...and asked him if he had a jig to drill a hole in the back of my 10-22 receivers,

He came back with "Hell no, I got a $21000 milling machine and I know how to measure"

I guess it might have been a stupid question anyway.

Good answer.

He must know what he's doing.

My cousin was asking me if I’d go in with him to buy the jig. Heck it’s only around $40 just buy one.

But I only use a bore snake to clean my 22 barrels anyway so it’s not on my list.

The hole isn’t centered on something that needs critical surface alignment so if you have a pair of calipers and some Dykem or even heavy marker, and.
I.e. - Use a micrometer to mark the distance from the edges (make a line) where they cross is the center, then center punch it and drill it.

in the case of using a mill with a DRO (digital read out) I’d use my edge finder to make it really, really precise and level so the hole is square (perpendicular to the surface).
but being off 10 thousands here isn’t going to hurt you, like it would with a scope mount.

You can look up the distances guys have used to center the hole on the net.

Disclaimer - punching a hole in metal at the back of a receiver leaves a place for things to come back at you, regardless of if the hole is covered by a plastic or wood stock.
Personally, if I were going to do it, I’d at least thread (tap) the hole, and put a plug in it.

Like what, for instance? Is this something that makes it dangerous and to be avoided? I just want to make the cleaning job easier because unlike TWR, I hate bore snakes with a passion.

First - tapping a hole for a 5/16 or so hex key plug is very, very, very simple to do - so we’re not talking a huge issue here.

To answer your question - stocks exist that would expose the “said hole” / cleaning port. Google “crazy Ivan” 10/22 stock

you’ll notice that the back end of the stock tang area is low enough that it wouldn’t cover the hole...
So once you mod the gun, you can’t restrict what the next kid might do in terms of swapping the stock out.

Anyway - In my Opinion (and only that) - I’d just make it as safe as the manufacturer designed it so if anyone down the road pushed the limits where it might become an issue, well it wouldn’t be an issue yet still get the nice cleaning functionality out of it - I hate bore snakes as well...

Sounds like he over-paid for his milling machine...ha,ha,ha,ha....


A milling machine equipped with a DRO is a beautiful thing.

Am I missing something here? Most recognize the advantage of bore cleaning from the breech, but even with the hole don't you have to completely dismantle a 10/22 to get a rod through it? Stock, trigger assembly and bolt just to do a routine bore cleaning? Wear on the threads and pin holes? A royal PITA, IMO.

Me, I carefully clean through the muzzle, although I occasionally perform a thorough cleaning of the innards.

Anyhow, my 10/22 has a homemade non-removable lug where the hole would go. Works well for me.

I always figured that on the rare occasions that my 22 barrel was dirty enough to need cleaning, everything else could use a good scrubbing too.
So I don't mind tearing it all down.

If the rifle holds groups consistent, leave it. If it starts getting out of line, might need cleaned. 22 barrels, cleaning, brushes and rods, gets into the fun topic of do I damage a 22 barrel if I clean it....

Have model 60 I pulled a cable through once after a few decades and decided to dissemble and clean, never had, looked like grey toothpaste in the receiver, work fine before and worked same after, accurate as always.

Not certain it’s worth the engineering time and effort.

I carefully clean my semi-autos from the muzzle end.

BUT BUT BUT you're just going to ruin any accuracy you have if you clean from the muzzle end. Jeeeeezz, haven't you read that on the innernet yet?

As far as cleaning the barrel, I just want to clean the chamber once in a while. Both rifles have a tighter that normal chamber and they seem to get gunked up after shooting a whole bunch of waxy Mini-Mags. It's the best load I've found so far.

LMAO.... Good one!!

Um, don't do that... It's not "if", but "when" you have that go south, you'll be needing some room on your credit cards...

Bore snakes fine for shotguns - but never for rifles.... And I don't care what 'marketing' sez otherwise..

What makes people think that cleaning a .22 will damage the barrel? I don't hear anyone saying not to clean a centerfire barrel or suggesting that cleaning a centerfire will damage the barrel? Cleaning any rifle/pistol barrel will keep it shooting well. When the rifling gets fouled with lead or copper and carbon residue and when the lead/carbon ring develops in the chamber's leade area you will lose accuracy. Whether that accuracy loss is important or significant to you depends on the level of accuracy you need/desire for the type of shooting that you do. Benchrest shooters will typically clean after every target (approx every 40-50 shots). Informal or casual shooters ringing steel, plinking cans or shooting squirrels or chucks can tolerate, or will not notice, a slight decrease in accuracy the way precision shooters will.

