10-meter pistol shooting - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

I call this Part 1, but there have already been several helpful reports on this subject. Here they are:

Converting an anti-gunner AND teaching a person to shoot 10-meter pistol

Introduction to 10-meter pistol - Part 1/An instant tutorial!

Gamo Compact vs IZH 46 - Part 5 [a 5-part series]

The philosophy of the air pistol
Air pistols shooters are those people who were in the high school band. When they first saw the Sousaphone they asked, "Can I play the piccolo?" They see air rifle shooters showing up to a match with two large wheeled suitcases of equipment and they want everything to fit in a lunchbox. They shun shooting leathers for comfy sweatshirts and blue jeans. They wear running shoes, but for gosh sakes they never run in them!

Only after signing up for the air pistol were they informed that it is the most challenging discipline in all the shooting sports. But they figured the tradeoff was worth it...to not have to drag around all that equipment.

Stance
Stance is the first consideration for shooting the air pistol. How you stand determines where you'll shoot, just as it determines where you can throw a ball. While it's possible to stand facing the target, with the line of your body parallel to the target, that's the wrong way to stand when you want to be accurate. If you had an arm coming straight out of your chest it would work well, but please notice that your arms are on either side of your body. Therefore, they cannot point straight ahead without a lot of muscles getting involved. We don't want that.

We want a stance that uses your skeleton for support, with minimum reliance on your muscles. Rather than talk about it, I'll show you. My illustration and discussion are for a right-handed shooter, but lefties need only reverse the instructions.


The placement of the feet determines where the shooting arm points. Your feet are shoulder-width apart, or perhaps slightly more.

Try this at home
Even if you don't own an air pistol, you can try this stance. Once you get the hang of adjusting your feet, you'll be amazed at how the stance determines how you shoot. Pick out an object far enough away that you can tell when you are or are not pointing at it. Now, adjust your feet like the illustration and point at the target.


This woman shows the classic stance. Note the blue jeans. An almost universal 10-meter pistol champion's uniform. No tight jackets here! Her other hand is anchored with a thumb through the belt loop - also pretty common.


This man shows the same stance. He sticks his free hand into his pocket. This is a rare competitor who doesn't wear shooting glasses. Even shooters who do not need correction wear shooting glasses because of what they do for their depth of field.

Tension your legs by turning your toes inward, starting with the left foot. Pivot on your heel, so your foot remains in place. Your stance will become more rigid as you turn the toe inward. Then, close your eyes and point naturally. Keep adjusting your foot placement and toe rotation until you're pointing at the target naturally. Turn the right toe inward last of all. It adds tension to your stance, but it also throws your aim to the left.

Once you find your stance - stay put!
I can always spot the shooters I'm going to beat at a match. They're the ones who keep moving around. One of our readers remarked several weeks ago how slow and deliberate 10-meter shooters seem to be. Well, that's partly because once they find the right stance, they don't move! I can take a new shooter and actually move his groups from side to side on the target, just by changing his stance.

Anchor your free hand!
The hand that doesn't hold the pistol has to be still or it will affect the whole body. Either stick it in your pocket or hook a thumb through a belt loop.

With the right stance, it should be very difficult for you to miss the bullseye to either side. All you need to concentrate on is the elevation of the pistol, and I'll cover that in the next report. Stay tuned!

Walther .25 caliber Falcon Hunter - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier


Walther's .25-caliber Falcon Hunter is a new .25 caliber spring gun.

I'm starting an interesting new series on the Walther Falcon Hunter in .25 caliber. When I saw the Falcon Hunter at the SHOT Show, I knew it would be interesting because the .25-caliber Webley Patriot was the only other game in town (at that power level). Well, now that the .25-caliber Patriot is gone (pending rework by Webley), the Falcon Hunter is alone (at that power) in that caliber. It was going to pose a serious threat to Webley because of its low price; now it will rule unopposed!

Describing the Falcon Hunter
This is a very large air rifle. At 49" overall, there aren't many air rifles or even firearms that are as long. It weighs right at 8 lbs., which should make it seem light, but the balance is decidedly muzzle-heavy with the scope not mounted. The 19.75" barrel is one of the longest on any breakbarrel. There's a setscrew on the muzzlebrake, which probably means it can be detached. I loosened the screw but the brake didn't budge. Because it's synthetic, I didn't push it.

