How much do you clean your MP 15-22 ? I have heard over the years from some sources that a cleaning a 22LR cal. too much can be more harmful too little cleaning. Now that modern .22LR cal. ammo have less corrosive powder and better bullets with which cause less leading. For me I may only shoot 50 rounds at the most every time I go out shooting gophers ( sometimes once a week in the summer ) and while I clean my other guns everytime I finish shooting. I do use them a lot less with longer times between use.

Also I am using gun grease on my MP 15-22 bolt slides ( same grease I use on my pistol slide ) and while I know in cold weather this could be too heavy of a lube I feel it offers better lube/protection for the conditions I will be using this weapon. Any opinions ? Maybe it is just me.

I shoot about 500 rds. A month thru mine spray Ballistol in the trigger group blow out with air compressor, bore snake with Ballistol and Lucas on the slide call it good.
About 3,500 rds. So far

I may be the extreame, since I put about 1000-1500 rounds a week down range (father daughter time, the girls just can't get enough). I clean it once a week along with the other .22lr pistols that we shoot. Seems to be holding up well, with no FTF or FTE. Using cheap Blazer ammo most of the time.

I do clean my concealed carry after every trip to the range, but that is just to make sure there are no problems if I would actually need it.

There is rarely any reason to clean the bore of a .22LR firearm. Ever. If you insist just drop a Boresnake into the chamber. Won't hurt. Rarely necessary.

Firing residue in the receivers is easily removed with some CLP, a brush, and small rag. Avoid the temptation to knock out the trigger and hammer pins to white glove clean in there. Adds unnecessary wear to the receiver.

-- Chuck

I like above put 1500 to 2500 a week thru it. Clean after every outing. Its my quiet time.

I would think you could go up to a week with out cleaning depending on how the barrel looks inside. Any longer and especially if it is humid I would want to at least usu a pull through cleaning device with some cleaner/ protector product on it in order to prevent the formation of rust.

I clean and oil all of my guns whether they have been fired or not.

Plus and I send my apologies in advance...but not cleaning the
bore is complete BS!!!

Any kind of residue on a bore is bad after a period of time over a nice clean lubed bore

Ask small bore target shooters how often they clean the bore of their .22's.

I think that is exactly what he is doing.

I clean my 15-22 with a .22 boresnake after every outing. I see no reason to put it up dirty. If it shot better with fouling and powder residue in it, then S&W would sell it to you pre-loaded with crud.

Most of my rifles shoot better with fouling and powder residue in them as do most of yours, you need to do some tests and you will realize that.

Awesome idea!

"Improve your accuracy with Crud, the new revolutionary non-polutionary bore coating system guaranteed to transform your favorite rimfire into that tack drivin' machine you always knew it could be. You will be shooting dimes in no time. But wait, order now and we'll send you two!"

{Plink} "Thanks Crud!"

You can do whatever you like with your rifles, but I'll continue to clean mine before I put them up, thanks.

For the bore/ chamber: 2x - CLP followed by a boresnake... 1 minute (including the removal of the action)! As was said by others before, 22lr bores are pretty much a non-issue.

Action: The actions on these fun machines fouls up with the best of them. I take it apart (off the rails, but not pulling the internals out of the bolt) and clean it good. I also make sure I clean the carbon away from the face of the bolt and the face of the chamber. I lube the action rails and rod up pretty good with a quality gun oil and put it all back together. Now that I have done that a few times, I can dissasemble, clean up and reassemble the action in about ten to fifteen minutes.

I generally put 500+ rounds through the rifle during each range trip (always bulk pack Federal or CCI Blazer... stay away from Remington).
This past weekend, I went well beyond that number with only one failure to fire (definately the ammo's fault... great hit on the rim). I think my action cleaning/ lubrication regimine is part of the reason for the lack of failures.

Caveat: I shoot my MP15-22 at least once a month and oftentimes more. If you are going to throw it in the safe for 6+ months, clean it up good and oil it.

