by B.B. Pelletier
I’m sorry this final report took so long, but the weather just didn’t cooperate. Even today when I did get out, the wind was gusting 10-20 mph. But at least the day was dry and sunny.
Everything is getting smoother
The gross detonation stopped after about 250 rounds. I have grown fond of the strange two-bladed trigger and now look forward to the engagement of the second stage. I haven’t adequately described how different this trigger feels, but it is one of the best features of these Mendoza breakbarrels.
Gel pad didn’t work!
I tried the Pyramyd Gel Shooting Support at first, hoping to continue the great success I had while using it with the Hammerli Storm Elite. Unfortunately, it didn’t. The rifle would group two pellets together, then flip the next two an inch away at 25 yards. Even given the wind speed, that was too much of a spread. It seemed like it was being caused by a bad hold. So, I removed the pad and used the open palm of my off hand, and the rifle began to shoot!
Which pellets?
As I reported earlier, this rifle likes a heavier, fatter pellet. The 14.3-grain Crosman Premier that works so well in many air rifles (and feeds through the magazine of this one) just isn’t suited to the RM 2000. It’s too narrow for the bore, and I was loading all pellets into the barrel myself. With the scope mounted, the magazine was just too difficult to use. It’s much better with the fine open rear sight Mendoza provides, though I cannot get the same level of accuracy when using it as I can with a scope. By the way, I will be discussing pellet fit in airguns tomorrow.
Eley Wasp
I then tried Eley Wasps, which are the fattest lead pellet I know. Instead of 5.5mm they are 5.6! Shooting from the gel pad, they jumped around like the others; but when I put the stock on my palm, just in front of the triggerguard, the groups tightened to what I wanted! Even better, perhaps!
Eley Wasps are a good general-purpose fatter pellet.
Obviously, Wasps are not premium pellets, but their larger size makes up for their crude appearance.
Five Wasps at 25 yards. The larger hole in the center passed three pellets.
They worked remarkably well. I know things would have been even better if the pellets didn’t have to fight the wind gusts. Pyramyd AIR doesn’t sell Eley Wasps at present because the North American Eley distributor refuses to bring them in. That’s really too bad, because other airguns also like Wasps, like older BSA rifles and all older Webley rifles and pistols.
Beeman Kodiak
But that doesn’t solve your problem. You need a viable pellet for the RM 2000 that you can also buy. Well, I may have found it. The Beeman Kodiak, which is also the H&N Baracuda, seems to be nearly as good as Wasps. The groups they produce are only a trifle larger than those made by the Wasps, though they do move the point of impact about three inches lower.
Beeman Kodiaks were almost as good as Wasps.
I didn’t try to shoot Kodiaks off the gel pad – only the flat of my hand. The difference in velocity that was reported in Part 2 was evident by how much longer they took to get to the target. The adverse wind may have had more of an influence on them on this particular day, because the Wasps arrived on target much quicker.
The bottom line
The Mendoza RM 200 I tested earlier is a no-brainer. At its low retail price and high quality, there is no other .22 caliber rifle that can match it. The RM 2000 is a different story. It has fine features that no other air rifle (other than Mendoza) has, like the two-bladed trigger, the piston seal oil port, the fine rear sight and the repeating magazine. Added to that are a metal finish that Weihrauch would be proud of. But at the price it retails, there are several other good guns to consider, making the choice more difficult.
The RM 2000 needs lots of shooting technique, like most breakbarrels. Handle it right, and you’re rewarded with fine accuracy and reasonable power. You must decide for yourself if the unusual features tip the scale in favor of Mendoza.
You mention holding (palming) the stock just in front of the trigger guard. That logically doesn’t seem very stable. I usually try to palm the stock as far away from the trigger as possible to maintain stability.
Am I missing something? Or is this just a Mendoza quirk?
No, this is the sweet spot for a lot of breakbarrels. The gun is muzzle-heavy when held in this position, but the groups shrink.
B.B.
B.B. wrote, “…Pyramyd AIR doesn’t sell Eley Wasps at present because the North American Eley distributor refuses to bring them in. That’s really too bad, because other airguns also like Wasps, like older BSA rifles and all older Webley rifles and pistols….”
