A new bipod

by B.B. Pelletier

Bipods are a hot item with hunters, but they aren't always easy to mount. Today, I'll show you the Dragon Claw that eases the situation greatly.

UTG Dragon Claw
The Dragon Claw bipod clamps directly on barrels. It adapts to a wide range of barrel diameters, from 11mm to 19mm. It will not fit the underlevers of rifles such as the TX200 or the Gamo CF-X, because there isn't enough clearance for the clamp between the lever and the barrel. Most breakbarrel and fixed barrel guns should work, though. It's also made for firearms, so don't forget them!

Sturdy locking legs
I have been testing a Dragon Claw, and it seems quite rugged. The legs deploy in both directions, so you can decide which way to fold them after the bipod is mounted on the rifle. Each leg has a locking mechanism with a positive spring-loaded thumb latch. Thumb the latch down against the strong spring, and the leg unlocks for movement. Release the latch, and the leg locks solidly in position. It takes just a few seconds to set it up or fold it back.

Sledge feet
Each foot is a sledge that will dig into the earth to provide a solid platform. The feet can be swapped to reverse their direction, but since the whole unit can also be mounted backwards, I see no reason to swap the feet. The same thing can be achieved in less than a minute by turning the entire bipod around on the rifle.

Spring-loaded legs
Each leg is extendable up to 2.25 inches by rotating a knurled band that unlocks the mechanism. A very powerful spring then thrusts the leg to full extension. Because the legs are splayed on an angle, they give the bipod an adjustment range from 9 to 11 inches.

Attachment
The attaching clamp is what makes the Dragon Claw such a useful bipod. It clamps to any round barrel, then the adjustable sector moves up to clamp onto the barrel positively. The interior parts of the clamp that touch the barrel have rubber pads so they won't scratch the metal or remove any bluing. Finger-tight is not good enough, so there are holes around the circumference of the thumbwheel. Stick something strong into them. I used an Allen wrench and tightened the wheel another half turn, which proved perfect.


Those holes in the tightening thumbwheel allow you to insert a steel bar for extra torque. About an extra half-turn is all it takes.

Once attached, the bipod still swivels around the barrel on those rubber pads to give you all the cant control you need. On a breakbarrel, the deployed legs did not get in the way of the normal cocking stroke of my R1; but if they do on your rifle, just relocate the bipod. The folded legs should never prove to be a problem.


The Dragon Claw mounted easily on this Beeman R1. Shown with the legs extended.


The bipod legs are retracted and folded. They can fold both front and back - it's up to you.

This could be the answer!
I've received many inquiries about mounting bipods on this or that air rifle. The RWS Diana 48 is a common one. There have been other barrel-clamping bipods, but they were all flimsy and I never recommended them. I can recommend this one because it's as rugged as can be! And check the price! At just $17.99, it's as inexpensive as many of the really cheap Chinese copies that you wouldn't want to use. I haven't seen a bipod bargain like this one in a long time.

Parents: Do you know where your children are?And what they're doing?Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today, I'll finish the discussion of children and airguns.

Children often have poor judgement. In fact, one of the principal duties of raising a child is to protect them while their judgement matures. If a child shows curiosity about guns, the safest solution is to educate them in gun safety. Obviously, the education must change as the child matures. Very young children should not be allowed to hold guns of any kind without 100 percent continuous adult supervision. The NRA Eddie Eagle program teaches all young children to simply walk out of any room if they see a gun in it. As the child matures, they are given more responsibility after they demonstrate they can handle it. But not all children mature! In fact, this is the crux of the problem.

Age doesn't guaranty maturity
There are parents and grandparents with poor judgement, too. Being lax about their own responsibilities, they feel strongly that their children should be left to their own devices, as well. However, when something bad comes their way they are the ones who scream loudest, "No fair!" These people are a major cause for the type of society we live in. They don't want to be responsible, so laws are made to protect everyone from their actions, and they are the first to cry whenever they get bit by the consequences.

No room for a mistake!
There are no second chances anymore. If someone violates school policy by taking a non-firearm gun on school property, the school will prevail. If someone brandishes an airgun in a public place, the police have the right to respond - often with deadly force. Yes, there will be an inquest into the officer's actions, but the child who was shot will still be dead regardless of the outcome.

I live in a state where concealed carry is widespread. When I go to a gun show, the police have a booth outside the show where all the carry guns are unloaded, inspected and disabled with a cable tie while the owner is in the show. But, they still permit the guns to be carried into the show! The same station serves those who want to take in guns that aren't concealed - the guys who walk around with signs they have guns for sale. That is the responsible side of law enforcement. And, we haven't had any shooting incidents at gun shows in recent memory. In sharp contrast, there have been "accidents" at gun shows in states that have very restrictive gun laws.

However, when I go to the courthouse in my town, a sign on the front door tells everyone who is not law enforcement to disarm before entering the building. Some commercial businesses like banks have the same sign. And, our schools have the same zero-tolerance policy about guns that you'll find almost everywhere in the U.S.

But children don't have good judgement, yet. They may not obey their school's policy, even though they know it well. So, parents must protect their children from indiscretions by controlling the BB guns, airsoft guns, knives, bows, etc., they let their kids have. It's the parent who must exercise good judgement, and they must educate their kids to understand the consequences of bad judgement. That's the really hard part, but also the most necessary, because sooner or later kids will begin trying things on their own. If they're educated in gun safety, they'll know instinctively that they shouldn't brandish an airsoft gun in public.

The end
Bottom line? No one can show a gun in public without risking dire consequences. Children have no experience to gauge how bad things can get - nor do they appreciate finality. When the game is really over, there's no coming back. Friends who died in car accidents in high school are still dead fifty years later. So we don't "teach" children by letting them figure things out on their own if there are severe risks involved. Putting it bluntly, parents need to keep the gun secured - whatever it takes. No excuses!

Parents: Do you know where your children are?And what they're doing?Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

I frequently get calls from lawyers wanting expert advice on the lethality of airguns. Sometimes, these questions are even about airsoft guns. As difficult as it is to imagine in this paranoid age of zero tolerance, there are still children who take airsoft guns and low-powered BB or pellet guns to school or brandish them in public. When they are caught, the consequences are dire.

The latest call came from an incident that happened last year. A teenaged boy was caught on a school bus in possession of a PPK/S. The lawyer is very tight-lipped about whether it was a BB gun or an airsoft gun, but he wants an opinion on the lethality of the "weapon."

There ARE dumb questions after all!
I was wrong to say there are no dumb questions. Because whenever a DEFENSE lawyer uses the emotionally loaded term "weapon" when referring to his client, he is setting up the case to lose (e.g., When did you stop beating your wife?).

AN AIRGUN IS NOT A WEAPON! Airguns are not recognized as self-defense weapons, except for a very limited range of less-lethal weapons. Law enforcement does not include airguns in their list of offensive weapons. Yes, there are specific uses for airguns in both law enforcement and the military (rubber bullet launchers, tasers and pepper ball launchers, for example), but they do not include using the airgun as an offensive WEAPON. Calling an airgun a weapon is as dumb as calling a firearm a "real gun." Especially when your defense attorney does it!

Lethality is not the issue!
I don't know where the term "lethal" entered into the conversation, either, but it has nothing to do with the case, unless the shool makes a distinction between lethal and non-lethal guns. That's hard to believe. The real problem is the school's policy. If their policy prohibits bringing guns of any kind onto school property (the school bus is school property), then that is the only issue on which to focus.

Time for REAL parenting!
Enough of this incident. The core issue lies with families and how society relates to them today. Fifty years ago, all adults looked after all children, more or less. Any adult could scold any child doing something wrong in public and, unless the situation was very bizarre, the parents of the child would accept the correction. Children had no "rights," because they were dependent minors.

That situation has changed dramatically. Today, an adult who corrects a child other than his own risks a lawsuit. And, in some circumstances, they also risk legal action even when correcting their own children. I am not judging whether this is bad or good; it's just the way things are. So, parents have to educate their children more than ever before on the pitfalls of society, because they are now treated as almost fully franchised citizens. Even with that, there isn't complete protection.

I will finish this discussion tomorrow.

