22 cal rifle break in

[rebs]

is there a procedure to break in a new savage 22 cal rifle barrel?

 

[Tim Slater]

Clean it before use to remove any crud from test factory test firing, or detritus from manufacture, or rust-proofibg grease/oil. Thereafter, clean the barrel whenever, and as deeply, as either you want to, or you find necessary to maintain your desired level of accuracy.

 

[rebs]

does it take a number of shots to break in the barrel

 

[DGP4]

No, but you'll want to run anywhere from 5to 20 rounds of your chosen ammo to lubricate the bore. You'll need to do that every time you clean or change ammo.

 

[Todd-67]

I have never done anything special with .22lr. I do clean them after the first few range trips when normally I just let them go until the groups start opening up. Some barrels do take some break in time to get the best accuracy out of them.

 

[jbell]

As stated, clean when new before shooting (wet patch a few time, and then dry well). Shoot being mindful of a carbon ring build up in the chamber, so clean the chamber a little more often than the bore. Generally speaking most people agree that at least 1000 rounds should be fired before evaluating ammo for accuracy.

 

[Jester560]

Clean the new gunk out of the barrel and shoot it

 

[skeetlee]

a savage factory rimfire barrel could possibly take hundreds of rounds to break itself in properly. all depends on the throat condition.
When i chamber a barrel here in my shop in 22LR I polish by hand each and every chamber to help ensure this process is very minimal. a solid lead bullet doesn't have the same effect as say a copper bullet would in helping possible rough chamber or lead. all reamers no matter the practices used will leave tooling marks. slight or otherwise. lube and lead will collect in these areas causing possible accuracy issues. Im more than sure savage isnt polishing their chambers. polishing a chamber isn't necessarily hard to do but it does take a bit of time and know how. Lee

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

I Shave some Time off, the Barrel "Break IN" Process by, doing, 10 to 12, ONE Way, Cleaning Rod, strokes of JB's, "Slathered" on a tight Patch, over, a Bronze Brush on ALL, My Factory, NON Lapped, Rifle Barrels.
Read, the Green Mountain Barrel, "Break-in Process" sometime,... YIKES !
This method, Circumvents that,.. Waste of, Time !
My Custom Ruger, 10-22, Green Mtn Barrel's Match Chamber, Polished, very "lightly" Now Extracts, Live Rounds that used to Stick in the Chamber and the Polished Bore ( with, lightly "broke" / polished, edges of, Lands ) shoots, the Mid Priced, SK Standard Plus and Wolf Match Extra Ammo EASILY, into Sub 1/2 inch groups at, 50 yards.
Even, High Velocity, Winchester and CCI, HP's shoot, Nickel to, sub Quarter sized groups for, Hunting Rabbits, etc.

 

[drover]

is there a procedure to break in a new savage 22 cal rifle barrel?

Run a couple of patches through it and then go shoot it, it is Savage 22 not a benchrest rifle so there is no point in going overboard with benchrest procedures.

When going from one manufacturers ammo to a different manufacturer I have found that usually
5 rounds will push out the old lube and get enough of a new layer in that accuracy will settle down. You will also find that changing ammo may change point of impact somewhat, sometimes dramatically (up to an inch or so) and at other times point of impact will be close enough.

drover

 

[skeeljc]

22 rimfire barrels do not need break in. They do not need frequent cleaning either.

 

[Tim Slater]

22 rimfire barrels ....do not need frequent cleaning either.

Wonder why all the major Olympic target rifle makers, along with many many top shooters and coaches recommend regular cleaning then?

Necessity, frequency, and not least cleaning can all be defined differently by different people. If cleaning infrequently works for you, great! But perhaps share this as an opinion, rather than as a universal truth.

 

[skeeljc]

Wonder why all the major Olympic target rifle makers, along with many many top shooters and coaches recommend regular cleaning then?

Necessity, frequency, and not least cleaning can all be defined differently by different people. If cleaning infrequently works for you, great! But perhaps share this as an opinion, rather than as a universal truth.

I was just pointing out that .22 rimfire rifles when used with good quality target ammunition are not subject to carbon fouling or copper fouling. Regular cleaning can be once a day, week, month or once a year.

 

[Bronsin]

If their Rimfire barrel bores look anything like their Centerfire barrels, No. I would just make sure it's clean to start with, and then just shoot it.

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

I was just pointing out that .22 rimfire rifles when used with good quality target ammunition are not subject to carbon fouling or copper fouling. Regular cleaning can be once a day, week, month or once a year.

FYI, Tim is talking about match rifle barrels and from what you are saying I believe relates to squirrel rifle barrels. any firearm that uses a cartridge that has powder as the propellent will have some carbon fouling.
don't confuse smokeless as also meaning to not leave any carbon residue.

Lee

 

[Tim Slater]

I was just pointing out that .22 rimfire rifles when used with good quality target ammunition are not subject to carbon fouling or copper fouling. Regular cleaning can be once a day, week, month or once a year.

Again that's an opinion, not a fact. 0.22 barrels do see carbon fouling. Yes it's on a far lower level and intensity than a 65Kpsi centre-fire cartridge, but depending on your barrel and application this has to be managed regularly and proactively.

Agreed, one's shooting will determine what regular means. But that's not what you wrote in your first post; regular is not a synonym of infrequent. For example I shoot smallbore prone at County level, and most of the winning shooters clean after shooting in some way, or after every few hundred rounds. Very few clean annually. A few years ago I was asked to clean a club mate's Anschutz after he reported "funny shots". This actually meant he had shots keyholing at 25 yards because the throat was so filthy bullets weren't stabilising. This took about 3,000 rounds, or most of a year's use. A hunting rifle with a longer chamber might take much longer to see the same effect.

 

[mrh1958]

Interesting take on cleaning.....

 

[grauhanen]

I was just pointing out that .22 rimfire rifles when used with good quality target ammunition are not subject to carbon fouling or copper fouling.

As others have pointed out, carbon fouling occurs. But you're right that using good quality target ammunition won't result in copper fouling. Of course, it won't result in fouling from other metals that aren't used in good quality .22LR target ammo, either.

Interesting take on cleaning.....

And an obtuse one at that. No serious .22LR authority or quality .22LR rifle manufacturer shares the ill-informed view that no cleaning is the path to best performance.