Did I damage my barrel?

[Ohio Varmint Shooter]

I purchased a new Savage Mark II ...a 22lr gun.

The Savage website says...to break in the barrel, run a brush through the barrel after every shot for the first 5 rounds. Then a brush after every 5 rounds....etc.

I did all this. But then I see people saying you should only clean a 22 when the accuracy drops off. Maybe 1000-3000 rounds.

So did I do any damage to my barrel? I'm still searching for what ammo shoots best. I've only shot high velocity through it and I'm a little concerned that the best I can get bench resting at 50 yards is about 1.5". Not exactly great. I have some CCI standard velocity that I have high hopes for when I hit the range the next time.

But still, I'm wondering if all that brushing did any damage?

 

[Tozguy]

Not likely. Keep looking for ammo that works in your barrel.
You might get the best accuracy using subsonic target ammo. (Eley, Lapua, etc.)
I don't clean my 22lr barrels much but I do put oil in the bore before putiing them away. Then dry patch before shooting again.

 

[hoverp]

You can do damaged to the crown of the muzzle if your not careful with the brush and rod, have a good bore guide, and dont drag the brush back through the barrel, unscrew it once it is sticking out and just bring the rod gently back through.

 

[brian923]

i have found in my personal rifles that the 22lr dosent like a super clean bore. i get best accuracy after i shoot a couple rounds through it. i clean it with a patch or two just to keep it from rusting. every time i really clean it good, i have to shoot about two mags through it to get it to come back to POI. just something i have found with my 22lr and even my 22 mag. as to damaging your barrel. i don't think so. lots of people do that shoot in regimen with their high power rifles. as long as your careful with your muzzle crown, your good to go. it would take a VERY long time for you to damage the steel of your barrel with a brass brush. (make sure you only use brass brushes...)

as to ammo, i have found, again in my rifle, ruger 10/22, that standard velocity and subsonic ammo are more accurate than the super velocity stuff.

 

[SS427]

My Savage Mark II shoots best with cheap CCI Blazer ammo and not so good with higher quality non match ammo. Go figure. I would say you didn't damage the barrel any unless you did it with the rod. Since my 22 LR shoots best with a fouled barrel I don't clean it much, and then only with a Bore Snake because I don't have a rimfire bore guide. I don't think Bore Snakes are real effective at cleaning a barrel, but seems to work good enough for my Savage 22.

 

[coford]

I doubt if you could hurt your barrel by brushing it a little while breaking it in. If you could Savage would not have given you that direction. You have to be realistic - 1.5" at 50 yards is about as good as most ammo will shoot. To shoot 1/2 or smaller groups at 50 yards your need a good scope that you can adjust parallax on, a good trigger, a good rest, no wind, very consistent ammo, and a little luck. If you want to know the true potential of your rifle (and your ability) buy some premium ammo like Eley or Lapua and see what happens. I have 4 .22 target rifles and only one of them consistently shoots high velocity ammo well - but still not nearly as good as Eley black box. When I get a new .22 barrel I thoroughly clean the bore with solvent on a brush and then wipe it clean with a patch to remove any debris or oil from the factory. I shoot it slowly and clean every 5 shots with a bore snake for the first 25 shots. After that I run a bore snake through it when I get home from each shooting session with some oil on it. That is all it takes to keep mine shooting well. I have never had a problem and all my rifles shoot like they should. Keep in mind that 1.5" at 50 yards is minute of ground squirrel. Good shooting.

 

[moorepower]

What stock does it have, wood or plastic? Plastic stocks can be really touchy with torque on the two screws and how you hold them. Is it a std or heavy barrel? I would go over to RFC and do some reading. Lots of the Savage MKII's shoot much better than that, but you need to try a number of different kinds of ammo to see what it likes. Most all 22's shoot subsonic better than HV ammo. I would say probably all, but there may be one that shoots the HV better.

 

[Ohio Varmint Shooter]

It's been a while since I checked this thread:

1) It's a wood stock Mark II GL...nothing fancy. I'm left handed and Savage doesn't make much in the way of fancy left handed Mark II's. I've confirmed that the barrel is free floating by running a piece of paper inbetween the barrel and stock.

2) I have since tried my first batch of standard velocity. The gun seems to like it much better. CCI SV shoots a lot better than anything else I've tried. (Even some Winchester 'target' stuff...awful in this gun) I still want to try some Mini Mags...but for now, I'm doing fine with the CCI SV. At 40 yards, I'm easily doing 3/4" or better. (with fliers once in a while.)