What's going on with Gamo?Is the 1600 f.p.s. air rifle real?

by B.B. Pelletier

Need for speed
Speed sells - no doubt about it. Beeman was first to recognize it, then RWS Diana and finally Gamo learned that lesson a few years back. Which is why they built their Hunter 1250, a breakbarrel air rifle that really does shoot lightweight pellets to 1250 f.p.s. It was big news for a few years, but was eclipsed by the AirForce Condor, which does 1250 f.p.s. with 14.3-grain .22-caliber Crosman Premier pellets. So what would come next?

Raptor fell short
Well, Gamo's Performance Ballistic Alloy pellet, the Raptor, came next, of course. They were supposed to increase the velocity of any spring airgun, and my testing with the Gamo CF-X proved that they did. However, they did not live up to the other claims for penetration or power. They had reduced penetration, the same as any lightweight pellet would, and the power was lower, too.

Trickery?
But, the one thing I took for granted during all of this was that the Hunter 1250, now renamed the Hunter Extreme, was a real 1600 f.p.s. air rifle. Why did I believe it? Because Jim Scoutten shot one through a chronograph on his television show, Shooting USA, and got a little more than 1600 f.p.s. on an Oehler 35P chronograph on camera! However, now I'm not so sure.

If a Gamo Hunter Extreme will shoot a Raptor pellet to 1600 f.p.s., I reasoned that an AirForce Condor would go even faster, since I've already tested them with synthetic pellets up to 1450 f.p.s. in .177 caliber. But when I recently tested a .177 Condor with a Raptor, it topped out at 1486 f.p.s., well below the magic 1600 f.p.s. Gamo advertises. I know the Condor is far more powerful than the Hunter Extreme, so these results didn't seem right.

Call in the vigilantes!
An airgunner friend of mine was also surprised to hear that the Condor was testing slower than the Gamo, so he did some testing of his own. With a new .177 Gamo Hunter Extreme, the maximum velocity he could get with Raptors was 1420 f.p.s., well off the 1600 f.p.s. pace it's supposed to give and also behind the Condor. What gives?

Gamo deserves the benefit of the doubt
Now, I know ways of boosting velocity in almost any spring air rifle, but was that what had happened, or was my friend's Hunter Extreme just slow? I would like to believe that Gamo would not advertise their rifle at one velocity but actually ship it knowing that it develops 180 f.p.s. LESS! So I need some help from you readers to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Let's find out
I am asking any Gamo Hunter Extreme owners who own chronographs to report their velocities with Raptor pellets. The one rifle that has been tested thus far may have had something wrong with it, so let's see what a larger sample of guns can do. Is the Hunter Extreme a real 1600 f.p.s. air rifle?

I don't care whether the rifle gets 1600 f.p.s. or not, because no airgunner would ever shoot one that fast and expect any sort of accuracy. They would use heavier pellets to slow down the speed below 1,000 f.p.s. and even below 900 f.p.s., if possible, because that's where the accuracy is. But, if a company advertises 1600 f.p.s., then their rifles ought to be able to deliver! On the eve of the RWS Diana 460 launch, I want to be sure the playing field is level for all competitors.

Investing in airguns - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today, we'll look at the modern guns that can be owned for very little money. You do this by selling one before buying the next. If you pick the right gun, you'll end up spending just $30-50 to own the gun for as long as it's yours. This only works with certain select models, so I will also discuss what happens with the others.

First, the sound buys
Yesterday, we looked at airguns that appreciate in value. Today, we're looking at airguns that don't lose much of their value, but may only appreciate as the cost of a similar new airgun increases. Let's start with the TX200 Mk III. I paid $440 for mine several years ago, and the new price today is $548. That makes mine worth about $475 if I were to sell it. I won't, though, so in another 10 years my $440 investment might grow to $600. That's not really growth when you consider inflation, but at least I'm not losing too much money over the time I owned the gun. Just about any spring rifle from Air Arms will do well, though the TX200 will always lead the pack.

Another sound buy would be a quality PCP model positioned at the lowest rung of pricing for that particular brand. For Logun, that would be a Solo, but not an S-16s. For Daystate, it would be a Harrier X but not a Mk3. For Falcon, the FN-19 would be a good bet, while the Prairie Falcon would not. Don't get me wrong - all these high-end guns are fine airguns, but what I am talking about is the ability to hold their prices. The costly guns have a poor history of doing it, while the inexpensive models seem to do much better.

Another sound buy is any 10-meter airgun that has lost all of it's initial attractivness to the shooting crowd. The FWB 300 is a classic example. Once they retailed for $1,200. After many years off the new gun market, used guns could barely top $450. That was the right time to buy. Today, a good used 300 brings $550-600, and they're now on the increase. The Anschutz 250 is in the same boat, along with the Diana 75 and the Diana 100. The El Gamo 126, however, is more suspect and less likely to command a good price.

Another sound investment, as long as the price is right, is any vintage air rifle that is perceived as a classic. A Blue Streak or Silver Streak with the rocker or thumb safety will hold a price of $100, while a new gun will drop below $100 after purchase. An FWB 124 will continue to be worth at least $350 for the deluxe and $300 for the Sport model in excellent condition.

Riskier investments
Any gun that is in good supply will not hold its value like a similar gun in short supply. Hence, the HW77 doesn't hold up like the TX200. The Beeman R1 doesn't hold up like the Air Arms Pro Sport.

Older airguns that have had their technology seriously upgraded are likely to not hold much value. The AirForce Talon A-series guns made before the power adjustment wheels are an example. In fact, you can often get these for a real deal because their owners don't like them anymore. Then, send the gun to AirForce, and they'll upgrade it to a B model for $100. Sometimes that's a very good investment, depending on what you have to pay for the original gun.

Condition is important
Location is key to real estate value; condition is key with used airguns. These are not collectible airguns, but any used gun in the best condition will sell first. Refinishing usually destroys any hope of maintaining close to original value. So do extensive modifications. Unless the person who did the modifications was Ivan Hancock, leave the mods off. The exception is when mods add actual value, such as upgrading a 12-gram CO2 rifle to bulk-fill.

There are some quick looks at airgun values and how you can use them. By buying the right guns, one at a time, you can keep your money rolling along. It's almost like renting the guns.

Investing in airguns - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

This idea comes from Dennis Quackenbush. There are two parts to it: (1) Some airguns are good investments and (2) You can own a lot of great guns for very little money by buying and selling them one at a time.

Investments
There are airgun investments that seem to be as sound as blue chip stocks. This blog doesn't have the room to cover all of them, so I'll give just a thumbnail view of a few notables.

Whiscombe
John Whiscombe either has stopped making guns or will soon stop, depending on which website you read. A JW75 with 4 barrels and the HOTS on all of them plus a grade 3 walnut thumbhole stock sold for $2,300 in 1998. Today, the same rifle in excellent condition is worth $2,800-$3,000. That's a growth of $500-$700 over nine years. Not earth-shattering, but sound, if the gun's condition is preserved. Over the next 10 years, I expect the value to pass $4,000, because no more Whiscombes are being made.


Whiscombe JW75 with all 4 barrels and a thumbhole stock of grade 3 walnut will always increase in value.

Christmas Story Red Ryder
This BB gun sold for about $80 in 1984 and today brings over $400. Because of counterfeiting, no Christmas Story Red Ryder is considered legit unless accompanied by the box, and even the boxes are suspect. I imagine the gun will level off around $800-$1,000 in 10 more years.

Daisy No. 25 pump
The earlier versions of this BB gun are good investments, as long as they have not been fooled with. Guns made before 1952 (wood stock and blued steel or nickelplated steel) in near-excellent condition bring $175-$400 today, depending on the variation. They are increasing by 5-10 percent a year as boomers try to recapture their past. Any rust, incorrect screws or refinished wood drops the value to $75 for a nice shooter. The Daisy No. 25 Centennial Model made in 1986 is worth $150-$200, but the market is about to take off. It must be in the box with no handling marks and all original ephemera.


Daisy 25 Centennial model came in a box with a color slipcover. Inside was a brown cardboard box with the schematic on the lid. Daisy hit one out of the park with this gun. It's a solid investment, though not for rapid growth.


The 25 Centennial is a close approximation of the pre-1925 version of the BB gun. All paperwork must accompany the gun, including the hang tag.

