.22lr revolver - how challenging to keep clean?

I'm personally not one of those OCD gun cleaners, so I don't usually clean them after every single use.
Cleaning my rimfire revolvers isn't any more labor intensive than the bigger bores, though they do get dirty quicker.
I wouldn't let cleaning requirements stop you from the enjoyment of a good quality 22 rimfire revolver.
May I recommend a S&W Model 17, or 18? Or of course their pre model number equivalents?

Yes, you're overthinking it. But - to thine own self be true...

Clean is relative - which is why I am hesitant to respond.
Sounds like you clean more regularly than I do...

From a pure function standpoint, shouldn't need as much as a semi-auto.
One of the bigger benefits of the .22 revolver IMO, among others.

On the other hand - if you are the kind of guy who wants to keep a spotless cylinder face, then it might be more than you care to deal with. You will know deep down where you stand with it all, whereas I do not.

As long as your not shooting shorts in it, I bet it easier than a number semiautos to clean.

Methinks you're working too hard. First off, there is no point in cleaning your guns until they squeak, every time you shoot them. I remember the days when a range trip meant a couple hours cleaning guns afterwards. At some point I started listening to people who knew a lot more than I did and I stopped doing it. I have tens upon tens of thousands of rounds through .22LR revolvers. I clean the chambers when they get difficult to load quickly. Mind you, not scrubbing until patches come out white but just a quick swab. I clean other parts when it starts to affect function. On a DA, I clean around the extractor star and put a little oil on the ejector rod. On a single action, I'll pull the basepin and clean it and the ejector. Other than that, they only get a wipedown after shooting, usually. I have not cleaned a .22LR bore in 25yrs and I used to burn up 2000-3000rds a month.

CraigC said:

Methinks you're working too hard. First off, there is no point in cleaning your guns until they squeak, every time you shoot them. I remember the days when a range trip meant a couple hours cleaning guns afterwards. At some point I started listening to people who knew a lot more than I did and I stopped doing it. I have tens upon tens of thousands of rounds through .22LR revolvers. I clean the chambers when they get difficult to load quickly. Mind you, not scrubbing until patches come out white but just a quick swab. I clean other parts when it starts to affect function. On a DA, I clean around the extractor star and put a little oil on the ejector rod. On a single action, I'll pull the basepin and clean it and the ejector. Other than that, they only get a wipedown after shooting, usually. I have not cleaned a .22LR bore in 25yrs and I used to burn up 2000-3000rds a month.

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I have my moments of OCD cleaning, but I have a rotation of about 10 guns I shoot alot. they new just get a oil wipe and a bore snake. But not after every range session. My range session are less than 1 hour. So its a waste of time super clean everytime.

I had a 22/45 mark 2 that I shoot for 5-7 years without cleaning. Just RemOil, it finally says NOPE! and I had to do a 2 hours strip & clean.

My idea of cleaning a revolver is to vigorously brush out the chambers and lube accessible contact surfaces. The main thing about a .22 revolver is ammo selection; some brands will extract hard. Either quit those or have the chambers honed.

When shooting IDPA REV, with a .38 or .45 I carry a brush and scratch out the cylinder after every stage.

I had a strange experience with a .22 auto last week, I will be shooting that gun some more today or tomorrow to see what is going on.

I clean everything I shoot, every time I shoot them. The 22 revolvers I have and have had, have always worked better if kept clean. 22's always seem to get dirtier quicker, and the revolvers always seem to get grumpier the quickest.

The biggest part of that for me, and usually the first indication, has been light strikes due to the chambers loading up and the rounds not getting fully seated when you load them. They might look like they are fully seated, but a lot of times they arent, and it deadens the hammer fall enough that you get light strikes. Once that starts, you either make sure to give things an extra push to be sure they are fully seated, or stop and try and clean things out.

Other than that, they get cleaned like I clean anything else after I shoot them, and they are ready to go for the next time out.

My gats aren't exactly squeaky clean but I give every one of my guns a clean and wipedown with a CLP saturated rag after every firing. With revolvers, I concentrate on the front of the cylinder, rear of the barrel and inside the frame. Hoppes #9 and no abrasives beyond a nylon toothbrush.

I think once you develop the habit it doesn't seem as much of a chore, and regular cleaning means you have less buildup of gunk to remove. For me, cleaning a rimfire revolver doesn't take any longer than a centerfire revolver, and by getting at it right away I can usually remove any .22 rimfire fouling from the bore with a nylon bore brush and powder solvent.

