TargetTalk

I picked up a 499B over the summer for fun. I set up a 5M range in the house getting ready for the time change next weekend. I haven’t shot the rifle a ton but have been shooting it. I am curious how often, if at all, the barrel needs to be cleaned. I cleaned it after I got it for good measure. Since the BBs are steel I was just curious if cleaning was necessary to keep the accuracy up or a non issue. If it does need to be cleaned are there any tips? Thanks.

Every once in a while, I'll break the tips off a couple of cotton swabs (Q-Tips) and shoot them into a waste basket.

The 499b is a muzzle loader.
You roll the BBs down the barrel to the magnet.
You cannot shoot cotton swabs.
However, there are cotton swabs that have a very long stick (medical supplies).
Those could be inserted (stick end first) from the back of the barrel with some alcohol on it to clean the barrel.
As there is no oil in use, I do not see the need for cleaning.
I am sure you will not be re-using BBs, will you.
My 499b barrel has been shot in excess of 10,000 times and has never been cleaned.

Thanks for verifying. Kind of what I figured.

Our juniors re-use bbs caught in a tall carboard box trap suitable for 4 position shooting (rubber mat hangs inside box.) The bbs are sized to start from Daisy Precision shot. The bbs pick up target paper and range dust so we'll occasionally run a .177 rod to get the crap out. Because the bbs are sorted to a relatively larger bore size -173-175, they may take awhile to drop down the shot tube. We've made brass "loading rods" to help us get uniform bb/magnet contact when loading from the prone position (coaches loading.)