UTG M4 - Part 2 Built in America!

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

I've had something come up and have to go out of town for a couple days, so I won't be able to answer any questions until Friday. Plerase help out while I'm out of the loop.

The UTG M4 is an automatic electric gun (AEG), so the 8.4-volt battery has to be charged. That takes 16 hours the first time. After that, it takes about 4 hours.

The battery stores in the butt, balancing the rifle well. With the oversized handguard and the rifle's general stoutness, this gun feels big!

I started with 0.20-gram BBs, even though I thought they were too light for the powerplant. Sure enough, at 10 yards they gave groups in the 2.5" range. That's not what you want in a battle rifle - not even a CQB gun. But I knew 0.25-gram BBs would make things better, and they did. I used TSD Competition Grade AEB BBs that I had laying around. As you can see, they worked quite well.


TSD 0.25-gram BBs did the trick! I was using a 6 o'clock hold, so they went just above the aim point.

Great open sights!
All shooting was done with the peep sight supplied with the gun. It works the same as an M4 firearm peep, and the front sight does, as well. Both front and rear sights have elevation adjustments, and the rear has windage, too. The top of the receiver is a Picatinny rail, so you can use optics if you like, but I wanted to see how good these iron sights were. They're great!


The rear sight is quite a piece of machinery! It's just like a firearm sight, because it was MADE for firearms!

Velocity
Next I tested velocity. I tested 0.12-gram BBs, though you'll never use them, because all the other AEGs report velocity with them. It's just for comparison.

0.12-gram=461 f.p.s.

0.20-gram=353 f.p.s.

0.25-gram=323 f.p.s.

Naturally you're only going to shoot the most accurate BBs, which are 0.25 grams. Remember that all BBs are not made the same, so do some comparison testing before settling on a brand. Don't just buy on price.

Let me get my thoughts together, and there might be one more part to this report. If not - please remember the most important thing. This airsoft gun is built right here in the U.S.A.!

Tom Gaylord, gunfighter
In college in the 1960s, Tom worked at Frontier Village in San Jose, California. He was a ride operator and a gunfighter. Some of you have asked us to post a picture, so here is one taken around 1968. Tom was the Deputy Marshal shooting it out with the outlaw, Dakota, who is Randy Mitchell (not the airgun hunter, though they do know each other).


Back in '68, Tom had more hair and a shorter belt. Gunfighting at Frontier Village.

2007 Roanoke airgun show! - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

I wrote like crazy to get yesterday's post out on time, but I only touched on a small portion of the show. Today I'll just show you some more pictures, so you can appreciate how things went.

For the several people who suggested that Pyramyd Air sell dented tins of pellets and used guns on their website, the problem is time. They have three people updating the websites (there are two primary sites) all day long and they still get behind at times. The idea is a good one and I think after seeing the reaction at the show, they will try to do something about it.


Another shot of Pyramyd Air, with customers everywhere.


The American Airsoft Practical Shooting Federation is starting leagues for action pistol competition. We will be covering them in the near future.


I blogged a Haenel model 28 for you, but this beauty came in the original box!


The two Model 40 Daisys on the bottom both have their original bayonets.


A pair of spring pistols from the 19th century.


The Crosman model 150 isn't a rare air pistol, but the one marked J.C. Higgins is!


Precision Airguns and Supplies was the other dealer at the show. They had traffic, too!

This is the last post I'm doing on this show, though I'll write an article, also. Tomorrow, we'll get back to airguns. Oh, and I have a special treat in store for you!

2007 Roanoke airgun show! - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

First, I would like to thank all of you who helped me out with the reader comments while I was on the road. Actually, I'm writing this in Johnson, TN, on my way home, so I'm still relying on you.

My wireless modem went south the first day out and the first hotel's WiFi was bad, as well, so I was pretty frustrated for a while! Your help was certainly appreciated.

Now, to the show. About 20 people came up and introduced themselves as blog readers, but only Joe in NY was one who actually signed in. I had hoped to meet more of you there.

The show was the biggest, finest airgun show I have every attended. Usually a show will have one or two things that stand out - like the time the guy walked in with a military Girandoni and sold it in the aisles for $3,500! One like it just brought over $50,000 in a European auction. Or the other time a Daisy second model changed hands with two other rare rifles for $41,000 cash! Things like that make you take notice.


A quarter of the show floor looked like this just before the doors opened on Friday. There must have been 140-150 tables in all.

Well, I didn't see any super sales this time, but advanced collectors like Wes Powers and Bob Spielvogel both told me this was a wonderful show for them. Those guys have such advanced collections that they are as hard to satisfy as Paris Hilton in a dollar store. So when they are both pleased, I know good things have happened.


There were many working Crosman 600s for sale, but this rare nickel-plated one was for display only.


If you collect Benjamins, this near-perfect transition model 117 in the box might have lit your fire! For everyone else with a shiny brass "Benjamin Franklin" pistol, this is what they are supposed to look like.

I sold quite a few old Airgun Revue and Airgun Illustrated magazines but only one of the four R1 books I had held back to take there. That was a surprise. I also sold several guns and accessories, so my show was really good.

But Pyramyd Air set the record. They brought 12 PALLETS of airguns and related stuff to sell, and they spread it out on six tables. At first the four salespeople were afraid there wouldn't be any business for them, but an hour after the doors opened they were each addressing four to six customers at once. And why not? When you have a perfectly good used AirForce Talon SS that normally retails for $475 and you are selling this one for under $400, don't think they will last!


The crowd at the Pyramyd Air tables never went away on Friday. Each salesperson served about four to six customers at once!

Of course, the good stuff was in limited supply, so the Friday attendees got the pick of the litter, so to speak. Pyramyd also brought MOUNTAINS of pellets in dented tins, and the priced them at 4 tins for $20, or five dollars a tin (you had to buy all four to get that price). They told me if they had known how popular dented tins were, they could have brought more. By Saturday morning, there wasn't much left. We're talking Kodiaks and JSB Exacts and other pellets like them in these packages!

There were many more new-style airguns at this show than I've seen before. Besides Pyramyd, which brought several hundred of the most popular (yes, there were several CFXs, TX200s and .22 caliber RWS 34 Panthers!), Precision Airguns and Supplies also had many Daystate and Air Arms guns. And throughout the room, private individuals, such as Paul Watts, brought several other current model guns.

John Allen of the Blue Book of Airguns had a table there for the entire show and got to see first-hand what a bunch of crazy old men look like when they are having fun. I think he was impressed at how serious this hobby is when you get to this level of collector.

Speaking of serious, Charles Ward and his wife set up a booth to demonstrate the American Airsoft Practical Shooting Federation (AAPSF), a governing body for action pistol shooting with airsoft guns. Not just ANY guns. I'm taking about Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa pistols that have another $800 worth of gunsmithing and custom parts on them so they can produce half-inch groups at 25 feet! Add another couple hundred for the speed holster, belt, and 3 mag pouches, and you're ready to double-tap your way into heavy-duty fun! Pyramyd Air will be looking at this federation, with an eye toward promoting serious action pistol shooting here in the U.S.

There is so much more to tell that I'm going to have a second blog about it. This was just a first glimpse at the most successful airgun show that has ever been held! I hope you enjoy it.

Testing the Gamo Whisper - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Let's take the Gamo Whisper to the range, although the day was not good for shooting. I also tried to shoot some 75-yard groups with the Air Arms S410 sidelever, but a 15 mph gusting wind ruined that attempt. I haven't given up, but I do need to adjust the scope mounts before returning for a second attempt on a calmer day.

However, I do have more to report on the Whisper, because this day I had a gallery of four other airgunners to watch me shoot and handle the rifle. To a man...even though one was a woman, they liked the light weight. She was surprised by the light cocking, so it wasn't just my imagination.

One person, who is in advertising, was most impressed with the TruGlo sights. He said he would feature them plus the light weight in an ad, but he would avoid mentioning the one thing the gun isn't, which is quiet. Not that it's noisy, mind you, it's just not that quiet. It sounds like most other spring guns in its power class, though perhaps on the quieter side of all of them.

I tried to sight-in the rifle, and I had it on at 10 feet, but at 20 yards the wind blew the pellet clear off the paper. It's not fair to the gun to report the groups I got, so I'll return on a better day. But from what I saw at 10 feet, my gut tells me this rifle can shoot.

Trigger not so good
Remember that trigger I've been praising? Well, off the bench it's positively bad! Too much second stage for any hope of good work. It's not particularly heavy, breaking at between 5 and 7 lbs. I know, I know...Charlie Da Tuna. Give me some time.

Velocity was a pleasant surprise!
Gamo advertises the Whisper at 1,000 f.p.s. with light lead pellets and 1,200 f.p.s. with PBA Gamo Raptors. So, I shot it with Crosman Premiers (7.9 grains) and Raptors (5 grains), and I'll be darned if it didn't get pretty close! Raptors went an average 1175 f.p.s. and Premier lites went 918. So, Hobbys might go 950 or so, and that's pretty close to the advertised velocity.

The powerplant now buzzes more than it did, and that's where the bulk of the noise is generated. I'm not going to tune this rifle, but if it were tuned to be quieter, then the muzzle reduction might begin to matter, as it does with the TX 200.

In the next installment, I'll scope the rifle and go for accuracy. After all, you guys don't care how lousy a shot I am with open sights.

UTG M4 - Part 1 Built in America!

by B.B. Pelletier

WARNING - Today's post contains airsoft content. Read at your own risk.

Remember that I will be on the road from today through next Monday. Please help out with the answers for new readers. I will be online once a day at least, but there are so many messages that I will need your help. Thank you.

What's this "Built in America" stuff? Airsoft is Asian - everybody knows that. Well, not any more! Leapers is now building their new UTG M4 automatic electric gun (AEG) in Livonia, Michigan. You might think that another M4 AEG is about as novel as a reliable Toyota. They no longer surprise anyone. So, is this gun even worth talking about or is it just the same old story?

As it turns out, when you make something that everyone else makes, you have to do things differently, and I believe they have accomplished that. So, let's take a look at a different M4.

