HBN coating a 22lr barrel of a semi-auto rifle

[DartonJager]

Some time ago I bought three 22lr H&K 416D rifles for my sons and I and never shot them. Now that ammo prices are sky high and I have a good supply of 22lr rifle ammo I want to begin shooting them.
I am concerned about lead fouling in the barrels as lead can be a true PITA to remove.
I have a Hex boron nitrite bullet and barrel coating kit for my big boomers and was wondering about coating the inside of the 416's barrels will definitely help prevent lead from sticking to the barrel and make removing the lead easier and quicker and worth doing.
These rifles are still new in box and I never fired a single round from them. I just cleaned them well and put them in storage.
I ask because obviously I can not HBN coat the bullets because they are live 22lr rounds and don't know if only coating the barrel will be effective in minimizing the leads ability to stick the the lands and groves of the barrel.

Thanks,
Art.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I would just shoot to see how good the barrel is. If the rifle's barrel has been lapped and smooth, Should not have a leading problem. Running several rounds through the barrel will be proof.

Coating loaded 22 Lr in a tumbler could be dangerous of a primer firing. Also tumbling could change the texture of the powder and change its burn rate, Shell to Shell.

 

[ohdeer]

I'm using hBN, mainly to coat the bullets for my reloads for bigger calibers.

But since I'm making Ed's Red cleaning solution I've also added hBN to the cleaning mixture and use the same to clean out the 22 barrel. It does make the barrel slightly smoother I believe because it seems like the bullet velocity is a little lower now.

My opinion is still that you should always clean out the barrel after each session. I run the brass brush about as many times as shots I've been shooting (but I'm on a bolt action running only about 25-50 each session).

If you stick to unjacketed led bullets your .22lr barrel will live for many many thousands of shots. Unless you overheat it or let it build up led/soot deposits of course.

I'd not tumble live cartridges
I carefully run my reloaded hunting 308w & 6.5x55 SE cartridges in a sock with hBN powder in it to make them feed better. Perhaps you can do that? But it will not coat them enough to make a difference in the barrel I suspect.