22 cal bore question

[Narragansett]

Another question I am not sure belongs here, but then again, I am not sure where it would go.

I am going to look at restoring a few older 22"s. Probably in the 50 to 80 YO range. Other than the possibility of a little throat erosion from shooting, is it possible to shoot out a 22 rifle bore?

 

[ken158]

Possible but not probable - takes a lot of lead to smooth steel

 

[29aholic]

The main issue is a lot of older 22's especially repeaters (pumps, etc) have ringed bores from shooting a round after a squib.

 

[weatherby]

I think you are far more apt to find a bore messed up from improper cleaning.

Really really old 22's it was from black powder rounds.

 

[29aholic]

I think you are far more apt to find a bore messed up from improper cleaning.

Really really old 22's it was from black powder rounds.

There is that too. Many people dont know to only clean from the chamber end when possible, and to use a bore guide regardless.

 

[Lee Barner]

i'm in the middle of restoring a Winchester Model of 1902 made in 1910. shot with black powder and not cleaned properly. I have it to where I can see some rifling, but also a lot of corrosion that only a new barrel liner would fix. the rifling I can see is still sharp. this will be a wall hanger for the owner, another forum member here. lee

 

[oink]

The .22 I grew up shooting had rifling so faint it was hard to see but it must have put a spin on the bullets because it was pretty darn accurate.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Got two old .22s that are now wall hangers.....

a 1885 Winchester Low wall in .22short from 1887 and

my first rifle; a Steven Favorite, which IIRC dates from around 1896-1904 ( it was minute of coke can in the early 1960s at 25-30 yds)

each of my boys fired their first shot from the Stevens....... for the memory!

Lots of black powder and lack of "good" cleaning....... over 100 years ago

I was on the High School and College Rifle team in the 1960s and 70s.... we put thousands of round through rifles each year Winchester 52s and Anschutz's ( in college I shot maybe 10,000 rounds a year for 4 years on the same rifle) none of them were "new" when I was issued mine and none got retired.

 

[Narragansett]

i'm in the middle of restoring a Winchester Model of 1902 made in 1910. shot with black powder and not cleaned properly. I have it to where I can see some rifling, but also a lot of corrosion that only a new barrel liner would fix. the rifling I can see is still sharp. this will be a wall hanger for the owner, another forum member here. lee

Well I am referring to smokeless powder bores. I do have lead to get out though

 

[alwslate]

Many old .22 rifles will have a light ring in the bore for some reason.
Maybe a forgotten cleaning patch. It doesn't seem to hurt accuracy if it
isn't right at the muzzle. But I have learned the hard way about pitted
bores. I ended up selling a few rifles that I really wanted to keep because
of pitted bores. Clean them till they shine like new money and think
you're good to go. No. The pitting strips lead from the soft bullets like a
file and it builds up in the bore so quickly that you risk sticking a bullet
if you continue shooting. I don't care what they look like on the outside,
I will never buy another .22 rifle with a sparkling clean pitted bore.

 

[Narragansett]

Many old .22 rifles will have a light ring in the bore for some reason.
Maybe a forgotten cleaning patch. It doesn't seem to hurt accuracy if it
isn't right at the muzzle. But I have learned the hard way about pitted
bores. I ended up selling a few rifles that I really wanted to keep because
of pitted bores. Clean them till they shine like new money and think
you're good to go. No. The pitting strips lead from the soft bullets like a
file and it builds up in the bore so quickly that you risk sticking a bullet
if you continue shooting. I don't care what they look like on the outside,
I will never buy another .22 rifle with a sparkling clean pitted bore.

Very interesting. I see a lot of guns on GB and GI etc., saying a slight pitting or minor pitting or something to that effect. I will keep thin in mind when going after an older gun. I know there are a lot of fine old rifles out there, but I am kind of concentrated on the 510,511, and 512 Remington. Just a personal thing, but I will not touch anything new they make for the last 30 years, but love the old stuff. Real quality

 

[BigBill]

I collected many century old single shot, pump 22’s for the grandson. My oldest is a H&A 1894 center break, the older Stevens, Winchester and remingtons have good barrels.

I see racks of dust old 22’s at my local dealers. There’s lots of military surplus 22’s also. There’s a book on them.

.22 military training rifles - Google Search

 

[2152hq]

I avoid a bbl w/a ring in it. Not that it can't still shoot well, but it's a kiss of death if you go to sell it again.

I'll buy one with a ring in it if I plan of relining it or re-bbling it. Sending it out to have it rebored is another option.
The 'I'll keep it forever' never seems to work out too well.