Even the box is great. Really!
Snore! How can a box be exciting? I know several ways they can be really disappointing, and airsofters should be able to relate. I'm talking about the Asian boxes with the flimsy pasteboard and the crumbly styrofoam that are partially disintegrated by the time they make it to your doorstep. I've had guns that took 20 minutes of cleaning just to get the styrofoam particles out of the mechanism. And, what about those boxes where all the parts are loose and banging into each other? Or, they've broken out of the box and you're not sure whether or not you have the whole gun?


Everything is held in place by non-crumbly styrofoam. If you've bought Asian airsoft guns, you know this is a big step forward!

The UTG M4 comes in a box that would make a $3,000 target rifle proud. Heck, it has a carry handle on the side and this one is actually strong enough to be used! Everything is in a separate compartment, AND the owner's manual has an inventory list for you to compare with what you actually received. That's the way all airgun boxes should be made!

The manual takes nothing for granted...it gives you ALL the info you need to shoot, use & enjoy the gun
The manual is a dream come true. Instead of a straight pictogram or a sloppy Chinglish translation, "Please to always obey the command of official and righteous party when use the gun," this one is written correctly and loaded with detailed line drawings that actually show what they're talking about!


A small section from one page of the manual looks and reads like this.

What comes with it?
With the rifle comes:

• 8.4-volt battery and charger
• Rear diopter sight
• 1 magazine
• Cleaning rod
• RIS vertical foregrip
• Front sight adjustment tool (yes, the front sight adjusts for elevation just like the firearm)
• Magazine winding key
• Owner’s manual

I've never seen or used a key to wind a magazine before. The mag has the normal wheel winder on the bottom, but the key is easier. So, use it when you're sighting-in and use the built-in wheel in the field.


First time I've seen a magazine winding key like this. The standard wheel is also present.

It's as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar
This M4 is a heavyweight that feels very solid. No flexing like some cheaper AEGs. The loaded weight is 8 lbs., 14 oz., which is a right solid chunk when it's a carbine. The rifle feels right in your hands. Although I didn't skirmish with it, I think it will hold up well.

Steel gears, no less!
The guns the M4 competes with are also very good, so Leapers put all-steel gears in the gearbox. The bushings, however, are nylon. The manual cautions you to let the gun rest 5-10 minutes after 500 continuous shots. Metal bushings might stretch that time out.

Firing rate
The cyclic rate of 750-850 RPM is right up there with the Colt M4 spec of 750-900 rounds per minute. It's impossible to count the rate, but a burst of a few seconds left enough BBs in a container to determine it pretty close.

Some might be tempted to put a 9.6-volt battery in the butt, because there's enough room for it in this Commando version (the Tactical version has an extending butt and stores the battery in the handguard). If you want to upgrade, I'd advise you to get a larger 8.4-volt battery (2300 mAH ) for a longer runtime, but don't go to a higher-voltage battery unless you re-bush the gearbox and lube everything, because you'll overheat the gearbox.

Next, I'll take a look at accuracy & firing.

Testing the Gamo Whisper - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Well, Joe in Maryland explained that a 50 percent reduction in noise is only 3 decibels, so in that light, I can accept Gamo's claim of a 52 percent reduction. Sorry, but I was thinking in different quantitative terms (i.e., percentage of loudness).

A well-rounded stock
Let's continue our look at the features on this Gamo Whisper breakbarrel. First, let's look at the stock. It's a black, synthetic stock with a fairly wide forearm and a deep pistol grip. The cocking slot is short because the rifle has an articulated cocking link I'll talk about in a moment. The Monte Carlo cheekpiece is low, and the cheekpiece is on both sides of the stock. In all ways, this rifle is ambidextrous. The thick, black rubber buttpad is very nicely contoured to the butt and looks terrific. The pull is slightly short at 13-3/4", so the rifle is well-suited to shooters of smaller stature.

What's behind the easy cocking?
Archimedes said, "Give me a place to stand and I'll move the world." He was referring to the ability of levers to multiply force. That same science works on breakbarrel air rifles. The length of the barrel (the lever) and the location of the fulcrum (the cocking link pivot point) determine how easy or hard a gun cocks to a greater extent than the power of the mainspring. Gamo designed the Whisper right in this respect. On close examination, I see they've reduced the baseblock by a huge amount, so they can place the anchor point of the linkage exactly where they want it.


The barrel breaks back an incredible distance. This is relaxed. It comes back another 4-5 inches!

They also employ an articulated 2-piece cocking link that's longer than a single piece. It allows the barrel to pivot more on the pivot pin, which means they use the cocking force over a longer distance. The net result is a lighter effort.


There's that small steel barrel I mentioned in the first report. Note the chisel detent. The easy cocking includes breaking the barrel open.

A nice set of fiberoptic open sights
The front is a post and bead that's hooded for protection. After what happened to the RWS Diana 34 Panther front sight, I'll accept that fiberoptic sights need protection. The rear sight is fully adjustable and is fiberoptic as well. Both windage and elevation adjust in smooth clicks, and the windage has a reference scale. They are so nice that I thought it would be nice to test them first, before mounting the scope that comes with the rifle.


A red fiberoptic post and bead front sight is protected by a steel globe.


The rear sight is fully adjustable and also fiberoptic.

Nice trigger!
And somebody remarked, "If the trigger becomes nicer with use, what is it nicer than? Itself, before the use?" Obviously the answer to that is yes. And you readers all chimed in and made sure I knew about Charlie Da Tuna's GRT-III drop-in replacement. I have looked at his website, and I'll see what I can do about working him into this blog.

A trigger replacement will probably void the Gamo warranty. That wouldn't bother me if this were my own rifle, but it's not. Maybe I'll scare up a cheap, used Gamo at Roanoke.

And I heard the usual anti-plastic remarks made on the first report. What I wonder is how do you wood-and-steel types every buy a modern car? When I have a choice, I'll pick steel over plastic every time. That's why I'm a 1911 fancier and don't care for Glocks. But, I would never make the mistake of thinking that just because an airgun has plastic it won't work well. I like the synthetic-stocked RWS Diana 34 Panther over the traditional wood-stocked 34, and I'm hoping this Whisper will show me the same great traits.

I may have to postpone the shooting, as I'm leaving for Roanoke in two days and the weather isn't cooperating. But don't despair; we'll get there.

Can you shoot pellets backwards? Introducing the "flying ashtray"

by B.B. Pelletier

Before I start, I will be on the road from Wednesday through next Monday, attending the Roanoke Airgun Expo on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 & 27. I will answer those comments I need to, but my capability is limited, so will you old hands please help out? Thank you.

Nate in Mass. asked if it's permissible (possible, without damage to the gun) to shoot pellets loaded backwards. He was thinking of them acting as extreme hollowpoints.

Well, Nate the short answer is "yes," and so is the longer answer I will give today. Diabolo pellets loaded backwards work fine in most guns. On principle, I would avoid loading them that way in repeaters, though I have shot some that way when they were misloaded.

My experience is limited
I don't make a practice of shooting pellets loaded backwards. I have limited my testing to 10 meters, so others may be able to expand what I'm about to say. The guns I shot them from were all low- to mid-power. No magnums were used, though I did shoot several from an HW77.

Not as accurate
They don't group nearly as well as when loaded the conventional way. The rifles I've tested seemed not to mind them at all, and at 10 yards I could see no evidence of them trying to turn around in flight.

Good for pests
I haven't tried this but I've read for the past 30 years that pellets loaded backwards make good critter-gitters, for obvious reasons. The thin soft skirt opens rapidly when contacting tissue and is especially good on rats.

The "flying ashtray"
I borrowed that nickname from the defensive hollowpoints used in some handgun ammunition. It means a wide-open hollowpoint that hits its target in an attitude that's ready to expand dramatically. There used to be a pellet made that way, and very curiously, it resembled a diabolo pellet loaded backwards - hence the title of today's post. I'm referring to the Vortek Lamprey.


Makarov 9mm pistol bullet of the flying ashtray design.


Vortek Lampreys were remarkable hollowpoint pellets that looked like they were flying backwards. The pellet that's standing shows the deep hollowpoint. The rounded skirt is shown on the pellet lying down.

The Lamprey has a huge mouth (Vortek called it a hollow head pellet), like its namesake, and a tiny shallow skirt. It seems wrong to load it the right way - as though the maker somehow reversed the directions. Yet, it's reasonably accurate and is one of the few hollowpoint pellets that performs well at slower speed. The walls of the hollowpoint are thick, but this is a pure lead pellet, so it mushrooms well and holds together even better.

Lampreys are no longer made. The new crop of hollowpoints seem to have learned some things from them because the hollowpoints are now much deeper than in the past.

So, Nate, your idea will work. Give it a try!

Testing the Gamo Whisper

by B.B. Pelletier

Noise is what the new Gamo Whisper is all about, and I'll address that issue for you right now. I don't find the Whisper to be that much quieter than any other spring piston air rifle of comparable power. In fact, my tuned .22-caliber Beeman R1, which has no silencer, is quieter because its powerplant makes less noise. The powerplant is where the bulk of the noise of a spring gun comes from, not the discharge at the muzzle.

Gamo claims a 52 percent reduction in noise. If that's true, the Whisper starts out as one of the loudest spring rifles in existence. I doubt that number.

One customer has posted a product review of the Whisper and said he thinks it's louder when firing Beeman Crow Magnums. My wife felt that 7.9-grain Crosman Premiers were louder than Beeman Kodiaks. I don't have a noise meter to test this, but I will try to observe and give you a subjective report, if there is anything report.

I compared the Whisper to both my tuned R1 and to a .177 caliber TX 200 Mk III that was considerably quieter than the Whisper. The Whisper makes a sustained high-pitched buzzing sound that the other two rifles don't have. It also sounds hollow, where the other two sound more solid.

That said, the Whisper is quiet when you compare it to other Gamos. Only the CFX impressed me as possibly being quieter.

What Gamo SHOULD be saying!
Gamo is missing the boat with the Whisper, because it has some of the nicest handling characteristics of their entire line - none of which they advertise. So, I'll tell you what they are.

