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farri · New Member

I recently purchased a Beeman P 17 & have heard that spring air guns you cannot leave cocked for very long. Anyone know how long ?

As the P 17 is pneumatic- I would like to find out how long can they be left cocked for ?.

I also heard that nitro & gas piston airguns can also be left for quite a while after being cocked. Anyone know how long ?.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

A new spring powered rifle will lose a small percentage of it power when used regularly over a few weeks, this is just the spring settling down, from then on it’s a lot slower. My TX200 had shot 40,000 pellets before I changed the spring, by then it had lost around 12% of it’s power.

When out shooting for the day for up to 6 hours, I keep the rifle cocked with safety on most of the time, especially when ratting.

The thing is if you are out hunting and you spot a target, the noise from cocking the gun invariably frightens it off , especially on targets up to 20- 25m away. So for the cost of a new spring once in a while it’s well worth keeping it cocked.

In theory a gas piston unit can be left cocked indefinably until the gas leaks away.
They work on the same principle as an auto tail gate which are left cocked for 99.9% of their life, which is a long long time.

Al

DavidSaunders · Veteran Member

For a pneumatic Air Rifle or Pistol there is no limit on how long you can leave it Charged.

With a pneumatic when you pump it (one time in the case of the P17) it compresses the air and it is the compressed air that is being stored. Cocking and pumping are two different things (though the P17 does both in one motion). Pumping is what you are asking about. Cocking is the act of pulling the hammer into position to engage the sear.

For a good example look at a Crosman 13xx, 2289, 2100, etc. You can pump them up to pressure and leave them as long as you wish, though you do not cock them until you pull the bolt back.

In the case of the P17 there is a hammer spring that you are risking weakening if you leave it cocked for to long as it is cocked when it is pumped, for a pumper AirRifle/AirPistol (single or multi pump) you would be better served by a Crosman/Benjiman, Umerex, or Webley pumper if you wish to leave it charged for days at a time as these can be pumped up with out cocking the hammer.