Light pitting I can live with depending on what the gun is and what the price is.
Moon crater pits draw a big frown and I immedietely start thinking of relining, re-bbling, ect again.
But I have seen some pretty nasty looking bbls shoot very accurately.
All depends on what keeps you awake at night I guess.

The worst leading I ever experienced was the fault of the ammo. Those Remington ThunderBolts of about 10yrs back. They must have been made of pure lead. They left bbl length strands of lead in the bore that resisted a cleaning rod w/brush to pass through w/o hammer assist.
Lightly pitted or so-called 'frosted' bores I've never had much problems with.
Those conditions are quite common with the older stuff I normally deal with.

I admit that I'm not a freak about cleaning the bore.
A bit of lead or copper streaking left in the bore does not bother me.
Waking up each day to see the sun is more important lately.

The older .22's are fun to work on and restore. Great shooters too.
The older and more odd the better.

 

[JM4151]

Winchester model 62

I HAVE A WINCHESTER MODEL 62, WHICH IS A 22 PUMP RIFLE. i STARTED SHOOTING IT IN THE EARLY 1950'S AND IT HAS TO HAVE MORE THAN 40,000 ROUNDS THRU IT AND THE BBL STILL LOOKS GREAT, AS DOES THE REST OF THE GUN.

 

[alwslate]

Very interesting. I see a lot of guns on GB and GI etc., saying a slight pitting or minor pitting or something to that effect. I will keep thin in mind when going after an older gun. I know there are a lot of fine old rifles out there, but I am kind of concentrated on the 510,511, and 512 Remington. Just a personal thing, but I will not touch anything new they make for the last 30 years, but love the old stuff. Real quality

The Remington 510, 511 and 512 rifles are recent enough that
they should not have ever been fired with the old black powder
.22 ammo and shouldn't have pitted bores unless they have been damaged in some way.

 

[Frank46]

I have a BSA Canadian model 12 and I tried to clean out the accumulated leading.Brushes,solvents.Rem Clean nothing could touch those lousy clumps of lead. So I settled down and scrub and leave the bore wet with Hoppes.Come back the next night and repeat. In the mean time I had received a almost brand new martini cocking lever and after installing it went out back of the house and fired a few rounds to see where the firing pin hits the rim of the cartridge and I really got lucky with this as I feared
I might have to adjust the horns to either raise or lower the horns to adjust the firing pin strike. Went back in the house and looked down the barrel and all the lumps were gone. Score one for me. Still have some work. Fit a new old forend, install the buttstock and refinish all the wood. And figure out what type optics. Frank

 

[Narragansett]

I avoid a bbl w/a ring in it. Not that it can't still shoot well, but it's a kiss of death if you go to sell it again.

I'll buy one with a ring in it if I plan of relining it or re-bbling it. Sending it out to have it rebored is another option.
The 'I'll keep it forever' never seems to work out too well.

Light pitting I can live with depending on what the gun is and what the price is.
Moon crater pits draw a big frown and I immedietely start thinking of relining, re-bbling, ect again.
But I have seen some pretty nasty looking bbls shoot very accurately.
All depends on what keeps you awake at night I guess.

The worst leading I ever experienced was the fault of the ammo. Those Remington ThunderBolts of about 10yrs back. They must have been made of pure lead. They left bbl length strands of lead in the bore that resisted a cleaning rod w/brush to pass through w/o hammer assist.
Lightly pitted or so-called 'frosted' bores I've never had much problems with.
Those conditions are quite common with the older stuff I normally deal with.

I admit that I'm not a freak about cleaning the bore.
A bit of lead or copper streaking left in the bore does not bother me.
Waking up each day to see the sun is more important lately.

The older .22's are fun to work on and restore. Great shooters too.
The older and more odd the better.

The Remington thunderbolts are IMO the worst 22 ammo known to man. There is no reason for what use to be a top shelf company should even consider making junk like that. A friend gave me a box. I was keyholing bullets before the box was done.
The only thing they had going for them, was that they were cheapbut, there is the old saying...................

Fresh oats cost more money than the ones you get after they go through the horse

 

[Engineer1911]

Who does barrel relining? Any idea how much it would cost?

 

[ACORN]

I’d think any competent gunsmith could do it. In fact Brownells sells the liners and a piloted drill to DIY if you are so inclined. I had an old Stevens Favorite that I was going to do but I ruined it before I got that far. It’d be a cool project

 

[boatbum101]

If you reline Lothar Walther makes the best liners IIRC OD is 4mm & you can epoxy them in . Chamber & crown you'll have a very accurate piece .