Leading In A Barrel

[flagger]

I shoot my rifle in league shooting and for occasional plinking.
I use different pellets for each. Don't want to burn up my competition pellets for plinking.
If I use shoot competition pellets in league shooting, then switch and shoot "junk" pellets for plinking,
and then switch back to competition pellets for league shooting, do I have to shoot some competition pellets to relead my barrel with competition pellets for better accuracy?
Is this a thing or just a fallacy.
Thanks!

 

[markhooper]

I shoot my rifle in league shooting and for occasional plinking.
I use different pellets for each. Don't want to burn up my competition pellets for plinking.
If I use shoot competition pellets in league shooting, then switch and shoot "junk" pellets for plinking,
and then switch back to competition pellets for league shooting, do I have to shoot some competition pellets to relead my barrel with competition pellets for better accuracy?
Is this a thing or just a fallacy.
Thanks!

I don't know the answer..I personally clean the barrel with the next shot unless I have issues then clean and just shoot some more..
I think this polishing barrel, frequent cleaning, special lines, washing pellets and all that is too much.. course I'm not into tuning either, just shoot out of the box..
Mark

 

[6gun]

I shoot my rifle in league shooting and for occasional plinking.
I use different pellets for each. Don't want to burn up my competition pellets for plinking.
If I use shoot competition pellets in league shooting, then switch and shoot "junk" pellets for plinking,
and then switch back to competition pellets for league shooting, do I have to shoot some competition pellets to relead my barrel with competition pellets for better accuracy?
Is this a thing or just a fallacy.
Thanks!

If you shoot a harder alloy (cphp) for plinking, maybe the extra antimony would change your bore surface finish . I think having an electrolyte imbalance that day or being slightly dehydrated might cause more error

 

[6gun]

I don't know the answer..I personally clean the barrel with the next shot unless I have issues then clean and just shoot some more..
I think this polishing barrel, frequent cleaning, special lines, washing pellets and all that is too much.. course I'm not into tuning either, just shoot out of the box..
Mark

Washing and lubing pellets is all it took for me to get the 1 hole group I wanted. I don't sort by weight or size anymore. Getting flash out of the back of the skirts picked up a bunch of consistency for me with rotational stability.

 

[jkingrph]

I don't know the answer..I personally clean the barrel with the next shot unless I have issues then clean and just shoot some more..
I think this polishing barrel, frequent cleaning, special lines, washing pellets and all that is too much.. course I'm not into tuning either, just shoot out of the box..
Mark

I agree, I am not into this to win competitons, or awards, just simpy to have fun.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

I shoot my rifle in league shooting and for occasional plinking.
I use different pellets for each. Don't want to burn up my competition pellets for plinking.
If I use shoot competition pellets in league shooting, then switch and shoot "junk" pellets for plinking,
and then switch back to competition pellets for league shooting, do I have to shoot some competition pellets to relead my barrel with competition pellets for better accuracy?
Is this a thing or just a fallacy.
Thanks!

You can try lubing the plinking pellets. I find that rolling the pellets around in a tin with a silicone oil soaked foam keeps the bore lead-free and makes the shots consistent with my guns. But, every bore is different and the demands/results of tested accuracy of each should dictate your cleaning or lubing regimine.

 

[dgeesaman]

I think every gun/pellet combination can be different in terms of what cleaning keeps them going.

Centerfire benchest shooters tend to only settle for combinations that work with a spotlessly clean barrel. They also go through numerous barrels and bullet lots. So they probably miss some opportunities to find high performers that work best on a somewhat dirty barrel.

I tend to approach it that way too but I know of others with guns that shoot poorly with a very clean barrel.

And then there is the huge contentious topic of what is clean and how to obtain it. This can vary from pulling a couple dry patches to scrubbing out lead deposits. In my experience the patches only remove loose lead - rubbed-in lead deposits need deeper cleaning methods to remove them. And the benefit of scrubbing a Airguns barrel with anything even slightly aggressive is questionable considering that they’re not made from hardened steel and will otherwise last forever. Beyond the scope of this topic but relevant.

 

[Blankshot17]

Just an opinion, write out three methods for your concern and how to abate them. Chronicle the results and record the aftermath. Maybe this will help on finding a solution. As a suggestion, start with a very clean barrel and season with your prefered pellets, maybe 15 to 20 shots at leisure grouping in sets of 3 shots per bullseye to see any pattern shaping. If they end up stacking and performing normal, then record this as a set and then develop your plinking cheap ammo to see how it progresses off your recorded "set" and then when finished. Grab 15 to 20 [shooting a set of 3 rounds per bull] of your preferred pellets and see if you can 'scrub' back to your desired results, comparing to the "set" that you recorded. If not, then you have to adopt a different variable (introduce) such as lubing the cheap pellets and repeating the results. It is a process, and will be time consuming, but will give insight and maybe you can share with us and we could build off your results. Sorry I don't have any other insight and hope this might be of some service.

 

[JimD]

I don't have a specific sequence to suggest but I would let your gun tell you what it wants. You probably don't care as much but when you switch from your good pellets to plinking pellets you could shoot some groups to see if the accuracy is "normal". Then do the same when switching back to the good ones. You may find all is well, or a few shots and all is well or possibly that cleaning between is necessary.

I was disappointed with the accuracy of my P35-177. I enjoy shooting 30 yard challenge targets and my best scores have been with H&H Baracuda FT pellets
But after getting several targets 20 points low I switched to Baracuda Match pellets and got normal scores but not as high as I expect with the FTs. So I decided to clean the barrel and it was Very dirty. After cleaning it was still a few points low but much closer to it's best. So cleaning wasn't necessary for Match but really helped FTs. Both H&Ns. Going back and forth doesn't seem to make a difference. I have also shot Crosmans and JSBs and a few others from this gun. A few shots to check the zero seems to be enough of a transition.

 

[coastal drifter]

I do wash with dish soap and lube with Napier power pellet lube. I don't know if it helps But I have never needed to replace a breach Oring and rarely clean my barrels. Accuracy depends more on my skills I believe. I also just shoot 1 brand/weight pellet most the time.