Barrel lapping, cleaning and maintenance on Evanix Rainstorm 3D

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Bernie7

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Oct 19, 2022
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Manchester, NH
Hello AGN!

I’m about to perform full maintenance for the first time on one of my PCPs. It is an Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup .357 (Thanks Terry!!). I’ve pulled information from different parts of the site and YT vids and have some cleaners/lubricants coming in but I just wanted to make sure my process looked okay according to some more experienced members before I proceed.

You can skip down to the bottom for the TLDR questions

Basically I had a jam at the range and it totally locked up the gun (I’m fully aware this was probably my fault). The cocking lever is now stuck out and I can’t remove the magazine.

Of course I want to fix the jam, but also clean and lube the whole gun and lap the barrel while I’m at it. Honestly I probably should’ve ordered a Lane or Altaros regulator but I suppose I can always do that down the road…

Safety first! I’ve already unscrewed the pressure gauge to bleed all the air and I’ll be wearing my glasses the entire time.

I’m going to record the session incase I have a hard time getting everything back together and I have a piece of cardboard with some tape and a sharpie to label/record where each screw was pulled out from.

O rings will be wiped down with a damp paper towel, dried and then apply a small amount of silicone Super Lube with PTFE.
Metal pieces such as the cocking lever (and bolt???) will have a molybdenum paste/graphite aerosol lubricant applied. A member has advised Blaster Industrial Graphite Dry. I have also ordered a moly paste…
As far as cleaning and then lapping the barrel I’m purchasing a Dewey rod, bore mops and patches. As air gunners, do we ever need to use brushes or that’s only for pb barrels?

After cleaning it as good as I possibly can, I’ll use JB Bore paste, followed by Flitz (although I’ve seen people recommend rolite and white Diamond). And follow this YT tutorial
. Finish with a little frog lube/ballistol inside the barrel but make sure to patch it dry.

Then finally reassemble the whole thing and in the process give a light application of frog lube/ballistol to any exposed metal exteriors.

Which brings me to my tldr questions….
  1. On an area where I’d apply a graphite lubricant, or silicone grease should I also apply a CLP product first?
  2. Are there any chemical cleaning compounds/lubricants that can’t be mixed? Ammonia and Chlorine is well known to be dangerous for household cleaners, do I need to watch out for any air gun maintenance chemicals that react or are they basically all non reactive with one another…?
  3. Do I need to be concerned that there may be o rings that have hardened and will crack when disassembling the device and I won’t be able to put it back together without hunting down some oddly sized o rings? Basically should I order a kit ahead of time?
  4. Does anyone have experience with both Lane and Altaros regulators and feel one is superior to the other?
  5. Also for those who’ve used them, what are your thoughts on Dewey “Bore-tips”? These are the reusable foam ones, I know not to use them for lapping but do they clean well?

Any input of my process listed above is greatly welcomed as are links to pages/vids that you’d recommend. Thank you AGN!
 
If you want to smooth the bore, go for it. The nature of your questions shows an attention to detail and cautiousness that suggest to me there's a nearly zero chance you would end up with a barrel that performs worse. Only in hindsight can I fully appreciate how overstated the warnings were I read about years ago. I now routinely use a more aggressive regimen than J-B or Rolite.

At the same time it's not a magic wand. It does tend to extend cleaning intervals quite a bit, and in the process you will learn if the bore has loose or tight spots that need attention. Nic's tutorial is well researched and he does a good job explaining the process...not just the how but the why. The only thing I'd like to add is to suggest starting by giving the barrel an inspection for potential deficiencies in the leade, barrel port, and crown. Here's a guide I drafted that is geared toward the DIYer to identify and correct such things with simple tools.

Barrel troubleshooting and accurizing how-to - Airguns & Guns Forum

Barrel troubleshooting and accurizing how-to, Air guns, Airgun Forum
www.gatewaytoairguns.org
 
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@Bocephus Read through the entire thread. Logically this makes a lot of sense. I think I’m going to order some trewax. Motörhead seems to be a well respected tuner so if he’s using it, I’m in.

@nervoustrig Excellent guide, didn’t even think to investigate other areas of the barrel. The pictures in that post make it super clear for a beginner like me to understand. Somewhat of a shame the manufacturer would ship a barrel in that condition. Thank you!

@elh0102 My understanding was shooting couldn’t accomplish this as the lead is too soft. Otherwise no one would ever bother polishing, they’d just keep shooting it? Or does it just take a long time to get to that point so people don’t want to have to go through thousands of pellets/slugs to achieve this? I’ve never shot enough to be able to see a transition myself so I don’t know.
 
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Bernie7 said:
My understanding was shooting couldn’t accomplish this as the lead is too soft.
Click to expand...
That's correct. Lead will simply abrade and cover the surface fretting, causing the barrel to reach a state akin to homeostasis for a while...the process usually referred to as seasoning the barrel. The underlying roughness is still present. If you want it gone, an abrasive harder than steel is necessary.
 
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I think it depends on the specific nature of the bore imperfection. Many things that are not alleviated by shooting, may also not be fixed by polishing. I've seen positive results when the stuff to be removed is some old, stubborn leading, not metal. Some bores with machining damage are improved with lapping. That's real lapping with a lead lap and compound, done by someone proficient with the process.
 
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No disagreement with your points really. My previous comments are intended to address the process described in Nic's video which is geared directly at knocking down microscopic surface fretting left behind from the machining and rifling operations. Similar to what you're saying, it does nothing to alter the bore geometry...a poured lead lap is necessary for something like that.
 
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