10-22-How many rounds....

T

TXGunNut

New member
Before cleaning? I suspended all my cast boolit projects last weekend, sighted in my hunting rifles yesterday and did some offhand target practice with my trusty 10-22 Sporter today. As is my custom I fired 10 rds each at business cards @ 25 yds. After about 50-60 rds it failed to fire on occasion. After 80-90 rds it became more frequent and I ended my practice session but not before I fired a 10 rd group (from a rest) into well under .5".
So here's the question. How many rounds of cheap ammo does it take to stop a 10-22? I've been firing promo ammo (WW Wildcat and RP Thunderbolt) since I acquired this rifle over ten yrs ago. Back then I did a trigger job, refinished the stock and did a detail cleaning. But I doubt very seriously I've cleaned it since. I'm guessing it's had 1000 rds, maybe more. Anybody have a better guess?
 
Not trying to be flip but when they cease to function it's time, I'm somewhat different I normally clean each time I shoot very light cleaning on the 10/22 blow out with compresser, run a patch through barrel but then after 1000 rounds break down and do a complete cleaning. IMO the 22 round is dirty more so with certain ammo, I want perfect function when I go to shoot so overall for me it's easy to clean.
 
.22LR ammo is very dirty, it leaves a lot of debris when fired in a blow back semi auto. I use a dry lube on the action and clean it with compressed air, that blows 99% of the debris out of the action. I clean the barrel once a year and it normally take 40-50 rounds before the barrel is back to it's normal accuracy. I avoid cheap ammo because how dirty it tends to be.
 
Rem Thunderbolt is about the dirtiest ammo I've used, and also the worst shooting. Winchester Wildcat is not far behind it.

Semi-autos seem to function well with Federal Auto-Match, Winchester Dynapoint, Super Speed, and Powerpoint. CCI Mini-Mags work about as well as anything.

Avoid any ammo with a lot of soft wax on the bullets, unless you want to clean more often.

At the very least, it's good to scrape off the barrel breech and bolt. A dental pick can get into the bolt face recess.
 
My 10-22 is, essentially, my barn gun. It was promoted after being my truck gun for more than 25 years. In that time it has seldom been cleaned. It has never failed to function. My bad habit (with this gun only) aside, even an occasional spritz with WD-40 will do a lot of good.
 
I've been shooting 10/22 almost exclusively as my .22lr rifle since the mid 80's. We're talking 10's of 1000's of rounds split between 2 of them. I only detail clean them a couple times a year, usually late summer/early fall and again after hunting season unless it gets muddy or wet.

I've never had a malfunction I could attribute to the gun. Bad mag? Yes. Ammo? Yes. But never the gun. I'm sure there have been times when my guns have gone 2000 rounds plus without a good scrubing.

LK
 
But I doubt very seriously I've cleaned it since. I'm guessing it's had 1000 rds, maybe more. Anybody have a better guess?
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Well that's about 3 or 4 weeks worth of shooting for me and that's about how often I clean my 10/22's. In your case maybe every New Years day while you are watching the football game should be 22 rifle cleaning day. :D

I shoot a wide variety of ammo and they all get the gun dirty eventually so I don't pay any attention to that as long as they hit what I am shooting at.
 
When you see any functionality issues, the first thing you should always do is clean the gun. In particular, you need to clean the action. 1000 rounds sounds about right for a semi-auto 22.
 
Depends on the gun configuration and the ammo.
With CCI Minimags or something decent? Probably 700+ rounds. With Thunderbolts? I'd probably need to clean inside of 300rds.
Switch ammo if you want fewer jams and FTFs. Thunderbolts of late are not known for consistent or clean performance. I'll add that I've never had problems with Wildcats,however.
 
Your 10/22 is communicating; Pays to listen

When you see any functionality issues, the first thing you should always do is clean the gun.
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TRUE !
Your 10/22 is trying to tell you that it needs cleaning. They can handle many rounds but eventually it will need your attention. The dirtiest 10/22 I cleaned for a friend, was so bad that "stuff" was caked in and the trigger group looked like someone put a handful of saw-dust, into it. Mind you now, it was still shooting fine when he brought it to me for trigger work.. .... ;)


Be Safe !!!
 
