How to Clean Your Airsoft Gun Barrel
Over time, dirt starts to built up in an airsoft gun barrel, causing loss of FPS and accuracy. Cleaning your barrel helps your airsoft gun maintain good performance. Cleaning is easy, but takes a little time. Here's what you do:
1. Safety first. Move the selector switch to the "safe" position and unplug the battery
2. Turn the hop-up all the way OFF. Neglecting to do this could result in damage to the hop-up bucking or the hop-up unit itself.
3. Remove the magazine.
4. If you can, it is best to remove the barrel from the gun and detach the hop-up unit. There are several reasons to do this:
a) Removing the barrel from the gun keeps dirt from being pushed into the air nozzle and then getting blown right back into the barrel,
or worse, dirt getting into the gearbox itself.
b) Removing the hop-up unit and bucking prevents any possible damage to the bucking/hop-up unit while cleaning the barrel, and
keeps dirt from getting pushed into the bucking or hop-up unit.
5. Get the unjamming/cleaning rod that should have been included with your airsoft gun. You will need to use the flat end that has a slit cut into it.
6. Using some lint-free cloth (paper towels work also) cut several strips that are half an inch wide and about one-and-a-half to two inches long.
7. Take the cloth and insert in halfway through the slit at the end of the cleaning rod.
8. Wind the cloth around the end of the rod and then insert in into the end of the barrel, pushing it down the barrel in a spiraling motion. Run up and down in a spiraling motion several times, changing cloth as neccessary. I usually use some 100% silicone oil to lubricate and remove the tougher dirt. Make sure you get most of the oil out, as it has a tendency to collect dirt. DO NOT use WD-40 or real steel gun cleaning solution; it will harm your gun!
