Simple question how do you feel on the subject of lube on ur pellets. I always give mine a good cleaning with Dawn and hot water but I'm curious on how people feel about the subject of lube and what brand or type they prefer
Lube or not to lube
- Thread starter Rodchair88
- Start date
Just one idiots opinion here......
I dont lube. Jsb straight out of the tin. If I was using a hand pump.....I would lube my pellets just to give my barrel some extra protection from moisture.
Only you can answer that question tho. Benchrest shooters go to extreme measures to prep their pellets. For me, it just takes all the fun out of it. Napiers seems to be a good pellet lube if you wanna give it a go. I jave read some barrels like it...others dont. I havent noticed a difference either way with my rifles. I shoot compressed air from a reputable scuba shop.....very dry air.
I dont lube. Jsb straight out of the tin. If I was using a hand pump.....I would lube my pellets just to give my barrel some extra protection from moisture.
Only you can answer that question tho. Benchrest shooters go to extreme measures to prep their pellets. For me, it just takes all the fun out of it. Napiers seems to be a good pellet lube if you wanna give it a go. I jave read some barrels like it...others dont. I havent noticed a difference either way with my rifles. I shoot compressed air from a reputable scuba shop.....very dry air.
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I've done little to no research on this topic in the last 6 years. But in the beginning, i think it was T. Gaylord, on the PA site, that promoted lubing pellets. I had just gotten my Marauder, .177, so i mixed up the appropriate amount of Hops oil and STP concoction, dampened the little foam in the cans with 8 or so drops, roll them around a little, and have been doing it ever since.
I have been using it on the .177 and .22, for six years and now the .25.
I can't tell you if it is what you should do, but i have had no issues with any of the guns, and they shoot true, real tac drivers.
And, i have never cleaned a barrel in any of the guns, the accuracy has always been consistent. The guns are stock.
Is it the lube or luck, i don't know.
I have been using it on the .177 and .22, for six years and now the .25.
I can't tell you if it is what you should do, but i have had no issues with any of the guns, and they shoot true, real tac drivers.
And, i have never cleaned a barrel in any of the guns, the accuracy has always been consistent. The guns are stock.
Is it the lube or luck, i don't know.
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I dont like to lube ,time mess cost ect. But if for any reason it makes the gun more accurate -lubed it is. It wont hurt to try a small batch,My p-rods pellets swim in pf-10 before they leave .easier to clean it ,and its tight.. Smooth twist I have 2 of at the moment and haven't tried it on either ,in my mind , its backwards from its design being grabbed at the last moment and twisted.sending it a greasy pig probably wont help,but helping the pellet slide past an imperfection in the barrel or just to get threw it sure seems to
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IMHO, depends on the gun & pellet. I started lubing hard lead Crosman Premiers for my R9 springer because my bore fouled rather quickly when the pellets were shot unlubed. Decades ago I started lubing my CPLs with Slick50 OneLube and lubing did allow more shots before needed bore cleanings and the cleanings were easier after lubing.
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I've never had success with lubes or waxes - always caused crazy poi shifts -
ive been told to try the Krytech chain lube/dry lube --
I put a wee bit in the bottom of a empty tin then swirled around a bunch of pellets -
dumping them into a dry paper towel -
this was an effort to minimize lead fouling of a barrel ----
well id never seen such shotgunning -
the chain lube rendered the pellets unusable
but in many rifles and using many lubes -I've never seen a positive outcome
could be just me?
CK
ive been told to try the Krytech chain lube/dry lube --
I put a wee bit in the bottom of a empty tin then swirled around a bunch of pellets -
dumping them into a dry paper towel -
this was an effort to minimize lead fouling of a barrel ----
well id never seen such shotgunning -
the chain lube rendered the pellets unusable
but in many rifles and using many lubes -I've never seen a positive outcome
could be just me?
CK
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"always caused crazy poi shifts"
Humm....very interesting because the only changes I noticed from using OneLube with my .177 bores HW was extended bore cleaning requirement. Neither velocity or grouping was affected, however I shoot only springers, not PCPs.
Humm....very interesting because the only changes I noticed from using OneLube with my .177 bores HW was extended bore cleaning requirement. Neither velocity or grouping was affected, however I shoot only springers, not PCPs.
