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Vince’s “Impossible Dream”

by B.B. Pelletier

Well, Vince is back with another fantastic tale of gunsmithing, gun renovation and making parts. I’m just a tinkerer compared to Vince’s vast talent. I enjoy his guest blogs because I always learn something new. You, too?

If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.

Bloggers must be proficient in the simple html that Blogger software uses, know how to take clear photos and size them for the internet (if their post requires them), and they must use proper English. We’ll edit each submission, but we won’t work on any submission that contains gross misspellings and/or grammatical errors.

Now, let’s get on with Vince’s “Impossible Dream”

by Vince

Ha ha, I know. Vince is gonna clean up his workbench and maybe even get all his tools sorted out. Yeah. Like that’s ever gonna happen. No, what I’m talking about is a task that is so incredibly incredible, so unbelievably unbelievable, and so hopeless hapless that only an absolute FOOL would even THINK about attempting it!

I’m gonna accurrize me a Marksman 1010!

marksman-1010

The Marksman 1010 Classic.

I can already hear the guffaws and howls of laughter. And frankly, well, there’s a reason for that. After all, the Marksman 1010 is a legend without peer in the field of inaccuracy. When B.B. tested one over 3 years ago, he couldn’t stay on the 5″x5″ target paper–from 10 feet away. I distinctly remember shooting at some cans with mine one evening and knocking one over… one that happened to be about a foot away from the one I was actually aiming at. At about 12 feet. The trigger-pull weight is generally comparable to, say, a Diana 52 with scope. Not comparable to the Diana’s TRIGGER weight, mind you, but to the weight of the WHOLE GUN.

So, why even bother?

Actually, the 1010 had a couple of things going for it, especially the old metal ones. First, is the “cool factor.” Let’s face it; it was all-metal and full-weight before all-metal and full-weight became popular buzzwords. Nobody was going to ever mistake it for the real 1911 it was modeled after, but the resemblance to a real firearm was unmistakenly there. It had REAL heft to it and could be a very formidable close-quarter weapon (well, if used as a club, anyway). Second, it was and is cheap. Third, it was popular, so they’re still available in copious quantities for the aforementioned cheapness.

While I was accurrizing Wacky Wayne’s Markham Model D way back when (by fitting a Daisy Avanti 499 barrel to it), I got this crazy idea: Why not use a hunk of the other barrel I bought and see if something could be done for the ol’ 1010? So, that’s exactly what I did.

And then forgot about it. Better late than never.

Without going into personal details, let’s just say that my life started getting rather complicated around the time I played with this thing, and I never really gave it a proper test. Well, things are settling down quite a bit now and I’m in the process of going through all my airguns, deciding what to keep and what to ditch. When I came across my old 1010, I remembered my barrel retrofit and decided to give it a real test before deciding what to do with it.

So, I go to my 15′ basement BB range, set up a target, filled up the 1010 with new Daisy BBs and let ‘re rip. The first group was pretty bad, but I was shooting offhand…and I’m a LOUSY offhand pistol shot. To give it a proper test, the next group was shot from a rested position and gave me (Are you ready?)…ALL SHOTS LANDING ON THE PAPER!

Actually, it did much better than that. It gave me a 5-shot group of slightly under 1.75″. For a smoothbore springer with me pulling the 50-lb. trigger isn’t all that bad. And coming from a Marksman 1010…well, that group size might literally be 1/10 the size it would have shot as it came from the factory.

03-18-10-01

5 shots, Daisy BBs, using a rest: 1.75″ group

Now I’m in a bit of a pickle. Even though the 1010 is not a serious gun for the serious hobbyist, I AM sorta honor-bound to help out poor, overworked BB with a mediocre guest blog once in a while. It’s something that I’m not sure has been tried by anyone else. It did work pretty well, and I do have some interesting results to report. But I’ve got one problem: I don’t really remember how I did it.

Fortunately, for me (and less so for the you guys), I took pictures when I did this conversion. Even more amazing, I was able to find those pictures over a year later. Since this sorta jogs my memory, well, this blog ain’t over yet. What I’ll do is step through these one by one, in more or less the proper order, and give a running narration of how I remember this coming together.

Step one: Get a grip
The 1010 is a surprisingly complicated air pistol for such a cheap little peashooter. It requires a level of patience all out of proportion to the lowly nature of the gun. So be prepared. Just for reference, this is what the “naked gun” looks like:

03-18-10-02

Gee, I’d never seen this side of you before.

Step two: Do everything else
The next three pictures are a bit of a cheat. I had never photographed the very first steps, so these are recent. Cock the gun halfway (pull the slide back, but do not return it forward), remove the front screw and loosen the others.

03-18-10-03

Loosen the circled ones, remove the front one. Please note: the cocking slide oughta be pulled back.

Gently pry the halves of the gun slightly apart at the muzzle. NOTE WHERE THAT LITTLE SPRING IS! You’ll need to put it back, and it probably won’t cooperate. Once you’re familiar with where it goes, spread the gun halves just enough to get out the barrel assembly.

03-18-10-04

Remember where this puppy goes!

03-18-10-05

Just enough to get it out.

03-18-10-06

Now, we have to figure out how to get the old shot tube out. Take a look at the barrel assembly from the front. Obviously it’s not coming out that way!

03-18-10-07

Turn around the barrel assembly and remove that rubber grommet/seal in the back…

03-18-10-08

…and slide the shot tube out.

If you lay the Daisy 499 shot tube next to the barrel housing, you’ll get a general idea of how it needs to go in. The outside diameter of the old tube is 1/4″, while the OD of the 499 is 5/16″. Except for the very end, where it’s VERY conveniently turned down to 1/4″ from the factory:

03-18-10-09

Marksman barrel housing and Daisy 499 shot tube.

Here’s where I may have inadvertently taken the long way around. I suspect it would have been easier to turn down the OD of the Daisy tube to 1/4″, cut off a hunk of the proper length and just slide it back in the way the old one came out. But, NOOOO! Easy ain’t for me. Besides, I don’t have a lathe, so I did it the hard way. I drilled out the front of the barrel housing with a 5/16″ bit.

03-18-10-10

Please. Do a better job than I did.

Make sure that the plastic bosses on the underside of the housing are cut away as necessary.

03-18-10-11

Disembowel where indicated.

03-18-10-12

If I make it long enough, it’ll reach all the way to the target!

03-18-10-13

The new barrel can be slid in from the front until it’s even with the back.

At this point, you’ll find that you can just put the breech grommet back, just as with the original shot tube.

03-18-10-14

Pull the grommet back out. The shot tube length has to be cut down and the muzzle crowned…crowned the KING of cheap BB pistols, that is!

03-18-10-15

A little needs to be ground off the bottom to clear a screw boss.

03-18-10-16

Grind where circled.

Slide out the shot tube, smear it with a little epoxy and slide it back in. DON’T GET EPOXY IN THE BARREL! Let it set, reinstall the barrel housing into the pistol frame and…voila! You’re done!

Now, your beloved 1010 or 2005 (you know, they’ve got some nerve naming the horrible 2005 something so close to the excellent 2004!) or whatever should now be transformed into a passable plinker. And by that I mean hitting soda cans pretty reliably at BB-gun ranges. Can’t help but think that it might even do better with Avanti Precision BBs, but I don’t have any of those.

My biggest regret in all this is failing to document the before and after performances. However, I don’t think that’s too much of an issue here. As I said before, the 1010 and its derivatives are notoriously horrible in the world of BB pistols–a world that is hardly populated with precision shooting instruments. And, yes, I’ve got airsoft pistols that will shoot under 1″ at 15 feet, but that’s not really the point.

As I said before, the 1010 IS a cool looking pistol. How many kids AND adults had been horribly disappointed over the years by it’s absolute lack of accuracy? Which just ain’t right. So, I guess you could say that this was simply a pursuit of justice. Righting a wrong. Bringing balance to the universe and so on. You could say that, but it’d be a wad of horse manure. I just wanted to see how well it’d work, which I did. And I wound up with a 1010 that shoots almost straight, so I can lift up my head and shout to the world: “I’M LIVIN’ THE DREAM, MAN!” The Impossible Dream, that is!

