Blowback Pistol Cleaning

It recently came to light that most of my team don't actually know how to look after their blowback pistols so I had to write this article in a, probably vain, attempt to try and edify them.

What you'll need: Cleaning spray - Silicon spray or Teflon spray. It's important that this won't attack your o-rings so don't get anything actually intended as a cleaning product, instead get something intended for lubrication. Don't use any kind of gun cleaning product as these tend to be very aggressive indeed.
Grease - any kind of grease that isn't too thick. Anything short of axle/bearing grease will do.
Bit of old rag for barrel cleaning - an old t-shirt does nicely.
Some kitchen roll.

Step 1. Strip your pistol (see the instructions for this)

Step 2.



First, take a good look at the inside of the frame. You'll see all sorts of crud, fluff, bits of vegetation and all sorts. All of this has to come out so give it a good blast with the cleaning spray and keep going until all of the crud is gone. Leave the frame upside down on the kitchen roll to drain.

Step 3.



Blast the inside of the slide with cleaning spray until it's clean.



Gently slide the blowback mech forwards until you see the rubber seal. Give this is a quick spray as well. Gently let the blowback mech slide back (be careful not to damage the rubber seal). Leave the slide to drain as well.

Step 4.



Give the valve on the magazine a squirt of spray, working it back and forth as you do. A quick spray down the top of the magazine won't hurt either.

Step 5.



While the big bits are draining, get the recoil spring and guide and check that there isn't any actual debris in there then smear it with a bit of grease.

Step 6.



Firstly clean of the crud from the outside. Then we need to clean the inside of the barrel. If you've got a cleaning tool for it then stick a bit of old t-shirt into the loop on the end, give it a squirt of cleaning spray and get cracking on the barrel. Try to avoid the hop-up mech but don't worry too much. If you don't have a cleaning tool then spray the inside of the barrel and push a bit of t-shirt through with something (the inside of a biro works quite well) but remember to set the hop-up to the minimum setting.
Then you need to put a drop of grease on the outside of the barrel - at the points where pressure is exerted by the slide (see arrows).

Step 7.



Now that the slide has drained, you can slap some fresh grease on. The points you need to hit are the hammer/trigger mech and the rails. (see arrows)

Step 8. Finally, re-assemble and give it a test. Wipe off any excess grease/spray on the outside and pack your pistol away secure in the knowledge that it will now handle another season's neglect.

But seriously, this doesn't need to be done after every game but I would recommend stripping your pistol down to check the state of it after every game. If it looks okay then it probably is, but if it looks manky then it's time for a clean.

by Scott (SectionVI)