by B.B. Pelletier
More pictures from SHOT today.
For you air pistol lovers, Umarex is bringing out several new models that should be well-received. The first is a BB gun copy of Smith & Wesson’s newly famous M&P pistol. S&W made the M&P revolver famous over the decades. When the new pistol hit the market a few years ago, it was received very well. The Umarex BB gun is a 19-shot repeater that doesn’t feature blowback, but it does come with a tactical light rail under the slide. This double-action-only pistol has fixed fiberoptic sights front and rear and comes in all black or a two-tone black with earth brown lower half.
Another pistol that’s going to receive a lot of attention is the new loaded PX4 Storm Recon. It has a compensator, a Walther dot sight and a tactical flashlight with a pressure switch on the grip.
Believe it or not, I’m only skimming the new products that are being brought out this year by Umarex USA! As the year unfolds and Pyramyd AIR starts receiving some of the other new things, there’ll be a lot more to see.
Over on the RWS Diana side of the house, there are two new .25 caliber pellets! That’s right…the Superdome and Super-H-Point are now available in the big .25, as well as .177 and .22. The new pellets are obviously made for hunting, as they weigh 31 grains for the Superdome and 26 grains for the Super-H-Point. Both come 200/tin.
Many of you have already seen advanced photos of the new rifles RWS Diana will offer. The model 34 breakbarrel rifle will also be available as the Meisterschutze Pro, a scoped version with no open sights, a straight comb (no Monte Carlo profile) a muzzlebrake and a black rubber recoil pad. The Meisterschutze Pro Compact version of the same gun features a shorter barrel. The 34 synthetic-stocked Panther will also come in the Panther Pro (scoped) and Panther Pro Compact versions.
The magnum model 350 will also be sold as the Feuerkraft version, which has a longer forearm, no hood over the fiberoptic front sight and a straight comb. It will also come as the 350 Feuerkraft Pro Compact, with a scope and a shorter barrel.
The beautiful model 46 underlever is now a Stutzen, with a full-length stock and a tasteful schnabble tip. Only in .177 at this time.
The popular model 52 sidelever will come in a special Luxus version with a deluxe basketweave skip-checkered walnut stock (the refer to it as Scottish checkering). My buddy Earl McDonald flipped over this one when he saw it in the Umarex booth.
But for me, the really big news in Diana air rifles for 2008 is the new Schutze, a re-issue of the youth-sized Diana 24. I get lots of requests from parents and grandparents for recommendations for good youth air rifles, and the cupboard has been pretty bare until now. The Diana 24 was always a hit, not just with kids but adults, as well, and I’m delighted to see it back on the market. For now, the rifle is available only in .177 caliber.
Will 2240 pistol grips fit on a 2250 crosman? Nice XE…was waiting to see if pyramyd to start selling them. A pistol grip would be cool.
Who is Air Venturi? Do they make gas springs that would fit other air rifles…like CM Quest 800? I notice they seem to have a CM 2250 and a mendoza 600 or so under their name also. Can you ship gas rams to the UK? or other countries?
Will gamo be adding silencing technology on other rifles that are ok for the US market? Wouldn’t mind a Gamo Royal CFX .22 with a gas ram and a silencer.
BB,
Thanks for all the great information as always.
I miss the model 24 as well and look forward to any new youth models from any manufacturer. I hope the new Schutze will be as good as the 24. It looks like the scope rail is cut right into the receiver on this model. I wonder how good the trigger will be as it appears to be a non-adjustable direct type. The 24 trigger was quite excellent once adjusted.
Jim
Sorry, I forgot to ask if you have you shot many of the AA 400 series rifles? Do you prefer the sidelever or the bolt action? Is there a big difference between the two?
You probably hear this a lot:
“You must feel like a kid in a candy store?”
Someday I’m going to have to make it all the way through your blog.
B.B.–
Scott298 reporting in-well I finally got back my gun and am going to give it a through cleaning before remounting the scope . I was planning on using loctite on the screws but I’m not sure which one to get. Also I was told by another person that a good maintennce idea was to use super glue. The super glue would be put into the spaces where ever a screw with a lock washer-you know the jagged type-came in contact with wood. The screw and washer would be removed and the wood surface would be soaked with a little super glue. In this way every time the screw was taken out and replaced it would not chew up the wood. When the super glue is applied to the wood and let to dry when the scres and washer were replaced the washer would bite into the dried glue preventing the wood from being chewed up
BB,
I love the military finish on the walther cp99 and this new px4. will any other models that come out this year (m&p or H&K) have any military finishes) Thanks.
ajvenom,
First – the Gamo silencer doesn’t work in the real world. Even in their own advertising they admit that it reduces the report by only 50 percent. That is not as much as it sounds. They have used a misleading descriptor to advertise the sound level difference.
In sound terms, 50 percent is about 3 decibels, which is so little your ear cannot hear the difference. A spring gun powerplant is many times louder than the muzzle report, so the silencer only works if the powerplant is well-balanced, which in Gamo rifles, they aren’t.
