Ok, so here is the shinny. I have only been shooting air guns for a year, actually air gun, but I have over 15,000 pellets through my Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1. It seems my rifle fouls or something very quickly. If I clean the barrel it will group great but accuracy goes south quickly. I mean after only 100 pellets I start getting fliers.I have tried many pellets and am shooting H and N FTT 5.53mm head size The target I have shown was shot at twelve yards abd has two groups. The one on the right has five shots with each shot numberd in the order they were shot. The group on the left was shot after I cleaned the barrel and are numbered in the order shot with the first three on top of each other, the forth moving up and left slightly and the last three further up and left. I am going to shoot this rifle for a few days on this target to see exactly where accuracy starts to drop off but I know I won't make it to 100 shots. I was wondering if there is something I can do such as polish the bore to help the situation and what I might need to get to do it. I have just bought a Marauder and that is what I am shooting the most but I don't see me ever giving up on break barrels. One last question. Is there a twelve step program for air rifle addiction? 
Please Look at my Target and Help me figure this out.
- Thread starter profsrgary
- Start date
I'll be the first to say it: JB bore compound. you wouldn't think it, but the stuff works wonders on barrels that are fouling too rapidly.
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That looks rather convincing...that it straightens out after a good cleaning.
Yes, I would most definitely give the bore some attention. I like to use a good ball-bearing rod so the patches will follow the rifling. Some folks don't worry too much about it. A jag with cotton T-shirt or flannel material works well, apply some light oil and fine friable abrasive (e.g J-B bore compound, Flitz polish, or rottenstone). Work from the breech end so as to avoid raking the rod across the crown. Apply more strokes to that end and progressively fewer out near the muzzle, and try not to push the patch all the way out. I clamp a block in place so I don't have to worry about it).
For a typical barrel, I'll apply about 100 strokes near the breech and about 30 near the muzzle, loading a new patch and abrasive every 15-20 strokes.
If the barrel is known to foul quickly, I will double it.
Some folks are understandably concerned about ruining a barrel. The word "abrasive" is kinda scary but these are extraordinarily fine. Your arms will get tired long before you remove enough material to enlarge the bore.
This is kinda a Cliff's Notes version. If you want to read more, please refer to this accurizing guide:
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=130555
Yes, I would most definitely give the bore some attention. I like to use a good ball-bearing rod so the patches will follow the rifling. Some folks don't worry too much about it. A jag with cotton T-shirt or flannel material works well, apply some light oil and fine friable abrasive (e.g J-B bore compound, Flitz polish, or rottenstone). Work from the breech end so as to avoid raking the rod across the crown. Apply more strokes to that end and progressively fewer out near the muzzle, and try not to push the patch all the way out. I clamp a block in place so I don't have to worry about it).
For a typical barrel, I'll apply about 100 strokes near the breech and about 30 near the muzzle, loading a new patch and abrasive every 15-20 strokes.
If the barrel is known to foul quickly, I will double it.
Some folks are understandably concerned about ruining a barrel. The word "abrasive" is kinda scary but these are extraordinarily fine. Your arms will get tired long before you remove enough material to enlarge the bore.
This is kinda a Cliff's Notes version. If you want to read more, please refer to this accurizing guide:
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=130555
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How much “junk” are you getting out of the barrel when you clean it?
I’ve never seen anything like that in my 40 plus years of shooting.
Now the high power springers probably do needed cleaned regularly and polishing the bore might help .
When you push a tight patch down the bore do you feel anything “different “ as you go down the length of the barrel.
I’ve never seen anything like that in my 40 plus years of shooting.
Now the high power springers probably do needed cleaned regularly and polishing the bore might help .
When you push a tight patch down the bore do you feel anything “different “ as you go down the length of the barrel.
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jb cleaner is one way , another way is 3 grit wheeler compound and hone with this or fire 10 pellets each grit , thn clean barrel .or use a cleaning rod with a slug with lines cut in it with the compound .
