I have seen this question asked a few times recently, so I thought I would share my technique for "Prepping" Pellets with you all, I hope you find it is of benefit.
Firstly, find a deep, steep sided, round container or dish (preferably plastic). I advise a round container as when using a square or rectangular one, the pellets get trapped/stuck in the corners. Plastic is kinder to the pellets than either china or earthenware, never use a metal vessel as this will cause pellet damage.
Fill the container to a depth of about 1-2" with fairly warm water. Never use boiling water for obvious reasons, but don't have it luke warm either. Add a squirt of washing-up liquid to the water, and gently stir in. (Don't add the water after the washing-up liquid, as You don't want loads of bubbles.)
Tip in the pellets, (I do a full tin at a time), and gently swirl, brush, and agitate the pellets with a clean paint brush. (it is at this time you will be thankful of using a round container!) I use a shortish bristled 1" brush, kept especially for this purpose.
After about 2 minutes of doing this, tip the pellets into a plastic sieve, and gently swirl the pellets around while holding the sieve under a running tap, to wash off any lead swarf, and detergent bubbles.
When you are happy all the pellets are clean, tip them onto a sheet of kitchen towel, which has been placed in a large, flat bottomed tray/dish or whatever. Rock/shake the tray back and forth, so the pellets roll about on the kitchen paper, which will absorb the water.
When you have done that for a short while, tip the pellets onto another dry piece of kitchen paper, then blast them with a hair dryer. (some people put them in the oven) I do it till the pellets are hot to the touch, paying special attention to any remaining water up inside the skirts of the pellets.
When you are satisfied that all the water has been removed from the pellets, leave them to cool for a minute or two. What happens next is dependent on personal preference, as there are many differing ways of doing it. My way is as follows:
Take a fairly large (about 12" square) clean lint/dust/fluff free cotton cloth (an old cut-up T-shirt or bed sheet is ideal) , and spray with pellet lube. (I use Lubro-Tecknic which comes in a pump spray). Spray on enough to slightly moisten the cloth, and then tip in the dried pellets.
Hold the corners of the cloth so the pellets are laying in the centre "hammock" fashion. Swing the cloth back and forth so that the pellets tumble about in the cloth. Doing it that way ensures only the exterior of the pellets get lubed, and none gets up inside the skirts, which can add weight, causing inconsistency, and accuracy problems.
Never be tempted to spray the lube directly on the pellets, as doing that WILL introduce lube up into the skirts, causing the problems just mentioned. When You are happy all the pellets have a light even coating of lube, carefully tip them into a clean tin/tub.
After all that work, you would not want to drop them onto the floor and get dust etc stuck to them, or place them into a lead swarf riddled tin.
The lubed-up cloth can be kept in a sealed plastic bag or jam jar to keep it moist, ready for use next time.
That's it, job done!
As I said, this is my way of doing it, others may have a different method, especially where it comes to actually lubing the pellets. People who use lube from a dropper bottle, sometimes like to add a few drops into a plastic zip-tie bag, add the pellets, and shake them around, for example.
I would like to add, I have never found any accuracy gain from prepping pellets, but I have found them to be much slicker and smoother when being used in magazine fed guns.
That benefit alone makes prepping worth the effort in my mind, as I can tell the difference between using lubed and dry pellets when cycling my guns.
Some people go even further and check the size and weight of each individual pellet. Whether any gains from doing that are actual, or psychological, I cannot say.
Firstly, find a deep, steep sided, round container or dish (preferably plastic). I advise a round container as when using a square or rectangular one, the pellets get trapped/stuck in the corners. Plastic is kinder to the pellets than either china or earthenware, never use a metal vessel as this will cause pellet damage.
Fill the container to a depth of about 1-2" with fairly warm water. Never use boiling water for obvious reasons, but don't have it luke warm either. Add a squirt of washing-up liquid to the water, and gently stir in. (Don't add the water after the washing-up liquid, as You don't want loads of bubbles.)
Tip in the pellets, (I do a full tin at a time), and gently swirl, brush, and agitate the pellets with a clean paint brush. (it is at this time you will be thankful of using a round container!) I use a shortish bristled 1" brush, kept especially for this purpose.
After about 2 minutes of doing this, tip the pellets into a plastic sieve, and gently swirl the pellets around while holding the sieve under a running tap, to wash off any lead swarf, and detergent bubbles.
When you are happy all the pellets are clean, tip them onto a sheet of kitchen towel, which has been placed in a large, flat bottomed tray/dish or whatever. Rock/shake the tray back and forth, so the pellets roll about on the kitchen paper, which will absorb the water.
When you have done that for a short while, tip the pellets onto another dry piece of kitchen paper, then blast them with a hair dryer. (some people put them in the oven) I do it till the pellets are hot to the touch, paying special attention to any remaining water up inside the skirts of the pellets.
When you are satisfied that all the water has been removed from the pellets, leave them to cool for a minute or two. What happens next is dependent on personal preference, as there are many differing ways of doing it. My way is as follows:
Take a fairly large (about 12" square) clean lint/dust/fluff free cotton cloth (an old cut-up T-shirt or bed sheet is ideal) , and spray with pellet lube. (I use Lubro-Tecknic which comes in a pump spray). Spray on enough to slightly moisten the cloth, and then tip in the dried pellets.
Hold the corners of the cloth so the pellets are laying in the centre "hammock" fashion. Swing the cloth back and forth so that the pellets tumble about in the cloth. Doing it that way ensures only the exterior of the pellets get lubed, and none gets up inside the skirts, which can add weight, causing inconsistency, and accuracy problems.
Never be tempted to spray the lube directly on the pellets, as doing that WILL introduce lube up into the skirts, causing the problems just mentioned. When You are happy all the pellets have a light even coating of lube, carefully tip them into a clean tin/tub.
After all that work, you would not want to drop them onto the floor and get dust etc stuck to them, or place them into a lead swarf riddled tin.
The lubed-up cloth can be kept in a sealed plastic bag or jam jar to keep it moist, ready for use next time.
That's it, job done!
As I said, this is my way of doing it, others may have a different method, especially where it comes to actually lubing the pellets. People who use lube from a dropper bottle, sometimes like to add a few drops into a plastic zip-tie bag, add the pellets, and shake them around, for example.
I would like to add, I have never found any accuracy gain from prepping pellets, but I have found them to be much slicker and smoother when being used in magazine fed guns.
That benefit alone makes prepping worth the effort in my mind, as I can tell the difference between using lubed and dry pellets when cycling my guns.
Some people go even further and check the size and weight of each individual pellet. Whether any gains from doing that are actual, or psychological, I cannot say.