The barrel detent is extremely stiff - just like the legendary one on the Webley Patriot. You must slap the muzzle to break the barrel for cocking, and closing it takes even more effort. I hope it will wear in smoother.

The trigger is two-stage and non-adjustable. It's heavy, so I'm going to give it an opportunity to break in before I report the pull weight. The rifle fires with a lot of recoil and some vibration, but not as much as I was anticipating.

The safety is automatic, and can be applied at any time manually. Pull out to fire, push in for safe. A red dot on the safety bar alerts the shooter to the status.


The safety all the way out shows a red dot on the bar. The gun is ready to fire.


When the safety is in like this the rifle is safe.

Synthetic stock
The stock is a hollow synthetic finished in a Mossy Oak Break-Up camouflage pattern. It's lighter weight than a wood stock would be, which on this big gun means a lot. The length of pull can be adjusted longer with three additional spacers that come in the box, but I found the factory 15" pull to be long to begin with. Both the pistol grip and forearm are checkered, but the diamonds are not aggressive. The forearm is held to the spring tube with four screws instead of the usual two. Although there's a low cheekrest only on the left side of the Monte Carlo butt, the rifle could be fully ambidextrous because the automatic safety is centered at the rear of the spring tube.

Sights
The sights are fully adjustable with click detents on both adjustment knobs. They're fiberoptic, and you'll have to use them that way (front red dot centered between the two rear green dots) because the front post is too wide for the rear notch. No daylight can be seen on either side of the front post. But most shooters will probably install the scope that comes with the rifle. And that's where the proprietary rear scope base gets a close look.

Unique scope base
This unique design has an 11mm dovetail on top of the base. This dovetail has been cut with numerous cross-slots for some reason. While they make it appear like a Picatinny or Weaver system, it's neither. The slots appear to serve no function I can discover, though they might interface with other mounts I haven't seen, yet. The 3-9x scope that comes with the rifle has a thin pair of rings already attached to the scope tube, and these will butt against a plate screwed to the top of the scope base dovetail. I'm showing a picture because I cannot explain it any better.


The Walther Falcon Hunter scope base is unique and proprietary. The slots do nothing I can identify. On other rifles, they wouldn't be there. They're not the same as the slots on a Picatinny base. The flat plate with the Phillips screw (upper left) is the scope stop.

Besides the stock, there's a lot of synthetic on the outside of this rifle. The triggerguard, trigger, muzzlebrake, parts of the rear sight, the safety and the end cap at the rear of the spring tube are all synthetic. It's finished nicely, with all these parts having a pleasing matte finish. The metal parts (barrel and spring tube) are darkly colored with black oxide, and the metal has been prepared very well. I think Falcon Hunter owners will be proud of their big guns.

Because this rifle comes with nice open sights, I'm going to test it with them first. Besides letting the action break in a little more, that will also help me choose a good accurate pellet. Stay tuned!

SIG Sauer SP 2022 BB pistol - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Today, we'll look at the accuracy of the SIG Sauer SP 2022 BB pistol. This is a double-action-only pistol, which means you can fire it only by pulling the trigger. There's no crisp trigger-pull, like a single-action pull would give. Instead, you manually cycle the hammer with the trigger on each shot. That throws off your hand during aiming.

Also, this gun comes with combat sights which are never as precise as target sights. They are quicker to get on target, which is why they're used, but they limit accuracy to minute-of-bad-guy.

However, with all that qualifying, I must say that I find this SIG Sauer to be the most accurate BB pistol I've shot in a long time. I shot at 15 feet and used an NRA 15-foot BB gun target that has a black bullseye of 0.680" diameter. That's close to the size of an American dime. Though it's hard to hold a DAO action pistol on such a small target, the attempt helps keep the group small, "Aim small, miss small."

It took two attempts to learn the best method of engaging the target. It turned out to be a two-hand hold with a 6 o'clock sight picture. I also found that shooting faster produced better results. I don't mean as fast as possible, but five shots in under three seconds, which is a deliberate pace.