Come to think of it, the finish makes more difference to the degree of cleaning I do, since I typically clean stainless revolvers more thoroughly after shooting to make them look good. I'm more likely to break out the Flitz metal polish and a Q-tip for the stainless cylinder faces.

FWIW, I also don't leave dirty dishes in my sink, clean the catboxes daily, change the oil in my car according to the factory rota and pick up trash on the streets and sidewalks next to my home -- habits pounded into my head by my parents.

A 22 is for shooting paper or cans or something. Maybe a rabbit. You don't need to clean it like your life depends on it, because it doesn't. If it looks dirty or is malfunctioning, clean it. If not, why?

Ten minutes is enough to clean a revolver, if it's not filthy and you already have your cleaning stuff out. They don't have to be clean enough to perform surgery with, just clean enough to function properly.

I shoot my 22 revolver more than any of my other firearms, and they work just fine. Get one and blaze away. They're no trouble.

Right now I have three .22 revolvers and two .22 pistols. Neither are that challenging to keep clean. I wipe down the exterior with an oily rag after taking them to the range, and only clean the rest when they need it; sticky chambers with the revolvers and cycling issues with the semi-autos.

The revolvers might need cleaned slightly more often than the autoloaders, but they're a little easier to clean as well.

About the only thing I do different for a 22 revolver is to cut little patches from a lead wipe away cloth and use them to clean the charge holes in the cylinder. And I only usually have to do that once, when I first get the gun. Most of my 22's are old, purchased used, and seem to have "crud" built up in the charge holes, probably from years of being shot with soft lead/wax lubricated bullets. It can take a lot of patches to clean that gunk out, they DO get filthy, but once it's out, rounds chamber easier, don't light strike as much, and eject easier. Then it's just a matter of keeping them clean. I also only shoot copper washed ammo. It might not matter, but I THINK it does, and that's what really matters.

Centerfire or rimfire, lead is a non-issue, or should be. I've got 56 rimfire guns and shoot them a lot. I have had to clean lead out of a bore exactly one time in my life. It was about 10yrs ago, my Walther P22, shooting Federal bulk. It happened once and never again, even with the same ammo. All rimfire ammo is lubed and should not be leaving lead behind. Leading is an indication that something is wrong, either with the gun or the ammo. In the case of your .357, it was probably too soft a bullet in a full pressure load. I also shoot tons of cast bullets and bought over 10,000 just in the last year. If you match your hardness to your velocity and don't have any dimensional mismatches, there shouldn't be a build-up of lead.

S&W .22 revolvers frequently have tight chambers. The .22 is inherently a dirty cartridge. When my chambers get dirty enough that I have to push the cartridges to get them fully seated, I pull a bore snake through the chambers and that is usually enough to make loading easy again. Usually I don't put anything on the bore snake; one pass and done. Leave the barrel alone. Wipe off fingerprints after each range trip and go relax in your recliner.

I shot on the high school ROTC rifle team, .22 / 4-position. The bores were never cleaned, because that changed the point of impact. The bolts were wiped down maybe once a year to keep the extractors clean. I'm not convinced they needed it.

Go buy a nice .22 and worry about something else.

I have three .22 LR revolvers.

With a toothbrush and solvent, I scrub the carbon buildup off the underside of top strap and barrel extension, as this is where it gets dirtiest, due to the cylinder gap. I'm more concerned about the carbon attracting moisture and causing corrosion than it simply being dirty.

I also wipe down the breechface and recoil shield as this gets soot on it.

Every now and then, with a jag, I run a patch wetted with solvent down the barrel and individual chambers, let it sit for a few minutes and then run a dry patch through each. I also scrub the cylinder face.

Decent quality .22 LR - meaning probably not anything that comes in cartons or pails - has a uniform coating of wax on the bullets. When fired, each bullet will scrape up a little wax and fouling from the previous cartridge, and leave behind its own bit of wax and fouling. In a properly dimensioned gun, the result is very stable: the thousandth cartridge leaves the bore in the same condition as the tenth. In those cases, cleaning the bore can actually be counterproductive, as you've removed the protective layer of lube and now need to replace it with something like oil or grease in order to prevent corrosion. Then, when you start shooting the gun again, you will need to burn through some amount of ammunition to restore the bore to a stable and accurate condition. I've known competition shooters - good ones, who win trophies - who never touched the bores of their .22s.

I personally wipe off the exterior of the gun after each shooting session, using light oil on a rag. I also dry-brush under the extractor star to ensure reliable seating. Every once in a while I will brush the chambers as well, if seating or extraction becomes sticky. That's the extent of my cleaning, and has been for decades.

