Got a few ?`s about barrel change,

[Splash]

I`ve got a SK1 that I`m going to put a .20 cal. barrel on. What do you think the best length would be, stock at 17.5", or a little longer- shorter.Also going to tuneup would it be better to use taranula spring or crossman spring. It will manely be used for tree rats. So I will also be making it a little quieter.

[vinceb]

If you're going through all that trouble, seems to me you might as well go for the better spring. You'll get a little more oomph out of it, for one thing - and I suspect that the longevity of the Macarri spring oughta be better. Just make sure you get the proper guide.

Use the macarri spring you can't go  wrong with this spring. I have taken apart rifles with only a few hundred pellets shot and the stock spring is warped and bent all out of shape. Never had this happen with the JM spring, they always come out after months and months of use straight.

Barrel lenght is up to you I have one of  my shadows with the .20 barrel at 15 inches and see no accuracy difference than the one at 17 1/2 inches. It is also real close in fps with the long barrel, and it still ends up as long as the other rifle because of the Q muzzle brake on it.

New parts at my website ...
http://home.comcast.net/~peterdragin/index.html/

[vinceb]

...but not a lot. At the beginning of the cocking stroke the effort it is comparable or even a little lighter - but it does tighten up a bit near the end.

If you find the Gamo's original cocking effort marginal, you might have some trouble... but if cocking a normal Gamo isn't a problem, doing so with this spring shouldn't be a problem either.

[vinceb]

Barrel droop is caused by improper machining of something in the breach area, it is not a function of barrel weight. If the barrel is heavy enough that it causes droop, that means that it is actually starting to "cock" the gun on its own... in which case you've got a severely weak barrel lock-up!

Longer barrels do impact accuracy, although I suspect it has more to do with the sight radius than anything else, at least whey you're only talking a couple of inches on the length of a rifle barrel.

As the distance between the sights gets shorter, a slight mistake in aligning the front and rear sights translates into a greater aiming error... basic trig, ya know. That's one of thechallenges of pistol shooting.