by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Beeman Double Barrel air rifle.
This report covers:
- The test
- RWS Hobby pellet
- Falcon pellet
- JSB Exact RS
- Which is which?
- Summary
Today I shoot the Beeman Double Barrel air rifle with a quality red dot sight mounted. I will tell you now that I learned a lot from today’s test.
The test
This was an accuracy test using a Tasco Pro Point red dot sight. I shot rested at 10 meters and I shot left-handed because my right eye is not working well. I’m not looking to hit the target in this test. I’m looking at the groups I get with different pellets, plus I have a couple surprises to share with you.
After mounting the sight I fired one shot and saw that the pellets were hitting about where I wanted them. I left the sight as it was and moved back to 10 meters.
RWS Hobby pellet
The first pellets I shot were RWS Hobbys, because in the last test with open sights they were the most accurate. I fired 5 shots which was 10 pellets and got the same two groups that we saw in the last test. Oddly, these groups were larger than those fired with open sights. Don’t read anything into that, because later in the test I do shoot a tighter one.
The upper group measures 0.71-inches between centers and the lower one measures 0.72-inches. That’s almost exactly the same. In the last test with open sights, the lower group measured 0.297-inches and the upper group measured 0.951-inches. The dot sight has made the groups closer to the same size. Let’s see if this trend continues.
The upper group of Hobbys is 0.71-inches between centers. Lower group is 0.72-inches.
Falcon pellet
Next I tried the Falcon pellets from Air Arms. This time the groups were sized differently, with the upper group being 1.356-inches between centers and the lower group measuring 0.702-inches. That was how the open sight test turned out, as well. The upper group there was 1.245-inches, while the lower group was 0.619-inches.
The upper group of Falcon pellets is 1.356-inches between centers. The lower group is 0.702-inches.
JSB Exact RS
Finally I tried some JSB Exact RS pellets. This is where the first surprising thing happened. I didn’t fire 5 shots from each barrel this time, because the dot sight fell off the gun on shot number 4. You might be tempted to think that was the reason these groups aren’t as small as those shot with the open sights, but just look at the upper group. It measures 0.583-inches between centers. While that’s not a great group for only 10 meters, look at the lower group with the same pellet. It measures 1.492-inches between centers.
The upper group of JSB RS pellets is 4 in 0.583-inches between centers. The lower group is four in 1.492-inches.
These 8 shots with JSB Exact RS pellets gave us both the smallest and the largest groups of this test! Since only 4 shots are in each group I don’t want to compare them to the other 5-shot groups. What I want to do is draw your attention to the huge difference in the size of each group. Obviously this pellet behaves much differently in each barrel. I have said the same thing many times, but this is the first time I have been able to show it so dramatically.
Which is which?
I wanted to know which barrel shot which group. I thought the lower barrel was shooting the lower group, but I didn’t know for sure. One way to find out was top shoot a hobby from one barrel and a Falcon from the other. The Hobby, being a wadcutter, would cut a larger cleaner hole than the domed Falcon.
So I put up a fresh target and shot one of each pellet. The Hobby was loaded into the lower barrel and the Falcon was loaded into the top barrel. When I saw the target I could see that the bottom barrel was placing groups on top and the upper barrel was placing them below.
The Hobby pellet, fired from the bottom barrel, went high, and the Falcon pellet, shot from the upper barrel, went low — the opposite of what I thought.
Summary
This is as far as I’m going with this rifle. Sure there are more oddball things I can do, like try to find two pellets that will cross at a certain distance to give one good group, but this isn’t an easy pellet rifle to shoot. The trigger is rough and heavy and the scope base on the spring tube is humped up high, making scope mounting difficult. I have other airguns and accessories to test that are worth the effort more than this one.
Still, this has been an interesting air rifle to test. I wonder what medication the designer was on when he came up with the idea. Or perhaps he hasn’t been treated yet? This is one of life’s truly oddball airguns!
