The Bronco from Air Venturi - Part 6

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5


Air Venturi Bronco.

Before we begin, I have a request from a reader in Iowa. She would like to learn more about airguns and shoot with some clubs in and around Montezuma. Any airgunners who belong to clubs in that location, could you please identify yourselves in the comments to this report, and I'll let her know how to contact you. The sport you shoot isn't that important. It can be field target, silhouette or 10-meter. As long as airguns are involved, she wants to start shooting.

Today, I'm looking at mounting a Mendoza rear aperture sight on a Bronco. This was my original plan for this rifle, but the cost proved too much, so I made it an option. Like all of you, I expect a Mendoza sight to work correctly on a Mendoza rifle, which the Bronco is. The problem with this sight is that it's always too high for the rifles people put it on, and today we'll learn how the Bronco accepts it.

No-go
The short of it is that the Mendoza sight does not adjust low enough to shoot at 10 meters with the Bronco. There are many fixes for that, such as lengthening the front sight, but that's not what I'm reporting on today. How sad that a rear aperture sight does not allow adjustment for a distance at which many shooters would like to shoot. I'll speak to Mendoza about this because it's a serious drawback to an otherwise fine product. However, much like the Mythbusters, I have a fallback plan.

The Beeman Sport Aperture sight
It costs more than twice what the Mendoza sight costs, but the Beeman Sport Aperture sight does adjust lower. It isn't currently available, but that's being looked into. The changeover of the Beeman company ownership has left many of their products in a state of limbo that only now is being addressed.

What I'm about to describe may no longer be necessary, because my Beeman sight is at least 20 years old. I note that the one Pyramyd Air sold most recently is already modified in the way I am about to describe.

Having a Beeman sight on hand, I mounted it and started shooting. Once again, though, it was a no-go. While the Beeman sight made by Williams does indeed adjust much lower than the Mendoza, the elevation post slide on the left side of my older sight hits the stock at some point. As I said, the new sights may not have this problem. If your sight does, it leaves you with two options.

Two options
Option one is to cut a clearance slot in the wood stock. Option two is to remove the bottom of the elevation post, which will allow lower adjustments. I chose option two, because this is a problem this sight has on a great many air rifles.


The Beeman Sport Aperture sight hits the top of the stock which limits how low it will adjust.


This is a .17 HM2 rifle a friend made up for me. He mounted the aperture sight and carved out the stock for maximum adjustability. I didn't want to do that with the Bronco's stock.


The bottom portion of the elevation staff is useless to this sight. I decided to whack it off.

It took a Dremel tool cutoff wheel about five minutes to slice off the unwanted bottom of the staff. Then, a few strokes of a file dressed the cut clean.


With the bottom gone, the elevation will adjust much lower. Hopefully, I'll be on target at 10 meters.


Back on the rifle, you can see how much lower the Beeman sight adjusts. Will it be enough?

Success!
Back to the range and success at last. The pellets now drill the center of the bull at 10 meters. Anything farther will require elevation, which I have in bucket loads.


The tell-all picture. Top group was with the Mendoza sight adjusted as low as it would go. Next down is the Beeman sight before modification as low as it would go before bottoming out on the Bronco stock. Bottom group is the Beeman sight after being cut off.

So, the outcome of today's report is that the Mendoza rear sight doesn't adjust low enough for the Bronco. The Beeman Sport Aperture doesn't either, but with ten minutes work, it will. I think I would keep this sight on the Bronco because it is quick and easy to use, and I even think it looks better.

Benjamin Trail NP XL1100 - Part 4

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Before I begin today's report, I have some good news. There will be an airgun show in Arkansas at the end of April. Seth Rowland has stepped up and started organizing the show, which will be held in Malvern, Arkansas, a town about 15 miles from the former location. Malvern is located about 1 mile off I-30, so it's easy to get to. Here are the details.

Arkansas Airgun Extravaganza. April 30 & May 1. Open to the public Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Six-foot tables are $50 each. Admission is $5. Kids 12 and under get in free with an adult. Dealer setup Friday 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

See the show map here.

If you are interested in getting a table you had better contact Seth right away, because the number of tables available will be limited. Here's his contact info.

For those who have been reading this blog and always wondered about what an airgun show is like, perhaps this is your chance to find out. Seth is going all-out to attract new dealers to this show, so there should be a greater variety of vintage airguns than has been seen at past shows. I'll be there along with Dennis Quackenbush and Tom Strayhorn, a collector of fine Walther airguns. Were also trying to get new gun dealers to attend, so you may get the opportunity to see some of the guns that you've been wondering about online. Please try to attend this show and bring along some of those airguns you can stand to part with. That's what makes a good show.