Well in my experience, putting away any weapon either in a safe, wall or gun bag without cleaning the barrel is just asking for the cancer of all handguns & rifles to start, called RUST. Since the invention of the bore snake, it should be real easy to just do even a once through and you're good to go. Of course you can always take a chance with your investment and let mother nature desolve you nice weapon back to dust. I put a shotgun away without wiping the barrle (exterior), and one of the Officer had handled my shotgun, I got a thumb rust on the barrel withing a month..Lucky I took it out to check before the next qal. I had to rub it off and oil that spot for a while.. It can happen it was a rainy night, the soft case got wet, mother nature works fast.

I think the idea that over cleaning a .22 causes more harm than not cleaning comes from people using cleaning rods from the muzzle end. With the small bore of .22s it is easy to cause wear at the muzzle which hurts accuracy. If you use a bore snake, otis flex line or clean from the chamber forward I do not think you can wear a .22 out by cleaning. As others have pointed out rust from moisture attracted to fouling will hurt the bore. I clean all my rifles and pistols after each range trip. JMHO

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Revolver luvin' Mountaineer

I agree with tbury, I clean my 15-22 after every range trip. I run a bore snake with a light coating of Rem-oil through the barrel (starting @ the breach end), then I clean the breach face & bolt face with Hope's #9. From there I disassemble the bolt slide, wipe it down, re-oil it (lightly) then reassemble everything & I'm good to go. It's like riding my Harley hard, then putting it away wet, (this would never happen!). Rifles, like Harleys are an investment, if not kept up they will loose their value.

In my exerince cleaning = Good
Not cleaning = Bad

Pretty simple really. JMHO

Guy22

15-22 is my first weapon. I was wondering of I should do anything to the exterior of the rifle during cleaning? Should I run anything on the rails/grip/barrel exterior/ect.?

Note, I think the only harmful way of over cleaning a gun would be not letting the gun break itself in, so it is cleaned so well and lub'ed so good, it's running tight for ever... That to me would be a harmful event for any weapon... Break that sucker in first, then when it's good and running in it's grove, clean, oil, and shoot.. To me a winning combination when done this way.

a bore snake doesnt clean anything, if you want to remove carbon fouling and lead fouling a bore brush and a cleaner designed for carbon, lead and copper is the only way. a bore snake with rem oil is only oiling the carbon fouling its not even getting to the metal

I like my guns, like I like my women, clean & wet.

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It's a celebration!!!

You...DO know that boresnakes have 2 brushes embedded in the fabric about 6 inches apart, right?
Put a few drops of CLP on the first brush, run the snake through 3 times, you're done. And yes, it does clean the barrel quite well.

depends on what you call clean, takes me on average 30-60 strokes of wet patches and bore brushing to get a barrel clean.
heavy fouling will take even more with a couple of foamings mixed in there as well.
how do you clean the bore snake, cause i dont run dirty patches back through a barrel, or even a dirty bore brush.

Some tips here too, I clean almost everytime I take here out. but I put about 1000 through at a time also, if not 300-500 at a short indoor session.

Another cleaning thread.
Cleaning the S & W M&P 15-22



I'd say it does a good enough job for me.
Next time I do it I'll run a few wet patches through to show you what's left. I usually pass it through from breach to barrel 2-3 times w a drop of cleaner and The thing Bling when I'm done. I used to the patches and rod provided in the cleaning kit and just knew there had to be a better way. Then all of a sudden I stumble on the Best Barrel Cleaning Tool ever. I believe it was called a BORESNAKE.

for a 22lr it might very well be good enough, for my deer rifle uh uh no way, it takes me a very long time to get the copper fouling out of it.
this is my first 22 in a very long time, i will soon find out how bad it fouls.
but i find it hard to believe you can get carbon and lead or copper fouling out in 3 passes with a boresnake

30-60 patches to clean your barrel??????

