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Bore Cleaning 
PostPosted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:07 am Reply with quote
Slavia
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This is a simple one, but it may be useful for someone that hasn’t done it before.

It’s not necessary to clean an airgun bore as frequently as with powder burners. There isn’t the same heat, pressure, or propellant fouling. Pretty much just when accuracy falls off, or when you want to oil it for prolonged storage. A third reason might be to clean up after doing work around the bore - like polishing the muzzle crown.

Clean from the breech to the muzzle so that any crud in there is swept out of the gun, and not into the mechanism. If you’re using a cleaning rod this will also prevent abrasion on the muzzle by the side of the rod. Special solvents aren’t necessary; a commercial cleaner/degreaser will work well. In fact, you want to keep solvents (petroleum products in general) away from rubber seals as they will swell and be degraded. Keep running patches/swabs through until they come out clean.

My Slavia will take about 20 rounds to “return to zero” after cleaning.

I use two methods. The first uses a piece of weed trimmer line. Soften the plastic with some heat source (1), press the melted plastic against a flat surface to form a barb (2), and sharpen the other end (3). Pierce the patch with the sharp end (4), slide the patch to the barbed end (5), and use the line to pull the patch through the bore (6,7).

The other method (for .177 only) employs cotton swabs. Find a wire coat hanger with plastic coating, and bend it straight (8). Taper the wire to a blunt point (9), and use the rod to push half of a swab down the bore (10,11). This only works with the cheap swabs that have tubular plastic shafts. If you get a batch that fits too loosely, just push three or four at a time - the pressure will push the cotton out against the bore.

A used pellet tin is good for keeping a pull-through (12). There seems to be a never-ending supply of .22LR boxes at my range, and they work well for keeping patches (13).

Commercial felt plugs are available, and salespeople promote them as being “shoot-through” (the same could be done with swabs). Once you get inside the package, the instructions say not to do that with spring/piston guns, as there isn’t enough resistance to provide piston braking. Besides, they’re harder to recover for inspection.

Hope this helps.


























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PostPosted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:28 pm Reply with quote
23ib0d0n
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Best to pull toward the breech, in order to minimize possibility of muzzle damage.
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I used... 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:19 am Reply with quote
cliffspot
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...heavy weight fishing line that I folded double and pushed thru the breech to the muzzle. Put a 30 cal patch folded double; for 177 cal, triple for 22 cal. Put some Goo Gone on it and pulled it thru. Refined that cleaning tool by inserting the folded fishing line thru some plastic tubing so it's easier to push thru the bore. Add a 2 inch long piece of dowel at the other end to save your fingers from pulling the tight patch with the fishing line. I bought one of the pull thru cleaners that they sell at AOA, works the same but has a cool handle on it! With this set up you can clean from either end without worrying about crown damage! This set up lets you use a tighter patch than the weed trimmer poke thru method. I actually had too tight a patch once, lucky the fishing line was thick; it allowed me to use some extra leverage to pull the patch out!

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:17 am Reply with quote
Slavia
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Cliffspot - do you have any pictures for reference?

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:38 pm Reply with quote
Slavia
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Yet another way of cleaning a .177 bore, and this one is really fast.

I made a rod out a straightened coat hanger. (A lacquered one; the plastic coated ones will be too thick.) A smooth, blunt point on one end, and a grip ring on the other.

Cut the aglet off one end of an athletic cotton shoelace (I had to look that word up). Push the rod down the center of the shoelace until it meets the other end (the shoelace is woven in a tubular form). Moisten the end with whatever cleaning liquid you prefer, and then shove the whole works down the bore, breech to muzzle. It will be good and tight, but still moveable. Just before the last bit of shoelace enters the breech, withdraw the rod and pull the shoelace through.

You can see how one end of my shoelace is dirty, and the other is clean after one pass. I'll just throw it in the laundry and use it again.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:10 pm Reply with quote
sniper
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or you can buy a crown saver which is what i use.

edit. only for .22 and larger.








Last edited by sniper on Thu Jun 02, 2011 2:00 am; edited 1 time in total

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:26 pm Reply with quote
fritz
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Every once and a while I (make sure it's unloaded and not cocked first) take a peek down the barrel of my guns, if dirty I clean them. My definition of dirty is very dull, or clusters of lead dust.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:44 pm Reply with quote
Slavia
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Quote:
question? it's my understanding airguns only need bore cleaning every 2000 or so shots??


Or when doing work like crown polishing, which is more the case at my house.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:30 pm Reply with quote
kanyon
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I have NEVER cleaned the bore of
a airgun in my life Shocked Embarassed Crying or Very sad
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:36 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuy
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kanyon wrote:
I have NEVER cleaned the bore of
a airgun in my life Shocked Embarassed Crying or Very sad
i have few missing socks could check too see if there in there Cool
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:47 pm Reply with quote
sniper
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kanyon wrote:
I have NEVER cleaned the bore of
a airgun in my life Shocked Embarassed Crying or Very sad



BECAUSE YOU ARE A PIMP!!!!!!

pimps don't have to clean their own bores! Shocked Cool

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:50 pm Reply with quote
yourdaddyjoe
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sniper wrote:
...it's my understanding airguns only need bore cleaning every 2000 or so shots??


Oooops... I am over due like oil changes in the car...................... Boozing It

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:53 am Reply with quote
kanyon
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ThatGuy wrote:
kanyon wrote:
I have NEVER cleaned the bore of
a airgun in my life Shocked Embarassed Crying or Very sad
i have few missing socks could check too see if there in there Cool


That may exsplaine the smell every time I shot them Shocked
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:57 am Reply with quote
kanyon
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sniper wrote:
kanyon wrote:
I have NEVER cleaned the bore of
a airgun in my life Shocked Embarassed Crying or Very sad



BECAUSE YOU ARE A PIMP!!!!!!

pimps don't have to clean their own bores! Shocked Cool


I really don't know how to answer that sniper....not for a long time...
Good $.....girls are a pain in the a$$...tubby ones b!tch cause the skinny ones get most of the work......& young and use by date
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:26 am Reply with quote
sniper
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i thought so. Shocked Laughing .


pimpin' ain't easy. Razz

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Bore Cleaning 
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