Stihl 025 carb rebuild, compression when starting is back. Please explain where it went.

My 025 has been giving me problems when starting for the past few months. I buy wood, so I just use it for occasional small scrounges and cutting up whatever is around. It has been flooding out while starting and dying out after cutting. Finally, last week, it would not start.

When it has flooded during starting, it has been just pull, pull, pull... all easy pulls. Fast forward. I rebuilt the carb. The old needle had some brown residue on it near the point. I put in a new fuel line and filter. The air filter and spark plug are pretty new. I went to start it after the rebuild, and I was surprised by the compression. Two pulls and off it goes. I checked the old fuel line and it was not too bad.

Can someone explain why, with the bad carb, pulling to start it was so easy? Was there some sort of reverse flow of fuel leaking past the needle relieving the compression in the cylinder? Did more gas mix in the cylinder cause the cylinder make it easier to pull? I'm just trying to understand the effortless pull.

 

Choke?

 

Closed till the first burp, and then up one notch. Starting it the same way now as before.

 

Good thought. Makes sense.