by B.B. Pelletier
Daisy’s new Powerline model 35 multi-pump air rifle is designed for youth. It’s a smoothbore with several interesting features.
Today is accuracy day, and I know a lot of you have been waiting to see what this smoothbore Daisy Powerline model 35 multi-pump air rifle can do. Because it’s a multi-pump, I experimented a little with the number of pumps, but all groups were 10 shots at the stated distance.
Not a rifle
Before I start the report, here’s a little nomenclature lesson. Our UK readers should know this far better than our U.S. readers since they’re quite particular about calling guns exactly what they are. Americans, on the other hand, often refer to a long gun as a rifle, regardless of whether it is rifled or not. In this day, when there are no more buck-and-ball smoothbores or muskets to contend with, I suppose it’s understandable — but it isn’t correct. And, when we encounter a real smoothbore like this model 35 Daisy, we make the mistake of calling it a rifle. Heck, even Daisy calls it a rifle, but it isn’t. It’s a gun, by the strictest definition of the term. So, I’m calling it a gun — not a rifle.
Let’s begin the report.
Loading
I said last time that the pellets were prone to falling into the BB hole at the rear of the loading trough. Reader GenghisJan said he pushes the bolt forward to block the hole after cocking but not far enough to interfere with the skirts of the pellets being loaded. I tried his method and found that it works, but the loading area is still too small for me to roll the pellet in the way some other folks advised. So, I continued to let it drop over the receiver with the muzzle pointed straight down. That works for me nearly all the time.
Accuracy
I thought I would first test the gun rested at 10 meters. If it turned out to be accurate, I would then back up to 25 yards in a separate test. But if it wasn’t accurate at 10 meters (11 yards), there was no hope for it at the longer distance.
I used a 6 o’clock hold; and although the front sight has a white dot, I was able to mask it entirely by lighting the target brightly and shooting in a dark room. So, the maximum sighting precision was used on every shot.
Pellets were first, and the first pellet tested was the 7.9-grain Crosman Premier. I pumped the gun 6 times per shot because that seemed like a good place to begin.
The performance on target, however, is not very good. I’m not showing the customary dime next to the group because I had to photograph the first group while the target was still taped to the backer board. Not all 10 pellets remained on the target, and this was the only way to show the actual size of the group.
One of the 10 Crosman Premier pellets missed the target paper entirely (to the right). The black bull is approximately 1-3/16″ diameter (30mm), and this group is about three inches in width.
After that group, I thought perhaps my technique was bad or maybe the pellet was wrong, so next I tried the RWS Hobby pellet.
RWS Hobbys were no better at 10 meters! Another pellet missed the target to the right and this “group” undoubtedly measures in excess of 3″ across.
At this point, I examined the pellet holes and thought perhaps the pellets weren’t stable in flight. Each hole seems to have a tear to one side, as if the pellet passed through slightly off-axis. Next, I tried a different pellet and a different number of pump strokes.
Daisy Superior Match Grade pellets
Don’t search for these pellets online. The ones I have date back to the 1980s and have not been retained in the Daisy line. They’re starting to show signs of corrosion but haven’t turned white yet. I shot them on 5 pumps and, surprisingly, they turned in the best group to this point. They were grouped about 2-1/2″ above the aim point, however.
Ten obsolete Daisy target pellets made this group, which is the best one made to this point in the test. It measures 2.201″ between centers and stayed on the target paper.
The “accuracy” improvement is so minimal, though, that I don’t think anyone needs to mourn the loss of this pellet. It’s a lightweight wadcutter, if you want to experiment.
Like the first two pellets, most of the holes with this one also seemed to have the telltale tear on one side, so I thought 10 pumps might solve the problem. Would going faster make the pellet any more stable? Ten pumps did bring the pellets back to the aim point — sort of.
Ten pumps did nothing to improve the group of Daisy target pellets. In fact, one of the three pellets to the right (probably the one closest to the target) missed the target paper entirely.
