Bore care for a GOOD .22 sporter??

Matt / PA · 09-30-2008, 10:58 AM

I've owned a good number of different .22 rimfires over the years but nothing that anyone would consider "top shelf" so I never really gave much thought to wringing any real accuracy out of them.

I have a brand new sweet Savage MKII Classic .22lr with the Accu-trigger coming and a beautiful Leupold VXII Ultralight 3-9X33 EFR scope to top it off.

This is going to be a relaxing squirrel swatter but I really want to get it to shoot it's best.

Every centerfire rifle I've owned I took the time to hand lap the barrel myself right out of the box before the first round was ever fired and I have some pretty sick shooting big game rifles for the effort.
Should I do the same with a high end rimfire to remove any factory machining flaws or is it not necessary?

What really IS the proper way to clean a good .22 for promoting the best possible accuracy? I've always just done the usual solvent and patches for all my plinkers but never really worried too much about lead build up.

The Savage MKII Classic has a 24" button rifled barrel.

#40Fan · 09-30-2008, 10:15 PM

Shoot it and see how it does first.

Wlfdg · 10-01-2008, 10:40 PM

I had been advised to shoot it a lot before cleaning, like 250-500 rds. I found it to be absolutely true.

In fact a very qualified champion benchrest competitor told me I shouldn't expect really good accuracy until I get 20 rds. through her. He was absolutely correct.

I was also advised to stay away from Rem. Golden Bullets bulk pack. "They're dirty". That was spot on. My rifle shot them well but I even had to clean the clip with WD-40 to get it to feed properly afterwards.

Jag a dry patch every once in a while. If you change ammo, run a brush through with some solvent, then a patch with solvent, then jag dry patches til a clean one comes through.

It's been great advice that has been working for me from some super serious rimfire folks.

oldelkhunter · 10-02-2008, 08:38 AM

The less you clean a 22 the better. They have so much lubricant and antifoul additives that cleaning is not needed as much as it would be for a centerfire rifle provided you use the same ammo. That said I would clean it when it first came home to remove any possible metal chips left over from manufacturing. Shoot it and see when your group size changes , that would be an indicator of when to clean it