Hello all, new guy here, nice little place you've got! I've been reading some posts about hunting with springers (Metal spring, not NP) and have a question. I've been told that a spring piston gun should not be left cocked for any length of time. Rather, it should be cocked and fired in a relatively short period of time. So, to you who hunt with these rifles, have you experienced a loss of power due to the spring getting weaker from remaining cocked? I'm a hunter, it's not uncommon to go an hour or more without taking a shot at a squirrel or other game. Can you leave a metal spring cocked for an hour or two without damage? I am considering my sirst airgun, looking at an RWS 48, the side cocking seems like a nice touch.
Huunting With Springers?
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I have a spring HW95. I place the pellet in uncocked. When I see an animal, I then cock it. Spring power reduces by 20~% over many hours. It will do this with use anyway, but you are speeding the process up. I'm my mind 20,000 shots seems a well used spring, but if your fps stays high it doesn't matter how many shots there are. If you feel the need to leave it cocked, do so, and replace the spring when the fps drops 60-80fps on your chrony
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I think it depends on how highly stressed the spring is when cocked. A moderately stressed spring should not lose power if left cocked, but a highly stressed spring may. I don't take the chance and load a break barrel with a pellet, then decock it without letting the barrel latch. That way cocking the gun when you encounter game is reasonably stealthy. You just need to remember to unload (fire) the gun before bringing it back in.
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I’m in the camp of thought that I would have no problem leaving it cocked for an hour or so while hunting. I don’t have any hard data, it’s just what I would do, damn the spring life. When it starts failing beyond the point of usefulness, I would buy another spring and replace it. To me the gun is a tool that will serve me in a reasonable and safe manner. To that end, I will use it & enjoy it. Service it when I must.
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Welcome!
The subject of leaving a springer cocked has been thrashed around since I've been shooting airguns (looong time) the consensus is pretty much "don't worry about it!" People have experimented with leaving guns cocked for months with only a slight loss in velocity. I will say this about the RWS 48-it's heavy! If you'll be doing a lot of walking you might like a lighter gun such as the RWS 34 or the excellent HW95/Beeman R9, both of which are breakbarrels. I find reloading a breakbarrel for a follow up shot if called for is very quick and can be done by feel with some practice.
The subject of leaving a springer cocked has been thrashed around since I've been shooting airguns (looong time) the consensus is pretty much "don't worry about it!" People have experimented with leaving guns cocked for months with only a slight loss in velocity. I will say this about the RWS 48-it's heavy! If you'll be doing a lot of walking you might like a lighter gun such as the RWS 34 or the excellent HW95/Beeman R9, both of which are breakbarrels. I find reloading a breakbarrel for a follow up shot if called for is very quick and can be done by feel with some practice.
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It's a non issue, that somebody made up to try and sell gas ram guns.
I do more hunting with spring guns than most people, and I can tell you that its a non-issue.
The only exception would be a very cheap Chinese gun, without a lot of shots through it. They can sag pretty bad at first, but usually just break instead.
I do more hunting with spring guns than most people, and I can tell you that its a non-issue.
The only exception would be a very cheap Chinese gun, without a lot of shots through it. They can sag pretty bad at first, but usually just break instead.
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The RWS48 can make a great hunting gun. They balance well, and are super easy to fit a sling to.
One thing about them is they are pretty oversprung right out of the box. The springs used to be fairly brittle, and would break before they ever sagged much. They shoot MUCH nicer tuned down a little bit with a good aftermarket spring from Air Rifle Headquarters.
So in my opinion, if you left it cocked and the spring DID sag, it would shoot better anyway lol. So don't worry about it.
Welcome to the nuthouse, you'll have a lot of fun hunting with it!
One thing about them is they are pretty oversprung right out of the box. The springs used to be fairly brittle, and would break before they ever sagged much. They shoot MUCH nicer tuned down a little bit with a good aftermarket spring from Air Rifle Headquarters.
So in my opinion, if you left it cocked and the spring DID sag, it would shoot better anyway lol. So don't worry about it.
Welcome to the nuthouse, you'll have a lot of fun hunting with it!
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I have been hunting for 70+ years.
When walking around, I never have a round of any type of ammunition chambered in an arm or with an arrow on the string.
That includes, PB, springers and PCP arms, bows (of any kind).
My blackpowder rifles will be loaded but will not receive a cap or primer until I am ready to shoot.
Everyone who hunts with me does the same thing..
When walking around, I never have a round of any type of ammunition chambered in an arm or with an arrow on the string.
That includes, PB, springers and PCP arms, bows (of any kind).
My blackpowder rifles will be loaded but will not receive a cap or primer until I am ready to shoot.
Everyone who hunts with me does the same thing..
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You never stalk or walk and hunt? You just sit there? And you never expect to see anything while walking?