Summary of pellet accuracy
Obviously, I’m not going to shoot this gun at 25 yards and risk putting pellets into the wall. We wondered how accurate a smoothbore might be, and I must say that I’m a little disappointed by the lack of accuracy seen here. I could spend a lot of time chasing after a better pellet, but that’s not time well spent.
On to BBs
BBs were next, and I moved in to 25 feet from the target. Eight feet less might not seem like a lot; but when you’re dealing with something as potentially inaccurate as a BB, it can be. Normally, I would have started with a shot from 12 feet just to make certain the gun was on target, but something told me it was. The first shot was from 25 feet. I shot in the offhand supported position, which means I braced myself against a door jamb.
I used Daisy zinc-plated steel BBs as the ammo, because I’m testing a Daisy gun and because I’ve found them to usually be one of the best BBs on the market. RWS BBs are just as good; but like I said, this is a Daisy gun.
This time, I used a BB-gun target, whose black bull is about the size of a U.S. dime. The normal distance for shooting at this target is 15 feet (offhand); so at 25 feet, I was under a slight disadvantage. The lighting was the same as for the 10-meter targets and the sights were just as sharp as before.
Ten BBs from 25 feet offhand supported produced the second-tightest group of the entire test. It measures 2.277″ between centers.
Don’t go making any assumptions about the four BBs that landed together just above the bull. They were shot and sighted exactly the same as the other 6 shots and are just a coincidence. This is where 5-shot groups tell you much less, because notice there’s a fifth shot in the black just below the group. I have no idea when that was shot in the series of shots, but some writers will make that the reality and explain away the other holes — or just not show them!
Wow! A little Photoshop fakery and this “5-shot” group looks like a winner!
Bottom line
I liked the Daisy Powerline model 35 until it came to accuracy. Then, it seemed to be an adequate BB gun, but not up to par with pellets. I guess those little spiral scratches in the barrel mean something after all!
Edith
The math problem at the bottom of the comment page could be construed as discriminatory against those of us that went to Georgia’s public schools.
Also, I think a blog on photoshopping targets might be in order.
You don’t need to use photoshop much of the time to fix targets….
Careful placement of coins (as many as needed) to cover bad shots does wonders. You can also shoot the group from as close as you need to get a good looking group, then claim a distance that makes the group look comparable to what you see claimed on the “yellow”. We can all have 100 yd bedrooms that way. Or maybe closets.
twotalon
You also could just shoot one shot groups . All the groups are one holers then ,and nothing is inaccurate.
It’s a $35 BB gun.
This makes me want to try out my Red Ryder at 10m rested. I’m willing to bet the Red Ryder will group better, since it has a medallion in the stock and a little strip of leather tied to its saddle ring. Oh, and I *know* it has minute-of-goose-butt accuracy at 25m.
flobert,
I haven’t shot a Red Rider since the early 70’s (my brothers). I do remember having a ball with it. It’s one of those guns that a kid could spend all day with. I do recall it being accurate enough for me as a kid, meaning, if I missed it was my fault.
Enjoy,
Victor
BB,
First let me say Happy New Year! May God bless you and your family. I know Im a little late to this party but wanted to thank you for all your hard work! I still remember when I was younger and read EVERY SINGLE POST in this blog. Still have my cf-x 🙂 When I graduated HS I was 17 and decided to join the ARMY. I left for basic and AIT and after I got to my unit(had just turned 18) I deployed for a year in Afghanistan. I got injured over there and its been a tough road to recover but things will get better. With work and therapy and all that, I never even thought of writing here, but today I remembered and came back.Still remember d when I was in basic and they were explaining the breathing, sight picture and trigger squeeze and I thought to myself “I had already read this in the blog!”
My love for airguns eventually made me want to explore firearms. First thing I did was build an AR-15. Then a Remington 700 and finally I was considering a Taurus pt1911. Well guess were my search for reviews brought me 😀 After reading your review I bought a SA 1911 than a Smith and wesson(great pistol) and then I decided it was time to treat myself to something nice(like your amazing Wilson Combat 😉 ) and just picked up last month my Les Baer 1911 after 6 months of waiting for it :P.
