The Truth About Cleaning Air Gun Barrels, Air guns, Airgun Forum
www.gatewaytoairguns.org
Robert Sterne said:
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I use the VFG cleaning pellets of the appropriate caliber, on a mandrel that screws into a standard 8-32 cleaning rod, and lap from the breech.... There are two mandrels, the larger for .30 cal. and up.... and they are long enough to use two pellets at once, which is what I do.... On a new barrel, I use the method suggested by Sean Pero, which is 100 strokes full length, being careful not to run the pellets right out the muzzle on every stroke (it happens occasionally. which is OK).... I replace the Bore Paste every 20 strokes.... I then reduce the stroke about 1" for every 4 strokes, so for a 25" barrel the breech gets a total of 200 strokes, but the muzzle only the initial 100, with more strokes the closer you get to the breech.... Sean says this produces a very slight taper to the bore.... I then clean out all the grit, swab it with a couple of patches of solvent, then dry it, and switch over to the Bore Bright for the final 20 strokes, which leaves it gleaming smooth....
I now prep all my new barrels this way, regardless of brand, caliber, or projectile.... I think it not only makes them more accurate, but it takes longer for them to foul.... When I see leading (which usually shows up near the muzzle first) I swab out the barrel with Hoppe's #9, dry it, and then give it 20 strokes or so with Bore Bright, which puts that shine back on it.... Sean says that lead builds up in micro scratches in the bore, and eventually it goes longer, sometimes much longer, between cleans.... Whether the lead fills the scratches or you just eventually polish them all out with the Bore Bright I don't know, but the cleaning intervals do seem to increase over time.... I shoot almost all my guns in the mid 900s, so haven't noticed any difference in how they lead relative to velocity, but it makes sense that the faster you shoot, the quicker they will foul up....
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