22/45 Cleaning Question

[fsmith2610]

This is my first post on the Ruger forum.

Last week I picked up a 22/45 MKIII and I am curious about the cleaning instructions Ruger provides. It seems that if the pistol hasn't been exposed to extreme environmental conditions, then cleaning isn't necessary.

I cleaned the gun before I fired it and then cleaned it again after the first 160 rounds. Then I started using up some 40 year old ammo and the next day put 150 rounds downrange. A day later I fired 200 rounds and cleaned the pistol. It was remarkably clean except for the bolt face.

What kind of cleaning frequency do forum members recommend for the 22/45?

I also own an LCP, Blackhawk 45, XD9-SC, XDm-9, Taurus Judge, High Standard R-102 and Mossy 590 A-1.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
You will get as many different responses as you get people to respond.
In general,, it's always a good idea to clean a new pistol to remove any packing/storage oils & greases.
Next,, you can clean it as often as YOU feel comfortable. I know folks who only clean a firearm when it quits functioning,, and others after every range trip. You can judge how often by the amount of crud you have in a firearm,, as some types of ammo are dirtier than others.
You won't hurt it by cleaning it properly,, and it will take a lot of shooting (usually) before it gives you issues that force a cleaning.

 

[Hobie]

I clean the Ruger .22 self-loader pistols when they NEED cleaning. I clean the chamber and action but NOT the barrel (bore). I'm sure some have gone 2-3K rounds between cleanings. Most of these pistols were used in marksmanship training.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Welcome to the forum!

I was surprised recently when I did the first disassembly on my new MkIII Hunter and found the guts bone dry. Never seen any lube in it's life. I had puddles of oil under the (wood) grips, and some under the front sight, but none inside the gun. I had lubed the bolt before it's first run, but that was it. This incident further drove home the point about cleaning and lubing new firearms.

Personally, I clean my .22s when I feel like it, far less often than my centerfires. I do not find that accuracy drops off for more than a couple of fouler rounds after cleaning, where some folks say they need 50 rounds to dirty it before it shoots well again. It's all very personal, and half of it is in your mind. :)

-- Sam

 

[Snake45]

I clean the Ruger .22 self-loader pistols when they NEED cleaning. I clean the chamber and action but NOT the barrel (bore). I'm sure some have gone 2-3K rounds between cleanings. Most of these pistols were used in marksmanship training.

+1 on all this! :wink:

 

[Coop]

I clean my firearms after each shooting session, including the barrel bore. I probably don't have to, but I do it anyway.

However, a late friend of mine, a world champion small bore shooter out of Prescott, AZ, said he never cleaned his smallbore rifles in 40 years of shooting in competition.

In response to the Original Poster, no, you do not need to clean your 22/45 .22 LR smallbore pistol, until it absolutley does not function.

Coop

 

[NZshooter]

I always clean the muzzle with a wet patch. I tried the "never clean" route which in my experience works fine, except for the muzzle. I had a Buckmark with a Volquartsen barrel with a built-in comp like this one

and the holes (after many, many rounds) filled up with fouling... no big deal, except I had to hammer it out with a punch, it was literally rock hard. On a Mk II and 10/22 that I didn't clean for a while, the muzzle had a rock hard "star" shaped build up of fouling that was a PITA to remove... I don't know if it affected accuracy, but I'd bet that it didn't help. Now I wipe the muzzle area with CLP when I get home from the range.

 

[redjak]

Welcome to the Forum!
You will get as many different responses as you get people to respond.
In general,, it's always a good idea to clean a new pistol to remove any packing/storage oils & greases.
Next,, you can clean it as often as YOU feel comfortable. I know folks who only clean a firearm when it quits functioning,, and others after every range trip. You can judge how often by the amount of crud you have in a firearm,, as some types of ammo are dirtier than others.
You won't hurt it by cleaning it properly,, and it will take a lot of shooting (usually) before it gives you issues that force a cleaning.

+1!

