Cleaning problems - SR22

I'm hoping someone can help me with this...

I've tried both a standard .22 cleaning rod /brush and a "snake" an neither will fit through the barrel. There seems to be a slight "ridge" in the barrel right about where the tip of the round is.

Only a couple hundred rounds through it.

Thanks in advance.

indoman said:

II've tried both a standard .22 cleaning rod :?: /brush and a "snake" an neither will fit through the barrel. There seems to be a slight "ridge" in the barrel right about where the tip of the round is.

Only a couple hundred rounds through it..

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Either a standard .22 cleaning rod with a standard .22 brush properly attached or a standard .22 snake will DEFINITELY "fit through the barrel" of of an SR22! Try pushing the brush or pulling the snake straight through all the way .... don't try to work either back and forth in the bore. See if that solves your apparent problem.

Since you've successfully ran a couple hundred rounds down range out of it we know the barrel is standard. My first guess as to your problem would be that you need to apply a little more muscle. A new brush or a new snake does not easily push or pull through the barrel. Your description of the " a slight "ridge" in the barrel right about where the tip of the round is" isn't clear. There is a "chamber" at the breech end that is slightly larger than the bore. Methinks that's what you're trying to describe.

Are you new with guns?

Were the couple hundred rounds Remington Thunderbolts? There are a couple lead nosed rounds that have become notorious for lead fouling in the barrels. A few hundred and you could actually end up with a chunk of lead ringing the inside of the barrel.

That being said, Trucker is right, the "ridge" is the chamber. Don't sand it down But if it is lead fouling, try some Hoppe's no. 9 on a pad to loosen it up and then double, triple and quadruple check to make sure your brush is a .22 brush before pushing it through (from the breach only) with a little "umph" behind it.

About half the rounds have been the Thunderbolts. The rest CCI.

It is most assuredly a .22 cleaning rod/brush/snake. ...from the breach end.

"Enough muscle" is not an issue. Push any harder and I'd break the freakin' rod or get it or the snake hopelessly stuck. Brother, it ain't going through. 20 years ago I'd have forced it until it did break. I now know to STOP and ask questions rather than tearing something up.

New to guns? Lol No, not new. Cleaned my share of .22LR/.38/9mm/M-16/M203's/12 gauge so I know how hard to push/pull. I may not have the official nomenclature correct but you get my description. Something doesn't seem right...

I'll try the Hoppe's no 9.

Thanks.

Good luck!

indoman said:

"Enough muscle" is not an issue. Push any harder and I'd break the freakin' rod or get it or the snake hopelessly stuck. Brother, it ain't going through. 20 years ago I'd have forced it until it did break. I now know to STOP and ask questions rather than tearing something up.

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Dunno what to tell you other than that a new brush or bore snake does take what seems an excessive amount of oooooomph to get it through the bore. Try running some patches soaked with Hoppes through and then letting it set overnight with out running any dry patches through.

I clean my SR22 after every shooting session [same with my other guns whether I've only shot one round or 500. ] and I always use a bore snake. No problem. But I will say that the bore snake takes more ooooooph than the brush on a rod does. Matter of fact, the first time I ran a bore snake though I thought the same as you ... this thing ain't a gonna go and I'll get it lodged about half way through. Muscled up and it came all the way though. Pulled it back through and it was just as hard, but it came.

I figured the bore snake was gonna be hard to pull through but the brass piece that you drop through hanging up inside is an issue. If it went all the way through I wouldn't worry.

I called Ruger and was advised to send pictures so they can look at it.

Will post their response.

Bet it's a Thunderbolt issue. After a trip to the range with some thunderbolts I had a hell of a time getting my brush and rod through until I finally dislodged this. :shock:

Crap - I have a few bricks of Thundrbolts and UMC (which look the same) and I have a new SR-22. I did shoot quite a bit of them (200+) and didn't see an issue with mine building up like that. I was able to get the cleaning rod through both times I have cleaned it. Thanks for the heads up and will keep an eye out for this issue.

If it is indeed a "leading" issue, you might soak the bore in Kroil for a bit.

That might allow the lead to be stripped away from the barrel.

Monty

Ruger rep looked at pictures and said he thought it was lead build up. He said to run a box of Stingers through and it should clean it up. Going forward he recommended to mix in a clip or two of copper plated rounds to keep things clean.


...will report back in a few days and let you all know.

It worked!

100 copper plated rounds later....and the bore snake worked perfect.