Clean your barrel

Thanks Broozer. I freaked out today also when all of a sudden my Cricket started spraying while shooting against Mike(@centercut) on a paintball rapid. He beat the crap outta me. I whined and told him my gun was no good, the scope was bad, he gave me bad air, etc. Well it seems I had moved my front rest from the forearm to under the air tube and it was pressing up against the shroud thus moving the barrel. So after I got the stinkeye for idiocy it went right back to zero. ( he still beat me, again). cheers

Good plan my man !!!

By the way the Crosman premiers are actually way harder lead than JSBs...

And the leading of the barrel is from the different alloys they use to make them!

Wash them and use a very small amount of lube on them and won't have to clean as often. 

James from Michigan, 

"he gave me bad air"

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Hahaha Nice! 

That's the first time I've heard that excuse before! Too funny!

 

Sam -

Just a note on pellets:

I usually shoot 3 main brands: *Crosman Premier, *H&N, *JSB
I use the Crosman Premiers to 'lead in' the barrels, then move on to the others.. 
Premiers are the hardest of the 3. H&N are in the middle. JSB are the softest.. 

Just this winter alone, I have sent thousands of Premiers down the barrels of 6 guns.. 
I haven't had a single issue with them. I don't wash or lube them.. 
Then as for cleaning, I tend to get the gun, test fire them w/ the filthy factory barrels 1st, 
then clean them later and compare . . . 

I haven't re-cleaned any of the 6 guns yet - And they're all still shooting dead on..

Maybe it's because at this point, I switch between all 3 types of leads all the time?

It's been interesting..

But when it comes time to clean, I'll do that, and before expecting any great results, 
I'll fire about 250-500 rounds - just to get things broken in / leaded in again.. 
After that, the results usually get better and better.

 

Sam -

Not a springer story, but I was shooting my RAW HM1000 yesterday, after having put it away for several weeks, can't remember when I had cleaned it. Anyway, I put a target on my backyard target box, about 8"X12", at 25 yards, and proceeded to shoot. First shot was 2" off POA, and the next missed the box! For this rifle, that is absurd. Checked it on the chrono and it was fine, so I knew the problem almost had to be barrel related. After about a dozen pull through patches I shot again. It took three shots to settle in, and then back to one-hole accuracy. Obviously, a fouled barrel will hurt accuracy, no secret there, but I have never seen such a dramatic result. In my experience, most air rifle barrels don't need cleaning often, but if things go crazy, don't underestimate the potential effect of a dirty barrel. 

Broozer. I had the same thing happen recently. And it was not the first time. I also started a thread with a before and after pic to show the results of cleaning. I don't wash my Crosman premiers but I lay them on a white paper towel and roll them around to separate the pellets from the loose flashing. Then I put about 50 in a tin with one drop of White Lightning bicycle chain lube (for dry chains) and roll them around, This extends number of shots between cleanings. These groups were shot over a period of several days with at least an hour between each group. They were shot at 12 yards off of a camera tripod with no support on the stock butt other than my shoulder. The purpose of the test was to come up with a solution to the problem of first shot fliers. The test was done with a Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1. The lube is available at Walmart in the bike section an is around $5 or a little more if memory serves me. Most of the groups were five shot but a few went higher as I was shooting well and just didn't want to stop.lol. Ya know how that goes.

If you shoot CPs, or have recently switched to them, I can see where a good barrel cleaning might be necessary. I find them to be relatively dirty compared with other brands.



In my springers where I shoot only JSB I find that I don’t need to clean the barrel.



R

My theory based only on antidotal notes. Using lubed pellets definitely increases accuracy in some barrels. However, during storage the oil deposited in the bbl changes in some way and affects the accuracy and POI when the gun is resumed shooting until the bbl is shot enough to stabilize conditions again. I have noticed this is more pronounced in colder temperatures possibly due to viscosity change or oil migration. It seems to be akin to the "fouling shots" needed after a thorough cleaning in some barrels. For this reason I do not use lubed pellets in my hunting guns. I have run no scientific tests to validate this theory yet.

My theory based only on antidotal notes. Using lubed pellets definitely increases accuracy in some barrels. However, during storage the oil deposited in the bbl changes in some way and affects the accuracy and POI when the gun is resumed shooting until the bbl is shot enough to stabilize conditions again. I have noticed this is more pronounced in colder temperatures possibly due to viscosity change or oil migration. It seems to be akin to the "fouling shots" needed after a thorough cleaning in some barrels. For this reason I do not use lubed pellets in my hunting guns. I have run no scientific tests to validate this theory yet.