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Ditto, I have been hunting for 70+ years and ALL of the weapons that I legally use are loaded with the safety on or BP rifle loaded, primer in place & un-cocked. JMHO
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I just can't imagine doing it any other way? My flintlocks are primed as soon as I hit the woods. Longbow has an arrow on the string anytime both hands are free. Airguns are loaded and safety on, if they even have one.
Different strokes I guess.
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I always keep my breakbarrels cocked and loaded when hunting. I have an RWS 34 Pro Compact that was used in a experiment being left cocked for extensive periods of time. The gun is still factory and still awesome.
Leaving a spring gun cocked all day while hunting will not damage it. Also, unless it has a lot of tar in it, they shoot fine in very cold weather too.
Leaving a spring gun cocked all day while hunting will not damage it. Also, unless it has a lot of tar in it, they shoot fine in very cold weather too.
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Your not going to do it even if you leave it cocked all day. 1 or 2 weeks maybe, but not all day. Besides in all the years squirrel hunting there have only been a few times when it was leave cocked over an hour anyway. They all have a safety. It will be fine. The RWS 48 it one of my favorite magnum springers. The factory spring is OK, but if your going to have to leave it cocked for hours on end, then don't cock it until you need it.
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We shall one day see. I have a brand new Winchester 800x been cocked for probably close to 10 years. Never fired it just took it out of it's box cocked it and simply wouldn't fire even banging it with a rubber mallet while putting a lot of pressure on the trigger and only Put it back in its box and totally forgot to send it in for return!!!
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Awesome make that day today. I work with springs a bit and they do loose some spring but usually from repeated memory stress (over time not a single compression. Metal does have memory, especially depending on the metals used. I don't think it matters much and they are easy to replace).
Also, as for the above remarks by others, I hunt loaded with PBs and air rifles. I practice the notion that every gun is loaded, so safety is always on and I always point in the safest direction and pretend I have people around me even while I am by myself. Having been a hunter for a bit and stalking animals, I can't imagine getting anything with an unloaded gun unless I was in a blind and even then I can't imagine being effective without having one in the chamber.
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That's weird. I've been hunting for 60+ years and I've never known anyone who did not keep a round in the chamber when hunting quail or rabbits or walking the woods for squirrels or stalking game. How do you do that?
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All guns are loaded , No matter what, No such think is a unloaded gun, Period, That solved that, LOL.
Mike
Mike
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I'll bet the guys at Vortek have a darn good idea about spring longevity. They have probably run the numbers, knowing the exact composition of their springs, and the typical loading.
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Creep in steel and relaxation in springs are well known behaviors, especially at high temperatures and under high stress loads. This gives an overview.
Relaxation of Springs | Rockford Spring
My understanding is that high quality airgun springs have at least been cold set so they should theoretically be able to be compressed solid without further relaxation. On the other hand, Tom at Vortek did tell me that if the spring I chose for an HW55 build ran a little high, I could leave the gun cocked for a couple weeks and it should come down a little. And I guess he should know.
I do know that every airgun spring I have looked at is running over the maximum recommended load determined by one of the online spring calculators when cocked, typically around 75% over the recommended max load. So they can be very highly stressed when cocked. As a number of people have said, the worst that should happen is a little further relaxation.
Change over the life of a spring seems to vary. My FWB 300s which has had tens of thousands of rounds through it over the last 37 years is still putting out the same power as when it was new. And my OEM TX200 spring is still looking pretty good after being shot extensively. Vortek springs also seem to be holding up well, still straight and with uniform coil spacing. On the other hand I have had broken springs in an R8 and an R9, and used guns when taken apart will often have some very tired springs inside with areas of compressed coils and significant cant.
My best guess is that how well a spring holds up depends on the quality of the spring, and how highly stressed it is when cocked.
Relaxation of Springs | Rockford Spring
My understanding is that high quality airgun springs have at least been cold set so they should theoretically be able to be compressed solid without further relaxation. On the other hand, Tom at Vortek did tell me that if the spring I chose for an HW55 build ran a little high, I could leave the gun cocked for a couple weeks and it should come down a little. And I guess he should know.
I do know that every airgun spring I have looked at is running over the maximum recommended load determined by one of the online spring calculators when cocked, typically around 75% over the recommended max load. So they can be very highly stressed when cocked. As a number of people have said, the worst that should happen is a little further relaxation.
Change over the life of a spring seems to vary. My FWB 300s which has had tens of thousands of rounds through it over the last 37 years is still putting out the same power as when it was new. And my OEM TX200 spring is still looking pretty good after being shot extensively. Vortek springs also seem to be holding up well, still straight and with uniform coil spacing. On the other hand I have had broken springs in an R8 and an R9, and used guns when taken apart will often have some very tired springs inside with areas of compressed coils and significant cant.
My best guess is that how well a spring holds up depends on the quality of the spring, and how highly stressed it is when cocked.
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