My 10/22 is the first 22 LR that I have put a scope on. I also gave it a good trigger.(And played with bedding, but that's a different story altogether.) Reading the owners manual, keep your rifle clean for reliable functioning and good accuracy. No problem. I am a real clean freak when it comes to my guns. What I have found is that if I clean the barrel, I get poor 50 yd accuracy till I have fired 30 or more rounds. This is a plinking/hunting rifle. I only use plated high velocity ammo. In "normal times", call it cheap ammo. So far, Win.36 gr HP and CCI mini mags give me the best accuracy. Fed. 36 gr HP comes in right behind. Having never used a scope on any other 22 LR's, I always thought accuracy was OK with open sights. Now I remember in the past reading debates about cleaning or not cleaning and accuracy in a 22 LR. This never came into play for my open sight shooting. Question is: Do you clean at all, or only with patches, do you brush the barrel? Remember, this is a hunting rifle so I like to use high velocity ammo. With the 22 ammo shortage, experimenting is on hold for now. And I'm too cheep to buy target ammo anyway.
When I am plinking reactive targets, for fun, with my Ruger 10/22 , my Savage FVSR, or my Marlin 60, I use the cheapest bulk ammo I can find. I do not clean them until I get it backhome. When I am shooting the above rifles for accuarcy, I use only top shelf match target ammo, at 20 cents+ a round. I do run a damp patch thru the bore every 3 -5 rounds, and you will definetly see a diiference in the 5th shot and the next 1st shot. Not as much difference noticed at 50 yrds , as at 100 yrds. As you can see , it depends on what Im doing. I love doing both, but I believe I enjoy the accuracy shooting most. I like pictures my Ruger 10/22 my Savage FVSR my Marlin 60 Jim
Each one is different in that regard just as every one prefers one ammo over another. For mine, they get cleaned but not so much that it's squeaky "hospital" clean. Shoot good ammo and there's little cleaning necessary anyways. The cheap stuff (Winchester and Remington bulk especially) seem to be filthy. The barrel itself may get a bore snake but other than that, no. Each gets a few fouling shots before settling in for any grouping shooting begins also. For what most hunt for using a 22r, even standard velocity ammo works just fine so the HV stuff isn't really necessary. Place the shot properly and even the "slow" solid do the job.
I am just spitballing here, but here is my theory. Rifles may get a little more accurate after 30 or so rounds due to the barrel heating up. This would tend to shrink the barrel diameter slightly, making the rifling grip and spin the rounds a bit more. Well, it's a theory ...
