FEATURE PREPARE YOUR FIREARMS FOR AMMUNITION CHANGE As many shooters transition to lead-free shot, gun cleaning experts Ballistol talks through the process of keeping your firearms in tip-top condition. 42 WWW.GUNTRADEWORLD.COM
BALLISTOL The perfect interaction between firearms and ammunition is crucial for high precision. Ammunition of the same calibre and type from different batches or different manufacturers can feature different ballistic properties due to distinctive manufacturing processes and compositions. In order to quickly regain the accustomed accuracy after an ammunition or batch change, a basic cleaning with subsequent firing is highly recommended. The current legal situation forces many shooters to change from projectiles containing lead to lead-free types. Lead-free ammunition features different ballistic properties than lead-containing projectiles. In terms of cleaning, however, both ammunition types hardly differ. Required equipment: Barrel cleaner, gun oil, accessories (pieces of felt + cleaning rod). Layers of depositions form inside the barrel. These alternately consist of soot and powder residues, as well as copper and tombac depositions. Ballistol Robla Solo MIL Barrel Cleaner removes copper and tombac without leaving any residues. Since then, hardly any other barrel cleaner has achieved nearly as good cleaning properties as Robla Solo MIL. Soot and powder layers can be removed with efficient gun oils like Ballistol GUNEX or Ballistol <strong>Gun</strong>Cer. The tried and proven Ballistol Universal-Oil provides good service here, too. Above mentioned layers of depositions have to be removed in changing cleaning intervals layer by layer. For cleaning, the individual agents are applied on a cleaning patch, pieces of felt, tow or wick, and pulled or pushed through the barrel from the chamber to the muzzle. Years of practical experience have shown that Ballistol felts offer decisive advantages over other cleaning utensils. They optimally adapt to calibre size and ensure suitable contact pressure during cleaning. First, soak one piece of felt in gun oil and slide it from the chamber to the muzzle through the barrel. After waiting for about three minutes, remove the soot depositions by passing dry felts through the barrel. The cleaning effect can be seen in a discolouration of the felts. When heavily soiled, soot turns dark grey to black. Once this has been removed, it is time to dissolve the copper and tombac. To do this, soak a felt in Robla Solo MIL, run it through the barrel and let the cleaner work for five to ten minutes. Then remove the dirt with felts. The discolouration of the felts this time shows green or bluish tones. The two cleaning steps should now be carried out alternately to remove the layers on top of each other. If neither dirt nor colour residues are visible in either case, the cleaning process is complete. For corrosion protection, it is recommended to saturate a felt with a little oil and then pull it through the barrel. In case of extreme contamination, the barrel can also be filled with Robla Solo MIL. The barrel is sealed at the muzzle and filled up to above the chamber with Robla Solo MIl. Damage to the barrel is thereby excluded. The rifle is to be placed in the gun cabinet overnight with the muzzle pointing downwards. This procedure must not be used for gas pressure loaders with a gas channel. Cleaning must be carried out the next day. Ballistol also offers intensive felts. These contain fine brass fibres and thus produce a more intensive mechanical cleaning effect. After thorough cleaning, it’s off to the shooting range. Here the weapon is tested for precision. In addition, ammunition and weapon adjust to each other and then show the usual reliable accuracy. A thorough cleaning of the weapon is not only important when changing ammunition. Deposits do not only influence the internal ballistics, but also the projectile velocity. The DEVA e.V. was able to determine that bullet lubrication in barrels affect the muzzle velocity (V0) and respectively accuracy. Due to reduced velocity of a bullet, it can be assumed that gas pressure in the barrel of the weapon also increases. This endangers the shooter due to damage to the firearm. As the inventor of gun oil, Ballistol recommends basic cleaning with the chemical barrel cleaner Robla Solo MIL at least once a year for hunters. With a higher firing frequency, as is usual for sporting or professional shooters, correspondingly more often. www.ballistol.com WWW.GUNTRADEWORLD.COM 43
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