For starters this is the lightest spring air rifle in its power class. The Gamo Shadow has long been a lightweight, powerful air rifle, but the Whisper is even lighter. It weighs just 5.3 lbs., which is almost a full pound lighter than the lightweight Shadow. If this were a bicycle, it would be a high-tech, 16-lb. carbon-fiber road racer that enthusiasts would pay thousands for! How Gamo lets that feature slide is beyond me!

What makes it so light is the extensive use of synthetics. Instead of a fat steel barrel, they have a thinner rifled steel tube surrounded by a plastic jacket. They have fluted the jacket for style points, and it does look attractive. The silencer is a hand-filling plastic muzzlebrake with plastic baffles inside. It makes cocking the rifle so much easier.

It cocks like a dream!
This rifle cocks with 35 lbs. of effort, but the large muzzle brake and long cocking stroke fooled me into thinking it was 10 lbs. lighter. The rifle's specifications on the Pyramyd Air website reflects Gamo's published effort of 30 pounds, so this will probably improve with time. At any rate, this is one easy-cocking breakbarrel!

Great scoping option
The last feature Gamo doesn't really hype is a beautiful, separate scope rail atop the spring tube. They have come out with a design that should really work. It's long and has two vertical scope stop holes - one at either end for putting the scope stop pin where you want it. I can't wait to try it, but the open sights are too nice to pass up. I am going to test them first and then scope the rifle. Of course, this model is sold with a scope that comes unmounted, so I will use it to start my scope mounting series for you.


A sound scope rail with two vertical scope-stop pin holes. That's what I like to see!

Nice trigger
Gamo triggers have been getting nicer with each passing year. They still have an inordinately long second-stage pull and will never be confused with Rekord triggers; but for the price, they're very acceptable. Thankfully, the safety is still manual and you can shoot as soon as the rifle is loaded. The length of the first-stage pull is adjustable, but not the pull weight and not the overtravel.

I have more to describe on the rifle, but I must say, the Gamo Whisper is very impressive thus far!

Why are there TWO zero points when sighting in a scope?

by B.B. Pelletier

First, let me say how nice it was that so many of you who have never commented with your names did so yesterday. It's nice to know you are out there. I was really surprised that so many of you responded. Thanks!

Today's post was suggested by Lego-man, who didn't understand where the two zero points for an airgun scope came from. I would normally have directed him to the post on determining the range at which to zero your scope, but that was where he asked the question. So, the words weren't getting the idea across. And, if one person asks, there are 10 more who don't bother to. Today, I'll draw some diagrams.

Here is the question: Ok..Im new to this air rifle thing, How do you get 2 distances from one scope? Also what is the best kind of range to zero in at?

The answer to this question, or I should say the science behind the answer, is obvious once you understand it. But until that time, you might wonder why I keep talking about two sight-in ranges.

Once a bullet leaves the muzzle of the gun, it starts falling to earth. How the barrel is oriented to the ground (i.e., is it pointed up so the bullet first rises, or is it parallel so the bullet drops right away) plays a large part in determining how long it takes the bullet to hit the ground. But gravity always wins. Even when the bullet appears to be rising away from the earth, gravity is still acting on it to pull it down. And, I expect everyone knows all that.

You probably also know that bullets, typewriters and Jell-O molds all fall at the same rate. If our gun barrel were exactly parallel to the earth and if a bullet were dropped beside the gun at the moment it fired, both bullets (the dropped one and the fired one) would hit the ground at the same time. The fired bullet would be some distance from the muzzle of the gun when it hit, but it would fall at the same rate as the bullet that was dropped.

For this discussion, I'm omitting subtle aerodynamic forces, such as the Magnus Effect, that could actually change the time of the fired bullet's impact by a miniscule amount. Certainly these forces do exist and do affect the flight of a bullet; but for the purpose of this discussion, I'm overlooking them. I don't believe their contribution amounts to enough to consider.

One more thing you all know is that bullets, and especially diabolo pellets, slow down the farther they travel from the muzzle. The farther they go, they more they slow down. That makes the pellet's path curved toward the ground; and the farther out you go, the more curved it is.

Now I'll show the first graphic.


All I'm showing here is a visual of the pellet's trajectory described above. The scale on these graphics is way off, because 5" wide is all Blogger allows as an image size. Look at them for the relationship, not as an exact representation.

If you understand the first graphic, let's see what the scope and open sights are doing while the gun is firing.


The scope is mounted above the rifle, and looks straight out to infinity. What we have to do is realign the scope so it coincides with the trajectory of the pellet.

Graphic No. 2 is also easy to comprehend. The scope looks straight while the bullet is always dropping. What we need to do is adjust the scope so the two can work together. Once again, it's important to understand that this compressed drawing is really played out over many tens of yards of distance. Here's the final graphic.


The scope has been adjusted to look downward through the trajectory of the pellet. This is done when the rifle is zeroed. The range at which the rifle is zeroed is that first point where the straight line of sight and the curved trajectory coincide. At that spot, the pellet will be striking the target at the same place the crosshairs are resting.

Obviously, the graphic is way out of scale. In real life, the amount of downward slant is very minimal on most airguns. In fact, if you don't use adjustable rings, the scope itself isn't slanted, but the erector tube inside is. On some of the Dianas that use an adjustable scope mount, you can actually see the scope pointing down. But it does point down on all airguns, because if it didn't, you could never hit the point of aim.

Do you see that the pellet now appears to rise above the line of sight? Of course it doesn't, but that's what it seems to do. And then farther out it seems to drop back to the line of sight once again. Now you understand what is actually happening is that the pellet is always dropping. By aligning the scope as we did, it only appears to rise and then fall.

If you go back to that old post of mine, you'll see that I give the advice to make the first intersecting point 20 yards from the firing point. Then velocity will determine where the second point falls. With a rifle that has 900 f.p.s. velocity at the muzzle and is sighted-in at 20 yards for the first intersection, it will intersect again at around 33-35 yards from the muzzle. You have to test on a range to discover where it will actually strike - and that's true no matter what your velocity.

The amount the pellet "rises" above the line of sight with this method is about one pellet's diameter or less. That gives you a zone of 20-30 yards at which your rifle is zeroed without any scope adjustment.

This type of zero works for airguns at close distances and is due to the separation between the scope and the barrel. If you zero an airgun at 50 yards and farther, you can kiss off this technique. Field target competitors stumbled on it because 20-30 yards is where many of their targets are located, so they learned to sight-in this way.

I hope that's now clear to everybody.

Who am I?

by B.B. Pelletier

When this blog began, I was concerned about several things. The first is the fact that I write a lot, and I would be writing other blogs. At one time, I had five going at the same time. Now I'm down to three, and this one is the only one I keep current.

A second consideration was that I have written a lot of articles under my own name, and I wondered if I would need to see things from a different perspective when writing for a website that doesn't handle every airgun product on the market.

A final consideration was the internet itself. There are websites I will not visit because the posters seem to be having an eternal food fight. Other websites come and go as the miscreants gang up on whoever is trying to manage the site and wear them out. I have been in that situation in the past, having once operated the largest and most active airgun forum in the world. I wanted to avoid attracting that element to this blog, because they can pollute it in a very short time.

What I wanted was a place to talk about airguns. Period. No agendas, no personalities, no cliques. Just airguns. Pyramyd Air owner Josh Ungier agreed with that viewpoint. In fact, it was Josh who suggested the "No stupid questions" comment for my profile. Well, I believe we have achieved what we wanted. In three years and eight months of blogging five days a week, we have had only one attack, and that was shut down very quickly. The readers of this blog seem to be as concerned as I am that this place remains friendly.

And the fact that Pyramyd Air doesn't sell all airguns hasn't kept me from blogging any model I want to. So that concern wasn't real.

The only concern that was real was who I am. I have a large body of writing that I want to draw upon, but maintaining my disguise has prevented me from using a lot of it. I have used some of it from time to time and those who have recognized it have kept silent, which was appreciated.

But why tell them who you are?
Several of you have advised me to not do this. They worry that things will change when I do. Perhaps they will, but not because I want them to. I will continue to sign on as B.B. Pelletier and I will use that name when I answer your comments. In fact, I probably won't respond to my real name on this blog unless I happen to use it in a particular post for some reason. But I want you all to know who I am because there are some things I need to say, and can only say if you know my background.

I'll give you an example. I want to do a series on scopes for you. But I want to put in material that I developed before I was B.B. Pelletier. In fact, I have already done this once in the blog, in the 13-part spring-gun tuning series. I had to rewrite that material so carefully to keep from tipping my hand (yet I probably did many times). I am writing both a book and developing a video on this subject and I'd like the opportunity to preview some of that material here to see your reactions.

"Gee, Lois...
... I'd have to be Superman to do that." That's the stock answer I have been giving for years when people buttonhole me at airguns shows and ask if I'm B.B. Pelletier. For some, it is important to know, while others couldn't care less. I think I fall into the latter category. However, it is good sometimes to be two different people. Then, I get to read what people have said about my real identity. For example, just last week, a reader compared my writing style to B.B.'s and decided we were two different people because B.B. always tells the truth, but I sometimes lie for whoever I'm writing for. He mentioned an article I wrote for Compasseco's website and decided I must be in bed with them to say such nice things about Chinese airguns. But apparently he never read the article I wrote in The Airgun Letter, where I described a Tech Force 45 stock that looked,"... as if it had been carved by a rabid beaver." I have been very critical of Chinese airguns over the years.

The fact is that the Chinese have made great improvements with some of their air rifles. I'd put a Tech Force Contender 89 (AR1000) against a Beeman R1 any day - and I wrote a book about the R1! On the other hand, I see guns like the BAM B51 that sometimes work and other times don't, and I know the Chinese aren't there yet. So, when I write, I call them as I see them - one gun at a time.

Who I write for
When I started writing about airguns I pictured one guy in my head. He's a working man and doesn't have a lot of money to throw around. In my mind, he lives in Keokuk, Iowa - don't ask why. He may buy just one airgun this year, so whatever I tell him is very important. I worry about that guy when I see a gun that isn't as accurate as it should be for the price or a gun with a 12-lb. trigger or one that isn't going to hold up.