Okay, today we'll finish the accuracy test for the Benjamin Trail NP XL1100. Remember, I'm letting you look over my shoulder on this one for the benefit of the newer readers who are not familiar with my way of doing things. Yesterday, we prepared the rifle for this test, so the first thing to do today is a rough sight-in at 10 feet. It took four pellets to get on target, then I was ready to move out to 25 yards. Although my 10-minute sight-in article says to move from 10 feet to 10 yards, I've gotten to the point that I can skip that step and move right to 20-25 yards after the 10-foot adjustment. You have to know the ballistics of the gun being tested and you need to have some confidence in the process, but it does work just that easily.

The artillery hold
The importance of the artillery hold was mentioned in yesterday's report, but I'm repeating it today because it's so important. There's no rifle more difficult to shoot accurately than a breakbarrel springer. They're twitchy and extremely sensitive to how they're held. The worst are the super magnums (like this one) and those that have a long piston stroke--also like this one. I anticipate that hold will be critical.

JSB Exacts
I began with 15.8-grain JSB Exacts. They were among the pellets that I'd predicted would be good in the Trail XL. The first five went into a super group at 25 yards, giving me hope for this pellet.


Five shots with JSB Exacts at 25 yards made this great group, which measures 0.422" between centers of the two widest shots.


This 10-shot group opened up a couple tenths at 25 yards. JSB Exacts at 15.8 grains are good!

JSB Exact Jumbo Heavies
The next pellet I tried was JSB Exact Jumbo Heavies, the new 18.1-grain pellet. They didn't seem to group well at first, but then I learned a powerful truth about this rifle and this pellet.


This is the first 10-shot group I shot with 18.1-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavies. It doesn't look too good until you notice the two tighter groups contained within. There are three pellets in the left hole and four in the right. This becomes significant in a moment.


Here's the target that tells the story. It's a 7-shot group. There are three outliers and four in a tight hole at the bottom center. Read on to see what I learned!

Normally, I would have moved on after seeing the first 10-shot group, but now that Kevin has sparked my interest with his suggestion that a barrel needs to become accustomed to the new pellet whenever there's a change of ammunition, I'm shooting more shots per pellet. I didn't see what was happening with this JSB pellet until the final 7-shot group. The hold was so critical that it made all the difference. The tight group at the bottom of the seven-shot group was made with a dead-soft hold. The outliers all were made with some tension in my body at the shot. I could sense the tension and seeing these results as this group happened, because the first 10-shot group had gone the same way. It was almost as though I could wish a pellet out of the group by thinking about being tense!

What this tells me is that the 18-grain JSB Exact is probably among the most accurate pellets in this rifle, but it needs a bucketload of holding technique to do well. Fortunately, for hunters, shooting offhand is exactly what this pellet requires. As long as your offhand hold is dead calm, this pellet should do very well for you.

H&N Baracuda Match
Next, I tried the H&N Baracudas, and yes, these were the match pellets.


Five H&N Baracuda Match pellets went into this 0.414" group at 25 yards. This is performance with a great hunting pellet. Lots of holding technique was used.


I sort of lost it with this group. Holding was so critical, and here you see what can happen when you don't hold dead calm. Ten H&N Baracuda Match at 25 yards. Eight pellets went into a group measuring 0.511" between centers, but the other two outliers are from a loss of concentration.

Crosman Premiers
Crosman Premier pellets normally do very well in guns sold under the Crosman/Benjamin/Sheridan banner, but not this time. The Premiers fit the bore very loosely and were not capable of grouping within three inches at 25 yards. And, when I say Premiers I mean those in the cardboard box, but also those Premiers and Premier hollowpoints sold in tins as well as those sold under the Benjamin name. They all have the same shape and configuration. The cardboard box simply means they are all made on the same die.

The results I got with Premiers were not due to a loss of concentration, and that's something that can take experience to spot. In this case, it wasn't too difficult because of the wild spraying of pellets, but other times it can be closer and more difficult to differentiate.

What's the final tally?
I think the Benjamin Trail XL 1100 is a great hunting spring gun. It packs a lot of value into a nice package with nothing more to buy or exchange. The power wasn't all that was advertised, but any day you can get 24-25 foot-pounds from a breakbarrel springer is a good one. The scope is first-class and the sling is very nice. The sling swivels solve a common problem for hunters, and the Weaver scope base solves another difficult problem that every airgunner has faced.

The trigger leaves something to be desired. Hopefully, this will be an issue they can resolve, because the trigger that's on the NPSS is such a delight to use once it's been properly adjusted. The barrel seems to be first-rate. It's accurate and well-rifled. I'm assuming it's crowned well, because with the shroud in place it cannot be seen.

