How often do you clean your 22 pistol?

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I clean my .22s like I clean the rest of my guns: after every time I use them. My older brother started me with this routine and I don't see any reason to change it now.
I used to do this when I only had a couple-three guns and didn’t shoot much. And didn’t have a bunch of kids and no time. Now I clean mostly if or when I start getting malfunctions, which takes a lot of shooting, or when I feel bad for the gun. I do wipe down blued guns after handling or shooting, and I keep all guns properly lubed.

Sometimes I’ll remove a semi-auto’s top end and wipe out the inside of the slide and the top and inside of the frame and then re-lube. I almost never punch the bore between cleanings.

I clean BP guns after shooting, and AKs or Mosins if I shoot corrosive ammo.
 
I run an oily rag over the outside of my .22 pistols after every use. I don’t clean the action until I start getting malfunctions with standard velocity rounds, which takes between 1000-2000 rounds of shooting a mixture of golden bullets and CCI/Aguila standard velocity. Let’s say they get cleaned once a year at most.

Even then, all I do is remove the grips and douse the action with brake parts cleaner over a trash can and swab whatever I can reach with a toothbrush and qtips, then run a boresnake through the barrel. Last I re-oil the action with a few small drops of Eezox. I’ve yet to field strip my Ruger Mark I, and only field stripped and cleaned my Buckmark for the first time last weekend after 7 years rounds only because I was doing the heggis flip and already had the gun half apart.
 
I clean all my guns, including my Mark IV and SR22 after each range session. It only takes a few minutes and my gun club is an hour's drive. I don't want to get there just to find out my guns are malfunctioning.
 
Very infrequently. I pull the grips, blast then with brake cleaner and then G-96 and drive on.

I only really get concerned when there is chunky matter or residue combined with lubricants forms a sort of .22mudd.

Todd.
 
Great post, I will have to look into that recoil buffer for a M41.

.................

For 22lr's, the tone of the report is changed. Now I can't prove this either, but I also believe that an oily barrel reduces blow by and creates a better pressure seal. We do know from high speed cameras that gas is blown by the bullet and exists the barrel before the bullet leaves. I think a slight oil coating must provide a better gas seal and/as it reduces leading.

You are doing good at 75. Keep up your cardio and stay active, and you might just yet wear out your M41!
Oil when used in a spring powered compressed air gun does give off some smoke and there is a difference also in the tone of the air guns report. I would notice this with my daisy bb guns.
This can raise velocity; specifically some would put a drop of diesel on the back of a pellet to increase velocity. There is some talk of this being hard seals and such. I do not know and someone that is into airguns could say more.
For oiling a firearm: Some of the oil in a firearm could also be combusting. Might be interesting to chronograph rounds with oil and without.
 
Might be interesting to chronograph rounds with oil and without.

I have been shooting greased and oiled rounds for a long time now. And I have run them over a chronograph, based on the assumption that increased velocities would mean increased pressures. I have not seen any real indication that there is a difference in velocity between greased and non greased, or oiled and non oiled bullets.

I have fired cartridges lubricated with RCBS water soluble lube, Imperial sizing wax, Johnson Paste Wax, Hornady One shot, Lee sizing lube, Lubriplate AA130, Lubriplate 105, rifle grease, axle grease, 10W-30 oil, pull wax, Mink shoe oil, Vaseline, hair gels. Unlike industrial/automotive oils and greases, hair gels don't have nasty additives and wash off easily. Industrial/automotive products are not intended for contact with skin, if you really look at them. Hair gels are combinations of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) and lanolin. Hair gels are semi hard, easy to apply. I do believe that heavily greased bullets do reduce jacket fouling. After firing, my cases are perfectly fireformed to the chamber and stress free. Absolutely no sidewall stretch at all. I also detect sticky bolt lift earlier in developing loads. When I get home, I size the cases as they came out of the chamber so these hair gels are quite lubricative.

These rounds were fired as sighting shots, to zero rifle

30-06 M98 Match Rifle 26" 1-10 Wilson Barrel

Bullets and barrel grease free.

168 gr Nosler Match 47.0 IMR 4895 thrown lot L7926 LC53 WLR (brass) OAL 3.30"
13 Aug 2014 T = 80 °F

Ave Vel = 2619
Std Dev = 29
ES = 72
High = 2644
Low = 2572
Number rounds= 5

I subsequently shot a group which the bullets were not greased, but there was most certainly some grease residue left in the chamber from previous rounds.

168 gr Nosler Match 47.0 IMR 4895 thrown lot L7926 FA60 CCI #34 OAL 3.30"

grease in chamber from greased rounds

13 Aug 2014 T = 80 °F

Ave Vel = 2691
Std Dev = 30
ES = 81
High = 2742
Low = 2661
N = 7


Group Size: 9 rounds on target. 89-4X on MR 31 target


Mm9nUFW.jpg


Greased bullets before and after firing

WYu3fXJ.jpg

Initial rounds gave spurious reading across the chronograph which I wish they could have been true, for my chronograph was providing readings of 3000 fps. Velocities this high would be incredible for this load and bullet. If it had been real, and without pressure signs, the next thing I would have done was test the combination at long range. If the accuracy stayed excellent, if I could get 400 fps more velocity just by greasing the bullet, it would have been my secret. But I suspected instrumentation error and that is what it turned out to be. I moved the chronograph two feet + further from the muzzle and continued with my testing. On previous shooting sessions , when the chronograph was too close to the muzzle, or shooting magnum cartridges, or black powder, gunpowder residue crossed over the screens and created physically impossible velocity readings or displays of “err1”. As an example, I had to move my chronograph out to around 20 -25 yards to get any black powder musket velocities. The amount of powder residue blown out of the musket caused instrumentation error. For this test, I believe a mass of grease, or grease plume, created sensor error. This is why the number of shots on the targets do not correspond with the numbers in the chronograph data.


