When to Clean the Barrel?

The Outsider said:
I clean barrels after every trip to the range, always have.
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Me too. Anschutz say to use patches and nylon brush every 200-300 rounds and clean bare at 1000 rounds with a bronze brush.
They state only a bronze brush will remove the lead.

Me, I clean my gun as usual and get it to shiny clean after every range session.
I rarely shoot less than 200 rounds of .22 each time, sometime way more.
 
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labradort said:
You don't wait for your car to stop running before changing the oil, so why would waiting for a malfunction tell you when to clean? I mean, sure it could confirm you've gone too far, but it shouldn't be measurement used on when to clean.

Do you know what they call the folks that clean your floors in commercial settings? Maintenance. If you didn't sweep up the sand and grime, those hundreds of little feet would grind the tile or whatever down, like the action of sand paper. Keeping the floor shiny is more than merely looks. It maintains the life of the floor.

Now imagine the grime left by a ammunition rubbing within metal components, some of them with pressure and speed.

Clean as often as you want. Some do it after every range trip. I like to take care of things between every 100 to 500 rounds, but I'll also clean up a firearm that I won't be using for awhile, say between hunting seasons.
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Obviously you would not run your car to failure due to not changing the oil, alternatively you would not change the oil when there is useful life still remaining.

Maintaining a floor as described will increase the longevity of said floor but at what cost? The cost may be higher for one maintenance schedule over another. This may outweigh the cost of a new floor as maintenance becomes more onerous. Something to be considered in any maintenance schedule.

So, no function related issues over 800 rounds, will the pistol be worth more or less at sale time if cleaned every outing, or every 200 rounds or some arbitrary number to calm an OCD ?

Generally go through 250 rounds per session so 3 sessions and then a cursory inspection and cleaning.

Now another pistol may only go , let's say 350 rounds before function becomes an issue, maintenance schedule would be ~ 300 rounds to avoid function issues.

The Model 41 is 'upper middle class' in quality, fit and finish. With that comes a longer maintenance period.

Always wipe down with an oily cloth so finger prints do not cause rusting.
 
"Me too. Anschutz say to use patches and nylon brush every 200-300 rounds and clean bare at 1000 rounds with a bronze brush.
They state only a bronze brush will remove the lead."

This is useful info. I shoot at least 100 rounds per session and 200 is not uncommon.

I have a good cleaning rod. Guess I had better use it.
 
Janeau said:
Me too. Anschutz say to use patches and nylon brush every 200-300 rounds and clean bare at 1000 rounds with a bronze brush.
They state only a bronze brush will remove the lead.

Me, I clean my gun as usual and get it to shiny clean after every range session.
I rarely shoot less than 200 rounds of .22 each time, sometime way more.
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Same thing I do. Growing up hunting we always cleaned our rifles when we got back from shooting/hunting so I have always done that....
 
Yes, a clean barrel is a "happy" barrel. I clean at 250 - 350 rounds
Always pay attention that your 22rf does not start building a carbon
ring just ahead of the chamber. It will mess with accuracy, big time.
Care is need when cleaning, as well. A bore guide is mandatory for
your match rimfires. Dave.
 
littlehughey said:
Does copper fouling in rimfires cause degradation in accuracy when shooting lead target rounds? IE. Using cheap bulk copper plated for practise, then switching back to say SK or Eley Match.
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Things as minor as the brand of bullet lube the barrel is fouled with will make a difference, so best would be practice with the cheaper grade from SK, Eley, or whoever makes your match ammo. Stick with a vendor at least between deep cleanings.
 
littlehughey said:
Does copper fouling in rimfires cause degradation in accuracy when shooting lead target rounds? IE. Using cheap bulk copper plated for practise, then switching back to say SK or Eley Match.
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Read Eagleye's post about the carbon ring.

The Brno No2 I recently traded off, would start to develop this ring around 100 shots. I used plated bullets in it quite often, simply because I had a case given to me a few years ago and wanted to use them up. The fellow that gave them to me wouldn't have appreciated me selling them off or trading them. They shot OK, but were "dirty" they left a lot of powder flakes in the bore and when I cleaned it I used regular Wipe Out for the initial soak. I was surprised when the first patch came out blue. That doesn't happen with waxed lead bullets. The carbon ring cleaned up with just the one pass.

I put some Wipe Out/Lead Out in to soak for 15 minutes and ran a clean patch. There was a bit of gray streaking on the patch, that appeared to be from the side edges of the rifling.

This rifle has a tight bore and chamber. It's extremely accurate with standard velocity CCI ammo.

The bore is close to perfect, with a bit of nitriding on the leade, but this is after 20K rounds, so it can be expected.

My Tikka T1x will show similar powder and lead residue after a couple of hundred rounds, with waxed lead bullets. It also has a tight chamber and bore. When adjusting the trigger pull, I tried to insert some commercial snap caps into the chamber, they wouldn't go in. They were tight in the BRNO No 2 as well but still useable. I had to make up some inserts with Delrin, so I could dry fire it, without fear of dimpling the chamber mouth.