As far as quiet goes, the Trail XL is a quiet airgun. It's not as quiet as the NPSS, but it's still much quieter than a conventional spring gun. The only dieseling I could detect was a slight smell of burned oil when I shot the Premiers. There was no smoke noticeable during this test and never a detonation.

The bottom line is the Benjamin Trail XL 1100 is a fine new addition to spring-gun hunting. It's too big and difficult to cock to think of general purpose shooting, but just about ideal for the airgun hunter.

Benjamin Trail NP XL1100 - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Today, we'll begin testing the Benjamin Trail NP XL 1100 for accuracy. And we're going to do this differently than usual. Because we have many new readers to this blog, I'm going to explain how I do accuracy testing in greater detail than usual. Sort of a chance for you to look over my shoulder. Hopefully this will help the newer shooters get a grasp of what's involved in airgun accuracy, so this accuracy report will take more than a single report to complete.

Adjust the trigger
As I begin, I think about the gun I'm about to test. What do I know about it? Well, The Benjamin Trail XL 1100 is based on the Crosman Nitro Piston Short Stroke, and I did some testing of that rifle. During that testing, I discovered that the NPSS has a wonderful, adjustable trigger. One of our readers commented just a couple days ago that his accuracy improved after he adjusted his NPSS trigger, so I'm going to adjust the Trail XL trigger right now. According to the blog I wrote on the NPSS trigger, I need to unscrew the one adjustment screw several turns to make stage two light and crisp.

Sad to report that there is very little joy in Mudville today. The trigger on the Benjamin Trail XL 1100 may resemble the one on the NPSS rifle, but it doesn't adjust as well. It does adjust, but the second stage is mushy and imprecise. Not at all what I reported on the NPSS. However, I got it as good as it would go, which was better than when I started. It releases with 5 lbs., 2 oz. of pressure, which sounds like a lot. However, because of how the trigger works, you've subtracted all but the final 2 lbs. by the time you release it.

Clean the barrel
I had my Remington 788 .30-30 out last week and shot some remarkably mediocre 50-yard groups with Remington factory ammo. Factory ammo is usually lacking in accuracy, but a two-inch, five-shot group at 50 yards is a little excessive. Yesterday, I cleaned the barrel and removed a ton of copper fouling. Way more fouling than would have been left by the 20 rounds I fired. So, the rifle was dirty before I started the session. To ensure that I don't make the same mistake with the Benjamin Trail, I'll clean the bore with J-B Non-Embedding Bore Cleaning Compound.

As a recap--I was told about this by Ben Taylor, who is the Ben in Theoben. He told me to clean the bore of my Beeman Crow Magnum with J-B Paste by passing a brass brush loaded with paste through the barrel 20 times in each direction. I'm not normally anal, but after the success I had after cleaning that rifle, I'm saying to count the number of strokes. Twenty times in each direction, starting from the breech, of course. Then remove all the residue and the bore should not only be sparkling clean, it will also be smoothed as though you had shot 500 pellets through it. Don't worry--a brass brush will not harm a steel barrel, and J-B paste is used by benchrest shooters all the time.

Normally, the first 10 passes are extremely tight, then things loosen up. That never happened with this barrel. Pass 20 was as tight as pass four. The first couple passes did loosen up just a little, but at the end of the cleaning I was still pushing hard on the rod to get the brush through the bore.

Check the screws
I do a once around the rifle to check all the stock screws for tightness. Because this rifle has a gas spring, I don't expect the screws to loosen very much, but it's always best to go into a test with everything right.

Mount the scope
We're blessed when we come to mounting the scope because Crosman has put Weaver bases on the rifle, so there will be no mounting problems. The Centerpoint 3-9x40 was almost correctly set in the rings, but not quite. After the two-piece rings were cinched down tight, I loosened the scope caps and rotated the scope tube until the vertical reticle seemed to bisect the receiver tube perfectly. There's nothing square on an airgun, or a firearm, for that matter, so trying to "level" the scope is a completely fruitless affair. There's nothing to level it with. You rotate the scope tube until it looks straight up and down to you. Someone else may disagree, but you're the one who will be shooting the gun, so that's all that matters.

Pick some pellets
Someone asked the other day how I knew which pellets to select for which guns. Well, it's simpler than it might seem. First, I know that a large number of pellets are not going to be the best in almost every airgun, so they seldom get selected. I only pick them when I can't seem to get anything else to work.

