GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => The Shop => : Magnum September 24, 2009, 01:22:12 AM
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I am curious to know what the normal spring life one should expect? , 5k 10k 20k or more?
This thought came about when I was trying to calculate number of pellets and cost needed for a gun over 12 months ( if using average 500 pellets per month that's 6k per gun/ year then multiply by number of guns!! hehe I'm going buy em anyway LOL) I was then going to add some maintenance and tuning! I crony mine quite often just for fun and as long as its consistent I am happy.. or do I get to a certain point like a car and just replace spring before it would fail? Tony.
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Like most things airgun related, this gets that most common of answers, "it depends". A Gamo spring PROBABLY won't last as long as a Diana spring which PROBABLY won't last as long as a Beeman spring, etc. Rifles with choked barrels seem to be easier on springs, as do guns with tight fitting spring guides and/or tophats. Spring wire diameter has an impact on longevity, as does pellet weight and caliber. I had a Gamo CFX that killed the OEM spring after less than 2000 rounds, then it ate a Maccarri spring in less than another 2K. Spring diameter will make a difference, if it's a sloppy fit in the compression tube, the spring can rub on the sides and kink. Lack of or improper lubrication has an impact, Diana rifles are notoriously light on lubes, while others are over done. Which brings us to piston seals. I've heard stories of springs lasting 20K or more, and cases like mine where they don't make 2K. And gun quality is no guarantee, I had an HW 77 I purchased used, it shot really smooth when I got it, but the consistency was terrible. Finally opened it up, the spring was in 4 pieces. None of which is any help, I'm sure. The best thing to do is just treat springs as consumables, same as pellets, and factor in a new spring every year or two. You're only talking $20 or so, depending on the rifle, so it really isn't that big a deal. Later.
Dave
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What daved said. Springs in 500fps airguns last longer than the 1000fps ones. My 20+ year old Gamo Expotec have shot over 7000 bb`s and the spring didn`t break.....but very weak....so I installed the long piece of a broken spring (From the Gamo Big Cat) in her.
The spring in my Crosman Sierra Pro broke after 3200+ shots. The Gamo Viper`s broke in under 2800 shots and the Big Cat`s broke in 4700+ shots. The Sierra Pro and Big Cat had some long shooting sessions.....over 300 shots non-stop except for setting up the targets. I average about 3 shots in a minute. They were very much abused. heh heh
When I ordered replacement springs from Crosman I ordered 6, to save on shipping. I should`ve ordered a dozen...... I just used 3 of those 6.