That's a can of worms for a question! Each shooter has their own preferences,
and when it comes to biathlon, there are even more.
Here is my opinion.

If you are shooting your rifle in the summer only, I never clean my bore.
.22's have plenty of lube on the bullets and cleaning the bore usually degrades
accuracy. For winter, it depends on the temperature. If it is above freezing I
will use lubed ammo (Eley, Lapua, RWS, Federal, whatever works). If it drops
below freezing, the lube tends to be rather hard and can influence accuracy,
that may be when a switch to biathlon ammo (Lapua Polar, Eley Biathlon, Fiocchi
biathlon) cleaning may be required for your individual rifle to achieve its best
accuracy. When this switch is needed, then I will clean my bore to remove any
lube that is in it. Any bore solvent will do the trick (Hoppes #9, Shooter's
Choice, Bore Tech Rimfire Blend, or if you want to make your own, Ed's Red) Use
a coated cleaning rod (Dewey) and clean from the chamber to the muzzle. Do not
clean from the muzzle to the chamber, as this could damage your muzzle (the last
thing the bullet touches before it hits the
target). Since we are just dealing with lead and lube fouling in the bore,
copper solvents and bronze bore brushes are NOT needed, nylon bore brushes will
work just fine. Use lubricants that are friendly to cold weather, a rifle that
is frozen shut isnt of much use; also remember condensation prior to a match, a
rifle that goes in and out of the cold will collect condensation and may freeze
shut too. For a good place to purchase all this stuff, I recomend Sinclair
International (www.sinclairint.com).

That's my two cents.

Rob Sherer
U.S. Distinguished Rifleman #1837

ronbott <ronbott@...> wrote:
Can anyone provide some tips or information about rifle cleaning? My
biathlon rifle is the
first gun I ever owned, and I'm not up to speed with the maintenance part. What
is the
proper procedure, recommended tools & products, do's and don'ts, etc.






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