How To Lubricate Your Airsoft AEG (Step-by-Step)

Every airsoft gun is as good as it’s maintained. Lubricating your Airsoft AEG is a great way to increase its lifespan and boost its performance. Fortunately, this is an easy process – you basically need some lubricants and a few other household tools. 

Here’s the step-by-step process on how to lubricate your Airsoft AEG in just five steps:

1. Clean the barrel of the gun.
2. Disassemble the parts of the weapon.
3. Lubricate the hop-up.
4. Apply lubricants to the gearbox.
5. Clean out the exterior.

In this article, we’ll explore a combination of these steps. We’ll also cover some precautions to take to prevent harming your airsoft AEG, keep the gun in good shape, and prolong its lifespan.  Read on to learn more.

5 Simple Steps To Lubricate Your Airsoft AEG

The process of lubricating your Airsoft AEG is relatively straightforward, and it can be done in 5 simple steps.

The five steps you need to lubricate your airsoft AEG are as follows:

1. Clean the Barrel

One of the parts of the gun that can quickly accumulate dirt is the barrel. Its tiny hollow shape makes it incredibly easy for dirt to get trapped. Since its interior isn’t easily accessible, dirt can build up over time. If it’s left unclean for too long, you can start having issues.

If your gun’s barrel is properly functioning, it must shoot straight in the direction to which you aim. If your barrel is veering off target, then it’s time to get some cleaning done.

Cleaning the barrel is quite simple. Follow these steps:

1. Get a clean thin towel and spray it with silicone oil (not silicone or any other proper lubricant). You can make use of any other lubricating agent; however, it must be a light lubricant. Also, get an equally thin cleaning rod. This cleaning rod is usually referred to as the unjamming rod, and it should typically come with your gun at purchase. If that isn’t the case, you may need to get one yourself. 
2. Set the towel on the eyelet of the barrel and use the cleaning rod to push it down the barrel. You might need to apply a gentle force to get the cleaning towel into the barrel.
3. Twist the rod while lifting it up and down. In the process, you get to move the towel and get all sides of the barrel cleaned. 
4. Remove excess moisture. Pull the towel out of the barrel and grab a clean towel. This time, do not apply any silicone oil. Repeat the process of pushing the dry, clean towel down the barrel to remove any moisture left behind. 

You should note that the number of times required to clean the barrel isn’t fixed. The gun’s barrel may have accumulated a great deal of dirt, and for you to fix it, you need to carry out the cleaning process a few more times.

I recommend that cleaning should only be what you do for the barrel of your Airsoft AEG. While it’s advisable to lubricate the barrel, you may unintentionally be harming the gun if you do so. 

Airsoft AEG barrels work with friction. Lubricants, however, reduce or stop friction. As such, adding lubricants to the barrel may significantly hamper its work. Merely apply the light silicone oil for proper cleaning and move to the other parts of the gun. 

2. Disassemble the Airsoft AEG

To carry out proper lubrication and maintenance of the gun, you need to get access to its internal parts, which can only happen when you disassemble.

Now, this can be a bit tricky. Airsoft AEGs aren’t created equal, as different manufacturers have different methods of building their products. Thus, having a general guide might not be particularly useful. 

However, every good manufacturer should include a user manual in the airsoft AEG package when you buy it. Most manuals include procedures on disassembling. 

Nonetheless, if you can’t comprehend or work your way around the disassembling process, you might get a capable hand, maybe a friend who knows about the nitty-gritty of Airsoft guns. 

Also, you can check sites like YouTube for tutorials that are specific to your airsoft gun model, like this video:

If this also doesn’t help, you should consult a technician.

3. Lubricate the Hop

If you’re experiencing constant jamming or misfeeding, then most likely, the hop is affected and needs lubrication. To lubricate the hop-up, you need to disengage the magazine and empty the gun of any pellets that may be left in it. 

Then place the gun in an upside-down position. You can do this by resting it on a wall in an almost erect position. 

For accurate results, you may, however:

1. Stand it in between your lap.
2. Take whatever container the silicone oil is to which you must have attached a spray tube. 
3. Spray the hop up a few times. 

Carefully ensure that you don’t spray heavy quantities. You can leave the gun in this upside-down position for some time to enable the oil to settle properly inside the hop-up.

4. Lubricate the Gearbox

The next thing you want to lubricate is the gearbox of your gun. To do this, you need to remove the motor from the weapon. Once you do this, you’ll see a small hole at the base of the gearbox. 

Get your spray tube and spray the oil through this gearbox hole a few times. When you do this, the gun must remain in an upside-down position so that the oil can seep properly into the gearbox as well. For silicone oil, I recommend the PForce Silicone Lubricant Oil, available on Amazon.com. The silicone oil is compatible with all airsoft guns and can lubricate gears, hop ups, o-rings, and more.

You should note that not all Airsoft AEGs come with gearboxes. As such, if yours doesn’t, you can skip this part and go to the next step in getting your gun in great shape.

