How to Clean the Barrel on a Ruger 10/22

Cleaning the barrel is a key part of rifle maintenance. Although the Ruger 10/22 uses relatively little powder compared with high-powered center-fire rifles and does not need to be cleaned as often, regular cleaning is still necessary. You may not have to clean the barrel after every use, but some cleaning is crucial to remove powder residue from the rifling.

Things You'll Need

  • Felt patches
  • Powder solvent
  • .22 caliber cleaning rod
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove the bolt if the rifle is a bolt action or slide back the hammer in a semiautomatic to more easily clean the chamber and magazine.

    • 2

      Wipe out the magazine and firing chamber with powder solvent.

    • 3

      Attach a felt patch soaked in powder solvent to the end of the cleaning rod. You can use an eyelet or a steel brush to secure the patch to the rod.

    • 4

      Run the patch down the barrel from the muzzle end all the way to the breech. Open the bolt to make sure the patch reaches all the way to the chamber.

    • 5

      Work the patch up and down the barrel, and then switch patches. Keep running fresh patches down the barrel until a new patch comes out clean of powder residue. Run patches from both the muzzle and the breech end of the barrel.