Rimfire ammo

[jw2n]

This is something I recently learned, and thought I would pass it on. The priming compound in rimfire ammunition is comprised of up to 20% ground glass. The purpose of this is that it adds to reliability of compression ignition. The drawback is that it leaves the silica residue in the weapon, and it is this silica deposit that causes wear to the weapon more than any other factor. The recommendation for cleaning is to clean the weapon with loose patching before using a bore/chamber brush. However, this does not prevent the abrasive wear to the weapon that happens when firing consecutive rounds, as it picks up the glass and drives into the chamber and bore. I thought this was pretty interesting.

 

[quietmike]

Ground glass, I have never heard that.

Not to argue but improper cleaning is responsible for more ruined barrels than almost anything else-especially in 22 rimfires. I can't remember the last time I've cleaned the barrel of any of my 22s.

 

[Scott Free]

I remember Jeff Cooper saying that there's no reason to clean .22s. Best news I'd ever heard!

 

[JD Mandrell]

Depending on what formula they are using, ground glass has long been used in priming compounds as a "frictionator".

 

[Loosearrow]

Just clean from the chamber to the end of the barrel, not the other way around and you should be O.K.

 

[CWL]

While I have no clue what is in the primer formula of the ammos I use, I haven't cleaned either of my .22lrs in over 10 years and they both haven't failed me yet.

I'm sure they do contribute to chamber and barrel wear, but I'll be dead long before my .22s wear out.

 

[HornyToad]

I thought the reason you did not have to clean a 22LR is because of the lead bullets and the relatively slow velocity. I generallly don't worry too much about cleaning a 22 except for my Ruger bolt action which tends to lose accurracy after 20-30 rounds.

 

[longbow50]

I thought the reason you did not have to clean a 22LR is because of the lead bullets and the relatively slow velocity. I generallly don't worry too much about cleaning a 22 except for my Ruger bolt action which tends to lose accurracy after 20-30 rounds.

I clean my Marlin after every 100 rounds or so. Then it takes a few rounds through it, for the rifle to tighten up the groups. Also, I never clean from bore to chamber, always the other way around.

 

[J_Curd]

I just clean my guns every time I use them because:

- I enjoy it, just like sharpening
- Proper cleaning can't hurt
- I want my firearms to maintain their value and/or outlive me
- Frequent cleaning makes for easy cleaning

I definitely see looser groups after cleaning them until I shoot 10-30 rounds, depending on the gun.

I keep my .22 autos clean so they function. Bolt actions or single shots I tend to be a bit lazier with.

 

[kvaughn]

My old military training makes it difficult for me to put a weapon away without cleaning.--KV

 

[j williams]

My old military training makes it difficult for me to put a weapon away without cleaning.--KV

me too....

 

[dawsonbob]

Me three.

 

[Midnight Scout]

Me four.

 

[DocGP]

Can't be too bad for the gun. I have several 22's with untold thousands of rounds through them with minimal cleaning and they still shoot and run like champs.

Doc

 

[Don Rearic]

My Dad cleaned everything and taught me to as well. To each his own I reckon. I have cleaned enough .22 semiautomatics for other people to know that they get filthy and I don't think Jeff Cooper was necessarily referring to the action of a semiautomatic unless he owned stock in Marlin.

 

[GregY]

My old military training makes it difficult for me to put a weapon away without cleaning.--KV

I was taught that every time you shoot, you clean. Just not in the military. But that's where the folks who taught me got it.

As for never cleaning your .22's.... the gun I shoot the most is my S&W 617. Love it. But .22 ammo is filthy- after 3 or 4 hundred rounds in a range session I've seen so much crud buildup that rounds would stick when loading and extracting and the cylinder itself started to stick (tight cylinder gap).

 

[koyote]

I clean my .22s every time out and periodically go over them if they haven't been shot in a while (yah, right)- that goes for all firearms, including the airguns.

Leading of barrels, as I understand it, is a function of high spped and exposed lead bullets. I know that in my airguns I only experience detecable leading in the extreme end of high velocity guns.