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

130 thoughts on “Vince’s “Impossible Dream””

  1. Morning Vince,

    Excellent blog–great pictures, but most importantly you've showed us what we can do with that old Marksman 1010 each one of us has laying around.

    Are you going to be selling a converson kit? How about trigger mods and a "power kit", maybe more preload on the spring?

    Mr B.

  2. Mr. B, I wouldn't consider the 1010 a good candidate for a 'power kit'. With the tighter barrel my velocity went up to 200fps. A 50% increase in power (IF it were even possible) would only bring it up to 245fps… and I don't think that would make the gun any more useful. It would be harder to cock and possibly bang the thing to pieces… especially the later, plastic ones. Remember – this pistol is hardly an example of refined over-engineering!

    A retrofit barrel is another possibility. It shouldn't be terribly difficult to turn the OD of a 499 barrel down to 1/4" and chop it up into 2" long segments… at which point I believe it could be changed with very little work. If I had the time (and another 1010 to play with) I would try it that way as well.

  3. Off Topic:

    Another use for duct seal. I pryed some pellet-impregnated duct seal out of my pellet trap and molded it into the cavity under a lightweight plastic NXT front rest, which had always moved around. Voila–a heavy, stable gun rest.

  4. Vince,you are my kinda guy.
    That old saying 'You can't polish a turd' is wrong and 'Mythbusters' has proved, you can in fact, polish a turd.
    My first ever 'air' gun was a 'GAT' pistol, and that didn't actualy use air to propell the pellet.It used 'whiplash' lol.
    As a kid I would look through the shop window drooling over the 1010.
    I still have a soft spot for it now, as I do other alleged lost causes.
    My maxim is,
    'Making the worst,better.'
    Great article mate.

  5. Wow: I still have the vintage 1010 I bought as a kid laying around. Let's see… do the math… Gag: It's about 30 years old now. Yeah, never accurate or powerful: I distinctly remember shooting at an empty paper grocery bag – and the BB only denting the paper without making it through. Yeah, paper grocery bags were tough back then.

    I took mine apart several times, hoping to improve it – but nothing like this. Kudos to Vince for showing us that it can be an entertaining project, in spite of its limits!

  6. Vince,

    You are my hero; that is just too funny!!

    Hay, don’t under estimate the usefulness of the Marksman 1010. I use them as a visual aid and a training aid teaching basic pistol training course. One time I had a new kid show up at ower 4-H meeting and wanted to use his 1010. He said that he shoots it in his bed room at his father’s house and smuggles it home (to his mother’s house) and shoots back in the woods all the time ( Mom is anti gun BIG TIME). I said “You can try but you have to use pellets we don’t allow BBs”. Well at 10 meters it was shooting a couple feet low! I showed him how to use a FWB P34 and he put 35 out of 40 shots in the black on a NRA B-40/4 target @ 10 meters, free hand! Unfortunately we wanted both parents to sign his registration form in order for him to continue shooting with us but his mother will not even come to the club to see how we run the program.

    Caveman
    Vanago County 4-H Deadeyes

  7. Vince,

    I too would love to see part 2 of the “Impossible Dream”
    I’ve heard that “Success is not measured by the heights obtained but by the obstacles overcome”. This could be your chance to obtain super hero status.

    Caveman
    Vanago County 4-H Deadeyes

  8. Caveman,

    Send the mother a letter. With pictures. Stress gun safety and mention that target shooting is part of Olympic sports. Explain you will be teaching her son responsibility. Offer HER a free training course and promise her she'll have fun, with her son. You might just win her over. Don't forget to include the registration form she needs to sign. Good luck!

    -AlanL

  9. Vince

    I don't have a Crosman 1010, but if you ever do an guest blog on how to clean up a workbench- now THAT I would like to see.

    My hard drive is filled up with 'How Tos' I have found online. How to do this, how to do that. You and Derrick are at the very top of the heap. You instruct, simplify, illuminate and entertain.

    The netphrase 'LOL' has been so overused that it has lost all meaning to me, but… nah, still can't say it.

  10. Vince,

    Another great guest blog. Re-barreling a marksman 1010 is the pinnacle of proof that you are the ultimate airgun enthusiast. We need to get you a lathe. Hard to imagine what would come out of your shop then!

    Package we discussed is on its way to you via USPS.

    kevin

  11. Actually, the lathe bit is a bit of a dodge. I could easily chuck it up in a drill, spin it, and shave down the OD with a couple of files pressed against the tube (on opposite sides). It's slow and it requires some care to be precise, but it'd be doable.

  12. Caveman,

    See if you can find out from the boy's father (assuming he is interested in helping) what the basis for mother's fears are. Knowing that will help, and may even point out if your plans for any discussions will actually help or hurt. Of course there is the possibility that the battle is a lost cause before you begin, and for the sake of the boy that would be good to know – better for him to leave well enough alone.

    I say this because I face this constantly with my wife – AlanL, I'm jealous, as the conversation you wrote about a few days ago has no happy twist for me. She wants me to get rid of my air guns, and I own no firearms (a concession that I made long ago). The basis of her fear is that she knew three people (one a close relative) that committed suicide by firearms. The chain of her reasoning that flows from that basis is large and long, and one I have not been able to break. Basically, in her mind any exposure to any form of guns leads to an interest in guns and possible suicide at some point in the future (we have two young boys, the focus of the fears). I've explained my view which is more based on the fact that it is the opposite – the interest is there (as it was for me) and without proper exposure, kids will seek them out and place themselves in harmful situations. I believe my approach leads to the avoidance of gun accidents elsewhere through education and respect for all weapons, as learned through air guns. The discussion is not working. Any tips would be appreciated, from those with thoughts on it.

    My point is to find out if there are any openings that can be discussed first, otherwise your very approach may slam the door closed even tighter.

    Alan in MI

  13. rikib

    If the Wal-Marts around you carry the 870 then by all means. I had no idea they did. Most of the ones around here don't even have firearm ammunition (or any decent pellet guns). The Wal-Marts that do have ammo send over some hyper-paranoid freak to accost you for even peering into the cabinet. "He's looking at AMMO! Its Tim McVeigh all over again!"

    I suggested gun shows because I don't like to buy online. (ahem, except PA) The feel and fit of any gun is important. I like to look at Gunbroker, but when I finally find a deal, and then you add the FFL transfer fee, and shipping, and possible (sometimes probable) shipping damage, and the uncertainty. Well… its fun to go to a gun show sometimes.

    Do your research and find out what something should cost and go. It'll cost you maybe $7 to get in. Many tables will be seedy dealers looking to rip off the uninformed. Others will be older veterans like you who have a whole lotta guns and like to trade them around sometimes. You can haggle. Might find a deal, might not. Nobody will make you buy anything. You might actually enjoy it.

  14. I think I must have one of the oldest 1010's still working. It does have the metal frame. By my count it is 47 years old. I shot it a LOT when I was young. I found it worked better with some brands of BB's than others. I got so I could really hit things with it. I also think the long trigger stroke taught me to use a double action revolver later in life. I remember one summer when I shot it almost every day. At the time I thought anyone could use it but when some friends tried it, they couldn't hit anything. It shows what practice can do!

    Mike

  15. Alan in MI,

    My uncle committed suicide by putting a gun in his mouth pointed up and back and blew his brains out. This was before I was born. My parents are and have always been anti-gun (but not fervently so.) I grew up as an American expatriate in a country where there were few laws, and those few unenforced. As a result I smoked at age 10, drove a car at 11 and had my first gun (bought secretly) at age 9. It was a .32 caliber revolver with no safety. One day deep in the woods I saw a squirrel and pulled the pistol out of my pants. As I did so, a shot rang out and I saw a twig on the ground in front of my left foot jerk and fly up in two parts. Then I felt something a little warm underneath. I was shocked to see smoke curling out of a tiny hole in my crotch right next to my right testicle. I learned at that moment that guns were not toys and paid much closer attention to how I handled them from then on. Years went by and I owned and shot many different guns, always without my parents knowing about it, and if I told you some of the things I did in my youth you wouldn't believe me. I cringe in embarrassment and shame at some of them. Tell your wife that your boys should learn how to handle guns safely, or they may learn how to handle them unsafely. I was extremely lucky. They may not be quite so.

