by B.B. Pelletier
Mendoza aperture sight is well-made and a heck of a bargain!
Okay, something different today. Instead of a gun or accessory review, how about some inside information! In fact, how about a whole bunch of it?
Item 1. Mendoza sights
My long time readers know that when I tell you about a deal, it’s for real. Well, here comes a deal! Mendoza makes a diopter sight that compares favorably with the Beeman Sport Aperture sight, which retails for $63.25. When Pyramyd AIR purchased Airgun Express, they bought a lot of these sights, and they’re just now making it to the website. The price of $19.99 is in line with Beeman’s price for their sight back in the 1970s! I have held this sight in my hand at the SHOT Show and worked the adjustment mechanism; it’s just as crisp as the Beeman. I’m buying 2 to put away for the future.
If you want an open sight instead of a peep, the same sight comes with an open notch at the same price. Both sights fit 11mm dovetails and do not have scope stops built in. I do not want to hear any crying six months from now when this deal is over (I have no idea when it will be over, but good deals do have a habit of expiring fast), so act now if this is something you need or want. Every target shooter should be acting on this!
These sights are well-hidden in the accessory list under the category LASERS, RED DOTS & IRON SIGHTS, and they are further buried near the bottom of the list, so it’s time to learn how the scroll bar works. Or, just follow the embedded links in this blog.
Item 2. Weihrauch HW 50 peep sights
Once, again, we have a peep sight. This sight is the rear aperture (peep) unit that fits the Weihrauch HW 50 and ever other Weihrauch spring-piston rifle (they all have the same mounting system). For you collectors, this sight is not the same sight Weihrauch used to put on their model 55 spring rifle. Those were selling for $135 by themselves 12 years ago, so understand that this is a different sight. It will fit, but it’s not the same configuration as the older model. Still, at less that $60, I don’t know how anyone can complain. This one is also listed in the same category of the accessories.
Item 3. The Pyramyd AIR garage sale!
Pyramyd AIR has a huge inventory of odds and ends, ranging from Turkish spring rifles they decided not to stock to boxes of parts for current and obsolete RWS Diana spring rifles. There are piles of broken airguns that no one has the time to fix. And, they’re finding more stuff daily as they clean out the five warehouse spaces they operate from. They’ve decided to all these things down to the International Airgun Exposition in Roanoke, Virginia. For two straight days (Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27), they’ll sell all this stuff to the public at incredible prices.
The Roanoke airgun show is the oldest and largest airgun show in the world. It even attracts collectors from the UK. Last year, there were over 140 tables of collectible airguns, plus some new guns. I know that’s small in gun show terms; but, when a single table may have $100,000 worth of collectible Daisy airguns, the magnitude of such a show comes into sharp focus.
This year’s show will be exceptional. In the Roanoke Civic Center, where the airgun show is held, there will also be a large gun show on Saturday and Sunday, so the shows will overlap on Saturday. The price of admission to the gun show guarantees admission to the airgun show as well, and they’re expecting several thousand additional visitors. Those people are not used to seeing an airgun show and many will be blown away by the huge number of collectible airguns for sale. Where a Benjamin 130 pistol in working condition might sell for $60 at the airgun show, it isn’t unusual to see the same gun going for $250 at a gun show! That’s going to make this year’s show interesting, to say the least.
If you’re interested in attending the airgun expo, it’s open to the public from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Friday used to be the best day to attend, because some dealers started packing their tables at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon (the show ended at 3 p.m.), but this year the airgun show will remain open until 5 p.m. to coincide with the gun show. That’s going to have a tremendous impact on attendance, sales and other great things. Call show organizer Fred Liady for table reservations ($45/table to the end of September, $60 after that) and visit the website.
Item 4. “Other great things”
What all collectors hope for at a show is a bluebird. A bluebird is a desirable airgun that walks into the show in the hands of an attendee. Several years ago, I was present when a genuine military Girandoni walked into this show and sold in the aisles for $3,500 inside 30 minutes. Just this year, a similar air rifle in slightly better condition was sold in a European auction for 38,000 Euro (over $53,500).
Original Girandoni military air rifle recently sold for over $53,500!
Another time I was FORCED to buy three Daisy Targeteer pistols and six metal tubes of shot for $100 (the guy REALLY needed the money!). I sold two of them and four tubes of shot to someone else at the same show (who also got a great deal, by the way) for the same $100, just to get my pocket money back. I have many more stories about bluebirds that walk into airgun shows, and the key to all of them is traffic. This show will have many times the normal traffic, so who knows what wonderful things will walk through the door?
