TargetTalk

I have had a number of PCP rifle for years and followed the general rule of shooting the rifle and not filling it back up to max pressure before putting it away. So typically when I store a PCP rifle there is less than 2000psi in the tank when putting the rifle up. On 10M rifles the air cylinder can be removed. My daughter’s school issue rifle is a FWB 800. At school she has been taught to unscrew the air cylinder a few turns after shooting. I assumed it was just extra precaution to make sure the rifle would not fire after use though in my mind that is false security as the reg is still under pressure until it is dry fired a few shots to expel the air in the reg. I now own a modern PCP 10M rifle. Following my daughter’s lead I have been unscrewing the air cylinder at the end of my shooting session but I go the next step and dry fire a couple times to expend some of the air pressure on the reg but still leaving a little pressure on the reg and not continuing to dry fire until all the air pressure is off the reg. Is this the best way to store the rifle or is it fine to just not mess with unscrewing the air cylinder and leave the whole system under pressure? Is it best to store the rifle with the reg at full pressure, no pressure, or some pressure like I am doing? Understand I don’t shoot every day like May daughter. I shot today and probably won’t shoot the rifle again until next weekend. Sometimes even longer.

Itis TERRIBLE idea to unscrew the air cylinder...... When you unscrew it, it is unsupported and subject to handling damage. If you drop the case, and the screws are engaged but not tight, the threads will be subject to impulse loads they were not designed to accept......
Leaving tbe air cylinder charged a month or so at a time does no harm...... Periodic cycling of the pin valve in the air cylinder prevents corrosion buildup and leakage......