Lube or not To Lube?

[Schmidty25]

I am wondering how many people on the forums here lube thier pellets?  I've heard you loose fps but helps with lead deposits.  I use pledge in a tin and let it sit there for a day then put the pellets in.  Also I cleaned the pellets before lubing them.  any input would be good.  thanx

[Gene_SC]

You will find that most guys buy the lube and use it on there PCP's to increase velocity. Personally it is more trouble than it is worth.. Because the lube attracks small particles of dust and dirt. Lube being on your pellets and in your barrel after shooting them. Your barrel bore will need cleaning much more than the norm with just using good ole pellets pellets right out of the tin. Now this is just my personal opinion and I choose not to use lubes on my pellets because of the mess of it all.. One other point to make is why do you want to increase velocity? The increase you get with lube is hardly enough to even get excited about. lol Gene

[Schmidty25]

yea I lubed the old tin of pellets I had and tried them..  I am pretty sure you will lose velocity with lube.  I Am not going to lube any more pellets, just wanted to see some opinions

[Gene_SC]

I tried the Pel lube on one of my first PCP's and could not stand knowing there was oil on my pellets and my fingers and inside the barrel as well.. That got me to start thinking. What am I doing.. Once on your fingers it leaves a mess all over your air rifle. Even though you only use a drop or two in one tin of pellets it still gets everywhere.. lol

Gene

[Schmidty25]

yea your right, I'm going to clean out the barrel again and use the other pellets.  most likely I'll throw the 10-20 old lubed pellets away.  Thanx for the help

[TCups]

Here's a related question I don't know the answer to -- didn't I hear or read somewhere that some pellets have a higher carbon (graphite) content that also acts as a lubricant - perhaps the Crosman Premiers?  And doesn't even a small amount of any type of petroleum based oil lubricant mean possible dieseling in a springer?

[Gene_SC]

Well Tom the lead pellets due seal and lube the inside of the barrel lands. That is refered to as barrel seasoning. I am not sure about what you have read but I do know a springer takes normally 500 shots or more for your accuracy to start getting consistant, as  long as all other parts are functioning good. Lead deposits fill the lands and once they do get filled it is time to clean the bore with a swab and some goo gone. For instance, I have only done this with one springer which I still own and it has over 10,000 pellets through the barrel.. So cleaning a barrel is only done when you have noticed a change in accuracy or possibly a velocity drop. One quick way to find out is to clean the bore. But when you do clean the bore do not over do it because you will have to start all over again seasoning the barrel.....

Gene

[HNT5]

The Crosman AccuPell has a dry lube on the pellet that can rub off on the fingers. I use them in in my Logun MK II and they are very accurate. I tried an experiment with the Logun with lubed and unlubed JSB's. I really didn't  notice any increase in accurarcy. Plus it's just one more step that can be messy. Yes lubing pellets can cause or increase deiseling in spring rifles, especially if the lube gets in the skirt. Many people swear by using dry type aerosol lubes (like Pledge or Sail Kote) for their springer pellets.
Regards
Nathan

[riarcher]

Tried lubing a few.
Rifle sounded different, but not in a good way. Accuacy went to crap too.
Don't know if it's the same in all guns, but for me, I cleaned real good and vowed never to oil again. (read oiling / cleaning guns on here)
Took a few rounds to get it shooting right again too. Must of needed to season the barrel all over again? Don't know.

I was dabbling with various pellets lubes before I sent my CFX back.  My opinion: any wet lube is surely not worth "messing" with.  I found dry lubes such as a silicone based spray to improve accuracy some without the mess.  The dry lubes seemed to slow the gun down too where as the wet lubes increased the speed, maybe because of light dieseling.  Maybe if they ever send my CFX back to me I'll be able to start over/complete my lube tests.

[Progun]

Josh, If you shoot a pure lead pellet there is no real reason to lube as the lead itself provides lubricity. If you shoot crossman premiers they have a graphite coating that is really an anti oxidant that extends shelf life. It basically gets pushed out the bore with each shot so there is really not much reason to clean the barrel unless.... your gun shoots at high velocity say over 900fps. Apparently the antimony used in CP's causes increased barrel leading more than pure lead pellets do.In addition the graphite does dirty up your fingers.Some match shooters swear that lubing pellets gives a better seal to the bore and improves accuracy.I lube CP's because my magnum  guns shoot fast and leave deposits  that are visable 3-4 inches  from the breech after just 50 or so shots If I don't lube.I use a silicone spray lube  on CP's and the cleaning cycle is extended to hundred's of shots before cleaning is necessary and I no longer get dirty fingers. That's the only reason I lube CP's.To extend the barrel cleaning cycle  and keep my fingers clean.

[sport71]

I tried it as well, I even bought some pledge. Oh well, now we can do some dusting...

[Schmidty25]

Yea I don't think I'll be lubing any more pellets.  I am going to clean the pellets with soap and water because alot of them come with metal shavings etc. on them.

[Jaymo]

I lube my pellets with Pledge and have been happy with the results. I tried FP10 on a few of my PCP pellets and did not like the oiliness.

Jaymo,
  My previous post on 5/22 explains my take in full.  They did finally send me another CFX but I never got back to lube testing.  It seems the 2nd CFX did good to average 725fps, truth being, the 1st 80 shots averaged ~715fps.  I boxed the gun up and told them if they can't do any better that I don't need them to send a 3rd.  My pellets sat around in the tin for nearly 2 months before I got the 2nd gun back.  Here's my findings two months later and yet the same as all other testing.  The dry lubed/silicone lubed pellets still held tight velocity spreads although the velocity does appear to be less than that of the pellets straight from the manufacturer.  The wet lubed pellets had to be dieseling because every 4th or 5th shot would be around 50fps faster than the average pellet.  From all I can tell, dry lubes may help in keeping the pellet velocity more even but all-in-all, it may be too much trouble to deal with.  Wet lubes are certainly out of the question.