Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns CO2 leak down time?

Can anyone tell me how long a CO2 cylinder will hold pressure after being put in a gun?

I just bought my first CO2 rifle (new Crosman 1077), and want to keep it "ready to go" for keeping pests out of my Wife's flower beds.

Will it hold it's charge for a few days or a few weeks?

Thanks! Virgil B.

I don't leave my CO2 guns charged but I've seen this topic discussed on air gun forums several times. Some people claim they have left them charged for as long as several months. Leaving it charged for a few days or even a few weeks should be no problem at all.

If you did notice a leak after a couple of weeks get the seals checked because a CO2 gun should be able to hold charge for that amount of time.

I never leave a charged and puntured CO2 cartridge in my rifle. My owners manual says its bad on the rifle seals.

I've left mine charged for months with no loss of pressure. Been doing it for years with several different co2 guns. Got a pistol on the shelf here now that's been charged since June. Just popped off a few shots with it yesterday and she's still gassed.

Thanks for the feed back!

Gotta keep this rifle charged and ready for defending my Wife's flower beds! (GRIN!)

Virgil B.

If an older rifle with hardened valve stem seat, I keep a few drops of PELLGUN OIL in the CO2 gas chamber to help all the seals (O rings as well). However I have had to turn some older hardened valve stems in a lathe (Unimat) to true the seat to make it hold. This seems to give slightly better performance if the valve stem seat material isn’t too decayed from age or improper lubes having been used in it’s life.
Newer CO2 guns have soft seats and may fare better if left not charged/under pressure. The seat material can ‘take a set’ or permanent groove if charged for long periods of time (weeks or months).
However today’s urethane materials will last longer than what was used a few dozen years ago.

I've had "our" new CO2 rifle charged since I brought it home 13 days ago.

Seems to be doing fine! I did rub a little oil on the tip of the CO2 tube before installing, as advised here.

Thanks again!

Virgil B.