BB,
That the red dot sight fell off after less that 20 shots suggests that this rifle also has a severe vibration characteristic enough to loosen your mounting.
Probably will have to be relegated to the bin along with the chief that gave the OK for production.
I agree that you have devoted as much of your time as you should for this item and ought to return to regular airgun testing.
Siraniko
I wouldn’t consider a gun like this.
B.B.
Ha ha. Can’t stop laughing at the last paragraph. Oddball gun indeed! In fact he first thought I had when first reviewed it was what kind of psycho would design something like
Sorry! hit the send button before I was ready.
I think you wasted your valuable time on this gun Sir.
Errol
Good. It’s over.
B.B.,
Interesting. I would not have expected that the shots crossed at just 10 meters. A quick check at the Beeman sight showed 1 model, select fire (it says), scoped for $210. If I remember correctly, several readers found several variations.
It would be interesting if someone from Beeman would weigh in and give us some sales #’s on just how well this sold/is selling.
Finally,…. I asked you if you thought that this oddity had any collector value,.. and I believe you said that you had to give that some serious thought. Well?
Thanks, Chris
Chris,
100 years from now one of these will show up at an airgun show and someone who writes a blog about antique air rifles will snatch it up and entertain his audience with his attempts to accurately shoot this “legendary” air rifle.
Wang Po Industries has been trying to sell this air rifle for many years now. Now that they own Beeman they think we will buy it for the name. Unfortunately, they are right. This is China’s proof to the world that we will buy anything.
RR,
Thank you for that. I was not aware that this had been out there for years already. Yea, sounds like a name play. It was still interesting for those of us that had never seen or heard of one.
Chris,
Value increases with time. Even dinosaur feces are worth something today.
I’d say this is a 20-30-year gun. That’s after it goes off the market.
B.B.
As a practicing oil & gas geologist, I can tell you that so called fossilized dinosaur feces or droppings are technically called coprolites. They are useful for determining the diet of these extinct creatures. These fossils are not rare, can be purchased for under $100, and make interesting Christmas gifts. Sorry to go off topic but it sounds like a coprolite may be as useful as this Beeman airgun. 🙂
Bob
Interesting Christmas gifts eh? I think Tom could really use a millions year-old paperweight.
Ok Tom you convinced me if I was 50 years younger I’d buy this gun. Just because is may be worth someting in 50 years due to it’s rarity. You surprise me on some tests but not this one my first thoughts were spot on.
How rare will this gun be in 20 or 30 years? Wang Po Beeman sells thousands world wide, 90% of those not returned right away are shot one time and stuck on a shelf or corner never to be picked up again. That’s a lot of examples in great shape greatly decreasing any value to future collectors. I’ll pass on this gun as a collectable investment.
David
A perfect example of design by committee. But I’m curious, I thought the idea was to see how close the two barrels shoot to each other. Perhaps the enthusiastic buyer who weighed on an earlier post can tell us that he’s been able to get the two barrels to group with each other.
This gun defeats the purpose of anything. As a hunter I have zero use for a gun that shoots two pellets at once, if I was looking for something similar I’d get a shotgun, or just bother getting a quality rifle that shoots one pellet.
Model rocketeers refer to Estes as “The toy company once known for rockets”.
I truly get what they mean whenever I see this rifle. Beeman: The company (name) once known for adult airguns.
B.B.,
(I’m posting here rather than at yesterday’s report because I was ill yesterday and did not get online.)
Thanks so very much for your report on how to prepare for and behave at shows. This one is, for me, among my all-time favorites of your reports. I personally learned a great deal, and I imagine every one else did as well. I especially appreciated your providing myriad details regarding what to bring, what is expected, common courtesies to offer fellow dealers and so on.
Just a couple comments: I, too, refuse to play the price tag-less item at shows (vintage guitar shows in my case). If the price of something is so Top Secret, then I don’t bother to ask.
