JackO:
My answers to your questions (others may differ):
Any auto needs a bit of breaking in, some more than others. Breaking in is just shooting a couple of hundred rounds, so that the friction points between moving parts mate themselves to one another. Unlike a diesel engine, there is no harm in not specifically breaking the gun in, but don't form any firm conclusions about how well it cycles until it has had several hundred rounds through it.
The only patch I ever put down the bore of a .22 is the first one to remove the manufacturer's preservative. I believe that running a rod down the bore of a .22, particularly if you have to do it from the muzzle end, does more harm than good.
On the other hand, before shooting for record (or even practice) I put a half dozen rounds into the backstop, just to loosen up the wax left in the bore from the last session.
After the bore (in non-stainless centerfires), the most important lube point in an auto is the slide rail joint. Here too much can be as bad as too little. My recommendation would be to get those rails and slots dry, put in a small drop of light gun oil (I recommend using a so-called lube syringe that you can buy in a woodworking store, such as Rocklers), and then swab that drop around with the end of an ice cream popsicle stick. (This is easier if you whittle the end down a bit and put a flat point on it.)
Lubing the return spring is unnecessary, and a light coat of lube on the guide rod may be useful as a preservative but is not necessary as a mechanical lubricant.
Particularly with a carry auto, you should periodically take the time to chase and remove the dust and lint that gets into the lockwork. And once a year or so, if you have the ability to strip the gun sufficiently to get access to them, I'd put a very small amount of light gun oil on the pins in the lockwork (hammer, trigger, sear). With Government Model pattern guns, I like to remove and clean and very lightly lube the disconnector every once in a while.
There are two schools of thought as to whether there should be any lube of the area of the barrel that contacts the bushing when the gun is in battery, particularly with those guns that use collet-type bushings. I won't enter the debate, but if you want to know, I wipe the barrel with a cloth that was clean before it had just the smallest amount of light gun oil put on it.
Doubtless I've left out some other things that should be done.
