What is your perfect size? (Cleaning Patches)

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hey guys

I hope that everyone is well

I'm just curious as to what your "perfect size" is in terms of the cleaning patches for the 22LR caliber?

I've realised that:
- If the cleaning patch is too large, then that will get the cleaning rod stuck inside the barrel
But at the same time
- If the cleaning patch is too small, then it's not gonna do as good a job giving the inside of the barrel a good scrub/good clean

So yeah, I'm just wondering what everyone's perfect size/most optimal size is

[JimTom]

Mate I use the hoppes cleaning patches. I used to cut my own however use these now if using a jag and pushing them through.
If using a pull through I cut my own from a roll of fourby. Half (from red line to the next) a strip.

[marksman]

my patches are made from old useable flannelette bed sheets
my wife cuts them up into 1.5"-2" squares or close enough that will fit 30 cal roughly
for 22 cal l cut them in half and for 17 cal l cut them into quarters

these sizes work for me

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

JimTom;
Ah okay
Thanks man
- Hoppes cleaning patches
- Half a strip of fourby (from red line to the next)
I'll try that
Thank you


Marksman;
Okay cool
So around 0.75" to 1" squares for the 22 calibers
Alright
I will try that soon
I will let you know how I go
Thank you

[JimTom]

B8DDAADC-B6A5-4589-8736-800FEF47181D.jpeg (331.81 KiB) Viewed 5246 times

Mate these are the jags I am talking about.

[bladeracer]

The size will be determined by thickness to some extent, thicker material will need to be cut smaller, and the style of jag.

I bought thousands of pre-cut patches on Ebay years ago, and rolls of four-by-two. I just checked and both are roughly 15-thou thickness (about 0.4mm). I use roughly 32mm-squares for the .22's, or folded in half to double them up for bigger stuff. My rolls are actually marked at 45mm, not two-inches, but I ignore the lines anyway. Just cut 32mm strips then cut those into thirds.

The cylindrical jags will jam with thicker patch material, or too-large a patch, but the slotted jags can handle more material.
Often I just wrap a patch or two around a nylon brush and use that.

Rather than start big and struggle to force them through I would suggest starting smaller and working up until you have a nice firm push.

[Rwd22]

I use the Pro Shot Patches for all my rifles. They spec the 17-22 Rimfire patches at 3/4" Square (19.05mmx19.05mm). However before I grabbed the rimfire ones, I was using the standard 22-270 Centrefire ones, they're about 1-1/8" Square (28.58mmx28.58mm). They took a bit more effort to push through the 22 rimfire, but not impossible.

I'd say a 3/4"-1" square patch would be perfect to run through a 22lr, if you had a similar thickness material.

The pro shot ones are relatively inexpensive, especially for how often I clean the 22's. A bulk pack will last quite a few years.

[deye243]

Hey guys

I hope that everyone is well

I'm just curious as to what your "perfect size" is in terms of the cleaning patches for the 22LR caliber?

I've realised that:
- If the cleaning patch is too large, then that will get the cleaning rod stuck inside the barrel
But at the same time
- If the cleaning patch is too small, then it's not gonna do as good a job giving the inside of the barrel a good scrub/good clean

So yeah, I'm just wondering what everyone's perfect size/most optimal size is

Depends entirely on how thick the flannelette is that I buy at Spotlight it's quite often slightly different in thickness which means patches have to be cut different as well

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

JimTom;
Ah okay cool
Yeah
I think that my jag is a hoppes one too
I need to find its box to find out
But I'm pretty sure that mine is too

BladeRacer;
Okay so 32mm squares does the trick for you
Cool
As you suggested
I'll start smaller and I will then see if I can work my way up to 32mm squares
A nice firm push sounds good
That sounds like you'd be able to get all the dirt out with a nice firm push
That sounds good


Rwd22;
- Pro Shot Patches
- 19.05mm x 19.05mm
- 3/4" to 1" squares is what you would consider as perfect
Got it
Awesome thanks for that
That sounds good to me

Deye243;
Makes sense how you have to adjust the cuts depending on the thickness yeah

Awesome
Thank you for your advices everyone
It seems that most people recommend 19.05mm x 19.05mm as a good starting point
Then gradually, I will work my way up from there and see how I go
Can't wait to give my 22LR's a good scrub
A nice clean rifle, that is very satisfying, that's for sure

[JimTom]

Mate if you find the hoppes or whatever patches a bit tight, just trim the corners a bit. I had to do that with the large size when cleaning other calibres.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hey guys

I just wanted to thank everyone who commented

I cleaned my 22's yesterday & today
(Using 19.50mm x 19.50mm patches)

The 19.50mm patches worked well
I didn't feel any struggle running the cleaning rod through the barrel
It was quite easy running the cleaning rod through the barrel with the 19.50mm patches
So that was good

I even tried 20mm x 20mm patches as well
And even that was fine too

The 20mm x 20mm patches felt like they did a better job scrubbing/cleaning the barrels as I could definitely feel that it was just a bit tighter whilst running the cleaning rod through the barrel
Which was even better

I'll try to see how big I can go in terms of patch sizes (without getting the rod stuck inside the barrel) and I will let youse know

God Bless you all

[deanp100]

I use old bristle brushes as jags. There is a bit of give in the bristles so patch size is less important. It has to be really big not to fit through.