All the groups were close to the same size once I learned the best technique. This is the largest group of KWC BBs. Five shots measure 1.785" center-to-center. I darkened the photo and bumped up the contrast to make the BB holes stand out, but they're still hard to see.


This is the smallest group. Five shots measure 1.665" center-to-center. Also shot with KWC BBs. There are two shots in the center hole.

I also tested the pistol with Daisy BBs to see if there was any significant accuracy difference. You may remember I mentioned that the KWC BBs are much smoother than other BBs - even Daisy's Avanti Precision Ground Shot. That difference doesn't seem to matter as far as accuracy is concerned.


This is a group of Daisy BBs. Five shots measure 1.779" center-to-center. Not much difference from KWC BBs. There's a BB hole near the top, to the left and just below the hole you can see.

Shoots to the aimpoint
The pistol does shoot to the aimpoint, but you'll notice that two of my three groups are left of center. That's due to the DAO trigger-pull. It has nothing to do with the BBs. Practice is the only way to get groups centered. A left-handed person would pull to the right.

Final evaluation
This is a pretty impressive BB pistol. It works as advertised and has superior accuracy. I find the magazine hard to load and the sights are fixed, but they are also right on target. For those wanting power, get a different gun. But for those who want to hit their targets, look at this one closely.

2008 Little Rock Airgun Expo

by B.B. Pelletier


The dealers at the 2008 Little Rock airgun show.

Every airgun show is unique and has one or more themes going on. This year's Little Rock show was exceptional, in that it was a tiny show with a ton of undercurrent themes. First, the size.

Little Rock was the second largest airgun show at one time, but this year I bet there weren't more than 40 dealers. Organizer Robin Parks thought it was gas prices, and I'm inclined to agree. However, a small show made for some tremendous opportunities.


It wasn't all airguns, either. My Buck Custom Shop bowie failed to spark any interest.

Benjamin Discoverys
They were piled high on D&B Airguns table! They were full kit that includes the pump, and in both calibers. It was fun to watch the dynamics of people who professed the desire to own one, then suddenly confronted with the possibility of buying 10! I know of 3 that sold for sure, and I think the number was more like 5, but Dave Franz took some home with him, too.

I've also heard some talk about the stocks not all being pretty, and this time I got to see what they were talking about. Guys, do you even KNOW what unfigured walnut looks like? That's what these guns have. They aren't selling burled walnut on a $250 rifle. Come on! The stocks are beautiful when taken in the context of what they are. They certainly put those Asian monkeywood stocks to shame. If you don't like the semi-gloss shine, take 0000 steel wool and break it back to dull. Two of our readers got one and I expect to hear reports.

I met readers!
Five of you readers came up and introduced yourselves. That made my show. At least 2 of you were attending your first airgun show, and I was eager to hear what you thought. This was a small show, but a rich one, for those who took the time to look.

Vintage target rifles
If older target rifles turn your crank, this Little Rock was a treasure trove! There were Walthers, FWB 300s, HW55s of all flavors, an Anschutz 380, a Daisy model 60...and I'm probably missing a few. A Walther LGV for $380 is a steal. So is an HW55 for $350. I managed to steal that one, myself, and it turned out to be a super-scarce variation I've never even heard of. More blog fodder! A working Diana 60 never sells for $300! And those were just the ASKING prices!


Vintage 10-meter target rifles like these Walthers were a steal at this show!

Don't cry to me, big bore shooters!
I tell people that Dennis Quackenbush often brings guns to these shows to sell. They have flaws and he can't sell them for full price. This time it was two .308s and three pistols! And, for the first time since I have known him, Dennis WENT HOME with two of the pistols. That just ain't right! Gas prices, I guess.


Dennis Quackenbush sold two .308 rifles, but went home with two of the three pistols he brought!

Jeff Castleman was there and brought his 9mm select-fire rifle. He also brought a .69 caliber rifle that looked like it belonged to Paul Bunyan's older brother. On Saturday, Big Bore Bob Dean arrived with a 20mm rifle that dwarfed Castleman's monster. I suppose Quackenbush will now have to rifle a length of sewer pipe and call it a Pi-caliber Missouri Magnum, just to maintain his status in the community.


