What stops your break barrel when it closes?

[56S]

What stops your Crosman/Benjamin break barrel when you close the barrel.  Is it the breech seal?  The breech end of the barrel against the compression tube face?  The truth may surprise you.

[woodbutcher]

Wow.. That's interesting.? I would think the alive lock..? Or a combination of things...the breech seal and the lock-up....I feel like it's a loaded question... haha.

[56S]

Hint:  look at the marks on the bottom of the breech block.  In the picture they are parallel to the point of the alive jam and to the right.  See it ?

[56S]

I first noticed this when I installed the new 22 barrel and closed the action without the breech seal. To my amazement there was about (I'm guessing here) a .010" gap between the breech face and the comp tube face.  I kept looking to see why it didn't close and found the transverse pin or the detention as it's called was stopping the closure by hitting the bottom of the breech block.  Oh, and this baby shoots!

[Freebird]

Good info. 
One of the first things I thought was how can the breech lock without wiping the pellet skirt or scruffing the breach seal.
I hadn't took the time to study it out yet but this makes it very clear to me.
I knew it couldn't close perfectly flat if it were just pressing against the seal.
Now I know just what to look for. Also, makes it clear how important a good breech seal is.
Plus, I probably won't worry quite as much about sinking that last teeny-tiny part of the skirt.
I like this kind of information.
Thanks for sharing this.

[Tater]

Good stuff 56S. That's something I never even thought about.

[56S]

I was always under the impression that the two vertical faces made contact and the breech seal fit between the two smashed at just the tight pressure.  I think many if not most are like this.  My 177 barrel fits that way.  I just assumed that was the way it was supposed to fit.  Imagine the shock when the new barrel had the gap.  I noticed right away this barrel shot differently.  I attribute some of that due to the shock of the piston not being transfered to the barrel at the same place.  It used to pass between the two faces in a direct linear wave.  Now it transfers through the transverse detent pin to the bottom of the breech block as well as the pivot.
I wonder what the folks at Crosman think about this?