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Let’s Learn How to Clean a Paintball Gun
We often end up going for new and unique ways to pass our leisure time. Usually by being productive or engaging ourselves in physical activity, such as sports. The common sorts of physical activities we end up involving are trekking, football, boat rowing, paintball, etc. among this paintball gun is highly enjoyed in countries such as United States, Greece, Iran, Russia, and 50 other countries. In the United States, around 10 million people play paintball as a recreation.
We need a gun to play paintball, it is an air gun which is filled with dye capsules called paintballs. Another name for a paintball gun is a paintball marker, simply coming from its original use of shooting and marking cattle, from a distance. Now, often due to the paintballs being used and all the force being exerted on the gun while shooting, it needs special care and cleaning, and there are some ways we can clean a paintball gun. When it comes to cleaning a paintball gun, it shouldn’t be ignored, as the performance of the gun depends on how well it is being taken care of, this also increases the gun’s lifespan of usage. You can avoid wasting money on buying new guns and its parts by just maintaining it properly.
Steps on how to clean a paintball gun:
You can just simply wash it with water and detergent and dry it, for maintenance, but for greater results and elongated durability, these are few steps you can follow to simply better results.
- Emptying the Air Compartment
This step is very essential, before moving on to the other processes of cleaning we should always remove the air tank beforehand to avoid any accidents such as fire hazards. Avoiding this step can result in serious injuries. For your convenience, these guns often have a user-friendly way of emptying the tank.
- Opening the parts of the gun
For cleaning every inch of the gun thoroughly and precisely, you need to dismantle the gun fully. Follow the manual that is usually provided to put the parts together after you finish cleaning your gun. The manual is of help even when you’re opening all the parts. For an easier way, place all the parts on a table or floor in an organized serialized way for putting it back into one piece accurately. Moreover, by placing them this way will help you to avoid losing any small screws.
- Barrel cleaning
After you are done with dismantling the parts of the gun, we are supposed to move to the barrel of the gun. We are supposed to scrub the body of the gun and barrel. This is one of the most essential steps of cleaning a paintball gun, a jammed barrel can get on your nerves while cleaning. Thoroughly clean the paint residues and any dust particles that jam up the barrel, for greater results. Repeating this process will result in better outcomes and a very clean barrel for your gun. Some prefer using a squeegee, for a more thorough cleaning, and not leaving out any dirt. After your work’s done with the squeegee, take a paper towel and warm water to wipe it properly, and dry it with a dry paper towel afterward.
However, if you don’t have a squeegee for cleaning your barrel you can always make a tool similar to it by yourself with- cloth, gas tube system, wire, tape, cutters.
- Cleaning the gun’s body
This step has to be the easiest one. Take a damp cloth to clean the body of your gun. Then, use a cotton bud, brush, or cotton swabs to clean the corners and places your damp cloth can’t reach and clean. This thorough scrubbing prevents any sort of jamming of the gun.
- Polishing the bolt and hammer
Damp towels can be used for polishing this bolt and hammer of the gun. Afterward, check the O-rings to detect any damage, small damages to it are acceptable and can be worked on, but if it’s big, you should probably work on fixing it, and needs an immediate change of parts.
It is very important to clean the grip frame of the gun properly as well. It’s best to tidy the grip with cotton buds or brushes. Don’t forget to thoroughly check after drying the grip.
- Thorough check-up and lubricating the gun
After following all the steps above, we should check the batteries of the gun, if they are damaged and of no use, we should immediately replace them before we put all the parts together. It’s very important to make sure your gun functions properly. Then go for another round of fastidious check-up of the gun to detect damages or any area you missed while cleaning. After proper scrutiny change and replace any possible parts that need extra care, as you don’t want your gun to stop working and disappoint you in the middle of the game.
It will be about time we should start lubricating the gun, a special oil should be used for this bit of the process, and usually, the type of oil is mentioned in the manual provided with the paintball gun. The O-rings should be covered properly in oil as well.
- Put all the parts together
Now that you’ve cleaned each and every part of the gun properly, its time to put all the loose parts together. Take your time, read the manual intently to avoid any mistake while putting the gun together. Assembling the gun might be a bit challenging but the manuals can help you overcome any trouble you face during the process. The screws are the hard part to handle and put back, so all you need is a full focus on putting the parts itself.
This process should be directed with patience and gradually to ignore any damage to the gun, as one slight mistake can damage the whole gun, or show issues while performing with it during a game.
