by B.B.Pelletier
Every airgun show is unique. I’ve said that many times before, but it’s always true — and this one was no different. What I look for when I try to describe an airgun show is how it stood out from all the others. That’s what I’ll do today.
An airgun show is small, in comparison to0 a regular gun show, but there are more airguns on a single table then you’ll see at most big gun shows. And the guns range from inexpensive Daisys and Crosmans to then most exotic airguns imaginable. So go to gun shows for and crowded aisles, but to airgun shows to find airguns.
I didn’t get away from my table for the first half of the first day. When I finally did, the show immediately began to reveal itself. It was jam-packed with big bore air rifles! I mean jammed! Dennis Quackenbush and Eric Henderson are always the mainstays of the show; but this time I met Robert Vogel, whose business is Mr. Hollowpoint. Robert casts each bullet by hand from lead as pure as he can make it. His bullets mushroom on game perfectly and rip huge holes in living flesh, making the most humane kills possible. I bought a bag of 68-grain .308-caliber hollowpoints for the Quackenbush .308 test I’m conducting, and he threw in a second bag of .22 pellets for free. These will have a special debut in a smallbore test in the near future.
Robert Vogel (standing) is Mr. Hollowpoint. He has thousands of different bullets for big bore shooters to try.
But Mr. Hollowpoint wasn’t the only bullet maker at the show. Seth Rowland, the show’s host and promoter, also supplies the big bore airgunning community with cast bullets in numerous sizes and shapes. And their customers can hardly appreciate the untold hours they spend at the lead pot, casting and sizing these silver slugs one by one.
Need bullets? Seth Rowland has them in different sizes, shapes and weights.
10-meter guns
Another theme that’s common to all airgun shows is 10-meter target guns. This year’s Arkansas show had plenty of them, both from dealers like Scott Pilkington of Pilkington Competition Equipment in Tennessee, as well as numerous private individuals. I mentioned several weeks ago that Mac was bringing some recently overhauled FWB rifles to this show, and on day one an interested buyer sought him out. This man was serious about buying a target rifle, and he had done his research on the internet. But this was the first time he’d seen, felt and shot these rifles.
Mac took him out to the shooting range to try out an FWB 150 and a 300; and from his testing, he decided the 300 was the gun he wanted. Because it lacks the barrel jacket, it’s lighter than a standard 300S. He was buying the rifle for his wife to shoot in competition. They made a deal, and he went home with the exact target rifle he wanted — an overhauled ex-club rifle at a price that was several hundred dollars below what he would have paid for a gamble on the internet. For this man, driving all the way to Arkansas made good sense.
I’m sure that same scenario was played out numerous times at this show, because that’s what happens at an airgun show that also has a shooting range. You get to try out the guns before you buy — something that’s impossible at a regular gun show.
The odd and wonderful
You never know what you’re going to see at one of these shows, but there are a few people who always seem to have interesting things. Larry Hannusch, the top airgun writer for the past 30 years, is one person who can always surprise you. This year, our tables were together, giving me the opportunity to look at his guns more closely than normal. He had a Crosman 113 bulk-fill CO2 rifle, which isn’t unusual, except the owner of this one had inlet a pellet box into the right side of the stock — much like the patchbox found on certain muzzleloading rifles.
Some owner made this patchbox in the stock of his Crosman 113 bulk-fill rifle.
He built the “patchbox” with a built-in spring. There were pellets inside.
When was the last time you saw one of these? A French ball-flask pistol from the 1700s.
The big find
Often there will be a big find of some certain airgun that shows up at a particular show. I remember one year someone was selling piles of brand-new-in-the-box S&W 78G and 79G pistols. There were at least 50, but as my memory serves there might have been as many as 100 brand-new guns that were at least 20 years old at the time. Another year, it was Scott Pilkington who brought almost 300 club target guns for sale. You could buy an FWB 300 for $150-$200! Of course, it would have been a beater and would have needed to be resealed, but it certainly was the budget way into a 10-meter gun.
Then there was the year that someone had over 20 Johnson Target Guns, the submachinegun-looking plastic catapult BB gun from the late 1940s. They were all new in the box, and the cloth backstop that was in the box to stop the BBs inside the box lid that also served as a backstop had turned to dust. But they were complete. To collectors, they were a wonderful find. I actually saw two of these at this year’s Arkansas show; so even after more than 10 years, they’re still slowly dissolving into the collector population.
