best way to clean NP barrel?

[sawtoothscream]

whats the best way to clean the barrel?  will a brass brush hurt it? should i buy a nylon one?

hear people say to use goo gone.   is goo gone the same as goo off?

how do you clean your guns barrel.

i want to clean the barrel and try to see if accuracy gets better but dont want to hurt the barrel by doing something wrong

[BmaS]

Goo gone is not the same as Goof off.  Both are solvents, but goo gone is the safer of the two.  goof off will melt some plastics -- that's why they package it in a metal can.
I don't use a metal brush in any of my airgun barrels.  Just a plastic jag tool to push a tight fitting cotton patch from breech to muzzle.  If you use any chemical in the barrel, run dry patches behind it until they come out clean and dry.

[sawtoothscream]

so will the patches just remove all the stuff inside the barrel with out brushing it?

[uncle paulie]

Yes, Goo-gone will loosen the particulate in the barrel, no need for a brush, there's no carbon build-up as with PB's.

pv

[CharlieDaTuna]

Keep in mind that the barrel will probably need to be seasoned before the accuracy stabilizes.

CDT

[erickp]

I use a crown saver i got from AoA. Before that i was using a weedeater line.... I use j&b paste on the first patch and then dry ones until they come out clean

[sawtoothscream]

k thanks.  ill have to go out and get some goo gone.     so with the weedeater line  you make a loop on one end right?

[454 Big Block Chevy]

no, you melt the line a bit at the end, and form a ball or flat spot... then sharpen the other end on a piece of sandpaper or whatnot, and thread it through.  if you have a muzzel break or shroud, you may need to use a straw to keep the line from clogging on the baffles

[sawtoothscream]

alright.     anyways i decided to take it out for some chipmunk control on my brothers friends land.  i shot 4 or 5 chipmunks with the NP from 8-25yds and my brother took 3 farthest being 19yds with my crosman 2260.

very impressed with the trail np now. most were head shot and it hit them with some force.    had it shooting at 40 yds today as well at the bottom of cans but never really tried groups there yet

[CharlieDaTuna]

In my opinion, I would not recommend using JB Paste. It is very hard on these soft metal barrels on most airguns and may cause damage to the lands and grooves and besides, airguns have very little residue other than lead deposit and some burnt oil. Certainly no acid or powder burner residue as in firearms.

CDT

[norka]

no, you melt the line a bit at the end, and form a ball or flat spot... then sharpen the other end on a piece of sandpaper or whatnot, and thread it through.  if you have a muzzel break or shroud, you may need to use a straw to keep the line from clogging on the baffles

I came up with another way to use weed eater line and it works great. I use the real skinny stuff, .065 inches, for the little electric weed whackers. Take a piece about five feet long, fold it in half. Use a pair of pliers or your teeth and pinch it together where it was folded in half. Then pull it tight and pass it slowly over the kitchen stove flame to take out the kinks or curls. then hold the pinched end on a fork tine and give the loop end a little extra heat but don't burn it! If it catches fire, start over!

Then you put the pinched end, (the eye of the needle so to speak) into the muzzle end and when it comes out the breech end, put the goo gone soaked patch in the eye and pull it out the muzzle end, repeat as necessary/dry patches.

That all being said, I think there's a bit too much emphasis on a 'clean' barrel. From what I understand and it makes perfect sense to me, is that the barrel only needs to be cleaned when the gun is new just to remove the oil/grease from the factory. I read where some of the competitive target shooters NEVER clean their barrels after the initial cleaning.