Place it on safety. 

Pull back the bolt until it stops (opening the breach seals the pump assembly so that the air can build up so it’s essential to do this step before pumping the gun). 

Pump 1 to 10 times. 

Load a BB or pellet. 

Push the bolt forward. 

Take off safety. 

Aim. Fire. 

Align the dot on the front sight between the dots on the rear sight. The target should be directly on top of this sight picture. If you aren’t hitting the target, your rear sight might need adjustment. Move them in the direction you need to shoot. For example, if you are shooting too far to the left, adjust the rear sight to the right.

To load BBs: Open the door on the left hand side of the rifle. Drop in approximately 50 BBs, shake the gun if needed to properly fill the magazine. Do not overfill! To get the BB to feed during shooting, tilt the rifle slightly upward when cocking. A BB will fall from the magazine and stick to the magnetic tip of the bolt. 

To load pellets: It is best to make sure the BB magazine is empty, or tilt the rifle at a slight downward angle to prevent a BB from loading at the same time. Drop a pellet into the loading tray with the head facing toward the barrel. Push the bolt forward to seat the pellet into the barrel. 

If you have trouble getting a pellet loaded into the chamber, a pair of cross locking tweezers work really well for handling the tiny pellets with ease.

Please choose from the topics below: 

FAULTY SEALS:  If you pull the bolt back and pump your gun and your shots don’t seem to get more powerful, this means that your seal is faulty. Do not try to replace the seal or it will void your warranty. Send us an email to help@barraairguns.com and we’ll replace your gun for you.  

If your gun is cocked and air leaks out the barrel, the valve pin is defective. If air leaks between pumps the intake check valve is defective. If it fails to build pressure, it can be either of those seals, the valve o-rings, or the pump o-rings needing to be replaced. Email help@barraairguns.com for help replacing your gun. Do not try to fix it yourself without instruction from us or it will void your warranty.  

Also see the tab titled "What do I do if my 900 is leaking?" 

MISSING PARTS: Replacement parts can be purchased and replaced with a screwdriver. Please contact help@barraairguns.com for assistance.  

BROKEN SIGHTS: Replacement sights can be purchased and replaced with a screwdriver. Please contact help@barraairguns.com for assistance. If your sights came broken, then we may be able to send them for free with a photo and copy of your receipt. Please email help@barraairguns.com. 

You should be fine if you accidentally do it once or twice, just try not to pump more than 10 times because it can weaken the seals and shorten the lifespan of your gun. If you have over pumped your rifle, dry fire it an additional time to dump any remaining air.

First, be sure you are shooting pellets, not BBs if you want accuracy. BBs will shoot, but are not the best choice for hitting targets reliably. Next, clean your barrel. Do not oil your barrel after cleaning unless you plan to store it immediately.

Once your barrel is clean, gather an assortment of pellet styles, brands, and weights. Shoot 10 shot groups with each pellet at the range you plan to shoot from the most. Hitting the bullseye is not important at this point, we are only looking for which pellet produces the smallest group. Usually, there will be a couple of types of pellets that will shoot better than the others. Those are the pellets that you will want to use moving forward. Make any final adjustments to your sights so those tight groups will now center over the bullseye.

You just bought the awesome 900 and go to shoot it for the first time and "psssssttt." You think "no way this this is brand new" so you try again to pump it and "psssssttt" and you're thinking to yourself is this thing defective?  

The air gun has a built in safety that won't allow pumping until the bolt has been pulled back completely. Please be sure that the bolt is brought all the way back until it stops and gradually increase pressure until a final click is felt, (do not force). Also, start with the trigger safety in the ON position. Then, with the bolt open, the safety ON, and the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, pull the pump handle down by applying firm but steady pressure. Then, swing the handle all the way forward until you hear it take in air, and bring the pump handle all the way back to the starting position as this is considered one pump.  

Of course, assuming that you are well versed in general air gun handling procedures as I described above, then I am sure to believe that this may not have been part of your issue, we just want to make sure that all the correct steps were followed to make sure that it's nothing to do with the safety feature that is causing the issue.  

Alternatively, improper lubrication or not lubricating your air rifle on a regular basis will lead to breakdown, wear, inaccuracy and power loss. Per the Sportsman 900 manual, it is advised to use only 10W, 20W, 30W, weight non detergent, automotive motor oil. The use of any other kinds of oils or solvents including household oils and aerosol type lubricants may cause damage to the gun. To maintain top shooting performance, lightly oil the three pumping lever hinges, the foam wiper on the piston and piston seal every 500 shots.  

If you are still having the problem after lubricating your air rifle, then please let us know what you can hear when you attempt to pump or any other descriptive details you can provide us in order to confirm how we can assist forward or if there is a part that we can confirm as the issue. Can we also have you send a picture via email of your proof of purchase receipt? To confirm if you are still under warranty.