Quick cleaning pellets sound amazing, don’t they? Do cleaning pellets really work? I’ve fallen for products promising they’ll make a tedious chore easy. Not you though. Not this time.
I’ll get straight to the point. Cleaning pellets do work. In fact, they work rather well, and as you’ll discover at the end of this article they have some surprising uses. There are some caveats we need to discuss though. What’s the reason you are using a cleaning pellet? How clean do they really get your barrel, and how should you use them to get the best result? Scroll down and enjoy learning more.
What is a Cleaning Pellet?
A cleaning pellet is a piece of felt that fits into your barrel. Sometimes it can be pretty tight. When you fire your airgun it pushes the felt through your barrel. You can also use a rod to push the pellet through manually. We’ll get into that shortly. As the felt goes through your barrel it expands to fill in the rifling and clean it.
It’s such a simple idea it’s ingenious. Some people even use the felt’s ability to absorb to do an even better clean. Just soak the felt in your cleaning solution ram it through the best way you know how.
Keep in mind, cleaning pellets have a specific use, and there are cases you want to use a different method. That’s another thing we’ll get into later.
That’s the gist of the idea, but judging by the length of this post you have to assume there are a few nuances right?
Do you shoot or push your cleaning pellets?
As I already mentioned the two ways to use a cleaning pellet are to shoot or push it through, and each has their positive and negative.
Shooting
This is probably the most common technique for using quick cleaning pellets. There is a reason it’s called quick. If you do this you’ll likely finish the job in 5 minutes or less, unless you are prone to messing around like me.
Pushing
Some manufacturers recommend this, and so do many enthusiasts. There are some good reasons to do it this way, but if you’re going to use the push method why not use one of the other cleaning methods. Those other methods might be more thorough, and take about as much time to complete.
If you are dealing with an excess lead problem cleaning pellets are not your best bet. Instead, I suggest using a cleaning cloth with a light spray of WD-40. This is something you should probably do periodically even if you use cleaning pellets to clean regularly. You’ll be surprised how much cleaner you can get.
There is such a thing as too clean. You might notice your accuracy and consistency changing after a really good cleaning. There are a number of reasons this might be, but in the end just fire some rounds through until you feel you are back to a tight group.
Do cleaning pellets go supersonic?
If you do fire a single pellet be prepared for it to go supersonic. Yeah, you heard me. Expect that loud crack of the felt passing the sound barrier. As long as you aren’t causing a dry fire effect in your gun this isn’t anything super dangerous. It might penetrate a pillowcase, or bruise if you were to shoot someone with it, but the pellet does slow down quickly.
The main thing to be aware of is your surroundings. If you are in an area that doesn’t allow firearms and your neighbors are close by you might get a visit while cleaning your airgun. Just use caution and you should be fine.
Should I use a cleaning pellet if I have a suppressor?
Cleaning pellets may be awesome, but there is a dark side. Well, not really all that dark, but here is a warning for you before you have a problem. If you have a suppressor on your airgun it will likely eat your cleaning pellets. There are hack style ways around this though.
You can insert something in your suppressor to keep the pellet from falling in. Something like a roll of paper. You may also skip that and run a brush through to get it. These are two of the many suggestions that are out in the community, but I don’t really see the point.
I would recommend you use a more formal cleaning method instead. If you are going to have to go through some sort of extra work to get the “quick” cleaning pellets to work appropriately you’ve already defeated their purpose. Don’t be like me and do more work to avoid work.
Other uses for cleaning pellets?
Avoid dry-firing a break barrel
If your break barrel is cocked, but empty and you don’t want to fire another pellet use cleaning pellets instead. Most springers can survive remaining cocked now, but I really don’t like leaving mine that way. For me, it’s a safety thing. If your airgun did get cocked, but you don’t want to fire a pellet what do you do? You don’t want to dry fire it or you may cause internal damage. By using cleaning pellets you not only have a cleaner barrel, but you avoid the two major ways you can damage your gun. I love two for ones.
Killing creepy crawlies
Do you have large creepy crawlies in your immediate vicinity? Are you afraid of getting to close to them? You might try using your felt cleaning pellets to blast them to pieces. Expect the splat to be big. Obviously, I mean large creepy crawlies, and since you are using an airgun remain vigilant about your safety.
If you want to deal with other pests check out the bug-a-salt. I know it’s a strange aside, but this is on my short list for my next family vacation. I’ve heard it’s a blast.
Cover them in dye and use them as markers for indoor target practice
If you are shooting at targets and want to use them as a marker soak them in a dye. You might even be able to do this indoors if you’re careful.
Shooting other pests in your yard?
Has anybody tried this yet? If you’re in an area you can’t be using your airgun as intended, but you have a pest shoot it with a cleaning pellet. This has to clear your moral and ethical thought process. I figure it won’t kill, but it’ll hurt and possibly get the pests to leave your yard. That said, I always assume when I’m shooting a projectile at something it has potential to kill. Do not fire this at something you are not willing to put down. I also wonder what kind of internal damage the impact might do. You could be causing a slow death.
I’m intrigued by this idea personally. In the end, I’d rather just kill any pests in my yard.
Other ideas?
What other ideas can you think of? I mean you are shooting a piece of fabric, so there are some unique possibilities. Leave other ideas in the comments section below.
Don’t be afraid to mix up your cleaning strategy
Some people want to save money and have another way to accomplish the same thing. Q-tips. There are a couple of different ways to use them. You can cut the head off and use it that way, or you can soak the front end in a cleaning solution, and leave the back end dry to get a dual effect.
You can use the traditional cleaning cloth method as well. I’m not going to cover that in detail here, but this is a good idea to mix in.
Honestly, if you talk to most airgunners they are going to tell you they don’t clean their gun as diligently as they feel they should. That’s probably OK for the most part. You can remain very successful primarily using cleaning pellets. Pay attention to the performance of your gun, and how consistent it is. If you start to notice problems consider stepping up your cleaning the next go around.
How to use cleaning pellets.
While it’s not the most complicated concept there are a few things you need to keep in mind. The most important is the number of pellets to use per shot. People mess this one up a lot, and it can cause some problems.
The recommendation is to use between 2 and 4 cleaning pellets per shot. Some airguns require people to use more. The reason for this isn’t to add extra cleaning power. Instead, it’s because of how lightweight the pellets are.
If you load just one pellet and fire it, even though it is tight, it likely won’t keep much pressure behind it. In many springers, this will essentially act as a dry fire. Yes, some airguns can dry fire, but it’s not necessarily the best plan. I don’t recommend firing just one pellet unless your manual says dry firing is OK. If you don’t know you should err on the side of caution.
If you don’t your piston might slam into the end of the compression chamber causing damage to your airgun.
I haven’t tried it, but some people say to load a pellet behind the cleaning pellet on more powerful air rifles. I leave that decision to you.
Quick note: Do not try and reuse the cleaning pellet. It’s just a bad idea.
How well does the cleaning pellet work?
Cleaning pellets work pretty well, but they aren’t the most thorough cleaning method. There are a lot of people that will use them almost exclusively. For airguns that’s fine for the most part. Keep in mind airgun barrels require less attention than your average firearm.