Folks, I am very impressed by my Hatsan airguns and have no problem recommending them. I’m rally a fan on the pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) guns that have an onboard air tank and can fire 10-20 rounds for hunting plus if you get one if their models with the Quiet Energy (QE) baffle system, they are on the discrete side for pest control.
This is my Gladius Long in .22 and I use it all the time for pest control. Probably over 1,000 if not 1,500 pellets have been shot through that airgun now.
The Gladius .22 has a 10 round magazine and is a bolt action repeater. It carries three spare magazines at the rear under the stock and they come in handy when you need to rapidly reload. It does happen with pest control actually.
The Gladius comes with four magazines. I have one loaded in the receiver, two ready to go securely clicked into their storage bays and you can see I already have one magazine that needs to be reloaded.
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I have two Hatsan precharged pneumatic (PCP) airguns – a full size Gladius .22 long and a compact ATP2. I recently needed to replace the O-rings and started researching what was needed.
The O-Rings
Here’s a Hatsan probe and the brownish/tan O-rings are their OEM rings. The black rings are the Buna-N rubber rings that we are now selling.
My two Hatsan’s get pressurized up to 300 bar, which is 4,351 PSI. That’s quite a bit of pressure that the fill probe’s O-rings need to contain plus they need to be flexible enough to allow for insertion and a good seal. One last consideration is the need to withstand the silicone grease that is used to lubricate them (never use oil-based grease on a PCP or it may diesel under pressure).
The O-rings are wear items meaning they will wear out for a variety of reasons and you can tell because when you go to fill the airgun’s tank, you will hear air escaping plus you probably will not be able to get very much pressure to stay in the line. So when mine went out and I installed the spare set that came with the Gladius, I had to think about getting more spares. Hatsan was out of stock at the time so I decided to dig.
So, I started researching what O-rings would work best and sourced some that work great. They are 70A on the shore hardness scale and made from Buna-N rubber which will withstand the silicone grease.
In addition to fitting Hatsan PCP fill probes, they will also fit the Air Venturi Halestorm, Evanix, FX, Hammerli Pneuma, Kral, Lgun and Raider probes.
While I was at it, I decided to tackle how to keep the probe clean. I’ve had my Hatsans and my Hill Mk4 air pump for a couple of years and have tried to keep bags on the probe to keep it clean. Those semi-rigid airlines flop everywhere and trying to keep dirt off the probe that is sticky with silicone grease is a challenge.
Here’s the uncovered probe begging to have dirt and debris stick to it.
So, after measuring stuff. I came up with two types of caps for people to choose from. The first is a yellow cap with a pull tab.
Here’s the yellow pull tab cap that extends just past the rear O-ring
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As mentioned previously, I purchased a Hatsan AT-P2 QE pistol. A few guys email med asking questions and I decided to post my answers here for others to read also:
How comfortable is it? It looks like a kid’s toy.
I’m 5′ 8″ and find it very comfortable shoot. I wanted a small profile PCP repeating airgun so I bought it wanting to hold it close to show a small profile. I’m right handed and my left hand naturally goes to the front of handguard. I think that is why they designed it with that angle.
I have the stock adjusted one click back out of five. The cheek piece is adjustable but I found it did not need to be changed. Again, it works fine for me. I have no interest in trying to use it as a giant pistol.
How tight is the stock?
It wiggles just a tiny bit without a load but once I put it to my shoulder and place my cheek on the rest, it is solid.
Does it have two triggers?
No. The front thing that looks like a trigger is the safety lever. It’s actually very slick once you get used to it. My Gladius has the same safety and trigger set up. While it may look different, you can very easily turn it on, off or check the status.
The trigger is colored gold and the think safety lever is in front of it.
The trigger itself is Hatsan’s Quattro trigger and is user adjustable. It has three screws for overall trigger travel, second state engagement and trigger pull weight. Hatsan USA has a video on how to adjust the trigger – click here.
Well, I was worried that if I went with .177 that I would not have enough foot pounds of energy (FPE) to cleanly kill the pests I expected – squirrels, ground squirrels, and rabbits. In talking with guys and reading, I decided to go with .22 for a trade off between power, air use and sound. The bigger calibers are much louder and use more air. I’ve found that .22 is plenty for me given I am shooting relatively short distances most of the time.
Does a hand pump really work or should a person buy a SCUBA tank?