How many thousands of rounds are you putting through it between cleanings?
Are you sure you're not going overboard just a bit?

bout 40 rounds through my deer rifle requires at least 60 strokes of a bore brush, thats not counting the wet and dry patching in between, to get all the copper fouling out of the barrell. sometimes a bore foam helps speed that up.
I dont have a bore scope but i do look in the end of the barell with magnifying glass and flash light and i dont stop untill the copper is gone.
barrel was properly broke in, and poi is within an inch off a clean barell first shot at 100 yds.
heres a 3 shot group @ 100yds on another gun i load for thats meticulously cleaned as well, by me. (.243)











heres a 3 shot group on my gun @200 yds (7-08)
roughly 3/4" group

I use this:

http://www.hoppes.com/products/ca_silicone_cloths.html

I just wipe down all the exterior parts with it. It seems to leave a fairly effective coating that's not slick or slippery.

You probably shouldn't knock a product until you've tried it. A few months ago the Boresnake saved me (and some peers) a TON of time cleaning M249 SAWs that had several THOUSAND rounds put through them. And for anyone that's ever tried to turn in weapons at Fort Benning, you know how picky they are...

For particularly dirty barrels, I'll usually get some CLP setting in the barrel for a few minutes to help break things up before using the Boresnake. After that, I'll run a clean patch through to see if I'm good or not.

My 5.56 AR15 I use a Dewey's rod and patches, and good old CLP.

Since I got the 15-22, I ran across some vids on boresnakes, and I bought this one with the built in brushes.
Amazon.com: Hoppe's Boresnake Viper Rifle Bore Cleaner (Choose Your Caliber): Sports & Outdoors

I used it last Friday after running 225 flawless rounds of American Eagle through it, and it worked great.
I put some CLP over the brushes (three of them) on it and ran it through once, then ran it a second time with some CLP near the end of it so it would leave a light coating in the barrel.

First time I ran the snake through it I could barely pull it through, but the second time it was much easier.

I will try the same on my big AR when I get a chance to shoot it again.
I feel the snake does a better job.

And when they get dirty, they say to just through it the wash machine.

I watched Brett's video online, and here is another one I watched before I ordered mine from Amazon.

Hoppe's BoreSnake Viper - YouTube

FACT-You will most likely do more damage (accelerate wear) cleaning than shooting!!

Cleaning is overrated for a combat type weapon.

As mentioned earlier in this thread the .22lr doesn't need much if any attention. Small bore shooters will go the whole season without cleaning (after they season the barrel).

I run a (dry) snake (once) through my .22's after (almost) every outing, then they are put in the safe...Annually I break them down and clean.

Have a friend who never cleaned his Ruger Mark2 in 15 years. NO snake, nothing, added oil as needed to keep it lubed. Was just as accurate as new...What a mess when he did finally break it down though.


Be safe...

i went out and shot about 200rds of federal bulk pack last week, no FTF at all. didnt bother to clean it since hadnt shot a ton and all looked fairly clean. took it back out today, fired off the rest of the box. about 10 FTFs. the gun was more gunked up than normal, but nothing super extreme. hoping it was just a fluke, thing has yet to give me any other issues at all. Plus, was sighting in my new scope and was still able to get 3-4" groups at 80yards VERY consistently. If it takes a thorough cleaning each time out for that to be the case i'll gladly keep cleaning!

Wow, if "bout 40 rounds through my deer rifle requires at least 60 strokes of a bore brush...to get all the copper fouling out of the barrell", then after 2000 rounds of M855 at a 1:1.5 ratio of rounds to brush strokes, you'd need about 3,000 brush strokes to clean those M249s. I guess the bore snake did save you some time, eh?

Based on what Texashunter had stated, I did a test and I'm going to have to agree with him. I cleaned the M&P at about 1200 rounds with a boresnake, I ran the long rod with patch after to see if there were still buildup. Low and behold, it came out pretty dark, a 2nd and 3rd pass and it became light gray.

I came to the conclusion, the boresnake is good for quick cleaning after shooting, and can delay the through cleaning for maybe around the 1500 to 2500 round range. The barrel does look clean when viewed after the boresnake, but it did not capture every inch as the patch and rod did. Thanks, a test I always wanted to try, and a lesson learned. Thanks Texashunter for pointing that out...

We cleaned them no more than every 25 rounds. But in most cases, every 10.

