Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22LR leading

I have K22 that I shoot quite a bit, but seems the barrel gets fouled with lead no matter what .22 LR HV I shoot. My question is what 22 ammo in your experience has the least amount of lead transfer to the barrel. Thanks

To begin with, I only use plated bullets. I am SO over weary of cleaning lead out of guns. If you revolver is still getting dirty other than powder fouling with good ammo, then I would get some plain lead standard velocity ammo and firelap the bore with a few of those, then give the rest away to someone you really hate. I have turned some pretty poor 22LR barrels into clean running and accurate barrels with firelapping. Add in some Ultra Bore coat on top of the firelapping plus no more shooting plain lead crap ammo and I would be shocked if you had any further issues.

I've never had a bit of lead from ammo in my K22 bore. I have however seen a bit of build up on the face of the barrel over time. I shoot CCI Std Vel or SK/Wolf exclusively in mine so I can't say much about the bulk or HV 22 stuff.
All HV ammo I am aware of is copper plated and waxed. You might try some std velocity or Match ammo, they commonly have a messier lube that accumulates in some guns but is easier to remove.

Ol Joe,

Lots of HV plain lead (Waxed= ICK!) ammo out there including Thunderbolt, Wildcat, Blazer and others.

I wont let any of it near a good .22

No idea how many tens of thousands of rounds of 22 I have shot thru dozens of rifles and handguns, a very high percentage of which was what ever was cheapest at the time.
Never have I had a leading problem.
Worst I can tell of the non plated is it will turn your fingers black.

This last week I shot a 3/8" three shot group with a CZ 452 at 100 yards with gun that has shot thousands of rounds of all kinds of 22LR since it was cleaned. Ammo that fired that group was in a plastic container I wanted to use up. It might have been bargain bulk Federal but I didn't look at the bottom of the cases to know, but it damn well wasn't the expensive stuff..


In light of that, I kinda doubt shooting cheaper ammo hurts a 22.

Edit;
On second thought I kinda think I did clean that 452 sometime last summer, but I ain't completely sure..LOL

Does not HURT them, per se' but some guns will lead up using that stuff, and some semi autos that jam with plain lead bullets run fine with plated ammo. And they unplated one do get lead all over your hands. That cannot be a good thing, especially for kids.

That said, I have run millions through my old single shot 22 when I was aged 7-16 or so. Hmmmmm.... maybe that explains some things...

Hmmmmm wonder what all these 22 match shooters are shooting. Not plated I can tell you that. I have 52 Winchesters and Remington 40x's, Ruger 10-22 and Crickets that are only cleaned one in a blue moon. I never seen any problem with leading in them. They all get used every week in our youth club that I run. Only bullet that get ran in them in the club are Federal 510 which are 40gr LEAD bullets.

Having never experienced leading in a RF gun I would expect there are issues at play other than ammo.

Think gun and not ammo.

Is it the front end of the barrel or the muzzle that is caked?



Travis

I hope the OP really hates me.



Dave

K22. Assuming its the revolver, curious if its shaving at the cylinder gap as well.

My guess as well.




Clark

What have you fed it so far?

Wolf, SK, Lapua, Eley & RWS .... plenty of that being fed into lots of quite goodly .22's. Been feeding one 10/22 Blazer exclusively for a couple years and I rarely clean my rifles. YMMV

I agree that this is likely a rough bore issue. Thus my idea to firelap it.

If you are short on 22 ammo, I have some I can spare for you. Both plain lead and plated HP stuff.

Regarding the match rifles, and I was in an NRA youth bullseye club when in my teens and remember feeding plain lead bullets by the hundreds per day, the rifles being used are good quality with nice smooth bores and the ammo is standard velocity which makes a big difference.

No.

Thanks.




Travis