Guys, the last thing I want to do is to buy a tank and deal with going to get it filled. I have a Hill Mk.4 hand pump and highly recommend it. I bought it for my Gladius and now use it on the AT-P2 also. What is nice is that the air cylinder is small on the AT-P2. I shoot about 8-10 rounds and then top it off back to 200 BAR and that takes about 20-30 pumps. When I see I am down to 2-3 pellets, I top the magazine off.
This is the Hill MK.4 pump. The small bottle is Silicone Grease. I periodically coat the shaft of the pump and the male quick connect plug. I do it once every couple of months – not much really.
Now if you tell me you plan on shooting a ton, then you might want a tank or one of the new little portable compressors that are available. I’m using it for pest control so my average number of shots at a time is 1-2 and then I done. It’s easy for me to top off the magazine and the tank.
In Closing
I appreciated the folks sending in the questions and hope my answers helped them out.
6/29/2020 Update: Still very happy with the AT-P2 – it’s great on pest control with squirrels. We now have replacement fill-probe O-rings and caps to keep your fill probe clean. Click here to learn more.
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Before I bought my Hatsan AT-P2 QE Pistol, I did a bunch of research. I wanted a very compact yet powerful and accurate pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) carbine or bullpup that was a repeater for quick and accurate follow up shots for pest control of tree and ground squirrels.
I needed something smaller than my Gladius Long, lighter and did not need the power levels that the Gladius Long bring to the table. The Gladius Long is an absolutely wicked PCP bullpup but for what I need most of the time – discrete firepower to dispatch squirrels and rabbits inside of 12-15 yards most of the time – it was overkill. I love it and am not selling it, but definitely needed a different go-to airgun.
So, I watched a ton of videos and decided on the Hatsan AT P2 and decided to go with the QT-P2 QE Pistol. It was compact, lighter, had solid reviews and had both an adjustable stock and in integral noise moderator built in. Hatsan refers to these as their Quiet Energy (QE) line.
In this next photo, I literally set the AT-P2 QE on top of the Gladius Long and tried to line up the muzzles as best I could so you can see the size difference.
So here’s the comparison of the two:
As you can see the actual package weight including the scope of the AT-P2 QE Tact is 4.6 pounds lighter that the Gladius Long and it is 6-5/8″ shorter.
In terms of energy, I did a lot of reading and can’t tell you for certain. Hatsan themselves says the Gladius Long will produce the following power levels but they don’t tell you the velocity or the weight of the pellet.
From the 2018 Airgun catalog, Hatsan reports the AT-P2 QE in .22 has a muzzle energy of 27 joules. All things being equal, that puts it between power levels 3 and 4 of the Gladius Long. I tend to switch between those two settings so for me, the power of the AT P2 is right in the sweet zone of what I wanted.
In terms of sound, the Gladius is relatively quiet at 3 and louder at 4. The AT-P2 QE is remarkably quiet. To me as the shooter, cocking the pistol is louder than firing it!
Both pistols have the noteworthy Hatsan Quattro adjustable trigger. I thought the trigger of the Gladius Long was the best factory airgun trigger I had tried until shooting the AT-P2 QE. From the factory, it is light! I need to measure it but it is a dream to shoot because I can hold it rock solid on target effortlessly. On the point of accuracy, it can shoot 1/2″ groups at 10 yards over and over using JSB Exact Jumbo Diablo 15.89 grain pellets.
Summary
I’m keeping the Gladius Long for distance shots and/or when I want more power. I will be using the AT-P2 QE for my normal close-in pest work.
6/29/2020 Update: Still very happy with both airguns. We now have replacement fill-probe O-rings and caps to keep your fill probe clean. Click here to learn more.
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Hatsan is a Turkish company that was founded in 1976 and makes a number of airguns as well as shotguns. My first Hatsan was .22 Long Gladius Precharged Pneumatic (PCP) bullpup air rifle. The Gladius is amazing but I really wanted to find something smaller and more discrete. Even though the Gladius is a bullpup, it is still fairly big and heavy. I started looking for something else and ran across the Hatsan AT P2 and found what I was looking for.
Hatsan comes up with some radical designs that are well thought out and executed. I was very happy with Gladius so when I saw the AT P2 and that it had their proven Quatro trigger, was a PCP repeater, used their great 10 round magazines, and had integral Quiet Energy baffles, I was pretty much sold but kept reading 🙂
I prefer .22 caliber airguns for dealing with larger pests. The AT P2 claims 780 FPS so that will make around 19.8 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. This matters to me because I need the carbine for pest control – chiefly ground squirrels, tree squirrels and rabbits – all of which tear up our gardens. These animals typically need about 3-5 ft/lbs to be dealt with provided accurate shot placement. This means you need an airgun that can put pellets on target in an area of 1″ or less at the range you expect.
