Hey guys, really dumb question here, but I clean my rifle religiously after firing it, and tonight after wiping down the barrel with an oil soaked patch that it came away with a rust like color. I inspected and found NO rust spots anywhere. Any ideas as to what else it may be? I keep my rifle stored in a safe with a dessicant canister as well. Any thoughts?
Orange residue on cleaning patches.
- Thread starter Knubbins
- Start date
First, if its a .22 you are probably cleaning waaay too much. In a bad way. Second, what ammo and cleaning products do you use? Some oils are orangey in colour. You can also pick up residue from inside the action if you push the patch thru it before it enters the bore. More details on your ammo and cleaning setup will help.
My first thought, too. Clean your rimfire when accuracy or function degrades, not before.
Mark
- Location
- Ottawa origanally Muskoka
Why?
there is no need to clean it all the time, there is no corrosive ammo, so basically its a waste plus some guns like a little dirt, plus you have a better chance of wearing out the barrel faster. take it out, shoot it, wipe off the outside maybe to get oils from your hands off it so that doesnt rust it, throw it in storage and forget till you shoot it again.
Many, many more 22 rimfire barrels are ruined from cleaning than they are from shooting.
I'm not one of those people who never clean them, though. I make it a point to clean my 22 rimfire barrels once every 25 years.
My only caveat to this, is for some reason, the odd barrel from newer rifles will get lead in them. I think this is rare, but I did have a 22 rifle that badly leaded.
22 rifles never used to lead up, so why the very odd one does now, is a complete mystery to me.
I'm not one of those people who never clean them, though. I make it a point to clean my 22 rimfire barrels once every 25 years.
My only caveat to this, is for some reason, the odd barrel from newer rifles will get lead in them. I think this is rare, but I did have a 22 rifle that badly leaded.
22 rifles never used to lead up, so why the very odd one does now, is a complete mystery to me.
....................................................Sooooooo, when do they git their fourth cleaning?................
That can happen and can be anything from fine dust to surface rust so minimal that it may have been almost all wiped away with the oiled patch. It could have picked up dust anywhere between your house, the range and back. If there is no visible rust and a light coat of oil then there is nothing to worry about.
You will want to clean the .17 regularly. I don't clean my .22's very often because like most people here say its fairly pointless. The .22 is a very low pressure round and the bullets won't deposit much lead or copper in the barrel. But the .17 HMR acts much more like a lil' centerfire round compared to the old .22. Much higher pressures and temperatures, that's when I like to keep my barrels clean. Otherwise you will get copper, lead and fouling deposits in the bore, usually in the throat, and then it can be tough to get out and can seriously hurt accuracy.
