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broommaster2000 · Moderator

I thought it'd be nice to have a topic on the small things about some airguns. The things that don't really matter in general, but what makes you want it just a little bit more then another airgun. I'll start with my favorite.

The two-part cocking arm.

I've found that break barrel rifles with a two-part cocking arm often provide a bit of a better hold over the single-part cocking arm. This can be easily explained, but first!

If you're new to this, I shall explain what a cocking arm is, and the visual differences between the two you are most likely to encounter:

The cocking arm is the part that transfers the energy from the barrel (or under/side lever) into the spring.

In other words, when you're cocking the rifle, and you put some of that energy into your rifle, one of the key parts helping you to get that energy INTO the rifle is the cocking arm.

A single part cocking arm needs a lot of space to move. You can see this when you look at the stock from the lower side of for instance a Diana 34. There is a "slot" (or groove, I am not sure which word is most appropriate here) where the cocking arm goes.

It's a pretty long "slot" in comparison to the one on the BSA Lightning. Now, the times I've shot with single-part cocking arm rifles, I've always found it to be a little bit awkward to hold while standing. Not much, but still. The longer the rifle, the longer the slot, and for instance with long rifles like the 350 (that also has a single-part cocking arm) I found it was downright irritating.

This brings up another question: Doesn't this make the stock weak? In theory, it would. Here's a pic of a Diana 31 (synthetic stock) that's been cocked:

Now, with a wooden version I think this "could" be a problem. I'm sure it generally won't but the idea of the front-wood being quite thin, no sir, I don't particularly like that.

Now, I will have to ask Slavia to post a pic of his Slavia 631, that comes with a two-part cocking arm to prove my point. My camera is broken. Neutral

southpaw · Member

Slavia · Moderator

The Slavia 631 has an articulated cocking arm, and a very short slot in the stock. So short, in fact, that I had plenty of room for an accessory rail.

The Gamo Young Hunter and the Crosman G1 are also articulated. While the slots are longer than on the 631, there was still room for a sling swivel stud.

On the other hand, the Crosman/Mendoza RM577 has a one-piece cocking arm, and a very long slot. Not much I could do with that one.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Articulated, how could I have ever guessed! Mr. Green

Also interesting to see how CZ was doing it right with the 630/631.