You LIED to us!
To some people, anyone who uses a pen name is an outright liar. And, I did have to lie to further distance B.B. from myself. In several blogs I said that B.B. was well into his sixth decade, when in fact, I just turned 60 this year.

Undoubtedly, I have used other misdirections throughout this blog to maintain my cover. That ends now.

I am Tom Gaylord.

Air Arms S410 sidelever - Part 4

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Initial sight-in was at 10 feet.

Today, we'll look at velocity and noise levels, plus I will comment on everything else that I noticed while working with this air rifle. A few of you are thinking about buying an S410 sidelever, and I hope my report helps you make your decision, whatever it might be.

S410 is a big, light rifle
The stock is very full and generous, yet it doesn't feel like lumber when you hold it. Some air rifles feel very large when you hold them in the shooting position. The Webley Patriot, for instance, makes me feel like a 14-year-old holding his father's 12-gauge. It's just a trifle too large for me. But the S410, while having a thick wooden stock, is rounded in all the rifle places and feels very comfortable.

The rifle is also deceptively lightweight. When you think about it, it's mostly air, isn't it? With a Swift 6-18x scope mounted, my test rifle weighs 9 lbs., 2 ozs. That's light! Get a walnut stock and lop off another 2 to 6 ozs.

Manometer helps keep you straight
Under the forearm, a manometer tells you the state of the charge in the reservoir. By now, all of you know that small pressure gauges are just approximations of the real pressure; but once you become accustomed to them, they are great references. The one on my test rifle reads a little low with a full charge and a little high when the rifle needs filling, but I learned that on the first try. Now I know at a glance if there is enough air to take a reliable shot.


The manometer is handy once you know what it's telling you.

This is a quiet rifle!
I have tested many precharged airguns for you. Some have been notoriously loud, like the Condor and the Career 707. Some have been quiet, like the AirForce Talon SS. I have also tested precharged airguns that were quieter than the S410, but never for this blog. I believe I am safe in saying that this is the quietest powerful PCP I have ever reported to you. In fact, it isn't just quiet for a PCP. For the power, it is quieter than most spring rifles, as well. Only the TX200 and BAM B40, which have internally baffled shrouds, are quieter and even they are close.

To get seriously quiet, you can dial the power all the way down. The rifle is then in the stealth mode and is quieter than a fully-silenced .22 shooting CB caps. I know because I tried it! Of course, the velocity drops way back when you do that, but sometimes you don't need velocity.

Quieter, still!
There's a cap on the muzzle that unscrews to reveal 1/2" x 20 threads - one of two popular thread patterns for silencers. My own Pilot silencer has 1/2" by 28 threads. If this were my rifle, I'd get Dennis Quackenbush to make an adapter for it. With a silencer, this rifle becomes seriously silent. I have paid for my legal silencer, but you don't have to, because you can get nearly the same benefit with this completely legal air rifle.

Impressive velocity
Speaking of velocity, what can the test rifle do? Beeman Kodiaks averaged 812 f.p.s. on high power, for a muzzle energy of 30.75 foot-pounds. I also shot 15.8-grain JSB Exacts on full power just to see what they would do, and they averaged 929 f.p.s., for a muzzle energy of 30.29 foot-pounds.

The most accurate pellet was the Crosman Premier, shot at just above half power, which is 874 f.p.s. and 24.26 foot-pounds. Cranked all the way up, the same Premiers go 937 f.p.s. in this rifle, producing 27.87 foot-pounds. On the absolute lowest power, they go 391 f.p.s., for 4.26 foot-pounds. That is a HUGE range of power adjustability, and I noted that, at any given setting, the velocity was stable. That held true across the entire range.

I'm not finished!
Just as I was about to wrap up this report, Scott 298 asked for a 75-yard accuracy test. I agreed, so we have at least one more installment coming. But not tomorrow.

Air Arms S410 sidelever - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Today, we'll take the S410 sidelever to the range. The day was pretty good, with just a light, intermittent breeze.

I sighted in at 10 feet, and the first shot hit the paper directly below the bull where I wanted it, so I knew I would be on target at 35 yards. Read Tom Gaylord's article about how to sight-in a scope to learn more about this technique.

Initial shooting at 35 yards
I started shooting with Beeman Kodiak pellets. They weigh 21 grains, which is heavy for a .22 caliber pellet, and heavy pellets draw out the most energy from a precharged pneumatic gun. They grouped just under one inch at that distance, which wasn't what I wanted from this rifle, so I moved on. I will discuss velocities in another posting, but the rifle was set at full power with this pellet.


Beeman Kodiaks were not what I expected at 35 yards--0.85" group.

I tried JSB pellets next
JSB Exacts are often the most accurate pellet in a given air rifle, so they were next. I dialed the power back to halfway, because at 15.8 grains, they seemed too light to shoot at full power. The groups were much better, averaging less than a half-inch. The best group was 0.391" and the worst measured 0.635". These would be good hunting pellets for this rifle.


JSB Exacts did well, as expected--0.391" group.

Gamo Hunters were okay
To keep things stirred up, I tried some .22 caliber Gamo Hunters. They worked okay, but the smallest group of 0.815" and the largest of 0.940" are too large, considering what other pellets can do. The power setting was also halfway for this pellet, which, at 15.4 grains, is lighter than the JSBs and Kodiaks.


Gamo Hunters were okay, but there were better pellets.

H&N Trophy pellets were also good...but not the best
To round out the test, I tried H&N Trophy pellets. Pyramyd Air doesn't stock them, but the Field & Target Trophy is very similar. They sometimes out-test other pellets in certain guns, but usually they are behind Kodiaks and JSBs. This rifle was acting differently, so I thought I'd give them a try.


H&N Trophy pellets were good, but not the best--0.485" group. Hole on the right has three pellets.


Crosman Premiers were best of all!
A reader told me that Crosman Premiers were the best pellets in his S410. Ten years ago, they were the best in the world, and they haven't slipped in quality in that time. Other pellets have gotten better. The first group was 0.466" and it sparked me to try harder. The next group was slightly larger than a half-inch, but the third group was 0.305". It turned out to be the best of the session, but I wasn't done testing quite yet.

Technique matters!
Now that I had a pellet of known accuracy, I shot another group without resorting to any technique at all. Just shot it like a deer rifle, only off the same rest as the other groups. It measured 0.577" and it would look good to someone who didn't know what this rifle can really do. But you and I know there is more to be had when the right technique is employed.


When you get a result like this (0.305"), it's probably the pellet of choice. Crosman Premiers.


The best pellet in the world will not make up for poor technique. Crosman Premiers fired with no regard for technique. Rifle shot from a rest like a deer rifle, meaning once-a-year, casual acquaintance with shooting technique--0.577".

The technique to use
A PCP doesn't recoil in the same way that a spring gun does, so a lot of the artillery hold is wasted on it. There are, however, two components of the artillery hold that are essential to better accuracy with all rifles - PCPs and firearms included. They are the proper positioning before the shot and follow-through. Proper positioning means that you align the crosshairs with the target with absolutely no strain. In other words, if you relax your grip, take a deep breath and let it out, the crosshairs are still aligned properly. Any strain to hold the gun on target will result in a larger group.

Follow-through means you keep the crosshairs on target after the shot is fired. With recoiling guns, this takes a lot of discipline because the gun moves you off-target; but you remain where you land and keep watching the target for several seconds. What follow-through does is cancel the tendency to lift your head from the sights the moment the shot goes off. That isn't a terrible thing by itself, but it leads to pulling your eyes off-target an instant BEFORE the shot goes off, and that leads to moving the gun at the same instant. It is a practiced "flinch" and devastating to accuracy.

I used a hand pump!
Because the S410 sidelever came with such a strange fill adapter, I connected it to the hose on my Hill pump, which was used for all filling duties. The rifle drops to around 2,000 psi when the groups start opening at 50 yards, and it takes 50-64 pump strokes to get it back up to 2,900 psi (just less than 200 bar), which is the recommended maximum fill.

In the next post I'll discuss velocities and talk about how quiet the rifle is.

How air pressure relates to filling a precharged airgun

by B.B. Pelletier

Before we begin, I have two announcements.

First, the weekly podcast has been changed to a monthly podcast. It takes nearly a full 8 hours to produce one podcast when everyone's time is factored in, and the time vs. listeners doesn't justify doing it week.y. The next podcast will go up in early November.

Second, Pyramyd Air will have five tables at the upcoming Roanoke Airgun Expo. It's the largest airgun show in the world, attracting people from all over the U.S. and Europe. This year, the show coincides with a large gun show (on Saturday), which should bring several thousand additional attendees, since the public gets into both shows for one price. Pyramyd Air is cleaning out their warehouse - overstocks, repaired guns, parts guns, hundreds of repair/spare parts and the usual bits that accumulate in a multi-million dollar business. They don't want to go home with any of it, so bring cash and lots of boxes and gun sleeves. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for serious airgunners.

On to today's blog, which is an answer to a question from a reader named Andreas.

"I'm trying to figure out why an 80 cubic-foot scuba tank can only fill two {Airforce} 490 cc tanks. Considering they are both at the same pressure, shouldn't the 80 CF tank be able to fill MANY more times, since 1 cubic centimeter = 0.00004 cubic feet?"

Apples and oranges
Andreas, the problem you are having is a common one people have when discussing compressed air. You're equating volume with pressure, and they are not the same thing. If compressed air were water, you would have every right to complain, because you could fill many 490 cc vessels from one 80 cubic-foot vessel. But the 80 cubic-foot vessel you are talking about (a standard scuba tank) really doesn't HOLD 80 cubic feet of anything! That name isn't a description of the interior volume of a scuba tank. It describes how many cubic feet of air at standard pressure (sea level, or 14.7 psi) can be contained safely inside the tank. To get all that air into the scuba tank, it has to be pressurized to 3,000 pounds per square inch (psi) or 206 bar.