You are good to go after you are done with cleaning a paintball gun after following the steps mentioned above, step by step, precisely.
How frequently should we clean a paintball gun?
Cleaning a paintball gun can be quite a task, and cleaning it with all these extensive steps, immediately after a game can be really stressful and draining to think of. However, leaving it for some other day can cause damage to the gun and its functionality. So, it’s always wise to clean the paintball guns, immediately after the game, for the sake of durability and great performance.
You can simply wipe the body and outer parts of the gun to avoid any issues, and drying paint residues can be cleaned with a wet cloth for more precise cleaning. Moreover, for a greater lifespan of the paintball gun, wipe the gun’s body and paint residue after each use. Also, for better results during a game, it’s smart to wipe the external parts of the paintball gun before each game.
It’s better if you don’t clean the barrel on a regular basis, but occasionally to avoid jamming due to dirt and paint leftovers. Even better to avoid dismantling the paintball gun too often, as it can reduce the quality of performance. We have to keep in mind to avoid any sort of contact with water with the paintball gun, this leads the gun to be more contaminated and leads to and that will make you dismantle your paintball gun fully, more often than usual. However, in some cases, the dust gets inside the paintball gun and you need to open the whole gun anyway to clean it thoroughly to avoid any risks.
Paintball gun’s external body cleaning process:
This step comes after you have dismantled the whole paintball gun, and set the loose parts aside. For best results, and precise cleaning results use a cotton bud or brush for cleaning the body of the gun, but you can also use a squeegee only if the manual of the paintball brush suggests you to. Sometimes, it may be tough to get rid of the very dried up residues of the paint, that is very stubborn and doesn’t get off easily, in those cases you have to use warm water and cloth to rub off the residues. In detail, the process should begin with you dipping a brush’s brittles on warm water and rubbing off the body of the paintball gun very thoroughly. Keep in mind if you leave out any spot, that may result in future jamming, which will just hamper your performance in the game, and all your effort of cleaning the paintball gun will go to waste. Make sure you don’t forget to absolutely dry up the gun with a dry cloth or paper towel. The most important part of the paintball gun, which needs the most attention while cleaning is the grip of the gun. This part should be free of any dried-up paint residues, as this is one of the most crucial parts of the gun. A narrow or thin brush can be of great use to clean this part with warm water, scrub thoroughly, and should be dried after the washing and cleaning. Remember to be very precise when it comes to cleaning the grip of the paintball gun, and we shouldn’t rush the process of cleaning this part. Avoid any sort of clogging, by cleaning the same part a couple of times properly. Afterward, make sure you lubricate the parts, but keep in mind to use the oil that is specifically suggested on the manual that comes with the paintball gun, otherwise, it might cause serious damage to the paintball gun, which will be unavoidable to ignore and at some point impossible to fix by yourself and you might have to end up purchasing a new gun all over again.
The most important information to keep in mind is to avoid dismantling the trigger of the gun, as it is very hard and extremely complicated to put it back into the correct place and there is a high chance you might end up ruining the whole paintball gun forever.
Make sure when you open up the parts, lay them in a table or floor serially and in sequence so that it’s easier for you to assemble it afterward. Keep extra care of the screws that come with the paintball gun, as losing even one of them might cause you to ruin the whole process of setting up your gun after cleaning. After putting the gun in one piece, if you still face any issues, you should immediately contact the customer service hotline of the manufacturer’s company.
Conclusion:
It may be all fun and games while looking at the sports as a recreational activity, but in reality, when you actually have to come in terms of cleaning and taking care of the paintball brush it can be a bit hectic process. However, that’s absolutely fine as we are bound to take care of our prized possessions, and cleaning it thoroughly immediately after usage helps you to avoid any sort of future discomfort while performing with the gun and it also increases the lifespan of the gun. It might a tiring process, but it will be of your help in the longer run. Make sure you clean it very carefully and frequently, to avoid any sort of clogging of paint or dust residues. It might be a challenging process and task in the beginning, but practicing on a regular basis will always help you to get better at it, and it will also save your money as you don’t have to buy new paintball guns if one gets damaged due to neglect in cleaning, resulting in clogging of the barrel and paintball gun. There are maintenance kits for paintball guns available online and in the stores, you purchase these paintball guns from. These maintenance kits hold a squeegee, the special oil for a paintball gun, and thin brushes for a thorough cleaning, makes it easier for you to get everything in one place, made especially for cleaning your paintball gun, thoroughly.