    Suicide is brought on by extreme depression, and if the will is truly there, almost nothing will prevent it from happening. If no guns are to hand, the razor blade, sleeping pill, rope or bridge will always be. I cannot tell you how to present this to your wife, but the link between guns and suicide is an artificial one. Perhaps it may be possible to ascertain even at this distance what the underlying causes of your wife's relatives' suicides were and address those issues directly. Beyond that, I would enlist the aid of a respected family friend to bring in a fresh perspective for her in support of your position– a policeman, pastor, or judge. You Must find a way for her to handle the gun herself, even if just once. Perhaps ask for that as your only birthday present, or win that concession in a bet, or trade that for something she really wants you to do for her. I keep thinking about how B.B. overcame his first father-in-law's abhorrence of guns and turned him, in the course of just a few hours, into almost an enthusiast. That story is a must-read post regardless, and perhaps it may spark some other ideas for you.

    All the best,
    AlanL

  16. Vince,

    Great guest blog.
    again..

    I love your "can do" attitude!.. especially with projects that most would say.. why do:-).. that's why I keep sending them to you!… like the $15 new bb gun that was full of sand! we are both crazy!

    It's sort of like putting the best leather seats and a cobra engine in a pinto..

    Kevin,
    yep… way too much fun for a old fart like me to deserve… but I take it anyway..
    I do so want to meet you and play together sometime soon.

    rikib,

    Kevin, BG_Farmer and the gang here helped me get into firearms a little more than a year ago.. I had only shot my dads' Remington 22lr up till then… their good advice helped me get where I wanted to be much sooner.

    In the $500 range, look for a good used Smith and Wesson 27 frame or the Ruger Blackhawk (I like the older ones better).

    .357 mag is a great round, that is easy to find these days. It comes in many power ranges. You can also shoot .38 special in a .357 mag, so that opens up more ammo choices… and .38 special shot in a .357 mag like the S&W 27 frame is real easy with almost no recoil.

    I personally like the .45lc round better in the Ruger Blackhawk… 200gr. "cowboy" loads in .45lc shoot about like a .38 special in the S&W 27 frame… and they bring way more foot lbs and make a much larger hole!.. and the blackhawk and 27 frame can handle heavier loads up to 300gr… so it's similar to a .357 in ammo choices… but the ammo is not nearly as available, you have to reload or know someone who will reload for you…
    The .45lc "Judge" can also shoot the .410 shotgun shells.. It's almost as nice a the Ruger blackhawk or my favorite, the S&W 27 frame.

    Wacky Wayne, Match Director, Ashland Air Rifle Range

  17. AlanL,

    Thanks for sharing that story. It bolsters my belief that education is the most important thing.

    Guns have been around a long time, and will always be around.. period..
    no gun laws will remove the existing guns, or keep guns out of the hands of criminals. That is a fact.. how could anyone dispute that fact? And if it's not disputable, then we must have education of the children of what to do when they see guns in an unsafe situation…

    Curiosity is dangerous for children, they have it naturally, and it's a good thing.. but we have to teach them about the world.. and guns are part of it..

    ..face the facts folks!.. or you could be doing more harm than good!

    Wacky Wayne, Match Director, Ashland Air Rifle Range

  18. rikib

    I recommended the shotgun as, among other things, a home defense weapon because like you said about your skeet shooting, you can't miss. A handgun is another story. A home invasion is a high stress situation.

    If your intruder is not completely drug addled, he will take one look at the shotgun and run faster than he has ever run in his life, likely leaving a trail of urine behind him. You will never have to actually fire it. This saves on ammo.

    If they are under the influence of something, or they are just plain stupid, and they make you fire it, well… there is going to be some clean up. Trimwork, lots of drywall and plenty of mopping. Also they won't be able to testify against you in court, if you catch my drift. You will probably only have to fire it once. This again saves on ammo.

    If you don't want to kill your intruder with the first shot, should you have to shoot it, then a shotgun is not your weapon.

    I need to visit some south Georgia Wal-Marts to see what I'm missing.

    Anyone

    What should a fella pay for a used Savage Mark II in good shape with a Tasco scope, and 10rd. mag? Someone local has one for $85.

  19. Wayne,

    The .45 "Long" Colt was my favorite cartridge in my younger days. I shot both genuine Colts and replicas and loved the gun with a 250-grain Keith semi wadcutter bullet and a load on 17 grains of 2400. That's pretty stout, so there will be some recoil, but it's as accurate as can be.

    Over the years the Colts went away and I started shooting other calibers. One of my current favorite handguns is a convertible .357 Ruger Blackhawk I got in a trade last year. It recoils a bit with full-house .357 ammo, but with a pipsqueak 9mm round it is a positive pussycat.

    However, I recently traded for a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt, so once again I'm shooting the cartridge I once loved the most. My buddy Mac tells me that the NEF Survivor is a wonderful rifle in .45 Colt. And it's only about $190.

    I'm going shooting at the range now.

    B.B.

  20. Wayne, Pinto's HAVE been the recipient of various Ford small-blocks, including Cobra variants. Ford sorta did the same thing themselves when they put a V8 in the Mustang II (based on the Pinto) in 1975, although they never used a reasonably powerful version of that motor.

    The Pinto chassis itself was not too dissimilar to the old Falcon and Mustang of the previous decade. So, overall, a V8 Pinto is not so far fetched.

    Yes, I've owned Pinto's

    If you wanna get silly, talk about putting a Cobra engine in a Yugo. I'm sure someone's done it, but not to uncover hidden potential in the car. It would have been done as a perverse (and unexpected) excersize in the absurd.

  21. Vince,

    nice post. I had one of those 1010's about 30 years ago. I bought it to aid in pest control around the house. Of course I soon found out that hitting the house with it from 10 yds was a challenge, let alone trying to hit squirrel sized objects!! I haven't seen it for a few years and am now wondering what ever happened to it. I'm not working today, so maybe I will look around for it.

    Alan in Michigan, good luck with your wife's fears of guns. I sincerely wish you well there.

    AlanL, your childhood sounds a lot like my own. except the parents' anti-gun position. Mine always taught me to treat EVERY gun as a loaded one until personally cleared. Same thing I taught my kids and will soon be teaching the Grand kids.

    dsw

  22. AlanL,

    Thanks for the comments. I of course agree with your points on safety and what boys will do on their own. There are a few suggestions in there that I can build on.

    The most troubling suicide was her cousin's husband about 10 years ago. Great guy, in his 50's, all seemed normal, owned guns and hunted for years. One night he went into the basement, pulled out a rifle, and ate a bullet. Horribly tragic (cowardly too, leaving that for his wife to discover), and devastating for all of us. It was the unforeseen aspect of this one that left it's mark the most – probably just one really bad day in his life. We are close to his survinving family, and nobody really knows why.

    I am planning to show her the pellet trap and discuss the difference of energies involved (we are both engineers). It is easy to push a pellet in as far as the gun does with just a pencil. A 9mm handgun would blow through the duct seal and crack the back of it (it has a 12 ga steel plate in similar to yours) and a .223 or up would completely destroy it. That kind of thing. Then talk about how dangerous the air gun is (however unlikely to be leathal) even with these low energies, and how much they provide the knowledge foundation for safety and temper the curiosity. Then I want to take the boys to a range (they have wanted this before they knew I had the airguns) and let them experieince the heavier recoil – let them learn that the airguns can be more fun if you're just wanting to shoot . . . . then firearms are less appealing to them anyways.

    The difficulty is in getting to the point that we can even have the conversation.

