Purchasing an airsoft gun and never cleaning or maintaining it is a lot like purchasing a car and never taking it to a mechanic - it'll piece of work fine for a while, just eventually yous are going to run into problems. Not only is cleaning an airsoft gun and keeping it maintained essential for extending the lifespan of your costly investment, but it's also essential for optimizing your gun'southward functioning. If you aren't sure how to clean an airsoft gun or where to become started keeping 1 maintained, we at RedWolf Airsoft are here to assistance. In this article, nosotros'll cover everything you need to know about how to clean an airsoft gun, including how to make clean your electric airsoft AEG , bound , and gas guns alike.

How Ofttimes Should You Clean Your Guns?

It is recommended that yous clean your airsoft guns subsequently every catamenia of extended employ. That doesn't mean they need to exist cleaned every single time you fire them, merely if you spend all mean solar day at the field putting hundreds of rounds through your gun then it's a good idea to give it a thorough cleaning when you lot go dwelling house. While this may sound similar quite the hassle, cleaning an airsoft gun should simply accept fifteen minutes or and so if you use the right tools and follow the right procedures.

Get the Right Tools for the Job

Speaking of the correct tools, at that place are a couple of airsoft gun cleaning tools that you will want to exist sure and buy if your gun did non come included with them. The first and arguably nigh essential airsoft cleaning tool is a barrel cleaning/unjamming rod. In addition to helping you remove Bbs that become lodged in your gun's barrel in the event of a jam, this rod too features an zipper point for attaching cleaning patches that will allow you to scrub the inside of your gun's barrel. Cleaning patches can be purchased from any store that sells airsoft supplies, and y'all tin can also use cleaning patches that are designed for real-steel firearms if you cutting them downwardly to size. Making your ain cleaning patches out of an old t-shirt or other slice of fabric is an choice too.

Cleaning Rod and Lubricant

Many cleaning patches come up pre-lubricated with gun oil that will prevent your gun's metal components from rusting. If y'all don't have pre-lubricated patches, though, y'all will want to be sure and purchase a canteen of gun oil too. Finally, you may need tools such equally a pocket-sized screwdriver or set up of Allen keys to disassemble your airsoft gun when it'south time for a more than thorough cleaning.

What are the Most Important Parts to Pay Attention to?

It's worth mentioning commencement that the specific components inside an airsoft gun will differ from gun to gun. An electric airsoft gun, for case, functions much differently than a spring-powered gun and has dissimilar components that must be cared for every bit office of your gun'south regular cleaning and maintenance. For the purpose of this section, though, we are going to focus on the important components/maintenance priorities that are common to all types of airsoft guns. In the adjacent section, we'll dive into more platform-specific cleaning and maintenance procedures.

Gun Barrel Maintenance

Inner Barrel Cleaning is Essential for Meliorate Accurateness and Performance - Click on Photo for More than Inner Barrels

The inner barrels of airsoft guns are made out of either steel, aluminum, or contumely - all of which are decumbent to corrosion if they are non kept properly lubricated. This is why information technology is of import to always clean the inner butt of your airsoft gun using a cleaning patch that has been soaked in gun oil that is designed to prevent corrosion.

In addition to preventing corrosion, it'south also essential to clean your gun's barrel regularly in order to remove whatsoever residue or debris that might have congenital up. When a BB is fired through the gun's barrel, piffling flakes of plastic often rub off and are left backside. Over time, these flakes of plastic along with whatever grit or dirt that happens to get inside your barrel tin can build upwards and negatively affect the gun's functioning. Running a cleaning patch through your barrel subsequently each period of extended utilise ensures that all of this remainder and debris is removed before your next outing.

Exterior Maintenance

Many of the exterior components of an airsoft gun are typically made out of plastic or metallic, and these components won't really require a lot of care aside from wiping them down occasionally. Yet, if there are whatever exterior components of your gun that are fabricated out of metal, though, y'all will want to wipe them downwards gun oil after every use in order to prevent rust and corrosion.

Lubrication

GHK Makes Some of the Airsoft Best Lubricants - Clink on Photo for More Information

Along with the gun'southward inner barrel, there are a number of other internal components within your airsoft gun that will require frequent lubrication to continue operation properly. These components tin can differ from gun to gun depending on the model that you lot own, and the process of accessing them can differ as well. For bones lubrication, though, all you lot accept to do is access the gun'southward action either through the mag well or by sliding dorsum the bolt. Spraying a petty lubricant up through the magazine well or into the commodities assembly will go a long manner toward keeping your gun'south internal components well lubricated. Occasionally, like in the case of gas pistols or rifles, you volition want to disassemble your gun and more properly lubricate its internal components, and we'll explain how to practise this for each type of airsoft gun in the next department.