The LARGER tank is even smaller!
Look at the 88 cubic-foot carbon fiber tank. It's actually SMALLER in size than an 80 cubic-foot scuba tank, yet it holds more air. The air has to be pressurized to 4,500 psi in order to get 88 cubic feet of it into such a small vessel, and a really neat thing happens because of that.

As the air flows out, the pressure drops
When you decant air from a scuba tank to another vessel, the air that remains in the scuba tank begins dropping in pressure immediately. If the vessel you're filling is large enough and also holds 3,000 psi, it won't be long before you will notice a drop in the pressure in the scuba tank. You will see this because it will no longer fill other vessels to 3,000 psi. Although 490cc does seem small compared to 80 cubic feet, how does 2 cubic feet seem? Twice 2 cubic feet is 4 cubic feet. That's what it takes to get two full (3,000 psi) fills of the 490cc tank. Losing that much air drops the air in the 80 cubic-foot scuba tank down to 76 cubic feet. Does that make more sense?

I'm not saying that the AirForce tank we are using for this discussion holds exactly 2 cubic feet, but it does hold something in that neighborhood. It's a good enough approximation to comprehend why it can lower the air pressure in the scuba tank so quickly.

A couple full fills - many more partials
But listen to this - once the air pressure in the scuba tank starts falling, it doesn't go to zero immediately. Maybe fill No. 3 would put only 2,975 psi into the AirForce tank. Maybe the fourth fill would put in 2,925 psi, while fill No. 5 would put in 2,850, and so on....Again, these are not precise numbers gathered from testing - they're simply representative of what happens to the scuba tank as you fill the AirForce tank. As the fill pressure you are able to achieve in the rifle's tank drops, the total number of shots you can get also drops. The shots aren't less powerful - there are just fewer of them. Instead of 35 powerful shots, maybe you'll get only 30 on a 2,800 psi fill. At some point, the pressure left in the scuba tank will fall to around 2,200 psi.

Eventually, you'll get so few shots from a fill that it's clearly time to go back to the dive shop and get the scuba tank refilled. I tell people to expect 15 to 18 fills from an 80 cubic-foot scuba tanks, but only the first couple will be full fills. The rest are partials.

The benefit of carbon fiber tanks
Remember the carbon fiber tank I mentioned ealier? It holds 4,500 psi to begin with. You can get a whopping number of full (3,000 psi) fills from a tank like that, because even though it is dropping in pressure with each fill, it has a long way to go before it gets down below 3,000 psi. That's the beauty of using a carbon fiber tank to fill precharged airguns. Besides weighing less than half what a scuba tank weighs, they also hold a lot more usable air.

Another way to make it happen...
There's another way to get the same beneficial effect. Instead of having the air tank hold MORE air, make the gun use LESS! The USFT from Mac-1 uses 1,650 psi to get over 50 shots of a heavy 10.6-grain Beeman Kodiak pellet moving at 915 f.p.s. If you were filling that gun from a 3,000 psi scuba tank, you could go a LOT lower before you had to return to the dive shop for a refill. The air volume of the USFT reservoir is MUCH larger than the volume of the 490 cc AirForce tank, so you won't get as many fill as you might think, but you will definitely get more.

The USFT is a specialized competition rifle, and priced to reflect the hand work that goes into it, but imagine how great it would be to have an affordable sporting precharged rifle that used less than 3,000 psi! The first company to bring out a gun like that is going to break the market wide open, as long as it's affordable.

I hope this explains why you don't get that many full fills from a scuba tank.

Air Arms S410 sidelever - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today, I'll mount a scope on the Air Arms S410 sidelever and give you the particulars for that. But first, let me clear up some things since the initial post.

Why does the fill device look like that?
Bill Sanders of Air Arms contacted me and gave me the story about the fill device. A number of Air Arms PCPs that were sent to Japan were having trouble with the fill device due to rust and corrosion. Because they are in Japan, the company has to deal with the problem long-distance, so they decided to reengineer the fill device. They made the fill port on the rifle from stainless steel and the separate adapter from bronze. They also put a sintered bronze screen inside the fill port to keep dirt out of the gun.

Bill also told me Air Arms put ball bearings in the cocking linkage, which is why it is so easy to operate. Little touches like that do cost more, but once you try them, you usually forget the price.

Keeping track of the pellets
I mentioned in part one that there was no way to know when the gun was out of pellets, but reader Chase told me to examine the magazine closely and I'd see a dot. Wherever you position this dot (so it can be seen) when you insert the magazine, when it comes around to that place again, you are out of pellets. I also have developed a feel of the loading lever for when there is a pellet and when there isn't, so the dot isn't needed anymore. Thank goodness for that, because it's hard for me to see.


The ammo reminder is a dot at 7 o'clock on the edge of the metal cylinder inside the plastic. It may be colored red, but I'm red-green colorblind and it looks black to me.

And which S410 sidelever rifle am I testing?
This one I thought I had covered, because all my links lead to the same beech-stocked rifle. So there's no doubt, and so you can also see how it looks with the scope mounted, I'm showing it to you now.


I mounted a Swift 6-18x50mm scope, which is a good match for this rifle.

The scope must straddle that magazine
Everyone who looks at this rifle notices that the magazine stands proud of the receiver. This is typical for most repeaters that have a revolving cylinder. It means you need to use 2-piece mounts, and they have to be high enough to clear the bottom of the scope. As you can see in the picture, B-Square adjustable high rings work fine. Because the magazine goes in from the side, there are no issues of clearance above the mag housing.


The scope easily straddles the magazine. I could have used a medium-height mount and still had clearance.

How to adjust the adjustable scope mounts
You have to give each scope mount at least a half turn of elevation for the gimbal action to work (I guess we really need that scope primer, don't we?). On PCPs that normally do not have barrel droop, I give the front ring a half turn and the rear a full turn. That gives the scope an ever-so-slight downward slant that is usually right on. I pretty much center the posts on the split-rings (these are adjustable scope mounts) which also centers the scope. If the barrel sticks out straight from the receiver and if the dovetails are machined parallel to the bore, the scope will be close to right on.

I'm using a powerful scope
Because the S410 can reach out there, I selected a Swift 6-18x50 scope. It's clear enough for long-range shooting, yet this particular scope doesn't weigh much. It has a 1" tube, so it isn't as bright as some of the newer 6-18x scopes with 30mm tubes; but on a bright range, it does all right.

In our next installment, we'll go to the range.

Crosman's fabulous trigger!

by B.B. Pelletier

When you think of great airgun triggers, Crosman is probably not the first company that comes to mind. But, are you aware that they designed a trigger that for many years was one of the top target triggers around? Probably not, because this trigger was found on their model 160/167 target rifle that came out during the period CO2 powerlets were suffering. All the CO2 guns made from 1955 through the late 1960s suffered from leaks, so CO2 got a bad rap and CO2 guns were largely ignored. Which is why in the 1990s airgunners everywhere began discovering what wonderful guns they had ignored, and none more than the 160.

The 160 trigger is adjustable
I addressed the Crosman 160 when I reported on the QB 78, so read that report to catch up on the rifle. Today, I want to look at just the trigger. It's adjustable for pull weight, sear engagement and has a trigger stop.

Do NOT disassemble any part of your gun unless you are 100% positive that you can put it back together again!

It came from a crossbow!
When I read Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey's excellent book, The Crossbow, first published in 1903, I was stunned to see the ancestor of the Crosman 160 trigger in a military crossbow of the 1400s. The trigger is based on a rotating sear called a nut. Back then the nut was made from animal horn, and hundreds, if not thousands, have survived to this day. Crosman used steel or sintered iron - I can't tell which.


From Payne-Gallwey's famous crossbow book, this illustration of the trigger nut illustrates how a vintage crossbow trigger works.

Getting to the trigger requires disassembly
To get to the trigger, you must first remove the action from the stock. The safety switch has to be taken out and the single-action nut removed and then the action and stock separate easily.

Once the rifle's action is out of the stock, two trigger sideplate screws can be removed. This exposes the internals of the trigger. If you have an original Crosman trigger, there will probably be iron filings inside the trigger box. Brush them out before proceeding. The QB triggers don't seem to have this problem.


Crosman's 160 trigger (a QB 79 target trigger clone is shown) has the same rotating sear as the crossbow trigger. The dark half-round part at the upper right holds the hammer until the trigger releases it to rotate out of the way.

All adjustments appear in the picture
Pay attention to that trigger picture. See the two small screws coming in from the upper left side? The top one adjusts the amount of sear contact area. The bottom one is the trigger overtravel stop. The spring at the bottom is the trigger-return-spring adjustment that also regulates the weight of the trigger pull. The trigger shown is a modern copy of a 160 trigger from a QB 79 target rifle, and the first stage is built into the trigger blade, which is spring-loaded to move back and then stop as your trigger finger tightens.

The large pin with a spring around it at the right is the safety mechanism. The safety lever had to be removed to get the action out of the stock. Even with the sideplate off and the internals exposed like this, the trigger can still be cocked and adjusted, which makes your job much easier. However, it is not necessary to remove the sideplate to adjust the trigger.

Adjusting the 160's trigger
I adjust the sear contact first, leaving plenty of contact area. The sear responds well to lubrication, so you can have a good amount of sear contact for safety's sake. After adjusting the sear, I set the overtravel stop. It's possible to adjust this trigger so it will not cock and also so it cannot be fired after being cocked, so keep testing it as you go. The trigger-return spring is adjusted last, then the trigger is lubricated.

I lube the sear contact area with Beeman M-2-M moly grease. People used to warn that moly is too slippery for trigger lubrication, but that warning has faded today. After that, a drop of FP-10 goes on the sear pins on both sides of the sear so it can turn freely. The job is now done, and you can put the gun back together.

With lubrication and proper adjustment, you can get a safe trigger-pull in the 1-lb. range. It will go even lighter, but I think that's flirting with disaster.

If you own a 160/167 or a 180/187 with this trigger and you've never adjusted it, give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised.

