Sounds like you may have gotten lucky twice, perhaps its a good thing you didn't get that rear cross bolt removed, that rear plug could have come out of there like a rocket if you would have bumped that trigger and it let loose luckily that did not happen.
One small thing I always liked about the Crosman/Benjamin breakbarrels is that front swivel on the breech block, I always thought was a good idea for anyone wanting a sling mount.
Its unfortunate that it looks like that tension bolt in your spring compressor is a little to thick and perhaps mounted to far up to fit in the groove of the pic rail, that would of help hold it in place, a possible idea would be to drill a smaller pair of holes lower down in that bracket for a picatinny cross bolt to fit in the slots.
Its good to hear you were able to get the issue corrected and now have a functioning rifle, do you use a chronograph to keep tabs on you rifles performance?
