What is LOCK TIME in Air Rifles?

[brihacharan]

What is Lock Time?
Given below is an extract from a post that appeared under - http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/tag/lock-time/ by Tom Gaylord.

Everybody makes a big deal out of the quick “lock time” in Air Rifles. But how many of us truly know “What is Lock Time”all about?

The term LOCK TIME originated from the days of the flintlock, which has a definite time delay from the moment the powder in the pan ignites until the main charge explodes and sends the bullet out the barrel. If the delay is a long one, the shooter would develop a flinch — anticipating the force of the main charge and wincing in response before the gun fires.

The result is a movement of the muzzle before the bullet exits, but with the advent of the Kentucky-style rifle that was capable of very precise shooting out to much longer ranges, lock time became important. And the best gun makers soon learned how to make flintlocks that fired almost instantaneously. As a result the term LOCK TIME attained importance.

Today, many air-gunners say that their air rifles have a fast lock time and are therefore more accurate. There can’t be a more nonsensical statement than this! In a spring-piston rifle, the term LOCK TIME refers to how long it takes from the instant the piston is released by the sear until the it comes to a dead stop. In that sense, the GAS RAM does have a very fast lock time because the gas spring drives a piston faster than a coiled-steel counterpart.

BUT IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO ACCURACY.
What they fail to appreciate is the fact that the pellet is still in the barrel when the piston comes to a stop. It takes the pellet several more milliseconds to traverse the barrel and leave the muzzle, and that happens after the lock has completed its function.

SO LOCK TIME IN A SPRING-PISTON AIR-GUN IS MEANINGLESS.
> Follow-through, which is holding the gun on the target after it has fired, is all important.
> If you can do that, you can forget about the supposed advantage of LOCK TIME.
> So the artillery hold is what helps you follow through to maintain the accuracy of your AR.
Briha

[essdee1972]

O Great Druid, Getafix! Thy nuggets of wisdom are worth collecting in a book for novice Asterixes, I mean Airgunners!

Seriously, sir!

[Basu]

A real eye opener !!

Basu

[timmy]

> Follow-through, which is holding the gun on the target after it has fired, is all important.
> If you can do that, you can forget about the supposed advantage of LOCK TIME.

Isn't this rather like observing that accurate shooting is a cinch as long as one controls flinching and just obtains a proper sight pattern?

It is simple to describe what ought to be done -- but much trickier to accomplish it.

[dr.jayakumar]

Never ever heard this term :"lock time".thanks for educating us.
regards
dr.jk

[mercury]

Briha

while the definition of "lock time" in cartridge rifles is an accepted ; i would think the contradiction with regards to air rifles stems from the fact of different interpretations of "lock time". some define "lock time" as from the time the sear is released to when the piston comes to rest and others, from the time of release of sear to exit of pellet and of course some would only see it as barrel time / dwell time .the period of time a pellet is travelling in the barrel.

the benefits of an artillery hold is to counter the double recoil of an air rifle and not, imho, connected to "lock time",

i do think "lock time" , what ever the definition and method used to induce it.....short stroking / better springs / efficient seals/ lubes etc....is for real. all of course happening in nanoseconds..no doubt..but in conjunction with the right hold and follow through can have better results.