by B.B. Pelletier
This post was suggested by JB, and I’m glad he did. This is a subject that really needs to be addressed. Dry-firing, of course, means shooting the gun without a pellet in it. One of our readers, CF-X guy, had inadvertently dry-fired his CF-X and was concerned that he might have done some damage. JB researched the FAQ section on Gamo’s USA website and learned that dry-firing will not harm the gun. Today, I want to do a broader look at dry-firing and consider its good and bad points.
Are there good points to dry-firing?
Certainly! In fact, a target gun will be dry-fired up to five times as much as it will be fired with live ammo. The shooter needs constant practice with the trigger, sight picture and grips to improve his scores, so all credible 10-meter airguns have a dry-fire feature for training. But a lot of other guns do, too.
The Beeman P1 can be dry-fired. All you do is lift the top and the trigger is set. The gun doesn’t actually fire, but the trigger works as if it did. On the HW 75M, you cock the hammer for dry-fire. However, a more modern gun such as the Beeman P3 has no dry-fire capability. If an airgun can be dry-fired safely, it will say so in the owner’s manual. Otherwise, proceed with caution. But here are some general observations.
There’s less chance of harming a gas or pneumatic gun than a spring gun when you dry-fire, though I still wouldn’t do it if the owner’s manual didn’t say it was okay. At the very least, you’re wasting gas or air when you do, unless the gun has a dry-fire feature.
Don’t dry-fire most springers!
Spring-piston guns are the ones most likely to be damaged by dry-firing. These guns rely on a cushion of highly compressed air to stop the piston from slamming into the end of the compression chamber. And, in one instance – the handmade Whiscombe rifles – one dry shot is all it takes to ruin the gun! The Whiscombes have two pistons coming together to generate twice the power of a normal spring-piston gun. If they don’t have that air cushion, the seals are destroyed. Whiscombes are the very worst about this, but there are other guns that dislike dry-firing, as well.
The older guns (1960- and 1970-vintage) that had poor synthetic piston seals can be ruined with one dry shot. The list also includes the following:
- FWB 124
- Most Walther spring-piston air rifles – especially the LGV
- The early RWS Diana recoilless guns – both rifle and pistol (Giss system guns)
This is by no means a complete list! Your best guide to dry-firing is whether or not it is allowed according to the owner’s manual.
Springers that are more forgiving
Any spring-piston gun with leather seals is usually more tolerant of being dry-fired. The leather takes up some of the shock, and those guns generally have less power to begin with.
Guns with modern synthetic piston seals are generally more tolerant just because those synthetics are much tougher than in the past. Guns with PTFE (Teflon) seals are extremely tolerant. The Beeman P1 is one of these, as are many of the 1980- and 1990-vintage Webley rifles. In fact, dry-firing is how the factory fits the piston seal to the compression chamber. Apparently, PTFE flows under pressure just enough to take the form of the compression chamber. I once had a P1 that dieseled a lot, until Don Walker at Beeman had me dry-fire it on full power for several shots. The problem went away, and the seal is still in there seven years later.
Gamo is unique
Gamo stands alone as a maker that permits dry-firing their spring-piston guns. In the early 1990s, they undertook a lengthy design study to improve the reliability of their airguns. They redesigned powerplant parts and tested guns by dry-firing them 10,000 times to see the effect on the parts. This kind of engineering deserves high praise, because it is all too rare in the world of airguns. The result is that Gamo can say their guns can be dry-fired. I still wouldn’t do it on purpose, but it’s nice to have that kind of reliability backing up your airgun.
BB guns
I haven’t touched on BB guns, but they’re in a class of their own. I do know that most Daisys can take some dry-firing, but most Markhams can’t (except for the Markhams made in the 1930s that were really Daisys by another name). The Daisy BB gun mechanism is different than a straightforward spring-piston powerplant. If you want to read about it, there’s a great, but short, article in the Blue Book of Airguns, Fifth edition. I would NEVER think of dry-firing my Kadet BB gun. It’s so fragile that I don’t even like to shoot it with BBs that much! The Crosman M1 Carbine and V-350/3500 seem about as tough as a Daisy, so, yeah, I’ll dry-fire them, too.
B.B.,
I find that when I am shooting an airgun with a magazine I invariably forget how many shots I’ve made and have a terminal dryfire. It doesn’t seem to have done any damage so far and they are all CO2 guns. From our statement about pneumatics I am assuming I probably am not going to have a problem?
