you will get a lot of opinions on this topic. as a field target shooter i know that many in this sport do lube. i use FP 10, but there are several good lubes out there. for the most part lubing will help keep the barrel cleaner for a longer period, and get rid of the lead dust that is included with some pellets. cleaning is easy and most necessary with the crossman pellets, as they tend to have a lot of lead residue present. put them in a plastic container, add dish soap and mix them around for several minutes. then dump them into a strainer and rinse. let dry and then lube (very, very small amount).for lubing i use a plastic box with a cover and put a few drops on the side of the box, then roll the pellets around. my experience is that the AA and JSB pellets rarely need cleaning. a little experimenting with your gun and different pellet procedures will give you the answer that works for you.