Air Rifles / Pistols.. and a Shotgun

Some of you might raise an eyebrow at this, but keep in mind that like any "normal" sport / hobby, such as archery practice, air rifle shooting has it's own unique appeal.


My air rifle is a generic B2 550fps Air Rifle with padded black stock and pretty much anything else you'd expect to find with something you bought at a hobby shop; that is to say, it's just the bare bones!


In time, however, I've upgraded my prospective treasure by kitting it out with performance-improving lubricating oil, specialized 4.5mm / .177 pellets, a 4x20 scope (which was misaligned, so I removed it again...) and a Deluxe Gamo Camouflage rifle bag.

In the odd 2,000 shots I've gotten out of my air rifle, it's served me well, but there is only one thing more daunting than owning an air rifle: Cleaning it.

It's been nearly 3 years since I bought my B2 and in the two years, I took really good care of it by frequently cleaning and oiling it, checking all the components, tightening loose fittings and firing it at least 10 times afterwards to "freshen it up".


This is where reality rears it's nasty head and a working situation with long hours creeps in to steal what free "hobby time" you have. For the past 7 months, I've left it lying in it's rifle bag, hitherto untouched; it has accumulated minor rust along the trigger, barrel and front sights.

It's been frustrating me that I still haven't found myself with the time to clean it up yet, though I can only rack my brains on how to arrange my free time - a job that requires you to work at pretty much any given time is just not versatile enough to make room for personal life.

To say the least, my Sig Sauer SP2022 is less likely to suffer the fate of my B2, since I'll definitely have time to clean it, particularly since it'd only consume a meager 5 minutes to do so. Having sold off my Glock 17 a while back, I won't be including it in this article. If I should take to increasing my firearms collection, I'll consider revisiting this subject. For now, on with the show.

My Sig SP2022 is only 9 months old and has a blistering muzzle velocity and muzzle energy which still punches through standard window glass at 220ft and even though projectile distance coverage doesn't appear significant, I still wouldn't risk being haughty towards this pistol!


I just have to check the magazine, chamber and safety; probably not much to be done than a quick overall check; and then a few testing rounds!


And finally, last, but not least, I have certainly left my shotgun neglected.

The photo to the right is my actual shotgun; a modified generic G.60 with tapered barrel and rear sights. Its been about 4 months since I last touched it and give or take the 15 minutes I'd need to clean it up fully...

Well, let's just say that I'm hardly not looking forward to the grease.

Next Blog: Katanas, Wakizashi's.. and Knives