First off, you might consider switching to powder. I found pellets to be very unreliable. They gave me inconsistent groupings, perhaps due to the fact that they may not pack down the same. But also, as the gun shop guy told me, pellets can go bad after a season, where as powder keeps for many years. Once when I fired with pellets I did not even hear a report - apparently the bullet moved that slow! With respect to unloading, I keep mine loaded for our short 1 week season except for the primer cap - it is legal to transport the gun this way in our state. As a precaution, always double check before reloading to make sure you are not double-loading - that is your big danger. As far as unloading goes, the only way I ever do this is to fire the gun. And if it does not fire, then I am pretty darned careful if I have to push the load out. But I guess if you did not fire off the primer cap it is not as hairy to unload without firing. I have a scope, so every time I fire I need to clean, and removing the barrel offers opportunity to mess up the scope.