Benjamin 392LE
This one is still available today, but I think it's a great investment. The 392 Limited Edition is sold only by Crosman's Custom Shop. It uses the AS392T receiver for better scope mounting and comes with a scope for just $215 with internet discount. Crosman is building only 500, so this is a rare variation of the Benjamin 392. In 20 years, I look for it to command some real money, when collectors will have to have one to complete their collections.

Turkeys
Some airguns being sold as investments are to be avoided, such as most Daisy guns made today. Daisy has ceased making new airgun models and for several years has been putting different finishes on the same tired models. These are sold to commemorate this and that, but they are as unlikely to increase in value as the Winchester commemorative rifles based on the model 94 action. One exception was the 700 model 179 pistols Daisy assembled from parts found in a warehouse. That special release in 2006 is now the most valuable 179 of all, except for the 25 handmade brass salesman's samples. It doubled in value after the last one was sold. To be genuine it must have the box and certificate signed by Daisy museum curator Orin Ribar.


Daisy 179 is a 12-shot catapult BB pistol. However, 700 of them were assembled from returned parts in 2006. Those came in this box and are the most valuable 179s of all.

Another turkey is any regular spring gun that's been dolled up with a special finish, stock plaque or engraving commemorating this or that. RWS Diana did a number of them and they are seen as just pretty shooters on the American market. Beeman did several, as well, and I've never seen one sell for an actual premium. One notable exception might be the Beeman FWB 125, a .20 caliber variation of the 124. There were only five prototypes produced, and they bring whatever a serious collector is willing to pay today. Another exception is the BSA Centenary that now commands $1,000...when you can find one.

A final type of gun to avoid as an investment is any new 10-meter target gun. Like cars, they lose their value with the first sale. However, the SECOND owner can wind up with a gun that will never depreciate! An FWB P700 may sell for $3,000 new, but don't expect to ever recoup that money. You lose $400 when you drive it off the lot. However, a current model will hold its value until the next model replaces it. Then it drops in value once more. So a nice FWB 601 is worth about $900-1,100, while a new 603 goes for $2,400.

Good stuff? Stick around, because there's more to come!

Haenel 311 target rifle

by B.B. Pelletier


This strange-looking contraption is a bolt-action single-shot pellet rifle called the Haenel 311. They were sold as surplus when East Germany fell.

After doing the report on the Haenel 310 rifle last week, I decided to dust off my 311 and shoot it to you, as well. You may recall that I told you about the yard sale going on in the former East Germany after the wall fell. Well, besides the 310s, there were a number of 311s and 312s - both pellet rifles - that were sold, as well. I happened to snag a 311, which is a very curious air rifle, plus I have what I believe to be a very rare sporter sight for it. At any rate, I'd like to tell you about this rifle today.

What is a 311?
While the model 310 is a short-range target rifle, the fact that it shoots round 4.4mm lead balls takes it out of serious competition. There are no world-class events for ball shooters, other than Daisy's International BB Gun Championship, and that's for children, only. The model 311 is an actual pellet rifle, though unlike one that most shooters have ever seen. It was built for 10-meter competition, but I doubt very much if it ever did well at the national level. In its day, it would have gone head-to-head with Walther 53 breakbarrels and Weihrauch model 55s. The Haenel is in the Daisy 853 class when it comes to accuracy, while the HW55 actually won gold at the world level.


Looking down from the top, you can see the similarity between the bolt on the 311 and 310. The 311 bolt also rocks back to cock the mainspring and is too hard for most younger shooters to operate.

The rifle is a bolt-action single shot that loads through a tap. Since the shooter cannot place the pellet into the rifling, that spoils one of the competitive advantages of the other rifles. No taploader has ever been as accurate as a direct-loading single-shot.


The loading tap is closed, and the hole through it lines up with the air transfer port and the breech.


The loading tap is open. A pellet is dropped nose-first into this hole. When the tap closes, the pellet is in perfect alignment with the breech.

The tap is entirely manual in this rifle. Many taploaders have taps that open automatically when the gun is cocked, but this one doesn't. It's simpler because there is no additional mechanism required to open the tap, but the complexity of the trigger totally destroys any bid for simplicity.

Trigger
The trigger is a two-stage adjustable (first stage travel) that lets off at less than one pound. It's definitely a target trigger, though not in the same class as the IZH 46M pistol trigger. I do feel travel through stage two, but no creep to speak of.

When the rifle is cocked, the safety goes on automatically. Before shooting, you have to press in the safety at the rear of the receiver. I once had the gun apart to look at the trigger and it took me many hours to get it back together. This is easily the most complex trigger mechanism I've ever encountered on an airgun.

Sights
The front sight is a raised globe with replaceable inserts and the rear diopter is a fully adjustable match sight with rubber eyecup. I believe the front accepts inserts from a Lyman 12, so they are easy to get. The rear sight adjusts in both directions, but there is no reference scale, so it takes some time to understand what the adjustments do. Very 1950s! However, it also has selectable, graduated apertures to adapt to any range lighting conditions - a feature that even the big boys don't have today. You have to buy an add-on accessory for that, but this little East German vintage target rifle came standard with it.

I mentioned that I also have a sporter sight for mine. I don't mount it because it gets in the way of the aperture sight, but I bought it for the rarity. The better zimmerstützens also came with sporting sights that mount midway up the receiver, the same as this one, and I have never discovered what shooters did with those sights, either. This one clamps on to a block behind the loading tap.

Power
All oiled-up, the 311 might hit 500 f.p.s. with a 7.6-grain wadcutter. It's certainly not a magnum air rifle by any stretch.

When they come up for sale, 311s usually list for $200 these days. If you like quirky airguns, this one is definitely for you!

How to make ballistic gelatin

Today's blog is actually a comment sent in by pestbgone. I liked it and several of you did, too, so I made it into a posting.

by pestbgone

B.B. and others,
Thought I'd offer this in case anyone is interested in a fun winter garage project. I apologize for the length.

BALLISTIC GEL recipe and procedure:
I got this info from 
Custom Cartridge, Inc.
I kept the same formulation but modified the procedure to something suitable volume-wise for airguns. It's not difficult, but it takes a lot of time to do it right.



Materials:
Clear (not frosted) plastic storage box approx 12" x 6" x 3" deep
One 8 oz. box of Knox Unflavored Gelatin (has 32 1/4 oz. pkts)
(Don't use JELL-O because it has sugar/sweeteners and won't give consistent results)
10 cups hot water.
Large stainless steel sauce pan.
Wire whisk for stirring.
Gravy separator like this: NORPRO from Kitchen Emporium. 
Fine-toothed hacksaw



Mixing:
This makes 10 cups of gel, which will fill the plastic box about 2-1/4" deep. Open all 32 pkts (8 oz.) of the Knox gelatin and pour them into a drinking glass. Put exactly 10 cups of hot water into a large stainless pan on the stove. Heat the water just hot enough so you can't put your fingers in it, about 140F, and TURN OFF THE HEAT. Do not boil! Start stirring with the wire whisk and SLOWLY sprinkle the Knox into the water, a tiny bit at a time. Adding too much at once will make it gum up into balls and you'll have a useless mess.

Keep stirring. Don't use an electric mixer because it will put too many air bubbles into the solution. Periodically, use a slotted spoon to remove the foam and scum. It will take 10 or 15 minutes hand stirring to add all 8 ozs, but you can take a break if you need to. After it's all mixed in, let it set for a few minutes so the fine bubbles will rise and then skim off the rest of the foam.

Now move the pan to the kitchen sink so you don't make a big mess. To get the clearest gel, use the gravy separator to transfer the solution to the plastic box like this: use a cup to ladle some of the solution from the pan to the gravy separator. Pour off the scum from the separator back into the pan, and then slowly pour the clear solution into the plastic box. Repeat until it's all transferred. Let it sit on the counter for a while and skim off any remaining bubbles that rise to the surface. Put it in the fridge overnight; do not freeze. BTW, this stuff will keep in the fridge or a cold garage for a couple of weeks, especially if you keep it covered, but will slowly start to dehydrate.



Set-up for shooting:
Here's the trick. You can leave the gel in the plastic box for all of your shooting by carefully sawing off one end of the box with the hacksaw. You shoot length wise into the open end. Just be careful not to crack the plastic or get a bunch of plastic shavings on the surface of the gel when you are sawing.