CWI
BB,
Thanks for the Post!!
What about the IZH-46 match pistol? I’m considering one, would dry firing hurt? The Manual posted on Pyramid says “do not shoot a airpistol without a lead pellet”. That seems like a generic warning. Is there a way to dry fire? I think one of your previous posts indicated you have experience with the IZH-46.
My Daisy 777 manual says dry-firing is acceptable. Thanks in advance!
JB
JB,
Yes, there is a dry-fire capability on the IZH 46. What you do is manually lift the loading cover until the trigger sets itself. When the gun is charged in the normal way, the linkage does this automatically, but when you do it manually no air gets introduced into the compression chamber.
And I recommend the magnum version of the gun. It’s about 50 f.p.s. faster, and the targets punch a little cleaner. Currently it looks like the only version Pyramyd stocks.
B.B.
BB,
Aside from your general advice to follow the users manual, do you have any experience or advice for dry-firing pneumatic Benjamin-Sheridan 392/397 rifles or pistols? I don’t see any comment about it in my 392 manual.
Thanks!
I just recieved my new Browning 800 and the manual specifies Do No Dry fire , used a led Pellet or a cleaning Pellet. If its says dont do it ,dont do it.
Pistol,
Welcome to the blog.
B.B.
Thank you
yes its a great pistol the Browning 800 .22 cal. yet it states in the manual do not fire dry . well any way there is a plastic cocking extension to place over the front barrel and I’M wondering if you can leave this extension on instead of on and off every time you shoot it ?
[its a through hole type ]
pistol,
Yes, the cocking extension can be left on the gun when it’s fired.
B.B.
Thank you , the only difference is the sound , its sorta like having a silencer on it however shoots straight and hard. the last question is smoke comes out of it after a shot , will this go away , and where do you oil this gun.
Pistol,
The smoke is from dieseling and never goes away. Oil it through the air transfer port behind the breech. You see it when the barrel is broken open. Not too much! Maybe a drop every thousand shots.
B,.B,
to BB
where do I put the oil the barrel or cocking mechanism?
and [ what’s a good oil ] for this type of gun browning express 800 .22 cal.
Pistol,
One drop of silicone chamber oil in the air transfer port behind the barrel.
B.B.
Well, I’ve cretainly done it, and I don’t think it hurts anything. It would be best if the gun had a couple of pumps in it, so the valve pin doesn’t bounce off its seat.
When I think of dry-firing, I’m thinking of 700 shots a week with a 10-meter pistol. I don’t practice with other guns the way I do my pistol, so I may only take a few dry shots with them. Is that what you had in mind?
B.B.
BB,
So glad to hear Gamo guns could be dry fired without damage!
Naturally, after recieving mine in the mail the last thing I did was read the manual. First thing I did was try to figure out the rotating breech (CFX).
I cocked it and…ohhh, that’s how it works. Naturally left with it cocked, I immediatly pointed down and pulled trigger!
Thanks Gamo for thinking of me in advance!
dsw
BB,I want to warn people about what happenned to me last month.I shot my air rifle with the barrel opened and it closed real fast and I lost 2 fingers.Please be carefull because now im paying the price.
Adam Gonzalez
Hi BB,
Responding to your question, “Is that what you had in mind?” r.e. dry-firing the B-S 392.
Yes, you answered it. It was asking about the occasional 2-3 dry-fires when you need to be sure the breech is clear, or you forgot how many pumps you gave and want to store it with the “correct” number.
Referring to dry-firing, you said, “It would be best if the gun had a couple of pumps in it, so the valve pin doesn’t bounce off its seat.” Are you talking as opposed to 1 pump or 8 pumps? What exactly makes the valve pin bounce off its seat?
Thanks,
Will
Will,
Yes, that amount of dry-firing should not hurt your Benjamin in the slightest.
What I meant about the number of pumps was this – if the hammer falls on an empty reservoir, it drives the valve pin down as far as it will go with the maximum force it can develop. The valve pin stops moving when the valve seat contacts its opposite member. If there is no resistance (provided by compressed air) the valve seat will bounce against (the valve seat stop which is not too good. Not immediately damaging but over time not too good.
If you have one or two pumps in the reservoir, the force with which the pin is driven down is greatly cushioned by the air pressure.
B.B.
i have a spring Cometa air rifle which seems to me to be a quite sturdy air rifle and i accidently, because i was night shooting, missed the safety, pulled the trigger while the barrel was still in the down position and it closed real fast and snapped shut jarring the gun a lot and sounding awfull. Anyway i have fired it since and i hope that all it did was knacker the zero on my scope, do any of u think that i might have damaged it in any way by doing this …although it seems ok
Cometa,
What you did usually bends the barrel at the base block. It can be straightened by a knowledgeable person if it is bent.
You also need to check your stock mounting screws, as this mishap often cracks a stock at the screw holes or pulls the screws through the screw holes.
As for the scope, if it’s a good airgun scope it’s probably fine.
B.B.
thanx for the reply , looks fine the barrel is very thick and wouldnt bend easily , the screws are ok too and the guns stock is fine , i think this is probably because it is camoflauged composite instead of wood, i was lucky but a warning dont put your fingers near it lol…. i reckon it would easily take em off if they were caught doing this…
I actually was just on the phone with Gamo customer service regarding an issue with a refurbished shadow 1000, and they told me they test fire all refubed guns with pellets. So of course this thing about being able to dry fire thier guns popped into my head. I mentioned what the FAQ page says and asked about the truth behind it. He told me they don’t recomend it beyond one or two times because of the potential damage it can do to the gun. So I hope that one little missguiding sentence on thier FAQ page hasn’t led a bunch of Gamo gun owners down the road to dry fire damage. I just figured I had to share the info I was just given. Thanks for all the great blogs, I have bow become addicted to them
BB,
You state that the P3 cannot be dry fired, yet the product description for the P3 on the PyramidAir site clearly says otherwise.
Can you clarify, as I just ordered one.
-jp
jp,
I just checked mine. There is a provision for dry-firing after all. You pull the top of the pistol up almost halfway and a loud click tells you the trigger is set. Then close the pistol, release the safety and you can dry-fire.
Some air does get into the compression chamber when this is done, so you will hear a small pop when the pistol fires. I was thrown off by the amount the topstrap has to be raised to set the trigger. On the other Beeman/ Weihrauch pistols, the trigger sets the moment the topstrap is released.
Sorry for the error.
B.B.
No problem. Thanks for confirming; good to know!
-jp
hey bb pelletier
ive dry fired my gamo shadow 1000 maybe 4 times. do you think this has done so much damage that the accuracy of the gun is affected? thanks.
Dry-fire,
According to Gamo (at various times) their rifles can be dry-fired. At any rate, dry-firing does absolutely NOTHING to accuracy. It only affects the powerplant. Accuracy lives in the barrel and isn’t affected by the powerplant very much.
B.B.
ok thats good to hear. do you think that four times would damage the powerplant to the point where it could slow the velocity of the pellets?
No,
I don’t.
B.B.
Hello- I inadvertantly dry fired my .22 RWS 350. It doesn’t appear to have suffered any damage, it seems to still shoot just as good. Could there be damage that isn’t yet apparent? What should I look for? Thanks for your blog! Great Info!
Colonel Cash,
You don’t want to do that very often.
Look for a sudden drop in velocity, hard cocking or a cocking effort that gets hard at one point in the pump stroke. You are feeling for a broken mainspring or spring guide. The piston seal could be smashed, too.
But if the rifle keeps shooting well, just shoot it.
B.B.
I accidentally dry-fired my Gamo Varmint Hunter Rifle ONCE, you think it coulda suffered some damage that affected the powerplant/fps?
Some spring-piston rifles are more forgiving of a dry-fire than others. The Gamo is one of them. Your gun should be fine.
B.B.
Hey there,
I was a royal idiot and accidentally dry-fired my Quest 1000x pretty much as soon as I had it out of the box. Obviously, I’m much more careful with it now, but there doesn’t seem to be any damage; the gun seemed to break-in as it should have, and there is no noticeable cocking “stickiness.” As for velocity, I have no idea, since I don’t own or have access to a chrono. Is it worth disassembling the gun to check for visible signs of damage? Should I be concerned? I understand the Quest 1000 series is a knock-off of a knock-off (or something like that) of an old Gamo rifle, so fingers crossed here!
Thank you very much, and I love the blog!
Cory,
I doubt you have hurt your gun. I wouldn’t even think about it, if I were you. Just keep on shooting.
B.B.
B.B.,
Good to hear! I appreciate your input : )
Thanks!
I have read MANY of your blogs in my growing thirst for airgun knowledge and just wanted to say thanks (even though didn’t ask a question;) for replying to ALL the questions people do post…especially (in this post) when it seems people are asking the same question over and over again about dry firing….I went from knowing nothing to a still newb but decent understanding about airguns, who knew there was so much to this hobby.
will dryfiring a Crosman Pro77 c02 bb gun damage it?
Jay,
If you dry-fire it without gas it should be okay. If you use gas there might be damage to the seals.
If you are talking about just pulling the trigger thousands of times just to feel the action, I wouldn’t do it. These guns are not firearms and they are not made to last as long. You will be wearing out the internal mechanism without getting any benefit.
B.B.
Hello!
Thanks B.B. for all of your work in the blog!!!
So, this also means that a Gamo rifle can use any light pellets (<7g) without damaging the gun, right?
(yes, I know that there is no point in using such a light pellet…)
An Whisper X owner…
Whisper X,
Yes, I believe a Gamo rifle can safely fire a pellet that weighs less than 7 grains. However, due to the power of the Hunter Extreme, it would be the one rifle I wouldn’t do that with.
B.B.
Thanks for the reply 😉
A Whisper X owner…
B.B.,
I purchased an IZH-61 a couple of years ago. I’ve had dozens of dry fires and the manual states it shouldn’t be dry fired. It was very accurate initially, but now I have to shoot about 2 inches down and to the right to hit the bull and I’ve adjusted the sights as far as they’ll go. I’ve tried different ammo to no avail. Is this an indication of damage caused by dry firing? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
Doug,
Dry-firing affects power, not accuracy or aim point. If you have been using Crosman pellets I think your barrel is leaded and needs to be cleaned. Clean with a brass brush and JB Bore Cleaning Compound.
The best way to clean an IZH 61 barrel is to remove it and then clean it.
Will you please ask how to remove the barrel on the current blog (Monday)? The owner’s manual has a schematic, if you are handy.
B.B.
Ah ha! It was right after I finished shooting a tin of Crossman pellets and swithed to another brand that I noticed the accuracy problem. I will clean the barrel as suggested. Thank you very much.
About dry-fire in Gamo rifles,
In costumer service, FAQ, Rifle, Mechanism…
In gamousa.com:
Q.: Can the GAMO rifles be dry fired?
A.: No, spring piston air rifles should not be dry fired. Gamo engineers have done extensive testing to determine the damage caused by dry firing and as a result have increased the strength and durability in the power plant to better handle harsh punishment. Dry firing can still damage the system and is not recommended.
In gamo.com (international):
Q.: Can the GAMO rifles be dry fired?
A.: Yes. The GAMO rifles can be dry fired.
Funny, I guess in gamousa they changed their statment about dry-fire just to protect them self in any case…
ZeChico, an Whisper X owner…
ZeChico,
Thank you for that revealing look at Gamo’s website.
Websites grow and are often overlooked. As the years pass and opinions change, new information that contradicts the old gets posted and you end up with what you have found.
I don’t have the time to chase these things down, so I simply disregard any internet information until it is confirmed by a reliable source.
B.B.
I’m glad to help.
Regards.
I bought my son a RWS 34 .22 cal. One of his friends shot a .177 cal pellet out of it. From what they said it made a much louder than normal noise when it fired. I am concerned that this potentially damaged the gun similar to dry firing – or even worse. Would you recommend that I have it check out?
John,
What they heard was a detonation from the dry-fire. It probably didn’t harm the rifle.
Shoot several correct pellets and if they shoot okay your rifle is all right.
I have done this to one of my guns and the same thing happened. Just don’t make a habit of it.
B.B.
Dear BB,
If you have accidentally dry-fired your spring powered gun couldn't you remove the stock from the gun, and look at the bottom of the spring-piston assemble where the mainspring is visible and check it for damage or would you be missing part of the spring?
Michael,
You would miss most of what you need to physically examine. The best diagnostic is to keep shooting and notice whether anything changes in the firing behavior.
B.B.
Mr. air rifle guy, I dry fired my RWS 52 on accident when the pellet slipped out of the receiver and i continued the firing procedure. Some smoke came out of the barrel (probably burnt off chamber oil)and when i opened the breech some smoke came out also. The velocity doesnt seem to be lost(it still shoots through 1/4 inch ply wood at 25 yds.) and shows no signs or sounds of a broken mechanism. What should i do. Should i put any chamber oil in the air chamber because alot was burnt off? What are the seals made of? can they withstand a dry fire?
Snooker, first let me suggest coming over to the most recent blog: /blog//
If the gun seems OK, don't worry about it. An occasional dry-fire shouldn't hurt a good gun like the '52. Just don't make a habit out of it.
The seals is made out of a synthetic material. Some are nylon, not sure what the OEM Diana seals are made from.
Snooker,
Vince is right. The seals in your gun are the toughest on the market. Just continue to shoot the gun normally and don't even bother with the chamber oil.
B.B.
I once loaded my RWS 52 22 cal then pulled the trigger and it was very loud like a dry fire.I dumped the remaining pellets from the tin which was almost empty and found a 177 pellet mixed in with the 22s.Apparently two pellets out of the 175 tin were 177s and I shot one.They were Crosman El cheapos and were packaged like this from the factory .Beware.
rXM,
you have posted your comment on a 4 year old blog. Not many folks still monitor these other than a core of volunteers, of which I am one. To gain greater exposure to your comments or questions, you should post on the most current blog. The blogs are published Monday through Friday and can be found here:
/blog//
Off-topic comments and questions are welcome. Hope to see you there.
Fred PRoNJ
Whats up guys!
I just got my very first air rifle, the Stoeger X5 and was so excited that I dry fired it 3 times as I took it out of the box. This was before reading the user manual naturally and I have a growing concern for damage I may have caused to the gun. The seal still seems to be intact but how will I know if the gun is shooting at its rated velocity? do you think any serious damage could have happened after 3 dry fires? Thanks for your input!
Shane,
Just keep shooting your gun. Today's air rifles are more robust than those of the past.
Your rifle will tell you whether there has been damage by how it functions. Make no assumptions and just shoot it.
B.B.
i accidentally dry fired my crosman quest 1000x, is this a tolerant gun for dry fire.
Paul,
Yes, your gun can tolerate a single mistake like that.
B.B.
Hey B.B
Today after cleaning my Benjamin Trail NP 1100 XL, I accidentally dry fired it once. After the dry fire, I fired another shot and it seemed to be fine. Can one dry fire in these modern airguns damage the gun?
Thanks
It should be fine. I believe the gas spring guns are less likely to get damaged.
Not that long ago Gamo used to state that their spring-air rifles could be dry-fired safely. More recently they've backed off that claim, probably some guns had been dry-fired a LOT and got damaged.
But once in a while shouldn't be an issue.
BTW – /blog// is the most recent blog. Stop by sometime…
I've recently just accidently dry fired my remington vantage 1200 spring piston rifle. It was only once, do you think any damage was done to the gun?
We all make mistakes. Your gun is probably okay. Just don't make a habit of it.
B.B.
I accidentally dry fired my Beeman Grizzly X2 after about 10 shots with .177…I was wondering if I could have damaged anything in response to this please answer..thanks
We all dry-fire our spring guns a time or two. Sometimes the pellet falls out as we close the barrel and sometimes we just forget.
Just keep shooting your rifle. It's probably fine. Very few modern spring rifles are destroyed by a single dry-fire.
And join us at the current blog, where you can always ask any shooting questions:
/blog//
B.B.
Hey, Tom I just bought a remington vantage np. It is a gas ram breakbarrel. One of my friends dry fired it once. Is my air rifle broken?
Jon,
I seriously doubt it. But the only way to know for sure is to test it and see how it does. I hope you own a chronograph. If not, I hope you have some standardized method of testing your airguns for power. If not, you are doomed to wonder.
B.B.
i dry fired my crosman phantom 1000 up to 10 times do u think i caused damage to my rifle please respond and thank you
Houston,
The only way to know for sure is to compare the chronographed velocity of the same pellet before and after.
I would just keep shooting the gu and observe how it functions. If anything is wrong, you’ll be able to detect it.
B.B.
i was trying out my crosman phantom 1000 noise level by dry firing it up to 10 times do you think i caused damage to my air rifle please respond and thank you
Houston, BB answered your question twice. However, you’re on an old blog that few of us monitor. It’s 8 years old. Why not post your questions on the current blog so thousand of other air gun enthusiasts will see your questions? That’s at/blog//.
As for damaging your airgun, the newer guns with synthetic seals can take quite a bit of punishment without being damaged. However, to be able to tell for sure, you need to know how fast a pellet was propelled out your rifle prior to the dry firing and how fast it goes after the dry fire. No way else to tell
Welcome to the blog.
Fred DPRoNJ
Houston,
Relax! I don’t think you did any damage. Just keep shooting the gun and listen (and feel) for it to perform differently. If it doesn’t, you are good.
B.B.
New to air guns. Just received my Crosman MTR77. Being a novice, dry fired it about 5-6 times, marveling at the loud bang it makes like an idiot. Then read the manual… Now I am worried that I damaged it. Did I? Thanks in advance for your input.
GregBV,
Welcome to the blog.
No, you probably did not damage your gun. If it still shoots, it’s probably fine.
It’s not a good idea to dry-fire a spring piston gun because there is nothing to cushion the piston seal. But airguns are pretty rugged, today.
Just keep shooting and no more dry-firing.
B.B.
hi BB
i live in the uk and have a walther century ( which i got new 1 year ago)11 ft pound .22 spring air rifle…. its performance i feel has gone downhill, and i think i might have dry fired it – would this effect the rifle?? if so what should i do? can i repair it ?
thanks
Rfraser103,
Welcome to the blog.
Dry-firing won’t hurt a spring gun as quickly as a few shots. And some will tolerate hundreds before they start showing it.
What solid evidence do you have that the performance is down? How many pellets have you fired through the rifle? They will degrade after around 10K shots.
Repair would entail a new spring and probably a new piston seal and breech seal. Any competent airgun ship should be able to do the work for you.
B.B.
thanks bb,
i cant tell you i have exact proof but when i first got the air rifle i could easily shoot things from 40 yards and now
i am having to compensate a lot more from drop offs, bearing in mind i always use the same pellets….
i also am getting very frustrated because i have to keep zeroing my scope and when its accurate at about 25 yards i shoot small game and the pigeons usually die after a bit of flapping but i have recently shot a lot of squirrels square on in the head (after seeing slo-mo footage) and they just run away.. i have probably dry fired it 5 times by accident and shot about 2k pellets out of it….
out of interest how much is it to reapir the spring, piston seal and breech seal?
can you also recommend any good places to get it fixed in the london area??
many thanks for the advice
rupert
Rupert,
Your mainspring should be okay after 2000 shots. What shape is your breech seal in? Is air leaking at the breech when the gun fires? A test for this is to put some fine powder like talcum powder or flour on top of the breech and watch it when the gun fires. If there is a puff of powder, the breech seal leaks. That’s an easy replacement you can do yourself. A new seal should be relatively inexpensive. A complete overhaul of the powerplant that includes mainspring, piston seal and breech seal will cost some money, not only because of the parts, but also because of the labor.
Are you in Australia? I though you were writing from the UK and there are lots of airgun shops there, but my knowledge of Australia is limited. As for the price of a rebuild, it won’t be cheap. Let’s hope it’s just the breech seal.
B.B.
Rupert,
P.S.,
Five dry-fire shots is nothing to worry about.
B.B.
thanks bb,
the problem is that i am only 14 dont want to mess my gun up by opening it up…
what is the loss in power from though….. i am very confident it has lost power- if it has what specificaly needs replacing, im not sure if it helps to tell you but every time i have dry fired it a burning smell has been wafting around the gun..sorry to keep pestering you..
thanks a lot
rupert!
Burning plastic smells sound like a roasted piston seal to me. If you could chronograph it we’d have an idea of how much power we’re talking about.
No dryfiring springers!
It’ll eventually cost money and downtime.
thanks reb,
is it easy to get a piston seal replaced ??
how much is it?
would that effect velocity / power?
thanks rupert
If the seal is compromised it won’t be able to compress as much air due to blowby but the whole thing has to come apart to replace one because it’s in front of the spring and on the front of the piston.
An accident every now and then is much different than repeated dryfire as any combustion of the seal requires adequate air supply.
I forgot which gun we’re talking about but most aren’t too difficult with a spring compressor and some hand tools. But it sounds like you’re in need of a friend who’s been in one before.
thanks reb,
i have a walther century .22…..
how much is the repair??
rupert
I have no idea how much the parts would cost or how accessible they may be but if it’s a .22 I’m sure it was LOUD I accidentally had my Ruger Impact go off while attempting to adjust the pivot bolt and I’m glad the sun was still up or someone in one of the adjacent apartments woulda probably called the cops thinking it was a Rimfire. That’s definitely not a gun to be dryfiring.
I’ll try to find as much information about it as I can and let you know what I find later.
I couldn’t find one that stated it was specifically for your Century but you should call either PA or images to get lined out. The more expensive seals are in the $15 range so price should not be a major issue.
Not images, Umarex.
Aargh!
Hi,
Sorry to interrupt but I was just wandering what a good Spring air rifle to buy is. My current one is getting old and I think it is time for an upgrade! I mainly use it for targets and walking around the woods after squirrels pigeons rabbits etc. I need something accurate, powerful and reliable! I have looked at PCP guns but would prefer a spring unless you think other wise.
My budget is up to £400 max!
Would love to here what you suggest
Toby
Toby,
Welcome to the blog.
I don’t know what your budget is, but a Diana RWS 34 in .22 caliber would be a nice airgun for you. They are accurate, have good triggers and they aren’t too expensive.
B.B.
great help reb, thanks!
last question will most air rifle shops be able to repair my airgun?
thanks
I would think so but Umarex or PA definitely could. You could try your local area to save shipping costs but make sure they know how to rebuild a spring gun and be brutally honest with them about what you have and what’s happened as otherwise they may not know what to look for. Good news is having to pull it apart will offer the opportunity for inspection of all powerplant parts.
Bad news is the more they find wrong the higher repair cost will be.
so what should i tell the guys at a local place??
thanks
They’ll probably wait until they diassemble it to order parts but someone on the Yellow likened the Century to a HW80/R1 so availability may not be an issue, but the statement was vague so no guarantees there.
You may want to let them know why you believe it dropped off some power so they start looking in the right place just in case they charge by the hour.
thanks for all the help!
You’re welcome! And Good Luck!
Reb
Thanks BB
My budget is £400 and I am in the uk but I will have a look at the Diana
Thanks
BB I just bought a Canadian Stoeger X5 which shoots at 495 fps. Being new to air rifles I accidentally dry fired it once. After reading about the damage dry firing can do to spring Pistons I got worried. Can Stoeger air rifles handle a dry fire? Also does a lower fps create a lower risk for damage during a dry fire? Thank you.
Steven,
Welcome to the blog.
Yes, your rifle can handle a few accidental dry-fires. Nearly all spring rifles can. The warnings (from the 1970s) were to get the attention of unknowing owners who dry-fired their guns all the time and did damage them.
No worries for just one time.
B.B.
Dear B.B. Pelletier,
Any thoughts about Chinese airguns? Are they safe to dry fire?
atharxd1,
Welcome to the blog.
What powerplant do they have?
B.B.
The one I have is a spring powered piston…
I’m just a bit curious because you said ‘do not dry-fire ‘most’ springers’.
Atharxd1,
From the article B.B.’s statement covers low powered leather sealed spring Pistons as tolerant also modern spring piston power plants with PTFE seals.
Is the daisy powerline 426 and the gsr sigarms affected by dry fire? The gsr is a 1911 look alike. The co2 is located in the magazine, and I have dryfired with and without co2?
jandro,
Welcome to the blog.
Most CO2 guns are safe to dry fire. They are like pneumatics in that respect.
B.B.
Thank you
I have accidentally dry fired my new HW30 (forgot to load a pellet!). Loud bang, smoke and then the accuracy went over the window (wild chaotic spreads up to four inches from 25 ft) for the next few shots.
Looks like it’s settled down now, I hope it’s OK.
I hope I didn’t crack the seal or break the spring or bent something..
Now I’m getting about 590 fps with Hobbies and around 550 with Superpoints, I never measured it before, are these speeds normal?
Pacala,
They are on the low side of normal. Believe me — one dry-fire does nothing to a gun. Your seal doesn’t crack, it wears away.
B.B.
Pacala,
One dry-fire is nothing. Just keep shooting. It happens to all of us.
B.B.
Thank you kindly
Okay guys I was fortunate enough to be able to give you some data.
I have a Gammo swarm Magum break barrel rifle And a Daisy 5172 Power Line CO2 Pistol.
Advertise 1300 FPS and 520 FPS respectively. A few days old I measured the speed. I got a Caldwell ballistic precision chronograph. Actual speeds were 1060 FPS and 512 FPS.
THEN I was careless and fired at least 5-8 dry shots. I was so upset! So I cleaned the barrels and measured again. FPS was 1040 and 504
And that was only three shots. It’s always varied in that range and I actually got some of the same FPS readings before the dry fires.
So worse case is it caused very little speed decreases if any. Accurate as ever.
I hope that helps guys!
brandon,
Welcome to the blog.
B.B.