<edit> There is .22 LR available with copper coated or plated bullets. Some of this is decent quality, but most of it isn't. All of it will deposit copper fouling in the bore, which does need to be cleaned and is much more difficult to deal with than the wax-and-carbon left behind by good lead bullets. As for actual lead fouling: it shouldn't happen. If it does, something is wrong with either the gun or the ammunition. I can't actually recall the last time I saw lead fouling in a .22 LR, and I've been playing with them since the 1970s.

I only have SA revolvers, but I do not think the rimfire ones are any harder to clean than the others. Rimfire may get a little dirtier a little quicker, but the jury is out on that too.
TBH the more I shoot the less I clean. I know that sounds counter intuitive. QUite a while ago Igave up cleaning after every range trip. I may do a quick wipe down, but limit heavy cleaning to when it really needs it. Ive all but given up on carbon rings on sylinder faces.

-Jeff

ShadyGrove said:

Thanks all. I admit I probably do clean too often.

My main concern with a .22lr revolver is lead fouling. I only shot lead round nose bullets in my .357 revolver *once*. 158 grain LRN target loads. After a box of 50, there was a bunch of lead fouling in the chamber throats and barrel, which took a whole lot of time and elbow grease to remove. Maybe it was just bad ammo, but I swore to never again mess with LRN ammo and have stayed with using jacketed bullets in my revolvers every since.

Since all .22lr ammo is soft lead, i'm concerned that I would be dealing with this sort of thing every time I had to clean a .22lr. Is lead fouling buildup in the chambers and around the forcing cone a bear to clean off? Or is .22lr a different animal, in that it doesn't leave a whole lot of lead behind if its quality ammo and the gun is properly timed, good cylinder gap, etc.?

Thank you,

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In your .38/357, you could try some coated cast bullets from Missouri bullets, T & B, Blue bullets etc. Cleaner and no foulig/leading that I've had.
For .22 rimfire, copper washed bullets and you're set.

ShadyGrove said:

Thanks all. I admit I probably do clean too often.

My main concern with a .22lr revolver is lead fouling. I only shot lead round nose bullets in my .357 revolver *once*. 158 grain LRN target loads. After a box of 50, there was a bunch of lead fouling in the chamber throats and barrel, which took a whole lot of time and elbow grease to remove. Maybe it was just bad ammo, but I swore to never again mess with LRN ammo and have stayed with using jacketed bullets in my revolvers every since.

Since all .22lr ammo is soft lead, i'm concerned that I would be dealing with this sort of thing every time I had to clean a .22lr. Is lead fouling buildup in the chambers and around the forcing cone a bear to clean off? Or is .22lr a different animal, in that it doesn't leave a whole lot of lead behind if its quality ammo and the gun is properly timed, good cylinder gap, etc.?

Thank you,

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You ate some poorly cooked chicken, pooped out both ends at once, and concluded that chicken is inherently dangerous to eat. That's what is going on here.

You know the answer in your own post, that you got a box of bad ammo, yet continue to be paranoid about barrel leading. The 22 Long Rifle would not have survived in the market for 135+ years if it was constantly leading barrels.

Not trying to be rude, just getting to the point. The problem you have is entirely of your own creation. Revolvers should not take that long to casually clean if you're familiar with it. For me at least, revolvers take less time to clean due to you not needing to strip them down.

Foaming bore cleaner and a bore snake...careful application of clp...

Doesn't take so long even with barrel and varying number of chambers. No issues in 20+ years of doing business...

I shoot mostly lrn from 22s and 38s, 357s, 45s, you get the idea.

After running hundreds of lrn, do a few cylinders of plated fmj type ball rounds to finish. No problem!

Like others have said, I pretty much just clean the chambers in my 22 revolvers when it takes some effort to get fresh cartridges in. I usually clean the barrels every 1000 rounds or if accuracy falls off, whichever comes first. Usually the 1000 rounds.
The bigger stuff I clean more often, especially if I'm shooting 38s in a 357. I'll soak those chambers for a few minutes in Break Free and brush em out.

defjon said:

I shoot mostly lrn from 22s and 38s, 357s, 45s, you get the idea.

After running hundreds of lrn, do a few cylinders of plated fmj type ball rounds to finish. No problem!

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I've heard/read about people doing that: shoot some jacketed rounds after a number of cast and it's claimed to blow all the leading out, if you have leading.
Any truth to this? I don't shoot jacketed thru my handguns at all, so, was wondering. Thanks.