Felt Cleaning Pellets for Air Rifles

[rmarsh]

Well, Rover has not stirred everybody up in a while, so I guess I'll have to do it for him!

The subject is the felt pellets that are designed to be shot through an airgun to clean the barrel.

I have seen it posted on this site and have heard a number of people say to not use them. The reason stated is that "fuzz" from the felt gets into the regulator and causes problems.

Ok, maybe so, I'm not saying it don't happen. But... How? Why would "fuzz" from a shoot through felt pellet get anymore fuzz in the internals of the gun than fuzz off the pull through felt pellets, or the pull through mop strings, or any other pull through string or fabric patch? After all, there is a pretty pretty good puff of air going OUT. Seems that would serve to blow any lose fuzz out with it? I guess maybe it is possible that a bit of a back eddy is formed that sucks some fuzz into the regulator? Possible I guess, but it seems unlikely.

I look at pellets we use in matches under a magnifying glass. It is interesting how much "fuzz" is on pellets, straight from the tin. Could it be that the fuzz people are finding in the internals of airguns comes off the pellets, or from other cleaning methods?

Personally, I don't use the shoot through cleaning pellets, I prefer the pull through type. I am just curious if someone really has evidence the shoot through type gums up the internals of airguns or if that is just a bit of an urban myth??? And... I just wanted to stir up an argument!!

[RobStubbs]

I had heard from one of our (UK) gunsmiths that such fibres were a big cause of problems with regulators. I tend to think the loose fibres can get picked up on closing the breach, or get loosened when inserting (again depending on the specific gun). More importantly those felt pellets do very little apart from polishing the surface of the barrel, they won't clean the grooves of the rifling. If you want to fully clean the barrel, you need to use a method that gets into the rifling properly (IMHO).

Rob.

[Rover]

Well, I guess I'll have to stir things up....

Rob, do you mean like a bronze brush (readers cringing in terror)?

Personally, I break the end off a Q-Tip and shoot it.

[RobStubbs]

Well, I guess I'll have to stir things up....

Rob, do you mean like a bronze brush (readers cringing in terror)?

Personally, I break the end off a Q-Tip and shoot it.

No. There is a cleaning kit that has felts impregnated with i think bronze fibres. These are used to 'scrub' the barrel using a rod. I've had my (air pistol) barrel cleaned using one some years ago.

Rob.

[David W. Johnson]

I've been using the felt pellets with a drop of oil every few hundred shots. I then put about a dozen rounds through it before I expect it to settle down. The felt pellet comes out dirty. I just push it through with a plastic rod.

I would be very interested to know if there is a better way...or if cleaning the barrel is necessary at all. Probably lots of opinions, huh? What do Anschutz, FWB, and Walther recommend?

[David W. Johnson]

Anschutz manual says brass or bronze brush two or three times from the breech followed by a dry linen cloth every 5,000 rounds. It specifies no oil or felt pellets.

[breakfastchef]

I use felt pellets for quick cleanings. Lothar Walther, as I recall, recommends using them. You can put a few drops of cleaner on the pellets, followed by a few dry ones, and finish with a wee bit of oil as pointed out by Mr. Johnson. I only do this when I see some shifting in POI. Takes just a few shots to complete the process.

[Bowman26]

I use a patch worm and just make sure I have a nice tight fit often times using 2 patches on top of one another. Gets down in the rifling good and makes it clean after a few passes. Most airgun rifling is micro grooved not deep like powder burners. As such I don't find any need for a brush of any sorts for cleaning. Just keep pulling patched that are a tight fit in the bore until they come out clean. I would also note that is it rare I bother cleaning my barrels. I only do it if I am bored and haven't done so in well over a year or in the event I notice my accuracy degrading. To do it every few hundred shots is a waste of time IMO. Unless you are getting fliers in that amount of time off such few shots.

I would advise cleaning high power PCP rifles more often especially if you are using lubed pellets as they seem to foul a barrel quicker than low velocity 10m types without any lube on the pellets. But even then it is rare I clean them unless accuracy is falling off.

DO NOT use felt pellets in a rifle that has baffles in the shroud of barrel weight area to make them more silent as they will probably not make it out the end and get hung up inside the baffle area.

I will also pull one lightly oiled patch through and then a clean dry one behind it to just leave a very thin layer of oil on the internal surfaces.

I think people get way to anal about cleaning to often when there is no need.

[BigAl]

DO NOT use felt pellets in a rifle that has baffles in the shroud of barrel weight area to make them more silent as they will probably not make it out the end and get hung up inside the baffle area.

I will also pull one lightly oiled patch through and then a clean dry one behind it to just leave a very thin layer of oil on the internal surfaces.

I think people get way to anal about cleaning to often when there is no need.

I regularly use VFG felts through my .177 Air Arms S400 running at around 10.8 fpe and fitted with the full Air Arms sound moderator on the end of an unshrouded barrel. I have never had an issue with doing this, the felts have always exited the sound mod without problems. I know shooters who have used them on similar setups running at around 30 fpe, but due to the way British firearms licencing works have never owned one at that power level.

I have also seen suggestions that they should not be used with spring or other moving piston powered rifles, as they supposedly do not generate enough chamber pressure to prevent piston bounce. Again from personal experiance with my own UK limit HW77K and from working with a major British Airgun specialist dealer, and approved Air Arms specialist repairer, using felts is not really a problem their either.

The question on their effectivness is interesting, from personl experiance of my .22 HW77K which is apt to loose a little consistency somewhere between 500 and 1000 pellets using a pullthrough and the felts both seem to produce the same results. Given this I now normally use the felts, not that the rifle gets much use these days, I would rather shoot a PCP air rifle wise.

I guess with the .22 felts at least you should make sure you use the ones designed for air rifles, they do not have the hole down the centre that the ones designed to be used on a rod have. I've not seen .17 caliber felts for use on a rod, and don't know if they make one. I use the rod type in my rimfires. I know they make a .30 caliber felt but have never seen them for sale so have not tried using on in my .308 F/TR rifle.

Alan

[RobStubbs]

<snip>
I've not seen .17 caliber felts for use on a rod, and don't know if they make one. I use the rod type in my rimfires.

Alan

Yes they do make them, see my previous post above. I don't know who makes them but I'm sure a search through something like the Gehman catalogue will find them.

Rob.

[robf]

VFG make them.

Far more effective than the shoot throughs in my experience.