On the other hand, the silencer outer case is large and hand-filling and makes a nice cocking handle. It wouldn’t be of any use on a CF-X though.
As for what Gamo may do with other models, it’s hard to say. At the SHOT Show they had no one in their booth who could talk about the new products. It seemed they were more interested in projecting a “style” statement than talking about airguns. I asked two different sales reps and neither had any data on the new models.
Pyramyd AIR will not sell the 2250 XE. That’s a Crosman Custom Shop item, which means they sell it directly.
Yes the 2240 pistol grips will fit a 2250. They are made from the same frame.
As for your question about shipping gas springs to the UK, I have referred it to the Pyramyd AIR staff. You can contact them at
csr@pyramydair.com
B.B.
ajvenom,
The only Air Arms 400-series rifle I’ve tested is the 410 sidelever I blogged. I do hear lots of wonderful things about the 400-series rifles though.
BV.B.
Scott298,
Use blue Locktite, number 242, only. It releases when you need it to, but holds well.
As for the super glue wood treatment, I haven’t heard of it. But I am no woodworker.
B.B.
Michael,
I have been trying to get Umarex to put a green phosphate finish on their M1911A1 for four years – to no avail.
B.B.
B.B.
As usual, another great report on Sho t Show ’08. BB, I would love to be able to do what you do. Will there be another installment? I’ve added the Desert Eagle to my wish along with the Discovery and the AATx200Mklll. I plan on having all of them within the year, unless someone comes out with something exceptional, which will probably be the case.
BobC NJ
BobC,
Yes, this job does have its advantages. On the other hand, I came home with Pneumonia that I’m trying to kick.
I think there will be one more installment. I’ve misplaced one of my CDs from the show, so a couple important images may be lost. But I still have things to show.
B.B.
B.B.
Quite a party. It’s nice to be part of an endeavor that’s constantly growing and getting better and full of so much positive energy. It seems that if I wait long enough the perfect product will appear. Speaking for myself, though, I haven’t seen anything yet to outclass the Benjamin Discovery as an innovative new product.
Matt61
Oooo, look at this quote from Crosman from the SHOT show that I ran across on the subject of the Benjamin Discovery:
“With the power plant perfected, we can go a lot of directions including, exotic stocks and other Custom Shop favorites, sound-suppressed versions, semi-auto’s, larger calibers, multi-shot, etc.”
Matt61
Matt61,
I have to agree, the Discovery is this year’s biggest new airgun.
B.B.
bb, (off topic)
It was calm outside today so I decided to take out the 392. Course, it’s only 5 degrees above zero, but without wind it’s downright warm!
I just started shooting when I noticed the paralax on my scope. There’s no paralax adjustment on my scope, it’s just a relatively cheap one, but the paralax was definately not good! Add in the cumbersome method to scope a 392 and you’ve spelled out inaccuracy! I’ve tried to use a piece of clear tape to place my cheek on the stock, but the lack of eye relief on my scope ruins my hold, and my chin is the only thing that touches the stock.
I figure that this is definately not going to work and I’m going to go back to iron sights (maybe a peep sight). The scope works fine on my .22 LR (that thing is much more accurate than I thought).
I also put about 4 drops of crosman pellgun oil on the pump head about 3 weeks ago and set the gun muzzle up. I hadn’t shot the 392 since then. This fixed my air leakage problem (i did have one), cuz before, when I pumped the 392, if I lightly pressed on the pump handle the handle would slowly close all the way down (even on pump eight). Well, now the only way to close it is with vigorous pumping.
I also inspected the barrel of the 392. I can see that the opening (muzzle) is not a perfect circle, but rather has two slight– um, could you call them rounded protrusions?– in it. if you take a cursory glance, or quick inspection you wouldn’t really notice them, but hey, could these be a problem for my accuracy? I have so many fly away pellets that I can’t keep a 2 or 3 inch group at 60 feet. Sometimes 3 pellets group within an inch, and 2 fly off about an inch away in different directions from the main group.
well I’ll keep tryin,
Thanks
Insomniac09
It seems to me that Crosman (with BB’s help) essentially caught the other airgun manufacturer’s with their “pants down” when they released the Discovery!
Pneumonia, yuck! Get better BB!
.22 multi-shot
Just an FYI: a DirecTV search turned up a Shooting USA tv show segment on a high school air rifle meet. Wasn’t bad at all, though I had no ideas high schoolers posessed so much high-end hardware.
Nice to see airguns get a little tv love…
Insomniac,
I remember what agony you wen through just to buy this rifle. And now it won’t shoot?
What pellets are you using? And do you have any paint inside the muzzle?
B.B.
bb,
Oh no! the gun shoots better! I meant that the only way the pump mechanism works is the way it SHOULD work. With increasingly difficult pumps! I’m using crosman premiers, beeman kodiaks, and Benjamin diabolos. It’s just that I saw that inside the very end of the muzzle, just around the inside of the barrel, are 2 very slight protusions. I was wondering if the pellet skirts could catch on them and be the cause of my high number of fly-aways.