Air Arms S410 sidelever - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

Many of you have remarked that you have wanted me to report about the new Air Arms S410 sidelever. Several owners say it's the greatest air rifle they've ever owned. Accuracy is supposed to be quite good. Others are looking to buy one and want a bit more information before they make the purchase. So, today we'll begin that look - and it will be a looonnng look! I will break it up with other stuff so I don't bore anybody who isn't interested.

And just so you know, I will not duplicate the excellent pictures Pyramyd Air has for this rifle. If you haven't seen them, take a look now.

Cock the S410 sidelever with your pinkie!
This is a 10-shot repeating precharged air rifle. The one Pyramyd Air sent to me is in .22 caliber. The sidelever replaces the bolt, making cocking easier. Air Arms told Pyramyd Air at the last SHOT Show that they will be doing more sidelevers in the future, so this one is the wave of what's to come.

Power adjustment is a breeze
A small knurled silver knob on the right side of the receiver adjusts the power. When I first saw it, I thought it couldn't work. I 'm used to rifles like the Career III 707 and the AirForce Condor, whose power adjustment knobs require a lot of force. This one is more like tuning a radio - if radios tuned with knobs anymore, that is. A silver indicator on the other side of the receiver tells you the direction your adjustment went. There are no numbers to confuse - just a plus and a minus for owners to understand what they're doing.

Fill adapter - prepare to be amazed!
This rifle has the most unusual fill adapter I have ever seen. It looks like an engineer went to a lot of trouble to design a complex part that no one could easily copy. And it also looks like it takes a CNC machining center to make it! I have asked Air Arms to explain the reason for this odd coupling, but I'm telling you right now, if you buy this rifle you better have a female 1/8" BSPP connector on the end of whatever hose you use to fill PCPs, because that's what this thing fits. It doesn't matter whether you have a pump, scuba tank or air compressor - the hose has to end in a female 1/8" BSPP connection to fit this adapter.


This is the fill adapter. Nothing else will work. The threads are 1/8" BSPP, so get the right hose coupling!

Read the manual!
One look at that fill adapter and I immediately opened the owner's manual and read the entire thing.

The rifle's first fill
Well, right off I found some wording in the manual that should be revised. It says to "...hold the female part of the connector (the fill adapter) in the following fashion...." when what they are trying to say is to lock the fill adapter in place by rotating it 90 degrees to the keyed hole in the adapter. I didn't do that the first time and the adapter blew off the rifle. A little surprising but no harm because it was tethered to the fill hose. What they don't mention is you are to look at the photo in the manual, not read the text. So I am showing you what to do here. This same fill coupling is now used on all new Air Arms guns.


This is the gun fill port. Pay attention to the "propeller" on top. It is the adapter locking key.


See how the key fits through the hole on the adapter top and twists sideways. You must do this to lock the adapter to the rifle while filling.

Quiet operation!
Once it's filled, you know I'm going to shoot it. Especially since there is a full barrel shroud, and the reports I've read says it works. Bottom line - it shoots with very little noise. How little? Well, on low power it sounds like a Red Ryder BB gun. On medium to high power it's getting up to the level of an RWS Diana 48, which is to say noticeable if you are within 50 feet and you know there's someone in the area with an airgun. That's impressive!

10-shot magazine means lots of shooting
The magazine comes out of the left side of the receiver, and the owner's manual has some very specific instructions for how to remove and install it. Loading is simply rotating the cylinder until a chamber aligns with the loading hole, then dropping in a pellet. Once the magazine is installed there is no warning that it's empty, other than looking through the transparent plastic as you shoot the rifle. But you can tell a difference in the muzzle report when no pellet has fired.


10-shot magazine is easy to load.

In the next report, I'll try to finish the physical examination and take you through mounting a scope.

Crosman Challenger 2000 Pyramyd Air has a sale!

by B.B. Pelletier


Crosman's Challenger 2000 is a 10-meter target rifle that's also perfect for indoor shooting when the weather turns cold. Adult size and adjustability make it a favorite.

As the season turns to autumn and outdoor temperatures start dropping, U.S. airgunners start moving indoors (everyone in Hawaii say, "Huh?"). When this happens, our shooting tastes turn more toward paper-punching and the 10-meter sports, so today I'd like to look at a rifle that may be ideal for such activity. If it isn't ideal, then it's pretty darn close. I'm talking about Crosman's Challenger 2000 10-meter rifle.

Pyramyd Air's special Challenger sale
To kick things off for the fall shooting season, Pyramyd Air has put together a special package of the rifle, Crosman Competition Wadcutter pellets and a Pyramyd Air Gel Shooting Support. The rifle and pellets are obvious, but they threw in the gel pad because it is such a pleasure to rest a rifle on when shooting.

The basics about the rifle
The Challenger 2000 is a single-shot, .177-caliber CO2 pellet rifle set up for target work. It uses standard 12-gram CO2 cartridges, and when I tested it, I got up to 75 shots per cartridge. I say "up to" because a lot depends on whether you are shooting a formal match or just shooting for fun. If the latter, you don't really care if the velocity drops a bit, as long as you can still hit a dime-sized target at 10 meters. If the former, you want every shot to hit the period at the end of this sentence. I would stop shooting at shot 50 and change cartridges in that case.

The competition is stiff, but not unbeatable
While you can compare this rifle to any and all others, there is one that sticks out as its major competitor - Daisy's Avanti 853. When the Challenger 2000 first hit the market in the year 2000, the 853 had already been in production for almost two decades. It was firmly entrenched in the market as the rifle of choice for NRA Sporter-class competition (a class of 10-meter competition for juniors that mandates a lower-cost target rifle. The Challenger went head-to-head with the Daisy and didn't succeed in dislodging it. Today, you'll see very few Challenger 2000s on the line at events higher than the local level.

Coaches conducted tests and found that the Crosman wasn't as inherently accurate as the Daisy, with its Lothar Walther barrel. The difference was slight, but in competition, every little bit counts. The difference isn't as great as four-hundredths of an inch, but in the crowd that shoots targets, that matters. So the Challenger wasn't as popular as the 853, even though it does have some very real advantages.

The Challenger has several real benefits over the Daisy!
When the Challenger 2000 first came out, I tested it and found some features that Daisy would do well to emulate. The first is cocking. The Challenger 2000 cocks like a dream. Just pull straight back on the ambidextrous T-bar bolt handle, and the gun cocks with about 2.5 lbs. of effort. The 853 cocks on the right side of the gun and can take over 10 lbs. of stiff, jerky movement to cock. Once cocked, the Crosman is ready to be loaded and fired, while the single-stroke Daisy still has to be pumped. The pump requires at least 20 lbs. of effort and is too hard for younger kids. And, this ease of cocking also means the Crosman is a delight to cock when in the prone position - the bane of Daisy 853 shooters. If pumping is difficult when you're standing, it's almost impossible when you're lying on the floor.

Another great benefit the Crosman has is its trigger. It breaks cleanly at 2.5 lbs., while the Daisy has a rough, gritty 4+ lb. release. It's possible to gunsmith the 853 trigger down lighter and smoother, but never to the level the Crosman achieves right out of the box.

Finally, the Challenger 2000 stock is very adjustable, both for pull length and for cheek height. It can easily be adjusted to fit a large adult, which is why adults are among the largest segment of buyers. It seems to fill a need for a basement plinker/target gun. The loaded and charged weight of nearly 7 lbs. is also pleasing to adults.

An accessory rail you won't find on the Daisy
Under the forearm is a standard accessory rail - something the Daisy 853 must do without because of the presence of its pump lever. The rail makes it easy to install accessories like target slings (they only attach at the front of the rifle) and hand stops.

The right sights are already on the Crosman
Crosman wisely decided to install a precision diopter rear sight, while Daisy put on a lesser plastic sight, believing that shooters would probably upgrade. They do, and that narrows the true cost of the Daisy to within a few dollars of the Challenger 2000. The front globe accepts inserts and comes with a 4.1mm ring front insert installed. No additional inserts come with the rifle. The rear sight can be removed and a short dot sight or even a very short scope can be mounted to the 11mm rail.

Velocity is driven by the pellet you select
I tested the rifle with 7.9-grain Crosman Competition Wadcutter pellets and with 7.6-grain Chinese wadcutters. With Crosman pellets, it averaged 495 f.p.s., with a spread from 485 to 503 f.p.s. With Chinese pellets, the average was 513 f.p.s. with a low of 504 and a high of 520 f.p.s. With this lighter pellet, the gun shot over 500 f.p.s. for 58 consecutive shots.

Accuracy - the most important factor
The rifle I tested came with a test target showing good accuracy. The group measures 0.121" for five shots, and you know they used Crosman Competition Wadcutters. An Olympic-grade target gun would shoot a group around 0.040"-0.060" and a Daisy 853 would group around 0.080"-0.10", so the difference isn't very much.


Test target demonstrates the rifle's capability.

The Crosman Challenger 2000 is a delightful 10-meter target rifle that crosses over to become a great little plinker. Let the sale at Pyramyd Air be your incentive if you already have this rifle on your list. If it's not on your short list, maybe this would be a good time to add it.

Gamo V3 - Part 3

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Happy Columbus Day! Some of you are off today, but most of you are at work.

I didn't think there was going to be a third part to this report, but Vince asked if I thought .177 round lead balls might work better in the Gamo V3 than steel BBs because of the rifled steel barrel. The Pyramyd Air website recommends them. I hadn't thought of that, but it's worth testing.

Right to the punchline
Indeed, they do seem to work better! They group tighter and they shoot exactly to the point of aim. Instead of a palm-sized group at 15 feet, I got about a 2" group. That's about an inch off the former size. The fact that they shoot to the aim point means you can use those combat sights and just put the center dot on the target.

What about the rifling?
Well, in this case, the rifling doesn't seem to come into play. There were no rifling marks on the lead balls after firing. Since I use a Crosman model 850 BB trap with ballistic curtains, the balls are not deformed on impact. I couldn't find the hint of a rifling mark on any of them. So, the Gamo bore is larger than 0.177".

