Vintage Takedown .22 Care And Cleaning

As a teenager, back in the forties, my uncle allowed me to use his old Winchester .22 pump to hunt small game and perform a little target practice. Each time the rifle was used he would ask that I wipe it down with a lightly oiled cloth. This I did quite faithfully as I cared for the rifle as if it were my own. The old rifle endured many decades of use, showing relatively little wear, but other guns I knew showed the ravages of use and neglect.

As I have serviced guns for more than half a century, a good number of these have been the older, takedown .22 rimfire rifles in both lever and pump. Strangely enough, some of these old guns failed to receive proper care and perhaps because they were takedown models contributed to this. A good percentage of the bores were badly pitted and showed sign of cleaning neglect. The actions on some of them were loose and worn. Others were as smooth as silk, showing little wear, even after a century in existence.

Servicing Takedown .22s Takedown rifles are constructed to be taken apart with separation of the barrel unit from the receiver unit. One half of the receiver remains with the barrel while the other half remained with the stock group. A common threaded bolt passing through the center of the receiver, with a rather small diameter knurled round head, holds the receiver stock group and the receiver barrel group together. Some of these screw heads are slotted, but by design are meant to be finger tight.

Some of these screw heads show damage by use of pliers or other crude tools. The bolt is normally floating The bolt is pumped rearward and can be removed for inspection and cleaning. The trigger and hammer are clearly exposed, allowing inspection, cleaning and lubrication. 22 rimfire exposes all the working parts for easy inspection and cleaning. A clear comparison can be made of the pump and lever style rifles simplifying the basic operation of the two rifle types.

This view clearly shows the exact machining and tolerances required in the design of these fine old rifles. and quite easy to remove with slide or lever remaining intact. No extraordinary tools or cleaning equipment are required to clean these rifles and it is not really necessary or recommended to further disassemble them. The bolts can normally be removed. In some cases stock removal will expose parts that require further cleaning and/or lubrication.

If any sign of congealed oil or gum is present due to prolonged periods between cleaning, I will use one of the "crud cutters" or special gum solvents and compressed air along with a toothbrush or the like. Then, when all dirt and grime are removed,

I thoroughly wipe down and dry the action and parts to avoid excessive oil or cleaning materials on the stock or forend as they may soak in and damage the wood over time. A Q-tip or small cleaning patch held with a forceps or tweezers works well too. My lubrication method for these rifles varies a bit from the norm. use compressed air (up to 80 PSI) to force the oil into tight spaces. A single drop of oil will find its way into the tightest places under pressure.

A small air nozzle with a 1/16" opening does a good job. Shooter’s Choice FP-10 has served me well as a lubricant for all my rifles. Most any of the synthetic lubricants will also suffice. Just don’t splash it around’a little goes along way.

Specific trigger How better could tion and cleaning? 22 rimfire is all ready for inspection items used to clean, lubricate and inspect top, brushes, including bronze brush I 10 Bore Cleaner Patches and compressed scope (gradientlens.com) is used for other materials may also do a fine job lubricants work fine on the old .22 pump and lever rifles, but they may not be needed specifically as called for on triggers like the 700 Remington, et al.

Some lubricants will gum up a trigger on these actions, attract dirt and do more harm than good. The old hammer-type triggers have Model 9422 22 rimfire lever pump .22 rimfire for comparison. reveals many differences in we expose these rifles for inspecmore than century old Marlin takeand cleaning. All the required these rifles is seen here. From and cleaning rod, Shooters Choice FPair. At center, a Hawkeye boreflawless bore inspection.

The use of of cleaning and lubrication. fairly deep notches and don’t usually gum up. Gum and grit can really mess up sear engagement. Cleaning .22 Rimfire Bores As a young shooter I used to hear some of the well-meaning old hunters and shooters say that you never had to clean a .22 rimfire barrel as the wax-coated bullets would leave a coating that protects the bore. So why do we see all those totally ruined bores on some of these otherwise well preserved guns?

Perhaps some of this was due, particularly in part, to the corrosive nature of the older ammo. Yet the moisture, dirt 22 takedown rifles remain in good condition following about a century of use. Without reasonably good care, the value of these rifles would be but a fraction of what it is today. From top, Marlin 1890, Winchester 1906, and Remington 1909.

22 rimfire rifles in both pump and lever style.

From top, Marlin 1890 external hammer, tubular magazine pump style rifle with hexagon barrel; Winchester 1906 external hammer, tubular magazine pump style with round barrel (these rifles were also made with hexagon style barrels); Remington 1909 hammerless type, tubular magazine pump style rifle with round barrel; Marlin Model 39 Century limited external hammer, tubular magazine lever style with hexagon barrel; Winchester Model 9422 external hammer tubular magazine lever style with round barrel.

These two lever style rifles are drilled and tapped for modern scope sights. The Winchester 9422 is fashioned after the old Model 94 lever action Winchester rifle. These five takedown style rifles are equipped with side screw takedown for easy disassembly care and cleaning. and elements found a way to ruin some of these old bores regardless of the steels used in making these barrels.

Almost any bore would appear deceptively shiny to the naked eye, where today’s modern bore scope would have shown the shocking result of neglect. My bore cleaning regimen for any .22 rimfire barrel, including both hunting and competition barrels, is to clean them thoroughly after use or whenever I don’t plan to shoot them for awhile. Any of the standard bore cleaning solvents will suffice. I never use a harsh copper solvent in a rimfire barrel.

While it is claimed these more potent solvents won’t attack any barrel steels, they never reach the interior of my rimfire bores. Under normal home or shop humidity conditions of 60 percent or less, the coating used on today’s .22 rimfire ammo will protect the bore. During competition shooting, a freshly cleaned bore will normally require a few or several shots to season it for normal grouping. The proper cleaning processes involved complement each other so closely it’s like modern day medicine to the body.

Conclusion There are no real mysteries in the care and cleaning of these old vintage, takedown .22 rimfire rifles. Common sense has always gone along way and it still does. AG American Gunsmithing Association