3) I've stopped using the brush. Now I just run a patch through it...and if I know I'm not going to shoot it for more than a few days, I run a lightly oiled patch after the cleaning one.

4) After not hunting for 30 years, I'm now having SO much fun squirrel hunting. On Friday, I went out and got #15 & 16. And dog gone...that one looks HUGE! I know the other is rather young, but make the big one look huge!

 

[tunered]

Testing 22 rimfire ammo should be done at 25 yards, wind will tear you up at 50.

 

[rvn1968]

Everyone will tell you the same thing,try as many types of ammo as you can.I agree.I just picked up two more 10-22's and was testing them out.I use a overmolded stock and a Shooters Ridge stainless barrel while doing this.A couple magazines of Federal,2-3in @ 75 yds.Typical.Then I tried some cheap WW 37gr that I had just purchased at Cabellas. 1/2-3/4in.WOW.No trigger or action work done yet.I raced back to cabellas and bought 6 more boxes (1800)rds.This setup is not going to be broken down. As they say,"You never know". Tom

 

[jmh8743]

In my humble opinion, definitely not. Unless you were not prudent concerning rod movement, as stated herein, you are fine. This site has a very thorough treatise concerning accuracy of various 22 rf ammo. Also see Boeler's Riflemans Guide to 22RF. This man shot 30,000 rds of 22 through various 22 rifles, the 10-22 included. Many bad, some good.

Simply, the chamber governs the accuracy, or most of it. If your rifle is chamberd for a "sporting" chamber, its accuracy will be dependent upon those characteristics AND will never acheive minute of "squirrel", but it seems your rifle is fine. You may be able to find an ammo that fits the chamber better; however, if it is prone to flyers you are limited. So a match grade ammo that has a longer bullet will prevail. It is a hit and miss situation.

Cleaning: I disagree with the 3000 cleaning group from my own experience, especially for the semi autos. After a certain number of round have been fired, a ring is created at the end of the chamber. Continued shooting will create a detriment to accuracy. Clean after ever use, with a bore snake and oil as stated above. As he stated the POI WILL change. You must foul the barrel to return the POI.

After 5 yrs I have found the guidance herein are accurate (see my experience at http://winchester52.blogspot.com/2012/09/eliseo-winchester-52-testing.html)


Ask a question. Get 15 answers Ohio, good shooting by the way. Enjoy.

Mike

 

[Shynloco]

Ohio,
I own and shoot two Savage MKII's with different barrels. The method Savage advocates is a rendition of the typical "suggested" breaking for any barrel, except perhaps a Match Grade Barrel that most experienced shooters who shot serious competition will tell you they are ready to shoot after say 5 rounds dwon the tube. But theres no way you could hurt that new barrel and is something I've done on all my barrels. In fact, after a 40 rd break in using the full breakin method (Savage use a part of that) I shoot around 100 rd before I start lloking for best accuracy and trying to find what ammo she likes the best. I can also tell you that both my Savages have performed near their best using Wolf Match Target or even Wolf Match Extra. Just remember, each barrel will dictate what she likes the best. Now there are some ammo's that'll perfrom a tad better at 50 yds, but you are now getting into more serious expesive ammo at $16+ a box of 50. Thats what my Anschutz likes the best using Lapua made ammo and those go more closely to the $20 a box.

SO as to brushing, I use a nylon brush and run it down the barrel every 50 to 100 rds. Gotta find what works for best for your rifles. BTW, the serious guys with the $2500+ RIFLES clean their barrels every 50 rounds or so.

Good Luck and enjoy that Savage..great little shooters.

 

[moorepower]

You may find that by playing with torque on the two action screws, that you will find a sweet spot with the best accuracy.

 

[Lapua40X]

Riding on an earlier comment about cleaning brushes and the importance of using brass brushes, also remember that many brass brushes have steel wire cores. I buy (and I recommend) spending a little more and using only wound bronze wire core brushes to protect the barrel from the damaging affects of the steel core variety.

 

[Sundown]

I've tried a lot of ammo through my MARK II and found best results with sub-sonic. Even remington sub-sonic ammo results in great groups.

The squirrels are probably the same age. The squirrel on top is a Red (pine) squirrel and the one on the bottom is a Fox squirrel, different critters.