And reliability?
By using larger ammo, you risk getting a ball stuck in the bore, but in the limited testing I did that never happened. I also rolled a ball down the muzzle to see if it would roll through the bore on its own, but it stuck both times. So the fit is close, but not extremely tight.

What about velocity?
Unlike the Drozd, where .177 lead balls fly nearly as fast as steel BBs (not to mention a LOT straighter!), in the V3 the heavier lead balls are a little slower. They ranged between 363 f.p.s. and 384 f.p.s., with one slowpoke going 343 when I forgot and pulled the trigger very slowly.

The trigger is the secret
If this pistol has a secret, it's the trigger. Pull it slow and velocity drops off. Pull fast and the gun speeds up, but you run the risk of shooting wide (to the left for right-handers). This is one of the few handguns that forces me to shoot with a two-hand hold, just so I can control the muzzle. I used the classic Weaver stance, and it works very well with this gun.

A new lease!
Thanks to Vince for his observation that inspired this test. I don't know if the results I obtained will change any purchase decisions, but those of you who already own a Gamo V3 should consider trying it with round lead balls and the technique I used. It might give you a new lease on your gun.

B.B. was wrong: The story of Crosman Pellgunoil

by B.B. Pelletier

Today, I will explain all that went on with the Pellgunoil incident, as it will forever remain in my memory.

First of all, I have always believed that Crosman Pellgunoil is a synthetic silicone oil. I had no reason to believe otherwise, and I never questioned why I believed it to be so. All the advice I have given about using Pellgunoil over the years has been based on that belief.

The incident
Yesterday, one of our readers brought to my attention that there has been a discussion on the Yellow Forum about me telling you readers that I introduced Pellgunoil into the BAM B51 precharged pneumatic rifle through the fill nipple to coat the inner seals. I did give that advice, and those on the forum were saying that was wrong and dangerous. They said I should not have done what I did and certainly not told others about it in print. I answered the reader who told me about the forum discussion that Pellgunoil is synthetic and poses no problem.

Was I sure?
Then, my wife asked me whether I knew that for sure. The two things wrong with that are:

1. I didn't know it for sure - I thought so, but I wasn't certain, and


2. whenever my wife asks me this question, I am invariably wrong

So, I called a friend who is very knowledgeable about airguns - someone in the business who is in a position to know about Pellgunoil.

He said he didn't know for sure what it was, but that a mutual friend of ours (another very knowledgeable guy) had once purchased some Pellgunoil that was accompanied by a spec sheet that revealed it is just non-detergent 30-weight motor oil and nothing more. My friend didn't know whether that was correct, but he suggested I conduct an ignition test to see if Pellgunoil burns.

A call to Crosman
Right there I knew I had a problem, because something I had believed to be true for decades was quite possibly not true at all. I called Crosman and talked to a company official I know. He told me he doesn't know what Pellgunoil is for certain, but that he does believe it is a petroleum-based product. At Crosman, he told me they refer to it as "Red Oil." I didn't ask this guy for an official company response. My call was simply precautionary, so don't think for a minute that Crosman doesn't know everything there is to know about Pellgunoil. Just not the guy I happened to buttonhole on the phone for five minutes.

The right stuff
He also told me that Crosman RMCoil, which the company now calls Silicone Chamber Oil, is 100 percent synthetic silicone with a high flashpoint. That is the stuff I should have used on the BAM B51.

Then, my friend called me back to say he had tried to ignite Pellgunoil, and it did. So, it is flammable, and probably petroleum-based, at the very least.

Pellgunoil forever - for the right jobs
Here's the deal. Crosman recommends Pellgunoil for all their CO2 guns, and I will continue to recommend it for all CO2 guns. Crosman also recommends using Pellgunoil on the pump piston heads of their multi-pump pneumatics (in the Benjamin line), so I will continue to recommend that, as well. I know it works wonders in those applications.

What I will not do again is recommend the use of Pellgunoil in precharged pneumatic airguns. Perhaps you're wondering what is the difference between a precharged pneumatic and a multi-pump pneumatic? A multi-pump builds an internal pressure of up to 1,200 psi (approximately...some may be less and some may even be more), while many precharged pneumatics develop internal pressures of 3,000 psi, and some even more than that. The two multi-pumps I still wonder about are the Daystate Sportsman Mark II and the Titan multi-pump that it was derived from. Those guns may develop a pressure over 2,000 psi, because they perform like precharged pneumatics. Since I don't know, I will only use silicone oils to lubricate their pump heads.

Now you know everything I do about Crosman Pellgunoil. It's a great product, and I'm very sorry that I told you about using it in an unsafe application.

Gamo V3 - Part 2

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Do NOT add Crosman Pellgunoil to a precharged pneumatic airgun as mentioned in the Bam B51 report, Part 2. I have learned that someone once received a petroleum specification sheet with the Pellgunoil they bought that indicated it was straight 30-weight non-detergent oil. If that is true, it is very dangerous to introduce petroleum oil into a vessel containing compressed air. It can form a fuel-air mixture and become explosive. I believed that Pellgunoil is a synthetic product with a high flashpoint, but there is a good chance I AM MISTAKEN.

This warning is to contradict the information I presented in the BAM B51 report, part 2.

Before we begin today, there is something I need to say. For several years, some readers have been asking who I am. Some ask me to post my picture (like I can't figure THAT out!) while others just ask. Then there are the chat forums where people talk about me and tell others in a condescending tone exactly who I am. This has gone on too long.

Two weeks from today, on Thursday, October 18th, I will pull back the curtain and reveal who I am. And I will do more than that. I will explain the entire philosophy behind this blog.

There are some other pressing reasons for this. It isn't just provoked by curious readers.

For those of you who were saddened when Superman was killed (either George Reeves or the comic book hero - take your pick), I will not be pulling an Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Now, on to today's post. Apparently, the Gamo V3 hits a nerve with some of you. Vince responded first to yesterday's post and explained that the simulated blowback is viewed by many as a flaw rather than a feature. I went to the Gamo website to look for false claims, and found one confusing and inaccurate phrase. They correctly state that the slide slides back and forth, but they added the modifying phrase, AFTER EACH SHOT. Of course, that is NOT how it works. The sliding comes BEFORE the shot. AFTER the shot sounds like blowback. BEFORE sounds like nothing anyone has ever seen - well, almost no one. There was a firearm pistol that had a trigger to cycle the slide for the first shot. That's SORT OF similar - to make a huge stretch.

Of course, Pyramyd Air copied that flawed description from Gamo, so I alerted them to the error and they've already corrected it.

I still think the V3 has many interesting innovative features that address the concerns of the BB pistol market. But those were addressed yesterday. Let's shoot! Because this is a BB gun and I want to use a Crosman model 850 BB trap to catch the shots, I will first determine the velocity. If it's over 450, I'll use a Quiet Pellet Trap instead of the 850, because the ballistic curtains can't take the strain of repeated higher velocity rounds.

Velocity
The test pistol is all over the place! Using Daisy Premium-Grade BBs, I recorded velocities from 314 f.p.s. to 431 f.p.s. That's a huge spread, and I gave the pistol a chance to settle down, thinking that the wide swings were due to break-in. But they didn't seem to be.

Next, I tried Crosman Copperhead BBs, thinking that the pistol might not like Daisy BBs for some reason. The Crosman BBs ranged from a low of 244 f.p.s. to as high of 418 f.p.s., but I discovered a trick while shooting them. This pistol does not like to have the trigger squeezed slow and deliberate. It wants fast and furious. Squeeze it slow, and the velocity varies all over the place. Shoot fast, and it stays above 400 f.p.s. for most shots.

Well, not too fast for the Crosman trap, so the next stop was the garage range, where I backed the trap with a piece of 3'x3' particle board. Although the longest distance I can get there comfortably is about 15', I didn't know what sort of "pattern" this gun would produce at that range.

Not too bad, as it turned out. The gun shoots a little high and to the left, but that's probably because I'm shooting doubl-action. It groups in an area the size of a palm (hand, not tree) at 15'. The trigger, which probably breaks around 12 lbs. as given in the specifications, is long and creepy. Add to that the fact that the pistol wants to be fired fast, I'm just glad to have kept all my shots on the paper. Knowing it was at least that good, I went out into the backyard where air pistols like this really shine. Without a lot of difficulty, I kept a twig 20 feet away in fear of its life for the entire magazine. I don't think a soda can stands a chance, once you discover where you're really shooting, which for me is a little high and left.

Don't overload the magazine!
I learned this lesson the hard way - twice! Put just one BB more than the recommended maximum of 15, and the entire magazine will dump its contents. When you insert the overloaded mag in the gun, the follower pushes to the side and locks itself out of commission. Then there is no follower spring pushing the BBs up and the gun won't shoot a BB. All it does is fire blanks. When you remove the mag to see what's wrong, all 16 BBs will dump onto the floor. Load 15 and no more unless you want to go fishing on the floor with a bar magnet like I did.

More features
I forgot to mention that the rear sight can be moved sideways in its dovetail, so there is some limited adjustability. It's just a clamp-type of sight, so it isn't very precise, but if you need it, it's there. I also failed to mention that there are clamping grooves on the frame in front of the triggerguard for a laser. I think that will appeal to many owners.

Bottom line
I have to get personal and say that the long, heavy trigger-pull was a turnoff for me. It was so heavy that I had to shoot it with two hands, which I don't like to do. But I had to in order to control the muzzle. Accuracy was acceptable and within reason for guns in this price range. I never noticed the moving slide while shooting, so that feature was completely wasted on me. The all-plastic frame and grips made the gun feel toy-like compared to others that are mostly metal. I do like the M1911 Officer-model styling, which puts the safety exactly where it's needed.

Gamo V3 - Part 1

by B.B. Pelletier

This report comes at the request of a reader. While CO2-powered BB pistols are all pretty much the same, this one has a thing or two that is unique, so we'll explore it together.

The Gamo V3 is largely synthetic on the outside. Only the movable slide is metal. That's right, the slide moves. In fact, it is one of the cleverest arrangements I've seen on a BB pistol, because it simulates blowback! You read that correctly - simulates blowback. Before getting into that, however, let's look at some other nifty features, because I need to get the pistol charged.

