Boy! If I had a nickel for every time a woman asked me this question! Oh, I see what you mean..... Anyway, I have heard people say they don't want to cock old guns because the springs might be brittle and break. But I don't know if this is true or not. I have had a garage door spring snap from time to time after it gets old. But barrels? I don't know about that. I have seen a lot of old guns fire after they were several decades old. (She said that, too.)