My springer still has less than 100 pellets fired and so is still breaking in. Early on you could see an oil "haze" looking through the breach down the barrel after a shot and could smell oil. The barrel is not supposed to be oiled ever on account of fire hazard!

I chose my gun for a lot of reasons: the best shot I know and someone from whom I hope to learn hunting and shooting decided after looking to buy one; you can upgrade to a nitro-piston; you can upgrade the trigger group [though so far that seems unnecessary]; it is a gun found everywhere along with people who work on it; in .22 it is a legal hunting gun for turkey and small mammals; I was able to handle the gun several times before buying; reviewers touted its relatively quiet shooting; and [hangs head in shame] I really liked the way it looked!