Barrel "Conditioning".

[u.k.neil]

This thread saved me from going mad, thank you Neil.

I had done some tuning work on my .22 QB78DL and decided to shorten the barrel as well.

Previously this rifle had shot very respectable groups but after shortening and recrowning the barrel it was all over the place. I skimmed and recrowned three more times , and tried various different pellets, all to no avail.

Then I read this thread. I thoroughly cleaned the barrel (never, ever having been cleaned before ). I even used the brass wire brush from a Bisley cleaning kit. The filth that came out was shocking. This was followed by pull through patches treated with Youngs "303" oil (just happened to be what the gunshop had in stock).

Next I put 20 RWS Superdomes through it before trying to zero.

I could not believe the difference. Better grouping than ever.

Thanks again Neil for some superb advice.

Cheers, Mark.

Glad it helped mate.....

Neil

[simonnomis]

This thread saved me from going mad, thank you Neil.

I had done some tuning work on my .22 QB78DL and decided to shorten the barrel as well.

Previously this rifle had shot very respectable groups but after shortening and recrowning the barrel it was all over the place. I skimmed and recrowned three more times , and tried various different pellets, all to no avail.

Then I read this thread. I thoroughly cleaned the barrel (never, ever having been cleaned before ). I even used the brass wire brush from a Bisley cleaning kit. The filth that came out was shocking. This was followed by pull through patches treated with Youngs "303" oil (just happened to be what the gunshop had in stock).

Next I put 20 RWS Superdomes through it before trying to zero.

I could not believe the difference. Better grouping than ever.

Thanks again Neil for some superb advice.

Cheers, Mark.

Thank you for this advice, a clean barrel and around 20 superdomes later had my cometa 300 putting in nice inch groups at 25yds.
many thanks.
simon.

[howdener]

I've found my HW100 performs superbly with 16gr Logun Penetrators. I was shooting disc targets out to 40yds with deadly accuracy. I've always used H&N FTT but I really get on well with the Loguns. I haven't grouped it yet but I am going to sunday. I'm pretty sure I'll get good groups but the proof is in the pudding as they say........

I'll keep you posted

Superb results for me with logan penetrators.Thats all i used in bsa ultra,2 hw100s bsa r10 , daystate huntsman and ripley elite.Tried biz mags in the r10,they were good but no better than the logans and i have 1800 to use up! cheers

[verminhunter]

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen shooters on a sighting in range with four or five different makes of pellets opened in front of them, taking five or so shots with each type and then saying that their gun is not grouping.

Whenever a brand of pellets is changed (sometimes even different batches of the same pellet) or if the barrel has been cleaned then the barrel has to be "conditioned" to that particular pellet by putting at least ten shots (I do 20 to be on the safe side) through it before trying a group.

Different brands of pellets have different percentages of elements in them which affect hardness, coefficient of friction, B.C's etc which all have an effect.

Just thought a "Heads-Up" on this subject might stop a bit of frustration....

Neil

Yes you are right neil, what i do and tell shooters if your going to change over a diffrent brand of pellets you must first clean the barrel nicely and properly then run several shots through it and then zero in. the reason to clean the barrel is to remove the tracks left behind from the privious pellet and the new pellet will make and leave its own.

But neil some mothers do 'ave 'em.

[Tallyho]

Yes you are right neil, what i do and tell shooters if your going to change over a diffrent brand of pellets you must first clean the barrel nicely and properly then run several shots through it and then zero in. the reason to clean the barrel is to remove the tracks left behind from the privious pellet and the new pellet will make and leave its own.

Never though about cleaning when changing over pellets. Only changed once when I couldn't get the AA's for a day or so. I thought they were rubbish, but there may have been a good reason now I've learnt the above. Looks to make a lot of sense to me, just wouldn't have thought about it. So many thanks for putting another newbie straight.

[frazier]

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen shooters on a sighting in range with four or five different makes of pellets opened in front of them, taking five or so shots with each type and then saying that their gun is not grouping.

Whenever a brand of pellets is changed (sometimes even different batches of the same pellet) or if the barrel has been cleaned then the barrel has to be "conditioned" to that particular pellet by putting at least ten shots (I do 20 to be on the safe side) through it before trying a group.

Different brands of pellets have different percentages of elements in them which affect hardness, coefficient of friction, B.C's etc which all have an effect.

Just thought a "Heads-Up" on this subject might stop a bit of frustration....

Neil

might this also account for inconsistent chrono results until the barrel is conditioned to the new pellet then?

[u.k.neil]

might this also account for inconsistent chrono results until the barrel is conditioned to the new pellet then?

Could well do mate.

Neil

[punydan]

I was about to buy a pellpax sellection but if this is right then they are a waste of money as you only get 10 of each pellet.
Dan

[Sam.S]

Thanks for the tips

I cant get a descent grouping with my bsa lightning, maybe its down to this barrel conditioning malarkey that i'm missing.

[verminhunter]

Well yesterday I had a bit of a shock, on sunday i went shooting with the .25 rapid and did some tests of mine, i placed a 3/4" marine ply wood at 100yds to see what kind of damage it does to this very strong wood, i shot 3 time at the wood, the pellet nearly went through but not quiet but still not bad for 100yds and this wood is solid.

