Cleaning air rifle

[Ed]

How often do you clean your air rifle? I currently own a 20cal R9.

[AirGunner]

When their new and when accuracy drops off. Other than that, I don't.

[Rico14]

washing and lubing your pellets will keep your barrel cleaner longer between cleanings

[Lt. Dan]

When their new and when accuracy drops off. Other than that, I don't.

Same here.

[Roadworthy]

Generally as the others have said.  I tried something new with a new Diana 430L.  Hector Medina has a different take on breaking in an air rifle.  On that one I cleaned it thoroughly when I received it.  For the first ten shots I then ran a patch or two after every shot.  It seems that routine was then repeated after every fifty shot for the next fifty shots.  I think after that it's repeated every tenth shot.  I don't remember how long that routine continued but you get the idea.  He did recommend using a soft pellet like JSB for break in.  The information was posted on the Connecticut Custom Airguns site.

[Frank in Fairfield]

JimW, a world class FT competitor from Santa Rosa, CA cleans his barrels then shoots 10 shots before every match.
If he bets a Coke on the match, just buy him a Coke..

[Stradman]

Usually after 100 rounds . Occasionally I will let it go an extra 50 rounds but I actually get pleasure from the process.

[Leaded]

Rarely at all.
My patches look the same whether its after 200 shots or 5000. Takes the same amount of patches to get to “clean” barrel.

[Bladebum]

Generally once when it's new I run a few patches. Then almost never 

[nced]

How often do you clean your air rifle? I currently own a 20cal R9.

When the accuracy "goes south" I clean the bore, however when it's winter and I get bored I'll do a yearly disassembly of my .177 R9 and .177 HW95. I've done the yearly "dustin & cleanin" for years when I was using traditional diesel prone molly bearing "dinosaur oil based grease".

Concerning bore cleaning........
I do know some claim that they never need to clean their airgin bores but I'm not so lucky. Here are a couple "before and after bore clean pics"......
From .177 HW97 that was sent to me to "fix" because it wouldn't group.........


My .177 HW95 after "zeroing issues" at the right of the target.........
 

Concerning general maintenance and HW piston seal failures........
Since I started using non-dieseling Dupont Krytox a few years ago I don't think a yearly "dustin' & cleanin" is necessary but I do it anyway at around January "just for grins" for a basic checkup. I also run a home turned oring sealed piston cap on my HW springers (been doin' this for a couple decades) so I replace the "10 cent Viton oring" at that time even if it doesn't need replacing. I used factory HW95 piston seals for years and they would indeed erode at the transfer port needing a $20 replacement during each shooting season consisting of roughly 10,000 shots.

When testing the current "thick parachute edge with reduced base" HW piston seal design there was only about 10fps difference in muzzle velocity vs my oring seal. There can still be factory piston seal face erosion/damage. I don't know if this damage is due to the occasional poorly sealing undersized factory seal or a "bad material issue". When I tuned a .177 HW95 for a friend I found that his brand new gun had a loose fitting piston seal, however another new HW95 piston seal from my parts bin fit the receiver perfectly (go figure). A few HW piston seal pics.......



Factory and after market piston seal face erosion.......


With my .177 HW95 there was no erosion with this good fitting recent design factory HW95 piston seal lubed with Dupont Krytox GPL205. The test only lasted for one box of 1250 count CPLs to compare velocity vs my oring sealed piston cap...........


I did receive one HW springer that had a cracked piston seal face so I did an internet search and found others. I don't know if the damage was due to an undersized factory seal or a "bad material issue", but it was definitely a "maintenance issue".......


As a side note, eroded piston seals AREN'T only an issue with HW springers as these pics show.........

[Bill_in_TR]

I clean my barrels whenever a virus makes me stay home a lot and I get bored.