How Long To Stay Loaded With A Springer?

[RemyBolt 420]

I've heard loads of things on this subject, so would like some more experienced shooter opinions.

 

How long would you be happy to have a springer locked and loaded, ready to fire, without shooting?

 

I've heard people say an hour, others say a minute, and loads more between and further apart.

 

What's your experience on how long you can leave a springer cocked and loaded for, without damaging the gun or mechanism?

[pianoman 3,587]

Several hours between shots. There is a suggestion that, a spring, under prolonged tension when cocked, will compress to a point where it will not decompress or return to quite the same dimensions when released from tension and thus, has softened a little and a certain level of power be lost. In my experience of shooting spring rifles, this is not so and you can cock the rifle and hold it thus, under such compression, for several hours in a session without loss of noticeable power.

 

It is the constant use of moving forces of compression and decompression under firing and reloading that eventually breaks and collapses the spring with fatigue over prolonged and extensive use. Not by prolonged compression alone.

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Just to back up what Simon has said an airgun magazine journalist once left a gun cocked for 3 months to see if there was any power loss, there was not!

[RemyBolt 420]

Cheers lads.

 

I'm looking at doing more 'winged quarry' work, so was wondering about the hassle of cocking the rifle and getting caught out by a pigeon or something like that.

 

So I'd probably be okay to load up, sit and wait, then pop when I'm ready? That's a relief.

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Just remember to fire the pellet before you go home!

[eggs 4]

Just remember to fire the pellet before you go home!

 

Indeed wise words ... i remember i had an air pistol many years ago that i pointed at the news reader on bbc ...... and then pointed at a spot on the ceiling and pulled the trigger ! .... kapwhuuuttt ! God my mum went ballistic !!! Guns were banished to the garage ! Think i may of been grounded also !

 

Empty it before you bring it indoors

[RemyBolt 420]

As a general rule, I think it only polite that when I start something, I make sure I shoot my load ;-) haha

[j j m 6,539]

i try not to leave my springers cocked for to long ,but thats just my way

[RemyBolt 420]

i try not to leave my springers cocked for to long ,but thats just my way

When you say long, what's your limit that you'll leave them cocked for?

[S.Maclean 94]

Just be sensible about it. What's more important is knowing when you have a pellet ready to shoot, because you never where it could be pointing when it goes off. If you couldn't leave it cocked no-one would hunt with it.

[Coypu Hunter 486]

I've heard people say that they will leave a new springer cocked overnight to bed in the spring. Never done it myself, but I do leave the gun locked & loaded for an hour or two when stalking. According to my chrony, this has not affected pellet velocity at all. Springs are tough.

[ghillies 209]

over night will feck it.. like half the power type feck it.

 

an hour.. erghh not to bad, half hours nowt.

[Wxm 1,638]

over night will feck it.. like half the power type feck it.

 

an hour.. erghh not to bad, half hours nowt.

When you say if you leave it cocked over night it will half the power is that on just that shot or everyone after??

[Coypu Hunter 486]

From what I've read and experienced, ghillies is talking bollox. You'd have to leave it cocked for weeks to feck a mainspring, unless you bought a cheap Chinese piece of crap, of course. I've kept my HW97K cocked for up to three hours and the muzzle velocity has stayed exactly the same, according to my chrony. That's a fact, not speculation. See link below for the article this extract is taken from:

 

"So how LONG does a mainspring LAST?
Tom Gaylord published the only report I know about on the subject of mainspring life. In his R1 book, there is a chapter called the Mainspring Failure Test. He tested a factory R1 spring, a Beeman Laser spring, a Venom spring and a Maccari custom spring by cocking them all and leaving them cocked for ONE FULL MONTH! That's 735 HOURS of being cocked. ...The mainspring that lost the most power was the Beeman Laser spring. After being cocked for 735 hours, it had 93.25 percent of the power it had at the start of the test. The factory spring retained 93.89 percent of its original power. The Maccari spring retained 94.65 percent of its original power and the Venom spring retained 96.93 percent of its original power."

 

Have a look here: http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2006/05/how-long-does-mainspring-last-part-2.html

[ghillies 209]

 

over night will feck it.. like half the power type feck it.

 

an hour.. erghh not to bad, half hours nowt.

When you say if you leave it cocked over night it will half the power is that on just that shot or everyone after??

 

it was a figurative number... the springs i used some one actualy cocked it 'on my behalf' and left it their, when i used it after the power was reduced noticeably.