The other side is that there are known performers that almost always get picked. JSB Exacts, with the particular weights depending on the gun. This is a powerful springer, which means that it has the same power as a lower-powered PCP, with one important difference. Springers hit the pellet skirt with a heavy blast of air at the start, so the pellet needs thicker-walled skirts to not deform. At 25 foot-pounds, the Benjamin Trail XL is about as hard on pellet skirts as it gets. Think about using .22-caliber Crosman Premiers because they have really tough skirts. Think about using H&N Baracudas because they have a heavy skirt. Think of the heavier JSBs for their heavier skirts. Definitely DO NOT think RWS Superpoints that have ultra-thin skirts made of dead-soft lead. Their skirts would be deformed badly by the powerful air blast from the Nitro Piston.

So, I selected Baracudas (which are the same as Beeman Kodiaks), JSB Exact Jumbo Heavies (which weigh 18.1 grains) and JSB Exacts (which weigh 15.8 grains). Let's see where that gets us.

Use the artillery hold
I've had several readers recently discover the benefits of the artillery hold. That's when the rifle is held as loosely as possible so it can move and vibrate as much as it wants. While it seems counter-intuitive, such a hold will improve your shooting in 98 percent of the situations. Read about it here.

Kevin added something in an answer to a reader question the other day that I need to emphasize more. When you're shooting, align the crosshairs or sights--then close your eyes and relax. Open your eyes again. If the crosshairs moved off the target, the pellet would have moved in the same direction if you'd fired. Learn to settle in so the crosshairs are still on target when you open your eyes. That assists your follow-through, which is what this is all about. It works for firearms, too, though heavy-recoiling guns need a firmer hold than what I've described.

Sight-in
Here's where you and I will go in separate directions. You want to hit the target. I don't care. What I want to see is if the pellets tend to go to the same place. If they do, a sight adjustment may be needed to get them on target, but that's a separate step. I won't be doing anything with this gun other than making groups we can examine. If I were then going to shoot it afterwards, I would care about aligning the sights.

That bothers some people to no end. If they don't see the groups in the center of the bullseye, they think the gun is inaccurate. My brother-in-law feels that way. I can move the groups to where they'll look good with the sights or with Photoshop if I have to. So, hitting the center of the bullseye isn't something I even care about. But you should, because you will be using this gun to hit things. Don't let my testing affect your shooting.

And that's where I'll end it today. I've walked you through preparing to shoot, so next time I'll show you the results of that.

Which chronograph is right for me?

by B.B. Pelletier

This report was suggested by reader G., but a lot of you have been talking about chronographs lately, so perhaps this is timely for everyone.

Don't need no stinking chronograph
When I did the R1 Homebrew series of articles for The Airgun Letter, I needed a chronograph. And as far as I was concerned, that was the first time in my shooting life that I did need one. Up to that point, I considered chronographs to be silly toys that bored shooters used to add spice to their hobby. But when I was faced with the reality of comparing before and after tuning airguns in print, there had to be something more than just my word about how the gun was performing.

The R1 Homebrew articles are what grew into the R1 book that was published in 1995. While attending the Winston-Salem Airgun Expo in 1993, I bought a used F-1 Shooting Chrony for $45. That chrono lasted me about a quarter of the way into the book. I stopped using it when I got spurious velocity readings of 150 f.p.s. slower than should have been the case. The problem was twofold. First, the ancient chronograph I was using had cardboard windows that served as diffuser holders in front of both the start and stop screens. The windows were there to align projectiles over the skyscreens. Tens of thousands of shots had ripped the start screen window to the point that it overhung the start screen lens. I trimmed it back, but if I trimmed it any more the window would have been cut through and would no longer hold the white plastic diffuser, so I allowed some of the cardboard to overhang.

The other problem I had was the distorted shape of the hole through the windows forced me to shoot on a downward slant. That was when I discovered the problem with doing that.

At this point, the decision had already been made to write the R1 book, so Edith and I bit the bullet and bought an Oehler 35P printing chronograph--the gold standard of personal chronographs. That model is no longer available; but if you can use a Windows computer, the Oehler 43 is the same instrument with software to operate on your Windows computer. Several writers use a laptop with their 43, and the printer can be anything the computer hooks up to.

The 35 P was discontinued because the Oehlers were not able to obtain a supply of small printers to go into their chronographs. They are available, but not at wholesale prices in quantities small enough for the Oehler operation. I have more to say about printers later.

For years, I looked down on those who used Shooting Chrony brand chronographs, because the Oehler is such a superior instrument. It has a clock speed of 4 megahertz. At the time, I thought the Chronys were using a 100 kilohertz clock, but that may not be the case. The Oehler also has a second chronograph circuit in the system so you get two readings for every shot. One is a check against the other, and there are warning symbols if the difference is too great.

