dmf wrote:Hi
Can anyone recommend what preventive maintenance I should be doing on my FWB 700 air rifle.
Current round count approx 3000. Age of rifle abt 1 year.
Thanks
Dave
There isn't much maintenance you can do with an air rifle unless your qualified to tear it down to the level of the seals and regulator. The only other things is to keep as free of dust and dirt as you can and to clean the bore and chamber with a non-petro based product and clean the exposed O-Rings such as the O-Ring in the bolt face and some down by the air hole and then apply a thin film of silicone grease on the o-rings. You can apply some lubricants to any moving parts such as the bolt and charging handle parts. You can also clean and lub the cylinder threads once in awhile. That is about all that can be done unless your able to tear down into the innards of the rifle.
How often you do the cleaning can be debated, but in my opinion it usually depends on how much you use the rifle, environment, and how much debris the pellets leave behind. The cheaper pellets such as the Hobby Pellets can leave a great deal of lead particles around the breach, chamber, and barrel, so regular cleaning will probably be needed. Whereas the higher end pellets may only require once or twice a year. Lubing the moving parts on a regular basis would still be a good idea.
There are shooters that will clean on a regular basis (such as just before a match) despite the quality of pellets. There are many thoughts on when to clean, which can be argued by a number of different people. I just apply as much common sense as I can to the process. Since I use some of the Hobby Pellets for practice sessions I have to clean about every two weeks as they aren't as clean as the R10, Meisterkrugen, or H&N pellets. There are also arguments as to what you clean the barrel with such as using chemical cleaning process and avoiding the use of brushes.
I have found that since the pellets in the match grade guns aren't going at supersonic speeds that leading in the barrel isn't the big problem so a brush normally wouldn't be necessary. I also use only brass or coated rods down the barrels so there is less of a chance of crown or barrel wear or damage.
When I first started shooting many decades ago I used to use steel rods and started noticing rifling marks on the rod which is a clear sign that overtime it could cause premature wear or damage to the crown and barrel. Therefore, I got rid of my steel rods and started using the Dewey coated rods, but after awhile I noticed that the rifling would wear off some of the coating exposing the steel underneath the coating. Then, I went to brass rods and since brass is softer then steel the chance of damage by the rod is lessened. I did try using a bore snake, but it is not as affective as the rod as I can move a tight patch down the barrel whereas I can't get a tight fit with the bore snake. The tight patch seems to do a better job of removing material from the barrel then if it wasn't a tight fit, especially when I am using pellets that aren't that clean.