I have to say that coming here and finding this post were u mention all those people from back then brought a lot of memories. Thanks again for all the hard work and hours you have put in this great blog. A lot of people have been inspired by you, I am one of those people. Cant see myself not shooting, whether it be airguns or firearms. And we both know that all started here and with my good ol’ cf-x. Sorry for the long post just wanted to tell you that you are an inspiration to many and I appreciate all you do. God Bless you and Ill be around more often.
Hernan ( CFX- GUY )
posted here cause i couldnt see my comment on the other one. Dont know if they have to be approved first so sorry for the repost
CFX-Guy/Hernan,
Your comments were in the spam folder, but I see that you have now registered. Let me see if I can fix it so your future comments don’t end up in the spam folder.
We’ve had a terrible problem with spam. Let me add you to the “good guys” list for the blog 🙂
Edith
CF-X guy,
Happy New Year! And a big thank you for your service! Welcome back! 🙂
/Dave (/shooter)
CF-X GUY
Welcome back! And it’s great for staying true to airguns, especially to CFX – I am a bit of CFX-guy myself.
duskwight
CF-X Guy,
I’m sure I speak for all – lurkers and active commenters alike when I say welcome home. Thanks for all your sacrifices on behalf of our country, families and us. We all wish you a speedy recovery to 100% and hope you stay a regular participant on the blog.
Fred PRoNJ
Hernan,
Fred does indeed speak for this particular lurker. Thank you, and welcome back!
-Jan
Hernan ( CFX- GUY ),
I remember you from way-back-when. Yes, you were younger then and it sounds like after what you’ve been through, you’re a WHOLE lot older now. There are many of us veterans on this blog, including Captain BB, himself. I want to join those thanking you for your service. I know you didn’t do it for the Thanks but you deserve it.
-Chuck
Hernan,
Great to hear from you! Thanks for your service in the war against terrorism, sorry you got injured. You’re hero status now!
Anyway, again, good to hear from you.
ka (dsw)
I love going to PA’s site after reading B.B.’s and Edith’s reviews on here. The customer comments are great. Reading some of those reviews would have you believe this is the most accurate gun ever made! You must be doing something wrong B.B.! (kidding, of course)
chasblock,
I read the customer gun reviews with wonder & amazement. Guns that are known to be dogs for accuracy and handling characteristics are often praised highly.
If you’ve shot only cheap airguns, then you don’t know that the better guns cost more because they have better barrels, triggers and stocks. For some people, it’s all about price and nothing else matters.
The blog readers are generally seekers of truth, interested in achieving the best accuracy they can get for what they spend on their guns and not committed to the claptrap they read in the run-of-the-mill gun magazines that often disparage airguns by claiming the resulting poor accuracy of the gun tested is “typical of what you can expect from airguns.”
Edith
The embellishment of airguns doesn’t just apply to customer reviews on retailers sites or run of the mill magazines.
The average airgun forum is littered with it. In all fairness to the airgunner, and at risk of sounding elitist, these drum beaters may not have shot an accurate airgun for comparison. In reality I fear that these airgunners either don’t own a ruler, range finder, 100 yard tape measure or just like phrases like single hole accuracy, tack driver and shoots like a laser (typical exclamation points eliminated on purpose).
kevin
Kevin,
When the internet was relatively young, I belonged to an email group about airguns (because that’s all their was). One regular repeatedly swore he could hit the bullseye on a paper target with his air pistol…at a quarter mile’s distance. No one believed him, but the man was extremely combative and swore that he was telling the truth. He repeated this idiotic statement over and over. He was deadly serious.
The crazy man we used to live next door to in Maryland repeatedly told us he could shoot accurately with open sights at 1/8 mile…and then pointed to the stop sign at the corner as being 1/8 mile. It was only 100 yards away.
I regularly read airsoft gun reviews from people who do not make a distinction between yards and feet. The guys who say they can accurately shoot an airsoft gun at 100 yards WILL get their review published (if all else is accurate), but I’ll immediately go to their published review & write a response stating that they probably meant to say 100 feet, not yards.
