Educate Me Please..
Moderators: Bullseye, Moderators
Educate Me Please..
Cleaning your hand guns and rifles. Do you you clean yours after use or only after performance drops off?? I been seeing a lot of guys posting that they never clean a .22 but maybe 3 or 4 times a year.
I field strip and clean the guns I use every week. I deep clean them about once a year or sooner if I have to take them down for something.
I field strip and clean the guns I use every week. I deep clean them about once a year or sooner if I have to take them down for something.
It is fairly common gospel that 22 target pistols do not need bore cleaning. My experience in the 70s was cleaning my HS 106 STr bullseye gun and it would take about 20 shots to settle back into 50 yard accuracy. Today i seldom clean the 22 pistol bores. Chamber, breech, mags, and lockwork does need cleaning as needed for function.
On the flip side, my 70s shooting smallbore prone rifle, they needed a bore clean every 20 shot stage to stay grouping.
In the HS pistol I used Remington green box (SV). In the rifle, Tenex.
On the flip side, my 70s shooting smallbore prone rifle, they needed a bore clean every 20 shot stage to stay grouping.
In the HS pistol I used Remington green box (SV). In the rifle, Tenex.
Hardball,
+1, on bore cleaning. I do clean the actions, bolt faces, extractors, and chambers on a monthly basis but the bores get cleaned about every 20-30,000 rounds. It just takes too many rounds to condition the bore after cleaning and by that time the slow fire stage is over (not that my score would show any difference)(EUREKA moment!!! If I clean the bore every time, I have a built in excuse for tanking my slow fires.)
FWIW
+1, on bore cleaning. I do clean the actions, bolt faces, extractors, and chambers on a monthly basis but the bores get cleaned about every 20-30,000 rounds. It just takes too many rounds to condition the bore after cleaning and by that time the slow fire stage is over (not that my score would show any difference)(EUREKA moment!!! If I clean the bore every time, I have a built in excuse for tanking my slow fires.)
FWIW
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” – George Washington
I field strip and clean after every shooting session. I also do a good looking over as to whether anything more needs attention. I touch up any blue wear, too. Much easier when fresh.
If nothing else, it is an opportunity to find a loose or damaged part that would be missed if I just put the gun away after shooting. A gun can have a lot of problems and still shoot okay at first, or maybe something happened with the last shot before I packed up ??
If nothing else, it is an opportunity to find a loose or damaged part that would be missed if I just put the gun away after shooting. A gun can have a lot of problems and still shoot okay at first, or maybe something happened with the last shot before I packed up ??
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols
- blue68f100
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- Location: Piney Woods of East Texas
Centerfire - yes. For long guns I may let them sit for a day or two (if I'm too tired or busy), but for those CCW pieces I clean them after every range time religiously.
Rimfire - not really.. sometimes just a pass of boresnake, sometimes... let them wait...
Rimfire - not really.. sometimes just a pass of boresnake, sometimes... let them wait...
Last edited by wagon on Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Educate Me Please..
I find if I do not clean my Mark II every 200-300 rounds it gets a creapy trigger - swab through the barrel once or twice and put the bottom in ultrasonic cleaner. 1911 every 200-300 rounds clean top end, every 500 or so bottom and top. It just gets too dirty after that. Shooting .38 with Am. Select and Berry bullets stays so clean it could go almost for ever without cleaning, but gets it every 200-500 rounds.
Range guns get oiled every 100 or so rounds when shot indoors.
Range guns get oiled every 100 or so rounds when shot indoors.
I guess I been shooting lead to long as we all know the puff loads that are used lead the barrels a little. Beings I have to field strip it I usually just go ahead and clean the whole pistol. That's a weekly chore with 200 or less rounds run through the pistol.
Now with the .22's it has been a long time since I shot any of them and I always pulled the bolts and cleaned the bore and everything else short of taking the barrel off. I'll see what happens if I skip the bore for awhile.
Carry and home defense weapons are kept in prime shape all the time and cleaned after every use.
Now with the .22's it has been a long time since I shot any of them and I always pulled the bolts and cleaned the bore and everything else short of taking the barrel off. I'll see what happens if I skip the bore for awhile.
Carry and home defense weapons are kept in prime shape all the time and cleaned after every use.
- Georgezilla
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- bigfatdave
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Georgezilla:
In theory, .22LR bullets are externally lubed and are made of soft lead, so the crud in the barrel will reach a certain point and then stay about the same.
The action will need about the same level of care, centerfire/rimfire matters less than blowback/manual cycling.
Personally, I worry a lot more about the action of my guns than the bore, most of the time I run a solvent patch and then a few dry patches through on a rod (pistol) or an Otis cable (rifles), rarely scrubbing except in cases of serious grunge or suspected chamber fouling. The action gets the detail work, in my opinion most people spend too much time on the bore and neglect the moving parts.
In theory, .22LR bullets are externally lubed and are made of soft lead, so the crud in the barrel will reach a certain point and then stay about the same.
The action will need about the same level of care, centerfire/rimfire matters less than blowback/manual cycling.
Personally, I worry a lot more about the action of my guns than the bore, most of the time I run a solvent patch and then a few dry patches through on a rod (pistol) or an Otis cable (rifles), rarely scrubbing except in cases of serious grunge or suspected chamber fouling. The action gets the detail work, in my opinion most people spend too much time on the bore and neglect the moving parts.
- Georgezilla
- Master contributor
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I think rimfire has gotten cleaner since my earlier shooting life around 1980. I don't seem to use as many patches now that I did back then. I can't say on centerfire, as I haven't bought any this time around.
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
* 2 NAA Guardian .32ACP
* 3 Zastava M70 .32ACP
* S&W 15-22 Sport (.22LR AR)
* 2 Ruger SR22 .22LR pistols
-
- Advanced contributor
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- Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:22 pm
- Location: West Central MO
.22 ammo has definitely become less of a fouling problem over the years.
When I first started shooting back in the early '50s, it was pretty mandatory to clean .22s after every session.
Now, I concentrate more on the actions, and usually run a Hoppe's swab through the barrel, followed by a dry one when the actions get scrubbed. That's about it for the barrel.
Center fire, I usually clean after each use, barrel and action. I use a lot of cast lead bullets, and its easier to keep them scrubbed out, than have to do a major de-lead operation. I use several different solvents, depending on what I need to concentrate on, - copper, lead, powder fouling, or all 3 sometimes.
When I first started shooting back in the early '50s, it was pretty mandatory to clean .22s after every session.
Now, I concentrate more on the actions, and usually run a Hoppe's swab through the barrel, followed by a dry one when the actions get scrubbed. That's about it for the barrel.
Center fire, I usually clean after each use, barrel and action. I use a lot of cast lead bullets, and its easier to keep them scrubbed out, than have to do a major de-lead operation. I use several different solvents, depending on what I need to concentrate on, - copper, lead, powder fouling, or all 3 sometimes.