Posted: 1/23/2011 6:24:47 PM EDT
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I have three plinkers for the back porch. Nice little 25/40/60 range on the cheap. Paid $100 - $200 for each rifle, scoped and used. Maybe 3000+ rds each. Who knows. Never cleaned them. Have not had any failures and the accuracy is seemingly tight. I have asked a couple others on occasion and they don't clean the 22s either.
Do you clean your 22s? If so, to what extent? |
| Like many things, I'd say just maintain it on the level you are OK with it performing on. If it's the .22 for the back porch, maybe you don't care if it might start jamming or whatever, and that's OK if you're OK with it. Needless to say, there's a reason you don't see the same question asked about carry pistols, service weapons, or infantry rifles. |
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My .02:
Even if I believed that keeping guns spic and span was not necessary, I think it helps me better understand how my weapons work and gives me the opportunity to get a up close look at all the innards to check for any other issues. Plus I just plain enjoy it. Nothing like cracking open a cold one with your favorite CLP, brushes, and cloths and going to town on a weapon. (with the ammo very far away in the other room) |
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For my eighth birthday, my Grandfather gave me his beloved old Winchester .22. When I first got it, I shot at least a box a day (yellow box Winchester) thru it for several months until the ejection port turned gray with caked residue.
Amazingly, the rifle still ran with few problems. My Uncle came home from Ft. Benning for Thanksgiving, saw the dirty condition of the rifle, and nearly crapped his self. He broke it down, and cleaned it to a spit shine. That night, he and I got enough rabbits to last us a couple of months. |
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Somewhere I have some pix of what I cleaned out of my 10/22.
IIRC it was about 3 years since I last cleaned it up. I pulled about 20grains worth of crap out of the barrel. Funny thing accuracy didn't change but POI / POA changed about 1.5" at 50yrds. I'm guessing the velocity was down a bit before the cleaning job. Off to dig for the pix. 7mm |
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Clean them and they'll be happy.
With my 22s I worry about lead fouling in the barrel. Shooting unjacketed lead bullets can foul a barrel pretty good. If it's a good shooter now, it'll be better when you get the lead out of the barrel. I just give the action a pretty good spray and wipe down. |