Paul D.,

I have tinkered with a few pump types and several paint ball CO2 guns over the last 15 years or so. My advces is under absolutely no circumstances shoud you ever dry fire an older air powered gun (with a compressed/pumped charge and no pellet/B.B. in it.) If the seals have even the slightest imperfections from being dried out they love to split, i.e. no longer holds pressure.

If you have not uloaded the rifle yet remove the CO2 cartridge, if it hisses when you remove it this is a great sign the seals are still intact. Use a air rifle or .22 cal rifle cleaning kit to gently push the pellet out of the chamber.

If you live in a county/municipality that restricts firing air rifles within city limits then ignore the next part.

1) Find The matching caliber ammunition to the gun and purchase one box and some CO2 cartridges. Also, if you have safety glasses or shooting glasses put them on before proceding to step two.

1A) If you have the owners manual follow the instructions for oiling the seals. If you do not have the owners manual check the manufactures website for a PDF downlodable version for your model. After oiling let the gun sit for 24-48 hours to allow the seals to rehydrate an become supple again.

2) With apropriate target set up (apropriate being a pellettrap or something that will stop/ contain the projectile), install CO2 cartridge and listen for leaks. At this point the rifle should still be unloaded.If you hear the hissing of a leak stop, unload the CO2 cartridge and contact the manufacturer for repairs.

3) Load one round into the chamber. BE VERY MINDFUL OF NOT POINTING THE GUN AT ANY ONE OR ANYTHING, THIS INCLUDES YOUR SELF. The gun is now loaded, so actuate the safety ( i.e. push the safety to safe) and without pointing the gun at yourself listen for leaks again.

4) If you have made it this far aim at safe target, push safety to the FIRE position and squeeze trigger. If gun fires repeat steps two through four one time.

5) If two shots fire sucesfully gun is relatively safe, so have fun with it.

OR, just go shoot it to clear the chamber.

Hope this is of some help.
Joe