Two brand-new Johnson Target Guns in the box with all the literature and accessories.
When I walked into the second large room in this show and turned the corner, I ran into Randy Mitchell’s booth, where he was selling a pile of recently discovered TS45 sidelever air rifles for $20 each! I blogged this rifle several years ago, and Vince also wrote a guest blog about the same rifle. Until now, there were no new guns you could buy. You had to find one by chance and would always be one somebody had owned and possibly modified. Now, Randy Mitchell, who runs his Adventures in Airguns store, has a huge pile of these rifles to sell. They aren’t very safe and are the very guns that chopped off thumbs when their anti-beartraps failed; but if you cock them safely and load while restraining the sidelever, they’re fun to shoot and are often accurate.
Randy Mitchell found these old/new TS45 sidelevers and brought them to the show. It’s stuff like this that keeps me going to every airgun show I can make!
Collectibles
Of course, there are too many modern guns to name here, but know that at any show you’ll find almost every modern classic airgun for sale. If you’re looking for good TX200s or old R7s, they’re usually available — and they were at this show, too. But what you also see are airguns that are so rare and hard to find that some of them won’t even be seen in airgun books. This yearm Ingvar Alm had both a Winsel CO2 pistol in the box and a Giffard CO2 pistol from the 1870s on his table. Giffard invented the application of CO2 for gun use, and Winsel made only 50 guns in the early 1950s. Neither gun is represented well in any airgun book I know.
The Winsel pistol was a bulk-filled CO2 pistol that required the owner to mail his tank back to the company to be filled. Yeah, that’s going to work! They made 50 and quit. Today, they’re a prized collectible.
Giffard pioneered the use of CO2 in guns in the 1870s. His pistols are many times rarer than his rifles. The empty pop bottle is for contrast — like Cindy Crawford’s mole.
Big bores
There were more big bores at this show than I see at other shows. Perhaps, that’s because the focus of big bore airgunning seems to center around Texas, where the LASSO match is held. Dennis Quackenbush delivered his guns to eager buyers, but the only rifle he had to show was his own .308, which he doesn’t want to sell. Eric Henderson and Big Bore Bob Dean were both there with some guns to sell, as well as Robert Vogel. But the one maker with a lot of guns on display was Jack Haley, whose table was a rainbow of laminated stocks.
Jack Haley’s table was a colorful display of big bore rifles.
Oops!
Then there was the big bore that has been a joke in the airgun community for many years. The gun itself is fine. It was made back in the 1980s by Ben Patron, whose name is clearly on the side of the receiver. Somewhere along the line, some person got ahold of it and displayed it at the Springfield, Missouri, gun show as a “U.S. military .50-caliber sniper air rifle.” The label for that display was still inside the guitar box that held the gun, and Dennis Quackenbush remembers seeing it at the Springfield show. After that, it somehow ended up in an Arkansas pawn shop where Big Bore Bob found it and bought it.
Some previous owner had concocted a colorful background story for the Patron big bore of the 1980s.
The drawing
Many shows have a drawing, but airgun shows are so lightly attended that you actually have a chance of winning! This year, they gave away several very nice prizes at the close of the show, including a scoped TalonP pistol from AirForce! Then came the drawing for the frame-extended silencer for the Talon SS. I knew before the little girl picked my ticket that I would win it. How ironic is that? I’m testing a Talon SS with a bloop tube right now, so of course I’m going to win another one! But the supreme irony came when Randy Mitchell, a big bore hunter, won the .50-caliber Dragon Claw donated by Pyramyd Air.
Randy Mitchell (right) won the Dragon Claw. Show host, Seth Rowland, standing, ran the drawing. The young lady added a lot of sparkle and enthusiasm to the show. I see an airgunner in the making!
On the trip home, Mac and I relived the show many times. That’s another benefit. I can remember snippets from most past shows, and this one will now be filed away in the library.
Good morning, everyone. We were down for a while, but the IT department has us back online now. Sorry for the inconvenience.
B.B.
