[laughey]

I've played before, way back in the early 90s but rented the equipment...just got back into it and dove in head first. So I guess this makes me a stoopid (yet cautious) noob.

I recenty purchased a Pure Energy cylinder (20oz); had it filled @ a sporting good store and attached it to my PMI GTI marker. All is well, I guess, but when removing the cylinder (I tested it about 20+ times so it had some CO2 left in it) it damn near froze my hands off. So my questions are:

1) While removing the cylinder, did I exhaust the CO2 from the marker itself or the entire cylinder?
2) If question #1s answer is marker, how do I remove the CO2 without freezing (not to mention scaring) myself?
3) Is the on/off cylinder any better than this pin valve cylinder? I don't think I need HPA at this point in my career.
4) Can one get a CO2 cylinder with a built-in gauge? It would be nice to know how much I have left.

I understand I need to keep the valve connected to the cylinder; there is a marking on it to make sure it doesn't separate from the cylinder while removing it form the marker.

I just wanna be safe and at least appear to look like I know what I'm doing when I arrive @ the field of play. Any thoughts on this as well as any additional safety-related tips you can give are appreciated.

Many thanks (in advance).

[martix_agent]

1) depends on how much leaked out. a full tank will take quite some time to fully leak out, chances are you experienced quite a scare, but only releases the gas that was sealed off inside the marker.

2) Next time you do it, shoot a few times while unscrewing the tank. this releases the pressure out the barrel instead of out the ASA where the tank screws in.

3)an on/off wont' help the problem tht you have very much. (this is completely unrelated but i'm gonna say it anyway) i'd get an anti-siphon tube installed on your tank. It works by drawing from the top of your tank and usually getting only co2 gas instead of liquid co2 that canuse velocity skipes and blown o-rings.

4) No you can not. this is because co2 pressure is the same all the way till the tank is nearly empty and your gun starts having problems cocking.

5) get some paint and make a line across the valve and tank. that way you can tell if it's coming loose