I suspect, that the plated rimfire bullets I have will also foul the bore with the plating amalgam.

Those bullets are now relegated to my other, not so tight or accurate 22s.
 
bearhunter said:
The Brno No2 I recently traded off, would start to develop this ring around 100 shots. I used plated bullets in it quite often, simply because I had a case given to me a few years ago and wanted to use them up. The fellow that gave them to me wouldn't have appreciated me selling them off or trading them. They shot OK, but were "dirty" they left a lot of powder flakes in the bore and when I cleaned it I used regular Wipe Out for the initial soak. I was surprised when the first patch came out blue. That doesn't happen with waxed lead bullets. The carbon ring cleaned up with just the one pass.


This rifle has a tight bore and chamber. It's extremely accurate with standard velocity CCI ammo.



My Tikka T1x will show similar powder and lead residue after a couple of hundred rounds, with waxed lead bullets. It also has a tight chamber and bore.
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For readers in general, .22LR Brno and Tikka rifles are made to CIP specifications and their bores are the same dimensions as other CIP spec rifles. By law, European and Russian-made rifles follow CIP. Their bores are tighter than those made to SAAMI specifications.

 
grauhanen said:
For readers in general, .22LR Brno and Tikka rifles are made to CIP specifications and their bores are the same dimensions as other CIP spec rifles. By law, European and Russian-made rifles follow CIP. Their bores are tighter than those made to SAAMI specifications.

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You forgot to mention the plus/minus tolerances, but thanx for posting the chart.

My chambers are pretty much as indicated by the chart references but the chamber diameters on both rifles are tight enough to cause the dry fire insert to start binding when they reached the 30% point, about half the case portion of the insert was sticking out of the chamber.

The CIP numbers for the bore are just about bang on. Likely the half thou difference is my micrometer.

The chamber diameters on both rifles, even though there are decades between when they were built, are about as close to identical as my micrometer will measure.

Shoulder - 5.69

Rim - 5.73

These measurements are identical to my custom, Match chamber reamer.

reason for editing, I had to look up my notes, from when I did the cerrosafe casts.
 
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While still at the range and having just finished shooting I run a dry Tipton felt plug through the bore.
About every third session I will run the plug through with any one of a number of bore cleaners.
When switching brands of ammo I run a plug through due to the variations in lubricants used on the bullets.
A bore guide isn't everything . . . it is the only thing!
 
horseman2 said:
While still at the range and having just finished shooting I run a dry Tipton felt plug through the bore.
About every third session I will run the plug through with any one of a number of bore cleaners.
When switching brands of ammo I run a plug through due to the variations in lubricants used on the bullets.
A bore guide isn't everything . . . it is the only thing!
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A bore guide, should be used with any rifle, centerfire or rimfire. With me that's a given and I just assume most people know and understand why. It's especially important if you clean the bores a lot.
 
bearhunter said:
A bore guide, should be used with any rifle, centerfire or rimfire. With me that's a given and I just assume most people know and understand why. It's especially important if you clean the bores a lot.
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Not that easy with a lever action, I’ve been using a snake with mine for general cleaning.
 
Nibe said:
Not that easy with a lever action, I’ve been using a snake with mine for general cleaning.
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Not so, they make bore guides to fit over the muzzle.

Many military rifles were supplied with muzzle protectors that had a tip off cap and a hole to stop their pull through type bore cleaning equipment from damaging the edges of the muzzle.

I refuse to use bore snakes on any rifle. They can and will cause wear on the muzzles if they aren't used properly, as with a muzzle type bore guide.
 
bearhunter said:
Not so, they make bore guides to fit over the muzzle.

Many military rifles were supplied with muzzle protectors that had a tip off cap and a hole to stop their pull through type bore cleaning equipment from damaging the edges of the muzzle.

I refuse to use bore snakes on any rifle. They can and will cause wear on the muzzles if they aren't used properly, as with a muzzle type bore guide.
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Interesting. I used bore guide with my 783 easy peasy. But have been using a snake with the LA’s. Will look into this as I’m fairly new to long guns.
 
Here what Anschutz says :

17.2 Cleaning the barrel

If the barrel is only slightly dirty, use a plastic brush to clean it.
-Oil the plastic brush lightly and push it through the barrel from the chamber end using a clean cleaning rod.

If the barrel is very dirty, use a bronze brush together with a suitable barrel cleaner.

17.3 Maintenance intervals

Clean the barrel with a plastic brush and gun oil.
With new rifles (up to 10,000 shots) at 1,000 shot intervals and then at a min. of 5,000 shot intervals

If it is good for competition gun - its good for me.
Note .22 do lead barrel. Only the bronze brush and proper cleaner will remove that.
 
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