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Why Slug a .22 Rimfire Bore?

3K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Rex in OTZ 
#1 ·
I got my very first .22 rimfire rifle after I was able to prove that I could behave myself with a 5 mm Sheridan pellet rifle. No, no, I was much younger than 37. :p
That first .22 rimfire rifle was the beginning of a life long infatuation with .22's. I have never gotten over it or met a .22 rimfire firearm I didn't like, including this misfit:



I'm continually interested in making these rimfire guns shoot better and have an insatiable desire to find out how they work, or why they don't. I have found it quite interesting to actually slug .22 rimfire bores, especially on a customer gun when they tell me it won't shoot accurately. The best slug used to get the size of a .22 rimfire bore, is an actual bullet from a .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Here's an inertia puller that I made up just for that purpose. NO! Of the 100+ bullets that I've pulled using this device, not one cartridge went off. Nothing touches the back face of the cartridge case so the rim can not be crushed to detonate the primer. Anyone who says a cartridge will go off, has NEVER used an apparatus such as this:



So why slug a .22 rimfire barrel? Well, as a slug is pushed through a rimfire barrel, you will be able to feel tight and loose spots along the bore. If the muzzle end is quite loose right at the point that the slug leaves the barrel, accuracy will not be so good. If the muzzle end is tight, you will in all probability have a really good "shooter". In cases where the loose area can be cut off and the muzzle re-crowned, you will end up with a much better shooter.
.22 bullets will maintain the size that they've been reduced to and will not expand when a slightly larger bore area is encountered, so when you slug a bore with a .22 bullet, it will measure the bore in its tightest condition.
 
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#5 ·
If your muzzle is egged out from hogging the bore during cleaning.

Counter boring?
I had a customer once where he bought a used Savage/Stevens Model 24. This is a .22 Long Rifle bore over a .410 shotgun barrel. The hole for the front sight was drilled and tapped all the way through and into the bore. Obviously his accuracy was putrid.
I did exactly as you suggested, I counterbored the .22 rimfire slightly larger than the groove diameter and slightly past where the tapped hole poked into the bore. His accuracy turned out to be much better.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I have a old camp rifle (rural AK) a old abused Stevens 73Y .22Lr that I can stick over 5" of wood pencil down the muzzle till it touches the bottom of the counter bore.
For its rough condition it shoots rather good.

As for slugging your bore?
I hadnt done that.
I did find my kids one time firing .22Lr in my .22mag Stevens model 30 rifle.
Accuracy was rather good though quiet and bullet drop rather noticeable but accuracy was good enuf to hunt with (minute of beverage can at 40 paces)
.22lr/.22mag combo revolvers bore dia vs. .22Lr or just the .22mag only bore diameters may be different.
Id like to know the combo bore size of the Ruger Single Six vs another combo like a Heritage or another brand.

That time Id found my kids had also shot .22Lr out of my .22 mag High Standard Sentinel, they said it shot patterns at extremely low velocity (lt couldnt hit a beverage can at 15 feet outta 8 shots and bullets tumbling)
I did notice abnormally dirty chambers during cleaning.
 
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