    Alan in MI

  23. Wow! Just after posting my comment I suddenly remembered seeing that marksman pistol in the bottom drawer of my desk . I pulled open the drawer, dug down to the bottom and low and behold, there it is!! Cool, I thought I lost it. Thanks Vince!

    Let's see, if I can find some BB's maybe I will see if I can hit the back wall (block wall outside, that is)!

  24. B.B.

    Wow, I had a Ruger Blackhawk convertible too… someone arm wrestled me out of it:-).. that's life.. glad your enjoying yours!

    I haven't heard of the "NEF Survivor".. is it a carbine like a Marlin 336 or 1894? That's a heck of a good price!

    The way I can shoot a carbine from the hip, I'm wondering if a guy needs a pistol at all..

    have fun at the range.. is Edith going out too?.. I could send in the foreign legion for the USFT.. they said they ain't goin back if she's around!

    Wacky Wayne

  25. Slinging Lead,

    is that the MK II with the Bull barrel and accutrigger or whatever it's called? They're selling new for about $350 and my buddy says easy 1/2 groups at 50 yds. If I was near you, I'd buy it. Now whats' wrong with it?

    Alan in MI, I have a couple of favorite sayings, one of them being, "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up". Unfortunately, this sounds like that boys' mother that Caveman was discussing earlier and I fear nothing that you say or do will disuade either woman. But hey, I've been wrong before – many times.

    Fred PRoNJ

  26. Wayne,

    LOL! I have a '76 Pinto in my Father in law's back yard and a 5.0 motor w/ an AOD trans in my garage that I built for my nephew as a high school project that he didn't want anymore. Your idea isn't that far off here, though the leather seats sound like a swap meet item.

  27. Vince,

    When I was a kid I saw my friends soup up a pinto.. I couldn't get interested…
    I just bought a good used 66 fastback mustang with a 289 and four on the floor… spending my time driving instead of building..

    .. "different strokes" kind of thing… they learned a lot, I'm sure, and I'm still having others do the fixing and building while I drive or shoot, or goof off running the company..

    My friends surprised a lot of guys with their souped up pinto.. I wonder what they are doing today..

    Wacky Wayne

  28. Vince,
    I'd like to join the multitudes above praising your post. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You are an entertaining and funny writer. I actually did LOL in a few places.
    -Chuck

  29. One would really like to tinker to do this 😉
    I bought one of these for my youngest son Christmas '08 thinking it would be a good into (he had just turned 6)
    At 10 feet it could put 5 shots in a 5" circle…if you aimed about 8" to the right and a foot low.
    Finally got fed up and bought the boy a Beretta Elite II…twice the power and it puts the b.b.'s pretty much where you aim at 25'.
    So my tinkering with the Marksman amounted to Supergluing the slide shut…painting the tip bright red and turning it into a toy.
    CowBoyStar Dad
    p.s. loved the comment on the trigger pull…hilarious!!

  30. Wayne,

    The NEF Survivor is a goofy-looking breakbarrel with a thumbhole stock. But Mac says is shoots like a dream and it is so quiet with his handloads that he doesn't need hearing protection.

    I'm waiting for the Chiappa Little Sharps in .45 Colt myself.

    As for the arm-wrestling, I believe I have a dislocated shoulder from that event. But I love this .357 Blackhawk that I plan to shoot in a few minutes.

    B.B.

  31. Vince,
    I see the makings of a TV show here. “Pimp my airgun”. You certainly have skills that deserve respect.

    rikib,
    I can’t say that I have too many snake kills under my belt, nor even a belt made from a reptile, but the last time I encounter one I used a baseball bat to send it to snake heaven. Maybe not the best tool but it worked.

    I know it may have been a beneficial critter, but it caught me by surprise and at the time I was picking up the kids toys left in the yard, specifically a ball bat. Once the fight or flight response kicked in, well let’s just say I’m not built for speed. Picture Joe Pesci in Casino at the bar with the pen….

    My old man would get rid of the bad ones with a garden hoe, which I believe was what St. Paddy used to clear out all of Ireland.

  32. Vince,

    My Marksman is broken. It has something wrong in the cocking mechanism that won't cock the trigger, nor will it open the breach. If you're serious about a donor for the second part of your post that we all know your going to do…
    seriously, if you are looking for a donor I've got it. I'm on my way out now, will check back in a couple hours.

  33. Vince

    A saw a hot rod magazine where they put a Mustang 5.0 engine in a miata. Not the same, but still a waste of both the miata and the 5.0. Your project is a different story. Thank God you survived the Pintos.

    Fred

    I haven't got to that yet. I'm trying to find out.

    rikib

    I should correct my earlier statement. An intruder would have to be drug addled AND stupid to face off against someone with a shotgun, not drug addled or stupid.

  34. Slinging Lead, AlanL & Alan in MI:

    Re: Home Defense and Fear of Guns etc etc

    AlanL great re-count of your boyhood .32 cal adventure(almost not!)

    As to home defense, yes, the 12 ga or 20 ga mutli-shot pump action with closed choke or barrel in the shortest, legal length is one of the best choices. Mid-weight, lead shot in 3" + mag rounds and you are good to go. The sound of a 12 ga pump action shotgun racking into battery in a dark home is an "international language" that even half-insane druggies understand. If they don't, they will soon thereafter.

    I'll show my age by my next comment but… during my short career in the South East Asian Football Conference, I never left the hooch with out my 1911 (2 or 3 of them) and my Ithaca model 37 pump shotgun. The M-16 came along if I had room to spare but always the Colts and always the Ithacas. The Ithaca spoke the same international language quite well back then too.

    Unfortunately, many folks will go get a home defense type weapon BEFORE they make the personal and emotional commitment to using the weapon proficiently in a home defense situation. This is more than just cart before the horse, it is possibly, and likely, a mortal mistake. An individual must be committed to Home Defense and all that it implies, before buying/using the home defense weapon.

    Air Guns (for all the obvious reasons) make for great "ice-breakers" for the gun virgins of the world or those who are only mildly interested in guns or need to know how to safely handle and discharge a weapon. Air Guns are a great training aid and with today's level of realism, weight and quality, they may even spark the gun virgin into becoming a full fledged shooter!

    As to suicides with guns, as better said here this morning than by me… "bridges, rooftops, razor knives etc" are also tools of the suicidal. The determined suicidal person will use the tools available to him/her. The tools did not make the choice or create the disease/depression. We have never heard anyone say "the Golden-Gate Bridge was there and it made him want to kill himself"… right? How does that "logic" somehow get applied to guns? Go figure…

    I am grateful that I had a father who showed me the ropes with guns of all types from 6 years old and on up. To this day, I can safely pick up a gun of any type and have no fear of it in the worst case and very likely have it safely pointed and firing in seconds in the best case. 50 + years of firearms knowledge and enjoyment and the application of logic will do that for you. (and that short "football career" playing with the big toys and the truly fun guns supplied by the USMC)

    Brian in Idaho

  35. When the American West was being settled, women as well as men killed snakes. One favorite and quick way to do it, if no firearm was immediately handy, was to quickly grab the snake at the tail end while at the same time swinging it around so it couldn't bite you and dash its head against a rock (or the hard ground if a rock wasn't in sight). Usually, this not only killed the snake instantly but it also made any meals left in its stomach spew forth.

    Tom has read a lot of books about settling the West, and one of them was "Land of Their Own," which is about women who settled the West. I believe the above snake-killing story came from that book. I didn't read it, but Tom told me about it because he knows how I feel about snakes. I believe he thought it would empower me.

