Cleaning procedure, what's yours?

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I use a doubled up fishing line that’s longer than my barrel. I thread it down the barrel from muzzle to breach. I pull the looped line out of the breach and place a patch moistened with Ballistol. I pull the line out the muzzle. I repeat until the patch is semi clean. It would be easier if I could use Hoppe’s, but I hear that it’s not good for rubber seals. I usually do this after every session which is about a hundred shots or so. BTW lubed pellet foul the barrel far less than straight from the tin.
 
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I don't clean at all, even after many, many thousands of pellets. This is 10 years of shooting 5 different PCP,s. Still as accurate as I can shoot.
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I'm with badgerbob after cleaning and not cleaning with one of my guns anyway. 

I just cleaned one of my guns this weekend. BIG mistake. That barrel was shooting fine. 

I have another gun that requires cleaning around every 1000 pellets. Very rough barrel. 

Cleaning is kind of an individual gun thing to me.....


 
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When accuracy falls off I clean. I record the amount for each gun and after cleaning I put that amount in a tin. When the tin gets near empty I watch accuracy. Each gun is different. I have a Gamo break barrel that shoots about 100 pellets and then accuracy falls off. It is a little inconvenient but only takes about ten pellets to lead the barrel and then it is incredibly accurate. My Mrod doesn't seem to need to be cleaned much.
 
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I have found air rifle barrels to behave very similar to rimfire barrels, which is to say, it varies a lot. I think waiting for accuracy to fall off is generally a good routine. If you are a competitive BR shooter, maybe not. But most of those folks know their barrels well, and clean sufficiently to avoid an issue during a match. I use a 9 X 12 box filled with old magazines for a target holder in my back yard. Recently, I had my RAW out, had not shot it in a while so I don't know when the barrel was last cleaned. At 25 yards, the first shot missed the box! The next was only slightly better. I've never had a dirty barrel cause such dramatic results, so I first tested it on the chrono, thinking the hammer might need cleaning and lubricating, but the chrono showed good consistency. I knew from experience there was no pellet clipping going on with the moderator. So, I cleaned the barrel with a few pull-through patches and Ballistol, problem solved, accuracy restored. This episode was extreme, and I still don't understand it, but it happened, so don't underestimate the potential problem from a dirty barrel. 
 
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I don't clean at all, even after many, many thousands of pellets. This is 10 years of shooting 5 different PCP,s. Still as accurate as I can shoot.
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I'm in the never clean camp. I only clean my new guns when I first get them to get any factory gunk out. I also always clean my customers barrels once. 

Now, I do always wipe down my guns with a silicone cloth after shooting to keep the finish like new. I've been collecting and shooting AG's for 40 years. I learned early on that cleaning a barrel, does not change the accuracy of MY guns. I've owned over a hundred AG's. Every type, PCP, SSP, Springer, Pumper. All are/were high end guns. They all shot more accurate than I'm capable of, and I have a ton of shooting experience.

I think cleaning an AG barrel is way over stated. Just my opinion, and experience.

Scott
 
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I learned the hard way not to clean the bore and other internals as if it was a powder-burners. Dieseling happened like crazy. I will run a dry patch or felt through it once in a while to check for residue from certain pellets that I shoot (H&N's), but I don't do any agrressive swiping on the bore of any kind, and if I have to use any petroleum-based product I make SEVERAL runs through the bore to get as much of wiped out as possible.

Externally, I use a conservative amount of silicone-based lube (Liquid Wrench brand) on the barrel and then wipe once with a dry rag after a minute or two of letting the silicone bed in. Moving parts that require leverage/force like pins, bushings, or other load-based friction points on the cocking action, I use a lithium-based compound mixed 50/50 with a high-pressure specialty grease that WD-40 makes. Trigger components, I use Marvel Mystery air tool oil to keep things light and consistent.
 
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My RAW TM 1000 is cleaned after every outing because it works much better with a light pull through . Its does not like to be filthy , The other TM is the same , Only a very light pull though with bore snake is all it needs . The Red Wolf does not need anywhere near that much cleaning at all . I gave it a proper clean and it took forever to come back on . I actually thought I had broken it . It must have taken 70+ shots to come back on song . I am not going to clean it until it looses accuracy dramatically . Scared the hell out of me !!!



Rog 
 
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I know my guns very well and when I seem to see a bit of accuracy drop off, I pull a boresnake through about 3 times. i keep a drop of oil or two on the first part of the snake and it has no bronze brushes inside. I only add a drop of oil every year or so. I think this doesn't really clean the barrel, but it sort of lines the lead or whatever is in there back where it needs to be for accuracy. The accuracy fall off is in the range of all pellets inside a .5" hole at 27 yards for normal to pellets that begin to wander outside the hole. A few pulls and it's back to normal. I have a gun that walks it's way to the left as it gets dirty. It may take 500 pellets, but the poi will move around .5" at 27 yards as it starts to go off. It's easy to spot, so I always clean this gun before it starts the move. Like I say, I know when it's the gun and when it's me and it's taken a couple 100,000 pellets to get to that point of knowing.
 
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