Jeff Castleman works on his .69-caliber monster. They tell me the other horse carries the shooter!

Stuff you never see
Another theme at this show was the exotic stuff. How about TWO Giffard rifles and a Giffard PISTOL! Giffards aren't exactly rare, but when the rifles are priced under $2,000, they are. That wasn't all. A well-known collector had a MATCHED pair of 19th century .12-caliber guns that used percussion caps to power the shot. Shades of the Wham-O Kruger or the Western Haig pistol 75 years earlier!


That's a Parker-Hale Dragon single-stroke pneumatic sporting rifle! There are as many of them as there are moonrocks in private hands.


These .12-caliber dueling pistols are powered by percussion caps and were described as duelers for people who aren't that mad at each other.


When was the last time you saw an 1870s Giffard CO2 pistol at an airgun show?

The one that got away
I know several of our readers' wives wish I would stop writing, because I'm driving you guys to buy a lot of airguns. Well, it affects me the same way! Remember the BSF S55 I wrote about recently? Well, the first gun I noticed at this show was a like-new BSF S70 with the hang tag still on the triggerguard. My S55 has had a lot of use, but this rifle was pristine. I really thought I was going to come home with it, but that HW55 appeared and I needed it more. I couldn't afford to buy both unless something overpriced on my table sold (nothing did), so I had to watch as a young boy bought the rifle at the end of the show. I was glad for him and sad at the same time.

I told him to get on this blog and I really hope he does, because I want to show him how to care for the rifle that I wish had been mine. He didn't know what it was, but he has a good eye for quality and I think he picked the best deal of the show. So, S70 (I told him to use that handle) are you out there?

Scopes - Part 5 Zeroing your scope

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

It's been more than a month since the last installment, so it's time to hit scopes, again. I'm starting a discussion about zeroing, which can be a large topic, so I'll try to simplify it. If there are things I'm not addressing, please ask questions.

What range to zero?
Zero means the distance at which the intersection of the crosshairs coincides with the pellet in flight. Put simply, it's where the pellet will strike the aimpoint.

Is that a new idea to you? Maybe you thought the pellet always strikes the place where the crosshairs rest. That's not how it works. From the moment the pellet exits the muzzle, it starts dropping. To get the crosshair intersection to point to the spot where the pellet will be, we have to angle the scope to look downward. Most of the time this is done by using the scope's internal erector tube.


The pellet starts to drop the moment it leaves the muzzle, as this simple drawing shows. The scale has been compressed.


The scope looks straight ahead. The line of sight is a straight line.


To get the scope to look where the pellet is going, internal scope adjustments must be used. Inside the scope tube, there's an erector tube, which must be slanted down to get the line of sight to slant down like this.

I hope these three illustrations help you understand how the scope aligns to look at the place where the pellet is going. The scale of the drawings is compressed tremendously. A pellet may drop only 6" to 10" from the muzzle out to 50 yards. How far it drops depends on its muzzle velocity and its ballistic coefficient. Regardless of the BC, it isn't very good, because all diabolo pellets are made to slow down rapidly.

Sometimes, the scope's internal adjustments aren't enough, and you have to shim the scope at the rear or use an adjustable scope mount to get it to look far enough down to align with the pellet. I'll cover that kind of correction in a later report - for now, let's assume the scope adjustments are all you need to do.

QUESTION: At what distance do you want the scope to coincide with the pellet?

That's the biggest question in this game, and the most-discussed. I'll try to simplify it for you. If you're a general shooter or a hunter, you want the scope to be as usable as possible over the longest distance possible. That stands to reason, so you sight it in at the distance at which you get the most usable distance from the sight setting.

At what distances do you usually shoot? Most hunters and average airgunners shoot up to 50 yards most of the time. A 50-yard shot is a challenge, as is one closer than about 20 feet. Sighting-in at too close a distance makes no sense, because you won't be zeroed for the greater part of your useful range. On the other hand, sighting-in for 50 yards also makes no sense, because at closer ranges you won't be near the aimpoint! So, we have to find a compromise.