I clean mine every few hundred rounds. Doesn't hurt to have a clean handgun.

 

[blume357]

I'm going to get around to cleaning my MKIII sometime.... I've done it three times but not in the last couple thousand rounds... I do spray some breakfree or Rem Oil inside on the bolt every once and a while just for general principle...

 

[fsmith2610]

Thanks for the replies. I got out the users manuals for my others Rugers to see what they had to say about cleaning. The verbage is identical to what's in the 22/45 manual.

I actually lose sleep over a firearm if I leave it dirty. So, I guess I'll continue cleaning the way I was taught. "If you shoot it, you clean it." I'm retired so I have the time.

 

[Larryhoosier]

I think the frequency of cleaning the MKIII (I have a MKIII hunter and wife has 22/45) should be connected to how long it takes you to forget how you successfully reassembled the pistol before. Let me explain, the weapons will go long periods of accurate firing without much need of attention, but if you go too long between cleanings you will suffer from the old, "now how the h_ _ _ did I get this back together last time?" syndrome! This ailment results in uncontrollable cursing, throwing of objects, and in extreme cases, tears. Lest you think that the answer is in the service manual, well lots of luck to you. :D

 

[Mikela]

I don't have a 22/45, but I have a mark2, I only clean it when the performance starts to suffer. I just took the entire pistol apart and cleaned all the internals, Volq. ,hammer, sear, trigger etc, and then polished them all with simichrome polish. The "use it or lose it" saying really applies here. It took me a lot of tries to get it all back together, it has been five years or better since I installed the after market parts. But at the range today, after a few rounds down the barrel, it was hitting the mark and at about a bit less than a 2 lb. trigger. Enjoy your time, cleaning a firearm never hurt it. And it can be very theriputic (?)

 

[fsmith2610]

Are there any good tutorials (with photos) out there that show the proper procedure to disassemble and reassemble the 22/45? I do it at least annually with my XD's and would like to do the same with the Ruger.

 

[Snake45]

I actually lose sleep over a firearm if I leave it dirty.

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you know that beautiful golden oil in your car's engine crankcase? It's black now.

Sleep tight. :wink:

 

[fsmith2610]

I actually lose sleep over a firearm if I leave it dirty.

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you know that beautiful golden oil in your car's engine crankcase? It's black now.

Sleep tight. :wink:

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. I don't shoot my car. At least I haven't shot one yet.

I bought the Ranger back in '03. It is getting kind of dirty. Maybe I'll clean it one day ... or not.

 

[blume357]

Snake was pointing out the slight hypocrisy is all...

there was a time when cleaning a gun after shooting it was imperative... then non corrosive powders and primers cam about and also manufacturers figured out how to make their powders and bullets cleaner shooting...

remember when you used to have to take your car in every couple thousand miles and not only have the oil changed but the engine tuned up and carburetor adjusted?

then again, nothing wrong with cleaning the gun after every shoot either...

 

[Anonymous]

Mine gets detail stripped once a year.
Other than that, I run a boresnake through when the accuracy falls off, and clean the chamber/boltface well.

Clean 'er however it works best for you.

 

[Pal Val]

I clean my .22's once a year whether they need it or not. I take my Super Single Six Hunter every time I go to the range and put several hundred shots through it. A couple bricks of ammo won't dirty it enough to lose accuracy.

 

[NZshooter]

one should know how to disassemble his weapon almost blindfolded.

Why?? Because Hollywood thinks it looks cool? I've talked to plenty of vets that said doing such nonsense is a complete waste of time.

 

[fsmith2610]

Clean 'er however it works best for you.

I think this is probably the best advice. However we learned to clean our guns; from our parents, the military or from forums like this one, we're all probably happier doing what we know best.

 

[Pal Val]

I trained with the M-14. At the time, we were required to know how to field strip the weapon blindfolded simply because in extreme cases, you had to do it at night without the benefit of a light.

The skill is totally unnecessary for a civilian.