by B.B. Pelletier
Many readers post ads for their airguns on old posts in this blog – where the same gun is reviewed. There’s nothing wrong with that except that most people don’t read those old posts, so your ad isn’t seen by many people.
We also get a lot of inquiries about where to buy old guns and parts for them. Once again, these are placed on the bottom of old posts and don’t get read by anyone except me. So, today, I’m taking the time to explain the resources available to readers.
Airgun shows
These are the best places to buy and sell those old airguns. They happen every year at the same time and are a wonderful resource if you’re serious about airgunning.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Happens on the last weekend in April. This year’s show is past, but there will probably be one next year. Look for collectible Daisys, Sheridans, Benjamins and Crosman guns. Parts, too. This year, a local airgunner unloaded a large collection of modern springers from 1970-2000. Most were like new in the box. He asked what he paid for them, so it was possible to buy a Diana 50 TO1 underlever for what you would have paid in 1988. For show details, contact usairgun@aristotle.net
Baldwinsville, New York
This is an especially good show for Crosman guns and air canes. Held on the third Friday in July. There’s still time to make it this year! Contact Larry Behling at
315-695-7133 or co2bbjlts@juno.com
Daisy Get-Together in Mason, Michigan
Meet the top Daisy collectors in the world! This is the place to find hard-to-get Daisys and other turn-of-the-century BB guns. Held on August 26 this year. Contact Bill Duimstra at 616-878-0306 or bduimstra@campbellagency.com
Roanoke Airgun Expo in Roanoke, Virginia
Held the first Friday and Saturday in November. This is the big one. A genuine Austrian Girandoni military rifle sold for $3,500 at this show. BB gun collections have sold for over $40K! Expect to find ANYTHING at this show. Contact Fred Liady at fax 540-345-4210 or frady45@cox.net
Internet resources
Go here to Airgun Info and check it out. This site is sponsored by Pyramyd AIR and lists dealers, repair stations, free classified ads and more. You really should bookmark this site.
Repair stations and parts
For pneumatic Crosman, Benjamin and Sheridan guns:
George Pena at heligun1@msn.com or 512-863-2951.
For pneumatic and CO2 Crosman, Benjamin and Sheridan guns:
Rick Willnecker at airgunshop@aol.com or 717-382-1481.
For spring gun parts, new springs and seals, plus lead shot:
John Groenewold, PO Box 830, Mundelein, IL 60060-0830, or 847-566-2365
For vintage Daisy guns:
Jim Coplen, PO Box 7297, Rochester, MN 55903 or 507-281-2314
Jim Dry, Claremore, OK, 918-341-9104
For CO2 and pneumatic tunes:
Dave Gunter Airguns or 503-556-1439
That’s a pretty exhaustive list of resources. Yes, there are other places, but these are the ones I know and trust.
Don’t forget the little guys who work out of there garages and small shops, specific parts for specific rifles, we’re hard to get ahold of sometimes but well worth the trouble.
Mike,
Well, what’s the deal? What do you do? What do you sell?
Tell us what you work on and what handle you use in your work.
B.B.
What would a good alternative to pellgunoil be?
B.B.,
I am a 43 year old who has owned three of the classic Benjamin .177 air rifles in my life. I was always impressed with the accuracy and the quality of those guns. I was considering buying a new air gun so I naturally looked to Benjamin because of past good experience. I was seriously considering the Legacy 1000 Kit, but then saw that alot of the reviews for that gun were not very nice. So, in doing more research on rifles around the $200.00 range, I have narrowed the field down to four rifles and I would like for you to advise me, or rather, pick one of these out for me as I feel that you would do much better than I, based on your knowledge. I would like to make the best choice taking into account for quality and accuracy. The four rifles I am considering are Benjamin Lagacy 1000 w/Scope Kit, Gamo CFX, Gamo Hunter 440 Combo, and the Remington Summit 1000. Your advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Dana Harris
Warner Robins, Georgia
Dana Harris,
I dont have much experience with any of those other guns but I do have a cf-x and it is wonderful. I got a leapers 6-24x scope for it and it has plenty of power plus great accuracy. I just wanted to say that this has been a great gun for me, and worth every penny. Good luck.
lama
bb,
can you recommend a .177 recoilless target rifle powerful enough for hunting? Thanks.
