If it's run into the barrel the light my be reflecting off it and give you a false look. I had this happen with a 30 carbine barrel I bought: looked like a smooth bore, took a dry patch ran it through and looked again, Rifling!

I'd run a dry patch through it a few times before I pushed the panic button.

[Willbird]

If it shoots good I would just keep shooting it. The wear factor in 22lr is from EROSION from the burning powder, and that is in millions of rounds not tens of thousands. I never clean 22lr barrels myself, or only very rarely, I do clean the actions to remove powder fouling.

People are still shooting 22lr barrels made by Harry Pope and he passed away more than a few years ago.

Bill

[lathesmith]

The only cleaning "rod" I ever use on .22's is one of those bore snakes, with a little solvent. I suspect more .22's have been worn out and ruined over the years from improper use of metal cleaning rods and bronze jags than have ever been worn out by too much shooting. It's definitely a good idea to clean the powder residue out of the action with, say, WD-40 , a tooth brush and some compressed air--but the barrel really shouldn't ever need much except maybe the aforementioned occasional use of a bore snake-type device.
lathesmith

[Reddot]

The only thing I have done to clean the barrel is to run patches through it with Hoppies.

[jh45gun]

What brand of ammo are you shooting? I had some Cheap Thunderbolt ammo when I had a Ruger Government and all of a sudden it started shooting sideways I looked in the barrel and it was covered in lead I was shooting wire out of the barrel it was that bad. Turns out the grease on the Thunderbolts melted off the bullets as I had left them in my truck on a hot summer day. That really leaded the bore to the point chunks were coming out. Not sure if that stressed the barrel or not. I got rid of the gun later on a trade so not sure if that pressure harmed the barrel or not.

[Reddot]

I'm not shooting lead at all just the jacketed hollow points. I'm going to take a copper Chore Boy strand and do some serious work on the barrel and see if I get any lead out.

[Snapping Twig]

I have the same pistol, mine's over 20 years old - I bought it new.

Get a bore brush or two. Shooter's Choice is good, so get some of that also.

Clean out the bore - run a wet bore brush through it a dozen or so times and patch it dry, then repeat a few more times. Do it one more time, let the bore stay wet for 10 minutes or so and run a wet bore brush down the pipe again a few times.

Patch it out. Now tell us how it looks.

I clean mine out with 1/2 dozen strokes of a wet bore brush then a patch every time I use it. Stays clean for me that way and accuracy in that pistol is unbelievable.

[dubber123]

I'm not shooting lead at all just the jacketed hollow points. I'm going to take a copper Chore Boy strand and do some serious work on the barrel and see if I get any lead out.

The copper colored HP's in .22 LR are just very thinly plated lead. Pinch one with plyers some time. They are pretty much pure lead. You can bend and remove them from the case with your fingers.

As stated, some cleaning rods, (aluminum in particular), are very hard on the bore. I would guess bore life would likely be in the many hundreds of thousand rounds with .22 LR., barring serious damage from over cleaning.

[44man]

I have owned a pile of Ruger's, changing them for different uses and barrel lengths. I still have two.
My first was the Mark I back in the early 50's that cost the huge amount of $37.50. It was deadly and I was able to peel off tiny birds at 80 yd's with it. The fixed sights were dead on at 25 and again at 80 yd's. I shot the devil out of it, sold it to my brother in law and he still shoots it. It is as accurate as the day I bought it.
Dubber says it best, throw out aluminum rods, they are the worst. Brass is next in line, hard steel is best but you still do not want to rub a bore with ANY rod. Use a jag to clean, not a slotted end. A bronze brush will not hurt the bore either.
I suspect lead although I have never seen leading in a .22.
You will never wear out a .22 barrel by shooting it.

[buck1]

My .22 Rugers have a fairly strong rifiling. I bet dollars to doughnuts it needs a good brushing, and some soak time may be in order. .22s can get leaded real bad sometimes. I have seen smooth bore single sixes more than once, and never was it anything more than bad leading. I WOULD BRUSH THE DICKENS OUT OF IT, AND GET SOME TIGHT FITTING PATCHES....Buck

[BD]

I have a Ruger 22/45 with somewhere over 30,000 rounds through it. Bore still looks like new.
The only thing that ever leaded it was "Thunderbolts", and they didn't shoot for beans so no loss. My biggest complaint these days is how many duds there are in the bulk packs.
BD

[slimpickins]

Never had a problem in mine either with mostly remington lead bullets and several K of them with an occasional brush and swab. Rifling is still sharp.

[Shiloh]

Use a phosphor bronze brush. Stay away from stainless brushes. Carefully clean from the breech end. More damage is caused to firearms by over zealous and careless cleaning.

Shiloh

[LqChrome]

Try Gold Medallion.It removes lead better than any thing I"ve tried

[klcarroll]

I know that the very idea will horrify the "environmentalists" in the crowd; ......And that even SAYING the word is enough to set off a Level 3 Hazmat Response:

....But there is NOTHING better than mercury for lifting out really heavy leading without abusing the rifling!

Yes! ....Yes! .....I realize that in order to safely handle mercury you have to understand the technical points about it's boiling point, vapor pressure/temperature relationship, and it's potential absorption routes into the human body:

…..But if we are capable of dealing with another “Politically Incorrect” and toxic substance like lead, ….and if we can deal with the technical points regarding the safe assembly and use of ammunition; ……..Then I think most of us can handle mercury safely!

Kent


P.S. I still have a 5 pound jar in my reloading cabinet. (Shhhhhh!!! ….Don’t tell anyone! LOL)

KLC