.22 Rimfire Life

[Hawkeye09]

Hey all:

My grandpa gifted me a used Remington 581 Short barrelled .22 rimfire for Christmas in 1992. It used to shoot very well but in the past 3 years I have noticed that the accuracy is not where it used to be. I used to be able to shoot a dime off of a fence post at 25 yards consistently. I have read forums where guys are saying you can't burn out a .22 barrel. I can shoot a pop bottle and knock the cap off but most of the time it takes three shots. Interestingly enough, my dad has a similar Remington .22 with the same issue. I am thinking of taking them to the gunsmith to have them check things out, not too sure if cutting and re-crowning the barrel would be worthwhile? I have shot mine for 30 years, dad for over 40 and I'm not exaggerating when I say that mine has spit out hundreds of thousands of .22 short, long and long rifle. It has been cleaned regularly and well maintained. Not saying the barrel is burned out but not sure why it's shooting all over now when it never used to. Doesn't matter what ammo it's shooting. Am I barking up the wrong tree or should I have a bore scope run down and have the work done? Any advice is appreciated

 

[Bob Wright]

Well there are a whole bunch of things that could wear out or poor fitment of the mechanicals and stock.
Are you still shooting open sights?
First thing I'd do is pull on the barrel against the stock and see if there is any play.
Retorque action screws after taking action out of stock to inspect bedding. If the barrel is a slip fit or pressed into action, check for play there. If the trigger is getting too light or too tight.
Then take a close look at the crown due to the many cleaning cycles it's been through. Even damage to the chamber.
Maybe then take it to a reputable smith and go over it with them. Start with basics and go from there.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

Well there are a whole bunch of things that could wear out or poor fitment of the mechanicals and stock.
Are you still shooting open sights?
First thing I'd do is pull on the barrel against the stock and see if there is any play.
Retorque action screws after taking action out of stock to inspect bedding. If the barrel is a slip fit or pressed into action, check for play there. If the trigger is getting too light or too tight.
Then take a close look at the crown due to the many cleaning cycles it's been through. Even damage to the chamber.
Maybe then take it to a reputable smith and go over it with them. Start with basics and go from there.

And I believe some 22 lr did have stress points on the barrel in the stock. Correct me if I am wrong. But I do believe I read this in the past on a different forum (rimfire central). I am not sure if the Rem model was such ?

 

[FEENIX]

Hey all:

My grandpa gifted me a used Remington 581 Short barrelled .22 rimfire for Christmas in 1992. It used to shoot very well but in the past 3 years I have noticed that the accuracy is not where it used to be. I used to be able to shoot a dime off of a fence post at 25 yards consistently. I have read forums where guys are saying you can't burn out a .22 barrel. I can shoot a pop bottle and knock the cap off but most of the time it takes three shots. Interestingly enough, my dad has a similar Remington .22 with the same issue. I am thinking of taking them to the gunsmith to have them check things out, not too sure if cutting and re-crowning the barrel would be worthwhile? I have shot mine for 30 years, dad for over 40 and I'm not exaggerating when I say that mine has spit out hundreds of thousands of .22 short, long and long rifle. It has been cleaned regularly and well maintained. Not saying the barrel is burned out but not sure why it's shooting all over now when it never used to. Doesn't matter what ammo it's shooting. Am I barking up the wrong tree or should I have a bore scope run down and have the work done? Any advice is appreciated

I have a Winchester 77 (manufactured between 1955 and 1963) .22 LR and have shot it close to your claim. It still shoots accurately to date, but the spring is weak, causing jamming with some ammo. It remains one of my favorite .22 LRs, just needed some time to research and replace the bolt spring. If you have conducted a thorough self-inspection and did not find any obvious signs, I agree with @Bob Wright's recommendation to consult a reputable GS. Good luck!

 

[cohunt]

Did you check the bbl for leading? Bore scope it and check, might be "cleaning damage" too

 

[eshell]

Did you check the bbl for leading? Bore scope it and check, might be "cleaning damage" too

Leading is THE most likely culprit. Almost all .22 Long Rifle firearms will eventually accumulate a lead ring at the end of the chamber that doesn't get removed during light cleaning and must be specifically targeted for removal. .22 LR bullets are lead and when they swage down to pass the lead ring, they are not under enough pressure to obturate and fit the bore the way they should, killing precision. Competition shooters remove the chamber fouling/lead ring every few hundred rounds max. Lead can also build up in the rest of the bore and "deep cleaning" with a brush is often necessary.

Wearing out a .22 LR barrel is nearly impossible and creating enough wear on the mechanical parts to affect precision is unlikely.

1) Check stock screws and scope mount screws.
2) Clean the bore thoroughly.
3) Try a reasonably accurate ammo to test with, such as CCI Standard Velocity. Many bulk ammo selections are just crap anymore.

 

[HarryG22]

When was the last time you replaced the firing pin spring?

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I have a Model 29 Savage Pump .22 that is 75+ years old and still shoots great. Have shot thousands of RATS with it. Always cleaned it.
Now I do know of other people that have .22s and never clean them. The say that they accuracy gets better with time due to LEADING in the barrel that fills in imperfections. Not sure how true that is, but kind of makes sense.
Check all your screws and for any loose connections!