Keep in mind, BoreSnakes get dirty just like patches do. A dirty BS does no more good than a dirty patch does. They need to be washed frequently to keep them useful.

I clean mine almost every 500 to 750 rounds. Just the way I was brought up. Keep it clean and it won't give you any troubles.

I cleaned mine for the first time in about a year, maybe 5000 rounds worth of shooting in that years. Wasn't all the dirty. Had a little caking on the face of the action

I can't say I've ever used that many patches on one weapon before either, though. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

This. Plus I make sure the bolt/extractor are well lubed prior to a range outing.

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U.S.M.C. Veteran

True, dirty boresnake would be bad, but I ran a new boresnake. I own two one for the M&P 22LR and another for my AR15 5.56. I ran the new one for the M&P. I like using the boresnake and I guess after a few more cleaning, I would soak it in some cleaning solution and hang it to dry.

I tend to stop shooting around Nov. thru end of Jan. time frame. I do a complete cleaning on all my ARs before I put them away for the 2 to 3 months that I don't shoot. That when I don't use the boresnake. Just habit for me. A happy rifle is a well cleaned and oiled one. I only started shooting this past year from Nov. 2011 till now because I got this M&P and wanted to test it out.. I don't like shooting any of my weapons in the rainy winter season due to rust..

The only way rust is a problem is if you "ride 'em hard and put 'em away wet."

I shoot year round and have no problems with rust because when I get home, I clean them, spray them with WD-40 to dispel the moisture and then lube and wipe them down. A properly cared for firearm will not rust.

Never use grease on a .22lr action (except AR15-22 triggers). The round produces lots of crude and stuff and all you are doing is making up a gloop that will cause the gun to malfunction more than it should. I use Militec-1 grease on parts of my STI open racegun but would never put it on any of my rimfire firearms. 22LR shoot better drier than a centerfire gun. Grease will actually cause more wear than no lube at all. Should not even use Hoppe's #9 on a rimfire either (leeches into the chamber area and causes premature wear). Clean the bolt, feedramp, and breech face, lube the rails with some kind of synthetic CLP like Eezox or Militec-1, and run a boresnake through the barrel. Blow out the trigger area once in awhile and grease the critical areas of the trigger if your maker says to. That is it. Take that from someone who shoots upwards of 20K per year with rimfires in competition and practice.

I'm sorry but .22lr guns don't get lead fouling period. Once about 5 rounds have been fired the barrel is lubed as well as it needs to be from the ammo alone. The boresnake does not even need oil on it as it is only for removing any solid matter like powder residue.
As for the dirty/clean question I can tell you from competition experience that when I used to clean them too often I found that to get the reliability back I had to take the gun to the range and put 50--100 rounds through it or it would have issues early in a match. Since I have stopped using regular gun oil and switched to light amounts of synthetic CLPs like Eezox or Militec-1, I no longer have to prerun the guns to get them ready, but I use very little lube. I treat my centerfire raceguns different, those I lube up because they have no problem powering through lots of lube, but rimfires often have issues. For instance the key to shooting in cold weather is keeping the ammo warm. If the bullet lube stays fluid the gun will continue to work.
If you want a gun to stay rust free use Eezox. Much better than WD-40. See the online testing if you have not previously.

Clean your gun after every use and it will never fail you.Now some guys will say thats to much but i never had a gun fail me.So you can do as you please.

What kind of competition did you shoot???

I shot an Anschutz worth more than MY net worth at the time in college. In 4 years I never cleaned the bore. 5th in the nation, seems it didn't hurt me so much.

One of my teammates made the mistake of cleaning his bore once. It took him several boxes of ammo to get the accuracy back in it.

Since all my guns are stored in a proper environment I only clean when a) they are taken out in a corrosive environment, or b) accuracy starts to go. For my centerfires, this can be as little as 20 rounds with a factory (ie porous) barrel. With a .22, I have a couple which have NEVER been cleaned (bore), with thousands down the bore.

I have a 10/22 I bought 20 years ago on which I have never touched the bore, and it is as accurate as it was the day I bought it.