Here’s another. Why do folks bring a bunch of item,s for their table that are dusty and not presentable? It insults the attendees and casts doubt on the internal condition of the item. Wipe it down and test it! Lube it! How ’bout having a detailed price tag that explains any not obvious issues. I had tables at guitar shows where I had instruments that looked near mint, but I knew a previous owner had “customized” the wiring. I had an explanation on the price tag. 1st, it made me honest. 2nd, it explained my relatively low asking price and 3rd, it spared me from explaining it all weekend long.
Your report on show behavior should be listed as a best of B.B. Really, an excellent report in every respect. Once again, thank you so very much.
Michael
B.B.,
Thanks for another interesting and entertaining report. I briefly flirted with buying one of these for plinking fun, but it isn’t interesting enough to make it worth the investment. If I want to see lots of small-scale destruction from multiple hits, I will get out the EBOS. It makes the cans and green army guys fly in all directions, and is very satisfying.
Also, thanks for the info on shows. I do go to gun shows and your advice will be of help.
Walt, just wondering, how far away can the EBOS accurately hit a soda can? Other than seeing it online, I’ve never seen one being fired. Are you happy with it? Is it reliable?
Thanks,
Doc
Doc,
I am happy with my EBOS. I have shot it at 10, 20, and 30 yards, and it has hit soda cans at 30. Accuracy is great for a BB gun. A red dot should be used, as the open sights are not very good. I have bought 3 EBOS, of which 1 leaked out of the box. Pyramid took back the leaky unit with no problems. The two that don’t leak have worked well for almost 2 years. 10 for 10 from Pyramid is a good idea based on this experience. It appears that the weakest parts of the EBOS are the switches, so I use them sparingly. Laser sights are a fun accessories, and sometimes you can see the BB’s flight path merging with the beam as you shoot…very cool. For a plastic BB gun, it is one re-hot mama. B.B. has reviewed it for this blog, and you can link to it from the EBOS catalog page.
Happy shooting!
Walt
Just realized that I bought the EBOS one year ago, not two. Memory starting to go….
Walt
So this rifle is the answer to a question no one has asked and no one wants and apparently has no need for it. I, too would like to hear from Beeman’s Chinese owners what their thought process was when they made this other than “we can. Our market will buy anything”.
Fred DPRoNJ
Man,…. this thing sure ain’t gettin’ any luv. After much debate, I figured my “hit the buy button” point would be 60$. That is after Wally’s has them at 120$ and they end up in the clearance aisle for 60$. I am not holding my breath on ever seeing one.
I was surprised to see to see about a dozen air rifles along with some air pistols show up in the clearance isle at Wally’s. First time I had seen that ever. The rifles were still going for 100-150$. I do not pay much attention to Wally’s offerings or price points so I am not sure if there was any significant 75-100$ discounts in there or not. The highest normal price I have ever seen was 249.99$ I think. Pretty pathetic really. About 10 models and that includes the Red Ryder, The Buck, 880, etc.. As for pellets,….. I am pretty sure that Wally’s and Crosman are owned by the same company. 😉
Oh well, it was still fun to see it tested.
Chris USA,
$60? Is it worth that much? Aside from the novelty I don’t quite see anything in it except to sell by weight.
Siraniko,
Wood stock, 99% steel elsewhere, odd(ish) sights, it works. (It works),….. so yea,…. it’s worth 60$, at least to me.
B.B., Thanks for taking the time to test this gun. Was it a waste? I would think not. The gun may be a bust, but the review was not! It was fair and good. If not for the review, some would buy it that wouldn’t if they’ve read about it and then be mad. I agree with most on here about not much use, not for me anyway. That said, I can see in a few years from now this gun being sought after. Just because it’s odd.
