pellets : lubed or not?

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You need to try to know for sure. With springers you should not use petroleum lubes as they can ignite unless the carrier has evaprated from the pellet. Be very carefull not to fill the skirt with lube as this can cause dieseling. Back in the early 90's I discovered beeswax spray from a group of shooters from England during a world match. I started using this beeswax spray as it is all natural, wont harm plastic seals, great for your wood stock, doesnt buildup, makes barrel cleaning very easy!! The best part, it has improved accuracy in every gun I have ever used it in!! Have never had an actual complaint about this stuff. Pleasant smell, no nasty feel or smell on your fingers. The carrier evaporates quickly, dries in minutes, keeps pellets from oxidising...Best of all it wont hurt a single thing in or outside of your gun, actually is a natural moisture removal product even for metal.. Your call....
 
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So I did a little research on it. Seems that it's only necessary for the prevention of leading in the barrels of higher velocity guns. I only have one of those and it's just too much drama to shoot.

Here's an article about it from Tom Gaylord with a recipe (and an argument about it in the thread at the bottom.) - https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2008/02/how-to-lubricate-pellets/

Your results may vary.

J~
 
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Thank you for your answers , guys ; I hope to shoot some pellets with my old Diana 350 Magnum one of these days , 'cause the wind is blowing for a week now. I'll try some JSB and H&N 14gr at 20 yards , but I guess there should be no difference in performances using lube or not. I'll take some pics to post .
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You will never know for sure until you try !!!
 
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AirShot said:
You need to try to know for sure. With springers you should not use petroleum lubes as they can ignite unless the carrier has evaprated from the pellet. Be very carefull not to fill the skirt with lube as this can cause dieseling. Back in the early 90's I discovered beeswax spray from a group of shooters from England during a world match. I started using this beeswax spray as it is all natural, wont harm plastic seals, great for your wood stock, doesnt buildup, makes barrel cleaning very easy!! The best part, it has improved accuracy in every gun I have ever used it in!! Have never had an actual complaint about this stuff. Pleasant smell, no nasty feel or smell on your fingers. The carrier evaporates quickly, dries in minutes, keeps pellets from oxidising...Best of all it wont hurt a single thing in or outside of your gun, actually is a natural moisture removal product even for metal.. Your call....
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Anyone know where I can buy this all natural beeswax spray SAFE for pcp air guns?
 
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The best lube for an airgun barrel is 30-50 pellets put through the gun which adds a meniscus of lead to the bore.
This also becomes a stable medium which is constant (after the barrel has become leaded that is)
The addition of any pellet lube, may improve things for periods of time but cannot remain perfectly consistent, as the lube dissipates, or at the beginning when there is a higher proportion.
So for me, i would need to be seeing big differences to bother using it.

One caveat….If we ever have to go over to non lead pellets, these wretched things do not lead up and will require a pellet lube.
 
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Seen a reference to using Maxima Chain Wax (motorcycle chain lube) as a pellet lube. Given I always have a can or two of it setting around, thought about trying it on some of my .22 pellets for the Gamo gas piston. Seems it is more needed for faster shooting guns, and the 'ol Gamo spits them out pretty fast. Worth a try and probably won't hurt anything..
 
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MoHillbilly said:
Seen a reference to using Maxima Chain Wax (motorcycle chain lube) as a pellet lube. Given I always have a can or two of it setting around, thought about trying it on some of my .22 pellets for the Gamo gas piston. Seems it is more needed for faster shooting guns, and the 'ol Gamo spits them out pretty fast. Worth a try and probably won't hurt anything..
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I would try and stay away from petroleum based if it is, just a reminder I'm sure you know.
 
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BurntDog said:
I would try and stay away from petroleum based if it is, just a reminder I'm sure you know.
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Good point. Looked up the MSDS on it, it does contain "synthetic ester based oils", so I'll try it on a couple and see if it gives any indication of dieseling. If good, I'll try some more, if not, then I know..:)
 
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maxtrouble said:
Never tried it, but I used to live in the same town this stuff is made in. Weird.

The Original Bee's Wax Furniture Polish | America's Premier Polish

beeswaxpolish.com beeswaxpolish.com
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I ordered some last night. I looked at a can of pledge and don't think I care to throw some of those chemicals down my barrel. I have a moderate background as a pharmacist, and some just strike me as being possibly corrosive. Beeswax sounds good, I have made a bullet lube using beeswax and neatsfoots oil, for my black powder cartridge rifle. It's been a while, and I think Murphy's oil soap was an ingredient. It worked well kept the hands soft and smooth, best thing was that at black powder velociites it prevented leading, using the lube in the bullet grooves and as a wax patch behind the bullet it kept black powder fouling soft. It's a soft to firm paste depending upon temperature so would be difficult to use as a pellet lube.

I started using some of the hornady one shot cleaner/lube, spray pellets in a can, roll around to coat while wet and let dry. It was recommended for lubing a Ruger 10-22 rifle instead of a wet oil to prevent the build up of sludge from powder fouling and oil combing. It works well in that application in that a receiver thus lubed is slick and most fouling remaings dry and can be brushed or blown out. It does seem to make pellets feel slicker.
 
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I started seeing pellet corkscrewing at distances past 50 yards in my AirForce air rifles. Even after a good cleaning, and getting the lead out of the barrel the corkscrewing would return after about a dozen rounds.

Out of desperation, I started putting a few drops of Ballistol in the tin of pellets then rotating them gently for several minutes.

Problem solved. No more corkscrewing.

PS: I read the Tom Gaylord article linked above and took particular note about the speeds which leading occurs. Depending on the caliber and the weight of the pellet, I'm driving them from about 780-1000 FPS. So the article verified my original assessment on the need for lubrication.
 
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