I set up a solid rest for my gun and first shot through pieces of cardboard to simulate the front and back end of the gel box. I shot at 8 feet, but closer might be easier. Don't kid yourself into thinking you'll be able to aim with the gun sights. Repeatability of the shot location is vital. After you know exactly where your gun will put the pellet, lay a board down flat to hold the gel box at the right height, azimuth, and elevation. I was able to fit nine shots across the 6" width and make an upper and lower level of shots for a total of about 18 shots. But you have to use reference lines to index the box of gel over a little each time and keep it parallel both vertically and horizontally to the path of the pellet.



Shooting:
Use your index lines to move the box over and/or up or down with each shot. I was only shooting with .177 cal, and found that wadcutters and HPs tended to move the box, so I weighted it down with a clean board before each shot. Domed pellets moved it less. I imagine .22 would make it hop around more, like the .22 rimfires I've done the same way. For reference, a Crosman Premier 10.5gr domed penetrated 11.2" on average.



Photos:
The Custom Cartridge, Inc site has good info about taking photos. Lighting is critical and for me, good sunlight was the easiest way to get good lighting.



Have Fun:
No instructions needed!

The BB gun powerplant - how it works

by B.B. Pelletier

You probably know about the three common airgun powerplants - spring-piston, pneumatic and CO2. Actually, there are several types of pneumatics, including multi-pumps such as the Sheridan Silver Streak, single-stroke pneumatics such as the Beeman P3 and precharged pneumatics such as the AR6 by Evanix. Today, we'll look at a different type of spring gun that uses both the power of the spring directly, such as a catapult gun, and also functions as a spring-piston airgun.

What I'm about to show you is a very common type of mechanism, but it's not universal. There are some BB guns that have different powerplants, such as the Crosman 350, 3500 and M1 Carbine. But this mechanism is what most collectors think of when they refer to a BB gun powerplant. It's the same one found in the Red Ryder.

By combining the catapult and the spring-piston, designers got a lot of power from a relatively weak mainspring. The catapult works initially to get the BB off its seat and moving, then a blast of compressed air from the spring-piston kicks the BB in the tail to boost it to maximum velocity.


This is a BB gun mechanism in the cocked state. The air tube moves with the piston as it goes forward. It shoves the BB to an initial velocity before the compressed air rushes through the tube to boost it.

For this type of mechanism to work well, the BB needs to be held fast at the breech end of the barrel, awaiting a shove from the air tube. Initially, manufacturers relied on a slight constriction in barrel diameter to hold the BB. That worked as long as BBs were made of pure lead, but did not work when they switched to steel in the 1920s. A wire spring was then used for many decades to hold the BB in position. It also worked very well, and the spring could be easily pushed out of the way by the air tube when it passed, so it was a good solution for a long time.

When magnet technology improved in the 1960s, small magnets soon replaced the wire spring, and then nothing had to be pushed out of the way. Magnetic shot seats are the standard today.


Now the gun has fired. The air tube pushes the BB up to 80-100 f.p.s., while the air is being compressed by the piston seal. The compressed air then rushes through the air hole at the base of the air tube and up the hollow tube to get behind the now-moving BB. It boosts the BB up to its final speed.

This mechanism is one of the reasons I am an airgunner. When I look at the simple design and scant materials that are used to make a BB gun powerplant, I'm overwhelmed by the creativity of the human mind. It takes a lot more ingenuity to propel a steel BB this way than it does to propel a lead bullet using a chemical explosion!

Haenel 310 lead ball shooter

by B.B. Pelletier


Haenel 310 is a small bolt-action springer with great close-range accuracy.

Here's one I bet many of you have never seen. The Haenel 310 round ball rifle is a bolt-action, spring-piston rifle that shoots 4.4mm round lead balls. The design dates back to 1933, when Schmeisser built the first one. Haenel and Anschütz sold the identical models, with Anschütz most likely contracting with Haenel to make their model 275. These guns resemble some smoothbore guns made by Mars that really shoot steel BBs, but both the Haenel 310 and the Anschütz 275 are rifles.

Not for kids!
The size is deceptive, because at just over 41" long and 6 lbs. total weight, the 310 seems to be a youth model. There are also tons of photos showing Hitler Youth learning marksmanship basics with easier-cocking Mars guns. But, the cocking effort of the 310 is in the 20-lb. range, and there's not much of a handle to grab onto, so this is an adult rifle - or at least one for older teenagers.

Action
The rifle is a bolt-action with some very interesting characteristics. The bolt pivots up without resistance. When it's pulled back in a rocking motion, it compresses a small but powerful mainspring. That V-shaped protrusion hanging down beneath the stock hides the fulcrum of the bolt/lever.


Looking down on the bolt, you can see how it swings up to become a long lever that rocks backward to cock the spring.

Other than the strange method of cocking, the 310 is a conventional BB gun powerplant - and having said that, I suddenly realize that I have never explained that to you. So, there's tomorrow's posting! It gets just over 400 f.p.s. with the 4.4mm lead balls that weigh a very uniform 7.6 grains. That makes it a real magnum among BB guns - especially when the rifling is considered, because engraving the lead takes energy.


Six-shot mag on left fits nearly flush with the stock. The 12-shot at right is less dependable.

It's also a repeater! It's difficult to see in the photo, but underneath the stock below the rear sight is a 6-shot magazine. A 12-shot was also available, but feeding wasn't as reliable. The mags were a pain to load (one ball at a time - no speedloaders), and they emptied fast because the little rifle is a delight to shoot.

Like all old BB guns, these rifles need lots of oil to keep the leather seals fresh and pliable. Often, you can get a bargain if the owner thinks the gun has lost its power. All it usually needs is a good soaking of petroleum oil to get it shooting like new.

Accuracy
At 5 meters (16.4 feet), this rifle is just as accurate as Daisy's Avanti Champion 499, which has been called the world's most accurate BB gun. Of course, the 310 is a rifle and therefore barred from BB gun competition, but shooting as well as a 499 is an accomplishment. Imagine shooting 6 shots into a group the same size as the diameter of a thin ballpoint pen!

Available by the truckload!
When East Germany fell, surplus buyers went in and found bargains galore. These rifles were found at the Stasi (secret police) headquarters and sold through a U.S. pawn shop. They sold the 310 for $49, then $59. I bought several guns from them, plus a lifetime supply of lead balls and extra magazines. Today, the supply has dried up, and 310s go for $150-200 at airgun shows. Some were in good condition, while others were pretty well used. Have you ever heard the stories about World War II Harley Davidsons new in the crate going for $400? Well, I never found any of those, but this find was equivalent to that for about two years. There were other models as well, such as the 311 and 312 pellet rifles that are both target guns. The 311s were $79 and the 312s were $99, as I recall. Both bring around $200 today.

The Anschütz 275 has always commanded a premium over the Haenel - kind of like the Dianas made with the Winchester name on them. I see 275s selling for around $300 these days. But if you're patient, you will be able to find either airgun. Target shooters will enjoy them.

B.B. speaks out!

by B.B. Pelletier

I'm taking today to explain how this blog works and how you can get more out of it.

Anonymity
When you write a comment you are asked to choose an identity. The default is Blogger, or you can choose Other or Anonymous. Blogger will use your Blogger assigned name when you are signed in, but probably many of you haven't registered for one of those, so most of you choose Anonymous. That's fine if you explain who you are and what you are talking about in the body of the message. But some of you don't do that. You ask partial questions and expect that I will know who you are. Well - I don't.

I receive 20-40 comments every day and 75 percent of them require an answer. When you ask a question, please tell me everything I need to know to answer it. If you use a "handle" (a nickname), I may remember who you are and what we were talking about, but don't bet on it. I have people who ask questions on a posting that's two years old, then they respond to my answer a month later with another question!

Here's a partial score - Cleveland 11!

On my end, things are very confusing unless you explain what you are talking about. Saying things like, "I meant the Daisy, but what do you think of the Crosman?" is meaningless. Give me model numbers and remind me of what we are talking about. For me, this is like playing 20 games of chess simultaneously, only in this case some folks are trying to play rugby and others are asking where the eggs are.