It’s sad that there are so many mediocre airguns that are setting the bar so low.
Edith
Edith…
Might be the inability of peope now to relate to simple math or units of measurement. That’s without the conspiracy to sneak the metric system in on us.
Notice that people now cannot do simple math by hand anymore? Don’t know how many feet in a yard? Inches in a foot? These people could not do any better with the metric system because people don’t have to learn anything today.
Maybe I should get a meter “yard stick”. That way I could get the fantastic trajectory and groups that everybody else gets. Let’s see now ….a meter “yardstick” measures in meters. It’s easy to see that it is 100 meters long, and each meter is divided into 10 parts which would be tenths of a meter. Don’t know what cm and mm stand for. must be some kind of metric abbreviation for something.
twotalon
How true, you see this in other sports too. There are lots and lots of these “Legends in their Own Minds” out there. Like the guys with 8 second cars, and the sub par golf averages. But, when you get to the range, drag strip, or golf course, their skill “Evaporates”!
Also, most if not all of them seem to be men. I haven’t met any women like this.
Mike
The need to have a bigger and better story…to impress people with??
Have seen women do it too, but usually on different topics.
twotalon
Edith,
What shocks me is that so many PA customers ranked the accuracy of this gun at 5-stars. I would be hard pressed to put it at more than one or two. Does the 760 take the prize as the least accurate BB/pellet gun that BB has tested? I guess those who gave it 5 stars just don’t know what accuracy means; perhaps they need a smaller side of the barn to aim at.
I know that Daisy has to have some low-priced leaders to get people interested in the sport, but it seems to me that a couple of days shooting this gun would discourage most because they couldn’t do well with a paper target; even soda cans would be tough; and they could never see any improvement in their scores. Spending even $10 more would probably buy a much better product. I hate to disappoint a kid so badly that he or she would give up learning to shoot well because of wretched equipment.
pete
I would never hand one to a kid, but I might hand one to a blowhard neighbor of mine . He could shoot that with the worst ammo I can find for it, and I will shoot something else…of my choosing.
twotalon
Edith,
Wow, I think you struck a nerve with many of us.
You’ve spotlighted the primary reason that I have limited my reading on other airgun sites. Too much stuff to wade through and it gets my high boots dirty. You and B.B. have spoiled us with accurate reporting. Keep telling it like it is. I’ve had my fill of photoshop targets.
I’ve been reading old airgun magazines and books on guns lately. I’ve had fun going back in time and reading some of your old blogs. Here’s an example:
/blog/2007/3/best-airguns-for-the-money-part-4unlimited-price/
With all the new introductions of airguns in the past 5 years I wish B.B. would update these lists. Best airguns for the money:
1-Under $150.00
2-$150-$250
3-$250-$500
4-Best airguns for an unlimited budget
I didn’t realize until I re-read part 3 in this series that in 2007 Pyramyd AIR was still selling the original HW50S (old R8). I have one of those HW50S shown in the PA pictures. Not a goudy style stock like the R8 wore, not the old HW50 finger groove stock with a hogs back comb but a transition between the two. Interesting.
You can place my wish in B.B.’s file titled “I think I’m going to run out of airgun topics to write so don’t think this blog will last very long.”
kevin
Kevin,
I agree that the “best of” list needs to be updated. Tom?
Edith
Kevin,
I need some topics like this for the road. When I go to SHOT I can write stuff that doesn’t require testing.
Thanks, and I will do it.
B.B.
B.B.,
The “best of airguns at various price points” especially considering all the recent introductions seems like a good on the road topic for you and Mac to discuss. I hope you’ll spend some time writing about the SHOT Show.
When you walk into your first casino, go to the roulette wheel. When the second hand on your watch reaches 12 put one dollar on red. Take your winnings and don’t play anymore. Follow these instructions and you will leave Vegas richer than the majority.
kevin
Kevin,
I will definitely report on the show while I’m there.
And as for the roulette wheel, I’ll do it.
B.B.
