TargetTalk

Hello all,
I am new to smallbore and air rifle olympic style shooting and have just purchased a new anschutz aluminum stocked smallbore and anschutz aluminum air rifle, I was wondering how and how often you would clean these guns. Thanks!

There are many different opinions on how and how often to clean a .22 rifle; most work well. I personally believe that regualr light cleaning will keep the rifle in top condition.

For the small bore a good way is to use a single piece cleaning rod (either coated or polished steel) and a rod guide. The guide keeps the rod central to the bore so that it won't abrade the rifling, especially at the thrat and crown (the start and end of the grooves); the guide also keeps cleaning fluids away from the trigger. Pull through cords are much harder to align properly with the bore, on a bolt action rifle, the rod is easy to use.

For a quick clean, soak a cotton patch in solvent (any proprietary solvent oil such as, Hoppes 009, Shooters Choice, will work) and pass through the barrel. Repeat with another solvent-soaked patch; then dry the bore with clean fresh patches.

For a more thorough clean, "wet" the bore with solvent as above and then scrub the bore with a bronze or nylon brush. Dry as above. This will remove much more fouling than just patching.

Many shooters prefer to remove the brush (or jag) before pulling the rod back through the barrel, so that it does not damage the crown.

As for frequency of cleaning you might like to experiment at first. How long does it take before accuracy drops off? It will probabaly be somewhere between 100 and 500 rounds. Some barrel like to be very clean, others a little dirty to shoot their best. I personally patch out the bore after each session; this removes more fouling as it is still soft. I clean the bore thoroughly, perhaps twice a year.

The breech and bolt should be cleaned after each session. I have found that cottonbuds (q-tips) to be very useful for the nooks in the breech. The outside metal work should be wiped over with ordinary gun-oil also.

hope this helps

Tim S

Exeter, UK

Excuse me! That poor chap has asked for cleaning an AIR RIFLE!
All the methods suggested is for .22 and not air rifle! Please read carefully and answer.. If he cleans his air rifle this way.. then Bid a BYE BYE to it straight away...

You can probbaly go for cleaning pillets thats available with your anschutz stores.. Usually air rifles are cleaned around once in a year.. so dont bother about it too much.. I suggest you to give is for a general checkup and service at the end of every year.

Because of the air action in the barrel, the barrel is usually very lean and no deposits of lead or carbon like in .22 so therefore less maintance.

DO NOT USE ANY SORT OF OIL TO CLEAN YOUR AIR RIFLE!

[none] wrote:Hello all,
I am new to smallbore and air rifle olympic style shooting and have just purchased a new anschutz aluminum stocked smallbore and anschutz aluminum air rifle, I was wondering how and how often you would clean these guns. Thanks!

I believe that he was asking about both guns and the gentleman just happened to provide him information about smallbore only. . .

"Guest" gave you good advice on the smallbore rifle. For air rifle we usually pull two or three patches through the bore whenever we open a new tin of pellets. We use two wet (TSI 301) patches and a dry one. Be careful not to get the patches too wet, as you don't want excess fluids going into the trigger area. You can use petroleum distallates in the barrel of a precompressed air rifle or pistol, but should not do so with the old "spring" guns (due to possible dieseling with the older guns).