How often should a rimfire barrel be cleaned?

[1shotwander]

I clean my barrel after every shooting, doesn't matter if I get done shooting 100 rounds at the range or 1 round on a groundhog. Recently I heard that if you don't clean every time it'll make it more accurate to some degree. Any one ever heard of this? I don't belive that this is true, but just wandering./

[matthew_H]

smoe rimfire riles shoot much better when dirty , other when clean . i dont clean my savage semi auto very often , maybe once every 300-400 rounds .

[North Pack]

Depends what you mean by "clean". ... I have a Savage Model NRA-19, (.22 ga) and I "clean" it every time I use it, which is about 80-100 rounds. I only use the bore snake about once every brick.

[airiscool]

Alot depends on the quality and the  way the barrel is made, plus the type ammo used.

We never cleaned our Anshutz match 54 target barrels.  Just one light oil patch pushed through at the end of each shooting session, then a dry patch at the start of the next session. We were using lubed 22LR target ammo.

Usual rule  is only clean it when the accuracy starts to fall off.  Light oil patch after each use - dry patch before the next use.

Paul.