I don’t see any paint inside the muzzle.
Srry for the confusion,
Insomniac
Insomniac,
Well, you’re using some of the best pellets I could recommend. As for the two protrusions, they shouldn’t be there and they could cause some inaccuracy by deforming the pellet skirts as they leave the gun.
Here’s a thought. Try some round balls and some cylindrical pellets, if you can find them. Try Sunshine Airguns for the round balls. They may iron out those protrusions.
B.B.
bb,
I see that Sunshine Airguns has .22 Lobo round balls, and some other cylindrical pellets, Shark solid point pellets (.22). Would the Shark pellets only work in the Shark rifle?
Is there any way I could file or shave down the protrusions without harming the rifle? I really don’t worry about looks, I’m more into results, so some scratches won’t bother me.
Thanks
Insomniac09
BB,
Sorry to hear about your Pneumonia. I had it myself, plus 2 pneumothorax (clots)after I had surgery. Scared the $#%? outa me.
Some Chicken soup and TLC from your lovely wife and you’ll be fine.
Take care BB,
BobC NJ
I wish you a speedy recovery, BB!
Matt61 found this:
“With the power plant perfected, we can go a lot of directions including, exotic stocks and other Custom Shop favorites, sound-suppressed versions, semi-auto’s, larger calibers, multi-shot, etc.”
WOW! A couple of months ago you asked for posts to gather together suggestions for airgun manufacturers. I pitched in, and the Discovery is almost everything I wished for, with even better accuracy. The only shortcoming was a repeater action, and HERE IT IS mentioned!
I’m thinking seriously of pushing the button for one in .22 now.
There was mention of an aftermarket bolt for some Crosman/Benjamin guns which had a magazine built into it. 1. Will one of you please post that URL again?
2. Is that device available for the Discovery?
Thanks again. My vocabulary is insufficient to express my enjoyment of this blog!
fflincher
BB,
Just took A closer look at the RWS 46 Stutzen. Beautiful looking rifle. Do you have any first impressions on it?
Do the accessories for the AA Tx200MkIII That In Tom’s Picks still hold true?
Also, what is the schnabble tip?
Thanks,
BobC NJ
Hi BB,
Thanks for all the good stuff you bring us from the show! Now, get well!
/Shooter
Scott298,
BB is right about the blue locktite. If you use the red, high strength, you’ll play hell trying to get it apart the next time you need to. Also, super glue will work great for sealing up the scratches and digs from the lock washers. Just make sure that it’s set up before putting it back together, or you could end up with the same sticky situation as if you’d used the red locktite. You might want to try flat washers under the lock washers to prevent this chewing up in the future after you’ve repaired the wood. Hope that helps,
/Shooter
The RWS 46 has been available as the Stutzen for years. What’s new about it?
Stutzen,
What’s new is that it is being imported into the U.S. again. I owned one year ago, and this is a different-looking rifle, with the schnabble tip. It probably performs the same though.
B.B.
Insomniac,
If you were a skilled metalworker I’d say you could remove those protrusions. But since you ask, I have to say leave them alone. They may shoot out if they are that small.
B.B.
BobC,
Fortunately I have a nice big book to read while I convalesce!
B.B.
BobC,
Yes, the accessories still hold for the TX 200.
A schnabble is a rounded and raised tip on a forearm. I don’t know the derivation of the word.
B.B.
BB and others…
Hi and great blog 🙂
i have a question that i hope i can explain clearly. When i took up shooting airguns (1 year ago) i very quickly purchased a high power fieldtarget scope (10-50X) as i assumed the better mag the more accurate i would shhot. My theory was, i would be able to better see my rifle movement and therefore better be able to hold exactly steady on the bull. I am now looking to buy another quality scope for a centrefire rifle, that i will only shoot at 50m or 25m as these are the only ranges at my club. I have been looking in to scopes and it would seem that many very good quality scopes are a low power, but that this actually gives you better resolution and maybe better scores as there is little (certainly less) parallax at the ranges i am shooting. So….my question is, would my groups likely get better or worse by using a scope with a lower mag? I know FT users like the X50, but do they just use the X50 mag to judge distance then shoot at a lower mag? or do they stick to the X50 and use skill to avoid any parallax?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Paul
Paul,
Field target shooters use scope power for only one reason – to determine distance more accurately. They determine distance by focusing their scopes, and with higher power they can see small objects clearly to farther distances.
The typically do not lower their power when shooting. I have used scopes up to 40 power, but they get dim in anything but the strongest light, so it’s harder to shoot a high-powered scope than a lower-powered one. In competition, I generally shoot at 30-32 power.
As far as aiming precision goes, a more powerful scope does give you that, as well, but only to a point. You mention parallax, and there is also higher mounting, which the larger objective lenses require. The also enhances parallax. So parallax is a problem for users of more powerful scopes.
Most centerfire scope users can get by with 6-9 power and do very well. Snipers typically use 10-power today and look how far they shoot!
B.B.