The compromise
Modern airguns can shoot very fast, but shooters who are serious don't allow them to go as fast as they can. The most accurate velocity for a diabolo pellet is somewhere around 900 f.p.s. It may be 800 or it might even be 1,000 f.p.s. It all depends on the gun and its best accuracy with a given pellet. But, it certainly isn't 1,200 f.p.s., and it isn't 600 f.p.s. So we say 900 f.p.s., because we can work with that number.

For a pellet going 900 f.p.s., there's a flat spot in the trajectory around 20 to 30+ yards. The line of sight has caught up with the dropping pellet, and the pellet isn't dropping so fast that it's a problem. Did you notice that the line of sight actually passes through the arc of the trajectory and then continues on below it? To the shooters the pellet appears to be rising. That first point of intersection is located about 20 yards from the muzzle, if you're following my recommendations.

Why not 10 yards?
This question comes up a lot. Or, why not 15 yards? Because of what that does to the line of sight. If you sight in at 10 yards, at 20 yards your pellet will be an inch to an inch-and-a-half ABOVE the line of sight, assuming a 900 f.p.s. pellet. If you don't care that it is so far above the point of aim, fine. Sight-in at 10 yards.

If you sight-in at 20 yards, your pellet will rise only a pellet's diameter between 20 and 30+ yards. Where the far point actually is depends on the pellet's actual velocity and BC. After it drops back to the line of sight, it'll still be close to the aimpoint for several more yards. Twenty yards works out to be the ideal zero distance for the average airgunner, assuming a 900 f.p.s. rifle. Of course, 900 is just a convenient number; I'm really talking about anything between about 800 and 1,000 f.p.s.

Got it?

The AirForce Condor - Part 1 A universal air rifle?

by B.B. Pelletier


AirForce Condor, dressed with a scope, trirail, rear accessory rail, bipod and laser.

I was asked to write this report by SavageSam, who said the following:

I'm writing you to remind you to do a writeup on the AirForce Condor. Also you could split [your report] into what is Condor-specific and what applies to all the A.F. line. You asked me to ask you what I wanted to know, well here goes....I want to know what can be tinkered with, without voiding the warranty. Such as, adjusting the top hat vs. adjusting the power wheel. Installing a different barrel. Having a different valve spring in the bottle (mine does NOT care for a full fill) to help flatten out the rainbow velocity curve. Accessories (best bang for the buck scope) green daylight lasers. The micro-meter tank. Etc. From SavageSam

Andreas from Cyprus also asked for a very specific test of a .177 Condor shooting on high power with a Micro-Meter tank. He cannot legally own a .22 caliber airgun, nor can he own a CO2 gun, so his request is focused on getting the maximum number of shots from an air tank at a decent hunting power. He mentioned 15 foot-pounds, but I must say here and now, that would only be possible with a .22 caliber Condor using the Micro-Meter tank. I would expect the .177 to get 11-12 foot-pounds.

What is a Condor?
If you know anything about Condors, you know that we're in for a grand time. The AirForce Condor is one of the most powerful smallbore air rifles made. I say "one of" only if we stay with the factory model. There's a custom Condor that beats them all at 110+ foot-pounds in .25 caliber. I'm not going to test that one for this report, because, believe me, 65 foot-pounds is more than enough to play with. The Condor is also the most versatile air rifle made - hands down. It can be owner-modified in so many ways, plus there is a world of aftermarket accessories to go on it. It's an airgun collection by itself.

The Condor was created by AirForce in 2004. It shares a similar frame with the Talon SS, but it is not identical. The only difference is that the Condor's scope rail is two inches longer. You can spot that by the second hole in the rail that only the Condor has. There were a small number of Condors shipped on Talon SS frames, and an SS frame can be turned into a Condor rifle with a few modifications to the powerplant. Those are the similarities and differences between the SS and the Condor. The Talon frame is about four inches shorter than the SS and Condor frames.

The positive way to tell which model you have, since none of them are marked with the model name, is by the serial number found on the right side of the gun. A Talon will always be B00000. A Talon SS is BS00000 and a Condor is BC00000.

