So, I just spent the weekend competing in the first ever NRL22 National Finals match. I took a respectable 10th place with my Kidd 10/22. This rifle, with Lapua Center-X ammo, will place 10 shots in a group the size of my pinky fingernail. BUT, and a big BUT, the cold bore shot/groups on this thing are terrible. Saturday morning, the first thing we do is the Atlas Bipod "one shot" challenge where we all fired one shot, cold bore, at 100 yds and the closest to the center wins a $300 certificate for an Atlas bipod. I didn't even hit the playing card. We then continued on to shoot 2 shots at 5 different bullseyes for score. My 10 shots were all over the place; 4" spread. I had a long talk with several shooters and the consensus is I likely have a carbon ring in front of the chamber. How does one know for sure if that is the case and how do you get rid of it?

Alan

Could indeed be the case. To get rid of carbon build up of any kind, try Otis 012-C carbon remover[2 oz. bottle]. Chit works great!
Others will chime in.

It can happen. I use a .25 caliber bore brush to clean the chamber. A normal 22LR brush is too small. Lots of folks say never clean a 22LR but the chamber is a different animal. The actual bore it may not be needed often. Cold shots are always troublesome.

Just looked at the Otis website and didn't find the the 012-C Carbon Remover.

Bore Tech also makes some good stuff. Rimfire blend. Hasbeen

Brownell's has it in various sizes. I couldn't find it on Otis' site either. But, Brownell's does have it.

Damn it! Now I see Brownell's no longer carries it.Possibly discontinued? Oh well, when this runs out, I'll find something else.
Sorry about that.

my salvage ALWAYS throws the cold bore shot and has done it since new. after that it is a fine grouper. i have to clean the chamber every two bricks or so because brass start to stick. doesnt seem to have an effect on that cold bore shot though. ive always just thought it was a cheap barrel, and thus the issues. sounds like you have a higher end rig.

Go with the simplest solution first.

Try running a bore snake through the barrel. See how many passes it takes to make a difference (hopefully just one) and stick with that.

Doing a full cleaning with solvent mid match may take QUITE a few rounds to get the barrel fouled back in and shooting normally.

I had a Remington 541S that was very accurate, except the first cold bore shot, they are known for this. The only 22LR I have had that did not change cold or hot was BSA Martini Model 12, it hit the X ring if I did my part every time.

I guess I'm lucky, but I've got a 10/22 that puts the first bullet right under the crosshairs, and a couple of boltguns, too. The little Ruger isn't much of a group shooter, but when you're squirrel hunting, you aren't shooting groups.

It makes me wanna get hold of a whole day's worth of MiniMag HP production, and squirrel it away. The two boltguns are CZs, a 452 and a 455 Scout. I have a new stainless 455, it's too new to get a real grip on it, yet. I also have an RAR Predator that is looking pretty good in that regard. Happily, they all shoot CCI MiniMags pretty well. It's nice to have them shooting really well with common, normal, every day easy-to-find ammo.

Funnily enough, CCI SV doesn't shoot any better in any of them, so I might as well use the HPs. I LOVE it when the bullets hit right under the crosshairs. Gives a feller confidence.......

You could try soaking the area with Kroil over night and then hit the chamber area with a slightly oversized brush. After you have it clean then periodic cleaning of that area opposed to a full bore barrel clean might just do it.

This topic has been discussed on Rimfire-central often over a period of years .

Most common fix is JB bore paste in the chamber area .

Benchrest shooters have sharpened a spent 22mag case inside the case mouth with a small round file , push it into the chamber - being careful to only let the longer case cut the carbon ring . Followed by JB Paste .

If a paticular rifle insist on flinging the first shot - document where that shot lands if possible .

I tried the unfired 22 mag case and it still wouldn't fit the tight Kidd 22LR chamber. A friend brought over his Lyman borescope. We looked at the bore and sure enough, it's there. I then ran two patches of 50/50 Kroil/Shooters Choice. A receipe shared with me from a guy on Rimfire-Central. It's like acid to carbon. It pretty much removed the carbon ring but I wanted to be sure so I did a little bronze brush/solvent scrubbing. Once I get the barreled action back from having the muzzle threaded, I plan on testing the amount of shooting it takes until the ring returns.

I haven't tried the 22mag case - but will soon , on 2 cz's & a Savage .

Interested in hearing about carbon ring build up time .

I wonder if Wipe Out would take care of it? They advertise that it works on carbon.

The carbon ring is pretty burned in and concentrated in a small spot , Wipe-out would get it but it would take some time and effort for it to work ..

What the carbon ring does for those who don't know - it is very hard and it ''swages'' the first bullet - shrinks it down as it passes through the carbon ring .
The heat from the shot make the carbon/lead build up ''malleable'' soft enough to not shrink the next round . So the first bullet going down the barrel is a tiny bit loose in the barrel , compared to the following rounds .

I'm surprised to hear that some have so much difficulty with carbon build up. My old High Standard m107 I shot nothing but Shorts in for five or six years. Don't know how many bricks I went through. First time I shot Long Rifles in it, it took a little effort but not really difficult.


Most difficult extraction I ever had was some Shorts made in Cezcovokia(spelling). Cases must have been pure copper. Had to take a piece of 2x4 and tap them out.

i shoot a fair amount of aquila super colibri in my model 5 zastava. there's ring or something that makes for difficult loading and cranking the bolt down.

i clean it with a brush and hoppes no. 9 at least until it needs it again. it's a distinctive increase in pressure to seat the round when it builds up.

your explanation of the first round being affected by the build up makes good sense.

I wish mine only took 1 round to override the carbon ring issue. If it's a hot day, it might only take one shot but on a cooler/cold mornings, it might be as many as 10. During the competition, 2 weeks back, the cold bore shot was at a Ace of Spades playing card with a circle/crosshair center. Closest to the center/winnner, takes home an Atlas bipod $300 gift cerfificate. I dind't even hit the playing card and it was just one hour earlier, I was shooting 10 shots into a pinky nail sized group at 50 yds. After the 1st shot, we then shot 2 shots at each of 5 NRL22 bullseyes and it turned out to be a 4" overrall sized group. This continued through the morning until the temps warmed up.

Planning on coating the bore with Ultra Bore Coat once the barreled action gets back from being threaded for a can. We'll see if that helps.

Alan

I will still stand by the thought of letting some Kroil soak in there over night and then wiping it out the following day. My gas chamber on my Beretta was so carbon fouled I couldn’t believe it would come clean. That Kroil creeped underneath and lifted it all out of there.

Never used Kroil , always hear good things about it .

A can of it will be in my next order .

Mike don’t misunderstand me on the Kroil, or anyone else that is reading this, but time is your friend with that stuff. It will creep under and through anything if given the proper amount of time. Sometimes a few minutes and other times let it go over night or longer.

An old, retired gunsmith told me that "Carbon is carbon, and nothing works better on carbon than GM Upper Engine and Injector Cleaner."

Put a soaked patch in the chamber overnight, brush out with a .243 bronze brush. It...is...magic. And really easy and fast, if you let it soak.

You can get it at any GM dealership. $15 or so a quart.

I read that the formula was changed on the GM cleaner , has to be true it was on the webernet .
I'm trying seafoam now - time will tell .

Let me know how that sea foam works out. I had similar thoughts on using that stuff.

Black patches - shiney barrel - good .

Nice to know there are other good options