Then, I decided to write about chronographs. The Oehler 35P was no longer available and besides, does a hobbyist really need that kind of machine? So, I asked Pyramyd Air to send me a Shooting Chrony Alpha chronograph and I reported on it in August 2005. The instrument I tested was quite an improvement over the old Chrony I had used more than a decade before. It set up easily and no longer had the cardboard windows that caused so much trouble. It probably also has a higher clock speed, though I cannot find any confirmation for that.

As I used the Chrony Alpha, I got used to how quick it was to set up. It sits on a table, making it ideal for my office, where the Oehler skyscreens are too high to align with the pellet trap. So convenience got me using the Chrony more and more. Now, I use the Oehler for articles and in the field, but the Chrony for everything else, which is more than 90 percent of my work.

Here's the crucial thing. The Chrony doesn't measure the velocity exactly. Neither does the Oehler. To measure exactly takes more accurate chronographs that are used by laboratories and by weapons testing stations. The skyscreens are separated by many feet distance and they are tailored for exactly what they're testing.

But for the hobbyist, a Shooting Chrony gives a number that can be trusted. It will be accurate within 99.5 percent accuracy. Not more than one deviation in 200. When measuring something traveling 1,000 f.p.s., the error rate is about 5 f.p.s. That is certainly accurate enough for what we do.

Dr. Ken Oehler once told me that the biggest error in any chronograph was the accurate spacing of the skyscreens. They assume a certain separation which is fed into the formula for velocity calculation; and when that is off by as little as one-eighth inch, the readings are wrong. The Shooting Chrony has solved that problem by its design. When the box unfolds, the skyscreens are always separated by the correct amount. That's a big plus, because other chronographs including the Oehler use a dimpled steel bar (conduit armor) to locate the screens.

Then, I did what almost all chronograph owners have done at least once. I shot too low and dented the chronograph case. I told Pyramyd Air about the damage, and they told me to keep the chronograph. I did and have used it ever since. By the way, I also shot up my Oehler skyscreens. I did that while working at AirForce testing the Condor. Same screen got shot--the rear one.


I shot my Alpha Chrony when I got too close to the rear skyscreen. No real harm done, and the instrument still works four years later.

What's the answer?
So, which chronograph is right for you? Well, if you want to check pellet gun velocities, I recommend a Shooting Chrony Alpha, Beta or even the model F1. The more expensive models have memories and can calculate statistics. The cheaper models cost less.

Are other chronographs okay? Absolutely. Shooting Chrony is the best-known brand on the market, but the others work just as well. Shooting Chrony has a rebuild program if you shoot up your chronograph, and that's a nice touch, plus I like the convenience of the box design. But any chronograph is better than no chronograph. Now that I've had one for a long time, I know more about why they're good. I've shown you several examples recently in this blog, and I will continue to do so as we tune the FWB 124, for example.

What about printers?
Printers are less reliable than chronographs. The one on my Oehler has never malfunctioned, but the Shooting Chrony Ballistic Printer has. It sometimes fails to advance the paper, resulting in several readings printing on top of each other. Pyramyd Air has recently experienced the same thing, so it happens but not on a regular basis.

If you buy a printer, be prepared to fiddle with it sometimes. It's great for long strings of shots, but I generally don't use it for short strings. Just make sure the paper advances after every shot.

Do you need a chronograph? Probably not, unless you know why you do. If all you like to do is shoot, you can forget a chronograph. But if you want to know the health of your airgun, a chronograph is a valuable piece of equipment to own.

The Crosman Silhouette PCP pistol - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Velocity test, part 2
Today, we're going to adjust the power of the Crosman Silhouette PCP pistol. This is a second velocity test for this gun. Before adjusting, I read the owner's manual, which in this case provides a lot of very instructional information about this procedure.

I learned that the fill pressure of the pistol is also adjustable, and the factory sets it at 2,900 psi and not 3,000. While the difference between 2900 and 3000 may seem small to you, look at the shot string I fired in Part 2 and notice that it took at least five shots to get up on the power curve when I filled the gun to 3,000. Son of a gun! Maybe Crosman knows what they're doing, and maybe we should be reading these manuals before shooting the airguns. And, when I say "we," I mean me.

Variable fill pressure
According to the manual, you can adjust the gun to operate on a fill of 2,500 psi, all the way up to a fill of 3,000 psi. This is achieved by adjusting two separate things. The first is the hammer-spring tension and the second is the hammer-stroke length. These work together to control the force of the impact on the valve stem as well as the dwell time that the valve remains open.

