CZ 455 .17 HMR CLEANING?

[henry22]

Yesterday I bought a H***E's cleaning kit, 3 steel threaded rods, plastic T handle, and this jag that came included that has absolutely no purpose whatsoever. Item 3PS17 https://ibin.co/3yTNKqOikkbr.jpg Attached a bronze brush, that worked fine, but the rod started to un-thread inside the barrel, and that jag included with no point... useless. Returning it today.

With the Henry, I've only ever used a Hoppe's Boresnake, and hockey skate laces, that I've sewn in a huge loop at one end, and a length of Para-Cord sewn into the end you insert into the breech: https://ibin.co/3yTO5MfTmiHs.jpg There's no bronze brush built in, but it's as tight as the real boresnake to ppull out gunk, and you can make 2 of them for about 5 bucks. It works well.

The point being, my Henry is always much easier to clean. This CZ for some reason, was hard to get the carbon out. I ran the brush once or twice, and then pulled a similar home-made boresnake with paracord, a tiny loop at one end, and a square piece of old T-shirt material to swab everything out.

I've never even used a rod and brush before, but this one was crapola. If I get a Dewey rod or something similar, how often should you use a brush?
Every XX number of rounds, or XXX - hundreds etc?

Thank you.

[North Country Gal]

I don't clean the bore that often on our CZ 17s, maybe every three outings or so. Has not affected accuracy in any way. Each to their own, though, as always.

One absolute must for cleaning a 17 cal bore is a quality one piece cleaning rod. I use a Dewey and only a Dewey. Worth every penny. Going cheap is a mistake on a tiny bore like a 17. Too much chance of bore damage. The Dewey also gets put to work on our 17 cal airguns.

CZ bores run tight, anyway, tighter than most other brands of rimfires. Have noticed this when cleaning all our CZ rimfires. Probably a factor in CZ being so accurate, but makes cleaning, especially the 17, something that requires extra care. I tried a bore snake on our CZ 17s and it was barely doable. Could barely pull one with a brush through.

[henry22]

North Country Gal, I just returned that 3 piece rod, and they ordered a Pro-Shot for me, a single piece micro polished stainless steel rod. The guys at the hunting store swear by them more than carbon fiber.

My .17 Hoppe's boresnake is almost too loose. When I pull it through, (always wet with Ballistol or G96) it just slides out. There's some friction, but nothing like the friction using Para-Cord 325, with a loop sewn into itself - like my other hockey skate lace one. The small loop at the end is just big enough to slide a rectangular patch in, unfold it around the loop, and yank it through. Almost too tight at times. Once I bruised the outside blade of my hand - wearing a leather glove trying to pull it through, but it works.

This isn't necessary, it's only for the obsessive compulsive like me. The ideal scenario, would be using a normal pointed jag, but with a tiny, thin, round rubber disc pressed over the point - dead center, and then a round patch on top of that. You'd get a firm backer with the rubber disc, patch material over it, and it would compress against the inside of the barrel as it was pushed through.

So then, because of the number of rounds I typically put through my Henry, the same will apply to the CZ (about 100-125) each outing, that means you could use the rod & brush about every 500 hundred rounds, or after every 4 outings? Which is pretty much what you're saying you do.

NCG, when you do a shooting session, do you boresnake the rifle at all in between each outing, or no cleaning at all until you've gone out a few times?

Oh, sorry NCG, I forgot to ask, do you always use a bore-guide? Or can I just skip it if I'm "careful"? — Much thanks.

[North Country Gal]

I don't usually do anything to the bore between cleaning sessions, unless I've been out in wet or very humid conditions or unless I plan to put the gun away for a long time before shooting, again. I don't use a bore guide on a bolt gun because I'm cleaning from the breech end, not the muzzle end. I can clean from the muzzle end, though, by using my fingers as a bore guide so that the rod never touches the crown.

Overall, when it comes to cleaning the bore, I'm in the less is more camp. The more you run a rod up and down the bore, the greater the chance of damaging the bore. I let the gun tell me when the bore needs cleaning and it's not all that often, to be honest. The rest of the gun, though, gets a good cleaning after every outing. Again, this is what works for me. If it makes someone feel better to clean the bore after every outing, that's fine.

[henry22]

No, I'm not that into it, really. I just want a guideline. I've never bore brushed the Henry, only using a boresnake or hockey skate laces after each outing. I spray WD-40 onto 1 of the pull-through's I have, run it through maybe twice, and then once with Ballistol or G96 on the real boresnake just once, then I put it away. I do that whether I shoot 25 or 125 rounds. But maybe I'll start doing it less. It's probably unnecessary to clean it every time.

Now I'm thinking, the CZ after those first 40 shots, really started to tighten up. I'll have to re-foul it again next time.

Again, much thanks.

[North Country Gal]

You're very welcome. Glad you joined the CZ 455 club.