Mining the blog - part 1
As many of you know, this blog is now huge! It's easily the largest airgun blog on the internet, and it's loaded with all sorts of different airgun stuff. If you know how to "mine" the blog, the chances are good that you can find more information about the subject you are researching. The Search function located on the right side of the current blog page (only!) is provided by Google. For the first question, only this blog is checked, but if you type a new question in the Google box at the top of the answers listing page you got from the first search, Google will take you directly to the internet. Forget airguns!

You can recover from this by clicking on the Back arrow at the top of your browser. To do a second search within this blog only, return to the current page of this blog and type your second question in the same Search box.

Mining the blog - part 2
Another way to see everything in the blog is to take the path a few readers have recently reported. They used the monthly archives found on the right side of the most current page and simply went through all the postings a month at a time. One reader made the comment that if he came to a posting he wasn't interested in, he simply skipped past it. That's easy to do with the scroll bar on the right side of your browser.

Customer participation
Pyramyd Air has been working on a customer participation section for the website. It will be a customer reports section, where customers can report on a model of airgun or other equipment they have used. I will also try to get a section where customers can post tests they have done, along with photos they've taken.

Decorum
This blog belongs to Pyramyd Air. Whenever I see comments directing readers to other dealers, I delete them. I'm talking about competitors of Pyramyd Air, now, and my judgement is final. Also, when other dealers post things that detract from this blog, I delete them. And when a reader makes a disparaging remark about another reader, I delete the remark. Some of you readers may not be aware of this, but this blog is widely read by the airgun world - as in manufacturers, exporters and so on. Around the world! I meet representatives of these companies at various trade shows and competitions, and they tell me about things they've read in our blog.

Because of the interest in this blog, manufacturers have made adjustments to their plans and products. They pay attention to what is said here. This is one of the best windows into the American airgun market, and it doesn't cost them anything to watch it. I tell you this so you will know that your comments are having an effect on the state of airgunning in this country.

Commercialism
A few readers have commented that, because this blog belongs to Pyramyd Air, everything that's said is a sales pitch for them. I do not answer these accusations, but some of you do and I appreciate it. I don't see how my harsh criticism of the Gamo Viper Express air shotgun, which Pyramyd Air sells, could possibly be construed as a sales pitch! I think it's a turkey of a product that cannot meet the stated purpose (by Gamo - not Pyramyd Air), but, as an air shotgun of any kind, it is a curiosity to be owned and collected.

Well, that's it for now. Just a few things to think about, so this blog can run smooth and you can get your answers!

Crosman's Premier Hollow Point - Part 1A comparative test

by B.B. Pelletier

This test is for anyone who wonders how well hollowpoint pellets work. I have written several posts about hollowpoints, and I've usually made the statement that hollowpoint pellets are not accurate at long range. I've also mentioned more than once that Crosman pellets are made from a hardened lead alloy.

So, today's question is: Will a hard lead hollowpoint, specifically a Crosman Premier Hollow Point, expand when driven at a reasonable velocity, and will it be accurate at long range? Bad weather will keep me from going to the range for a few days, but I can get the first part of the question answered for you today.

While putting this blog together, I had an interesting comment from pestbgone regarding hollowpoints. Seems he has been doing some testing of his own, using ballistic gelatin, and he used two of the pellets I'll use for my tests, so now we'll have a comparison of penetration in ballistic gelatin against penetration in soap.

"Two of the 9 different pellets I tested were the Crosman Premier Hollowpoint 7.9gr and the Beeman Crow Magnum 8.8gr. The results were so odd I had to repeat them on different days with different batches of gel to validate the data. For a baseline I used Crosman Premier Domed 10.5gr, and they penetrated a whopping 11” with a deviation of only about +/-.2” between shots. The CP HP penetrated an average of 5.9”, with a deviation of about +/-.5”. Kind of puny compared to the CP heavy domed, I thought, but it’s a HP.

"But the BeeCM penetrated only 4” on average, with a deviation of only +/-.1” . Obviously, the CM was dumping all its energy very quickly into the gel, but still, 4” of penetration seemed weak, and odd. When I removed the pellets from the gel, though, I was amazed at what I saw. As expected, no shape or size change in the CP Domed. And the CP HP had minimal expansion of about .015”. But the BeeCM, incredible! Consistently, every pellet ended up mushrooming into the shape of a perfect little toadstool. The pellets that started out as .177 dia x .252 long ended up being about .255 dia x .188 long. No wonder they only penetrated 4”. B.B., this may be old news to you, but its all new and exciting to me."

Whiscombe
I'm using my Whiscombe JW75 for this test. Because it's so powerful, I put in a transfer port limiter to slow the 7.9-grain Crosman Premier Hollowpoint down below the sound barrier. The way the rifle is set up, the pellet averages 913 f.p.s. at the muzzle. That's 14.63 foot-pounds.


My JW75 with barrels in all 4 calibers - .177, .20, .22 and .25.


These Allen screws are the transfer port limiters. By removing all limiters and leaving the transfer port wide open, you get the maximum power the rifle can deliver.

The other two pellets used in this test are the Beeman Crow Magnum (8.6 grains for the pellets I have) and the JSB Predator (8.0 grains, though my Predators vary a lot). The Crow Magnums averages 874 f.p.s. That works out to a muzzle energy of 14.59 foot-pounds.

The Predator averages 895 f.p.s., so that calculates to 14.23 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Since the Whiscombe was set the same for all three pellets, you can get a sense of how the same powerplant performs with three different pellets.


Crosman Premier Hollow Point on the left, Beeman Crow Magnum on the right. Notice the entire top of the Premier Hollow Point has broken off and stopped sooner in the soap than the tail. Also, notice that the Premier gave up a lot of energy in the very beginning, where the hollowpoint deformed


JSB Predator lost its black nylon tip halfway through penetration. Notice that the energy given up resembles the Crosman Hollow Point. The Predator wound channel is larger, though the pictures seem to say the opposite. That's due to different sizes of enlargements.

Conclusions
The Crosman Premier was a surprise to me. I expected little expansion, but it was dramatic. Remember that the speed I shot was above the terminal velocity (velocity on target) that any hunter would probably achieve, because no one will shoot the pellet supersonic and expect to get accuracy. Or will they? When I go to the range, I'll shoot a group with this pellet moving supersonic, just to see for sure.

The Predator performed very well, too, but the Crow Magnum just plodded through the soap without drama. However, we have pestbgone's report that in ballistic gelatin the Crow Magnum penetrates only about one-third the distance of the Premier Hollowpoint. Why the big difference?

Perhaps the testing medium is the culprit. Maybe at high velocity in a hard medium, the Crow Magnum performs average, but in a softer medium it shines. Several readers did question my use of Neutrogena facial soap as a test medium. Might that suggest that Crow Magnums would be good on smaller birds, while Premier Hollow Points would do better on squirrels?

What is a Weaver mount?

by B.B. Pelletier

A reader asked this question last week, "Just what is a Weaver base and how is it different from other scope mounts?"

History
Back in the 1950s and 60s, firearms did not come with scope mount bases. Gunsmiths made a living attaching scope mount bases to guns so a set of rings could be attached. There were lengthy articles in gun magazines about drilling and tapping receivers for mount bases. They still do some of this, but many of today's firearms come with scope bases already on the gun - some of them built right into the design.

Scope mounting was such a hassle back then that several companies sprang up to help solve the problems. But scope companies had a lot riding on the ease of mounting their products, so Weaver designed a type of scope mount base that is still very popular today. It's easy to attach, yet it provides a solid scope mount. It is a wide dovetail (0.617"), but the most important feature is the presence of several slots running across the base. These slots accept keys, which are on the bottom of the scope rings. Those keys keep the scope rings in one place when the gun recoils.


B-Square Weaver base shows the slots for the ring keys. This one is for a specific gun, but Weaver rails also come as bulk extrusions that a gunsmith can cut to fit.


This key on the base of a B-Square Weaver ring fits into the slots on the Weaver base. They will also fit the slots on a Picatinny rail because they're thinner.