Cleaning a rimfire barrel from the breech using a properly fitting bore guide (where available or possible) will go a long way in maintaining your rifle's peak accuracy potential and is not likely to damage your bore with the proper amount of care. The method of last resort is cleaning from the muzzle. There's no proper or successful rod guide that will dependably prevent your rod from nicking the crown, the most important and typically tightest part of your barrel. However, nicks in the crown are fairly easy to fix by a gunsmith or skillful DIYer but it's best to avoid the possibility of such damage by cleaning from the breech. Some shooters have the idea that a bronze brush will somehow damage the bore. I've proven to myself that that isn't the case. I've taken a bronze brush and aggressively and forcibly rubbed it along the outside of a SS custom barrel. It didn't scratch, wear or affect the finish of the metal. If it won't scratch or wear the outside of the barrel, it won't scratch the inside. What will damage and cause wear to your barrel, besides nicking/rubbing the crown with a cleaning rod, is just shooting it. The priming mixture for many rimfire rounds (including match ammo from Eley and Lapua) will expel and leave behind an abrasive grit in your barrel. If you take the first patch run thru your barrel and put it between your thumb and index finger and rub them together you will feel it. This grit will, over time, erode your rifling and it can be typically seen at 6 o'clock in your barrel just ahead of the chamber with a bore scope. The good news is that this erosion has to extend quite a ways down the barrel for it to adversely effect accuracy. I have seen some still great shooting benchrest rifles with this erosion present.

Thanks for sharing that. It makes perfect sense in my mind.

That’s what I did. The hole is not visible.

I've had my 10/22 for over 40 years. For much of those years I infrequently cleaned the barrel and when I did it was from the muzzle at first and then later I used a boresnake. I recently put on a Feddersen match barrel and installed a Kidd Trigger. The rifle went from shooting minute of tin can to minute of angle and so I wanted to protect and maintain that level of accuracy. I then had the cleaning hole drilled in the back of the receiver. Before the upgrade it didn't matter but now it does. I now clean it every couple hundred rounds.

I had a spell with a Kimber Hunter that would flat shoot. About the only time I cleaned the barrel was was when I changed ammo. I ran a bore snake down the bore a couple times and shot 10 rounds of the new ammo then shot a group. Never found anything it liked better than Eley 10X.

I have a new 10/22 with a Feddersen barrel on it and once I decide on a scope, I’ll see if it follows the Kimber or if I’ll need to clean it

TWR, it will all depend on how much accuracy you want to get out of your rifle. Every rimfire rifle barrel will foul with lead and carbon and every rifle chamber will develop a lead/carbon ring in the leade. Even the most expensive, hand lapped, custom barrels from the likes of Shilen, Lilja, Benchmark, Muller etc. will get fouled to the point of losing peak accuracy. Benchrest shooters clean often because they don't want to take the chance of guessing when that loss of accuracy will take place and lose them points or increase group size. As my gunsmith told me and his other clients, "I know how to repeat clean, I don't know how to consistently repeat various levels of dirty." And when it comes to rifle accuracy, consistency is key.

ps To illustrate my point. In 2005 I went to my first ARA Nationals outside of St. Louis. I was fairly new to serious benchrest shooting and I too worried about frequent cleaning and using a bronze brush possibly damaging my barrel so I used a nylon brush thinking it would clean the barrel but be less likely to damage the bore. When I got to the Nationals the rifle was not shooting well and even in good conditions I wasn't getting any consistency. I finished in the lower 1/3 of the pack. When I got home I took the rifle to my gunsmith and he thoroughly cleaned it. The lead that came out of that custom Lilja barrel was astounding. He asked me how I was cleaning it and that's when I got the lecture. I never had that issue again.

Just make a muzzel rod guide and use a dewey 17 cal cleaning rod and jag, thats what I do. I hate using a 22 cal cleaning rods in a rimfire, wal mart use to sell 17 cal rods for like 5 bucks, bought 5 of them Just made a muzzel guide for my neighbors mini 14, works like a charm.

I use a 20 cal Dewey rod and 17 cal jag with 1 1/8" square patches which gives a nice snug but not too tight a fit. I use a .22 cal bronze brush. The 20 cal rod won't make contact with the bore with a good bore guide and won't flex as much as a 17 cal rod (which I also have). I don't want a rod to flex and contact or rub the bore. Obviously with a 10/22 there won't be a bore guide available so one needs to use extra care when cleaning from the breech.

Boom!

The ones from wal mart were solid carbon fiber and they don't bend, don't remember the make took the tag off,, but when i seen them there like 10 years ago I know they were a steal, nice rod like that for 5 bucks no brainer, carbon fiber won't hurt the bore.