I am typically taking care of pests within 10 yards and rarely out to 20. In digging I read reports that the AT P2 was surprisingly accurate, had a good trigger and could hit surprisingly hard with for 10-20 pellets. Unlike the Gladius, there isn’t a power adjustment plus you are talking about a fairly small 50cc air tank compressed to 200 bar (2900 PSI).
Hill Mk4 Hand Pump
Another reason for my buying the AT P2 was that I could continue to use my Hill Mk4 hand pump that really has proven itself to be exemplery. The Gladius and AT P2 use the same air fill probe so I didn’t need to worry about changing probes or buying a second pump.
I actually find the smaller air cylinder works in my favor with the Hill pump. I shoot one magazine and top it off again to 200 bar. It doesn’t take too many pumps to do that compared to a bigger cylinder where you need to put more air into the tank.
UTG 3-9×21 Mil-Dot Bug Buster Scope
So, I ordered the carbine and a UTG 3-9×21 Mil-Dot Bug Buster scope with an adjustable objective. UTG makes great scopes and I’ve used them extensively on airguns and firearms that are not mission critical. I don’t mean this as a negative to UTG – It’s just that I will go to Vortex for those situations.
The Bug Buster scopes are just ideal for this type of application. They are compact, bright, clear and pretty reliable. I’ve had a few over the years and haven’t had one break or fail to hold zero.
They have a number of models of Bug Buster scopes and I don’t think you will be disappointed in any of them. Here’s the one that is on my AT P2:
If I had it to do over, I would buy a scope that has turret for adjusting the illuminated reticle. The push buttons work fine but I prefer the simplicity of a turret – I guess I am just old school. A lit reticle can make a low light shot either early in the morning or at dusk way easier. Here’s what I would recommend:
Plano 1502 Hard Case
I already had a basic Plano 1502 hard case to store everything in. It comes with a little hard case from Hatsan but I wanted to have enough room to put the carbine with the scope attached inside.
The only con in the case of the 1502 is that it has an interior length of 50-7/8″. That is really long relative to the AT P2. I have the stock extended one click and that makes the overall length 32-/34″ and the height from the bottom of the grip to the top of the scope turret is just under 10-1/2″. The AT P2 could have gone in a far smaller case but I made do with what I had.
JSB Exact Jumbo Diablo 15.89gr Pellets
I really like JSB pellets. I’ve shot over a thousand of the 18.23gr pellets through my Gladius. I wanted something lighter to try for better in flight ballistics and less over-penetration so on a gamble I ordered the 15.89 gr pellets.
How did it turn out?
I’m really happy is what it boils down to. I needed to oil the safety lever to smooth it out but other than that, it shoots like a dream. I tell you what, it definitely takes care of tree squirrels – head shots are no problem at all and the trigger is remarkable.
One thing that surprised me is the target grip. It comes with a right hand only grip set that is remarkable comfortable. If you are a Lefty, you can contact Hatsan USA and they will send you a left hand set.
The removable adjustable stock is clearly innovative. I find it way to big to be a pistol plus I want the stability. I didn’t buy it to use without the stock. Removing the stock is simple – push the big detent button and pull straight back.
As mentioned, it is a big pistol as this next photo shows. Unless I was resting it on a fence or something there is no way I would be able to control it. If you have a lot of arm strength and can keep a big pistol steady, then maybe but not me.
The stock can adjust four clicks to be quite long. I just need to go back one click and I am 5′ 8″. The cheek piece is adjustable but I did not need to do so.
This is what it looks like for me:
It’s also remarkably quiet. I haven’t run it side by side with my Gladius to compare the sounds at equivalent feet per second but I can tell you it is way quieter than by Gladius on power setting four. I think the cocking is louder than the report of the airgun and it will put a tree squirrel down hard. Headshots tend to stop in the cranium but heart and lung shots go through the body.
Conclusion
It’s performing exactly the way I had hoped. It is compact, quiet, powerful and also very accurate. I’d definitely recommend it.
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The one thing I notice about getting older is that I don’t have the strength to go lugging around as much as I used to not to mention I don’t have a ton of patience either. This issue affects me when it comes to portable compressors.
Because of Ronin’s Grips, I have a big stationary 60 gallon Ingersoll Rand compressor. To work on cars, I run 50-100 feet of 3/8″ air hose to where I am working and life is great, For years I had a portable two gallon compressor that required AC that I sold because it weighed quite a bit and needed an electrical cord.
