pellets : lubed or not?

[beerthief]

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.

nice review of lubricating , always like real life descriptions

 

[dizzums]

no .. polish the barrel instead with some 'clover' 600g .. just mostly avoid the crown ...

 

[abslayer]

Never mind the lube BUT weight and sort them is important​

 

[thane]

Closest I get to lubed pellets now... previous attempts resulted in scattergun groups and fouled barrels.

 

[wijib]

I use Whiscombe Honey. Can't verify if it does much

 

[baloo]

I use Whiscombe Honey. Can't verify if it does much

I do also and if nothing else, it keeps the barrel clean longer.

 

[BurntDog]

I've always kept my open ammo, lead or steel, lightly lubed w/pell gun oil and am under the belief it helps to improve velocity and keep everything else lubed it comes into contact with.

Best to use silicone based oil to avoid dieseling or damage to pcp internals and seals.

 

[2L8]

Cock, load, shoot...Repeat

Patrick

 

[drpietrzak]

I don't know if it helps but weight sorted with Bees Wax makes me feel better.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

I do it to help with shelf life. Few drops of 3in1 oil when I first get each tin. That's it

 

[1BadDart]

Same here. Over the last few years I've tried several lubes with no real improvement in accuracy and only a couple fps over the chrono. On the flip side my wife hasn't had to buy furniture polish very often.

I'm going to have to take backwater on the quoted post. After finding the pellet my TX200 liked best I revisited lubing. Using the suggested beeswax furniture polish there was a noticeable improvement in my 30 yard groups. I repeated the test several times to ensure it wasn't a fluke, in my rifle it wasn't.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[drpietrzak]

I'm going to have to take backwater on the quoted post. After finding the pellet my TX200 liked best I revisited lubing. Using the suggested beeswax furniture polish there was a noticeable improvement in my 30 yard groups. I repeated the test several times to ensure it wasn't a fluke, in my rifle it wasn't.

Your mileage may vary.

Same for my TX200.

 

[drpietrzak]

Today I did another test of weight sorted and lubed vs straight from the tin. I was shooting USA/NRA 50 (2006) targets at 50 feet. AA TX200 using AA Field Heavy.

Sorted and lubed (Bees Wax) 96 and 94. Unsorted or lubed 92, 96, 88. The has been consistent across several trials. It is consistently marginal but for me I like the margins.

The 2