I find that the federal bulk pack ammo is the cleanest I've shot next to CCI mini-mag. Also reliable- I've gone through well over 4000 rounds of it in the past year or so with zero defects. The one box of remington (525 pack) I've gone through had 7 duds, more fliers, and cost $10 more than the federal 550 pack. The aguila SSS subsonics are dirty as hell, but pack a serious punch in my revolver and are accurate as any other brand I've shot. So my battery is generally fed on the federal, winchester X bulks (also very reliable), minimags out of the rifles, and the aguila 60 grain subsonics.

I've not noticed any leading in any of these in the amount of shooting I do in a range or field trip, though the aguila might be leading up, it's dirty enough I can't actually tell!!!!

For cleaning .22s I use a quick pass with hoppe's and a bronze brush- and do the cleaning and oiling with WD40 and have no issues with wear.

 

[GregY]

I find that the federal bulk pack ammo is the cleanest I've shot next to CCI mini-mag. Also reliable- I've gone through well over 4000 rounds of it in the past year or so with zero defects. The one box of remington (525 pack) I've gone through had 7 duds, more fliers, and cost $10 more than the federal 550 pack.

For cleaning .22s I use a quick pass with hoppe's and a bronze brush- and do the cleaning and oiling with WD40 and have no issues with wear.

Most of what I shoot is Federal 36 gr hollowpoint copper-washed in bulk packs. I was able to pick up a lot of it cheap. I've fired 1700 rounds of it in the past year, with 9 failures to ignite (this is in my 617). 7 of those 9 ignited on the second strike. 2 wouldn't fire at all, period and had to be disposed of. Also, every once in a while you get one that's a stinker and a smoker, looks like I'm shooting a musket.

That said, the stuff is better than the cheapie Remingtons I've tried. 300 rounds of that through a friend's 22/45 and it looked like someone had poured a couple tablespoons of potting soil inside the gun. (There was no bloody way *that* gun was being left like that... I still don't understand how people can not clean a .22)

I need to try Mini-mags, but noone ever ever has any in stock.

 

[Bigfattyt]

I remember Jeff Cooper saying that there's no reason to clean .22s. Best news I'd ever heard!

That is completely not true. Cleaning .22's is important. It can be dangerous not to.

First of all, if you don't clean them, they will begin jamming (for auto's). Eventually, the action will be so dirty and gummed, it won't reliably cycle.

Second, if you shoot a .22 long enough (especially with lead/non jacket ammo), eventually you will begin squeezing the bullets down the bore. Not only will you eventually not be able to what you are aiming at, eventually, the bullet will actually stick in the bore.

I witnessed the above situation first hand. I was out shooting with a buddy. He could not hit anything with his Ruger 10-22. At first we thought his scope was broken, or the mounts loose. After a few rounds the barrel was too hot to touch, which is not normal that quick with a 10-22. The bullets would not hit anywhere near the point he was aiming at. I took the gun, and fired a few rounds (which is where I noticed the super hot barrel). The last round I fired sounded really funny, and the recoil felt off. It felt like I had just shot a CB short (no power just primer). I asked my friend when the last time he had cleaned the gun. He said never. Since the day he had had it, he had shot literally tens and tens of thousands of rounds through it, without ever cleaning the bore. I told him to take it home and clean it out. He used a ton of cleaning solution then stuck a bore brush down the barrel. It would not even go an inch (it was the right size). He said after hours of making a little progress at a time, he was eventually able to get the bore brush all the way through. He had a big pile of built up lead deposits, like he had grated a block of lead and dumped the shavings in a pile.

If we had kept shooting the gun, eventually one of the rounds would have actually squeezed enough to stick in the barrel, then the next round would have had no where to go.

 

[rzwieg]

I clean rimfire barrels after every use and clean eveything else yearly.

For a couple years I had use of a Winchester M74, possibly the prettiest auto ever to come my way. Accuracy was very good. It would jam every 200 rounds, almost like clockwork. Time to clean.