Delicate balance
However, as the air pressure inside the reservoir increases, the pressure that closes the valve changes, as well, so that also affects the length of time the valve remains open. What I'm saying is that there is not a straightforward adjustment. It's a balancing act between the fill pressure, the length of the hammer stroke and the tension on the hammer spring. You have to use a chronograph to adjust the gun--ther's no way around it. Without a chronograph, you're just guessing.

Crosman even provides you with a simple chart of the effects of adjusting both adjustments. Cutting to the bottom line, a long hammer stroke and heavy spring tension will boost the required fill pressure as high as it will go and give you the most powerful shots the pistol is capable of. Coincidentally, it will also give the greatest number of powerful shots that can be gotten from the pistol. Since that's all I'm after in today's report, that's what I did. Before I move on to the test, a word to everyone who has an interest in this pistol.

Get to know your airgun
Crosman has given us something rather unique in the Silhouette PCP. They have given us these two adjustments so we can adjust the gun to do exactly what we want to do. That's not common, and we need to take a moment to appreciate it.

When I worked at AirForce Airguns, we used to get questions all the time about what power adjustment wheel setting should someone use to shoot such-and-such a pellet and a velocity of X f.p.s. Well, heck, how should we know? How would anyone know who did not have that individual gun and a chronograph to do the necessary testing? Yet, these same people would get on the forums and trade their favorite power wheel setting back and forth as though they were precious formulae or something.

Here's a partial score: Cleveland 3.

Doesn't tell you very much, does it? Well, the adjustment of the Silhouette PCP is going to be very similar to that. It's an individual thing. Each gun is unique and each responds to adjustment in a slightly different way. If this is a gun you see in your future, plan on getting a chronograph to go with it, or plan on not adjusting the gun.

On to testing
This test will be different than most because I'll be adjusting the gun as I go. Whenever I make a change, I will note it and then continue with the string. I used the Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellet.

For the first shot, I adjusted the gun following Crosman's instructions to the letter. The hammer-spring preload was adjusted to the max, and the stroke was adjusted as long as possible. The gun was filled to 3,000 psi and these shots resulted.

Shot...Velocity
1..........416
2..........422
3..........414
4..........417
5..........423
6..........425
7..........422

At this point, I realized that the gun wasn't set up to give me what I was after, which was maximum velocity, so something had to change. I turned the hammer-stroke adjustment in, which is contrary to what Crosman says to do.

8..........456
9..........461

This was working, so I turned the stroke-adjustment screw in some more.

10.........470

More in.

11.........492

More in.

12.........504

More in.

13.........497
14.........503
15.........502

At this point, I figured the hammer stroke was adjusted as well as it could be. Since the hammer-spring tension was supposed to be at the max, I turned the adjuster off a little.

16.........489
17.........484

Then, I put the tension back where it had been.

18.........501
19.........502
20.........496

At this point, I adjusted the stroke back out four turns.

21.........468

Then, two turns back in.

22.........488

All the way in (two more turns).

23.........500
24.........499
25.........495

The remaining pressure in the gun was 2,300 psi according to the onboard gauge.

26.........502
27.........498

Then, I shot two Crosman High Velocity Super Sonic pellets to see what the maximum velocity would be.

28.........622
29.........619

Then, I switched back to Premier lites.

30.........492
31.........498
32.........498
33.........498
34.........Did not register
35.........499
36.........494
37.........493
38.........491
39.........491
40.........489
41.........486
42.........487
43.........490
44.........481
45.........481
46.........478
47.........477
48.........470
49.........469
50.........465
51.........463

That's my report. With Premier lites, I got just over 500 f.p.s. With High Velocity hollowpoints--about 620.

The adjusting is easy but a chronograph is an absolute necessity, and I hope my report demonstrates why.

A shrine built for a Feinwerkbau 124 - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1


My enshrined 124.

Before we begin, I have to share a laugh with all of you. This is especially for BG_Farmer, who last week had a discussion with me about unloading a muzzleloader.

I was out at the range yesterday and among the guns I shot was my new Thompson/Center Hawken. Of course, the sights were open post and bead. Shot No. 1 went through the X-ring at 50 yards. So, I loaded ball No. 2 very carefully. And, I put a cap on the nipple only after I was in firing position. Then--nothing! The cap fired but nothing else happened.

I waited for about 30 seconds for a hangfire, and then the truth of it hit me. For the first time in 45 years of shooting muzzleloaders, I had failed to put gunpowder into the rifle! So, my status as the Master Doofus of the Universe is, once again, secure--and I have a ball to get out of my barrel. Fortunately, I was using Triple Seven powder, a replica powder that doesn't attack the bore like black powder.


The first shot from the Hawken muzzleloader went through the X-ring at 50 yards. Shot two is still in the gun.