 

[Dean2]

Leading is THE most likely culprit. Almost all .22 Long Rifle firearms will eventually accumulate a lead ring at the end of the chamber that doesn't get removed during light cleaning and must be specifically targeted for removal. .22 LR bullets are lead and when they swage down to pass the lead ring, they are not under enough pressure to obturate and fit the bore the way they should, killing precision. Competition shooters remove the chamber fouling/lead ring every few hundred rounds max. Lead can also build up in the rest of the bore and "deep cleaning" with a brush is often necessary.

Wearing out a .22 LR barrel is nearly impossible and creating enough wear on the mechanical parts to affect precision is unlikely.

1) Check stock screws and scope mount screws.
2) Clean the bore thoroughly.
3) Try a reasonably accurate ammo to test with, such as CCI Standard Velocity. Many bulk ammo selections are just crap anymore.

Spot on. A carbon/lead ring is far and away the most likely cause. It can take a lot of work to get rid of one if it is hardened over years. JB paste and some Kroil are your friend.

I have some target barrels with a huge amount of ammo through them and they are as accurate as the day they were new.

 

[Greatgrandad]

I still own two of the old 581 Remingtons, and there can be several reasons you have lost its past precision. Many of those have already been posted above, but as someone who currently owns thriteen 22LR rifles and a past smallbore comp shooter, I'll add my two cents.

Improper cleaning has ruined more 22LR's precision than most other things. Especially if it is done with a rod from the muzzle end. Along those lines, not properly cleaning the throat area for lead/carbon build up can be an issue also. A good 22LR barrel doesn't need a lot of cleaning, and even when I was in comp prone shooting, I only cleaned using a guide rod from the action end about once ever 1,000 rds or so. Some hunting rifles even less often, but the barrel quality usually determined.

Rust and corrosion can attack a rifle's throat and barrel leading to small pitting and decrease precision. Living in a more humid climate can increase this potential.

Crown damage from improper, too often and no muzzle guide while cleaning has damaged quite a few 22LR rifle's precision. Even a lot of shooting and other handling issues, which it sounds as if you have done, can lead to crown issues. One of my old 581's saw a lot of shooting, and over time, it too lost its once great groups. I purchased a 22LR target crowning tool from Brownells, recut the crown, and the rifle began shooting great again. Another old rifle that had similar issues, I recrowned also, and it too regained its old precision.

Stock, bedding, screws, etc. These old stocks can compress, warp, change etc over time, so one can bed, use pillars, etc to help with precision. I've opened the barrel channels and partial bedded to help with groupings with a couple of 22's, and another one, I simply opened the channel slightly to remove one sided pressure from a lightly warped forend. Be sure to use some type of wood sealer afterwards to help avoid further warping over time.

Ammo changes. A particular ammo that for years gave great groups simply changed. However, it sounds as if you have tried various other ammo with less than acceptable results.

Scope mounting, loose screws, etc. Also depending on quality, some scopes can become internally lose over time and years of usage. I've had a couple in my life that did after much usage. Also for best short range precision, try a scope that has a parallax adjustment for the range you are shooting. Improper fixed parallax not set for your range, i.e. using a 100 yd fixed for 25-50 yard shooting, can mess with your groups.

Hope this and many of the above postings can help.

 

[Huntman777]

As with many above I would lean towards a good cleaning and inspection with a borescope.

 

[HSmithTX]

I think a lot of it is the ammo these days, I have a Marlin M60 that I got 42 years ago and I have shot several hundred thousand rounds through it. When I was a kid it would shoot Remington Thunderbolts really well, the Thunderbolts you buy today shoot 3X to 4X as large groups. I can say the same for CCI and pretty much every other cheap commercial ammo. Now run some SK or Eley or pick a high quality target ammo and it shoots as good and usually better than it ever did with the cheap commercial ammo way back when. Try some different ammo and spend some money on that ammo before you get to working on anything I say.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

I would also suggest not switching between copper and lead ammo without a good cleaning of the barrel. And fouling it again. I noticed a big diff when shooting between the two. I like the copper when it comes to terminal results. But the lead does seem to shoot better groups. At least in my small amount of testing. Nothing scientific on my part.

 

[Hawkeye09]

Well there are a whole bunch of things that could wear out or poor fitment of the mechanicals and stock.
Are you still shooting open sights?
First thing I'd do is pull on the barrel against the stock and see if there is any play.
Retorque action screws after taking action out of stock to inspect bedding. If the barrel is a slip fit or pressed into action, check for play there. If the trigger is getting too light or too tight.
Then take a close look at the crown due to the many cleaning cycles it's been through. Even damage to the chamber.
Maybe then take it to a reputable smith and go over it with them. Start with basics and go from there.

Thanks for the reply Bob. I don't have the stock leaf sight at the back. My dad's rifle still has the sight under his scope. I think my grandpa took it off in order to mount the scope because there wasn't enough clearance. I have had 3 different scopes on it, boresighted and lapped the rings before mounting and no luck. They told me this morning that they would bore scope the barrel and have a look at accurizing it for me. The guy that filled out the paperwork told me "Yeah, it's usually the scope that's the issue. That's my guess." I guess we will see what they can find out for us. I checked the action screws the last time I took it apart and torqued them, but it's always a possibility. I am leaning towards cleaning damage because my grandpa taught me to clean from the muzzle instead of the action. I did that for years and wonder if the crown is an issue? Time will tell. They are really good at what they do, they build high end custom rifles and do a lot of work for the people in the Peace Country so I hope they can figure it out.