Item 5. Podcast has been fixed
Pyramyd AIR just discovered that the last several podcasts have had the incorrect links for downloads. You could listen to them online; but if you downloaded them you got the same old podcast from some time in August. That’s been corrected, so things should work normally from now on.
Item 6. New BB gun book
Gary Garber has just published a new book on Daisy BB guns made in Plymouth, Michigan. If you collect these guns or are just fascinated with them as I am, you’ll want this large-format, full-color, 414-page reference book. Contact Gary at DaisyBBgunner@aol.com
The price for this soft-cover book is $60, plus $12 shipping by priority mail (in the U.S.).
New book about collectible Daisys by Gary Garber.
So this peep sight would probably be what I would use on a Ben 392 for hunting?(since your preference would be not to scope a 392) The M-16 has a similar type of sight, and it worked well for me. Since I’m still saving up for a 392, is there any hardware required to mount the sight? JP
JP,
It depends on the 392. It has to clamp to an 11 mm dovetail. The 392 LE has one. Most do not.
But there is a peep sight made for the 392 already.
B.B.
If there’s already a peep sight then I’ll probably put that on my wishlist. Still, I may try iron sights for awhile. I remember scopes sometimes have a problem aligning to the barrel (you did a blog about adjustable scope mounts), but do iron sights EVER come out mis-aligned, other than say, a random factory defect? JP
BB
Where can I get a shooting glasses like the one you described a few days ago?
Ton
I am VERY sad I missed the last .25 Cal Webley Stingrays…
I hope I can find one int he near future!!
-Peter
BB
Can any peep sight you know of fit my BSA which has a 14mm scope rail?
JP,
It isn’t common, but factory open sights can come misaligned. The recent Benjamin HB22 test I did proved that.
B.B.
Ton,
Just type Knoblock shooting glasses into Google and you’ll get all the places you need.
B.B.
A BSA peep sight shouldn’t present a problem. The solution would be to get a Mendoza and add longer bolts, if necessary (but I don’t think they are).
B.B.
BB Can a condor air tank be used on a Talon SS?
A Condor tank will fit on a Talon SS, but the power will be extremely low. A better upgrade is putting a 24″ baller on a Talon SS.
B.B.
Nice looking Mendoza diopter. Solid and I really like the looks of the 2 cap screws to tightnen it on. The drawbacks I see are it looks to be a high sight. What is the dim in 0.xxx” from the bottom of the sight to the center of the peep when bottomed out? How far right and left does it adjust?
Would you believe on my RWS 350M in 0.22 I could not use the Beeman SA sight as is. I used the bottom of the Beeman sight and the top of an older Williams model that was a low profile design that had more left adjustment that I needed on the Diana. I had the Beeman model all the way left and the gun was still shooting 1.3″ left at 50 ft. I figured I might have a burr in the crown throwing pellets left so I field lapped a la JP Paste-Brass Screw, but no luck still shot left.
KTK
Sorry maby I was shoioting right not left. I just remember to correct I needed the original front iron sight all the way left to get on target and with my hybred williams sight I am ok now with a fairly good adjustemt to the left to bring the group on target. KTK
Paul,
yes, its bigger but you can use the same tank. This is because there is a hidden vent above the tank cut into the shroud.
sumo
Since I have one of these (on a Mendoza 2003), I tried it on a number of my rifles. Unfortunately, it did not work on most of them – the sight wouldn’t go down low enough. The front sight would have to be taller to compensate. It didn’t work on a Crosman Quest, RWS94, RWS48, or a Gamo 440 (it has the raised scope rail).
It DID work, just barely, on all three of my non-scope-rail Gamo’s (2 Shadows and a 220). It also worked on my B20, so it should be OK for a B26 as well.
For the Gamo’s and the B20 the scope groves are down a little too far. I had to grind the underside of the sight to get a little clearance (it hit the top of the compression tube).
Vince,
A higher front sight is a GIVEN with a peep sight. This is a target sight and is, by nature, taller than a sporting sight.
Look at the front sight that comes on an HW 50 as an example. That is the correct front sight to have when using a peep like this.
B.B.