Doc
the rifle maybe a fluke design but I really like the rear sight .it should be on all airguns but with a peep site. it reminds me of the site on my enfield MK IV
BB
Just wondering if you ever found your review on the Tanfoglio Limited Gold Custom 4.5mm steel bb pistol?
Cheers
Dave
Dave,
Nope. Maybe I didn’t do it.
B.B.
BB
Thanks. I thought it would be nice to compare your review to the Tanfoglio Gold that I just bought a little while ago.
Dave
This is effectively a blunderbuss. It’s not just a question of the designer. What about the management, marketing, and everyone else who has to sign off on a new product? One thing that this gun does well is supply a design for the weirdest airgun name ever–the “Twice.”
Matt61
Matt61,
At a loss for words to adequately describe this oddity? 😉 That is not like you at all. 😉
Joking aside,… ok,.. maybe not “completely” aside,….. I would be looking to NURF for the next off the wall air gun design. Water, foam darts, real darts, .177, .22, .25, .30 caliber pellets, arrows, spear gun,…. all shooting at the (same) time. PCP of course,…. on a slightly,.. “expanded”,… Bull Dog platform. Selective fire or all at once. 4000 psi fill. 15# trigger pull. Oh yea,.. some of those helicopter flying disc thingys too.
That is all I got. 😉
Okay, just don’t build a drone armed with flamethrowers and machine guns. I believe the ATF took an interest in a case like that.
I don’t know if you got my post about Carpophorus, the King of Beasts in Rome. But the examples keep coming of superhuman characters from the past. During his reign, Tsar Peter the Great came into conflict with an old medieval militia called the Streltsy which resisted his modernizations (which included building the city of St. Petersburg). A failed coup was attempted after which the Tsar began interrogating members of the unit. The procedures were gruesome and involved fire and whips, but the soldiers refused to break. Finally, in genuine wonder, the Tsar asked how they resisted. One of them finally said that they belonged to a secret society of pain whose rank was based on the severity of the tortures they could endure. The test for the highest level was bizarre and very undesirable. Compared to this, the man said, the tortures of the Tsar were laughable. At this the Tsar said, “I know that no affliction can make you confess, but you will do so out of love for your sovereign.” At this, the man broke down weeping and confessed everything…I guess this is what the CIA calls finding the leverage points.
Matt61
Matt61,
I did get/saw your post. That one, along with this one,.. has convinced me that the people of “Old” were MUCH tougher.
I must ask,… Do you know all of this stuff off the top of your head? OR Do you do some on the spot research prior to posting? Some of what you write would require a draft, with multiple revisions,… if it were me writing it. On content,…. I would be no where in the same ball park,.. or city,… or Country.
🙂 ,…. Chris
I must be really sad, as I’d love one of these!
No idea what use Id have for it tho, as its obviously not fit for purpose.
Great article again, thank you.
Richardwales,
Me too. I just do not want to admit it publicly. 😉
It’s OK, your among friends!!!
I’m from the UK, were only allowed toy guns over here! I found this blog few weeks ago. It’s brilliant. Can’t claim to understand all of it yet, but I’ll get there.
I wasn’t allowed an air gun as a kid, so making up for it now.
Rick.
Rick,
This is a real good site,.. with a lot of real good people. It is easy to use and there is even some real movers and shakers in the air gun industry that chime in sometimes. I started late too. I have learned a lot in 2 years. With B.B.’s archives, you could spend the rest of your life just playing “catch up”. U.S., Ohio,.. by the way.
Chris
Hi Chris.
I love the subtle humour on here, especially in the comments section. Tom is lucky to have a wife that supports his hobby, my wife thinks I’m nuts!
My other addiction is locks, I trade locks with lots of great Americans.
Picked up an el gamo paratrooper yesterday, that’s my latest project.
I also own a mk1 meteor, a Hatsan m60s, an a weihrach hk97kt, an a few pistols. I love them all, but especially love the older stuff. Reminds me of my childhood I guess.