    Incidentally, my mother had no fear of snakes. When I was about 5 years old, we went to the Brooklyn Zoo, where they had an audience participation segment at the herpetarium. They brought out this huge boa constrictor & told us about it. They asked for a volunteer from the audience to come touch the snake. My 50+ mother walked up front and not only touched the snake but had it draped around her like a reptile stole. I'm sure I had nightmares after that. Right now, I'm still screaming (in my head 🙂

    Edith

  36. AlanL,
    Msg to Alan in MI
    Excellent post. I suffer from Bi-Polar (Manic Depression) I love knives and guns, but I think of those around me. I throw knives at targets, I shoot at targets for pleasure. My wife really doesn't like it but she is slowly coming around. She is from the UK and is very much against any weapons. We have lately been coming to some agreements where I would participate in some of her online games and she would let me show her about the safety of a properly used gun. Depression in and of itself, and owning a gun does not lead to suicide, I've been in a couple pysch wards have guns and still living.

  37. Vince,

    Who woulda thought? Accurize one of those? And 1.75" groups at 10 feet?

    Lol, even as inaccurate as those things were, every 100 shots or so in my younger (much) days a sparrow bit the dust.

    I mean come on, it was all I had to shoot! So shoot it I did! Probably put 50000 bb's thru it before it gave up the ghost completely. I lived on a farm, carried it on my hip at all times, and shot at anything my mom and dad did not forbid me shoot, such as the cows and chickens and pigs! I still have one of the metal ones, though it is probably the third or fourth I have owned.

    Hardly ever shoot it, but every now and then a can bites the dust still! Just for the memories.

    Now I can choose from a host of accurate rifles or several accurate pistols, but I no longer terrorize sparrows. I "grew up". My gun collection "grew up".

    But that gun game me years of fond memories in my youth!

    Lol blogger is working today.

  38. rikib,

    When the time comes & your wife must defend herself because no one else is around & the police haven't/can't respond, what will she do? Even if she calls 911, they don't have to do a blasted thing. I know this for a fact because the Supreme Court of the United States says so. When I was the Content Manager for a former employer's website, I also wrote their blog. Below is one of the blog posts, which I kept because people who are anti-gun often think law enforcement really will protect them. Print it out for your wife to read. If she doesn't believe it, print out the Supreme Court decision (linked at the end), which I believe is the most persuasive argument I have ever heard for owning firearms for personal defense.
    ========

    Supreme Court says you cannot depend on cops for protection

    Protect yourself. The police certainly won't do it. In fact, the police don't HAVE to do it. In the case of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, the Supreme Court stated that we do not have a constitutional right to police protection. Although most police departments have the motto of "protect and serve," they don't have to do either. They can choose to do nothing.

    Jessica Gonzales found that out the hard way. She was separated from her husband, Simon, and had custody of their three minor children. After she obtained a restraining order against him, he came to her house and kidnapped their children. Jessica called the police, who came to her house – and did NOTHING!

    By court order, Simon was allowed only limited access to his children. Taking them away from Jessica's house was not among the privileges he enjoyed. That's why Jessica called the police in the first place. The officers took no action against Simon because they felt he had a legal right to take the children. Furthermore, they stated that going to Jessica's house and abducting the children was still in compliance with the restraining order against him!

    The next morning, Simon drove to a police station and started shooting at the building. The cops shot back and took him out. The corpses of his daughters were found in his pickup truck.

    Jessica sued the police department for $30 million, claiming they had violated her 14th Amendment right to due process. She won at the Appeals level, but the Supreme Court reversed the lower court, basing their decision on 150 years of judicial precedence.

    In 1856, the Supremes declared that "law enforcement officers had no affirmative duty to provide such protection." The same issue came up again in 1982, when the Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit stated "there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen." [Quotes are from Wendy McElroy's article at foxnews.com]

    Where does that leave us? To our own devices. Specifically, guns. Guns don't decide for themselves if a person has criminal intent. Guns don't take 20 minutes to respond to my emergency. Guns don't stop at doughnut shops when they should be protecting me. Guns don't try to protect a criminal's rights. In fact, the entire purpose of my gun is to "protect and serve" ME.

    Guns have a rich history of defending and preserving the lives of ordinary citizens. It's too late for Jessica's girls, but it's not too late for you. Get a gun. Learn to shoot. Protect yourself. No one else will step up to the plate.

    Ref: Supreme Court decision

  39. Wayne, and BB: I have one of the Webley .455 revolvers that were converted to .45acp by turning the back of the cylinder off, that were sold back in the day as surplus. I use it with 1/2 moon clips and cut down .30-06 cases (cut to cylinder length) loaded with a dose of Unique, # 9 shot, and some .410 card wads as over powder and shot wads. I use this combination to shoot rats in my chicken coop. I imagine it would work great for snake loads, but we don't have many snakes where I live. I like auto rim cases for solid bullet loads, again using Unique.
    On the discussion on guns,& the fear of. I think that if you have kids and guns that you should educate them as early as possible in their use and dangers of misuse. BB mentioned the Eddie Eagle program offered by the NRA that schools won't take advantage of because of it's conection to the NRA. I have two small boys and as soon as they showed any interest in my firearms I went to work educating them. Small boys will point anything at each other and play war or whatever. Even the boy's who have parents that won't even allow a nerf gun will do that. It's programed in at the factory. I noticed when they started school(my youngest just turned six) ,is that their friends and their parents from non -shooting families have the most dangerous attitudes towards the use of any types guns. That was if they had an interest in using any at all. Their firearms knowledge came from the playstation. I also strongly believe that these parents, which are mostly in their late twenties(I'm a bit over 50), may never be salvagable as far as their attitudes towards firearms are concerned, because of that world they grew up in. This makes me fear for my gun rights even more. Robert

  40. Vince,

    Thanks for the look inside. I feel great satisfaction taking apart my 1911, but no way would I venture into exploration and modification.

    Alan in MI. It sounds like you have all the best arguments handy. You are dealing with grief and the irrational, so I don't know exactly what to recommend. Maybe steady persistence that goes where possible to the facts which your wife can appreciate with her engineering background. And maybe the desire of your kids to shoot can work on her.

    Regarding the police, there was some case on the internet where a woman called the police for some justifiable reason–I think it had to do with a restraining order. When they showed up, they got it into their heads that she was at fault. Not only did they take her into custody but they strip-searched her for no obvious reason, with male officers which is against their own regulations, and they videotaped it which somehow found its way onto the internet–with blurring out. The head of the department went on camera and made no apologies and stonewalled the questions. It is my preference to stay far away from the legal system in any form.

    B.B., you've got me worried here. Your comments about the inferior quality of stainless steel have me wondering both about my SW 1911 and the Ruger Single Six stainless model with the rosewood grips that I plan to buy shortly. Is it that stainless is inferior to regular steel but can be brought up to the standard of regular with extra effort or will it just remain inferior. What are the effects? Is stainless, less accurate, less durable, something else….?

    Big news here. The other night, I took a pass at my forearm and shaved hair with ease! We got hair! It wasn't like Frank B.'s knife but the hair dropped off easily enough, and once I get my Japanese water stones, I might really be something. After all the setbacks, this is so wonderful I can hardly describe it. No more Wookie or Ewok. Instead, I'm led to think of an episode from my childhood.

    Q. Dad, why does Captain Kirk have no hair on his chest?

    A. Why son, you can't have a starship captain with a hairy belly.

    (I suspect dads often have to grope for answers which they may not have.) Anyway, I highly recommend Murray Cutler, the 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith. His first DVD on sharpening for $35 is really all you need for his method.

    Matt61

  41. Edith,

    I grew up with a man who used the "pop their heads off" approach to snake removal, and it sounds very similar to what you describe. He primarily used it on water moccasins around his cabin on the river and was pretty successful. What he would do was to scare the snake into swimming away from him, then he'd grab it by the tail, swing it around his head, and crack the snake like a whip. Done with authority, the head would pop off; done with less than authority, the spine would break. Mind the snap-back if you limp-wrist it, though.

    He eventually had to stop with that approach b/c of too many times bites. After 2 or 3 episodes, the doctor warned him that the next would likely be fatal regardless of how much anti-venom they used.