168 gr Nosler Match 47.0 IMR 4895 thrown lot L7926 FA/LC cases WLR (brass) OAL 3.30"

Greased to case shoulders by dip and twist with Lubriplate AA130

13 Aug 2014 T = 80 °F

Ave Vel = 2650
Std Dev = 16
ES = 46
High = 2675
Low = 2629
N = 8

Shot #5: grease beyond case shoulder, Shot #8 very heavily greased,

vtsiQfk.jpg

Shot #8, “Big Grease” before and after firing

CSsyYnp.jpg

At 100 yards I am of the opinion that the grease on the bullets did not create any difference in accuracy or velocity and I did not observe any pressure indications. I have shot greased bullets at 300 and 600 yards at CMP Talladega, and within the error of my equipment, I can't tell any deterioration of accuracy.

AHQRhjk.jpg

swzF8wc.jpg

Ran a cold bore test using previous zero's with the same load, at 300 yards

vz1IdKz.jpg

the rest of the ten shot group. No real zero change

17GGA58.jpg

had a lot of case neck cracks, or the flinger could have been me

EKp6QfO.jpg

I did develop target loads in my 1911 with oiled cases. I put a drop of oil on each round as it went into the magazine.

M1911 Les Baer Wadcutter

200 LSWC (H&G 68 type) 4.0 grs Bullseye Lot 907 6/20/2005 WLP Brass mixed cases
23-Mar-16 T = 69 °F OAL 1.250" Taper Crimp 0.469"

oiled cases

Ave Vel = 723.3
Std Dev = 9.48
ES = 28.65
High = 741.6
Low = 712.9
N = 10

200 LSWC (H&G 68 type) 4.0 grs Bullseye Lot 919 11/2005 WLP Nickle, mixed cases
8-Jun-15 T = 91 °F OAL 1.250" Taper Crimp 0.469"

oiled cases

Ave Vel = 742.9
Std Dev = 9.89
ES = 33.19
High = 760.6
Low = 727.5
N = 20


200 LSWC (H&G 68 type) 4.0 grs Bullseye Lot 907 6/20/05 WLP, mixed cases
13-Sep-18 T = 75 °F OAL 1.250" Taper Crimp 0.469"

Not oiled

Ave Vel = 715.6
Std Dev = 10.86
ES = 37.6
High = 735.4
Low = 697.8
N = 15

ONNBm2x.jpg

Based on what I saw over the chronograph, switching from one lot of Bullseye to another had more of an affect on velocity than whether the case was oiled or not.
 
I clean my Ruger MKIV a lot more frequent than my previous generations ;)
 
I don't clean my .22s at all unless they exhibit function issues. Even my centerfire guns only get cleaned occasionally unless they start to choke. They almost never have reliability issues though....
 
I clean the Mk II almost every time I shoot it. Easy to clean the bolt face with a toothpick and Q tip. I take it apart if it is dirty and swab it out, the reassembly issue has gone away, because I took the time to learn the procedure.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
Boresnake the barrel and toothbrush the action using Hoppe's #9 maybe every other time out. This would be around 200 rounds max.

Try to avoid taking down the Mk IIs, but I have a kit to go in that's supposed to make take-down easier next time I do it.

Boresnake is easy and lets me clean from the breech without take-down, also lets me clean revolvers from the breech. Plus I tend to get too fussy with jags and patches and do more than needed.
 
So my questions are 1) How often do you clean your 22 pistols and why? 2) Can you clean one to death?

Clean it to death?
Not if you're using proper equipment & technique.
I suppose if you use a steel brush?...

But I clean mine when it starts acting up.
A Taurus PT22 - about every 50 rounds - maybe not even that many

My Phoenix - I've got about 350 rounds thru it & so far it runs like a champ.
 
Mk4 gets a full scrub every range trip, but I shoot at least 500 rounds through it every go.

Bolt soak, bore scrub, lower gets cleaned, and mags get cleaned. Then the bolt gets dunked in marvels, it gets tapped on a cloth till it stops leaving oil on it and it get re assembled. I love using marvels like that because the gun runs like a champ and smells great afterwards.
 
My carry pistols get cleaned after each use. I know, not 22 RF but if they have not been fired, I want no doubt to that fact.

My 22 RF guns get cleaned after every few shooting sessions or if I feel they will not be used again for a while.

When I was competing, I'd clean the guns after each shooting session. I wanted the guns to be reliable at the next outing.

Black powder guns and those shooting corrosive ammunition get cleaned after shooting. I try to avoid corrosive ammunition if I can.
 
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