Pyamydair advertises the benjamine 392 as firing about 675 fps and the blue streek 20cal at 675 fps is this correct? Also does anyone know a good air rifle forum? Where I could get go to ask questions and just fill my head with air rifle knowledge.
Another question is I was thinking about getting a Airforce Condour along with a scuba tank so I can keep it filled. What kind of scuba tankn should I get I seen an 80 cubic foot one for 129 is that a good price? How many fills can I get with that tank? I’m looking for a scuba tank that holds the most for the least can you point me in the right direction? Thanks
Howard
mr-lama,
This is Dana. I had to create another username because I forgot my password to the other one already. I appreciate and value your recommendation. I just found the two reviews of the CF-X on this website and the reviewers seemed to be quite impressed with the CF-X also. It appears the Benjamin probably isn’t going to be the best buy for the money. I guess I will wait a day or two just to see if BB will offer a comment before I buy. He seems to answer most of the questions asked of him here. I respect your opinion also and I’ll let you know what I buy.
Dana Harris
Why has nobody made any upgrades or custom versions of the 1077?
Mines the most accurate airgun I own peroid. It really does put the lead where I point it regardless of what others have said about it.
Heavy Chevy,
I must agree with the others – the Gamo CF-X is the best gun of the four you mentioned. Of those four guns, only the Remigton Summit is unknown to me, but my testing of the Gamo CF-X revealed that Gamo has stepped up another notch and is now on the same plane as Diana.
B.B.
Recoilless target rifles are never going to be powerful enough to hunt with. They all top out around 6 foot-pounds.
I suspect you don’t really mean a target rifle, but you’re actually interested in an accurate rifle, and there are plenty of those.
The Benjamin 397 and the RWS Diana 54 are two good ones that don’t recoil. If you want great poower with accuracy, try any PCP, with the AirForce Talon heading my list.
B.B.
baldtrucker,
Yes, 675 f.p.s. is correct for both the Benjamin 392 and trhew Sheridan Blue Streak. They are almost the same rifle, anyway, so you would expect the power to be equal.
NOW, here’s the deal with a 675 f.p.s. quote. You might get it and you might not. It depends on the gun and on the pellet used. I get 645 from my 1978 Blue Streak and 670 from my 1953 Silver Streak.
Go figure.
Your price for an 80 cubic foot tank is very good.
How many fills depends on the point at which you stop filling. I always predict 15-20 fills for an AirForce tank, but only the first two are full. That is, all the way to 3,000.
After that, the scuba tank pressure starts to drop and the fills end at a lower pressure. Eventually there is so little air remaining in the scuba tank that it’s time to get it topped off at the dive shop. It will have 2000 to 2200 psi at that time.
B.B.
1077,
Who said anything bad about the 1077? I have nothing but praise for it.
What kind of modifications would you like to see?
B.B.
Target rifle for hunting: There is no .177 recoilless target rifle powerful enough for hunting. Target rifles put out about 5 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. This is not enough energy for hunting anything other than mice, English sparrows, etc.
Number of refills from a scuba tank: It depends on the pressure your gun requires and the size of the gun’s cylinder. However, you can get quite a few fills from a tank. You don’t need to fill your gun to the highest pressure possible to get a nice number of shots. 80 cubic foot is a standard size scuba tank. A fill calculator: http://www.airgunexpo.com/calc/calc_fill.cfm?
Ehrich
B.B, this is just a general off topic question (sorry!) but i am curious about the scope that comes with the remington 77.. what type of reticle does it have?