It wasn't popular to mount a scope on an airgun at the time Weaver mounts came into being. When shooters finally did start mounting them in the 1970s, the Weaver mount wasn't used. At first, companies such as BSF, Diana and Weihrauch used the raised rails on their rifles for diopter sights as their first scope mount bases, but over time most of them progressed to a wider dovetail - the so-called 11mm dovetail that in reality extends from 9.5mm to 13.5 mm. The Weaver base would have served them well, but they never used it.

Today, the airsoft crowd uses Weaver mounts more than the pellet and BB gun crowd because of their ties to the military. Back in my day, 40 years ago, the military had no good common way to mount a scope on a rifle. Every country and manufacturer did it their own way, which is why some sniper rifles look so odd today. Take a good look at a Mosin Nagant made for sniping!


Mosin Nagant sniper rifle looks extremely archaic with its high-mounted scope. Rifle was never intended for a scope when it was designed in 1891.

When the military finally did get around to standardizing their mounts, they borrowed the slot feature from the Weaver mount and improved it by placing the slots at regular distances from each other. Finally, there was a standard mount base that could use standard equipment. Best of all, the Picatinny rail, as it is called, has wider slots than the Weaver mounts, so Weaver rings will fit a Picatinny base! A Picatinney slot is 5mm wide, while a Weaver slot is 3.5mm.


This Tri Rail has three Picatinny rails extending from the front ring. The slots are wider than Weaver slots and spaced closer together for ease of adjustment.

Picatinny extrusions come in standard lengths that a gunsmith can cut to fit a particular job. And, the mount market is red-hot for Picatinnys right now!

When you see the Picatinny rail, the value should be obvious. It is the Lego block of the scope mount world. Positioning scope rings is easy, and they're held tight against shock and recoil by the cross key. Unfortunately, airguns do not use them. The first company to try will meet a storm of protest from the shooters who have a heavy investment in 11mm equipment, but Picatinny is by far the better system for mounting a scope.

RWS Hobby: an all-time classic pellet

by B.B. Pelletier

For many years, the RWS Hobby was the lightest pellet you could buy in .177 caliber. At that time, it weighed just 6.9 grains, but today's .177 pellet weighs 7 grains even. That light weight made it the defacto test standard for all airguns, because it invariably gave the highest velocity. Today, we have a host of synthetic pellets and, of course, Gamo's slight-of-hand Raptor that are all lighter and faster than the Hobby. But, while the Raptor has a poor reputation for accuracy, the Hobby has a good one.

In .22 caliber, Hobbys weigh about 11.9 grains, which is also one of the lightest lead pellets. However, to an even greater extent than the .177, the .22 Hobbys are very useful in vintage airguns.

Good for powerful airguns
As light as they are, you might think Hobbys are only for lower-powered guns, but that isn't the case. They're light, it's true, but they also have larger dimensions than many other pellets to better fill the bores of guns, such as older Webley spring pistols and BSA rifles.

Inexpensive but not cheap
The Hobby is also a very uniform pellet. At one time a decade ago, they were the least expensive of the RWS pellet line, but that spot has now been taken by the .177 Diabolo Basic. Hobbys have moved up in the world. Still, they aren't that expensive and are a definite bargain when compared to the premium brands.

Good for targets
Because it's a wadcutter, the Hobby is perfect for informal target practice in either caliber. It won't group as well as special target pellets in a 10-meter gun, but in an informal airgun, such as the Smith & Wesson 586 or the RWS P5 Magnum, you won't notice the difference. In fact, Hobbys have been known to be the best pellet for some guns.

Perfect for pests
Another good job Hobbys can do is small pest elimination at close range. As long as the range is under about 25 yards and it's shot from a good airgun, the Hobby has the power and retained velocity to take care of business. As a wadcutter, it's devastating to flesh, and its high velocity makes it especially deadly. The close-range constraint is because wadcutters shed velocity faster than any other pellet shape.

Uniform weight
Hobbys are fairly uniform in weight, though not among the absolute best. They often come with lots of lead flakes packed in the tin, so it's best to do a little sorting before you use them for anything special. Sort by weight and inspect the skirts for flakes at the same time.

Hobbys are made from pure lead, so there's no need to lubricate unless you plan on shooting really fast. At 900 f.p.s. and less, they should be fine in a dry bore.

Fountain of youth
And, here is a final truth. RWS pellets are often the best performers in RWS/Diana airguns. That's true of the vintage models from 50 years ago, as well as the guns sold today. The Hobby, because it is so lightweight in both .177 and .22, gives a new lease on life to those marginal spring guns, such as the Diana model 23 and 25 rifles or the Webley Junior and Senior pistols.

The Hobby is a classic pellet that belongs in your cabinet in both calibers.

What makes a pellet accurate?

by B.B. Pelletier

A question came in to Pyramyd Air's owner a few days ago. "What's the fastest speed for the most accurate pellet I can shoot?"

I say in my About ME Blogger profile that there are no stupid questions, but there ARE situations where the person doesn't know what he has asked. Therefore, an answer is either difficult to give or he wouldn't understand it when he hears it. This question is one of those.

The things not asked
A few parameters were missing from this question.

Caliber of airgun in question
Range at which accuracy is desired
Powerplant selected for shooting
Weather conditions
Have the pellets been sorted by weight?
Pellet shape (wadcutter, domed, pointed, novelty shape). Or, does the question also include solid "pellets" that are really bullets, and do not perform the same under similar aerodynamic situations?

All these things affect accuracy. Velocity, itself, is a variable for most of them. Without knowing it, this person has asked a question that is impossible to answer without a lecture on pellets, velocity and all the variables that affect pellet flight. In fact, this question requires a book to give a complete answer; even this blog is not enough. So let me take a very small slice of the question and try to explain the variables.

For a .177 domed diabolo pellet, what is the maximum velocity possible for accuracy at a given range of 50 yards? I ask that question because it seems to be the No. 1 concern of readers. I excluded hollowpoints because, though they may group acceptably at 25 yards, by the time they go 50 yards, they're hopelessly inaccurate.

The magic of 900 f.p.s.
No doubt you know that diabolo pellets destabilize when they get up to transonic velocities. Transonic speed is defined as a speed just below and just above the speed of sound. That's Mach 0.8 to Mach 1.2, or about 880 to 1320 f.p.s., if you accept 1100 f.p.s. as the speed of sound. Because the sound barrier is a variable itself, it is impossible to give an exact speed that will always be correct.

Look at the lower velocity - 880 f.p.s. That's the lower limit of transonic flight. Transonic flight is a speed at which the airflow over the body of a projectile is moving at supersonic speeds at some places and subsonic speeds at others. A barrier wave is created at transonic speed, and that wave causes flutter on a shape not designed to handle it. That flutter causes the projectile to wobble, which causes destabilization. Like it or not, the transonic range is the worst range at which to shoot a diabolo pellet. And because of its shape, a diabolo pellet slows down so rapidly when accelerated to supersonic speed that it's into the transonic region soon after leaving the muzzle - even when the muzzle velocity exceeds 1400 f.p.s.! So, shooting faster than 900 f.p.s., is bad with domed diabolos all the time, and worse on days when the sound barrier is below 1100 f.p.s., because the pellet remains transonic for a longer period of time.

Food for thought
If you're with me to this point, here is how changing one other variable changes the entire question. Substitute a solid pellet - a bullet - for a domed diabolo and everything I have said changes. A solid bullet can go faster than the sound barrier without a problem. In fact, the new Piledriver pellets are shaped correctly to do just that. Their boattail base and rebated skirt lower drag significantly. Theoretically, solid pellets could be accurate at supersonic speeds.


This is the .177 caliber Piledriver pellet, looking at the tail end. It weighs 20.7 grains. This pellet is too heavy and too low-drag to properly stabilize at normal air rifle speeds, and no commonly available rifle can shoot it fast enough for accuracy at long range.

HOWEVER - and this is a BIG however - no pellet rifle currently made has a twist rate fast enough to properly stabilize a Piledriver pellet at the velocities it can be shot, so at 50 yards the accuracy isn't there! Unless the Piledriver is accelerated to around 1100 f.p.s., it will wobble on its axis and the groups will open, the farther it moves from the muzzle. Shooting this "pellet" at 600-800 f.p.s. would be futile, if the goal is accuracy at 50 yards. The proof of this, if you don't have any Piledrivers to shoot, is to try to group a .22 CB cap at 50 yards. The 29-grain lead bullet that groups well at 25 yards will spread out at 50 yards, because the standard 1:16" twist of a .22 rimfire barrel (which is identical to the twist rate of most airgun barrels) is too slow to stabilize a 29-grain bullet when it moves that slow.

