Airgun Cleaning and Maintenance
Cleaning Tips
Air rifles don’t have residues caused by burning powder like rifles do. That means the barrels don’t foul up or require cleaning.
If you want to run something through the barrel, use a good quality bore-cleaning rope.
Clean and lubricate the external metal parts to avoid corrosion.
Don’t use cleaning pellets in an airgun. They can cause permanent damage.
Storage Tips
Store and carry your airgun so that dirt or lint does not accumulate in the working parts.
Prior to storage, make sure there are no pellets in the chamber.
Do not store an airgun in the cocked position. It can weaken the mainspring, and is potentially dangerous.
For storage safety information, see Airgun Safety.
Maintenance Tips
Always check the barrel prior to loading, to ensure that it is free from obstructions.
After every thousand shots, apply a drop of gun lubricant inside the compression chamber. Use only airgun-rated oils. Many other oils can damage the seals.
If your air rifle becomes less accurate, check the screws in the sides of the stock. Over time, recoil can loosen some screws. Loose screws can cause accuracy to suffer and can also result in cracking or complete damage of the stock. When needed, tighten the 2 screws in the sides of the stock and the one at the rear of the trigger guard.
As needed, also check and tighten the screws holding the scope mounts or rings to the gun and the scope to the scope rings. Those can also loosen over time, causing accuracy to suffer.
Never modify your rifle, take it apart, or attempt to repair it. Doing so could be dangerous. A very powerful spring inside all Stoeger Airguns is always under compression. Special tools, techniques and knowledge are required to safely dismantle and repair air rifles. Contact Stoeger for repairs.
Removing a Barrel Obstruction
Firing against an obstruction can cause a dangerous build-up of pressure and can injure you or others nearby. If you hear an unusual noise when shooting, stop firing immediately, engage the manual safety and unload the airgun. Make sure the chamber and barrel are free from any obstruction.
To remove a barrel obstruction, make sure the safety is on and the barrel is pointing in a safe direction.
Never attempt to clear stuck ammunition by firing an additional pellet through the gun.
Break the barrel down the same way you would as if loading the gun. Insert a cleaning rod the appropriate caliber for your rifle into the breech opening of the barrel. Push the rod through the barrel until the pellet is free.
Once the pellet is free, clean the barrel using the brush attachments of the cleaning rod to remove any lead particles that may have adhered to the rifling.