The entire purpose of the Condor is hunting. When it was created, AirForce thought the .177 model would not sell well in the U.S., but in other countries, like South Africa and in the United Kingdom, it would do better. That has pretty much been the way it's gone, with .22 caliber accounting for over 95 percent of the U.S. sales. Now, however, Condor owners are starting to buy an optional .177 barrel for their guns and the sales of that caliber have picked up a little. And, .20 caliber was introduced by the factory last year, so all rifles are available in that caliber, as well. AirForce doesn't make a .25 caliber, but a number of dealers offer it as a custom option.

SavageSam mentioned the "rainbow trajectory" of the rifle. Well, out to 50 yards a Condor can shoot pretty flat. Beyond 50 yards it does drop fast, as even a .22 long rifle will do. But, buying a high-speed .177 is not the solution to this. That's because you cannot shoot the lighter pellet fast enough to stay flat and also remain accurate. With a Condor, you're better off staying with .22 caliber and learning how your rifle shoots.

Adjusting the top hat
SavageSam also asked about adjusting the top hat. I have to smile, because the Condor is the one AirForce rifle that you DON'T want to do that to! Let me explain. First of all, adjusting the top hat on any AirForce rifle is obsolete, as far as the factory is concerned. The power adjustment wheel made it unnecessary. Before the power wheel was put on the rifle in 2001, adjusting the top hat was a crude means of power adjustment.


The top hat is the silver thing. The space behind the knurled ring determines how far open the valve can go, which means how long it can remain open. That's the clearance you measure. Two Allen setscrews (one is showing) hold the hat in position on the valve stem, and on the Condor, they will dent the valve stem when tightened - so this is not something you do often.


Power-adjust wheel on the left side of the frames of all AirForce rifles is the current way the power is adjusted. The numbers on the wheel and on the oval slot to the right are there for reference, only. THEY DO NOT CORRESPOND TO ANY VELOCITIES OR TO ANY EXACT VALUES.

However, adjusting the top hat is still quite popular with the owners of standard AirForce rifles (the Talon and the Talon SS). They've discovered that they can adjust the top hat, then use the power-adjustment wheel to fine-tune their work. They aren't adjusting their rifles from low to high power the way many new AirForce owners do. They have found a single accurate pellet (most probably the 15.8-grain JSB Exact dome) and have adjusted the top hat to get the greatest number of shots from a fill of the tank at a power level they like. They may have found two settings on the power wheel that give them two very different velocities for two different kinds of shooting, such as plinking and hunting. And that is all the adjusting they do. That way, they know where their zero is and the gun can remain sighted-in.

There is NO WAY I can tell you all about adjusting the top hat; there are simply too many variables, plus these guns all seem to operate as individuals, so anything I tell you may not work on your rifle. The top hat leaves the factory adjusted to 0.080" for a standard tank and 0.090" for the Condor Hi-Flo tank.

I'll give you an example of what some people do. When I was the technical director at AirForce, we had a customer who discovered that a clearance of 0.068" under his Talon SS top hat, coupled with a certain setting on his power wheel, gave him 80 very uniform shots of .22 caliber Crosman Premiers at 800 f.p.s. If he adjusted to 0.072", the uniformity was destroyed and the total number of shots was bad, as well. He used this very precise top hat clearance and didn't adjust his gun any more.

SavageSam, if you do ANYTHING to the top hat of your Condor, simply open it up as far as it will go and still allow the cocking knob to swing closed into the notch on either side of the cocking slot. That's going to be as much as 0.094" on some guns but less on others. The reason for this is air flow. The Condor is what it is because it allows a lot of air to flow. Restrict the flow by adjusting the top hat smaller than 0.090", and you no longer have a Condor. In fact, when the gun was still new, I used to get returns for low power and many times I found the top hat had been adjusted in, because that was what they were talking about on the forum that day. Adjusting the top hat doesn't void the warranty, but like I said, it also doesn't help a Condor.