Last Spring, I started hearing about various tool companies making cordless air compressors that could be used to run nailers, staplers or even inflate tires. That idea definitely caught my attention.
I then read about the Ryobi P739 1 gallon air compressor that uses their common 18 volt batteries. I have a ton of Ryobi tools and batteries so I bought one from www.homedepot.com with home delivery. Note, I specifically bought the model above – there are other previous models but I can’t speak to them. Also, the website will frequently sell different bundles (the unit with a charger and at least one battery) that you will probably not see in a store so at least check the website before you buy.
First off, this is not an inflator that puts out tiny amounts of air. This has a 1 gallon tank that is pressurized to 120 PSI and has an adjustable regulator.
This little compressor is meant for tools that have low air requirements or inflation as it does not put out a ton of air – 0.75 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) at 40 PSI or 0.5 SCFM at 90 PSI. Note, I am just going to write SCFM for the compressor because Ryobi says the above is a SCFM rating. CFM is different and click here if you want a pretty good explanation.
Once the tank is pressurized, you’ll have enough air to run a brad nailer, finish nailer or stapler. The question becomes how many nails can you drive before the compressor will need to kick on and refill the tank. The answer unfortunately is “it depends” because of the requirements of the tool. It will never put out enough air for tools that require a lot of air like ratchets, impact hammers, sanders, spray painters, etc. Don’t even consider it for those tools that say they require over 2 CFM. The Ryobi simply was not designed for those use cases and never claimed to be.
This little compressor will probably be great for 10-20 finish nails/staples and then need to run its compressor. If you try to use the tool too fast when it is trying to recharge the tank, odds are you will draw more air than the tool can deliver and the pressure will continue to drop. Remember – the compressor itself is small. When the tank pressure drops and the compressor kicks on, it will need time to recover.
You’ll notice I didn’t mention a framing nailer or even a roofing nailer. Odds are the compressor can do a few of those but it would never keep up. Portable job site compressors for nailers can deliver 3-5 SCFM @ 90PSI and keep up with even several nailers running. If you plan on some quick fix with just a few nails then sure, this would work.
What this little Ryobi brings to the table is portability. It is only about 14 pounds before you add the battery and tools. I use one of the big 4 amp hour Lithium Ion batteries on it and then keep a 25 foot Amflo line on it with Milton 1/4″ quick connect fittings.
I like the Amflo line as it is made from polyurethane and remains flexible even in cold weather plus it doesn’t leave scuff marks everywhere. The old rubber and PVC air hoses are big, bulky and really get stiff. The challenge is keeping all the Amflo hose on the unit when moving it around. Velcro really helps. I started with an oddball strap that I had laying around. It helped but I needed two more to really secure it and used a cool double sided “Velcro” tape that is out now.
I use a hook and loop tape that rocks. The brand name you know is “Velcro” but you will hear people generically refer to it as hook and loop. At any rate, this stuff has the hook one one side and the loop on the other – you cut off the roll whatever length you need and it is simply fantastic for managing cables, or in this case, keeping that Amflo hose on the holder. I use three pieces – on the two sides and one at the top – because most of the time I am using just a short section for topping off tires.
As mentioned in the past, I just use Milton fittings now. Harbor Freight, Home Depot and other discount brands have let me down one too many times including excessive air leaks with wear and even breaking.
One last small tip, use good Teflon tape. The stuff I am using right now is off Amazon and is way thicker than the cheapo stuff you often see.
I have a 16ga NuMax finish nailer and an 18ga Wen finish nailer that work just fine with this plus a Surebonder T-50 Stapler. I have others but these are the ones that I have used with the Ryobi and am happy. Again, I am not doing high volumes – more like small projects, repairs, etc.
It Rocks For Topping Off Tires
What I use the Ryobi for the most is to top off car and truck tires. It really makes this chore easy. Sure my big compressor is faster but to go around and add up to 5-10 PSI to a tire is easy with this. To give you an idea of size, the next photo shows the unit next to one of my Landcruiser’s good sized 275/70R16 tires.
I used to lug around a portable five gallon tank but it weighs a ton, is cumbersome and I might need to refill it several times before I get done. If I didn’t do that, I would have to pull the car around by my shop, hook up a line to reach it and then fill the tire – that can also be a headache unless the line is already hooked up.