Hi B.B.,
I guess it’s sort of okay to mention that I did a web search and found that Mac1 Airgun lists Eley Wasp pellets (.177 & .22) on their Retail Price web page.
http://www.mac1airgun.com/retailprices.htm
According to the Eley web site, Eley no longer sell the .22 in a purple tin, but still manufacture a .22 sold in a blue tin and also one sold in a yellow tin. On their web site, Eley doesn’t list Mac1 Airgun as being one of their distributors.
http://www.eley.co.uk/airgun.htm
I haven’t contacted Mac1, to find out which Eley Wasp .22 they sell, or even if it’s in stock. It may be the .22 in the yellow tin.
Just thought I’d pass along the info., for those who may have an interest in further checking out which .22 Eley Wasp Mac1 Airguns may stock.
Cheers,
GH
GH,
Thank you for that. Some of the stuff on Tim’s site is four years old, so we should check.
Would you do it, please? I think Tim’s closed today and tomorrow.
B.B.
Off Topic:
I’m having a difficult time finding a company to tune my RWS Diana 35. It’s an old gun, with the original red recoil pad. Two companies have told me they cannot tune the 35 because it has leather seals, and parts are not available.
Do you know a company that would tune my gun?
Thanks!
P.S. Any chance you’ll test an HW57 in the future?
This guy will do it:
As for the 57, it’s not scheduled at this time.
B.B.
B.B.,
I bought a Mendoza RM-200 in .177 last year. It’s exactly like the .22 version in that it likes wider pellets. Have you tested Mendoza’s pellets to see what happens? I wonder if they purposely made the barrels slightly wider to sell more of their own brand of pellets.
Yesterday, I tore down my RM-200 to give it a tune and to see what an air rifle looks like inside. Pretty neat. It’s spring is almost exactly like the springs I got from Maccari to tune my 46E and 48 Dianas. The Mendoza spring is about the same length but has a slightly smaller inner diameter and is made from smaller diameter wire. The ends were ground and chrome plated interestingly enough. The piston seal is slightly over 1″. This is where a set of calipers would come in handy for ordering a new one. It also has a fiberous ring to keep the chamber oiled right behind the piston seal. Should I keep the fiber ring or ditch it and just lube the piston with moly? Oh, and do you know of any place I can find the parts diagram to help in reassembly just in case I forget how it goes back together? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Shawn
Shawn,
I can’t tell you about that fiber ring except that if it’s a spacer, you will loose a lot of energy by removing it. I would put it back the way it was.
As for lubrication, I would go with moly myself. A little on the piston seal and on the inside of the dry compression chamber.
As far as schematics for Mendozas go, I’m not aware of any. Perhaps out readers can help?
B.B.
bb,
a friend is asking me which airgun brand he should go with…he wants a break barrel, and hes not really interested in high end stuff. he said hes either going to get a crosman break barrel, or a gamo shadow. which has a better trigger, accuracy, more durable stock, etc.? pretty much, which one is the smarter buy(both will be in .177, and i think the crosman hes looking at is the phantom with the muzzle break)? he wants an airgun for general plinking and occasional pest control. thanks
Dave
Dave,
Well, the Phantom is really a great buy. My choice woud be the Gamo, but the Phantom is very popular, and there is a big difference in price.
Did he see the RM 200 Mendoza?
B.B.
B.B.
i was wondering if it is possible to tighten the clamp on the dragon claw bipod to the point where the barrel harmonics will not change when i shoot the gun supported and unsupported. im considering buying a D.C. bipod but if the barrel harmonics will be to drastically affected when i dont use it, i’d rather hunt without it. im not to hopefull that the clamp can achieve that level of tightness but i though it couldnt hurt to ask
thanks scopestop
Scopestop,
It’s not the tightness that foils vibration. Any addition of mass to a vibratihg object will change the pattern of vibration. I can almost guarantee the POI will change with and without the bipod.
B.B.
The RM-200 schematic is available at /model-schematic/m/mendoza-rm-200/980.
You will get an error, but it should display. Other Mendoza schematics are available too. I hope Pyramyd does not remove these.
.22 multi-shot
BB said the following, “then tried Eley Wasps, which are the fattest lead pellet I know. Instead of 5.5mm they are 5.6!”.
This made me wonder if the skenko pellets are thicker.
BB, did you test skenko pellets?
