How I Clean My Air Gun Barrel
Tony Fouracres talks us through the process of how he keeps the barrel of his air rifle clean.
The cleaning of an Airgun barrel can be a controversial subject; some never clean at all, others just when their accuracy groups open up, and some clean them frequently. For me, keeping the barrel of my EV2 mk4 clean and in tip-top condition is very important to achieve maximum accuracy from the gun when Field Target Shooting. I tend to give the barrel a light clean every 150 to 200 shots, and especially before a competition.
Personally, I use the Napier ‘Gun Cleaner’ and ‘Rifle Clean’ for this, but other makes are available. I prefer to make my own ‘Pull Through’ from 100lb nylon-coated stainless steel fishing trace wire, folded in two and attached to a small handle. This is very strong, does the job perfectly and in all my years it has never broken, leaving the ‘Patch’ (a little piece of cleaning cloth) stuck inside the barrel.
Firstly, I turn the gun upside down in the maintenance cradle. This is to ensure that no cleaning fluid (or oil) accidentally runs down into the air transfer port, as this may cause future problems. Never spray the cleaning fluid directly into the barrel, just spray a little onto a small piece of cleaning cloth cut to a length of about 70-80 mm for a 0.177 barrel. You will notice my mark on the top of the Rifle Clean box (shown in the picture). If unsure, start with smaller size patches and gradually increase size until it feels snug but not excessively tight when being pulled through the barrel.
Most lead deposits will be at the muzzle end of the barrel, so always pull the patch through from that end (breech through to muzzle). If you have a silencer/air stripper fitted, I use a straw in which to insert the wire through and then guide it into the barrel, as removing and refitting the silencer/air stripper may require re-zeroing the gun afterwards.
Having slightly dampened the patch with the cleaner, fold or roll it up and then fold in half to insert it into the loop of wire protruding from the breech. Slowly pull the patch through the barrel taking care to keep the wire central in the barrel as not to damage the crown at the very end of barrel.
If you have not cleaned the barrel for some time, the patches will probably come out black. Repeat until the patches come out clean. Then put one or two dry patches through. Finally put a VERY slightly oiled patch through followed by another completely dry one. I actually prefer a drop or two of Napier Pellet Lube instead of the oil and in doing that I don’t lube my pellets.
Because I keep my barrel very clean, my patches are not too dirty when they come out, but compare that to a patch that came out of a very old Spring gun I cleaned for a friend ….
Finally, when shooting a competition, I always carry a little tub containing my homemade pull-through, a few pre-cut patches, some pellet lube, a VP90 field patch, and a few shoot-through felts. You never know when they may be needed, especially on a very wet, rainy day when barrels become damp!
