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Here's a serious air rifle: .50 caliber, 200 grain pellet at 567 fps.

http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=772

Scott Murray wrote:How do you open it for inspection or cleaning without subsequently dry firing it?

Short version: you don't.

You can ease the cocking lever back slightly (before the first ratchet catch), but there's no way to do a positive visual check of the chamber, because pellets don't show like a brass cartridge does.

If it bothers you, you can buy a .17 cal cleaning rod, and mark it to show the depth with an empty chamber (like marking a black powder ramrod).

No cleaning is required for the barrel. The first time you take it out to shoot it, you will want to clean out the chamber area between shots, because there will be some shipping oil oozing out.

Is there a safe way to decock it?

No.

Can you hold your finger over the barrel while dry firing, to provide a cushion of air? Or do you just leave it cocked for storage?

At these pressure levels, don't put anything you value in front of the barrel. This is not a Red Rider!

Fortunately, you can safely fire it almost anywhere, and a box full of newspaper or rags makes a handy "clearing barrel". If you inadvertantly cock it, just chamber a pellet and fire it into your backstop. Then you know it's clear and decocked; just put it away like that.

A few break in tips for you...

You will smell lots of burnt oil. It could be castor, peanut, or soy oil. Expect wisps of smoke from the barrel.

Expect some "dieseling" on the first shot or two of each shooting session, for the first few sessions. Spring piston rifles produce enough compression to actually ignite oil in the air path, just like a diesel engine. The combustion produces higher velocity (obviously), so the first shot will typically have a different POI than the rest. This will eventually go away, but you should always expect it on the first shot after the rifle has been put up for some time.

The trigger on this particular rifle will get better with use. There's a website out there somewhere about performance tuning, but that's for the experts to tackle. I sure haven't tried it. Charlie da Tuna (get it?) has information: http://www.charliedatuna.com/

If you use a scope, only use one rated for air rifles. Springers produce a kind of "reverse recoil" that will shake a regular scope to pieces. Plus, you need parallax set to (or adjustable to) very short distances not normally found on rifle scopes.

Firing often is good, and helps keep the piston seal lubricated. The Chinese used a leather seal, but I understand that a synthetic RWS seal is a direct fit replacement.

Have fun!

Kevin

Don't forget: never, ever, dry-fire a spring piston air rifle!

If you don't have a pellet chambered, there is no resistance to the piston, and it will crash right into the chamber, which can cause irrepairable damage.

Kevin

I have one of the "Fast Deer" Chinese side-lever pellet rifles. These are also commonly seen by their model number, KL-3B , made or imported by Norinco.

They're absolutely the best value in air guns: cheap, accurate, and powerful.

http://www.southsummit.com/catalog/prod ... ts_id=2896

Kevin