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Could be it? But I'd never seen such erratic shots! Literally all over the place ---
somebody had told me I'd used to much? But after luging I did a thorough job of towel drying
CK
somebody had told me I'd used to much? But after luging I did a thorough job of towel drying
CK
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I don't know how you lubed but when I lube .177s for my R9 or HW95 I try to get only a film of lube on the rifling surfaces of the pellet. To do so I spritz a tiny bit of Slick50 OneLube from the aerosol can on the bottom of a dedicated pan, spread a thin film oil over the bottom and then dump in a box of CPLs. I gently stir the pellets around with my finger and then dump them back into the box for use later. With my springers the OneLube will diesel if it gets inside the pellet skirts so I take care never to spray lube on the pellets. Here is a box of CPLs being lubed...........
If my "loadin' fingers" have more than a very slight sheen on them after a shooting session I know that the pellets were excessively lubed!
Still...........I've read posts where some guns don't shoot lubed pellets as accurately as they shoot dry pellets so you're certainly not alone!
If my "loadin' fingers" have more than a very slight sheen on them after a shooting session I know that the pellets were excessively lubed!
Still...........I've read posts where some guns don't shoot lubed pellets as accurately as they shoot dry pellets so you're certainly not alone!
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I tested some JSB 16gr lubed in my Thomas BR yesterday and like you CK I got a few OMG! wild flyers. I shot (2) cards at 50y, I didn't score them, but most shots where within the 8 ring, however I had (7) of (50) shots on score go very wild, like POA off from POI by 3"+, like POA on bull #1 and hitting the bottom of the box on bull #7.
I shot a few (5) shot groups at 50y with the JSB 16gr and the H&N Piledriver both lubed. Accuracy was okay for 50y, but not truly good enough. The Piledrivers had the best groups. Going to try to get out again today and shot the same unlubed for a comparison. Looks like weather is going to be good, now if work will cooperate lol.
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I just seriously got into airgunning 11/16. I have 2 rifles a .22 and a .177 that I am setting up for FT and a .177 pistol. As you can imagine I have been buying lots of different pellets. The things I have noticed are, most pellets are dirty enough they leave lead residue on my fingers. I have also noticed these same little chunks inside the skirts. I know that part of that residue on my fingers is the machining lube, but the rest is for sure lead. I have dealt with this same thing in my BP cowboy action shooting. Since the rifling in most airguns is delicate in comparison to pb guns, I would think that cleaning of pellets would be a very common practice. Also some very light lubricant to keep pellets from oxidizing after cleaning.
My confuzzlement is, I am going to be shooting a .177 underlever in FT. What should I be using for a lubricant, that will prevent the dieseling I have read about. Curious about what others are using. Is just plain vegetable oil a good choice?
My confuzzlement is, I am going to be shooting a .177 underlever in FT. What should I be using for a lubricant, that will prevent the dieseling I have read about. Curious about what others are using. Is just plain vegetable oil a good choice?
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Well....personal opinions here...........
Actually, unless you're shooting Crosman pellets I doubt that you need to lube at all. Normally springer shooters don't lube their pellets as this can introduce dieseling unless done very carefully. The only reason I lube my CPLs is the fact that Crosman uses a harder lead alloy than a lot of pellet manufacturers and it seems that they tend to foul bores quickly relative to pure lead pellets. When my brother had Crosman pellet fouling that was so tight no amount of pulled patches woul remove it we started the search of a lube that would keep the fouling from "soldering" itself in the rifling. We ended up using Slick50 OneLube from the aerosol can and I've been lubing my CPs ever since.
For lubing my pellets I only want a film of lube on the rifling surfaces of the pellets and I accomplish this by spritzing a tiny bit of OneLube on the bottom of a dedicated pan and then evenly spread it around with my fingers. Thae a box of CPLs is dumped into the pan and gently stirred with my fingers to add a film on the pellet rifling surfaces. Here is a pic of some CPLs being lubed........
One thing I'm certain to avoid is spritzing lube directly on the pellets because the lube will get inside the pellet skirts and OneLube will diesel for sure. I do know some shooters that lube their pellets with Pledge furniture polish and some use like Finish Line wax bike chain lube for their pellets........
http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/chain-lubricants/wax-lube
Anywhoo.......if your gun shoots JSB, Air Arms, H&N FTTs or the H&N Sniper pellets accurately I doubt that you need to lube them since they're pre-lubed.