    I never had the nerve to try it, myself, but some of my more adventurous friends did and said it just took a little practice. That is until Trey Summers lost his grip on a 4 footer during the "swing it around his head" phase of the process, and slung it into the knot of onlookers on the bank. That ended that experiment.

    rikib,

    Hoes work well for snake dispatch. Farmers and grandmothers have used them for years with great success. Few snakes can jump as far as a hoe handle, and a sharpened hoe is deadly in close fighting. In a pinch, any long stick such as a humble fishing pole will break their back if you strike hard enough. I've seen that done with my own eyes. But a hoe is the best. Better than a pistol, that's for sure. Probably not as good as a shotgun, but the neighbors will complain less.

    My two cents.

  42. Edith,
    Wife is coming around. From not even wanting a gun near the house, I now at least have my 2240. I have got her to start holding it, showing her the safety, how to load, how to aim. No firing yet, don't think she's ready yet. But this has been a major change for her. You are right about response times though, especially since we live way outside city limits. But I need to move her gradually into larger weapons. Thanks for the info. Richard

  43. Bobby Nations,
    Yeah the hoe is the quite way. Don't think my neighbor would mind the small shotgun, he's retired military as well. Besides I don't complain about all his golf balls in my yard, I just chip them back,(although I'm thinking of putting them on tees and using them for target practice with my 2240) haha.

  44. rikib,

    See B.B.'s post of Friday, April 25, 2008. Follow that procedure and let us know how it works out with your wife!

    BobbyNations,

    I think that doctor was wrong. The more times you get bitten the more immunity you develop against that venom. Robert Haast of the old Miami Serpentarium was living proof of that. He was one of very few humans on earth that could get bitten by a King Cobra or a Krait and live. His blood was priceless for antivenom production.

    -AlanL

  45. Vince

    I meant to say Marksman, not Crosman. ("Idiot!")

    rikib

    See what you started with your snake question? Gotta love this blog.

    Edith

    I have copied and saved that last post of yours to keep for future reference. People can debate facts all day long but it is hard to argue with THE TRUTH. Lotta really good stuff here today.

    Incidently here is another blog quote I copied and pasted and stored on my disorganized hard drive on the topic of recommending airguns:

    "Sometimes I get tired of it. I can't just have an opinion anymore, because someone is waiting to turn it into THE TRUTH. Like I have better judgement or know any more than anyone else.

    But I guess it also means that people are reading what I write and thinking about it. So I just have to be a better me, who doesn't make many mistakes."

    Poetry no? Luckily, I will never have that problem.

    Have fun at the range BB.

    WV: pardatio. A patio for aardvarks.

  46. AlanL & Alan in MI,

    Thanks for the suggestions, but from my understanding this was/is a messy divorce and the boy’s father isn’t gun shy but is ex-wife shy like you wouldn’t believe. My fear is that I push the issue the boy will be the one that get punished. As it stands now he is allowed over to my house and we have been flying under the radar. He has taught himself to shoot and I’ve been teaching him safety. I’ve also gave him an old Daisy 717, a NRA Basic Pistol book, and showed him the way to this blog (BBs 10 Meter pistol series). If his mother ever finds out I may need a good attorney!

    Slinging Lead,

    I’ve got a python and a S&W 686 but agree with you, for home protection hand me the 12 ga please. As for the Savage Mark II my neighbor had one that he gave me because it “shoots all over the place”. I discovered that one of the mounting screws on the rear Williams sight was loose so a bit of carburetor cleaner and some lock tight fixed that. I gave it to my daughter (she is a much better shooter than me) to try out and she loved it, hitting chicken silhouettes 8 out of 10 shots at 50 yards. It ended up costing me $400 to $500 because I didn’t have the heart to keep it and gave it back to my neighbor and had to buy my daughter a new one.

    Mrs. Gaylord,

    The executive branch of our government (Supreme Court) never ceases to amaze me!

  47. Slinging Lead,
    I know, really surprised me I have so many notes on pistols, rifles and shotguns all over my desk. Starting to not know were it all began, or where to start my research. I think my best place to start is going to a local dealer or store for a hands on feel as I've been given so much very useful info here.

  48. Matt,

    Metallurgy has progressed in the world of firearms to the point that stainless steel is now entirely adequate for barrel use. It is specially formulated for just that purpose. So use it without fear. But do not buy a stainless gun made before the 1980s.

    B.B.

  49. If you have children or grandchildren, you owe it to them to educate them on the safe use of guns, if only to be sure they know how to check if the gun is loaded or not and control the muzzle direction. If you don't educate them, they will get their "information" from TV and movies. Hollywood might know something about entertainment (jury still out on that one), but they have proven over the years that they don't know "diddly squat" about firearms shooting or handling.

    My 2 cents worth – serious hot button issue for me.

    Jim

  50. A funny thing happened to me on my way to Wal-Mart this morning:

    http://www.keyc.tv/node/35024

    As for the marksman, thanks for the tip Vince. I have a freind who bought a Marksman 2002 I think and came over to shoot in the basement. I loaded up the target table with pop cans and gave my freind a pair of safety goggle. Well after about 50 shots and a few riccochets to the legs later, he didn't hit one can. I told him that he must have been a little rusty. So I took a few shots. I could see that my endeavors were not doing any justice and was only to hit 1 pop for every 10 shots.

  51. AlanL,

    You know, it wouldn't be the first time that a doctor had been wrong! His wife had been asking him to stop messing with the snakes for years, so he may have just used the doctor as a convenient excuse also. 😉

  52. Caveman,

    Thanks for that – I have done some in the past. One of my boys has shown interest in it, so maybe I can get her involved with him instead of me . . . . that could lead down the path nicely.

    Alan in MI

  53. B.B.
    So surprising or sad to say that I never asked my British wife of over 7yrs about darts. I started in Wales, UK while in the military. Have several sets stored away. Hey, maybe you have revitalized an interest. We have enough room for darts beside our bar, not enough for a shooting range. I think I'll have to move the computers first to see how she throws. May have to get the dogs and cats out of the room as well. She'd kill me if she ever read this blog.

  54. Rickib,

    Well most people enjoy darts. And the transition to airguns can be very interesting. Just don't rush it.

    Perhaps a transition item might be a blowgun. If she likes darts, a blowgun is a really great way to enjoy the dartboard.

    B.B.

  55. Slinging Lead,
    Thanks for the nice compliment. And let's not forget Nick Carter. I aspire to develop the skills that both Nick and Vince have. Maybe in another 200 years or so, I'll be at that level.

  56. Derrick,

    You know, speaking of Nick Carter I have this to say. There are people in the world who just seem to be able to get anything done. They attack a problem and follow through until it's solved. Nick is one of those.

    he reminds me of Bert Munro, the New Zealand motorcyclist who set the world land speed record for motorcycles on under 45 cubic inches on a 1920 Indian Scout that he modified himself. I grew up reading about him in Popular Mechanics in the 1960s, but his story was recently portrayed in a feature film, "The World's Fastest Indian."

    I see Nick Carter as a contemporary Bert Munro.

    B.B.

  57. Matt61,

    You will like the stainless Ruger Single Six with rosewood grips. I have the exact same animal and it was among the few to survive the great recession. While not designed as a target pistol, the flexibility of shooting .22 magnums to CB caps is great. If you shoot CB’s get the longs and not the shorts.

    Not having a concern about Bears, this is favorite to carry alongside an air rifle in the field.

    B.B.,
    You shot a .357 with 9mm ammo? I thought the revolver needed to able to accommodate half moon clips to do this?

  58. B.B.,
    Oh, the desire of an Indian Scout to this day. There is a local dealer here I stop by occasionally an dream. Have a local Harley dealer too, but when you straddle an Indian there is just something different (well, other than the price) they are a bike to behold to this day.

  59. Volvo,

    The convertible Blackhawk has a chamber that stops the 9mm cartridge, and of course the ejector is a single-action so it works fine with these cartridges. Also, since 9mm is such a mild load, this is a sweet little plinker of a centerfire revolver.

    The other cylinder is for .357 Magnum ammo.

    B.B.

  60. Izzy Breech seal

    Does anybody have any advice on what kind of glue to use to mount the Izzy's easily-blown breech seal a little better than just a press fit?

