Does this mean my barrel is finished?

Jon6

Jon6

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Question for you who are more knowledgeable than myself.
I recently bought a used semi automatic 22 pistol. Took it to the range twice now. First time a bunch of us shot it and we weren't paying to much attention to accuracy. I myself thought I shot bad, but that's life.
When I cleaned the gun I had a lot of trouble getting the rod through the barrel. It would only go a short way and I could see a ridge in the barrel where the rod was jamming. Took about an hour but we got it cleaned out. I believe it was gummed up with lead. After it was cleaned I still could only barely see any rifling in the barrel.
Took the gun out today by myself to see if I could improve the accuracy. First 20 or 30 shots from about 12 yards were in about a 6 inch group. A little bit off but not to concerning. As I kept shooting the accuracy went right to hell. Slowly getting worse as I kept shooting and getting frustrated.
When I went to check the target a lot of rounds had struck sideways and a lot had hit the rubber target and fell on the ground again sideways.
When i got home the barrel was again very fouled with led. I spent an hour trying to get the cleaning rod through and spraying cleaning solvent in it and have had no luck. I actually bent the rod so I gave up until I get a bore snake and a new cleaning rod tomorrow.
Anyway I guess my question is will lead fouling cause the bullets to spin end for end or is the barrel finished?
I'm going to try to add a couple pictures I took. Edit. Can't add the pictures the files are to big.
 
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I'm no expert but i had a Ruger mark2 caliber 22 handgun that did that with lead ammunition but barrel and rifling were fine. I started using only copper jacket bullet ammunition and NEVER again had that problem.
 
Are you running lead bullet ammo? My 10/22 and my colt .22 1911 don't like straight lead. The barrel leads up so bad that it gets almost completely obstructed. Run plated ammo. If it's still leading up, there's some kind of inconsistency in your barrel that's messing up the bullet.

Wrap a jag with some copper chore boy pad and push that through. That should scrape the lead out. Don't think a snake will do it.
 
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Whatever you do don't use a snake on a badly fouled barrel or you will soon have it seriously plugged.

My advice would be to get it spotless and then look for damage on the bore or have a Smith look at it. No 22lr should lead that badly. Next best option might to stick with plated bullets as suggested above and see if that starts leading up.
 
Sounds like you have massive lead deposits in the barrel.

I'd use boiling hot water - just pour it through the bore slowly, several liters at least, followed by the new brush (bore-snakes are useless at this stage). Lead and steel have different expansion ratios which will help to remove lead. In severe cases repeat as needed.

When the bore is clean, start using copper-plated ammo only.

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plug the barrel with a foam ear plug and fill it up with hydrogen peroxide, let it sit for an hour and then pull the plug, repeat as neccessary brushing between treatments, it will pull out more lead then you think is in there
 
yodave said:
plug the barrel with a foam ear plug and fill it up with hydrogen peroxide, let it sit for an hour and then pull the plug, repeat as neccessary brushing between treatments, it will pull out more lead then you think is in there
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Just gonna leave this here...

http://www.texas-mac.com/Warning_Hydrogen_Peroxide_and_Vinegar_Will_Etch_Bores.html

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=518679

Also, I've never heard of using straight H2O2 to dissolve lead. I've heard of a 50/50 mix of H2O2 and Vinegar, but wouldn't use it, for the reasons discussed in those links...
 
Before using any chemical that will possibly attack steel use a worn brush wrapped with bronze wool or copper pot scrubber strands. These are softer than the barrel metal and won't do any damage.
Make sure that the pot scrubber is really copper. There's some cheap ones that look copper but are plated steel.
 
Thank you for all the replies. Yes I was using lead bullets. I have already ordered copper jacketed. I'll try the cleaning tips suggested and see what happens. This is the first time I have had this happen with lead bullets.
 
Outers makes a product called WIPE OUT LEAD OUT. Well stocked gun shops carry it on their shelves. If not, it's available online.

I've used this product and it works very well with minimal mess.

Without seeing your handgun's bore, I can't say if the bore is shot out or not. I have seen only two 22rf handguns with shot out bores and both were at a rental facility in the US. The owner of the facility told me they had at least 500K rounds put through them when they noticed accuracy was falling off.

OP, there is another product out there that YOU can make up very cheaply. It's called "ED'S RED"

ED'S RED works but it's slow. It will require your bore to be filled with the solution and plugged, then allowed to sit overnight. Two days is better. Unplug and dump the lead filled solution into a disposable container. Don't mix it back in with your clean supply.

The stuff you dump out will have turned black from the dissolved lead/carbon in the bore.

I have a Unique semi auto pistol that will foul badly. It's good for around 250 accurate shots before it start to throw flyers. I carry a NEW stainless brush when I shoot this pistol. The stainless brush is SOFTER than the barrel steel.

After running the stainless brush, I run a swab soaked in Wipe Out Lead Out and let it sit for 15 minutes. Swab it out and it's good to go for another 250 rounds.

The bore in this pistol is bright and shiny. It doesn't care if the bullets are copper plated or just lubed lead, it fouls with both.

As for the rifling in your bore, 22rf barrels generally have shallow grooves.
 
Hi Again.

Thanks again for the advice. I got the barrel back to factory clean using some of the advice you guys gave me. I found a copper scrub pad and ran that through in many different configurations. Scotty454 thatnks for the links or I would probably have screwed things with peroxide and vinegar. I not only would have got it all over the gun but would have probably slopped the lead acetate all over the place.
I had to use a couple cleaning products from Crappy tire, but with the copper scrubber a new brush and about 45 minutes it looks like new.
I got some copper jacketed shells from Tenda so I'm going to try them Friday. (I put the order in with Tenda and it was at my door in 27 hours!! Awesome service.)
Bearhunter, I'm going to take my cleaning kit with me and follow your procedure. I'm going to order some of the Wipe out lead out as well, couldn't find it here in Sudbury.
This is the first time I've had this issue of the barrel plugging up this bad. Learned a bit, including what key holing is.

Thanks again guys.
 
grauhanen said:
No. Is there a difference between copper washed and copper plated?
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I think the copper washed cases have a much thinner layer of copper on them? I'm not entirely sure. But CCI, for example, actually advertises "Copper plated" on their ammunition (Like Mini Mags)

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Last thing when I got the barrel clean I could see the rifling. A lot shallower than I'm used to. I don't think I've checked a 22 that close before.
 
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