I was cleaning my Advantage Arms Glock 20 .22lr conversion kit tonight and went to thread the boresnake through the barrel and the little brass end wouldn't go through.

I took a look and there was a ton of fouling, more than I'd ever seen. I had only put 200 rounds through it since the last cleaning and it was nice and shiny then.

I used a rod and brush and tons of what looked like lead flakes came out. I spent about an hour on it and it's still really bad. The crown also looks really trashed, like the actual metal is chewed up on the inside.

This made me think pack to when I shot it on the 19th. I shot 100 CCI Mini-Mags and 100 CCI Blazers. I had 4 stoppages with the Mini-Mags where I had to pry out the shell. I didn't think too much about it and just kept going.

Does this sound like maybe I had some rounds stuck in the barrel that I shot out? Also now that I think about it, on the target I have some holes that are long and weird shaped, where all the other ones are circles. I thought maybe the paper was bulging or something.

Either way, it seems like I messed up not paying more attention. I'm pretty sure the barrel is trashed. What does it sound like to you all?

Get all the lead out then shoot it. Despite what you might think, they will often shoot just fine.
On a similar subject I have had some really rough looking military surplus rifle and pistol bores that still shot well

I don't think so, I think your barrel was just heavily leaded including the crown. Towards the end of your range session, shoot about 20 FMJ or plated hollow points.

I doubt it was a squib...probably just really heavily fouled to the point that it was causing bullets to tumble (the reason for the oblong holes in your target). I'd soak that barrel (and I mean actually immerse it) in hopppes for a few days, scrub it, then repeat. You'll be amazed how much junk you'll get out. I have a Lewis lead remover for my .357s...it works pretty well, but I don't know if they make one for .22.

The usual definition of a “squib” is when the bullet does not leave the barrel. If we shoot and a bullet hole doesn’t appear in the target then we should stop shooting and determine why that was. Unless the squib was right at the muzzle, the subsequent shots will continue stopping in the bore; they won’t push the obstructing bullet out. In .22 rimfire guns firing shots after a squib will often bulge the bore, and the bullets will require driving out manually.

As stated, excessive leading can prevent the bullets from being stabilized and they will tumble in flight, making elongated holes in target paper.

If the barrel was damaged by shooting (not your cleaning methods), or even if it leaded up to the point of causing an obstruction and lack of bullet stabilization, then it was defective in some way. It should be possible to shoot guns chambered for 22 Long Rifle with decent ammunition indefinitely without any cleaning.* If the bore is visibly damaged in some way, it either came that way from the factory or there was a problem with the manufacturing process that allowed it to become damaged with a small amount of use.

I will ask, though, what the history of the barrel is and how much you cleaned it and what methods you used before this session. If it was heavily “cleaned” extensively in the past, it’s possible that the bore was damaged that way.

* Precision shooters of 22 LR rifles sometimes clean their bores, especially when changing ammunition types, but that has to do with arcane accuracy issues, not because the bore leads up after a couple of hundred—or many hundreds—of rounds. A 22 LR gun bore should not require cleaning.

Is it possible that 100 rounds of CCI Blazer lead round nose would foul it up that bad? I guess it must have, I started with a clean barrel, shot 100 rounds of that with no issues, then 100 rounds of CCI Mini Mag copper plated round nose which did have the 4 stuck shells.

I have the barrel soaking now, really hoping to be able to salvage it. I guess I'm a little happy that there's a reason my dot torture scores went down.

quote:

Originally posted by matai:
Is it possible that 100 rounds of CCI Blazer lead round nose would foul it up that bad?

It is possible if the barrel was defective or damaged, but otherwise it is not something I would expect. I have fired many hundreds of rounds of Blazer 22 LR with various guns without experiencing anything similar.

But 22 LR guns are notoriously ammunition sensitive. I suppose it is possible that a specific barrel and specific ammunition might disagree to the point of causing massive leading, so I would try different ammo after the barrel is clean.

Since you've brought this topic up, I would add..When I first started reloading for .357 I purchased my first reloading machine. An RCBS multi-stage Green Machine. It had a small straight loading ramp that moved the case between each of the dies. I cannot stress paying attention, and do not reload in poor lighting conditions. It was my first batch of .357 mag using Blue dot slow burn powder and 125gr jhp bullets. Everything went well or so I thought. What I obviously missed was closely paying attention when I got a rhythm going was missing a powder drop charge in one of the cases before the bullet seat die.

Luckily when at the range even with my electronic muffs on I heard something that didn't sound or feel right. Though the primer charge fired, the bullet didn't leave the end of the barrel. I stopped immediately opened the cylinder and placed my python on the table and called the range tech over at the next cease fire call. Upon inspection sure enough the bullet was lodged at the end of the barrel. My loads were designed with the grain capacity to shoot at 1760fps, fast but accurate. I always wondered if I hadn't caught the squib and fired another round? In any event, whatever could have happened wouldn't have been good.

Afterwards I always paid much more attention when reloading and in the best lighting conditions available. I also purchased a Dillon press which hasn't any malfunctions. I did in fact catch the RCBS Green Machine producing two other failed powder drops on different occasions. I still have the Dillon 550b but haven't used it in over 12yrs.

A lesson learned

One time I had bought a brick of Remington Thunderbolt .22lr. Shot about 50 rounds of it through my Ruger Competition MKII when it started malfunctioning (failure to feed), took it apart and was shocked to see a very heavy build up of lead in the barrel AND the chamber. It took a long time to get it cleaned out, I gave the rest of that brick away. It has never happened again.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Towards the end of your range session, shoot about 20 FMJ or plated hollow points.

Really? And where might one buy fmj 22lr?

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't think so, I think your barrel was just heavily leaded including the crown. Towards the end of your range session, shoot about 20 FMJ or plated hollow points.

Even if such a thing existed in 22lr as Walker noted, in a centerfire semiauto, that’s an easy way to bulge the barrel. Not good

I meant the copper plated. To me, I know FMJ stands for Full Metal Jacket, but also refers to that bullet shape in my mind, versus a flat nosed round or hollow point or other bullet shape. I've read that advice numerous times to shoot copper plated after a bunch of lead bullets over the years in a .22LR on rimfire central .

Anyways, I did have the barrel heavily leaded on my .22 buckmark once, and I honestly didn't pay attention to what ammunition I was shooting at the time. I cleaned it and never had the issue again and have around 20,000 rounds through that gun. Could be ammo.

CCI does makes a Copper .22 LR, which is a 21 grain copper and polymer round that shoots 1850 FPS. Not exactly a fmj by definition but mostly copper and no lead.

I have a 22 rifle that was presumably fired with a bullet lodged in the barrel. if you run your fingers down the barrel you feel the bulge, if there is one.

quote:

Originally posted by cckw:
I have a 22 rifle that was presumably fired with a bullet lodged in the barrel. if you run your fingers down the barrel you feel the bulge, if there is one.

The barrel outer diameter gets larger from 1 1/4" from the crown to 1" from the crown. It's uniform so I'm thinking it was manufactured that way, but I really can't remember if it was like that before or not.