One of the issues I have with both the JSB Exacts and the H&N FTT is that the tins of pellets were pretty inconsistent for me. I'd shoot from one tin and get great accuracy but the next tin would be very inconsistent with mediocre accuracy,
Concerning "dirty loading fingers" I received a case of boxed CPLs a while back that had excess parting compound on them. I washed those pellets and dried them before lubing because the combination of parting compound (looked like powdered graphite) and lube "gummed up" the bore rather quickly. Years ago I received boxes of CPLs that had visible flakes of swarf in the boxes however I haven't had THAT issue for years. I did buy a tin of the Crosman Premier hollow points from WalMart and they actually shot well from my tight leade HW95 but my loading fingers looked like this after a shooting session...........
No visible swarf in the tin however.
Actually, unless you're shooting Crosman pellets I doubt that you need to lube at all. Normally springer shooters don't lube their pellets as this can introduce dieseling unless done very carefully. The only reason I lube my CPLs is the fact that Crosman uses a harder lead alloy than a lot of pellet manufacturers and it seems that they tend to foul bores quickly relative to pure lead pellets. When my brother had Crosman pellet fouling that was so tight no amount of pulled patches woul remove it we started the search of a lube that would keep the fouling from "soldering" itself in the rifling. We ended up using Slick50 OneLube from the aerosol can and I've been lubing my CPs ever since.
For lubing my pellets I only want a film of lube on the rifling surfaces of the pellets and I accomplish this by spritzing a tiny bit of OneLube on the bottom of a dedicated pan and then evenly spread it around with my fingers. Thae a box of CPLs is dumped into the pan and gently stirred with my fingers to add a film on the pellet rifling surfaces. Here is a pic of some CPLs being lubed........
One thing I'm certain to avoid is spritzing lube directly on the pellets because the lube will get inside the pellet skirts and OneLube will diesel for sure. I do know some shooters that lube their pellets with Pledge furniture polish and some use like Finish Line wax bike chain lube for their pellets........
http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/chain-lubricants/wax-lube
Anywhoo.......if your gun shoots JSB, Air Arms, H&N FTTs or the H&N Sniper pellets accurately I doubt that you need to lube them since they're pre-lubed.
One of the issues I have with both the JSB Exacts and the H&N FTT is that the tins of pellets were pretty inconsistent for me. I'd shoot from one tin and get great accuracy but the next tin would be very inconsistent with mediocre accuracy,
Concerning "dirty loading fingers" I received a case of boxed CPLs a while back that had excess parting compound on them. I washed those pellets and dried them before lubing because the combination of parting compound (looked like powdered graphite) and lube "gummed up" the bore rather quickly. Years ago I received boxes of CPLs that had visible flakes of swarf in the boxes however I haven't had THAT issue for years. I did buy a tin of the Crosman Premier hollow points from WalMart and they actually shot well from my tight leade HW95 but my loading fingers looked like this after a shooting session...........
No visible swarf in the tin however.
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Ed, you had asked in other thread what rifle I had gotten from Dwight. It is a like new fully tuned by Mike from Dragon XS46U. Shoots.177 9gr pellets at around 910fps per Mike. Like I had stated, I have been buying loads of different pellets to try in my .22 and this .177. I have noticed a bit of lead swarf and some kind of residue that darkens my fingers. What is that residue, probably graphite. Most of those bike products are chain dry lube that is paraffin based. I would think that might cause a buildup that might create a pellet that wobbles in flight. I was thinking a very light amount of ballistol would be the best, lube and clean each shot. Another product that I personally use a lot in my bp guns is bore butter, A very small amount melted to liquid state, never had probs with it clumping up in my bp guns and those have to be the dirtiest actions of any gun. I am going to experiment with a couple of ideas and see what happens. I will let ya know what I find out that works for "me"
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After I clean my barrels with patches, I run a patch of Dri Slide down the barrel and let it sit for a few hours to dry, It deposits a film of lube on the metal of the gun barrel
Just get it on your fingers and see how hard it is to get off, I have used this stuff on clutch cables and after 10 years the lube is still in the cable,
good stuff in my book.
Mike
Just get it on your fingers and see how hard it is to get off, I have used this stuff on clutch cables and after 10 years the lube is still in the cable,
good stuff in my book.
