Quick question:

I've read it and heard it said in so many videos/demos.

".22 LR is such a dirty round."

Why is .22 LR such a dirty caliber, and how is it dirtier than other rounds, or is that just more internet nonsense?

Thanks!

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They produce a lot of carbon. They are many times coated in grease, oil or wax to help them feed.

I love shooting rimfire these days and I do it about once a week, but you heard it right, 22lr is as dirty as they come.

I think one factor is, most all semi auto .22’s are blowback design which leaves most of the powder residue inside the gun. I’m no expert, but I bet this is part of the reason.

The GSG Firefly came up in a topic in the Hunting Forum.

I have the original Sig Mosquito that Sig Sauer did NOT design, but contracted out to the German company GSG.

Regardless, I started shooting my Mosquito a lot, and I've had a ton of fun with it even though it has its problems, whether it's the Firefly or the Mosquito, same pistol.

The .22 LR is "dirty" topic comes up regularly in demos.

I've always wondered "Why?"

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This, but also that they use slower burning powder which leaves a lot behind. The other factor is lead fowling from soft lead bullets that shave off and leave particles behind. Just an all around dirty caliber. Prob doesn’t help that we also shoot a bunch of rounds through them.

That last line is very true. With my pistol, I can burn through 200 rounds in a very short period of time. When I shoot the 10/22, I typically shoot that much or more in one sitting as well. I’m to cheap to do that with my other guns.

I was needing a better round for mr. beaver than a 5.56 or 7.62x39 and was looking at 22 mag. or .17 hmr.

hoping the .17 shoots cleaner as I just ordered an ar platform in it.

the 10/22 gets a bore snake run thru it after a couple or 3 mags. of 25, and spray silicone on the rcvr (no residue).

I shoot both the cheap 555 round box stuff as well as the good eley and german made standard plus and they all dirty it up.

22mag is the king... 40grn HP 1900 and change FPS... sure the 17 is faster but has a lighter boo'let... 22mag cheap accurate deadly out to 100 conservatively on coyotes and smaller vermin...kilt many a beaver with my 22mag...

went with the .17 in part due to availability, plenty of it locally but .22 mag can be hard to find.

part due also to the state hunter/explosives guy shoots a suppressed sbr in .17 with thermal and I liked shooting it.

Interesting…how quiet was the .17 suppressed?

CCI

For me, nothing beats government issue .38 Special and. .357 mag ammo in a Rossi lever action. I still have about half a a boat load of it, plus some GI .223. I''ve probably murdered more critters/varmints with that Rossi than anything else I used to own.

all you can hear is the bolt when it fires, super quiet. no idea which suppressor he uses.

Yes, I think it's dirty.

probably 90% of the time I am taking head shots while they are swimming, have used the 5.56 and 7.62x39 but both ricochet too far. the size of the .17 should mean short distance if one bounces off the water.
too many things I don't want to shoot to chance the ricochets.