The guy that suggested water down the barrel to me built the Olympic 22 RF rifles in 1990, worked R&D for most of the major gun makers, Federal, and invented the 17 HMR.
Until the barrel steel gets to 800*, water down the barrel will not hurt the steel.
Just make sure that you use a tight punch type jag on 4 patches down the barrel, and dry the chamber...this ain't anywhere near rocket science.