Mike
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IMHO.......you're over thinking this whole pellet lubing deal. The only reason I lube pellets at all for my R9/HW95 is that dry hard lead Crosman Premiers would foul the bore and the fouling was rather hard to remove. That was in th edays that I would tune my springers to shoot CPLs at around 910fps, however I've been using a less stressful tune of CPLs @ around 850-860fps for years now so I really don't know if Crosman pellets at the lower velocity will foul the barrel like they did at the higher velocity. Another consideration is the amount of shooting done because when I had "fouling issues" shooting dry CPLs I was shooting a 1250 count box per month (about 10,000 shots per year). At 70 years old I'm currently shooting about half as much so even if fouling were to occur the need to bore clean would be about twice as long. What I've been doing with OneLube has been working just fine for years so I personally see no reason to change except perhaps to shoot some un-lubed CPLs at my current velocity to see if there is actually some "excess fouling" compared to shooting them lubed. I do know that lubing my pellets didn't change the velocity or accuracy, it simply extended the bore clean interval.
Concerning accuracy of dirty bore/clean bore I tuned a HW97 for a fellow and after the tune I shot these "patterns" at only 18 yards..........
The reason I didn't clean the bore before tuning was that the owner said he had already did the bore clean yet the gun wasn't accurate. Well, I cleaned the bore with a couple pulled patches moistened with denatured alcohol and then a couple dry patches and this was the result at 18 yards......
When testing out the gun after tuning I noticed that he had the same older version of 4-12x40 Hawke Airmax EV mounted. I owned the same make scope previously and it would shift the poi simply by focusing. Just for grinns I moved up to 10 yards, refocused and sure enough......a lateral poi shift!
Here is a "before and after" bore clean with my .177 HW95...........
I noticed an issue when I shot the "zero bull" at only 18 yards, The next few shots at bull #9 and #10 showed that something wasn't right so I did a bore clean and then proceeded to shoot 10 shots at bull #1 to stabilize the group by lightly fouling the bore, then I shot Bulls #5,#6 & #7. LOL, don't hammer me too hard on the fliers because I do almost all my shooting sitting on a bucket resting the gun on cross sticks.
Pellet guns create no powder residue, no jacketed bullet fouling, and the velocities of the "springer variety" operate at much lower velocity than MOST powder burner. The only reason that an airgun bore needs to be cleaned at all is if the pellets are dirty or there is dieseling from excess lube which creates soot in the bore that's pretty easily removed. Years ago when my brother had dry CPL fouling that seemed to be "soldered on" his R9 was tuned to shoot at 920fps, plus if there was a "loose fitter" (pretty common around die #5-#7) he would simply "blow the shot off" because he knew a loose fitting CPL would be a flier. I theorize (don't know for sure) that the relatively high velocity hard lead CPL would be shaved a bit by the lands of the rifling when it entered the choke. This minute "shaving" would then get "packed in the rifling" by the next pellet. When the next "loose fitter" was shot there would be some more lead shaved, so on and so forth.
Anywhoo......I do clean my bores after shooting a box of lubed CPLs but until accuracy degrades there really isn't a need to mess with an airgun bore, I simply don't want the "accuracy degrade" to happen mid way through a field target match. LOL....I've read more than one post where the shooter claims he/she never cleans their airgun bore and the accuracy is always good.
Concerning accuracy of dirty bore/clean bore I tuned a HW97 for a fellow and after the tune I shot these "patterns" at only 18 yards..........
The reason I didn't clean the bore before tuning was that the owner said he had already did the bore clean yet the gun wasn't accurate. Well, I cleaned the bore with a couple pulled patches moistened with denatured alcohol and then a couple dry patches and this was the result at 18 yards......
When testing out the gun after tuning I noticed that he had the same older version of 4-12x40 Hawke Airmax EV mounted. I owned the same make scope previously and it would shift the poi simply by focusing. Just for grinns I moved up to 10 yards, refocused and sure enough......a lateral poi shift!
Here is a "before and after" bore clean with my .177 HW95...........
I noticed an issue when I shot the "zero bull" at only 18 yards, The next few shots at bull #9 and #10 showed that something wasn't right so I did a bore clean and then proceeded to shoot 10 shots at bull #1 to stabilize the group by lightly fouling the bore, then I shot Bulls #5,#6 & #7. LOL, don't hammer me too hard on the fliers because I do almost all my shooting sitting on a bucket resting the gun on cross sticks.
