Thanks guys, this is all very fun.

Cayugad, I think it was you yesterday that mentioned storing the guns without the springs in them. This makes a lot of sense to me. Those springs are under quite a bit of compression just sitting there in the gun and that has to weaken them over time. I think if they are removed when the gun is not in use, those springs should last forever. However, I just ordered 3 spares from Doc yesterday!!!!! Since these guns were fabricated in 2003, I plan to install 2 new ones in the guns, put the one extra that I ordered in my box and store the other 2 at home.

I pulled the cap off both guns last night and pulled out the spring hammer and breechplug. Cleaned the tape residue from the breeches and reoiled the barrel with CLP. I put a loose patch in the breech for storing, put the cap on and put the guns in the safe. All the other parts went right in the top of my box. Prior to shooting, I will run a couple dry patches through, tape the breech plug and reassemble.

One thing to note. Last night when I took the breechplugs out, there was quite a bit of oil there from when I had previously oiled the barrel. I had not put a huge amount in the barrel, but it still ran down the barrel and into the breech plug. I think leaving everything out and putting a dry patch in there to keep the oil from running out or acculating should work well. I think I will now oil even a little more heavily since I know I will be removing most of it prior to taking it shooting.

philnie, if you haven't already bought a capper, I would highly recommend a Cash, flat brass capper. I bought a straight one the other day (not a Cash) and that was a pain in the rear. The Cash is NICE.

I also bought some of the Knight saboted lead bullets. A pack of 260 gr and one of 310 gr. Hopefully will try them out this weekend.

Anyway, just some newbie thoughts.