Airgun Cleaning Tips

By Todd Cooper

The barrels of newly purchased airguns often contain preservative oils and possibly undesirable particles that are best removed prior to any shooting. Failure to remove these substances will usually result in less than optimum accuracy or possibly more serious problems.

Periodic barrel cleaning duties will help maintain accuracy by preventing unwanted buildup of foreign material. How often you clean depends on many factors. A low velocity single-stroke pneumatic pistol might go 5,000 or more pellets before accuracy is affected. A pre-changed pneumatic rifle shooting 1100 fps with hard pellets might require cleaning every 250 shots. The smoothness of the bore, use of pellet lubricants, and the type of pellet used are a few of the factors that affect the number of shots between cleaning sessions.

One of the most convenient systems of cleaning an airgun barrel is the common pull-through and cotton patch. I have a synthetic coated .177 caliber pull-through sold by OTIS but I still prefer my simple handmade pull-through.

Making a durable pull-through from weedwacker cord takes about 20 minutes and requires no special tools or skills. My .177 creation is now about 4 years old and still functioning fine. My .22 version is a over 2 years old. Both were made from 0.080” nylon weedwacker cord with the ends altered to “poke and pull”. One end was cut on a sharp angle to create a wedge shape that easily penetrates the cotton flannel patches. The other end was melted with a common disposable lighter and pushed against a pellet tin lid to form a flat disc. The disc was shaped with fine sandpaper and a nail file to make a pad for the patch to sit against when pulling through the bore. The precise shaping of the disc is what takes the most time and requires repeated checking during manufacture to achieve the snug friction fit in the bore (with patch).

For over 20 years I have been buying white cotton patch material from a local fabric shop. A square yard of material will make enough patches to keep most shooters happy for a long time. I cut ¾” or 1” squares for the .177 and .22 caliber airguns.

For cleaning solution I found a convenient 4 ounce bottle of Simple Green at the buck store that should last for several years. Other shooters prefer Goo-Gone, Formula 409, Fantastic or one of many specialized airgun cleaning products. A few dampened patches followed by a few dry patches is usually enough to clean the barrels I have encountered.

After every shooting session it’s always a good idea to wipe away any finger prints from metal parts. Salty finger prints often promote rust but a cotton cloth with a light amount of oil will remove the problem. I use either Slick 50 Lube-1 or Rem Oil but other selections such as Birchwood Casey Sheath work fine too. When using the oil it’s best to keep them from contacting any synthetic breech seals unless you are sure they are safe.

Main Page Other Reviews & Info