That’s sorta a shame… with a little more vertical adjustment, it could be an easy swap for the (commonly) poor open sights found on lower-priced airguns.
Is it even possible to get a higher front sight for something like a Gamo or a ’94 (without getting something custom-made)?
Quote: If there’s already a peep sight then I’ll probably put that on my wishlist. Still, I may try iron sights for awhile. I remember scopes sometimes have a problem aligning to the barrel (you did a blog about adjustable scope mounts), but do iron sights EVER come out mis-aligned, other than say, a random factory defect? JP
Endquote
Iron sights definitely can come misaligned, as the rear sight on my .177 CFX is, even though I bypassed the problem completely by scoping it.
Also, you will probably find that the iron sights on that Benjamin 392 leave a lot to be desired, as they are fragile, have no positive detents to prevent misadjustment, and the front blade is so narrow that it doesn’t fill the rear notch in the sight picture, making shot placement difficult to say the least.
PA sells a nice peep especially for specific Benjam/Sheridans that should be a vast improvement over the stock open sights.
Just keep in mind that you will probably have to remove the factory rear sight, which should be a snap, as you simply slide the entire assembly forward off the aluminum block rail.
Good luck.
Just wanted to share something….
I have a few rifles (9) and all are scoped. Today a 1 piece mount arrived in the post, made by Nikko, its cheap but well made. I got it as its adjustable for elevation WITHOUT removing the scope or mount from the rifle. Basically its a dial that you turn and it raises the back of the mount up. There is no adjustment for windage however, for that, you use the scope adjuster. Anyway….I fitted the scope, all looked good, until i found that the gun was shooting 5 feet to the left at 50m, way more than the windage adjuster could correct for. Very puzzled, i looked long and hard at the scope and noticed that it clearly wasnt lined up with the barrel. I loosed the mount rail fixings (3 of them) and carefully re-tightened. Bingo, all is now well. I point this out as after fitting many scopes, all without a problem, this caught me by surprise. I had no idea that the fixing screws could twist a scope, even on a 1 piece mount!!!
Vince,
If the air rifle has dovetail grooves at the muzzle into which the front sight fits, then there is a chance of finding another higher front sight. It will almost certainly be a globe sight. Many Weihrauch rifles have this dovetail system.
But if the front sight is held on by a screw, there’s almost no hope of finding a replacement.
B.B.
Fixing screws,
What happened to you is one side if the dovetail rails on the scope mount was not seated correctly in the dovetail groove of your rifle. This happens often. In fact, it happens to me half the time on spring rifle that have shallow grooves (which is most of them).
After mounting the mount, it helps to look at the alignment with the receiver.
B.B.
BB Is the JSB .22 Diabolo Jumbo Match Pellet a worthy pellet for target shooting? The pellet varies from 14.9-15.1 gr. I don’t remember any comments about it by you or others. Thank you.
bb,
i dont like to shoot and tell but here i go…
Today I took a squerrels heart out with a kodiak at just under 90 yards! It was a heart shot for sure. Its one of those dull days and all the critters come out.
Never under estimate 30 foot pounds. Much less one hole groups at 50 yards.
-sumo
JSB Jumbo Match,
I haven’t tried this pellet, but anything JSB makes will be great.
B.B.
How long do you think it would take to “do” the Roanoke show? I know that this is a hard call to make, but assuming that I’m not looking for rare collectibles or high-dollar items, just a few good bargains and some fix-r-upper’s.
Just trying to get a general idea of the time I’d need to allot for it if I get there.
Vince,
To really see everything, plan on five straight hours. And come on Friday, if you can. However, on Saturday is when the locals come and they brings their guns with them.
B.B.
Hi B.B.
Will this Mendoza peep work well on an IZH-61? Concerns are mounting location and front blade height.
Thx,
Bill
Bill,
It will mount okay. I’d have to test one to see if it is tall enough, and I don’t have this sight yet.
B.B.
I agree the Mendoza peep sight is a well made, bargain-priced sight. Unfortunately, I do not believe it usable on many air guns. I say this because I have 3 springers of different manufacture on which the sight sits too high to be of any use. Adjusted to its lowest setting, my rifles were shooting 3-4 inches high at 25 yards.
Regards,
Fred
i have a daisy model 86 70 i cant find a instruction paper ,, anyone know were i could find one
Well, for starters, try Daisy. They keep copies of the manuals for most of their guns.
daisy.com
B.B.