self-cocking Betax #4 questions

Hello,

How much 'exercise' should a #4 Betax need before firing consistently? I had it cleaned and adjusted by SK Grimes a few years back, and have noticed that after being on the shelf for a while the first few shots on the slow speeds are inconsistent, but they gradually seem to sync up after 5 shots or so.

Curious, as I finally got an almost complete set of lensboards made for the B&J, and it's nice to have a camera rigid enough to use the 12" lens on. (wollensak raptar 12"/f6.8, for the curious). Would it be worth having this mounted in a modern shutter, or trading it in to have a 12" apo-artar mounted instead? They were both scavenged from a graphic-arts shop that was of the opinion that they were happy to let them go, as they were the last link to the 50lb military 8x10 they went with.

(if you're noticing a trend, yes, I rarely let a free lens go by; there's always something it can be mounted on)

5 shots to loosen things up doesn't seem too bad. You might just see if it works itself out with use, and if not, then have it checked again.

For 8x10", I suspect the Raptar will have more coverage than the Apo-Artar, so I'd stick with that.

Thanks. It's only covering 4x5 at the moment, with the possibility of 5x7 in the future, but it's still not a bad lens when the camera is rigid enough.