Just the other day I was reading a review at Canadian Tire (our homegrown Walllymart) of the Crosman 357 pellet revolver. One fellow stated that it was a great gun and that he has taken many rabbits with it at 50 yds.
I could only surmise that they died of laughter!
Don’t you think comaring Canadian Tire to Wally’s is a little harsh? Canadian Tire has a LOT of good quality tools and real car parts… but a large percentage of employees could not post here with the tough math question at the bottom and all 😉
J-F
Copy that! That is a great example of a “Legend in His Own Mind”.
Mike
I let fly at a rabbit with a 12 guage one time and saw everything around it explode. Dropped over dead on the spot. Funny thing….. could not find any blood. Could not find any holes when I cleaned it. Apparently scared it to death. Maybe if you just yell “BANG !” or fart loud enough they will have a coronary and keel over. I will not include any jokes about the French at this point. (I am half German).
twotalon
My thoughts are why bother to make this gun with such nice styling as to ergonomics, and then leave out the rifled barrel part? Daisy should re-badge it as a pellet gun only and block-off the bb reservoir like their dis-continued 956 model of a few years ago. The 880 which has the rifled barrel is only $10 more. As for accuracy with smooth bores, my older Benji 130 will stay inside 1 1/2” at the 25 foot mark as will a couple other bb guns I have with the smooth barrel. I’d say there are issues with this one as to the quality of the barrel /shot tube, and the power it is generating. I notice that the pellets are barely sticking through the paper in the targets shown.
1/4″ hydraulic line does not make a good barrel????
twotalon
Try brake line. Plus if the barrel bends, it’s much easier to straighten out!
Fred PRoNJ
Robert,
The pellets all passed through the targets. What you see is an optical delusion.
B.B.
Disappointing in the accuracy depot department so far. I believe my smooth bore 760 will outshoot this 35, which seems to be Daisy’s answer to the Crosman 760. I’m not sure about the accuracy with bb’s though. I’ll have to go get some to try…
/Dave
I believe my 760 is much more accurate than this rifle.
Victor,
I just did a down and dirty test of my Wally World, $25 Crosman 760. With me scrunched into a corner and shooting 10 shot groups of ten pumps each off a monopod at just short of 10 yds from muzzle to target, I came up with:
Daisy Precision Max- 3-1/2″ ctc
Crosman Destroyers- 1-3/4″ ctc
H&N Baracudas- 1-1/8″ ctc with one flier that opened the group up to 1-5/8″.
That one Baracuda flier I felt and saw so I didn’t count it. The other groups were good groups. Maybe BB got a bum gun?… My old 760 would have done better than this, even with the crappy old Superpells. Still no bb’s, so that’ll have to wait for another day.
/Dave
one without a “9” in it! 🙂
Maybe i just got a good 35 because its one ragged hole with 10 shots at 10yards using cheap daisy wadcutters. I use mine all the time in the barn were i cant use alot of power (windows) 6 pumps n cheap daisy pellets n i hardly ever miss the mice. I take em out with head shots if they will sit still for half a second. I have never tried any other pellet i did try bb’s n the group was like 3inches. I like poking the mices eyes out with pellets. Lol for a cheap (15 bucks onsale) i have got my funs worth.
B.B.
Wow, that’s something what I call “spray”! I hope it has stock strong enough to run towards one’s target and finish it with a precise strike to the head 🙂 I can not suspect B.B. in overdoing on “celebration” part, so I suspect this gun is not only a smoothbore, but a bit oversized smoothbore – it feels pellets had a real beating along the barrel. I wonder why someone bothered to make such a nice-looking gun with such an ugly pipe for the barrel.
Apart from that, it seems e-PCPs are a “dernier cri” in pneumatic rifles. There seem to be lots of advantages over traditional scheme. Cheap components, easy-to-control and to tune striker (compare that to tuning springs and weighting striker), no trigger mechanism in coventional sense of this word. Well, I always thought that PCP is a bit apart from guns , being a sort of high-precision distance drilling devices – and its evolution prover I’m not far from the truth.
duskwight
Interesting results. I’m like Dave in that I wonder how this compares with the smooth-bore Crosman 760 accuracy wise? I also wonder how it would handle the cheap Crosman and Daisy wad-cutter pellets you see in Wal-mart.