So, all that talk about how I never had to unload a ball before just went away. BG_Farmer, you may have 12 hours to gather a crowd to mock me.

Now, on to today's report

Well! This report that I thought would be finished today is turning into quite the crowd-pleaser. Just two days ago, we had a comment from a reader named Simon Kenton who remembers his 124 fondly as being a real tack-driver with the vintage Beeman Silver Jet pellets. He stockpiled 5,000 of them and hates to shoot them because they aren't available anymore.

I also remember Silver Jets as the best pellets for the 124 back in the 1970s and '80s. But when I competed in field target with a 124 in the late 1990s, I used the 7.9-grain Crosman Premier, which, at the time, was considered the most accurate pellet in the world. And I'm referring only to the Premiers that come in the brown cardboard box.

So, I'll test this 124 for accuracy with Silver Jets and Premiers, and perhaps even some JSB Exact 8.4-grain domes. Sorry Kevin, but I don't seem to have any Beeman FTS. I have Trophys, but that's all.

Please don't worry about the status of the gun. If something happens, it's only an airgun after all. I'll do everything to protect the exterior finish, but if I have to rebuild the powerplant for any reason, the rifle will only get better as a result. And after I rebuild it, it will last many decades longer than it would have with the original parts. We know that today, but of course it was not known when the 124 was new back in the 1970s.

For the collectors
And I need to clarify a point for all the collectors. I said in the first report that the 124 dated back to 1972, but that isn't entirely accurate. The basic rifle did exist at that time, but in the United States it was called the F-12. In Germany it was called the model 121. The 124 was first called by that designation in the 1974 edition of the Beeman catalog--the ultra-rare second edition. In that catalog, Beeman explains that the 124 is an upgraded version of the F-12 rifle that previously existed. That probably means the 124 designation started some time in 1973. Yes, there are FWB sport rifles marked as model 121, and yes, they were also capable of velocities up to 780 f.p.s. When the exact upgrades were made that differentiated a 124 from a 121, I do not know; but it sounds like a great research project for some day when I'm tired and just feel like reading.

The .22 rifle
To round out the report, there was a .22 caliber version of the same rifle that was marked as the model 127. They were never as popular when the gun was being made, because in those days .177 caliber was king in the United States. Finding a 127 is more difficult than finding a nice 124. However, for some reason, the price is seldom that much higher. The 124 still holds sway over the 127, even today.

The Beeman R5/model 125
Beeman also had a very small number of 124s barreled in .20 caliber and labeled model 125. It was never an official model, but Robert Beeman was very keen on .20 caliber and was seeking at the time to create an R5 rifle for his line. Beeman remembers three or four of these rifles being built by Feinwerkbau. They were not marked with the R5 designation, though that was the plan once production began.

What stopped the project cold was the requirement to purchase .20 caliber barrels 5,000 at a time. Beeman was prepared to order 500 of the R5s, but he wasn't ready to commit to 5,000, so the rifle was never built. Two of the prototypes, marked as "Sport 125 Cal.5/.22" were sold from the Beeman used gun list. The company also advertised the new R5 in their 10th edition catalog; but since there were no guns to sell when that catalog came out, the price was listed as NA. Catalog 10A followed the same year, and the R5 model was removed. Many people who have seen just the 10th edition of the Beeman catalog believe that a Beeman R5 existed, when in fact it never did. Robert Beeman wrote a very detailed description of all that transpired on this project for my magazine, Airgun Revue #3.

Today, I want to show you more of the contents of this sarcophagus. I've already discussed why filling the barrel with common grease is not a good protective measure, so let's look at some other preservation techniques that backfired.

Baggies don't protect
The orignal owner also felt that Beeman Silver Jets were the best pellet for the rifle. Instead of making a single storage compartment for the square cardboard box the Silver Jets came in, he divided 500 pellets into two plastic bags that were tucked into smaller asymmetric compartments. You can see them in small slots on either side (the top and bottom) of the rifle's forearm in the case. Unfortunately, he was unaware that plastic bags are not an effective vapor barrier. Over the years, the acid wood gasses corroded all the lead pellets to the point that they're now covered by a thick coat of white lead oxide powder. These pellets are now useless. I leave them in place as tutorials for whenever I show the rifle.


Beeman Silver Jets came in a square box with a padded styrofoam insert. These pellets are 20-30 years old and not oxidized.


Silver Jets on the left came from the box. The oxidized one on the right came out of one of two baggies inside the gun box.

Another fact the original owner was unaware of is the tendency for the original FWB piston seal material to dry rot. He purchased three spare piston seals that are now, sadly, hardened to the point of uselessness. The plastic bag they're in also did noting to preserve them. That's okay, though, because I would never put an original FWB piston seal back into a rifle anyway. I would use something made from modern synthetics. Feinwerkbau wasn't alone in making this mistake. Diana also used the same flawed material in their target air rifles and pistols of the 1970s, as did Walther.