last way is fine cloth paper 8000 then 10000 then 20000 can polish either with hnd drill or best with a lathe
I do polish and hone all my gun barrels for same reason lso this is another thing I do
I also wash and dry and sort my ammo and I apply a few drop of FP-10 oil to my slugs and pellets and this raises accuracy and cuts cleaning by 90% and increases accuracy a lot LOU
last way is fine cloth paper 8000 then 10000 then 20000 can polish either with hnd drill or best with a lathe
I do polish and hone all my gun barrels for same reason lso this is another thing I do
I also wash and dry and sort my ammo and I apply a few drop of FP-10 oil to my slugs and pellets and this raises accuracy and cuts cleaning by 90% and increases accuracy a lot LOU
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Thanks for the response guys. I will try some bore compound after I complete my test to get an exact count before accuracy falls off. That way I will know how much improvement it makes. To answer your questions Bubblerboy, the patch runs smooth but pretty dirty. Until I narrowed it down to the dirty barrel I was sure I had a scope problem but I checked it out and it is fine. Another thing I have found. When the barrel is clean if I shoot the H and N FTT and the Crosman 14.3 gr they will impact about 1" apart at twelve yards. The more shots with the H andN down the barrel the closer the poi until they are the same. Then if I shoot an H and N about every ten pellets the crosmans shoot very well. I have wondered if it could be the lube on the pellets building up. When I clean my rifle I finish with a patch saturated with 92% rubbing alcohol and blow out with 125 psi compressed air. The first few pellets are through one hole when I do that., if not it takes 6 to 8 pellets to settle in.
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I’m at a loss as to what is causing your accuracy problem. I’ve got a bore scope I’d love to be able to look at that barrel. My guess is the barrel is ruff and because the gun shoots at high velocity it’s stripping lead off the pellets fouling the bore. What blows a hole in that theory is the business of a bone dry barrel shooting better. It would seem logical that a ruff barrel would do better with some lube .
I’d scrub the dickens out of that thing with some JB paste and then maybe try a very light application of some pellet lube.
I’d scrub the dickens out of that thing with some JB paste and then maybe try a very light application of some pellet lube.
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I went down the lube path several months ago and the lube did stretch out the number of pellets impressively. The problem was since my rifles are mainly for shooting pests and hunting they have to be first shot accurate. When lubing pellets my first shot was always about 3/4" low at twelve yards and it took two more to be at zero. I was lubing very lightly with a bicycle chain lube I got at Walmart that was recommended by someone on an airgun forum. At the present time my breakbarrel shooting is limited to a few shots a day because I have inflammation of the shoulder facia and am going to PT three times a week. If you ever had planer fasciitis you have an idea what it is like. Anyway thanks for the input and I will keep all posted as I am able.
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Hi professor. I was thinking,uhoh,, it might help if you could study the pellet after shooting it into a really soft pellet trap,like a pillow maybe. And maybe compare that to one of those copper coated pellets shot the same way. Who knows,, something may present itself. I wonder if u can get a replacement barrel for it,uhoh,,lol
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Well guys I have may have corrected the problem and not actually done much. Some made the suggestion of lubing the pellets which I had done before and got so many shots between cleanings that I couldn't give you an exact count. The problem was the lube I was using was a bicycle chain lube that created a waxy surface on the pellets when the solvent evaporated. This then made the first few shots hit low which isn't a problem when punching paper but when pesting it is not good. So I cleaned the barrel but did not polish it. I cleaned it with WD-40 and simply patched it dry with no alcohol to remove the oil. Then I took 50 pellets and put them in a lid with 1 drop of WD-40 and rolled them around. I started shooting (something I probably should not be doing till I get over the shoulder issue but that is what happens when addicted to something) and it wasn't pretty. 1st one out the gate dieseled a bit and the next couple were a little wild but then things came together. I shot as long as my shoulder would allow and zeroed my scope. The next day would tell the tail as I thought the first one would be a flier due to the lube. First shot at 12 yards dead on. I shot three more and shut down. Over the last two days I have several times but only a few shots each time and can tell you I am happier than a pig in slop. I have at least 100 shots since cleaning and it looks promising. As I said I am a newbie even though I have shot a lot of shots since getting into air guns and I may have read it wrong. I was using alcohol to get all the oil out of the barrel to prevent dieseling and that may have caused the barrel to lead more quickly. I will shoot as shoulder allows and see where this goes and keep you guys posted. Many thanks to all!!! It is kind of funny. I figured when I got my PCP the break barrel would sit. Nope! The Marauder is almost a sure thing when I pull the trigger but I love my break barrel. I would have to say even though I have shot powder burners for over fifty years I have learned more about shooting in the 12 and a half months I have been shooting the gas piston. Again, thanks to all, Gary
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try other pellets
might be that simple....
or try sorting and weighing the ones you are shooting.
might be that simple....
or try sorting and weighing the ones you are shooting.
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