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The White Lightning lube that is shown in my photo isn't exactly an oil. It dries in seconds and can be removed with rubbing alcohol. The pellets are dry to touch. As far as viscosity change the lube may become harder at low temps but I only use it in Crosman pellets which are mostly shot indoors and the H and N pellets are lubed at the factory.

profsrgary,

That was some great info you left up above.
I used to run a bike shop years ago, and swear by White Lightning lubes.. Great stuff.. 
Self-cleaning / Wax-lube seems like it'd be a really interesting choice..
Anyways, I noticed that you mentioned those annoying '1st shot flyers'..
Yessir, I notice that on almost all of my rifles also. 
I was just told that I need a new regulator for a brand new gun..
Neh, not if all of my non regulated models do the same thing.. 
And what did they all have in common? Crosman Premier 14 g pellets [Not a bad thing]

I consider them to be relatively clean - but - a quick clean sounds like a nice idea..
Also, they're 'dry' feeling to the touch, where I noticed w/ H&N, I notice the 'lubed / waxy' feeling..

As of last and this year - I've noticed that all of the JSBs I've used were the 'dirtiest'.

I haven't cleaned any of them - yet - But, I might have to do a few of each, 
and do a 'shoot out / comparison'. now..

 

Sam -

Guess I'm from the other camp....bought my first TX 200 back in 91' In 10 years of owning that gun I shot about 250k pellets through it. Only ever shot Crosman Premier 7.9gr (they were "thee" pellet back then) through it. After each box 3 or 4 Beeman cleaning pellets.... ( they're like felt pellets) dry....back to shooting. Gun never lost accuracy except when the springs would fag out. (Went through 5 or 6 springs in that gun) Sold the gun...reget.....and the old guy I sold it to shot it for 10 more years before he passed. He never cleaned it and said it was his most accurate gun. I use the same ritual on my springers now and haven't experienced any lose of accuracy and I shoot alot. 300 or so shots this past Saturday in my HW97.

By the way I am trying to buy that TX back from the old guys family. 

Boozer, I shoot them in my 22 cal Gamo Mach 1 as well as my Marauder. I get the 5.53mm head size and they shoot well. They are accurate but a little harder than JSB.

Brislee,

That is so cool to read! It's awesome when things like that happen. 
I had a few old Tech Force springers like that.. They'd eat and spit out Anything I threw in them, 
shoot amazingly accurately, and just keep coming back for more.. Barrel cleaning? What's that? Never! haha 
I say the same thing every time I think back to them . . . I really wish I hadn't sold them, and one of these days, 
I hope to get at least 1 of them back. [Sold - more like Gave to a friend]

Best of luck getting your paws back on your old TX-200!

 

Sam -

I was reading a similar post back in 2017 and posted this, I was using and still do H&N 14.65 gr pellets.



I was reading a thread in Target Shooting “Cleaning my target gun” and I thought well I have put through over 800 pellets through my new Walther I’ll give her a clean…………..OUCH!!!!

That was last night, so before lunch I thought I’d have a plink. Set up my 25 meter Target and unleashed holy hell. Now some of the bad shots were probably me BUT



Im never ever ever ever doing that again. Until next time lol

Guys,

I’m getting ready to order pellets. How do HN FT trophys shoot in your hw guns? So far with my 97, cps, superdomes, and jsbs will shoot. I like the fact that they come lubed from the factory. 

Thanks

Gabe

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My one HW97 loves the H&N Field Target Trophies in 4,51 Makes sense to me to start with the pellets that the guns were probably designed to use. German pellets have to be the easiest pellets to get in the weihrauch guns home land

Is it weird that i have never cleaned any of my barrels? I clean and lubricate the rest of my air rifles and guns often but I never do the internal barrel I'm part of the Al Bundy clan and believe you never clean the ash out of your bbq. All my rifles have always remained true with the exception of flyers and lose screws but if I ever do develop a problem with accuracy that I can't figure out I guess I'll try cleaning the barrel. P.s i shoot a lot. A Hole lot.

If it ain't broke, don't screw it up Read lots of time where someone will clean their barrel and lose all accuracy. Most times you just have to shoot the gun again (sometimes alot) to get the accuracy back. And if the gun suddenly loses accuracy, cleaning the barrel might be necessary (might) But if the gun shoots good, leave it be.