Now more than ever, sniping has become a popular recreational sport for outdoor gamers out there. If you’re familiar with the venture, then you know protocol demands top maintenance for your airsoft gun to function at optimum. Despite being an amateur gun, it still requires cleaning and servicing just as much as a real gun would.
So then, how do you maintain your sniper hygiene? Is it even necessary? Keep calm. Here is the Best Airsoft Sniper Rifle Guide to get you started. But first, let’s take a closer look at why gun sanitation is so important.
Benefits of Cleaning your Airsoft Sniper
It’s no surprise that your sniper rifle will get dirty at some point, but if you imagine because it’s a toy gun it doesn’t need upkeep, think again. Here are the advantages;
- Aesthetic beauty- appearances matter. Neglecting the exterior may not have adverse effects on functionality, but keeping a smooth finish is part of responsible care. Maintain it well and you’ll get years of service for those gameplays.
- Precise shots- the most important bit when out in the field is landing accurate shots. This you can achieve when the inner parts are fully serviced; not to mention a bonus of fine-tuned control. The better your airsoft profile the better your aim shot.
- Easier handling- piled-up debris slows down the riffle acceleration rate and this in turn drops FPS (feet per second). Ridding the excess dirt gets your gun feeling lighter and so does the overall performance improve.
Now that you understand just how crucial cleanliness is, let’s move along into the basic tips of how to go about it.
Airsoft Sniper Rifle Cleaning Guidelines
Apart from eliminating dirt, follow up procedures such as lubrication are an essential part. Keep in mind that you’re working with steel parts and as such, oiling keeps the friction subsidized. Other common occurrences such as rusting (that would otherwise necessitate replacement) are also controlled. That said, gun experts recommend the following steps;
Get the right supplies
If you bought your sniper brand new, these may already come in the packaging, which is rare with second-hand purchases. For the latter, simply shop from your closest airsoft store or on the internet. The fundamentals include an unjamming rod, special fabric, silicon oil/ mechanic oil, and rubbing alcohol, screw glue, and soft bristle brushes for the body. Depending on what make your sniper is, consult with the manufacturers for any additional extras, but these are the staples for spring or gas powered bolt action snipers.
Keep a dry barrel
Unlike most parts of the gun which would do with a bit of oil touchup, the outer barrel and by extension any external part needs to stay dry. Even when cleaning this area, an alcohol substance is recommended so that no wetness remains. Any moisture could potentially cause damaging oxidation. To wipe this surface, loop a fabric onto the end of your cleaning rod and jab it in a couple of times until you finally get a clean swab.
Lubricate the insides
For the most part, you’ll be doing a lot of greasing with silicon oils. This applies at large to parts found within the cylinder, trigger box, and the magazines. Before going on to add an extra layer of oil on top, preceed by removing the existing residue or else it could jam up your gun in the long run.
For the cylinder assembly, you want to lubricate the piston, spring, and spring guide. Stick to just a thin layer as this is all that’s needed to maintain optimal functioning. Follow up-to oil the O-ring at the rubber head before closing up everything together. When you get to the trigger box, aim for the trigger sear and piston sear. It helps achieve a smooth trigger pull effect.
As for the magazine chamber, with an airsoft gas-powered machine, it takes more than just greasing to keep your gun healthy. When storing for instance, it’s recommended that you keep it pressurized as opposed to if you owned a spring-powered version. The latter stays sealed so the gas is held in naturally.
Pro Tip: Before any servicing, confirm that your gun is empty. Do this by firing in a safe direction in case of any missed ball bullets.
Be careful with the Hop-up chamber
The hop-up chamber is special in its own rights. This area should not at any time come to contact with oils reason being it’s where the ball bullets travel through. Friction is actually useful here so whatever you do; do not subject it to lubricants.
Apart from this, when wiping down the chamber, avoid forceful motions at the first sign of resistance. Likely, you have reached the hop-up rubber/ bucking and if you keep pushing further down you will displace it.
Attend to the screw finishing
Screws, rather a small component of the airsoft sniper anatomy can compromise on gun accuracy. Owing to shooting vibrations, they tend to get weak and hence loosen up. Loose screws equal a wobbly gun. To avoid this, enhance firmness with screw glue especially if you disassembled sensitive parts.
Don’t overdo it
Too much cleaning does more harm than good. The number of times you clean will ultimately depend on your game frequency but an average of after 2000 rounds of shots should do. This could scale lower if you’re playing in messy weather but be realistic. As for the barrel and scope lenses, it does no harm to clean before or after every game.
The same applies to lubing processes. Refrain to a thin layer on moving parts and spread the greasing. Cock the gun a few times to enable effective flow to all areas.
Pro Tip: Shoot at a clean tissue to assess whether or not you overdid the lubrication.
For a step by step guide on how to clean your airsoft gun, look at this.
Conclusion
Gun hygiene goes both ways- internal and external. And as you can imagine, proper maintenance is the key to longevity. If you’re new to airsoft guns, it pays to seek expert advice rather than ruin your sport gun through reckless dismantling.