I think I may have scraped the bore...

J

jcle225

Inactive
Hello, (new user to the site)

I took a Walther P22 to the range the other day and put thru two types of ammo. One was a lead type ammo by CCI....Just wanted to see which type of ammo would be good with this firearm since its known to jam often.

After a day of shooting, I took the gun to a friends place and began cleaning it. When cleaning the bore, I used a rod w/adapter to patch thru (supposeably a rod made for a .22)...I noticed that it was a really tight squeeze and eventually became stuck halfway thru the bore. I didnt want to pull it back so I pushed it thru which took some strength. After inspecting the bore, I noticed that there were some scrapes . I ran a qtip thru just to feel out the scrapes and they felt pretty jagged. Looked to me as if the rod and adapter scratched the bore as it went thru.

The reason why I am stating the type of ammo used is because I read a few google results and it could be lead build up that I am actually looking at rather than scratches. If its lead build up, is there a cleaning kit out there that could rid of this?

If the the bore is scraped, could this be a serious problem? What could this effect?

Thanks!
 
Go to the supermarket and get some Chore Boy copper scouring pads - be sure to get the all-copper ones as some of the cheaper imitations are copper-coated steel. Cut off some of the pad and wrap it around a bore brush or mop of the right size. If there's lead fouling in the barrel you'll see the flakes on the copper with one pass, and a few more passes will remove it entirely. Basically a homemade Lewis Lead Remover for a fraction of the cost.

What material was the cleaning rod made of? Was it really the rod that got stuck or was the brush a bit too big?

(I'd just add that I've never heard of that kind of lead fouling with .22 LR - not saying it can't happen, just that I've never heard of it or experienced it.)
 
Thanks for the response and advice! I will def. look into this today.

The rod and adapter (to the brush) is made of either brass or aluminium. I think it was the adapter that may have scraped the bore.

If this turns out to be bore scratches, how would this effect the gun? I know accuracy may be one issue but are there any other dangerous effects?

Thanks
 
Both brass and aluminum are softer than gun steel, so I doubt you've done any serious damage - certainly not enough to create a hazard and I don't think that scratches in the bore would affect the accuracy of a P22 unless they were right at the muzzle.
 
Both brass and aluminum are softer than gun steel, so I doubt you've done any serious damage - certainly not enough to create a hazard and I don't think that scratches in the bore would affect the accuracy of a P22 unless they were right at the muzzle.
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+1 to the above.

It would take a steel rod or adapter to scratch the bore. I've yet to see brass or aluminum damage the bore of any gun (muzzle excluded).
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Just checked with my friend since I used his kit to clean...the rod and adapter are steel. =(
 
IF you scratched the bore halfway down, it may or may not affect accuracy. Messing up the rifling near the muzzle would be a bigger effect than halfway down. But you never know until you shoot it. I don't think you could have put a big enough gouge in to cause anything dangerous. Go shoot a round out of it. Stop and check the bore to make sure the bullet isn't lodged in it. Try it a couple times like that. Then shoot a magazine through it and see what the accuracy is.
 
Since you have determined that the rod and adapter were steel and because you had to use an inordinate amount of pressure to remove the rod, it is possible (if not likely) that the marks you are observing are, in fact, scratches on the bore. However, depending on how deep or how superficial these marks are, it might be possible to remove them with the judicious use of a mild abrasive. Too, even if the scratches are too deep to remove it is likely that the pistol will not have lost any of its accuracy potential so long as (as FlyFish pointed out) the scratches are not located near the crown of the barrel. Continued shooting will determine if real damage has occurred and might help "iron out" the scratches if they aren't too deep.

And welcome to The Firing Line!
 
Nothing but helpful people on this site :)

I was thinking the same thing...maybe with all the hot rounds going thru and usage that the jagged scratches could be "ironed out." I'm going to the range later this evening to determine if this is going to be a bigger problem.

I just bought the Walther P22 as a fun plinker gun and plan to use it more at the range since ammo is cheaper for it. Hope I dont ruin the fun and determine that this is a larger issue tonight.
 
Always use brass or aluminum rods :(. The actual brush should be copper bristles; the twisty part in the middle can be steel, but the screw-in base should be brass...that way the thickest part at the base is brass, screwed into a brass or aluminum pushrod and t-handle.
 
I was thinking the same thing...maybe with all the hot rounds going thru and usage that the jagged scratches could be "ironed out." I'm going to the range later this evening to determine if this is going to be a bigger problem.
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.22LR bullets are so soft that they probably won't have any smoothing effect on the scratches, even if you use the hottest hyper-velocity rounds you can find. OTOH the soft lead will fill up the scratches and accomplish the same goal.

On that topic, many shooters- including this one- will tell you that it's really not necessary to clean .22LR barrels on a regular basis. .22LR rounds don't leave the nasty hard-to-remove lead deposits that high-powered centerfire rounds leave. .22 lead buildup actually helps accuracy by filling in any irregularities in the rifling. I only clean the barrels of my .22s maybe once or twice a year.
unless you are a very good target shooter, or you want to shoot your P22 I would be absolutely amazed if this damage had any significant effect.
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+1. Unless accuracy has gotten noticeably worse, just laugh it off, chalk it up to experience, and don't clean that barrel again until your groups start to open up, which should take several thousand rounds. :)
 
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