Do any of you wash your pellets?

[Madkoifish]

I wash anything that has that graphite crap on. I do not like it all over my hands or in my guns. So mostly gamo and crosman stuff, yes it is graphite not lead. The gamo I am not to keen on, quality is naf and other "reasons". I dump them in a jar with dish soap or shampoo then dish out a few at a time in a strainer and soap em up then rinse them and paper towel or towel to dry then I do the dry lube (wax stuff) or use pelgun or the like on the ones that don't go into the nitro break barrel. I use a old tin and stick 1/4 tin in and a few drops close it up roll it about and dump em in the tin they came from and repeat until they are all done.

Friend soaks his so they are dripping and slams em out of a crosman springer, detonations and all but more often than not he hits what he shoots.  I still keep the oiled pellets out of my nitro gun for the smell of it alone.    Gun stinks enough on it's own.

Im sure the graphite is not any worse than wax, lead, or oil in the barrel etc. Mostly it is the mess on the hands and elsewhere is the reason I wash them. Personally I have not seen a improvement in accuracy due to washing.

[JEBert]

I have only just started, and the pellet lubing process is kind of time consuming... great for bad weather days.  As for washing... I should show you the lead dust that comes off of the Crosman pellets that are in the box (match pellets)... these pellets are filthy!!  Cleaning is a must for anyone using these pellets.  Imagine playing in graphite dust... yuck!

I'm just asking here because I don't know.  Is the "filth" on the pellets really graphite?  Graphite is a lubricant.  Do you suppose Teflon in the barrel is better than graphite?  Would you end up with a layer of Teflon builtup?  Graphite being a fine powder might not accumulate as bad in the barrel.  I don't mind swabbing the barrel, which one would be easier to get out of the barrel?  I have not had to clean my barrels much but I don't know what is on the "dirtier" pellets which I sometimes use and haven't cleaned or lubed any pellets so far.  White Lightening works just fine on bicycle chains.
Mostly thinking
Cheers,
Jerry

[Make MY day]

Don't know about White Lightening working on bike chains unless it is to take off Rust, but it sure taste good.

[Madkoifish]

teflon or wax would be harder to remove from the barrel than the graphite dust. You would have to use a solvent since a wire brush or other firearm scrubber/swag would likely damage the fine rifling in a airgun barrel. With the pellets that use graphite I think it is done more for appearances more than anything sort of lubrication aspect. Sorta hides bad molding etc.

[DRAGON64]

I wash anything that has that graphite crap on. I do not like it all over my hands or in my guns. So mostly gamo and crosman stuff, yes it is graphite not lead. The gamo I am not to keen on, quality is naf and other "reasons". I dump them in a jar with dish soap or shampoo then dish out a few at a time in a strainer and soap em up then rinse them and paper towel or towel to dry then I do the dry lube (wax stuff) or use pelgun or the like on the ones that don't go into the nitro break barrel. I use a old tin and stick 1/4 tin in and a few drops close it up roll it about and dump em in the tin they came from and repeat until they are all done.

Friend soaks his so they are dripping and slams em out of a crosman springer, detonations and all but more often than not he hits what he shoots.  I still keep the oiled pellets out of my nitro gun for the smell of it alone.    Gun stinks enough on it's own.

Im sure the graphite is not any worse than wax, lead, or oil in the barrel etc. Mostly it is the mess on the hands and elsewhere is the reason I wash them. Personally I have not seen a improvement in accuracy due to washing.

How do we know that the gray dust/filth on the Crosman premiers is graphite?  Regardless, I wash the grime off, whether it is lead or graphite, the stuff really trashes your hands and the inner barrel.

I'm no longer on the fence about lubing the pellets; after shooting my first field target match, I can say that the barrel cleaned up nicely in less than eight passes total with patches + Crown Saver, to include solvent patches, dry patches, and two lubed passes with Remoil.  I was paired with Harold Rushton this past weekend, shooting field target, and he stated that washing is a must for Crosman premier pellets (boxed match pellets, especially the heavies), but he has suspended lubing pellets, as he noticed some decreases in accuracy... Coming from the 2010 national field target champ, I take his advice seriously... I have a couple hundred rounds of lubed pellets left, and then no more pellet lubing for me.

[laptopdragon]

good info...

i noticed there is definately a graphite even on the SSP alloy lead free crosman pellets.
and they bend in my fingers really easily, i have to check for round wth each one, and i get a fair amount of grey on my fingertips.

i also double seat my pellets, after they go in, i re pull the bolt to allow a no-pinch scenario...as i have found some Gamo pellets are not seating correctly (which i don't use GAMO any longer)

i will now wash a few tins of the LEAD FREE alloys and see if that has any known issues, i will have to start a ledger. as i have a dedicated 1377 for lead free ammo vs. a 1377 lead ammo.   (searching for barrel wear)