But what got me was my groups, they were around 3ins apart from each other , last time i did this with the same rifle they were all touching each other bit like a clover leaf shape(mind you it was windy). So I thought the barrel is due for a clean after firing 250 shots through it.At 50yds the pellets were nearly pellet on pellet but still i was'nt happy, so after a good hunt i went home and the following day decided to clean the barrel.

Took off the silencer, tilted the rifles down and pushed a wadded end of the rod with WD40, soaked the barrel but not right up to get iside the porting, about 4ins away from the end, got the pull throughs and also cleaned it that way too. I cleaned and cleaned until the barrel was spotless.

Fired the first 5 shots through, then went out to re zero after putting the silencer back, it was dreadful! like a shot gun, I went through the first mag no joy, 2nd mag no joy now uselly around 7 shots the rifle was back on song but this time it wernt having it. 3rd mag no joy, now I'am getting worried, 4th mag and only at the end did it start to tighten up , man was I frightened.

Filled back the bottle and gave it another 24 shots spot on. But the reason why iam posting this up is this. I phoned up Benny and UK neil and to my horror told me that over cleaning or too much cleaning can cause problems and may damage the barrel, the barrel needs its lead. The only reason i gave it a clean was to tighten up the groups but I should not have cleaned the barrel this way(never done it this way before mind you).

So from Ben Taylor and UK neil their advice is not to clean the barrel too much, just afew pull throughs just to remove any excess lead but even then the pellet will take it away. Ok so it does not do pellet on pellet at 100yds but as long as it places the pellets in a circle the size of a bunnies head thats where you want to be. Because thats where the barrel has setteled down and also not a good idea to do a long range shoot out when the weather is windy( silly boy).

So be warned lads dont over clean your barrel like I did, they dont need it and from what neil and ben were telling me more barrels are damaged by excess cleaning then anything else, just afew pull through patchs or better still the tips you put in roll ups bit like cleaning felts but ahell lot cheaper.
Happy Shooting.

[cambrai1917]

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen shooters on a sighting in range with four or five different makes of pellets opened in front of them, taking five or so shots with each type and then saying that their gun is not grouping.

Whenever a brand of pellets is changed (sometimes even different batches of the same pellet) or if the barrel has been cleaned then the barrel has to be "conditioned" to that particular pellet by putting at least ten shots (I do 20 to be on the safe side) through it before trying a group.

Different brands of pellets have different percentages of elements in them which affect hardness, coefficient of friction, B.C's etc which all have an effect.

Just thought a "Heads-Up" on this subject might stop a bit of frustration....

I
Neil

I've read much about barrel conditioning......all of it seemed great sense!
My Webley Omega .177 cal was producing very poor groups at all ranges. Was it me or was it the gun. I'm not the worlds greatest shot but surely I thought.......I can't be that bad!!
This afternoon I decided to clean the Omega's barrel.
With cleaning paste, coarse and medium felt pads & a wire pull through I began.
What a filthy state the felt pads were in after pulling them thru' the barrel!!
About 20 coarse followed by 15 medium pads were used to remove the "deposits" on the bore.
I finished off with a few pull-throughs of a recommended propriety teflon grease - just to 'line' the bore.
I used about 20-off AA 4.52 cal to condition the bore.

My groups were superb!

Only fired over 20 yards but managed 5 shots in a diameter of a 5p coin!!

I think I'll do my Webley Eclipse .22 cal next!!

Also I must remember to clean & condition the barrels after 200-300 shots.

Thanks UKneil

[ratgunner]

I go with Neil as for barrel conditioning 25 shots per per pellet type using the last five on a clean target and taking my results from this,

I am not a big scour the crap! out of any gun barrel Fan,

So I run a soft brass rod with an oiled mop a few times through the barrel of my springers after each use and then put a felt into the breech to stop any oil running back into the compression chamber to prevent dieseling,
then fire three pellets into the bank on the range the felt dries out the barrel and next two to make sure it's oilfree,

shoots consistently everytime,

PCP's

Refill gun with air, shoot through three dry felts (at an old carpet) fire one more with two drops gun oil on it, and insert dry felt,

At the range fire dry felt plus three pellets, away ya go,

Have learned a lot of this on here,

Great Thread Neil, saved a lot of lead and annoyance,

Hold The Zero Everyone.

[verminhunter]

Yes I vote this as one of the most useful threads for all air gunners.
Well done UK NEIL! even though you come from the black country.

[GERALD BUTLER]

Yes I vote this as one of the most useful threads for all air gunners.
Well done UK NEIL! if though you come from the black country.

Thank's Neil/Costas for the tip (excuse the pun) using the fag filters are the sizes suitable for .22 as I know you were refering to your elephant gun Costas Gerald.

[big_phil555]

Another thank you from me for UK Neil

I cleaned my barrel as the grouping went out the window - I used the pull throughs , then fired 25 pellets thru as a warm up

Then at 55 yards it gae me ragged one hole groups - well happy - thanks Neil