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 work fine for a while, but eventually you are going to run into issues. Not only is cleaning an airsoft gun and keeping it maintained essential for extending the lifespan of your costly investment, but information technology's also essential for optimizing your gun's operation. If you aren't certain how to clean an airsoft gun or where to go started keeping 1 maintained, we at RedWolf Airsoft are here to aid. In this article, we'll cover everything you demand to know nearly how to clean an airsoft gun, including how to clean your electrical airsoft AEG , spring , and gas guns alike.

How Often Should Y'all Make clean Your Guns?

It is recommended that you make clean your airsoft guns after every period of extended apply. That doesn't mean they need to exist cleaned every single time you burn down them, but if you spend all day at the field putting hundreds of rounds through your gun then it's a practiced idea to give it a thorough cleaning when you lot get home. While this may audio like quite the hassle, cleaning an airsoft gun should only have 15 minutes or then if you use the right tools and follow the right procedures.

Get the Right Tools for the Task

Speaking of the right tools, in that location are a couple of airsoft gun cleaning tools that y'all will want to exist certain and purchase if your gun did not come included with them. The starting time and arguably nigh essential airsoft cleaning tool is a butt cleaning/unjamming rod. In add-on to helping you remove Bbs that become lodged in your gun'due south butt in the effect of a jam, this rod also features an attachment point for attaching cleaning patches that volition allow you to scrub the inside of your gun's barrel. Cleaning patches can exist purchased from any store that sells airsoft supplies, and you can also use cleaning patches that are designed for real-steel firearms if you lot cut them down to size. Making your ain cleaning patches out of an former t-shirt or other piece of fabric is an option equally well.

Cleaning Rod and Lubricant

Many cleaning patches come up pre-lubricated with gun oil that will forestall your gun's metal components from rusting. If you don't have pre-lubricated patches, though, you lot will want to be sure and buy a canteen of gun oil equally well. Finally, y'all may demand tools such as a small screwdriver or set of Allen keys to disassemble your airsoft gun when it's time for a more thorough cleaning.

What are the Most Important Parts to Pay Attending to?

Information technology's worth mentioning first that the specific components inside an airsoft gun volition differ from gun to gun. An electric airsoft gun, for case, functions much differently than a leap-powered gun and has different components that must be cared for as function of your gun'southward regular cleaning and maintenance. For the purpose of this department, though, we are going to focus on the important components/maintenance priorities that are mutual 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 Ameliorate Accurateness and Performance - Click on Photograph for More Inner Barrels

The inner barrels of airsoft guns are fabricated out of either steel, aluminum, or brass - all of which are prone to corrosion if they are non kept properly lubricated. This is why it is important 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's as well essential to clean your gun'due south butt regularly in order to remove any residuum or debris that might accept built up. When a BB is fired through the gun's barrel, fiddling flakes of plastic often rub off and are left behind. Over time, these flakes of plastic along with any dust or dirt that happens to go inside your barrel can build up and negatively affect the gun's operation. Running a cleaning patch through your barrel after each period of extended employ ensures that all of this rest and droppings is removed earlier your next outing.

Exterior Maintenance

Many of the outside components of an airsoft gun are typically fabricated out of plastic or metal, and these components won't actually require a lot of care aside from wiping them downward occasionally. However, if there are any outside components of your gun that are fabricated out of metal, though, you will want to wipe them downward 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's inner barrel, in that location are a number of other internal components within your airsoft gun that will require frequent lubrication to continue performance properly. These components tin can differ from gun to gun depending on the model that y'all own, and the process of accessing them can differ as well. For basic lubrication, though, all you have to do is admission the gun'southward action either through the mag well or past sliding back the bolt. Spraying a footling lubricant upward through the mag well or into the bolt associates will go a long way toward keeping your gun's internal components well lubricated. Occasionally, like in the case of gas pistols or rifles, you lot will want to disassemble your gun and more properly lubricate its internal components, and we'll explain how to exercise this for each type of airsoft gun in the side by side section.

Platform-Specific Maintenance and Cleaning

A big role of knowing how to clean an airsoft gun is knowing how to disassemble and reassemble it once again so that you are able to access and make clean all of its internal components. While this may audio a trivial daunting if you don't have 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 verbal steps you will need to follow depends on the blazon of airsoft gun that y'all own, keeping in listen that cleaning the gun's inner barrel and wiping down its exterior components are also steps that need to be followed for every type of airsoft gun.

Electric Airsoft Gun Maintenance

Cross Section of Version two Gearbox - Bank check Out more Gearbox Parts

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

Kickoff by carefully disassembling the AEG to take out the gearbox and motor. Some AEGs may not accept a gearbox. If then, just completely remove all the internal parts. Exist certain to remember how to reassemble them back, label the parts if you have to.

Next, degrease all the moving parts. The gears can exist soaked in cleaners like acetone, or other degrease solution, or you can just use a piece of tissue and some wiping alcohol to clean all the internal parts. Exist enlightened that some plastic/ rubber parts may not react well to the cleaning solutions, then be sure to choose one that can movement oil/ grease without dissolving plastic or rubber.

Degrease and Clean

In one case all of the parts have been degreased, dry them using a rag so reapply a thin layer of grease/ lubricant to all moving parts. In this part you lot volition need to be conscientious, yous will demand to apply just the right amount of grease; not likewise much, non also petty. Besides petty lubrication will have no effect and could speed up wear and tear. Too much grease could gunk up the gearbox, excess grease might cake some of the electronics causing potential malfunction.

While everything is disassembled, take a minute to cheque the motor'south condition. Unless information technology is a brushless motor, yous will want to see if the carbon brush is depleted or not. Brushed motors accept carbon brushes on them and will slowly deplete when used. If the carbon brush is nigh depleted, it is a expert thought to supervene upon it with a new motor (be sure to get one with the same RPM unless you are upgrading it). As well, check the pinion gear on the motor to encounter if at that place are any microfractures/cracks on it.

Typical AEG Motor - Click on Photo for More Information

The concluding pace is to reassemble everything back together. Put all the internal parts dorsum into the gearbox and gather the AEG back to an airsoft gun. Afterward, plug in the battery fire a few rounds just to make sure it is running fine and smooth. Later on that, y'all are done!

Gas Gun Maintenance

The internal mechanisms within gas airsoft guns are not quite as complex every bit those inside an AEG, making gas guns a niggling easier to detach and maintain. Start past removing the bolt carrier group assembly from your gun then dissembling it into its private components. Side by side, follow the aforementioned process for degreasing these parts that you would follow for an AEG.

Gas Blowback Rifle Parts

Once these components have been degreased, dry them off and apply a thin layer of lubricant to each part. For gas guns, it's also important to spay a little silicone gun oil inside the nozzle seal of your magazines and inside the piston of your gun'south bolt assembly in order to prevent plastic parts inside these components from drying out. Once this is complete, you are gear up to reassemble your gun and burn off a few rounds to make sure everything is functioning properly.

Spring Gun Maintenance

Spring and Piston Head

Cleaning and maintaining a bound-powered airsoft gun is quite similar to the procedure of cleaning a gas gun, only fifty-fifty simpler. With spring airsoft guns, all you lot need to do is disable the gun'southward bolt assembly, degrease and lubricate each individual component, and so reassemble the gun. Jump airsoft guns do not require the application of silicone oil similar gas guns and do non have a gearbox that needs to be dissembled and cleaned like AEGs, so once you've cleaned all of the components inside the gun'southward commodities assembly you lot are ready to put the gun back together. Practice pay special attention to the spring inside the gun, though, and brand sure that information technology is well lubricated and so that it volition maintain its strength for every bit long as possible.