Like I said at the start of this post, some questions ask more than was intended. This has been an attempt to explain a portion of the answer to the question we looked at here.

Logun's Sweet 16 on CO2 - Part 3The other S-16s!

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Yesterday was a great day at the range, except for the wind. I tried to shoot groups at 50 yards with the S-16s, but the changing breezes blew my groups apart. The best I could do was 1.5" for five Crosman Premiers.

Heavy trigger!
I have to say, the heavy trigger did affect how I shot. I found myself pulling the trigger with two fingers, which made the hold less steady. I do believe that a 3-lb. trigger-pull would improve the situation immensely.


A great day for range testing, but it was windy!

25 yards
So, I pulled the target in to 25 yards. With the strong breeze, that was the only way to complete this report. The 3-12x44mm Leapers scope scope was perfect for this application, and the ultra-high B-Square scope mount proved to be just high enough to bring the scope to my eye. Starting with Crosman Premier pellets that proved to be the best of the day, I shot several tight groups.

Shrouded in mystery
After my comment on the effect of the shroud, I tried it both on and off the gun. Wth the shroud on, the accuracy doesn't degrade as much as I had thought it would at 25 yards - perhaps an extra quarter-inch larger is all with Crosman Premiers. At 50 yards, the shrouded groups were twice the size of the group shot without the shroud, so something is happening between 25 and 50 yards.


The best group at 25 yards was this group of five Premiers measuring, 0.252".


The best group of JSB Exacts at 25 yards measures 0.456".

JSB Exacts were also good, just not as good as Premiers. They also fell out of the magazine more readily until the mag was loaded into the rifle. I mentioned earlier that this was a problem with some pellets.

Not so good
A pellet I cannot recommend in this rifle is the Logun Penetrator. It simply refused to group better than one inch at 25 yards with the shroud off the barrel and nearly two inches with the shroud on.

Things to consider
This conversion to CO2 pushes the pellet several hundred feet per second slower than the rifle normally gets with air, so the pellets behave differently. When I test the rifle with air, I'll probably use these pellets plus a few others. And another pellet might be more accurate under those conditions.

Logun's Sweet 16 on CO2 - Part 2The other S-16s!

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today, we'll look at performance. I filled the 20-oz. CO2 tank at a local paintball shop and coated the O-ring with silicone diver's grease before connecting it to the gun. The fill was $5, by the way, for well over 1,000 shots.

What scope?
The S-16s has no open sights, so a scope or red dot sight is required. To get the full accuracy potential, a scope is the wiser choice. Since the rifle has no recoil and a long, unbroken dovetail base, you can choose just about any scope you want, because it's easy to get the correct eye relief.

What it's NOT easy to do is get the correct scope height! The straight line of the tank/stock, coupled with Logun's rather low scope rail, means a high mount is needed - an ultra-high mount is even better! The scope I chose has a 30mm tube, so I mounted it with a B-Square one-piece AA adjustable mount with ultra-high risers. That combination brings the eyepiece to the correct height for me if I hold the butt/tank high on my shoulder. Shooters who own AirForce rifles will not find this strange, but shooters who have no experience with a straight stock may need to get used to it.

Loading
The S-16s magazine has two captive 8-shot clips. Like many PCP circular clips, each has an O-ring around its circumference that also intrudes on the individual pellet chambers. It's supposed to hold the pellets in their chambers by fitting into the waist of each pellet; of course, all pellets are not made the same. I found that it held .22 Crosman Premiers and JSB Exacts a little loose. Unless I was careful, they would fall out of the magazine until it was loaded into the rifle. Then, the tolerances of the rifle held them in check. Since every pellet is different, this is something you have to experiment with.


Here's a closeup of the S-16s magazine. Looking through the chamber, you see the O-ring that holds each pellet's skirt. That's a Crosman Premier pellet in the loaded chamber.

The rifle is cocked by pulling straight back on the bolt handle, then pushing it forward until it locks with a click. When the bolt is pushed forward, the bolt probe pushes the pellet out of the chamber and into the breech. For that reason, the bolt must be cocked to remove the magazine, or the bolt probe passing through a chamber will hold it in place.

Velocity
The first test was velocity. I used 14.3-grain Crosman Premiers. At 70 degrees F, the test rifle ranged from 593 to 609 f.p.s., averaging 601 f.p.s. That works out to 11.47 foot-pounds, on average. The rifle is rated to 30 foot-pounds with air, so I'm guessing it gets about 25 foot-pounds with Premiers (887 f.p.s.). So there is the comparison between CO2 and air. CO2 obviously changes the nature of the airgun, which is a pretty good deal when you just want to shoot targets indoors.

Sight-in
I started at 10 feet, and on the first shot the pellet was lined up with the center of the bull and about three inches low. Since that was the approximate height of the scope over the bore, I was finished at that range and could move the target out. At 15 yards, I shot several groups, making fine scope adjustments to hit the aim point. The groups I got, however, ranged from 1/4" to 1/2", which is far larger than expected. Having noticed the very small exit hole in the muzzle cap of the barrel shroud, I held it up to the light to see if there were any silver streaks on the side of the hole; and, of course, there were.

Some of the pellets were brushing the side of the muzzle cap and destabilizing. To get better accuracy, I needed to drill out the hole in the cap. This gun is on loan from Pyramyd Air, so there won't be any drilling. Instead, I removed the shroud, and the groups tightened right up! I knew what to look for because I've had this problem with other British PCPs that used a shroud. They drill the exit hole a little too small and sometimes the pellets nick the edge on their way out. Enlarging the hole just a little makes all the difference.

Trigger
I'm still getting used to the 10-lb. trigger. Shooting from a bench, I can keep the gun steady, but it feels strange to have to pull that hard to make it go.

I will test this rifle at long range for you next. The 3-12x Leapers scope I'm using is a good compliment to the accuracy potential of the rifle, so we will see just how good it can be!

9mm airguns and ammo

by B.B. Pelletier

Today's post was requested by Pyramyd Air. They sell three different 9mm big bore airguns, and the ammo they use has been confusing. They asked me to sort it out.

Drulov
First, I want to comment on the somewhat confusing Drulov Sokol. This is a CO2 carbine that has a nominal .375 bore. That makes it larger than 9mm, which is .356 caliber. But, the recommended ammo for the gun is either 000 buckshot or two 9mm "pellets." I think you can rule this gun out, as far as real accuracy is concerned. If you own one, I have to wonder why you aren't using .375 swaged round balls from Speer or Hornady. I'm suspicious of the technical specs for this gun, because .375 and 9mm are not compatible sizes. I only mention it because Pyramyd Air does link two 9mm pellets to it.

There was also a Rada pistol that used to be sold with the carbine. As far as I know, it was the same caliber as the Sokol. If so, my caliber doubts extend to it, as well. If any reader owns either of these airguns, please tell me what you shoot in your gun and what kind of accuracy it gets. I've been told by the importer (not Pyramyd Air) that either gun shoots 4" groups at 25 yards.

Career Ultra
I have tested the 9mm Career Ultra lever-action repeater. When I did, the only pellet I could load was a 60-grain Eun Jin made specially for this rifle. The pellet carrier that transfers the pellet from the magazine to the bore is very short and will not accept a pellet over a certain length. There is a place on the right side of the receiver for loading pellets one at a time, but it's short, too. So the Ultra uses short pellets, only.

Today, Eun Jim provides a 77-grain pellet that will function through the Ultra's feed mechanism. This pellet goes fast because it is light for its caliber. Because it is a repeater, the Ultra attracts more attention than the single-shot Fire 201 9mm rifle. If you want to hunt with a big bore air rifle, the Ultra is not the gun to choose. Besides being limited to just one light pellet, it is not as versatile or powerful as the single-shot Fire 201.

Fire 201
This is the air rifle that started the whole Korean big bore industry. It started out as a .25-caliber air shotgun that developed as much as 260 foot-pounds! To my knowledge, there has never been another commercial air shotgun as powerful as this one was. Shooters weren't interested in air shotguns in the 1990s, so an American rebarreled the Fire with a 9mm rifle barrel and the rest is history. When the Koreans saw the increased demand for a big bore air rifle over a shotgun, they quickly retooled to produce the rifle.