What you see above is a Milton S-506 tire inflator that I keep on it. I have another in the garage that is beat to death but still working. It is so very, very handy to have the inflator and pressure gauge in one unit plus chuck heads at two angles for bikes, tractors, trailers, etc.
To give you an idea, I recently had to add about 2-4 PSI on each tire of my daughter’s 2002 Camry to get them up to 40 PSI. The regulator was set at 90 PSI and it had a freshly charged battery,
Part way into the first tire the compressor turned on and continued running as I did all four tires on the car. The battery’s LED charge indicator dropped one bar out of four. The compressor turned off maybe two minutes after I topped off the last tire.
In summary, I’ve been using this compressor for over two months mainly for topping off tires and that really puts some stress on the little unit. It seems to be holding up just fine. It gets lugged around my shop, the drive way in the trunks of cars and no problems. I can easily go out and check all our vehicle tires and top them off where they sit .
If you use Ryobi 18 volt tools, have the batteries and are in the market for a light duty portable compressor for the uses I outlined above, I’d recommend this one. If you use another brand of 18-20 volt tool, I bet your vendor is making a portable compressor as well that you might want to research.
5/21/2019 Update: This thing has been awesome. I use it at least once a week to top off tires and has been great. I’ve also used it a few times to run staplers and a finish nailer. I really like it. It definitely uses quite a bit of power so if you plan on using it a fair amount, I’d recommend at least 4.0Ah, or even better the new 9.0Ah, batteries you will be using the unit extensively. I always have several batteries with me too.
1/31/20 Update: Still going strong. I can’t begin to guess how many times I have used this to fill tires and no real problems so far. The one tip I would tell you is to not leave a battery in the unit. The battery slowly drains for some reason – it always has and I am not sure why since it has a mechanical on/off rocker switch. It’s not a big deal – I just unplug the battery after each use and then the battery lasts far longer. This little compressor is so handy that I have no qualms recommending it.
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I’ve had this Hatsan Gladius Long PCP rifle in .22 caliber and Hill Mk.4 air pump for just over a year now and am very pleased with it for pest control. I have a few observations to share but first if you wish to read any of the original posts, here are the links:
At any rate, I’ve probably put about 750-1,000 pellets through this at least. It really likes the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy Diabolo 18.13 grain pellets. I can shoot overlapping clusters of holes at 30-50 feet over and over. I have some other weight pellets but haven’t had time to test them. I’m hoping a lighter weight will shoot flatter, expand faster and reduce over-penetration.
From a pressure perspective, the sweet spot seems to be if I keep the cylinder between 170-195 bar, just short of 200. At 200 the first round is a flier. I am not running a regulator on this cylinder. My second cylinder with the regulator is leaking out the end due to some problem from manufacturing that I need to track down some day. It’s not on my top 2,000 list of things to do.
If I had it to do over again, I would not have bothered buying the spare cylinder. I am using this air rifle for pests – mainly squirrels, rabbits and ground squirrels. I can get 16-20 lethal accurate shots and then I refill using my Hill air pump. I never use the second cylinder not to mention the oddball leak out the very end (it’s not an o-ring).
The scope and ring combination has held up great. The scope has held zero. I thought I would use the cheek riser and butt pad adjustments more but haven’t needed them much. I think the cheek piece is up just a hair.
You know, the magazine design is excellent. Some air rifles (Marauder) have real crappy plastic mags and these are metal and easy to fill.
The Hatsan is relatively quiet. I shoot with power setting #4 most of the time and it will drop squirrels and rabbits no problem. There is definitely a muzzle report and I have to worry about over penetration. It blows right through squirrels. On #3, it is remarkably quiet but I have to be very careful with shot placement on a squirrel within 50 feet and I will not use #3 on a rabbit. So most of the time I am on #4 and am very, very careful of what is behind the target. My preference is a tree or something else solid.
I really like the trigger and the safety. The trigger does the job – I haven’t checked the weight but I am able to stay on target with even ground squirrels. The safety lever in the trigger area takes a bit of getting used to but once you do, it is very easy to engage, disengage or check status.
Follow up shots are really nice to have. Up until the Gladius, I only had single shot air rifles. Now I have up to 10 rounds and a side cocking lever that you can quickly actuate while keeping the scope and your eye on the target.
The Hill Mk.4 pump has held up very well. Depending on my mix of #3 and #4 power setting shots, I can top off the cylinder in 25-45 pumps after 10-20 rounds. Because I fiddle with the power settings and I don’t always wait to shoot all 10 pellets I can’t tell you an exact count. By the way, it’s hard to tell if you are down to the last pellet so when I get down near the end of pellets, I will top of the magazine and either top of the tank then or after one more magazine of pellets.