Platform-Specific Maintenance and Cleaning

A big part of knowing how to make clean an airsoft gun is knowing how to disassemble and reassemble information technology again so that you lot are able to admission and clean all of its internal components. While this may sound a trivial daunting if you don't take much experience working with airsoft guns, the good news is that disassembling and reassembling an airsoft gun is typically a relatively straightforward process. With that said, the exact steps you will need to follow depends on the type of airsoft gun that y'all own, keeping in listen that cleaning the gun'due south inner barrel and wiping down its exterior components are too steps that need to exist followed for every blazon of airsoft gun.

Electrical Airsoft Gun Maintenance

Cantankerous Section of Version two Gearbox - Check Out more Gearbox Parts

For electric airsoft guns, AEG guns, the biggest challenge is conducting regular maintenance to the gearbox. Though there are many different versions, the maintenance process is more or less the aforementioned. Disassemble and reassembling a gearbox can exist tricky; if you lot aren't comfortable doing it yourself, be sure to bring information technology over to a reputable airsoft tech to exercise it for y'all.

Start by carefully disassembling the AEG to take out the gearbox and motor. Some AEGs may not have a gearbox. If and then, merely completely remove all the internal parts. Be sure to call back how to reassemble them dorsum, label the parts if yous take to.

Next, degrease all the moving parts. The gears tin can be soaked in cleaners like acetone, or other degrease solution, or y'all can just use a slice of tissue and some wiping alcohol to make clean all the internal parts. Be enlightened that some plastic/ rubber parts may non react well to the cleaning solutions, then be sure to choose one that can move oil/ grease without dissolving plastic or rubber.

Degrease and Make clean

Once all of the parts have been degreased, dry them using a rag then reapply a thin layer of grease/ lubricant to all moving parts. In this office yous will demand to be conscientious, y'all will need to utilise just the right corporeality of grease; not too much, non too petty. Too little lubrication will accept no effect and could speed upwardly wear and tear. Too much grease could gunk upwards the gearbox, excess grease might cake some of the electronics causing potential malfunction.

While everything is disassembled, take a minute to cheque the motor's condition. Unless it is a brushless motor, you lot will want to see if the carbon brush is depleted or not. Brushed motors have carbon brushes on them and will slowly deplete when used. If the carbon castor is well-nigh depleted, it is a good idea to supervene upon it with a new motor (be sure to get one with the same RPM unless y'all are upgrading it). Too, check the pinion gear on the motor to see if there are whatever microfractures/cracks on it.

Typical AEG Motor - Click on Photo for More Information

The final step is to reassemble everything back together. Put all the internal parts back into the gearbox and assemble the AEG back to an airsoft gun. Afterward, plug in the battery fire a few rounds just to brand certain it is running fine and smooth. After that, yous are done!

Gas Gun Maintenance

The internal mechanisms inside gas airsoft guns are non quite as complex as those inside an AEG, making gas guns a picayune easier to detach and maintain. Start by removing the bolt carrier group assembly from your gun then dissembling it into its individual components. Next, follow the same process for degreasing these parts that yous would follow for an AEG.

Gas Blowback Rifle Parts

One time these components accept been degreased, dry out them off and apply a thin layer of lubricant to each part. For gas guns, it's likewise important to spay a little silicone gun oil inside the nozzle seal of your magazines and inside the piston of your gun's commodities assembly in order to foreclose plastic parts inside these components from drying out. In one case this is complete, y'all are ready to reassemble your gun and fire off a few rounds to brand sure everything is functioning properly.

Leap Gun Maintenance

Leap and Piston Head

Cleaning and maintaining a spring-powered airsoft gun is quite similar to the process of cleaning a gas gun, but even simpler. With bound airsoft guns, all you need to do is disable the gun's bolt assembly, degrease and lubricate each individual component, then reassemble the gun. Spring airsoft guns do non require the application of silicone oil like gas guns and practise not take a gearbox that needs to exist dissembled and cleaned similar AEGs, so once you've cleaned all of the components inside the gun's bolt assembly you are ready to put the gun back together. Do pay special attention to the spring inside the gun, though, and brand sure that information technology is well lubricated and then that it will maintain its strength for as long as possible.