Dumb ? but still worth askin

[keith]

Ive read where some shooters actually wash there pellets .......Is this worth messin with???? Ive done it and seems the barrel is cleaner after a 40 shot practice sesson....but is it worth the effort?....?

[oldcaster]

Keith there is no such thing as a dumb question. Just ones we don't know the answer to and hope someone else will. I don't think it is a good idea to wash the pellets because they have lube on them so they won't lead the barrel. -- Bill --

[renzo]

Maybe (and only maybe) the OP is referring to an odd habit I saw older shooter practice many years ago, washing old pellets that had gotten covered by a whitish lead oxide, which was removed via a hot water inmersion followed by air drying and spray lubing.

AFAIK, it was not made to improve the performance of normal pellets but to salvage badly stored pellets and use them for informal practice in times of shortage, as it wouldn't have (for me) any sense to waste valuable training time using them, when the cost of a common practice pellet is almost negligible compared with the hardware and effort involved.

Once I found myself in possession of four nice 500 pellet refill plastic boxes of Lapua Pistol Match in trays, mostly all of them completely white and dry, and instead of going trough the ordeal of washing them I gave the boxes to the local junior air shooting school

[Rover]

Fuggeddaboutit!

Since you shoot about 80 shots in a match, you're not going to be cleaning your barrel. There is no powder residue, no lube, no nothing.

Just shoot.

[chuckjordan]

Some Field Target (FT) shooters wash their pellets and lube them. It was to prevent that minute pieve of lead in the barrel :-)

That is a different discipline than this forum. You have to remember that FT shooters also shoot at higher velocities.

I do not wash my pellets for 10M AP/AR. I have (in the past) washed/lubed pellets for my FT airrifles. The process involves:
1) washing in with a soapy water or mineral spirits or other ptero-based product to remove the graphite coat.
2) drying them (in the sun or hairdryer)
3) lubing them and there are a bunch of products to use such as Slick-50, a mixture you have to do yourself called "Whiscombes Honey", and what I had used Krytech. Krytech is a waxy substance you can buy in a bike shop. It's a high tech lube for the gear chain. The process is 1-2 drops per 250-500 pellets. Place 1 drop in an empty tin and swirl in ~ 250 pellets, keep them moving to coat each of them. Repeat for the remainder.

I stopped this practice a few years ago as it didn't produce better results (accuracy gains).

I have not really heard many 10M AP/AR shooters using this practive. I was thinking about trying this on my CCI SV cartridges as the factory lube is just too thick.

You can try the wash/lube, it may work and it may not. I found it too much effort for little return. I'd rather be shooting than lubing pellets!