This sliding breech (the brass part) is the reason the Fire 201 can accept pellets and bullets of almost any length. There is nothing to get in the way!

Load almost any pellet/bullet!
The Fire's sliding breech is so accommodating that almost any pellet or bullet that will fit into the bore can be used. The Fire is so flexible, I've seen airgunners load and shoot 158-grain lead semiwadcutter pistol bullets meant for a .357 magnum. To be accurate, they should be resized to .356, but .357 is only one thousandth larger and doesn't seem to make much difference. Almost all 9mm lead pistol bullets will work just fine. Just be sure to use lead bullets and not jacketed bullets, because the barrel isn't hardened properly to take them.

Summary
So, the Sokol is meant to be loaded with 000 buckshot, and Pyramyd Air has linked two 9mm pellets that will also work. The 9mm Career Ultra works only with the 77-grain Eun Jin pellet - nothing else! Lastly, the Fire 201 single-shot will work with just about any 9mm or .357 lead bullet.

W. Edwards Demming on accuracy

by B.B. Pelletier

One of the reasons America did well during WW II was the organization of our national manufacturing capability. Two men were largely responsible for that organization - W. Edwards Demming and Joseph Juran. After the war, they were asked to come to Japan to assist in planning the rebuilding of the Japanese national infrastructure. They made such an impact that both were eventually named as Japanese Sacred Treasures, which I think gives good insight into why Japan has come as far as it has - naming people as treasures. One of the byproducts of their lessons on organization is known today as Japanese Management!

Dr. Demming also consulted with companies on how to improve their operations, and here is one very telling exercise he had his students, the senior management of the company, do.

One student stood on a low bench looking down on a piece of paper on the floor. The paper had a small dot in the center that was the "target" or goal of the entire class. The student on the bench placed the eraser of a lead pencil against the tip of his nose and dropped it straight down on the target so the point of the pencil would make a mark on the paper. The goal was to hit the target, but the person who dropped the pencil wasn't allowed to deviate in what he did. He had to remain in the same place and drop the pencil in the same direction every time.

Another student was in charge of reporting to the rest of the class how far off target the pencil had struck. The class had their backs to the target and relied on this report to tell them where the pencil had struck. Then they developed instructions for how the paper should be moved so the pencil would hit the target, and these instructions were given to the person who had reported the results of the last test. He or she had to follow these instructions exactly - there was no allowance for improvising.

Well, as you probably guessed, the pencil began hitting farther and farther from the target. The error continued to grow, despite the group's best attempts to correct the situation. Eventually, the pencil was no longer hitting the paper at all and the test had to end, because there was no way for the data to be recorded accurately.

The lesson? For the management students, the lesson is that committees of people removed from a situation can never hope to manage that situation, no matter how rigid a set of rules they put in place. But there is a shooting lesson there, as well. One shot doesn't mean a thing! One of these days, I'm going to repeat Demming's exercise while sighting-in a scope, and I know the results will be the same. You cannot make a judgement based on one single shot - even a good one! If you adjust the sights after each shot, based on where it strikes in relation to the target, you will only hit the target by chance.

Here's some more food for thought. I used to run a 4.2"-mortar platoon, and we never saw the targets we shot at. Never! Our mortar shells went 2,000 to 5,000 yards and always over a hill, so we had to rely on the radioed reports of men watching the target through binoculars to tell us how to adjust our fire. Nevertheless, we managed on one occasion to drop a high-explosive shell down the commander's hatch of a target tank! That kind of accuracy is unheard-of for mortars (it was a lucky shot) and unnecessary, because the bursting radius of a 39-lb. high-explosive shell is about 40 yards. You only have to get close!

The point I'm making is this: we trusted our sights that were pointed at stakes in the ground a few yards from the guns. We couldn't even SEE the target! So, when somebody tells me, "I've got old eyes and I just have to use a scope!" I have no compassion. I wear bifocals and cannot read without them, yet I shoot with open sights just fine. Why? Because I trust the sights! Every now and then, I might throw a shot wide of its mark, but that doesn't result in an adjustment of the sights. Stuff happens and you roll with it. However, after 10 shots have all gone to a new place, then I think I will take notice.

So, scope-shifting and drooped barrels and old eyes, and whatever other excuses you have to offer me, will fall on deaf ears. Shoot a reasonable group before you start changing things.

And, another thing. Remember the drunk who lost his car keys under the car but kept looking for them on the sidewalk because the light was better? The same thing applies to you guys who can't group with the pellets you buy at Wal-Mart. If that's your problem, stop using those pellets! Stop hoping for a miracle that's never going to happen. Break down and order some good pellets. Same for Pellgunoil, good pellet traps, targets printed on real target paper etc. Buy what you need, because the one thing you will never have enough of is time.

Okay, I needed to get that off my chest. I know it isn't as much fun as talking about a new pellet gun, but do you remember the lesson of, "Wax on, wax off?" If you don't know that lesson, here is your assignment - watch the movie The Karate Kid.

Hodges catapult gun

by B.B. Pelletier

I have bad weather for the next several days, so I'm putting the Logun S-16s on hold. I'll get back to it when I can. Today I'm taking a fun excursion into the bizarre with a big bore catapult gun - the Hodges.


Fine Hodges catapult gun, patented in 1849.

What is a catapult gun?
A catapult is another name for a slingshot, so a catapult GUN is a gun that propels its bullet by means of a built-in slingshot. We've looked at catapult guns before when we examined the Johnson, the Daisy 179 and the Sharpshooter. Today, we're looking at a gun more than 150 years old and far more powerful than any catapult gun we've looked at to-date.

History
In 1849, British seaman Richard E. Hodges patented a gun that used India elastic bands to propel - something! Nobody I have spoken with knows for sure what the gun shot, though the launcher is large enough to hold a .43-caliber lead ball weighing 120 grains. Airgun collector Larry Hannusch owns a Hodges and has used surgical rubber tubing to shoot it at low velocity. He estimates that a velocity in the 400 f.p.s. region might be possible with enough bands, but he would never subject his gun to that kind of stress.

The Hodges most likely shot harpoons, like a modern speargun. Collectors believe the gun was meant for foraging, so sportsmanship wouldn't enter into the equation and a harpoon from a gun like this could easily dispatch a small deer or pig. Remember that Hodges was a seaman and would appreciate the utility of a gun that was impervious to rain and salt spray.

Construction
The gun is made of iron or steel, brass and wood and is about the size of a modern 1894 Winchester .30/30 rifle. At the front, there are two brass figures of Roman soldiers projecting in a V away from the "muzzle." These figures are the front holders for the looped elastic bands. The launcher slides in a captive track and has two brass pins sticking straight out to the side to hold the rear part of the bands. At the rear of the launcher, a flat bar with a slot cut in it sticks back to catch the gun's sear.


The launcher has been slid to the rear to latch with the sear. The two brass pins that hold the elastic bands can be seen here. The breech cover is swung to the side so we may look into the breech and see the interaction of the sear with the launcher.


Here you see the flat bar from the rear of the launcher. The sear has not been positioned, but you can just see the lever that does it at the top of the photo.

To cock the gun, the launcher is slid back without the rubber bands attached to its pins. A lever on the right side of the receiver swings the sear up to catch the launcher and hold it fast. When the sear catches it, it stays in place and the bands are stretched one at a time until the shooter is satisfied. Use as many bands as will fit on the pins, although too many will cause the pins to start bending. You don't want that!

Is this an AIR gun?
No, it is not. But neither is a CO2 gun, if you want to get technical. I include things like this in my discussion of airguns because nobody else seems to write much about them. That does push me into the neighborhood of crossbows, slingshots and even firearms, when I write about the BB gun that use caps. That's why I pay attention to airsoft, which is another niche some airgunners don't want to acknowledge. They are airguns the same as anything else we study. In the end, I think guns like the Hodges are good to know about, so we don't make mistakes like the Colorado gunsmith who recently tried to patent a pellet rifle powered by a primer. The idea was already a century-and-a-half old when he applied!