You don't have to be an expert to see the damage here. The piston seal is dried and cracked from storage. Each of the three seals has two o-rings. The larger one is the breech seal, but I don't know where the smaller one goes. These are still usable.

The rest of the inventory
For those who like to keep score, the box contains these things, besides the rifle and owner's manual:

500 Silver Jet pellets
Beeman deluxe cleaning patches
Can of Birchwood Casey Sheath
Bottle of Beeman Silicone Chamber Oil
Bottle of Beeman Spring Cylinder Oil
Two stainless steel oiling needles
Leather sling
Three-piece sectional cleaning rod
Two .177 brass bore brushes
Beeman Pell Seat
Three piston seals
Three breech seals
One new mainspring
One aluminum trigger blade

None of these products have been used. They are there for "that day" when they are needed.

And, now, the velocity
Or not!

The Crosman Premier pellets refused to come out of the end of the barrel. They went perhaps 7/8 of the way through and stopped. I checked and replaced the breech seal, but no luck. That means the piston seal has finally given up the ghost. The last time I shot this rifle through a chronograph, it registered about 760 f.p.s. with Premier Lites, but that time is past. And the parts in the gun are of no help in fixing the situation.

I left the first part of the blog exactly as I wrote it, so all of this that you are reading has transpired before your eyes. I will now tune the gun with a modern FWB 124 tuneup and then test it for you.

The Bronco from Air Venturi - Part 5

by B.B. Pelletier

The entries for Pyramyd Air's February contest are posted on Airgun Arena. Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winners!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


Air Venturi Bronco.

Today, I'll test the Air Venturi Bronco with a better scope. Last time, I used a scope adjusted for 100-yard parallax and the target wasn't too clear. This time, I mounted a Leapers 3-9x40 AO scope with an illuminated reticle. My scope was an older version of this same scope.


Leapers 3-9x40 scope fit the Bronco well.

A delight to shoot
I'd forgotten how comfortable the Bronco is to shoot. Rediscovering that was so pleasurable that I did some additional experiments for you. For starters, I held the rifle like a deer rifle, the way a new airgunner might. The Bronco responded with half-dollar-sized groups at 25 yards. While those look good to new shooters, the rifle is capable of much better accuracy. The tight hold works, but only to a point.

Then, I shot with the rifle rested directly on the bag. Sprayed pellets all over the place, just as you would expect.

I read on one of the forums that someone thought the wrist was too thick for younger shooters. Well, of course it is! If they hold the rifle like a deer rifle, the wrist is way too thick. But that's not the way to hold a breakbarrel springer. You have to pretend you're holding a 1903 Springfield and place your thumb along the wrist rather than over it. Then, the artillery hold will start paying off.


This is the wrong way to hold a spring rifle. Get that thumb off the wrist.


This is the proper way to rest the thumb on a spring rifle wrist.

The bottom line is the Bronco likes a light artillery hold the best.

Premier Lites
The Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellet grouped acceptably well at 25 yards, though I did feel that a repeatable light hold was crucial to good accuracy. Fail to hold it that way, and pellets stray from the group.


Ten Premiers at 25 yards with the proper "dead" hold technique.


Ten Premiers at 25 yards. Seven with the proper "dead" hold technique and three with the thumb rested over the wrist. The scope was adjusted from the first group.

I also tried a bucket load of other pellets, searching for one that was more tolerable of the hold than Premier Lites. I tried Premier heavies, Gamo Match, Air Arms domes, JSB Exact domes in the 8.4-grain weight and Gamo Master Points. Like last time, the JSBs showed some promise, though the Premier lites clearly beat them in 10-shot groups. Then, I found what I was looking for.

Years ago, I owned a .458 Winchester Magnum rifle (an elephant rifle) for which I handloaded. My load was so soft that it hardly recoiled, yet it always sent the 550-grain lead bullet to the same place. It was a delight to shoot. Most Hakim air rifles will do the same thing with RWS Superpoints. Well, I found what the Bronco likes.

Beeman Kodiaks, which are also H&N Baracudas, need very little in the way of an artillery hold, yet they seem to go to the same place every time. They're no more accurate than Premier Lites, but they sure are easier to shoot in this rifle! They're my top pick for pellets, now that I've tested them.


Ten Kodiaks with a sloppy artillery hold. They all seem to want to go to the same place.

The next test will be with a Mendoza peep sight mounted. This will be as much a test of that specific sight as of the Bronco.