You may not realize it, but your airsoft gun requires maintenance. You don't need to strip the whole thing down and clean it every time you shoot it. After all, the sport wouldn’t be as much fun if that had to happen. But you should take some simple preventative airsoft measures in order to save yourself some heartache in the long run. Here, we look at what can happen if you let your airsoft barrels get dirty.


Sand encrusted cylinder head

This is a cylinder head from one of the guns in our tech queue. As you can see, there is sand coated on the inside of the cylinder and even beaten into the piston head. The sand has also destroyed the O-ring on the piston head.

Simple airsoft barrel cleaning can prevent a lot of this potential damage, as the barrel is a direct access route for foulants to enter your gun. Consistent regular maintenance, as well as cleaning them after particularly dirty games, will remove particles before they can cause damage. Keeping a clean, smooth barrel will also aid your gun in always placing your desired shot.

Fine grains of sand and even dirt and grime can cause catastrophic failures in your AEG and GBB guns. You need to properly clean and maintain airsoft weapons so sand won’t build up over time and grind away on your internal parts. Don't go tossing them in a sandbar or worse during battle and hope for the best.

Unfortunately, this gun needs new gears, bearings, piston, piston head, nozzle, cylinder, cylinder head and even wiring. The internals were completely shredded — not due to an accident, but due to small fragments of sand. This is considered a catastrophic failure and would have been easily prevented with regular upkeep.

Just like in a real firearm, airsoft guns have tolerances for excess material like sand. But if that material won’t move, the gun will break and it could be as bad as this. Maintenance on an airsoft replica is one of the easiest things to do.

The message here is simple: clean your barrels. A little time now will save a lot of money and pain later.