Magazine
Most of today's crop of CO2 BB pistols have removable magazines, but the one on the V3 is different in several ways. First, it's a drop-free mag, just like those found on fine firearms. Just press the mag release on the left side of the frame behind the triggerguard, and the mag drops out the same as a 1911 mag would. Sorry, there are no provisions for lefties here.


Drop-free magazine holds both the CO2 cartridge and the BBs. Mag release is the button behind the trigger.

Ingenious design
Once outside the gun, we can see a second difference. The bottom of the mag is solid and hangs below the grip frame, just like the bumper pad of a firearm drop-free magazine. A hidden button pops the "bumper pad" open to reveal the folding thumbscrew for piercing CO2 cartridges. I praise Gamo for this feature, because airgunners today absolutely HATE seeing anything hanging below the grip that isn't also found on a firearm. A magazine bumper pad is okay because today's pistol mags have them. Someone at Gamo has listened to this complaint and solved the problem with an ingenious design.


The "bumper pad" on the bottom of the V3 magazine conceals the thumbscrew for piercing the CO2 cartridge. This eliminates a major concern of buyers.


The Gamo bumper pad is shown next to a Wilson Combat M1911 magazine (right) with a real aluminum bumper pad. The Wilson mag costs nearly half of the Gamo V3's price!

Sights
The sights are conventional modern tactical pistol sights, which is to say they're equipped for night vision. The front sight has one dot and the rear notch has two. On a firearm, these would most likely be tritium capsules, but on the V3 they are white paint - the same as on my Taurus PT1911 economy .45 ACP.

"Simulated" blowback?
What in the heck is simulated blowback? Well, I think Gamo has done an astonishing thing with the V3. At the ridiculously low retail price, there's no way they could make the gun actually blow back, so what they've done is tie the hidden hammer to the slide. As the shooter squeezes the long double-action-only pull, the slide moves with it, forcing the hammer backward until it releases to come forward and strike the valve stem. With every trigger-pull, the slide does come back. It's before the shot rather than after, and there is no recoil impulse, but movement seems to be very important for the buyers of these BB pistols and Gamo has found a unique way of doing it.


Pulling back on the double-action trigger sends the slide to the rear. The hidden hammer (that silver tab that sticks out below the rear sight) is pushed through its cocking cycle this way.

Safety
More ingenuity is shown by the clever use of the moving slide feature in conjunction with the safety switch. It thumbs up into a notch on the left side of the slide and prevents the slide from moving. Since the gun is DAO and the slide must move for it to fire, the safety is foolproof. It's also much simpler than any other safety I've seen.

Next, I'll shoot the gun for accuracy and velocity.

Saxby-Palmer Ensign - a precharged rifle from the past

by B.B. Pelletier

About once a year, I get a message from someone who has a "great new idea" for an air rifle. Why not put compressed air into separate cartridges and load them like regular firearm ammo? They would work through the action of a bolt-action rifle and everything would be real neat. I have to smile when I read these messages because I "invented" the exact same thing myself back in the 1980s. I called my rifle the Quantum One, and it essentially did everything I have just mentioned. Mine was a .30 caliber big bore that I hoped would have the power of a .32 ACP - about 200 foot-pounds at the muzzle.

Saxby-Palmer Ensign
While I was dreaming, the Brits were actually creating, and they're the ones who came up with the Saxby-Palmer Ensign. It's a bolt-action rifle that loads a huge plastic or metal cartridge that contains both the air and a .22 caliber pellet. Each reusable cartridge is about the size of a 12-gauge shotgun shell or larger. It fires like a centerfire cartridge, with the firing pin pushing on a central valve pin that runs almost the entire length of the air cartridge. When the pin moves, it opens the air reservoir inside the cartridge, allowing the compressed air to escape behind a pellet that's loaded in the nose.


The Saxby-Palmer Ensign is a classic rifle.

The Ensign was imported into the U.S. by Marksman for a short time in the 1990s. Now, they pop up at airgun shows from time to time. If the seller has never fired the gun, the asking price may be as high as $500. If they've actually used it, they'll more likely ask $350 or less. It's the kind of airgun that looks great when you see it all laid out and the concept sounds fine, but when you actually use it, you discover the flaws.

This is the hardest airgun to use that you can imagine! Each case has to be prepared by filling it with air from a separate pump and loading a pellet in the nose. There are also maintenance procedures to be undertaken to keep the cartridges functioning.


Each cartridge gets filled with the pump.

Pump her up!
Never buy one of these rifles without the separate pump because no one will sell you just the pump. The pump is either bolted to a bench top or to a board for transport to the field. The guy who let me test his rifle had his pump bolted to a plank so he could carry it to the range. His cartridges were all the plastic "Mark I" type that cannot be rebuilt, so even though the .22- caliber rifle is capable of achieving 800 f.p.s., he played it safe and kept the velocity down below 600. For that, he had to pump each cartridge three strokes, as my memory serves. I chronographed the rifle at 585 f.p.s. with RWS Superdomes, a thin-skirted pellet that fills the larger bore of the rifle well.

Cartridge maintenance
Besides charging and loading the cartridges, they have to be lubricated periodically. Crosman Pellgunoil is about the best stuff for this. The metal cartridges can be taken apart and overhauled with new O-rings, but the plastic cartridges cannot be disassembled. When they failed, they had to be broken apart and the valve had to be pulled out and installed in a metal cartridge case. In the days when the cartridges were being made, that was easy enough to do, but now the supplies have dried up and you have to treat them like they aren't available anymore.

Do NOT add Crosman Pellgunoil to a precharged pneumatic airgun or separate air cartridges, as mentioned above. I have learned that Pellgunoil is a petroleum-based oil. It is very dangerous to introduce petroleum oil into a vessel containing compressed air. It can form a fuel-air mixture and become explosive.


After filling, each cartridge needs a pellet.

The rifle is lightweight, at 6.5 lbs., and more accurate than one might think. It was no threat to top PCPs, but ahead of a Benjamin or Sheridan multi-pump rifle. Something on the order of 1/2" at 25 yards, or so.

You could scope the rifle, but the owner of this one decided not to. I have read accounts of the Ensign making a splendid hunting rifle when the cartridges were pumped all the way up, but owners of plastic cartridges are right to be cautious, because there aren't being made anymore.

This rifle with all its support equipment makes a fine collectible that can be brought out to amaze your friends. It has all the gizmos and doodads one would associate with a mad scientist. For shooters who like shooting everything they own, this incredibly fiddley air rifle seems a bit overpowering - about like running a steam calliope. Yah gotta love it or leave it!

What to take to the range

by B.B. Pelletier

This report was inspired by Scott298, who asked me to discuss what a shooter should have available in the field and at home when shooting. I will concentrate on the field.

My shooting kit has been assembled over the years from shooting competitive field target and from having to travel many miles to get to a range. Whenever I needed something I didn't have, it probably made its way into the kit.

Personal
Let's start with safety and comfort. I always carry extra shooting glasses and disposable foam earplugs. Even if I know I'll be wearing electronic muffs at the firearm range (ALWAYS!), I never know where I'll be when I'm NOT at the firearm range. Sometimes it's just nice to have hearing and eye protection to pass around.

I always carry OFF Deep Woods insect repellant, and to this day, I still carry a can in my kit. The insects are not always bothersome, but they can be on the odd day when the wind doesn't blow. In cold weather, chemical hand warmers are a real blessing to have. They last for many hours and will get you by when the weather takes a nasty turn.

Fill devices
When shooting PCPs and bulk CO2 guns, I always carry spare fill adapters, because you never know when an adapter will blow an O-ring. I also carry a roll of Teflon tape and two crescent wrenches in case I need to fix any connections. I've never used these on my own equipment, but I have fixed a number of other shooters' fill devices this way. I also carry a jar of silicone grease and a small bottle of Crosman Pellgunoil. Because I once ran out of CO2 cartridges 27 miles from home, I carry three spares in my kit all the time.

Fill devices, continued
I also take a hand pump rated to fill whatever guns I'm shooting, because a scuba tank eventually drops in pressure. I have a Hill pump for when the gun needs more than 3,000 psi (the new AirForce hand pump, which I don't have yet, goes all the way up to 3,600 psi). I used to carry an 80 cubic-foot scuba tank, but my wife took pity on me and let me get an 88-cubic foot carbon fiber air tank. It weighs half as much as a scuba tank and carries MUCH more air, so even when testing big bores I have all the air I need.

Binoculars
Sometimes, I shoot with open sights and instead of walking 50 yards downrange to see the target, I carry a small pair of 8x21 binoculars. I started carrying them when I shot field target.

Tools
Can't have enough tools when you need them, and the range is a bad place to need them and not have them. I take all my Allen wrenches (for scopes, mostly), a B-Square tool kit, and several cleaning rods for clearing the bore. More than once I have been stymied when a pellet got stuck in the bore a long way from home.

Targets and target holders
I always inventory my range box to make certain I'm carrying enough targets when I head to the range. I've been caught short so many times that I even carry a couple universal targets in my truck all the time. A 50' slow-fire pistol target can substitute for many things in a pinch, including a 100-yard rifle target. For target holders on the informal ranges I visit, I use cardboard boxes. The targets are taped to the boxes and if there is wind, I put rocks inside to keep them steady. I always carry at least one box in my truck at all times. A roll of Scotch tape is always in my kit, and when I go to the firearms range where they have rubber target hangers to attach targets to, a heavy-duty stapler and extra staples go along. I also have an Air Arms folding target frame that is always with me. If I need to sight in, I can put this frame on the ground 10' away with a 10-meter pistol target in it. It's perfect for sighting in a scope.

Range box
I've used an MTM range box for the past 10 years and it's perfect for holding everything except the cleaning rods. It's about the same size as a large tackle box. It's similar to this small Plano case. Although it has room in the top for pistols, I usually carry them separately, because the box is always loaded with so much other stuff, including ammunition.

Besides all that, I carry pellets, chronographs and a digital camera.