Pellet guns create no powder residue, no jacketed bullet fouling, and the velocities of the "springer variety" operate at much lower velocity than MOST powder burner. The only reason that an airgun bore needs to be cleaned at all is if the pellets are dirty or there is dieseling from excess lube which creates soot in the bore that's pretty easily removed. Years ago when my brother had dry CPL fouling that seemed to be "soldered on" his R9 was tuned to shoot at 920fps, plus if there was a "loose fitter" (pretty common around die #5-#7) he would simply "blow the shot off" because he knew a loose fitting CPL would be a flier. I theorize (don't know for sure) that the relatively high velocity hard lead CPL would be shaved a bit by the lands of the rifling when it entered the choke. This minute "shaving" would then get "packed in the rifling" by the next pellet. When the next "loose fitter" was shot there would be some more lead shaved, so on and so forth.
Anywhoo......I do clean my bores after shooting a box of lubed CPLs but until accuracy degrades there really isn't a need to mess with an airgun bore, I simply don't want the "accuracy degrade" to happen mid way through a field target match. LOL....I've read more than one post where the shooter claims he/she never cleans their airgun bore and the accuracy is always good.
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On cleaning. What be your opinion of not cleaning the barrel squeaky clean. Just a few patches removing most of the lead/lube but stopping when the last patch you pull thru just has a little light coating on it.
Objective to leave the barrel lightly seasoned to hasten a quick return to excellent accuracy. And eliminate the need for a few mags to be shot to lightly re lead the barrel.
Objective to leave the barrel lightly seasoned to hasten a quick return to excellent accuracy. And eliminate the need for a few mags to be shot to lightly re lead the barrel.
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I've read of shooters doing this and apparently it works, however I prefer to clean my bores "squeeky clean", foul the bore with a few pellets, and then shoot as before.
This way I know that I can shoot a 1250 count box of lubed CPLs and be good till I open a new box without waiting for the "patterns" to appear before a re-clean.
This way I know that I can shoot a 1250 count box of lubed CPLs and be good till I open a new box without waiting for the "patterns" to appear before a re-clean.
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I know what you mean you have a known starting point.
I have done it both ways, and only doing one time each, the lightly coated barrel was shooting accurately within 10 rounds, the other took about 25 to 30 rounds. For 6 years I only shot Crosman 14.3 and 10.4, 22 and 177 so I guess it was good that I started lubing right away.
I have done it both ways, and only doing one time each, the lightly coated barrel was shooting accurately within 10 rounds, the other took about 25 to 30 rounds. For 6 years I only shot Crosman 14.3 and 10.4, 22 and 177 so I guess it was good that I started lubing right away.
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For those that do lube pellets and even the bores for storage might I suggest Bore Butter, This is a black powder gun barrel lube.
I have actually taken my barrel off the gun (We are talking about a black powder barrel) lubed it and then seasoned it in the oven at 300 deg just like you would with a cast iron pan it works wonders. I don't advise doing this on air rifle barrels but I have used the bore butter on my .45 Texan as a swab after cleaning and it does work very well and I haven't noticed any flyers from using it. It is actually butter with some additives but it dramatically reduces fouling in my BP guns and seems to do the same in my Texan. Gander mountain carries it in the black powder gun section.
I have actually taken my barrel off the gun (We are talking about a black powder barrel) lubed it and then seasoned it in the oven at 300 deg just like you would with a cast iron pan it works wonders. I don't advise doing this on air rifle barrels but I have used the bore butter on my .45 Texan as a swab after cleaning and it does work very well and I haven't noticed any flyers from using it. It is actually butter with some additives but it dramatically reduces fouling in my BP guns and seems to do the same in my Texan. Gander mountain carries it in the black powder gun section.
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Willie, that is a good suggestion. I been using that stuff on my bp cowboy action revolvers, target and hunting bp rifles for years. It is a good product. I was wondering about heating some of it up and applying a thin layer in a pellet tin to coat pellets. I had already planned on using a small amount as lube for barrels. It definitely cuts the clean time of Blackpowder guns down a lot. Walmart also has it some times.
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