Ruger SR22 Deep Clean

Today I gave my Ruger SR22 pistol a deep cleaning. The last time I shot it I had several rounds which failed to go off on the first hit, but which went off on the second hit on the same spot on the rim. This isn't too unusual with .22 rimfire ammo but neither of the other two pistols I shot in the same session had the same problem. So, I think I was getting the occasional light strike.

First I field stripped the Ruger and cleaned the barrel, paying particular attention to the chamber. It had some build up in it which I removed with a bronze brush and Kroil. After I was done I pushed a few dry patches through the bore. The barrel is made from stainless steel and in my environment doesn't need any oil to prevent rust.

My final check for the chamber's cleanliness was to drop several rounds into it (Remington Golden Bullet, CCI Standard Velocity, and Aguial Super Extra SV). I tried with 2 or 3 examples of each and most freely dropped all the way in. A couple required a slight touch. I expect this kind of variance in .22 rimfire ammo.

The next thing I did was to detail strip the slide so I could ensure the firing pin channel was clean and dry, and that there weren't any burrs on the firing pin itself. To do so I used the instructions here:

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=429069

If you remove the breech block from an SR22 slide, be careful. There are several small parts and springs. I dropped the firing pin safety and had to get on my hands and knees to find it.

While I had it apart I lightly polished the sides, top, and bottom of the firing pin on a gunsmith's stone.

After blasting it with solvent and then with compressed air until everything was dry, I reassembled it. To prevent any oil from migrating up into the breech block I removed what oil I had on the slide and rails, and put a small dab of white lithium grease on the slide rails before putting the gun back together.

I wanted to remove the lockwork from the grip frame but that pin was really stubborn and I did not want to really wail on it at this time.

It may be a week or two before I'm able to test fire the Ruger. I'm hoping for better reliability.