Out of curiosity, has the generic Crosman 760 ever been tested the here? I did a search but didn’t see anything.
I just got an email saying my IZH-46M upgraded trigger assembly has shipped. I’m really anxious to get this. It was on back-order. I also ordered four different head sizes of the H&N Finale Match Pistol .177 Cal, 7.56 Grains, Wadcutters. I already had the one in 4.5mm. Play time!
While shopping for the trigger I noticed the 46M now comes in a left-hand version. I wonder if I could trade mine in? 😉
Chuck,
Do let me know quickly how you like the trigger shoe. I can easily see myself popping for it if you like it.
Edith–
Does the PA 30 day guarantee extend to an accessory like the trigger shoe?
pz
pete,
PA and UPS are usually pretty good at getting stuff to my door so I should be getting the trigger in a couple more days. I will definitely let you know how it goes. I saw where the 46Ms come in a left-hand version. I wonder if they have this new trigger on those or if they slanted that trigger to the left like they slant the trigger to the right on the right-hand pistols.
-Chuck
pete,
I just checked the tracking link on my email notification and the trigger is scheduled for delivery tomorrow (1/6) via FedEx and the excellent shipping service kudos go to FedEx and not UPS (Edith, my bad). I should be able to let you know how it is by Saturday or Sunday. Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny, calm 52 degrees so a winter motorcycle ride is on the schedule for tomorrow. Man, it’s tough to have to pick and choose ones fun for the day.
-Chuck
Good day all and happy new year
I continue to read the blog everyday and therefore continue to learn everyday. Thank you very much to BB for his continued work, and especially for the research on accuracy vs velocity!
Sometime ago, I purchased a non working FB124. I finally had the time to disassemble. Of course, exactly as BB had indicated on his FB124, multi-part blog, the original seal is torn to small pieces. The spring looks fine although shows a little bending toward the back end. I ordered one of the Maccari kits and breech seal. Hopefully I will be able to install those next week. I will report on results then.
The TX200 is better than ever. The velocity decreased from the original 940 fps to 900 fps with CPLs. Accuracy is not an issue. It gets twangy after a while and solve it applying a little tar on the spring. Initially, I had to clean the bore twice as it would loose accuracy (or should I say precision?) after 300-500 shots, probably because of leading. Why it doesn’t happen anymore? I don;t know. Maybe because the spring relaxed and velocity dropped, or maybe velocity dropped because the bore leaded to a stable configuration?
I also got the CZ 200S, which is about the same as the S200 one with the Air Arms name on it. I am talking about the one with the distinctive laminate red stock. It is awesome, can hit the head of a fly at 500 yd, shoots like a laser, pellets never drop from a straight line. Well, I am not lying, it could hit the head of a fly at 500 yd by chance, and pellets never drop from a straight line if shot in space. What it doesn’t do is shoot like a laser. It is accurate (or precise…) though. Does not like CPLs AT ALL. It does like JSB exacts. Gives over 40 accurate shots. I found out it needs to be filled to 175 bar measured after all hoses disconnected.
Oh! one more thing… I am more than frustrated with the unavailability of SR1911s and long wait lists. I want to buy my first 1911 and I was willing to wait for Ruger’s, but this is ridiculous.
So, those were my comments for 2012… Cheers!
TE
Another possible weekend blog….after today’s low budget offering….
Let’s say you want to buy an airgun for your kid/grandkid/nephew, or whatever. How would things go down under different situations? For example….
Giver….
no airgun experience
some airgun experience
a lot of airgun experience
reciever….
no airgun experience
some airgun experience
much airgun experience
shows interest
does not show any interest
has his or her eye on something and lets you know it
A lot of possible situations there. You could think of many more, I am sure.
twotalon
Edith it was wondefull this morning waking up with only 4 or 5 spam messages to delete.
Makes reading all the posts much more enjoyable, I was always afraid I would delete a valid post from an old blog and miss some important info.