Thanks! Now I can go to work.
J-F
A most interesting show. I’m planning on attending the CT show this June. Perhaps that TX200 I’m thinking my collection needs, will magically appear there.
Oh, my boxes of .22 LR ammo came in last Thursday and I got to go to the local range yesterday. I shot RWS, two different Eley’s and Wolf target ammo. The pistol and ammo performed flawlessly. I even got to sight in my pistol (the High Standard Victor) so I’m ready to embarrass myself this Wednesday evening at the Suburban Pistol League competition. For giggles, I had brought 10 rounds of that Remington ammo with me to see if they would function now that the weather was perfect here yesterday. Nope – fired one round and the gun immediately jammed, failing to feed the next round. Anyone want approximately 475 rounds of .22 LR Remington hollow points, brass plated?
Fred DPRoNJ
Fred DPRoNJ
I had also brought my Beeman R-9 to shoot after I was finished with the .22 LR and even got the Range Safety Officer to try it out! Normally, those guys who are all Sheriff’s in the county, refuse but he accepted and fired a few rounds. I told him this was a real man’s rifle and that the County sniper team needed to refine their skills with this it.
Fred DPRoNJ
What type of ammo shot the best groups in your gun?
Mike
Mike,
I was happy just to hit the darn target at 25 yards, off hand. But the bullets that seemed to stay in the black the most were Eley’s. Grouping? pfffft. To really check on that I should have bench rested the pistol, which I didn’t.
Fred DPRoNJ
Yes, you would need a bench rest to test that. Me Too! I have had good luck with the Wolf Match Extra ammo. CCI standard velocity has been good in the less expensive stuff.
Mike
Last time I had the Ruger Mk-II out, the red-dot sight gave me rather nice (for me) groupings at, I think, 50 yards — need to see if my father through out the old targets I’d found in my packed belongings.
I need to find a “local range” now that I’m in Michigan. (Since I’ve had a nasty letter from the management from playing a video game making heavy use of LFE channel, I’m afraid to even try a CO2 BB pistol in the basement — or even the blowback AirSoft pistol — which only has a usable 15 foot distance).
Looks like I’m going to have to go through the hassle of joining a “club”… The few “open to the public” offerings I’ve found are asking for $12 an HOUR… and may only have 25ft pistol range (primary usage: students of the CCW classes)
Guess the Los Altos range spoiled me — as they charged an entry fee of about $10-15, but once /in/ one had access to any range from opening to closing; I spent 7 hours one day, on 25yd and 50yd, rough sighting four air-rifles and two rifles.
Others have /archery/ ranges open to the public but put the gun ranges as member-only (or open the rifle range to the public one day a year just before the fall hunting season — for rifle sight-in).
Our local range in Sault Ste. Marie, MI only costs $45.00 for the year. I know other clubs in Northern Lower MI are about the same. The range is open during daylight hours 7 days a week all year. It’s plowed in the winter. You can shoot anytime a range is open meaning no event in progress. There are four ranges. Trap and Skeet are available too.
Mike
No web page for the Saranac range — supposed to be open to the public, but without a web page no idea of the fees or hours…
Ionia based club is member only, about $80/year… Unclear if there are staff (yellow flag at entry says archery range in use, no guns; red flag says firearms in use, no bows… ?)
Rockford is $160/year — though up to $100 may be waived/refunded for service hours (20 hours at $5/hour)
BB,
I am glad the site is back up. It was good to see and talk to you and Mack at the show. I have a whole bunch of names swimming around in my mind of people I met at the show. We need a directory of airgunners with their pictures attached. I am sure you had a lot of good conversations with Mack on the way home. You could have made a podcast out of that! I was by myself and listened to old Radio Classic stories all the way home.
I hope you guys have fun shooting all week!
David Enoch
David,
I start reporting the 68-XP tomorrow!
B.B.
David,
A couple years ago I dumped all BB’s pod casts to CD and listened to them (some a couple times) while driving out to Phoenix and back. There were enough episodes to keep me entertained and educated for the whole trip. It was like having a smart buddy riding with me.
-Chuck
Sounds like a great show. I haven’t attended an airgun show since there aren’t any close to where I live. Spending $80.00 in gas to go to one is a bit much when I can spend that money on pellets and ammo!
