How long to leave a springer cocked

[HWnut]

This is a personal preference this. I'll go to an hour before I fire it off. Although I am thinking about removing the anti- beartrap so I can de-cock instead of firing.

How do you de-cock the rifle then? Holding onto the cocking lever while pulling the trigger?

[Dunkman]

I think there are many things to consider, one of which is a key element is the quality of the spring steel. A good quality steel wil be able to stand the compression and release cycle far better than a low grade steel.

Consider your car. It has coil springs at each corner, all under compression under the weight of the car. Over the year, the springs don't lose thier properties because if they did, your car would start to sit lower as the springs lost thier 'force'.

Then there is Hookes law that states that a springs compression/Extension is directly related to the force applied to it..............until a certain point where Hookes law is exceeded and the spring then fails. Therefore a compressed spring of the right quality will be able to sustain Hookes law under compression.

I'm no metallurgist but I would argue that if there is any detriment to the spring, it comes from the actual firing when all the pent up energy in the spring is released. The spring is compressed and there is immense torsional strain within it but during cocking everything is done slowly and smoothly giving the spring time to adjust to it's new torsional state. Then in a split second, all that torsional energy is released violently and the spring has to adjust to a different state in a nanosecond. I suppose the analogy would be the difference to slowly bending a piece of wood without breaking it against a violent force that shatters it. The former allows the wood to adjust the latter simply proves too much and the wood fails. Another analogy would be walking into your living room and slowly getting comfy in that big soft airmchair. After a few minutes you relax into your new state. In a perect world you would also rise from your comfy chair nice and slowly so your body can now adjust to beig upright. If someone came in the room, sneaked up behind you and let off a Klaxon in your ear you would jump up out the chair, stressed and probably with a pulled muscle as the change of state was too rapid.

Think of all those cheap airguns at fairgrounds that you can cock with no effort and after 20,000 shots probably make 2 f/lbs if you are lucky. Low power not by being left cocked but purely the number of firing cycles.

So, I would argue that YES, leaving an airgun cocked will have SOME detriment to power dependant on the quality of the spring material but the actual FIRING of the gun over time has the most detriment to power levels.

As to how long to keep it cocked? if it's a decent gun, don't worry unless you are not shooting it for hours on end, in which case go home anyway, there is nothing to shoot !!

If you have something with cheaper internals, you are better off DE-Cocking it after a few hours and then re-cocking it again so that the firing of it doesn't adversely affect the spring.

Then again, springs aren't that expensive really and are easy to change so don't worry too much, shoot as you wish and chrono it every now and then and if it drops too much, just get a replacement spring.

[Jack]

Like so.

[Jack]

My old long bow you could, had to rebreak the barrel then hold it down releasing the trigger and slowly bring the barrel back up. A mate of mine snapper his stock and almost his face by trying it tho.

Sent using my Nokia 3310

How do you de-cock the rifle then? Holding onto the cocking lever while pulling the trigger?

Like above. Depending on what rifle.

[kentkami]

I think there are many things to consider, one of which is a key element is the quality of the spring steel.

Consider your car. It has coil springs at each corner, all under compression under the weight of the car. Over the year, the springs don't lose thier properties because if they did, your car would start to sit lower as the springs lost thier 'force'.

Then there is Hookes law that states that a springs compression/Extension is directly related to the force applied to it..............until a certain point where Hookes law is exceeded and the spring then fails. Therefore a compressed spring of the right quality will be able to sustain Hookes law under compression.

I'm no metallurgist but I would argue that if there is any detriment to the spring, it comes from the actual firing when all the pent up energy in the spring is released. The spring is compressed and there is immense torsional strain within it but during cocking everything is done slowly and smoothly giving the spring time to adjust to it's new torsional state. Then in a split second, all that torsional energy is released violently and the spring has to adjust to a different state in a nanosecond. I suppose the analogy would be the difference to slowly bending a piece of wood without breaking it against a violent force that shatters it. The former allows the wood to adjust the latter simply proves too much and the wood fails.

Think of all those cheap airguns at fairgrounds that you can cock with no effort and after 20,000 shots probably make 2 f/lbs if you are lucky. Low power not by being left cocked but purely the number of firing cycles.

So, I would argue that YES, leaving an airgun cocked will have SOME detriment to power dependant on the quality of the spring material and that the actual FIRING of the gun over time has the most detriment to power levels.

As to how long to keep it cocked? if it's a decent gun, don't worry unless you are not shooting it for hours on end, in which case go home anyway, there is nothing to shoot !!

If you have something with cheaper internals, you are better off DE-Cocking it after a few hours and then re-cocking it again so that the firing of it doesn't adversely affect the spring.

Hi,
Thanks for the post very interesting to read.
Take care

[Dunkman]

Just another point, a PCP has a hammer spring and when cocked the hammer spring is under compression. I wonder how many people think that 'possibly' over time, the hammer spring 'may' weaken' and this would also lead to a loss of power as it has less force to open the valve??

Just a thought.............

[brettguise]

If I go out with my springer its loaded safety on and always pointing to the floor. Ill leave it loaded all shoot, unloading to cross fields when I need to drive a little distance or bag it and walk over a road. I'm very safe with my gun but I wouldn't load it once id seen quarry losing vital time that I could of got a shot off. Its obviously always unloaded when stored.

[Dunkman]

Just one word of warning re de-cocking.

As a kid (13 years old) I was accused by a neighbour of shooting at his rabbits (I wasn't) and he phoned the police. Village copper turns up and asks to see my rifle (BSA Super Meteor). He believed that I wasn't shooting the neighbours rabbits but when he took the gun from the cupbaord and out of its gunslip and then examined my gun, it was de-cocked but with a pellet still in the breech -Bad

Copper gave me a good talking to and so did my father. Thankfully nothing came of it but bear this in mind if you are in the habit of de-cocking your rifle. NEVER leave a pellet in it as in the eyes of the law it is still loaded.

Make the final shot of the day a 'real' one just to be sure..........

[Dunkman]

Here is an interesting article on leaving various rifles cocked for up to 24 weeks.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537...re%27s+a+test-

Notice that after a week left cocked, the drop off of power is fairly minimal.
Jeeze, the bloke doing the testing must have had the patience of a saint. All those rifles, all that waiting, all those tests............