Richard,
welcome to the blog. You should know that BB or Tom Gaylord’s wife, Edith, passed away a while ago. We all loved her as she would occasionally participate in the blog.
Fred Democratik Peoples Republik of New Jersey or DPRoNJ for short
I didn’t realise that, I’m so sorry. I’m slowly working my way thru the blog starting at the beginning.
Thanks for letting me know Fred.
Rick,
Well, it sounds as if you are well on your way. Locks are cool too. I know little of them, but I enjoy old ones that show hand work and craftsmanship. Unique designs as well.
If you can, get your hands on a copy of The Blue Book of Airguns. That is worth it’s weight in gold and covers everything from the oldest to the newest.
Edith passed about a year ago. We all miss her. If you go back around then in the blogs, you will see many comments about her. Tom even did a couple of nice write ups on her. Plus, as you read older comments, you see her jumping in and playing “Mum” to us all. That could be a word of encouragement, a bit of humor, a stern warning,…. all the way to a flat out butt whoopin’. 😉
Stick around and don’t be a stranger on the comments. Glad to have you here.
Chris
Hi Chris.
Thanks for the great welcome mate, an the heads up. I feel a pratt now, but it’s not the first time! I’m slowly working way thru all the stuff here.
I’m a nurse by trade, working permanent nights. Gives me time in day with my family and my hobbies.
I live within sight of the sea in gorgeous north Wales. Life is good.
Today is a day off, it’s sunny and were off for a picnic.
I still want one if these rifles, but hopefully I’ll grow out of it.
Regards, Rick.
Rick,
Yes, that sounds very nice (your location). One more thing on Edith,….. As you will see as you read/catch up,…. commenters will be “wrestling” with the purchase of their next “must have”. Or,… will be reflecting on how much they have wrapped up in their new hobby and/or,… do they “really” need “another” airgun.
Her response?,……. “Resistance is Futile”! 🙂 That was always one of my favorites!
Take care,….. Chris
Rick
Stop it now, my favourite airgun is MADE in the UK (AirArms TX200), so no more talk about “toy guns”.
Well… it is so much fun, maybe it is actually a toy. Sorry, never mind then, carry on.
Hi mate.
It’s a great rifle, I considered one but went for the weihrach blackline hk97kt instead.
Rick.
Richardwales,
I saw your video on the Paratroop with the cabinet full of locks in the background which was followed by the video of you opening a lock. Are you a locksmith by trade or into Locksport?
Lock sport mate, purely for fun!
Learnt it all from YouTube.
Lot of locksporters seem to like knives an firearms. Big boys toys.
Dilettante in Lock sport. Can’t have picks because they are illegal to own here to my knowledge. I do get by on raking though when someone loses the key on occasion.
Agree on the Big Boys Toys.
Want some picks? I’ve tons of them. It’s not hard to make a set to be honest, I made my first set from windscreen wiper inserts.
I only use them legitimately, I’m too good looking for prison…
Rick.
Thanks for the offer.
Illegal to own here unless you are licensed. Can’t bother to get one because what would I do with it. Busy enough with my job and hobbies (don’t want to use up my time for airguns 😎 ).
I use the knowledge for good too over here.
lock picks are passe. Use a “bump” key. You can google it. Of course, it won’t work on warded locks and I don’t know about the high end security locks such as the Medico line of locks and similar.
Fred DPRoNJ
Hi Fred.
Bump keys are good. But you need a different key for each lock keyway. I doubt they will work on medicos, as they have rotating pins and a sidebar.
Anyone can use a bump key, but it takes skill to pick a lock
Mind you, open is open..
Check out Bosnianbill on YouTube, he’s the godfather of lock picking!!!
Maybe for the same reason I once bought a used Colt AA2000 pistol: Because it was such a mess I wanted to show future generations what not to do.
Never heard of one I’m afraid, but I’ll be googling it later…
I’ve had some crap guns in past, a gat gun an a g10 for example.
