Washing pellets

[KDX]

Anyone wash and lube their pellets? I decided to give it a shot, mainly to reduce my possible exposure to lead dust and also to make them cleaner to handle. Some people say it aids in accuracy and makes the barrel easier to clean. 2 tins of pellets washed, dried and waiting to be lubed in this pic. I'm using Pledge sprayed onto some paper towel in a box to roll the pellets around on to lube them.

 

[Grizzlypeg]

Let us know if you get any change in accuracy comparing the washed vs unwashed. Maybe the pledge will make some difference in velocity or accuracy?

 

[KDX]

It will be hard to tell if there is any accuracy difference as I haven't shot groups with the pellets straight out of the tin to get a base line. Velocity I will be able to check though. Here's a video that got me interested in trying it.

 

[Mulby]

I started lubing with pledge about five years ago with good results. The cause for me to try it was my Brocock Concept seemed to suffer from inaccuracy after around 150-200 shots and then be fouled and need cleaning. Since lubing with pledge I can’t remember the last time it needed cleaning.
I first tried washing pellets but noticed no improvement. Plus they were already clean JSB and H&N pellets. So I just lube and don’t wash them.
I’ve seen no change in velocity or accuracy between lubed and unlubed pellets other than reducing barrel cleaning to near zero.

 

[KDX]

Good to know it's not a waste of time lubing the pellets.

 

[dieseldog]

Anyone try tumbling to clean? —-Dieseldog!

 

[KDX]

A good idea, but I think they might deform.

 

[sk8snwmx]

I wonder if the Lyman 'quick slick' case lube that I use for reloading would be a good lube, it quick dries as a film...

 

[KDX]

It's a petroleum based lube. I've read posts on the air gun forums where people warn against using petroleum based products when it comes to o-rings. Not sure if this would be a bad lube because it dries, which I assume is the petroleum part of it.

 

[KDX]

I wonder if the Lyman 'quick slick' case lube that I use for reloading would be a good lube, it quick dries as a film...

I read on an airgun forum that some people use case lube with good results. I'll be trying it when my current batch has been depleted, or I may re wash some and use case lube to see if there is any difference (which I doubt).

 

[Maple57]

Case lube is usually just Lanolin, which you can get at the drug store.

We could dissolve it in a solvent like coleman camping fuel in a certain TBD ratio, roll the pellets in it then let out to dry.

Just an idea.

I've heard of center fire guys like G David Tubbs doing such things.

 

[KDX]

What about rubbing alcohol?

 

[easyrider604]

What about rubbing alcohol?

Thanks to Covid 19, my bottle of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol, has been reserved exclusively for hygienic purposes.

Varsol is a solvent for lanolin. For example, Ed’s Red is a mixture of acetone, Varsol, ATF, and lanolin.

Wait, maybe it’s the acetone that’s the solvent.

Anyways, I like the idea of washing then lubing pellets.
I’ve got several thousand old pellets with with lead oxide dust on them that can use this treatment.

 

[Pneumaniatic]

I only tried washing once many years ago, when I was relatively new to airgunning - the Crosman pellets I was using then was very dirty and my fingers would be dark with lead after relatively few pellets sent downrange. The sizing on the Crosman's were also bad. Ditched them and never looked back - haven't felt the need to wash any H&N's or RWS's or JSB's since then.

 

[NHunter]

Would Ballistol be a good product with which to wash/lube pellets?

 

[KDX]

It would likely be very good to lube them with as it's good for cleaning/lubing barrels. I would still use hot water and soap for the washing part. Guys on another forum mentioned silicone sprays work well.

 

[Slipnslide]

You know I never thought about cleaning a pellet gun. I have one that is kinda inaccurate, maybe giving her a nice clean like I do my firearms will help her out a bit?

 

[KDX]

You know I never thought about cleaning a pellet gun. I have one that is kinda inaccurate, maybe giving her a nice clean like I do my firearms will help her out a bit?

Use a pull through type of cleaner if you have one.

 

[sk8snwmx]

It's a petroleum based lube. I've read posts on the air gun forums where people warn against using petroleum based products when it comes to o-rings. Not sure if this would be a bad lube because it dries, which I assume is the petroleum part of it.

Ah right! Not sure if the petrolium based product would cause the gun to 'diesel' too.

 

[KDX]

I was at Crappy Tire yesterday and picked up a can of WD40 silicone spray lube. I'll try that one out the next time I wash some pellets.