One final thought that I may come back to - barrel length. This isn't rocket science. The way pneumatic guns work is that the longer time the pressurized air accelerates the pellet, the faster it will go. The Condor has a 24" barrel, but some new buyers look at all the features on all three AirForce rifles and they decide it would be nice to have the Condor's power in a quiet gun like the SS. They buy an optional 12" .22-caliber barrel and an SS end cap and they make the switch. Lo and behold, their new short-barreled "Condor" now develops only half the power it did with the factory barrel, plus it isn't really that quiet. You can buy a regular Talon and get the same performance, plus a lot more shots for a lot less money.

If you really want a quiet Condor, buy a bloop tube and attach it to the gun. They're all over the internet.

Don't own a chronograph? No problem!
After a few months of working on Condors, I stopped using the chrongraph to tell when the gun was shooting right. I could tell by the sound it made. I tested myself against a chronograph and I was able to tell within 25 f.p.s. (up to 1,200 f.p.s.) the velocity a .22 caliber Condor was shooting by the sound, alone. That held true for shooting in the old AirForce plant, only. Apparently the acoustics were perfect for that.

But there's an even easier way. A .22 caliber Condor will drive a Beeman Kodiak pellet through the short dimension of 1.5 soft wood 2x4s. A .177 Condor will shoot through the same wood with Kodiaks. If it does that, it's a Condor - I don't care what the clock says!

Next time, I'll tell you about filling the tank.

SIG Sauer SP 2022 BB pistol - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today, I'm going to the airgun show in Little Rock, so my blogs will be posted today and Friday, but I won't be available to answer questions. I'm asking you more experienced hands to watch out for the new readers' questions, if you will. Thanks for your help!

According to the box, the SIG Sauer SP 2022 BB pistol came in, it has BAXS, which stands for Ballistic Accuracy Extreme System. In other words, a form of Hop-Up! I was asked on this blog some time back if Hop-Up could be applied to a steel BB gun, and I said I didn't know. Apparently it can, and this pistol is one of the first to do so.

What is Hop-Up?
Hop-Up is a device that puts a backspin on a round ball so it will fly farther and straighter due to the Magnus effect. It's the principle behind the major-league fastball. Now, it has apparently been applied to a real BB gun. I will be very interested to see how accurate this pistol is, because Hop-Up does improve the accuracy of a 6mm plastic ball. I can't think of why it wouldn't also work with steel BBs, except that they have quite a bit more kinetic energy concentrated in a smaller projectile, and that might cause them to chew through the rubber pads in the mechanism. We'll see.

Velocity
With the KWC BBs supplied, I got an average of 345 f.p.s. The low was 336 and the high was 354. Shooting was done at 30-second intervals to allow the gun to warm up from the CO2 cooling.

With Daisy BBs the average was 339 f.p.s. with a low of 332 and a high of 346. Shooting was done with a 30-second interval.

Velocity
The magazine holds 23 BBs, so it's possible to shoot that many times in quick succession. I tried that several times and saw the following effect. The first shot of Daisy BBs went about 342 f.p.s. Velocity climbed up to 360 f.p.s. in about five shots. Velocity then fell off regularly with each shot, until shot number 23 was down around 309-312 f.p.s.

Maximum shots per CO2 cartridge
The maximum number of shots at greater than 300 f.p.s. is somewhere above 130. The gun was at 312 f.p.s. at shot 130 and at 268 f.p.s. at shot 145. I was shooting fast, which results in fewer shots per cartridge, so I can say this particular pistol will get at least 130 shots per cartridge. That's quite a lot - almost double my prediction of 70.

Jam!
Once, when I'd pulled the trigger almost to the breaking point, I didn't fire. By relaxing the trigger, I jammed the mechanism. There's a positive tubular shuttle that pushes the BB forward (into the BAXS mechanism, I presume). To clear the jam I simply removed the magazine and the loose BB dropped out. This is an airsoft trait, and I expected it from the design of the gun. I tried to force it to happen a second time but was unable.


The front of the magazine with the movable shuttle sticking out. When the trigger is pulled, this part pushes the BB into the rear of the barrel, where the BAXS presumably stops it.

This pistol flexes in my hand as I shoot it. The magazine is also loose in the well and rattles a little. But the next test will be accuracy and we'll see what effect, if any, this has.