Lead vs Copper and cleaning for accuracy help

B

Bigdonkey

Regular
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
BC
Hi everyone I’m pretty new to the forum and have a few questions that I hope can be answered. I have a new CZ 455 American that seems to get really fouled and dirty. In the quest to find the rite ammo for this gun I have tried everything from hyper to sub sonic, lead to copper plated. I found a federal wax coated lead round nose that seems to work good but noticed the accuracy has gone for crap over the last 100 rounds or so. I have yet to clean it as I was told that it wasn’t necessary to do so with a .22, so here are my questions.
1. Will switching from brand of ammo and or lead to copper cause extreme fouling?
2. Should you clean the bore between ammo types?
3. What is a reasonable cleaning frequency for a .22? (rounds shot)
I’m hoping to use this rifle as an entry level Silhouette shooter but only if I can get the groups to tighten up. Any insight would help
 
To an extent, every rifle is a law unto itself.
In general, .22LR cleaning regimens go something like:
- Every 500 rounds, push 2 dry patches through the bore, clean and lube bolt, fire 10 shots to re-settle the barrel. -

Or...- every 300 rounds, scrub bore vigorously, 10 strokes, with bronze brush soaked in Hoppes #9, followed by 2 dry patches. Repeat 2 more times.
Clean and lube bolt, fire 10 shots to re-settle the barrel. -

Almost all .22's shoot less well with a clean bore. Most need at least 10 shots to get everything smoothed-out again. Some need double that, some even more.


I always clean the bore well when I'm switching ammo brands. And then I clean as required, as well as required.

What I mean is that you need to do a little experimenting and pay attention to the gun.

--Clean the barrel really well.
--Pick one of your ammo batches, and start shooting 10 shot groups.

After 2 groups are the groups getting tighter? What about after 10 groups, how about after 50 groups? When the groups start opening noticably, try pushing a couple of dry patches through the barrel, then resume shooting... Are the groups tighter again? what about after 5 groups? --etc--
If that doesn't work, try a couple of passes with a bronze brush before you use the dry patches.
 
Thanks that helps. The biggest thing was whether I should be thoroughly cleaning between ammo types. I had my suspicions that copper after lead would have a bad effect on accuracy. I’m not expecting this rifle to be the most accurate out there, but a little consistency would be nice.
 
Chances are the consistency you are looking for will come with a particular brand of ammo. Probably a good idea to clean between shooting copper wash and lead bullets. I think most bullet lubes will be pushed out with enough subsequent shots using another lube. Anschutz (probably one of the oldest and best makers in the rimfire business) does not recommend frequent cleaning (of the barrel)...and when doings so...use natural oil patches.
 
Good barrels need to be cleaned less. High end Anschutz and BSA martinis for example usually have lapped/polished bores and so they collect much less fouling in the tooling marks. These manufacturers reccomend that you only clean when accuracy drops off, usually after thousands of rounds, and even then BSA suggests using only dry patches in the bore.

Even with modern guns and their rougher bores, i only ever shoot lead bullets because i believe once a barrel is "seasoned" with shot after shot of bullet lube it stays pretty clean, and also there is very little chance of excess lead fouling at .22lr velocities. Every subsequent shot essentially pushes the fouling or powder residue from the previous shot out of the barrel.

I only ever clean the bores on all my .22's after 1000-2000 rounds or so and they only get a dry patch. for my semi's i will also use a brass brush in the chamber with a touch of solvent with the regular cleaning, but i dont bother for bolt actions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom