Air rifles compressed air cylinder

[Greg R]

Should it be done after each shoot is finished, to unscrew the cylinder and let out the excess from the rifle. Does it do any damage by just leaving it screwed in all the way till next shooting comp.

[robf]

Nope. My main comp FT rig has the cylinder permanently attached to the reg. My regs don't get looked at for years unless they show any problems, and they're running to a finer tolerance than off the shelf 10m stuff.

I leave my others on, purely because it reduces the chance of any contamination with dirt, there's less chance of snapping a filling probe/cross threading (no matter how unlikely that is) and occaisionally you can get a sticky cylinder valve. Leaving it on just seems to be less risky, even though in reality the risks are minimal in taking it off.

[randy1952]

Should it be done after each shoot is finished, to unscrew the cylinder and let out the excess from the rifle. Does it do any damage by just leaving it screwed in all the way till next shooting comp.

The people who service my airguns say that by releasing the air cylinder will make the seals in the gun last longer as it releases pressure off the seals. The quality of air that you put into an airgun will more likely be the source of of contamination and hence deterioration of gun components. Technically, the higher quality air from a compressor will introduce less damaging contamination. The quality of air can be also affected on how well the compressors are maintained. If the filters and traps aren't changed when they need to be then obviously more contamination will be introduced into the tanks being filled.

There are several classes of air available, but the one's most commonly provided by scuba shops and fire departments are Class E and D. Class D or E are the two most common quality of air provided to most guns. These compressors use around six or more filters to trap water and other contaminates compared to hand pumps which use at best one. Water and oil are two of the most damaging contaminates that are introduced by a compressors. The higher quality air systems are extremely expensive and so there is a trade off for going to a higher quality air versus replacing the seals in the guns & probably won't make much difference overall to use the higher quality air. A gas expert was telling me that Nitrogen which is being used in a few guns is the best gas currently available as it is drier and is more efficient.

The club in the northern part of this state has been using P70 Juniors for well over a decade and they are still going strong and none of them has had their seals replaced. The only thing that is showing any signs of wear are the sight adjustment knobs and that is because the kids using them have been doing quick twist or spings instead of a slow twist of the knobs and it is a wonder the sights have lasted this long.

[headwizard]

Our club has 6 FWB P70 Jr's that have been used 4 or 5 days a week for right at 10 years now. The air cylinders get loosened before getting put away every day. Always use compressed air from a scuba shop and have only had to replace 1 air cylinder due to a malfunction. None of the rifles has ever been serviced.

It probably all depends on the rifle you are using and the quality of air.

[randy1952]

Our club has 6 FWB P70 Jr's that have been used 4 or 5 days a week for right at 10 years now. The air cylinders get loosened before getting put away every day. Always use compressed air from a scuba shop and have only had to replace 1 air cylinder due to a malfunction. None of the rifles has ever been serviced.

It probably all depends on the rifle you are using and the quality of air.

I agree we have used all the major brands of air rifles with the exception of the Steyr and the FWBs and Walther's are the only one's that have held up without needing a seal or regulator being replaced (knock on wood). The Anschutz 8002s that get used daily seem to need an annual overhaul.