J-F
J-F,
I had the same fear…in the middle of the night, bleary-eyed, staring at my iPhone’s screen as I scrolled through the messages to determine which were spam & which were not. I often deleted 70-120 spams at a time around 12:30-2 am. That’s the fear that drove me to move my computer into the bathroom so I wouldn’t make a mistake.
Edith
Yeah! Signal/noise is WAY up. Thanks!!!
-Jan
By at least 20 db ?
twotalon
Everyone,
Hooray for the Mom in Oklahoma for her bravery and good sense. It’s not often that the media reports news stories where the good guy (gal) has the gun. I would love to see more stories of this type in the mainstream media. One less bad guy thanks in no small part to the 2nd Amendment.
http://news.yahoo.com/okla-woman-shoots-kills-intruder-911-operators-okay-091106413.html
Mark N,
Great story! Thanks for the link!
B.B.
Good story. Glad to hear it. One less violent scum. No waste of taxpayer money on trials or prison accomodations. Never to repeat a crime again.
twotalon
I read that one too! It made me smile!! 🙂 Terrible that she had to go through that, but maybe now word gets around a little…
/Dave
Are all the anwers “9”?
The answer is always “C”. I learned that a long time ago in the air force. Any time you don’t know the answer on multiple guess…..
twotalon
Except for 17% of the time it’s “B”
/Dave
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45870968/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
Like the old Toyota commercial….”you asked for it….you got it….bend over….”
I could say that it was clearly intended as a terrorist act. Stop defending the punk.
How often have I seen on the news that some punk who was killed by the police and has a rap sheet a mile long……and the mother is screaming that he was a good boy, and he did not deserve this, and she wants justice…..
I say justice was served….later than it should have been.
Yeah, let’s cover for the poor innocent punk. Make him look like the good guy.
twotalon
Some of my posts seem to vanish…
So to re-phrase….
Only two of the three shots hit the punk? Someone needs some training.
twotalon
TT,
Don’t know why that’s happening. I’m trying to stay on top of the blog, but I’m not as attentive as I was when we had hundreds of spams flooding it.
I’ll see what I can do to make it play nice with you 🙂
Edith
TT,
I just added your email address to the good guys’ list 🙂
Let’s see if that does it.
Edith
Edith….
Don’t worry about it.
I am used to things not playing nice with me. I figure out ways to not play nice in return.
In other words… I do not give up easy.
Get a good night’s sleep and don’t worry about it.
Rub your cats and Tom’s head and go to bed.
twotalon
Almost sounds like “suicide by proxy” to me…. He had lot’s of opportunities to put the weapon down. Without having been there, it sounds justified. Sad, but justified…
/Dave
“Jaime was not a bad kid,” [the grandmother] said. “I’m not saying he was perfect or an angel, but he was a very giving person.”
Yes, apparently he liked to give out punches to the face for no reason. Great kid. I am glad his stupidity caught up with him. It’s just a shame he was holding an airgun.
B.B.,
You think this rifle might have done better with pellets if the barrel was somehow lubricated? That’s awful performance!
Victor
Victor,
I don’t know. What I do know is that owners aren’t going to lubricate their pellets.
As for BBs, lubrication is a no-no. It can cause them to stick together, creating problems.
B.B.
Thanks everyone for the good wishes!
Sadly the Daisy Gun Manufacturing Corporation has decided to produce JUNK. I recently spoke to them Via Email. There are no real human associates available to speak to. They told me the Model 25 was never produced with a rifled barrel. I am holding in my hand the barrel assembly of my 1967 Model 25, looking down the barrel and it has plenty of rifling! I purchased a new model 25 for my grandson and could not figure out why I couldn’t hit the ground if I was standing on it! According to Daisy a rifled barrel is not available. I also have a 1971 edition Daisy 880 Powerline. I bought the new Daisy model 880 Powerline, also JUNK. All plastic and accuracy is non existent! It is so sad that one of Americas great gun manufactures has decided to cut cost at the expense of accuracy and CUSTOMERS.
