Keeping cocked for extended period?

[Flintlock]

Hello all. After a few years of waiting, I'm the proud new owner of an hw30s. The rifle arrived 3 days ago and I'm Loving it.

On to my question....

I've taken the rifle squirrel hunting the last two evenings and wondered if leaving it cocked for a prolonged period could/would cause it any harm. How long is too long?...

Thank you for your time and response, Flintlock.

 

[Moog]

Springs can be compressed for very long periods of time. Leaving your rifle cocked while you are out hunting won't do any harm. For safety always empty the gun when you are finished for the day.
Enjoy your new rifle.

 

[Flintlock]

Thank you Moog.

 

[Mycapt65]

Every spring gun is different. It depends on the spring and the design of the gun. I left my Hw30 cocked over a weekend and it lost about 7% velocity. About 50 fps. That was with a Vortek spring. Another spring might lose none, less or more. A few hours in the woods isn't going to hurt any of them.

Enjoy the new gun. The Hw30s are my favorite. I have two and my wife has one as well.

Ron

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

When hunting I just break the barrel and load a pellet and close it back up. Then cock it just before taking a shot. Most springs over time will loose power if left compressed. Also for safety reasons it’s better left uncocked.

 

[EMrider]

I hunt with all my spring guns and regularly leave them cocked for 2 hours or more with no ill effects.
R

 

[Flintlock]

Thank you MyCapt, Bear and EM. Much appreciate the responses to my newbie question.

This little Weirauch has opened my eyes to a whole new affliction. Its 3 for 3 on grey squirrels with quick kills on all. The accuracy is almost startling.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Mycapt65]

The accuracy gets better the more you use it. Enjoy

 

[BassMan]

I have an RWS 34 that was unknowingly left cocked for several months. When I discovered it was cocked I decided to check it's velocity fully expecting to find a substantial decrease. Surprisingly, there was no decrease, in fact there was a slight increase from an average of 860 fps to 864 fps.

 

[Mickshooter]

When hunting with my springer I partially opened the breech and inserted pellet and when I spotted a critter I fully cocked it. Later if no luck, I discharged in a safe direction.

 

[Glenroiland]

I've left my Diana cocked while in my blind for hours on end....no effect noted as I regularly chrony my guns.

I wouldn't leave it cocked overnight, but I've often read that leaving them cooked doesn't usually have all the negative effects we hear about.

 

[Ramjet]

My personal rule is never leave cocked over 30 minutes.

 

[thumper]

If leaving one cocked made the spring fatigue, it was a garbage grade spring to begin with.

I usually find something to shoot at or get bored within a couple hours at most. A LOT longer than that shouldn't have any effect.

 

[Ace31269]

The basic rule of thumb is to not leave a springer stored in the cocked position for extended periods . .while out hunting they are fine loaded and cocked for hours but unlikely you would even cock and load a springer and wait for 2 hours ..Common sense goes a long way.No offense if my message is taken the wrong way..All good intentions were meant .

 

[Steveoo]

Some spring gun enthusiasts actually season a brand new mainspring by leaving the gun cocked overnight.
The slight loss in power that comes from this, is due to the normal loss that you would get from using the gun/mainspring for the first month, or so and then settling into its consistent function thereafter.

So the short answer is you may lose power on a brand new spring, like the guy who fitted a new Vortex above but hardly anything on a seasoned spring.
HW OEM springs are about the best i have encountered for longterm stability, Cometa springs less so and BSA springs somewhere in the middle..