TargetTalk

New to the 3p sport as a Dad, my son shoots in a MCJROTC program in High School. He is shooting a Avanti 887. My question is how often do you need to clean the barrel. I know with Small Bore that they are shooting at a higher FPS but with the pellets how much build up do get and How little will start to effect the accuracy?

Any info would be huge help thanks.

Cleaning any of the Daisy air rifles is a small challenge, but can be accomplished.

Usually in the course of the season we'll get some of the (solid, VFG Quick Cleaning) .177 felt cleaning pellets and fire one or two thru the gun after a tin or two. These you can usually find at most stores that sell airguns.

I also use a VFG pull-thru cleaning system for our precision guns that at the end of the shooting season, I'll disassemble the the 888/887s we have and use that with the "superintensive" felts. Normally the pull-thru "stinger" where you attach the felts won't fit in the daisy action until you remove the bolt, thus I only do it once a year.
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You can also double over some monofiliment and pull a small patch thru the bbl.

I don't use any solvent or such on the air rifles.

For my $0.02, the quick cleaning felts are probably all that's needed, but I get a little A.R. sometimes, and when we're not shooting, I figure the pull-thru's can't hurt.
The accuracy of the 888/887 is effected more by the trigger than anything else ... I would not worry about the cleaning of the rifle all that much until the shooter is firing 520+ in the 3x20s ... a few felts at the end or beginning of the season is probably plenty

He is currently averaging a 500 3x20 . He had a bad round and didn't know if it could have been something fauling it. first course prone was a 98 then he shoot a 89!!! in prone needless to say he wasn't happy.

I just break the ends off a couple of Q-Tips and shoot them into the trash.

We've always used a pull through after every tin of pellets. One or two patches with TSI301, then a dry patch, and you are good to go.

Probably overkill for the vast majority of shooters, but only takes a minute and gets them to understand they must maintain their equipment.

Bntarrw wrote:He is currently averaging a 500 3x20 . He had a bad round and didn't know if it could have been something fauling it. first course prone was a 98 then he shoot a 89!!! in prone needless to say he wasn't happy.

Depends on how long he's been shooting, but that could easily be excitement (Oh! Oh! Oh! a 98!!!) or even fatigue ... most probably not the gun

This is his second year of compitetion shooting. He goal this year is to be shooting 275 avg. in 3x10.

I run a bore snake through 3 times after each tin of pellets. Cleaning and fliers was a real issue with a FX air rifle I owned. So I guess the need for cleaning has a lot to do with the polish of the barrel. Anschutz forbids felt pellets so I don't use them in mt 9003. I did use the felt pellets in my SSP RWS Dianna 100 back in the day. I initially used oil on the pellets, but I had issues with dieseling. That problem convinced me to really minimize oils with air guns. I also have a fear of damaging an air barrel with a rod, so I have never used a rod on any airgun in 20 years.

I wouldn't use a bore snake or bronze bristled brush in the bore of any air gun. I don't like using a cleaning rod either. I make my own pull through with weed trimmer line. I melt a ball on one end and cut a sharp angle on the other. I use cotton patches with TSI 301, which I got from our host. I pull a couple of wet patches through the bore and follow with a couple of dry patches. Every once in a while I shoot a couple of felt pellets through.

bore snake all the way.....

Ditto, grass trimmer line. Melt a ball on the end, the other end goes through the middle of the patch and the ball expands the patch out so it contacts the barrel... After a few uses it gets tossed and replaced.