OT - cleaning bores of target pistols

[John D.]

Hi Don and all...


First - congrats on the purchase of the S&W .41..! I think you'll find it an excellent bullseye pistol - or even a "plinker".. I have and have owned 6 of these - and yes, I used to do a fair amount of small bore bullseye.


Anyway - it is not uncommon to find that a .22 used in bullseye rarely had its bore cleaned. Frankly, after a match - I would disassemble and wipe the rails, slide, around the ramps and breechface. HOwever - I don't think I ever ran anything through the bore itself. I was more afraid of wearing down the lands with aggressive cleaning then by shooting. At the range - you would also find those that did clean their bores would also have to fire fouling rounds to get them back in shape - so cleaning never made much sense - to me anyway...


However - on the S&W Model 52-1 and 52-2, I did clean the bore frequently - as the loads I used were a hotter .38 WC, and the barrel would get pretty bad after a while (lead). In that case - I fired a few jacketed rounds at the end of a session - and then used Hoppes cleaning solvent with a NYLON brush - and got out what I could. Again - these pistols remained extreamly accurate...


Finally - I also did some competition shooting with a Colt H-BAR (AR15) - culminating in an excellent finish at the Colt Cup several years ago. Since I used jacketed bullets and loaded my own rounds - I never ran a brush down that bore either. After 5,000 - 6,000 rounds, I never saw the need for more then an oil patch to clean out residue...


For .22 barrels - you can damage the bore crown with the handle of some cleaning rods (buy ones that have a plastic protector) - as well as purchase a rod which has a rubberized coating (Outers makes these)..


Hope this helps!!