    Thanks,

    pete

  61. Pete

    Ditto BB's comment… NO Glue!

    Seal and O-ring materials have adhesives they "like" and many more that they do not like! (think deterioration of material or separation of material at the bond-line)

    Also, removal later can be problematic.

    Brian in Idaho

  62. Pete,
    Before you resort to glue, clean the hole out in the gun using a small amount of rubbing alcohol. Allow to dry. Install the seal and see if it stays in place. It may be coming out because there's oil between the seal and the breech.

    If it's still giving you problems, degrease and use a very small amount of 100% silicone sealant. Something like DAP.

    HTH.

  63. Slinging lead…yeah I know, but when they have a sale on airgun pellets, some people just lose their minds. Perhaps he forgot his meds…as he did end up next to the pharmacy.

    I guess walmart wasn't happy because their are posts outside to stop people from driving in and they were not installed at the proper distances. Also, there were no people hiding in the coolers. My sister-in-law was working there at the time and said the guy just drove in slowly and stopped with about a 8 cops sitting in the parking lot.

    I will have to send Marlow an email and see how it's going. He called after the sale and said he wanted the 853 to be in good shape. He had one bad sale and it still kinda bother him. I guess a spring broke on an air rifle that he sold to someone else. Other than that, his BOI looks pretty good.

    I asked for a discount on the 853 because one of the knobs on the sight was missing because I wasn't planning on using that sight. I also asked Marlow to send along the missing parts (bb and spring) for the safety spring. He said he would get the parts for the safety installed before he sends it out.

  64. BB,
    RE: your Nick comments. Yeah, he's something else. I've gotten much smarter just by knowing him. –And that's not something we can say about very many folks we come across these days…

  65. Izzy seal

    Thanks one and all. I thought I had read about somebody who had successfully 'glued' it in place. Once upon a long time ago I used to be my lab's 'expert' on adhesives, so I was still sharp enough to know that the choice would be critical to adhesion and deterioration. Was hoping somebody had experience.

    I really like Derrick's advice and 'recipe;' I will try to stay a long way away from gluing.

    BB, a drop of Pellgunoil on the breech seal, and I presume, the one that goes to the transfer port. But roughly how often. Not exactly as easy as saying 'every three CO2 powerlets' when there aren't any powerlets in the picture 🙂 .

    [The reason I got the Izzy is because my bulk CO2 always seems to run out on Friday evening with the gas store not open until Monday morning…]

  66. AlanL,

    Thank you. You are right in the way we are taught in school.

    What I meant to say was.”The legislative branch (Supreme Court) of our government never ceases to amaze me!” Now do you get it?

    Caveman

  67. Pete,
    You clearly need more CO2 tanks.

    A small amount of silicone sealant will be easy to remove if it comes to that. Just don't get all crazy and use a thermal activated 2-part epoxy that requires the mating surfaces to be acid etched first.

  68. B.B.,

    I thought I remember a question sometime during your FWB 124 articles about using silicone grease (like heat sink compound) on a piston seal and compression chamber. If you answered that and I just missed it, I'm sorry. But I'd like to resurface that question because I have seen it a number of other places…

    Is silicon safe to use in lieu of moly? I also think I remember somebody mentioning (maybe on the GTA website?) that it has a higher viscosity and temperature threshhold than moly. Thoughts?

    – Orin

  69. Vince,
    Great job. I think you wrung about every bit of accuracy you could hope for out of that pistol (the barrel is more like chamber length:)). If I send you my Daisy Powerline 1200, you can probably get it driving tacks:).

  70. Volvo,

    Got a break in the weather that allowed me to get outside and shoot today.

    Used your beeman pellseat. What a wonderful gadget. Took out 3 mid powered springers and shot at 22 yards (snow is still on my longer range).

    Even at this range match pellets do better than domed in all these guns that shoot under 660 fps. I usually shoot 7 & 8.2 gr meisterkugeln's, R 10 8.2 gr, and finale match. The skirts on all these match pellets are thick and tough.

    Now for the interesting part. I also have R 10's in 7.7 gr. They have very thin skirts and have never grouped very well in any of my guns. For grins I pulled out a tin of these pellets today and shot them in my HW 55T that can usually digest anything but never did great with this pellet.

    Using the ball end of the pellseat it not only seated them deeper but flared the skirts uniformly. These "terible" R 10 7.7 gr pellets grouped the best in 2 of the 3 guns!!

    Thanks so much for the pellseat. I'm sold.

    kevin

  71. B.B.,
    It's gonna get me in trouble with the better half, but already sent off some email questions about that 53 triumph. It's nothing like my last about 18yrs ago (riceburner KZ1000) but it is vintage and that makes all the difference in the world to me

  72. Caveman,

    No, sorry, I still don't get it.

    The Legislative branch is Congress. That is the Senate and the House of Representatives. Their job is to make law.

    The Judicial Branch is the Supreme Court and all the lesser courts. Their sole function is to interpret the law.

    The Executive branch is the Presidency and all the Departments of the government administered by it. Their job is to enforce the law. And to protect us from all threats foreign and domestic.

    The Legislative Branch acts as a check and balance on the power of the Executive. The Judicial acts as a check on the power of the Legislative. And the Executive and Legislative together check and balance the Judicial.

    How well each of us feels each of these is doing its job is another matter entirely.

    Therein, however, lies the beauty of our system, which, however flawed, is still the finest form of government of free men in the history of the world, bar none, as evidenced in the fact that we can freely express our opinions about it.

    -AlanL

  73. Vince,Bravo!…Encore,Encore
    Until now I was under the impression they were to be thrown like horseshoes…[insert emoticon here]
    BGFarmer,that gives new meaning to"stop in wal-mart and pick up a pellet pistol"

  74. AlanL, I don't believe that ANY branch or branches of our government acts as a check on the Judicial. As it now stands, if the Supreme Court strikes down a law because they declare it unconstitutional, there is no recourse within government. The only possible redress can come after years have passed and the members of the court have changed, or a constitutional amendment is drafted and passed but the necessary majorities. Effectively, then, there is nothing to stem the power of the court.

    We can't even vote 'em out…

  75. OK, the basement is back in order but I have a one day business trip tomorrow so I have to iron a shirt. No shooting tonight.

    Bobby Nations, you had me hysterical with your snake whip story. Not being in the crowd, I found it hilarious when Trey lost his grip and threw the snake there!

    BB, I've been to the Burt Munro museum in Invercagill, NZ. His bike(s) are displayed in a hardware store, and a pretty nice one, at that. My friend, who has a motorcycle touring business in Christchurch, told me most people would run the other way when Burt come walking up cause they knew he would always ask them for a favor. Very eccentric character and no woman was safe around him. Sir Anthony Hopkins really portrayed him as a quite likeable character and to many, I guess he was.

    Fred PRoNJ

  76. AlanL, how does that provide any sort of check against the court's power? Even if a justice is removed, that doesn't invalidate his judgement on past cases. If the Supreme Court makes a ruling, there is absolutely NO mechanism for realistically challenging that.

  77. Vince and AlanL,

    The real check on the judical branch is that Congress (and the President) can keep passing laws that accomplish the same goal but address the particular point of Constitutional law that the Supreme court used to negate the prior law.

    This is the real check – the fact that they are wimps and never actually do this (OK, rarely do this) does not invalidate it.

    Alan in MI

  78. Vince,

    True. But where do you draw the line? What is the court of final instance, for you? Is it heaven? Or is it the gun in your hand? Or can you live with a group of highly trained men and women, chosen carefully and vetted through a public confirmation process? The fact that the Justices of the Supreme Court, unlike other elected officials, hold lifetime tenure and cannot be easily removed from office frees them to vote their consciences, unbeholden to politics. Or so we trust.

    -AlanL

  79. AlanL, I'm not saying it's good or bad. All I'm saying is that there are no checks and balances on the third branch of government… that they are, in some respects, absolutely omnipotent.