Would you recomend the gun for a person who just plans on plinking, and some pest control (maybe), but wants to be able to shoot at a good range?
Also, would a bipod be helpful?
There are plenty of recoilles target match rifles. Look at the Walther LG300 known as Dominator. It has only 6 fpe as standard match version, but you can also get it with 18 fpe for field target. Of course it is a pcp, because there are no spring-piston match rifles anymore.
The problem with hunting is not the low energy, but the small caliber. At 40 yards I get clear overpenetration, when I hit pigeons with my recoilles RWS75 in .177, but they will fly away with a bodyshot – so don´t try this at home.
Markus
Alex,
The scope on the Remington 77 has a duplex reticle.
I think the Remington is a good value for any airgunner. You can do some small pest control with it, but I’d limit the range to 25 yards.
B.B.
Markus makes a good point, and it’s something I forgot to mention.
While the Walther Dominator is not a target rifle, is is based on the 300 Alu Tek, and that is a target rifle. The Dominator develops about 19 foot-pounds (10.6-grain pellet at 900 f.p.s.), which is plenty for hunting. So there are some target rifle derivatives suitable for airgun hunting.
B.B.
Mike here again, I work on the Chinese QB-78/79 family of rifles. I wish more folks sold these as they are a fun little CO2 rifle. Quite easy to modify for more power or as a target rifle. I have a web page at Geocities.com/Flying_Dragon_Air_Rifles/
I have taken the target type rifle and modified it to shoot up to 15FPE in .177 so they can be used for hunting, The .22 model can sometimes reach 20 FPE if converted to HPA I have heard of up to 30 FPE with alot of aftermarket parts.
I bought the CF-X today… Thanks guys…
Dana
Good choice Dana, hope you like it as much as I do. Did you get a scope for it?
lama
Well, I ordered it online so it isn’t here yet. I ordered the combo which comes with a 4X32mm scope. It’s probably a BSA scope like one I saw on a CF-X in Dick’s Sporting Goods store. It looked like a good quality scope to me but I’m no expert so I’ll just have to see.
Dana Harris
something happened to my rifle as i was shooting it today and im not sure if i damaged it or not. i was practicing with my quest 1000x and as i shot i heard a loud noise. it sounded like a shot from an actual rifle. i broke the barrel (the gun is a break barrel) and i saw something blocking the barrel. without thinking i just loaded another pellet and shot the old pellet out. i looked down the barrel again and i didnt see any damage… no scratches… and no interruptions in the rifling. my accuracy is the same as it was before and it doesnt seem to have done any damage but id just like to know if anything MIGHT have happened.
texas shooter,
Your first shot was a detonation – a real explosion of oil and air. It probably blew the head off the pellet. You should have rodded the pellet out, but there was no damage doing what you did.
Do it with a firearm, though, and it will blow up! I know because I did it while rapid-firing a single-action one time.
B.B.
It’s cool to hear about airgun shows. I’ll be starting school at VT this fall, so I’ll be in the Roanoke area this November. I would never have found out about the show if it wasn’t for this blog. Thanks!
What is your opinion on Bucky’s Daisy BB Gun Sales http://www.daisyrepair.com
I have a model 25 that needs reassembled, I was one of those kids that disassembled things with out any ideas to put them back together(One of your many reasons for airgun destruction)
Paul,
I don’t know Ron so I cannot comment on his work.
Here are two other sources I do know:
Jim Coplen, PO Box 7297, Rochester, MN. 55903 (507)281-2314
Jim Dry Claremore, Oklahoma (918)341-9104
B.B.
Please help
I have a hy-score 6 shot repeater
target model # 802b 22 cal. I am having a problem loading the pistol. When i put the 6 pellets into the load area, the pellets do not shoot out. I think they fall out.
Is there a certian way to load the pellets and have them shoot out?
Thank You
Ron
Ron,
I'm not familiar with the repeater, so I'm going to recommend you ask your question on the Vintage Airgun Forum:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/405945/
B.B.