After you have invested in your gun, you want that investment to last a while. Keeping your gun clean is the first step to making sure it will last for sometime to come. If you do not take care of your gun, your gun will not take care of you out on the playing field.
The first step is to read the owner’s manual, and read what it tells you about cleaning and maintaining the gun. These are the best guidelines to follow. Make sure you have spare parts and necessary cleaning items before you start. Cleaning your gun can get messy. Put newspaper or plastic over your work area. Before you disassemble your gun, make sure you have the schematics for it. This should be in your owner’s manual. It may also be found on the manufacturer’s website. Do not attempt to disassemble the gun until you have this.
Before you begin, remove the air tank, or air source from the gun. This is a safety precaution. Disassemble the gun by removing the hopper, barrel, bolt, hammer, and grip frame. Do not remove the trigger assembly.
Use a squeegee to clean the inside of the barrel. You can also run water inside the barrel, and use a clean, dry squeegee to dry the inside. Make sure the barrel is clean, both inside and out.
Use paper towels, q-tips, and old toothbrushes to clean the body of your gun. Clean the grip frame with a brush. Clean the bolt and hammer with a paper towel and water. It is important that all pieces are completely dry when you are finished! Take this opportunity to inspect O-rings and other parts carefully. If the O-rings are cracked or dry, replace them.
After everything is clean and dry, lightly lubricate the internal parts of the gun with paintball gun oil. Do not use anything other than paintball gun oil, as you may cause damage to the gun. Also, lubricate the O-rings. Once this is all done, you should reassemble the gun. You may need the schematics for this as described on getpaintballgun.com.
It is a good idea to learn how the gun comes apart and how to put it back together again quickly, without needing the schematics. This is important when you have paintball breaks during game play. If you have a paintball break inside your gun, remove the barrel immediately, and use a squeegee. Pull the squeegee through the barrel in the same direction that the paintballs travel through the barrel. Wipe the squeegee clean, and continue to run it through the barrel until the squeegee comes out clean. If it is not possible to clean the paintball break immediately, remove the hopper and dry fire your gun a few times until the broken paintball is out. Continue game play, but clean the gun as soon as possible.