Thunderbolts leave a lot of residue compared to many others that are not nearly as dirty to shoot. My experience with a number of 10-22's and dirty rounds indicates about 50 rounds more or less before malfunction and needed cleaning.
 
I have .22's that I've literally never "cleaned" even after 1000's of rounds. I put the quotes in because I consider cleaning to be a complete white glove treatment. But every few hundred rounds I do put some CLP on and brush it around (including the bore) then hose it off with gunscrubber and then lightly re-oil with CLP. I basically never worry about whether the Qtips and patches are coming up clean on a .22 rifle.

My non-.22 guns get a more detailed cleaning treatment. But still, I only do the white glove thing on Super Bowl Sunday. Gotta have something to do during that 6 hour pregame show.

If I owned anything that was really, really expensive or "nice" I may change my habits. But all my guns are utilitarian Sig's, Mossbergs, Marlins, Rugers and such. Functional cleaning works just fine on these for me.
 
Thunderbolts leave a lot of residue compared to many others that are not nearly as dirty to shoot. My experience with a number of 10-22's and dirty rounds indicates about 50 rounds more or less before malfunction and needed cleaning.
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Even using the dirtiest bulk .22lr ammo I could find I've never seen a 10/22 NEED a cleaning at 50 rounds. If I did it wouldn't take me long to learn not to buy that ammo.

LK
 
Partly it depends on which model 10/22 you are shooting and partly on what you define as acceptable performance. I have a Carbine that when I acquired it a few weeks ago had probably not been cleaned since it was made in June 1968. It cycled with Win. High Velocity but wasn't reliable with any of the usual bulk suspects. Accuracy was about 6 MOA. After a thorough cleaning of the entire action and about an hour of bronze brushing on the bore, it ran like a champ on standard velocity target ammo leftovers and beat all the paint off my spinners at 100 yards with Federal Champion bulk. My 10/22 Target has much tighter tolerances and cleaning its action every 50 rounds is cheap insurance. I clean its barrel about every 500 rounds but it only ever eats premium target ammo.
 
I'm out of Thunderbolt, I agree that it's filthy and unreliable but it's what I had on hand. Don't think I'll buy any more. I'm pretty fond of the Wildcat, my MK1 bull barrel pistol thinks it's target ammo. 10-22 works fine with it as well. For some reason I keep buying and putting it away, found three bricks so far. I only have one .22 that really likes the higher velocity stuff and it's a 617 that hasn't been fired since the primer shortage before this last one, mid 90's?
Started scrubbing and soaking last night, action is spotless and lubed but the bore has a ways to go. Breach end of the barrel needs a bit of work as well. Not even sure what's going on there. May pull the barrel off for a better look and scrub it a bit better as well.
I don't get to shoot my .22's much but they're quite enjoyable and I need the trigger time. It's a pretty thing, I'll post pics if I ever get it put back together.
Thanks for the replies, hopefully the next thousand rounds won't take so long.
 
I really don't keep track on my 10/22, but I'd say I give it a cursory cleaning about every 500-1000 rounds. I'll give a FULL cleaning if I have issues the basic cleaning doesn't solve. That said, mine is just a plinker. I don't demand a whole lot of accuracy or reliability from it.
 
I built my 10-22 to get as much accuracy as possible...and spent a lot to do so. To get the best out of it everytime I shoot it I keep it meticulously clean between range visits. It doesn't take more than 20-30 minutes to tear it down completely and remove every bit of fouling. The trigger assembly can be clean without a full teardown by simply wiping off and Qtipping what you can see. I follow that by a few bursts of compressed air to get any loose grime out of the bottom.

The chamber I also clean after every range visit but clean the bore far less often. Usually after 500-700 rounds or if accuracy isnt what it should be. Because of all this my 10/22 NEVER fails and shoots amazingly well. Btw, all my firearms get the same treatment and all work perfectly.

Every trip to the range my 10/22 starts like this and returns to this when I'm done.
IMG_4932-1.jpg
 
I've considered building one of those, Doc. I have another 10-22 around here that I bought for my dad. Doubt it's seen 200 rounds in 20+ years. I've often admired rifles like that, just can't say for sure when or if it will make it to the top of my project list.
 
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