Airguns need regular maintenance for maximum lifetime value.

Typical firearms are made for disassembly but airguns are not. The best way to keep your gun operating and lasting long, is to add some crosman pellgun oil to the mechanism where the co2 cartridge is installed. This special oil gets into the inner valves and onto all the seals. the easiest way to do this is to add a drop of pellgun oil to the top of each Co2 cartridge before use.

Lubricating Air Rifle:

When lubing your airgun, take into consideration all of the pivot points that should be oiled. We recommend using pelgun oil as it is a silicone lubricant that will help with lubrication far down the road. If you are planning to disassemble the air rifle, note that once a gun is taken apart while it is in the warranty window, it will void all warranties available on the gun. If you plan on oiling the gun without disassembly, here are a few points that will help:

All pivot points should be oiled such as the pump arm assembly joint and the trigger assembly. You can also slowly move the barrel back and forth as you lubricate the piston. Pellet guns require less cleaning than a regular gun as debris from gunpowder will not be left in the barrel. To much oil in the barrel can cause combustion which can be dangerous to the gun or you as the operator. If you plan to lubricate the barrel, make sure you have the proper equipment such as a cleaning swab on a rod.

A good video to reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drHDLI9b_yQ

There’s a lot of different CO2 pistols on the market, so how do you choose the best one to suit your needs? For starters, CO2 pistols are available in two main platforms with some sub categories under each one: 

Revolvers 

Replica, shell loading 

Clip-style 

Semi-Automatic 

Blowback, often close replicas 

Non-blowback 

Let’s begin with the revolvers. If you are a firearm enthusiast wanting to improve your handgun skills without breaking the bank, the replica models with BB or pellet shells are an excellent choice. Since they load with BB or pellet shells, you can practice tactical reloads along with drawing from a holster, target acquisition, sight picture, and trigger pull. The downside to these it that most of the replicas on the market are of antique revolvers, not modern ones. There are some modern styled ones out there, but few, if any direct replicas. Because of this, they may not be identical to your carry pistol. The classic styled ones are great if you want to shoot an iconic revolver, though, so don’t overlook them. Most of these are smoothbore, so they shoot BBs very well, making them a very inexpensive to shoot. 

The clip-style loading revolvers allow loading more BBs or pellets at a time, so you can shoot more and load less frequently. They often shoot with more power than their replica counterparts and usually cost significantly less. Most of the clip-style revolvers feature rifled barrels, giving them very good pellet accuracy, but usually don’t shoot BBs very accurately. These usually feature more optics mounting options, so they can easily be customized with red dot sights, flashlights, lasers, etc. They often can be fired in both single action or double action, so you still get realistic trigger time with these. If you want to do more with your CO2 pistol than just use them for firearm training, the clip-style revolvers are a very good choice. 

Revolvers have really dropped in popularity with concealed carry enthusiasts over the years in favor of higher capacity semi-automatic pistols. As a result, there is a large number of semi-automatic styled CO2 pistols available today. Like their firearm counterparts, they have high ammunition capacity, and can send that ammunition downrange at a very high rate of speed. 

One of the most exciting varieties of semi-automatic CO2 pistols are the blowback replica models. These have the same controls and similar weight of their firearm counterparts. This makes them incredibly useful as firearm training tools. The blowback and noise can even help to a degree with flinch control, something you don’t get with dry fire training systems. Most of these CO2 pistols shoot BBs only, making the ammunition very inexpensive. In spite of their realism, they do have some downsides: they have a higher purchase price, replacement magazines are expensive, they use a lot more CO2, and produce less power than the other CO2 pistol platforms. That aside, they are much cheaper to operate than an actual firearm, so they are well worth the downsides for realistic training purposes. 

A few of these even feature a “fun switch”, or the ability to switch to full-automatic fire. Full-auto firearms are very expensive and difficult to acquire, so having an airgun with that feature really adds a new dimension to the CO2 pistol experience. You will burn through a lot more CO2 shooting full-auto, but it is a lot of fun! 

The non-blowback CO2 pistols don’t waste CO2 to operate a blowback mechanism. Because of this, they often shoot with a lot more power and get a lot more shots per CO2 cylinder than their blowback counterparts. These often have a very long trigger pull to operate the internal mechanism. This trigger pull is surprisingly similar to the trigger found on many concealed carry pistols, and it is for this reason I spend a lot of time shooting these and highly recommend them as a valuable training tool to experienced pistol shooters who don’t need to work on their flinching. If you can shoot good groups with this long and hard of a trigger pull, you will be able to shoot anything! Combine that with rapid fire shooting, and you’ll be unstoppable at competitions! The non-blowback CO2 pistols are very inexpensive to purchase, often a third of the cost of the blowback replicas. Combine that with using less CO2, and you almost can’t afford not to own one of these. 

In summary, assess your needs and purchase accordingly in light of the above information. If firearm training isn’t a priority and you want the most bang for your buck, I’d suggest looking into the clip-style revolvers. They are by far the most versatile of the bunch. 

Sighting in guns is something that many people don't have a good grip on. Here's some tips we would suggest:

Shoot from a rest. Doesn't have to be fancy, can be a rolled up jacket or towel on a table top. 

Start shooting from a close range, 5 to 10 yards with open sights. 10 to 15 yards with a scope. 

If using a scope, adjust the parallax setting(if so equipped) to give both crisp crosshairs and target picture on the highest power setting. Then turn down the magnification to the lowest level (if so equipped) for actual sight in. 

Check all your stock screws, sight screws, and scope mounts. Make sure everything is snug. If shooting a spring or gas piston gun, any stock screws that work themselves loose need to be loctited. 

Wear eye protection and have a safe backstop. 

If you are shooting a CO2, PCP, or multi pump, hold the gun firm like you would a normal firearm. 

If you are shooting a spring or gas piston gun, hold the gun loosely against your shoulder. Rest the forearm lightly in your open palm or on a shooting bag. The key here is to allow the gun to recoil freely. You may have to experiment on where to rest the forearm. I usually start at the balance point of the gun and experiment with moving my hand forward or backward until I obtain the best groups. Once you obtain your best results, you'll want to consistently rest your forearm that that position. Occasionally, you'll find a spring or gas piston gun that likes to be held tighter. These guns can be incredibly hard to master. 

Test a variety of ammunition. Often a pellet rifle will have better results with one pellet over others.  

Do not expect good accuracy from BBs. CO2 pistols will shoot them decently at close ranges. Multi Pump guns with rifled barrels usually spray them, and that gets worse the more you pump them. Good enough for hitting cans around the yard, but not good enough for target practice. 

Don't adjust your sights until you've put at least 3 rounds on the target to establish a pattern. 5 is better. 

Move your rear sight in the direction you want to shoot. 

Make sure you are holding your gun level to the ground. Canting will produce shooting errors. 

Adjust elevation separately from windage. Pick the one you want to adjust first and don't adjust the other until the first is perfect. This is where junky scopes start giving you trouble. Most cheap scopes don't track well.