Thanks,
-sumo
Sumo,
Not in this gun. My experience with Skencos is they are reasonably accurate for synthetic pellets, but not as accurate as lead pellets. But maybe I should try them more often.
B.B.
.22 Multi-Shot,
Thanks,
B.B.
bb,
well, he was looking at the newest gamo shadow(the big cat), so the price was not far from the phantom. does the fluted bull barrel really help to calm the recoil? ill tell him to consider the mendoza also, thanks for everything.
Dave
thanks bb
-sumo
B.B.
i have another unrelated question, i took out my old gamo 440 to shoot and noticed considerable buzzing with every shot. will dropping oil down onto the mainspring help, or is it bent and in need of replacement?
thanks scopestop
B.B. wrote, “…Would you do it, please? I think Tim’s closed today and tomorrow…”
Hey,
Sure… I’ll try email and if I don’t hear back in a day or two I’ll give ’em a call.
Cheers,
GH
Thanks .22 Multi Shoot. I thought I saw parts diagrams on here at one time. I guess you have to use the word schematics. Thats funny because I like to build copies of old tube amps and often have to look up their schematics.
The fiber ring isn’t a spacer. There is a 1/2″ recess behind the piston seal it sits loosely in. It soaks up oil and relubes the chamber with each shot. Probably why these rifles diesel for so long. They are very well lubed from the factory as well. I had to clean out the grease in the muzzlebrake with a Q-tip. The fiber ring isn’t even in one piece. It has a cut in one side and is taken off easily. It reminds me of the old oil breather material I saw on a ’67 Ford air intake.
Shawn
Dave, I’ve got 3 Quest-based guns and a B19 (which is what the Quest was before Crosman got involved)… and I also have 3 Gamo’s (220, 440, Shadow in .177). I believe the new Gamo’s are the same (mechanically) as these models.
The powerplants are virtually identical, and there are a lot of Gamo’s running around with Crosman Quest springs and seals in them – since Gamo refuses to sell these parts (but Crosman does). The trigger mechanisms are also virtually identical, although it’s possible that the hardness of the steel is more consistent in the Gamo.
The Quest barrels can be quite good, and in my experience the Crosman guns are not as twangy as the Gamo. Gamo stocks tend to be stouter, and on models with open sights the Gamo sights are superior.
Generally, the Gamo tends to be machined a little better and works a little “slicker” (although the Crosman guns seem to be improving). In my experience, the Gamo lockup is also more positive, giving better results with a scope.
Power is about the same, but the Crosman guns are more prone to being overlubed from the factory (smoke and dieselling).
Crosman factory service is, I believe, just about the best going – and better than Gamo in any event. Also, Crosman offers excellent parts support.
Hope this helps…
thanks vince, that helps a lot. do you think open sights are better, or a barrel that has some extra weight would be better? with both the shadow and the phantom, you can either choose sights, or weight(muzzle break-phantom, bull barrel-shadow). i know with no open sights, it limits you to a scope, but will weight help with accuracy at all? hes not very used to shooting break barrels, and i think a weighted barrel would be better if it means less technique, right? thanks for everything, lol, i should really just give my friend this website.
Dave
Just noticed that the Gamo CFX is now available in .22. That’s new isn’t it?
/product/gamo-cfx-combo?m=527
Dave, all else being equal I think a heavier springer will tend to be less hold sensitive, but I don’t know that a couple of ounces is gonna make that much difference. I’ve never tried “muzzle brakes”, but the general consensus seems to be that, on airguns, they are more for show.
In general, I don’t buy a gun unless it has open sights, but that’s just me.
Like BB, my inclination would be to go with the Gamo. In a way I hate to say that, since Crosman Customer Service has taken such good care of me on many occassions. If the lockup on the Quest based guns was better I’d recommend it in a second.
Good eye anonymous,
I noticed the .22 Gamo CFX last night at about 10:00pm ET. I thought I was seeing things. Placed my order immediately. I’ll be drooling until she arrives. I hopes its not some “june fools” joke.
Yes, the .22 CF-X is in! I would expect the non-scoped gun to be available soon.
B.B.
Dave,
I Gamo now claiming that the plastic fluted barrel sleeve calms recoil? What chutzpah! And what a crock.
It’s there for decoration only.