If a 1967 Model 25 is rifled – that would be very strange. The barrel (“shot tube”) is made for steel BB’s, which cannot engage rifling and therefore take advantage of it.
A new Chinese Model 25 (or, at least MY 25) can keep 1 – 1.5″ groups at 15′, which is about normal for run-of-the-mill BB guns, my old Daisy 1894’s certainly can’t do any better.
Sports Editor,
No NUMBER (not model) 25 was ever rifled. But Daisy did produce several pellet guns that were made on wide frame BB guns. They were the 400-series and can be found in the Blue Book.
Some one assembled the wrong barrel in that number 25!
B.B.
It’s a collectible!
B.B., the accuracy was so bad on the Daisy Model 35, I almost wonder if there wasn’t something defective in your particular gun? There are currently 12 reviews on Pyramidair.com, and those reviews aren’t too bad. There are 20 reviews on Amazon.com averaging 4 and a half stars with 3 at one star and 14 at 5 stars.
My Crosman C11 CO2 air pistol, that I just put a laser sight on, just shot a bunch of 3 shot groups to sight in the laser and try it out, got me a nice rounded group of 3/8″ from a picnic table at 10 yards. That was a best group. Many of the other groups got 2 BBs into one hole and then the 3rd maybe a half inch away. The C11 isn’t known for accuracy, but sounds like mine will out shoot a Daisy Model 35, which makes that rifle look pathetic.
Too bad daisy let this gun through.
Jon,
Sometimes that happens. I can only test what they send me. Sometimes my test gun outshoots all others, too.
B.B.
I have a model 35 that I did a trigger job to, and nothing else. With Crosman BB’s I get 5 shot groups of 1″ at 20 feet. I get .75″ groups with Daisy Zinc BB’s. With all pellets (aside from the crosman 250 count non-premier wadcutters in a tin) I get groups that are about the same as the BB’s or worse. With the Crosman wadcutters I can shoot around ~.25″ at 33 feet with the open sights. It shoots almost as tight as my Daisy 953, and at 10 pumps it shoots significantly faster than my 953, even though I filled the pump cup on my 953 and it went from ~480 fps with 7.9 grain premiers to ~525 fps with the same pellets. I almost never shoot my model 35 at 10 pumps, or shoot pellets, but at least I know that if I decide to do both I have a gun which will perform very well. I usually just use it at 2-3 pumps for shooting cans from the air with BB’s or for snap-shooting paper targets and army men at 25 feet indoors.
DMoneyTT,
You have done some interesting work on your model 35. Thanks for that report.
And welcome to the blog!
B.B.
Thanks B.B. I’ve been reading your blog for many years. It is my “go-to” before any new purchase. I wonder if I just got an inordinately accurate model 35, considering how much tighter my groups are with bb’s. My trigger job helped me a lot. All I did was use a shim made from a soup can lid inserted across the rear of the receiver behind the trigger to take up almost all the creep. No spring alteration or polishing to the sear or striker (not sure that striker is the right term, but you probably know what I’m talking about). The trigger breaks at exactly 3 lbs. now. I own a lot of airguns and it can be quite surprising how much the accuracy can vary from your tests to what I am getting with the same model airguns and the same pellet selection. Even my red ryders shoot completely differently from each other, and I wouldn’t have previously thought that there would be much variance on a low-powered smooth bore catapult gun shooting the same zinc bb’s, but the difference between the three I own is night and day when I punch paper from a rest.
DMoneyTT,
I expect that the work you have done on your gun has made the difference. I don’t think there is that much variation in these guns as they are made.
Thanks for reading!
B.B.
OK, did you try any heavier pellets, the 9 to 11 grain range with a good diabolo shape?
Those are what I have personally found to do the best in smooth bore air guns. To much lighter they tumble, to much heavier they begin to no longer be diabolo shaped.
Also I have found that wad cutters never seem to work in smooth bores, round nose seem to be the only option.
I think the reason for the heavier diabolo pellets doing the best is that there is more of a weight difference between the head and skirt. I could be wrong of course.