TargetTalk

Many thanks for the replies. That´s why Steyr didn´t warn shooters in their manual about firing their gun without a pellet. For sure, I try to remember to use the dry firing, but when repeating that dry firing many times (100 times or more), the cocking lever might accidentally get pressed down completely that will cause the real firing instead of the dry firing.

Thanks again :-)

Peter

Having started out in the era of FWB 65's, I still use the thumb trick all the time, but NEVER without checking the bore first. Any time I am handling an air pistol, I start with the action open and check that there isn't a pellet in it, all the while keeping my fingers away from the trigger. If I have to fire it without a pellet, I check again before closing the action.

Although it is always slightly disconcerting, the way I check for a pellet is by looking down the bore with something reflective in the chamber area. A thumbnail usually works nicely to bounce enough light into the bore to see clearly.

Howdy,
Rather than looking down a barrel that may or may not be clear, why not use a weedwacker string down the barrel, and double its usage as a Clear Barrel Indicator or CBI. Many of the ranges I shoot at require a CBI, so you can get into the habit of using one.

Rover wrote:On the other hand, I never heard of a 65 breaking anything due to dry firing, but it was frowned upon.

I've always treated it as something that you don't do regularly, but occasional occurrences such as EC don't matter too much. If you were to do lots of semi-dry firing (air but no pellet) you'd break it, so people were taught not to discharge air without a pellet in, but a single discharge before each match isn't going to do much harm.

As an aside to all this, when storing an LP10 either:-

1) Do not recock it after firing the last shot, just open it slightly, or

2) push the lever into the nearly closed position and press down on the front end of the "catch lever" part # 61 with your thumb nail or similar, you will feel a slight thud, this is the spring #64 being released which drives the stabilizer #60 backwards. As with any spring it is unwise to store it compressed.

Note that 2 will also apply after dry firing as this spring is compressed during the cocking action.