You should also take a look at other parts of the disassembled interior for any material that looks like a motor. You should apply some measure of lubricant to them. 

Before you begin to reassemble the airsoft gun, ensure that all parts are completely dry to avoid damaging your rifle.

5. Don’t Forget the Exterior

Your airsoft gun’s exterior might not seem like a big issue, but you don’t want to use a dirty and unattractive gun. However, cleaning the surface of your weapon isn’t only for improving its aesthetics but also helps improve the gun’s performance. 

If you don’t clean the outside of your Airsoft AEG for an extended period, you are basically allowing dirt to settle undisturbed on the exterior. The grime can then make its way from the outside into the interior, causing performance problems and other issues. 

To clean the exterior of your gun, all you need is a soft “toothbrush” along with a piece of clothing. You apply very scanty portions of silicone oil on the exterior and use the brush to scrub all around the exterior. 

Ensure your brushing gets into the corners of the gun’s exterior. If the brush doesn’t get this job done, then you may introduce cotton swabs. After doing this, you need to make the gun clean again. For this, you only need to wipe the cloth thoroughly around the weapon.

What You Should Know When Lubricating Your Airsoft AEG

Lubricating your airsoft AEG is quite simple and does not involve any technical knowledge. 

However, there are a number of things you should know about before you go about lubricating your Airsoft AEG. These include such facts as the time you should consider lubricating your toy weapon and some things you should avoid when greasing your Airsoft AEG.

Choose the Right Timing for Your Lubrication

Lubricating your airsoft AEG brings many benefits in terms of improving the performance and elongating the lifespan, but you should not lubricate too frequently. Just as lubrication is beneficial, it may affect the gun adversely if it is done too often. 

Experts recommend that you lubricate your Airsoft AEG after purchase and before you start using it. This suggestion is because many guns come with poor lubrication from the factory, and you may want to get your gun on to an optimal start. 

However, some people may find this impractical because of the thrill that accompanies owning a new gun. Imagine you just bought the gun and are excited to use which means no time to settle down and do any lubricating. 

Nonetheless, you should lubricate your gun at regular intervals. What “regular” means here will vary; it depends on how actively you use the weapon. If you use the gun as regularly as every other weekend, you may want to lubricate once in a month, or at most, once in two months.

Also, if you plan to store the gun for a considerably long time, you may want to lubricate it before putting it away. This is to avoid rusting while in storage and make it easier to re-lubricate whenever you want to pick it up for use again.

Finally, you can still carry out routine lubrication if you are experiencing jamming or misfeeding when using the gun. 

Nevertheless, while there is no generally agreed figure, some experts have agreed to the “magic number” of around 2,000 rounds of pellets from your Airsoft AEG. This is because, to them, it takes roughly that number of rounds for there to be enough accumulation of dirt to get your gun to start experiencing some reduction in performance. 

Don’t Lubricate Your Airsoft AEG With Petroleum-Based Products

You shouldn’t use just any type of lubricants on your Airsoft AEG. One of such groups of oils you should avoid are those made of petroleum-based products. This is because petroleum-based lubricants contain materials that may, over time, eat into parts of your gun, thereby reducing its efficiency, performance, and lifespan in the process. 

In place of their petroleum-based counterparts, you can try silicone-based lubricants, as their long-term effects are better on guns. 

Another group of materials you should never apply on your airsoft AEG are gun oil and WD-40. WD-40, in particular, was manufactured to be a penetrating oil, which means that it can penetrate through rubber or plastic and cause them to disintegrate, as against others that just stay on the materials.

Don’t Lubricate Your Airsoft AEG With the Same Type of Lubricant

One more fact you should note is that you shouldn’t use the same lubricant all over your airsoft AEG. This is because various oils that can be used as lubricants have distinguishing features that need consideration. 

A single Airsoft AEG is made up of different types of materials, and as such, one single lubricant can’t lubricate all parts. There are some lubricants that work well on some parts of the gun, which, if applied to other components, may cause some harm.

To carry out the complete lubrication process on your gun, you may use up to 2 or 3 different types of lubricants. For instance, for metal parts of the airsoft AEG, you should apply heavier lubricants, while for plastic parts, you should use lighter lubricants such as silicone oil.

Lubricate Moderately

When lubricating, you may feel the propensity to apply heavy amounts of lubricant. But when it comes to airsoft AEG, this shouldn’t be the case, as what you need is a moderate supply of lubricants. If a gun isn’t lubricated, it’ll be challenging to get it to perform correctly. However, if you over-lubricate, it may lead to gradual wear of the gun and attract dirt. 

Final Thoughts

Airsoft AEGs are an exciting source of fun and entertainment. To maintain a continuous supply of good, clean fun, the gun must always perform optimally. A gun that constantly jams can ruin an Airsoft outing in an instant. One way to ensure that your Airsoft AEG performs properly is to carry out maintenance procedures, such as lubricating.

With the careful steps above, you can lubricate your gun to a fine finish.