May this be a can of wonder not worms
Here it goes. Stated in the Pyramyd AIR Gun Mail plus in and around Pyramyd online is the stated that .20 cal. or 5mm pellets of the same weigh fired from the same brand and model of air gun travel slower because the .20 cal. of the same weight would need to be longer because of the smaller diameter of pellet causing more friction. This works if as in a fire arm you are shooting bullets who’s sides cont the barrel but air rifles most of the type shoot the “Diabolo Pellet” This pellet has a thin contact ring around the head to size the pellet and make contact with the riffling in the barrel. Then there is the wasp waist for drag that dose not contact the barrel at all. Last is the skirt that among other things can make a thin sealing contact with the barrel preventing some air loss with the hope of higher speed and the pellets strait trip to target.
Both the .20 cal. and the .22 cal. pellets are the same general design. If the pellets are made by the same company my thought is the contact ring on both would be the same thickness or close that and the skirt contact would be similar. If so the .20 cal being smaller than the .22 cal. in diameter should have a smaller contact area and less drag and more speed or fps than the .22 cal. according the the info. posted in the Pyramyd Air.
Using the Airforce Condor SS , my rifle is the .20 cal., online specks state the .20 cal. at 1150 fps and the .22 cal at 1250 fps this is .92 % slower for the .20 cal. When you compare the the base area of the .20 cal with the .22 cal. by using radius x radus x 3.1416 to get the area of the pellet base I come up with .83% difference while doing .92 % of the fps. I concluded that with the smaller base the and the smaller contact area for the contact ring plus the smaller skirt contact that the fps would equal the base area. After this it looks with the lesser contact by the .20 cal. out weighs the area contact surface by the propellent air resulting in greater fps than the loss of place to push the pellet. To me this is all about gas, air, hydraulics against a given surface.
Now that all is said I had to assume many things. Such as the pellets were the same weight by the same company using many of the same head contact area the same skirt contact the rifles were at the same pressure as this is a PCP gun. There is way over enough woulda, shoulda, coulda here for any one to find a happy answer to their ideas. I would be interested in thoughts. I have a degree in hard knocks 😉 take your best shot.
D Renz,
Interesting. Usually, a smaller caliber will not shoot the same weight as a higher caliber,… at least not for initial fps rating/testing. The selection of .20 pellets is very limited too. Maybe that factors into the .20 test pellet.
As you know, the more you go towards (small caliber/heavy weight) VS (larger caliber/lighter weight) the closer the fps will become.
That’s all I got. Interesting observation though. I would have expected the .20 to have a higher fps rating.
Thanks so much for your reply. The point that took me into this tirade was the friction caused by the .20 cal pellets because of their longer contact surface of pellets of or close to the same weigh as the .22 cal. When the Diabolo would present even less contact surface on a .20 than the .22 cal. I was surprised at my own findings with the .20 cal base surface area being .83 % of the .22 and loosing only .08% fps. My thoughts were that if the pressure is X on both pellets with the .20 cal being only .83% of the area of the .22 pellet then the fps of the .20 should be .83% of the .22 at the same weight.
The heaver .20 cal pellets get up in the range of the .22 pellets 14+ – grain I bought the .20 because I like my Blue Streak so much. There are times when I think I should have bought the .177 in the Air Force and shoot heavy pellets. Sparrows an Pigeons are as big as I go with the pellets. Deer Elk Moose & Antelope are treated to powder pushers not air.
Statement change here I stated above the .20 was .92 % slower should have said it was only .92% of the .22 cal. in the first post.
BB,
Do you know anyone with a high pressure water jet cutter?
Have them slice that thing in half length wise vertically so we can see its guts.
Jim
Never had a double rifle. Would consider this one, if I thought I could shoot it with a straight face.
And watch my companions’ reactions.
Wonder what would happen If someone found, or claimed to have found, a real use for this fine weapon?