will this hurt my air rifle?

pointerDixie214 · 05-10-2004, 04:08 PM

i have a gamo hunter 220 and a shadow 1000. i was wondering if it is ok to cock and load these guns and then wait 5 o 10 minutes to shoot it. i know that is not recommended with pump air rifles, and i am not sure about these... it just seems like everytime i find something to shoot, by the time i take out a pellet, cok it and aim, it has ran or flown off! thanks...

bigbulls · 05-10-2004, 05:09 PM

Never heard of that hurting any air rifle. I have pumped up air rifles and left them waiting for the next squirrel to enter me yard for hours at a time with no bad effects what so ever. Been doing that for as long as I can remember.

pointerDixie214 · 05-10-2004, 08:26 PM

thanks for the help...

Atrox · 05-10-2004, 08:36 PM

These are spring rifles not pump arn't they? If so it won't cause any damage as only the spring is under compression and the air is not until the piston compresses it.
Atrox

diyj98 · 05-11-2004, 09:25 AM

10 to 15 mintues shouldn't hurt, but YES leaving a spring powered airgun cocked does weaken the spring. I don't leave any of my better spring guns cocked for extended times. There have been informal studies done showing that that leaving them cocked for extended periods is harmful. Several folks have chronographed guns before leaving them cocked then after leaving them cocked for extended time and found they had velocity lossed due to the springs taking a set. A pump-up gun probably wouldn't do anything but slowly leak off pressure.

wesleykey · 05-19-2004, 01:49 PM

I've left air guns cocked or pumped up for hours with no problem.