Category Archives: Beeman

Target Pistols and Target Shooters Part 5

Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Match Pistols – Shooting the Beeman P3

By Dennis Adler

There is both a sense of age and longevity in Dr. Beeman’s P3, which is one year older than the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns, (now in its 12th Edition). The P3 is one of those finely crafted German airguns that have withstood the test of time, while others have been discontinued over the same period. As a single shot Match Pistol it is also one of the more affordable at $230 ($40 less than the Air Venturi V10 and ten bucks shy of being half the price of the Weihrauch HW 75).

I know that over the last 18 months we have focused on blowback action air pistols and rifles, training guns matched to their centerfire counterparts, and classic single action revolvers, which is the primary objective of the Airgun Experience, but this little sidestep into single stroke pneumatics and 10-Meter pistols is also an integral part of handgun (and rifle) training. This is an approach established more than four decades ago by Dr. Robert D. Beeman with his first “Adult Airguns” imported from Germany. Thus the P3 plays a very important role in this story of improving one’s shooting abilities. The P3 breaks down the basics of target shooting by providing simple operation, exemplary accuracy at 10 meters, and the benefits of modern fiber optic sights (also used on many compact and full-size cartridge firing handguns). Like the Air Venturi V10 for 10-Meter training, this is also a short course compared to getting into comparable centerfire handgun and blowback action understudies, like the S&W M&P40. With single shot pneumatics the greater emphasis is placed on sighting accuracy and trigger control than on learning all of the handling skills such as slide and safety operation, magazine changes, tactical reloads, holstering, drawing, etc. The singular focus with models like the Beeman P3 is on learning to hit the bullseye with repeatable accuracy. No rushing from shot to shot; just timing and consistency. read more

Target Pistols and Target Shooters Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Match Pistols – The Classic Beeman P3

By Dennis Adler

The big difference between the Air Venturi V10 and the Beeman P3 is their design purpose. The V10 is a 10-Meter pistol, which meets all the basic requirements for that shooting discipline, whereas the Beeman P3 is a Match Pistol that allows a two-handed hold. The V10 is also slightly larger overall, but both are overlever pneumatics that can shoot 4.5mm pellets at around 400 fps.

This is where it all began. We are talking about the history of Adult Airguns in America, and that history begins with Dr. Robert D. Beeman, the editor of my first airgun book, the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns published 17 years ago. But my history with Dr. Beeman goes further back to my role with the Blue Book of Gun Values as one of the contributing editors on black powder pistols and air pistols (along with fellow Pyramyd Air author Tom Gaylord). In 1998 Blue Book publisher Steve Fjestad and I spun off the black powder gun section into a separate book that is now published periodically (and currently edited by John Allen); along with a series of hard cover books that I have written on black powder arms. The reason that black powder guns were spun off from the regular annual Blue Book of Gun Values was simply that there wasn’t enough room in the Blue Book to properly cover them. The same thing occurred in the 2000 edition of the Blue Book and the following year the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns appeared. I was the author and Dr. Beeman was the editor and co-author. By 2001 when the First Edition appeared the number of airguns available had grown exponentially and like the black powder guns needed to have their own dedicated book. That was 17 years ago. Today, there are so many more airguns (than black powder guns) that the latest airgun book (12^th Edition) has grown from the original 160 pages to 840 pages! And much of that growth over the years begins with Dr. Beeman and the founding of Beeman’s Precision Airguns in 1972. read more