    For the record – the last thing ANY judge ought to be doing is judging by conscience. They should be judging by the law. It is not their job to make moral judgments about the law or to impose their version of social justice from the bench. They are not supposed to advocate for the downtrodden or coddle the rich. They are to interpret the law, plain and simple.

  80. Vince,

    Conscience, in the truest sense, means your perception of right. As a sitting judge, applying that means voting the case by the law as you see it. Not entirely by feelings or a sense of some morality, although these, by human nature, enter into and color our perceptions of truth.

    -AlanL

  81. Vince & AlanL,
    Just my 2 cents but there doesn't seem to be any real answer. As you said AlanL "Or so we trust." Regardless of what they swear to these judges are human and are going to have biased opinions. Personally I don't think there is a perfect person out there to judge another, but somehow we have to make do. I don't know the real answer, I wish someone did.

  82. Vince,

    How do you take the 1010 down further than just removing the barrel? I searched for a schematic, but no go. The slide will not stay back and I have not yet been able to remove it.

    Any info would help. thanks

  83. Orin, Caveman,

    Ha… ha. Now I get it. Sorry Caveman, too late at night after a long day at work for me to spot the slight protuberance of thy tongue in cheek. But it was fun anyway. But you owe me. (And Vince!) Made us think too hard. Your payback: Make that boy's mother come around! Report your success when it happens. You've got a week. Or I'll send the Legislative branch after you. Now where's that cave again???

    -AlanL

  84. Orin,

    I have never used silicone grease in any airgun. Typically silicone oil and grease does not have the viscosity for this use. It allows metal galling. Robert Beeman was adamant about keeping silicone out of the powerplant except as a piston seal oil, where there is no metal to metal contact.

    B.B.

  85. Thank You!
    About 15 years ago I took one of these guns apart and had no idea how to put it back together. With your photos and article I got it back together today. Still the most under powered thing I've ever seen.
    Greg

  86. Kidagain, the slide is removed by a) pulling it back and removing that little clip on the underside of the slide that anchors the piston rod, and b) spreading the legs far enough apart to clear the sides of the gun. At that point it's a matter of removing the screws and separating the halves CAREFULLY.

  87. I took my old 1010 off the peg board where it hangs in the basement last. At 12 feet it will keep Crosman BB's in a fingernail size group. Power wise it will make it through one side of the cardboard from an empty ammo box.

    I guess that's about as good as it gets!

    Mike

  88. Alan in Mi, I know that antigunners have come up with some crazy statistic that a gun in the home somehow will increase the risk of suicide, but if that were really true then Japan, were guns are completely illegal would have a very low suicide rate and it doesn't. Japan has a very high suicide rate. If you want to prevent suicide you need to teach children that suicide is usually the act of a person who is truly desperate and thinks that there is no other way out or an angry person whose final revenge is to kill themselves to make others feel guilty. Either way you can kill yourself with more things than just guns and prevention has nothing to do with removing guns from the home.

  89. Very nice Vince, thanks for sharing.
    This pistol has been (to me) the most desired and HATED airgun i have ever owned.

    It made me remember the one i had about 28 years ago.
    I had a crosman pumpmaster back then, and i was pretty happy with it. Then one day i walked into a store (was it a k-mart?) with my mom as she was doin the groceries, as usual i rushed to the sporting section to look at the shotguns, rifles, bb guns, pellets and so on, and suddently a beam of light came down from the sky, divine music echoed in my ears, and i was IN LOVE…
    there it was, the most beautyfull bb gun i had ever seen, at first i tought it was a firearm (wich i was not allowed to have at the age of eight of course!), but then i saw it was a bb gun. Hey! i CAN own one of those!
    Now i could have a cool pistol that looked like my uncles .45!
    So for the next month or so, i pestered my mom to buy it, till she finally did.

    Filled with excitement i dragged my mom to the store to buy it, i couldnt wait to get back home and use it!
    I took it out of its package (cant remember if it was a box or something else), my mom read the instructions (i dint know english back then), and she said that it was indicated that i had to put a few drops of oil on it (was it on the barrel?) and wait some time for it to enter the gun. It was TORTURE! dunno how much time it was, but it seemed like forever.

    after the waiting time was over, and even tho it was about 10:00pm at night, i rushed to my usual shooting place, an empty lot just behind our house, placed a couple of glass bottles (about 20 feet away), loaded my black, mean wonder, and took my first shots.
    First few shots dint hit anything, and i couldnt even see the bbs hitting the dirt (it was kinda dark), so i walked closer to the bottles, i was speechless when i did manage to hit one of the bottles (i heard the "plink" on the glass) and see that my shot dint even cracked the glass.
    My pumpmaster would go all the way thru!
    I fired the pistol several times more, most times i dint hit anything, and the times i did, it did NOTHING to those glass bottles.

    I guess my mom who was watching me from a distance could see my dissapointment, cause she walked to me and asked, ¿whats wrong son, you dont like it?
    After explaining the problem, (she even took a few shots herself, as she often did with my other gun), we concluded the gun must be broken, and she conforted me telling me that tomorrow well take it back to the store and ask for an exchange.

    Next day i again rushed her to the store, we explained the problem to the guy in the sporting section, and he explained that they had a few people returning those pistols for the same causes, and that there was nothing wrong with the gun, it was just the way it was.

    So my mom got a full refund for it, as i was overwhelmed with frustration. Fortunately for me (un-fortunately for my mom), my frustration dint last long, because very soon iset my eye on a new wonder…
    A Daisy 880. I later owned 4 or 5 of them over the years. 🙂

    Well, i probably bored the hell out of you guys by now with my "grampa sympson syndrome" hehehe.

    Sorry, i guess that vince´s blog triggered some memories of my childhood, and the wonderfull mom i am lucky to have.
    If you managed to stay awake this far, thanks for reading.

    Michael.

  90. Hey, Michael – that old 1010 would break bottles easily. You mistake was shooting at them. Ya gotta THROW the gun at them! Then they don't stand a chance…

    BTW – I'd think that this only applies to the older metal ones. I doubt the plastic versions would work as well.

  91. FRED: hehe youre right, it was just as "cheesy" as that movie, im not really a "sentimental" kind of guy, specially over some cheap toy i had over 20 years ago, but somehow this article pushed some buttons.

    Vince: LOL, belive me, i was so frustrated with the damn thing, that the tought provably crossed my mind! 🙂

  92. Hi All,

    I've been reading here a bit after purchasing a Benjamin 392 from Pyramid very recently (dad asked for his 40's crossman back) and a couple of things are bugging me. I would appreciate your input.

    First off when I received it the bolt handle had worn through the inside box and there was a dent in the stock as if it had been forced down into the wood. I can't tell if the "dent" in the stock was put there on purpose or if it was crushed somewhat by the bolt handle and what damage that might cause. Is this a huge red flag? It seems to operate fine except the following.

    A little air remains in the gun after it is fired. I haven't ever pumped it >8 and it does it for all pellets. The gun has been fired only ~150 shots. I have read here that this could be a weak spring and bad seals but this gun is brand new. I haven't oiled the pump head thinking it would be over oiled from the factory, but am wondering if I should be doing that or sending this back instead. Is it stupid to oil it and try to shoot this problem away?

    Issue with returning it is I have put ~150 rounds through it and removed the rear sight scratching the barrel paint a touch in the process. I wasn't concerned until reading these blogs. I may opt for a steroid tune at the end of the nesting season for our bluebirds and martins as well, but it has a job to do for now.

    Sorry to go on and on but I am also wondering if there is a safe idiot proof way to remove the paint overspray in the crown of the barrel (brass)? Or will that shoot out too?

    Thanks!

  93. i love my marksman pistol… i have it stipulated in my last will and testament that i should be buryed with my piized marksman 1010 fully loaded and placed in my coffin in my cold dead hand…i did this because in ten thousand years from now in the distant future some arculogist will dig up my grave open my box see my mummifed courpse still clutching my pistol and as he looks in amazement ill suddnly leap up and shout THIS IS A STICK UP …

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