B.B.
Scopestop,
Oil will not calm the buzzing in a spring rifle. What causes that is tolerances in the powerplant, and sometimes a bent or canted spring.
All oiling does is stop piston seals from squeaking.
B.B.
BB, I haven’t yet found where Gamo is claiming anything like that for the fluted barrel. About the only claim I’ve seen is that it reduces weight.
Then again, given that company’s recent video of a boar being shot with a 1250 and PBA’s…. I wouldn’t be surprised.
vince,
yea, i dont think it says it anywhere on the website, but i wrote to them and asked, and that is what they claimed. haha, ive never heard that before…chutzpah. ok, well, thanks to both bb and vince on this one, you guys gave me(and my friend) a lot to think about.
Dave
I don’t believe the .22 Eley Wasps in the blue cans have been manufactured for several years now.
There are .22 Eley Wasps, but they are different then the old blue tin Eley Wasps.
My local airgun dealer managed to find some over the past few years, and I’ve bought as many tins as I could. I have a pretty good stash of them.
My .22 R1 and .22 HW95 really like those old blue tinned Eley Wasps!
I haven’t tried the new ones yet.
airmojo
airmojo,
It’s nice to know that. I also laid in a huge stock of them when I saw they would become hard to get.
I used them in a 1914 BSA Standard underlever.
B.B.
RE: B.B. wrote: “… I then tried Eley Wasps, which are the fattest lead pellet I know. Instead of 5.5mm they are 5.6! …”
Hello All,
As requested, I contacted Mac1 Airgun Distributors. This evening I received an email reply regarding availibility of the Eley Wasp pellets listed on their Retail Prices web page.
Apparently B.B. is correct about the Retail Prices page being a bit out-of-date. All Eley Wasp pellets (.177 & .22) at Mac1 are sold out and have been for some time.
Cheers,
GH
GH,
Thanks for doing the legwork. It’s good to know the status for certain.
B.B.
BB,
In an educated guess, would you presume that the RWS Super Dome would shoot well in the RM-2000? Also, do you have an idea of how accurate the gun would shoot while using the magazine? I like the idea of using a 7 rnd magazine for hunting as I wouldn’t have to carry around a tin of pellets or a separate pellet holder while still having a follow up shot.
I have an idea for using this gun to hunt; cock and load a Kodiak into the breech and then load one or two Hobbies (or Super Domes) into the mag. Then again, shooting two different types of pellets through two different loading mechanisms would probably introduce too many inaccuracies as it is… still, if you please, I’d appreciate your educated guess.
Hunter,
It sounds like you’ve read the report on the RM 2000, but if not, go here:
/blog/2007/6/mendoza-rm-2000-part-3/
The magazine doesn’t feed many pellets well, so you will have to experiment with yours. The Kodiaks will really shoot for you.
If the mag is loaded, you cannot single-load the rifle because there is no magazine cutoff. As the barrel is closed, the next pellet will feed.
B.B.
My idea was actually to load a single Kodiak into the barrel, close it, then load a few Hobbies or Super Domes into the magazine, *after* the barrel had already closed. Essentially, it’d be like loading 7+1.
I’m assuming though, that Kodiaks won’t fit into the magazine or would be too long to fit into the loading shuttle, which is why I keep mentioning the Super Domes which are, currently, my favorite pellets. Do you think the RM2000 might stand a good chance of liking them? They seem to be fatter than the Crosman and Gamo pellets I’ve tried.
I don’t yet have this gun as I’m doing research about my next gun. My top two choices came out to be the Diana 34 Panther or this gun but since I’m a sucker for gizmos and gadgets, the RM2000’s magazine and oil port won me over, although the chocked barrel on the 34 is still pulling hard on me.
Anyway, if I do end up with the RM2000, I’ll be sure to test accuracy from the magazine (bearing in mind Tom Gaylord’s 1″ group rule) before I try and bring an animal down.
B.B. How are you?… it’s been quite some time since I ve asked anything.
I am looking for spring rifles which are repeaters. I want to fit a gas ram in them and basicaly have a gas ram repeater. Do you know of any?
Thanks a lot
Andreas,
Several of the Mendozas are repeaters, the BSA Goldstar, and the Gamo Expomatic.
That’s all I know of.
B.B.