Barrel cleaning?

[RobinC]

Russ's problem aside, the key point here is drifting onto another regular debate, cheap or top line pellets? With good quality pellets your barrel should under normal circumstances not need cleaning, we do the rare shoot through of a felt every tin or more, but really only as a check to see what state the felt is in, and also for a bit of confidence, but realistically its not neccessary.

Its one of my points against saving the cost of a cup of coffee to use cheap pellets, use good pellets, and you will do much more to protect your barrel than any cleaning.

Testing groups before and after cleaning is almost irrelavent, unless you have a serious issue with accuracy that is clearly apparant, and even then it is a waste of time unless you have the most sophisticated test gear, with machine clamps, and electronic measuring, most normal shooters bench tests are less accurate than a good level shooter shooting free hand. I have seen bench testing at manufaturers, and specialist companies, and they have some very serious kit! With this kit even known dirty barrels will shoot near enough one hole groups.

I look after and coach some top class shooters, and cleaning on air guns is way down on my priorities.

Two years ago, at MEC in Dortmund during training, during a break my wife was asked when did you last clean your rifle? Come on, this is a womans rifle! Clean it? Ever?

Amid much hilarity it was set up on the very sopisticated test rig to demonstrate to her how much more accurate it would be when cleaned, first it was tested as was.
Ten shots, all perfect 10.9's, no discernable difference on full zoom on the screen, it had shot a perfect 4.50 mm hole, not a group! It was one of the tightest "non" groups they had ever seen! It never was cleaned and has not been since, and still shoots perfect 10,9's.

Perfect group shooting air guns are built accurate.

There are so many other factors in a rifle or a pistols accuracy than barrel cleanliness, the pellet quality, the air charge consistency (i.e. regulator accuracy), the barrel quality, (I've just returned from a manufacturer where we had a new barrel fitted on a match air rifle for one of our protege's, and they tried ten barrels, and we had the one that produced the best group), with a spring gun it has mechanical inefficiencies, and a PCP has the valve operated by a spring and hammer, so its still in part a spring gun, and all thats before we even look at the shooter!

Other than not taking up Russ's invitation, just buy top quality pellets, and shoot through the odd felt if you feel inclined, or if you are any of my protege's don't, yet still shoot 100's!

Have Fun and Good shooting
Robin