A Guide to .22LR Barrel Care for the Precision Rimfire Shooter

I clean after every card at a match and when I'm at home practicing I usually clean every 50 - 70 rounds. I typically shoot my rimfire benchrest gun 3 or 4 times per week (benefit of having a range in my back yard) so all of this means that my main competition gun can get cleaned up to 15 or 20 times per week during the summer.

I clean using either shooters choice, kroil, hoppes or whatever else I grab first. I wet patch the barrel then scrub it 3 - 5 times with a wet bronze brush then a couple more wet patches then 2 or 3 dry patches.
I use a bore guide, steel ivy rods and borescope often.

When it comes to rimfire there are no hard rules, your situation and the game you play dictate your cleaning needs. If the guy beside me at a match doesn't want to clean I could care less. I clean because i know exactly what my gun will do within those first 40 to 50 rounds. I shoots great after that too but I'm not willing to risk it.

The following two pics are from a match a couple of weeks ago, as you can see my gun groups from a clean, cold bore. I usually shoot a 5 to 7 round group then a couple of dots then onto the card.

T1.jpg

T2.jpg
 
grauhanen said:
Here's a brief summary of what the author advocates for cleaning.

While insisting that at least 1000 rounds are needed to season the bore, he recommends only patching the bore with carbon remover, not any other solvent such as Bore Tech Rimfire Blend, for example. He doesn't ever want to remove any lubricant, fresh or old, from the bore. The only brush he uses is a nylon brush in the chamber area. He doesn't recommend using a bronze brush as that will remove too much lubricant, and by his account, and lead. He claims that the 1000 rounds worth of seasoning "lays down a coating of lead and bullet lubricant in the rifling. This coating is what we refer to as seasoning. It fills in small imperfections in the bore and provides a smooth surface for the bullet to travel across."

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This method assumes that 1000 rounds of seasoning are needed as the basis of a good and consistently shooting bore. It assumes that good quality bores require a significant amount of leading laid down from 1000 bullets travelling through the bore.

If these assumptions are correct, then it makes sense not to clean the needed 1000 rounds' worth of lubrication and leading. But are these assumptions correct?

Do good bores like those on the Vudoo rifle he has require 1000 rounds to become properly lubricated? No. While the number of shots required to appropriately season a .22LR bore varies between rifles, with the exception of Roman, author of the article in question, no other "authorities" or experts suggest that half-a-box of ammo (one round per inch) isn't sufficient.

Do good bores acquire a significant coating of lead as a result of shooting? No. Leading is usually almost non-existent in good quality bores. This is not a matter of contention. As the Lilja information linked above says, leading is almost non-existent in good bores.

Roman's assumptions don't make sense.
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And for anyone wondering, experienced shooters at international ISSF events (Olympic-style shooting) and serious BR shooters, regularly clean with bronze brushes. Used properly, always with a proper bore guide and quality cleaning rod, a bronze brush doesn't damage the bore.
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Almost nonexistent sure, but he's saying that the lead will still fill in any irregularities in the bore (and there have to be some, IMO), and the 1000 shots are wearing down other irregularities. I don't know why else new barrels are less accurate than older ones, something I've observed to be a common experience.
 
Big Bad said:
Almost nonexistent sure, but he's saying that the lead will still fill in any irregularities in the bore (and there have to be some, IMO), and the 1000 shots are wearing down other irregularities. I don't know why else new barrels are less accurate than older ones, something I've observed to be a common experience.
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New barrels don't have to be less accurate than older ones.

While it may often be true of mass produced factory barrels on less expensive rifles, it's important to remember that wearing down irregularities and filling any "voids" (for want of a better word at the moment), isn't typically required in the good quality barrels for Vudoo rifles used by the author of the article. It shouldn't be required in other makes of good quality barrels either.

It is true that some bores made by quality manufacturers may occasionally have irregularities or small burrs, and these may be reduced by thousands of rounds of shooting. But they are the exception, not the typical good quality bore.

Consider also that custom barrel makers or match rimfire rifle manufacturers don't advise that their barrels will perform to requirements only after about 1000 rounds. Of course this is an absence of information and so no proof in itself.

What they do advise, however, is to shoot and clean regularly. This advice is given by custom barrel makers such as Lilja and premium match rifle manufacturers such as Bleiker and Grünig + Elmiger, two of the most respected .22LR match rifle makers. They don't share article author Roman's view not to use brushes in the bore.

The long and short of it remains that, contrary to the claims of Roman, author of the article in question, it's not necessary to shoot 1000 rounds to season the barrel. More importantly, the barrel can be brushed with either a bronze or nylon brush without issue or compromising accuracy performance. It will be necessary, of course, to foul the barrel after a brushing. It may require as many as ten rounds (in a few cases perhaps more) to reseason the barrel for consistent accuracy.
 
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