I do periodically put silicone grease on the shaft of the pump and the Hatsan quick connect air fitting. I did find a little zip lock bag and keep the on the air fitting to keep it clean.
I bought this good sized container of silicone grease that is Mission brand and has worked just fine for me. I use it on the Gladius, car work, etc.
In summary, I still like it and am happy with the purchase. Power and accuracy – it’s a great combo and the Hill air pump lets me easily top it off whenever I want to.
6/29/2020 Update: Still very happy with both the Gladius and the Hill pump. We now have replacement fill-probe O-rings and caps to keep your fill probe clean. Click here to learn more.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
When any projectile weapon is made, there are machining operations, dust and lubricants. Now a lot of this is down in the bore of your new purchase. This is true of any arm – including air guns of all types and firearms. If you shoot your weapon without cleaning it, you do risk hurting the barrel or maybe even a jam. Think of it this way – all that crud has to go somewhere. It may go out the end of the barrel or it may get pressed into the walls of the barrel affecting accuracy going forward.
So, clean the barrel. Now, I’m going to focus on airguns going forward as there are some peculiarities to consider.
#1 – The steel used in air rifles and air pistols is relatively soft – way softer than that found in a firearm. You must take care not to nick the crown of the muzzle and create a burr that will affect accuracy. I would recommend aluminum or carbon fiber cleaning rods and not steel. Look out for the pull through cords as many (not all) have a wire brush as part of the unit. There are flexible wire units that allow you to pull the patch in from the breach and out the muzzle end. Personally, I swear by carbon fiber rods and mainly use Tipton brand rods now. I have 4-5 of them now for different calibers and lengths of barrels.
#2 – Because of the soft steel, do not use any form of wire brushes as they may hurt the rifling and accuracy going forward. I just use a simple mop for the given caliber that screws into the end of your cleaning rod. Tip – make sure the thread of your tip(s) match the size of your cleaning rod – for example, that if the rod is 8-32 (size 8 with 32 threads per inch) then the tips should be the same. I have the following jag set from Tipton. These impale a patch and allow you to push it down the bore while scrubbing the sides.
#3 – Look out for strong solvents. I’d recommend something light such as WD40, CLP or any modern synthetic transmission fluid. If you didn’t know it, automatic transmission fluid (ATF) is a great cleaner and lubricant for airguns and it lubricates the O-Rings. Regardless of what you use. Run dry patches after to remove any extra lubricant. By the way, WD40 can help with cleaning but it will not prevent rust.
The following is an example of a clean and dirty mop after going through my brand new Hatsan Gladius and note you would see this from just about any brand and I’m not saying anything bad about Hatsan. My Gladius is fantastic. To do the initial cleaning, I used WD40 with the mop and then ran patch after patch after patch until it was relatively clean. You can decide where you want to stop or you may spend the rest of your life running patches down a barrel.
#4 – This is a bit of a general comment, but be aware of where all the junk is going when cleaning. For example, don’t use a cleaning and was all the crud down into your action. Unlike a firearm, it can be nearly impossible to clean from the breach end so you have to clean from the muzzle. Thus, be sparing with the cleaner and inspect the breach end to see if you need to clean the weapon further. My advice would be to go light on the cleaner and just make how ever many passes are needed with the mop and/or patches until the bore is shiny.
#5 – I recommend using a decent gun vise to hold what you are working on to free up your hands. I sure have cleaned a lot of rifles and pistols over the years sitting on the floor and still do from time to time but the Tipton “Best Gun Vise” has worked well for me.
So with that, you are done. Guys ask how often should they clean and the answer is surprisingly little – you may choose to do it on a regular preventive basis or when you notice accuracy tapering off. One thing I had told to me that I took as gospel and will pass on – beware of the harsh cleaners that have ammonia as it will attack/harm aluminum parts in airguns and airguns tend to use a lot of aluminum.
This last comment has to do with lubrication vs. cleaning. Note, if you are ever lubricating the main spring, areas around the piston or other high pressure areas, you must what is recommended and it is probably some form of silicone based lubricant vs. petroleum. Be sure to read up on what is recommended for your application before doing anything in those areas.
In reading the above it sounds like a Tipton commercial but it wasn’t planned – the listed items are what I actually use. I was not paid to write this. I’ve bought all my Tipton stuff over the years from Amazon and Midway depending on pricing and availability.
At any rate, I hope these tips help you with your next project.
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