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I finally got my FAC through the other day, and yesterday picked up my first rifle - a 15-22 Sport.

The guys at the shop (East Anglian Gunsmiths) were extremely helpful, sold it at a good price, and even gave me a couple of hundred rounds of .22 for free.

They advised me only to clean the action regularly, not the barrel, and to only clean the barrel very infrequently.

This is something I've heard from a few people, and it makes sense, but I was wondering exactly how often the barrel needs a clean; every thousand rounds? Two thousand?

Any input would be appreciated.

This one of those questions you can ask 4 people, and get 5 different answers..!!

IMHO, the guys in the shop were correct, .22 actions (and some magazines) get manky quickly due to the waxy ammo and need regular cleaning to keep functioning well.

Barrels are the moot point that people will have conflicting views on.... but the most common view is to only clean them when your accuracy starts to suffer. Depending on the rifle, the actual number of rounds may vary...

Many at the club I go to also say if new then need to break it in fire one clean fire another clean etc but then leave the barrel alone after that, they say you will know when it needs another clean when it starts going off target. One guy even mentioned soon as he cleans his Howa it will take a few rounds to bring it back to shooting good again.

joeuk wrote:Many at the club I go to also say if new then need to break it in fire one clean fire another clean etc but then leave the barrel alone after that, they say you will know when it needs another clean when it starts going off target. One guy even mentioned soon as he cleans his Howa it will take a few rounds to bring it back to shooting good again.

I would imagine that with lead .22lr bullets it would take an absolute age to "break" in a barrel as even hard cast lead bullets are nowhere near as hard as a FMJ bullet.

Very rarely clean the barrel of my 15-22. The action does need a good clean every few hundred rounds. Be careful of the ejector when cleaning (the long thin hook fixed to the barrel) if you knock it out of alignment it will result in failures to eject - simple to bend back into place but annoying if you do knock it.

snayperskaya wrote:

joeuk wrote:Many at the club I go to also say if new then need to break it in fire one clean fire another clean etc but then leave the barrel alone after that, they say you will know when it needs another clean when it starts going off target. One guy even mentioned soon as he cleans his Howa it will take a few rounds to bring it back to shooting good again.

I would imagine that with lead .22lr bullets it would take an absolute age to "break" in a barrel as even hard cast lead bullets are nowhere near as hard as a FMJ bullet.

Sorry forgot to mention this but the guys I spoke too was from the outside range so high calibre rifles, I have just done it on my 223, for me personally I would just give it a quick clean from new and that's it leave it till it starts to drift.