Mike
Mike … Oh, do I ever echo your feelings. Very true. And, for $80 you probably don’t have an overnighter planned either, do you. Your comment also made me think I am not even sure where to look to find a definitive list of shows, just in case there would be one close enough to be tempting. Do I remember someone mentioning a good show in Louisville? Does anyone have details?
NRS
Mike and NRS,
part of the fun of these shows is rubbing elbows with like minded individuals and meeting some stellar minds in the field. As for shows, click here:
http://www.bryanandac.com/new_page_8.htm
Fred DPRoNJ
BB thank you for sharing the show with us folks who couldn’t attend.I actually held my own private airgun show on saturday.James Busbin,a fellow enthusiast from Virginia came to Huntsville to visit a relative….and spent a few hours viewing my collection.Nobody else has really seen them but me! It was very fun sharing them with someone who apreciates them.He didn’t leave empty handed either.He took home a stellar FWB 124,a very early action in the 9,2xx s/n range,wearing a beautiful JM fancy walnut stock that I lovingly finished after recieving it all the way from Oslo,Norway! The action was masterfully tuned by our own Derrick K.(of “Another Airgun Blog” fame).I will miss it,but it went to a fine new home!
Frank,
I have actually held impromptu shows like yours with just a few airgunners. It works! In fact, that’s kind of how the DIFTA field target club began.
B.B.
BB,
Now, I would BUY a ticket to that show.
-Chuck
You & I both,Chuck!!
BB,
It sounds as if Mac may from time to time have some guns I might be interested in. And depending on where in Maryland he lives, it’s likely to be an easy trip for me. Any way you can put me on his mailing list?
pete
Pete,
I’ll show Mac this comment and let him take it from there.
BTW, I have changed computers, so I no longer have my old mailing list. If you have my email address, how about sending me a message, so I have your address. If you don’t have my address, send it to blogger@pyramydair.com
B.B.
Hey,
don’t start a bidding war with me, you old theoretical physicist! 🙂
Fred DPRoNJ
B.B.,
Don’t you have access to all of our email addresses because of the login requirement?
kevin
Kevin,
Yes, he does. It’s complicated. The addresses on the blog are for signing in to the blog. They’re not there for our personal use. When I want to communicate offline with someone who’s posted something on the blog, I either provide them with my email address or I ask them in a comment if I can use their sign-in email address to contact them.
Once you cross the line of using the sign-in email address for something other than to log-in to the blog, it’s a slippery slope. We’d like to stay away from that.
Edith
B.B., what did you have at your table?
The workmanship on that patch box is a bit rough. It looks like a cave in there.
How about this? The mystery of the IZH 61 solved! I’d been getting used to larger groups than with my B30. But I see that with ferocious follow-through, you can get the rounds on target with good consistency. The eyes are as ice-picks pinning the pellet to the target. So, if you want resistance training to develop overwhelming follow-through, this is your rifle.
Matt61
BB,
Looks like fun. I might be tempted by one or 4 of the TS45’s for $20. With 3 Chinese barrels, I haven’t had one yet that wouldn’t shoot decently, but I’ve been pretty careful to pick models with good generally good reputations. $20 is a different level of wager!
I like the patchbox for pellets; good catch. In a somewhat ironic twist, I’ve found the best thing (for me) to carry pre-cut/-lubed patches in on woodswalks is old pellet tins, which also worked for caps (my hands were too stiff to deal with the little standard cap tins)! So he put a cap- or patchbox on his rifle to carry pellets, and I use the pellet tins to carry patches or caps! Are you certain this isn’t on or related to your Bronco with the aperture sight — something about that cavity betrays the master’s hand :)? In a couple of centuries, it might just be “attributed to Tom G.” :)!
You really have to watch those TS45’s. One I had would go off if you bumped it. I took that one apart and got rid of it. Some of them are not safe to use.
Mike
Mike,
That is exactly the type of thing I enjoy playing with. They are something like a kit, and there’s nothing in any air rifle that I’ve ever seen so complex that it couldn’t be duplicated, corrected, or even improved with a good set of files and some scrap steel, etc. :)! The barrel is about the only thing that has limited economically sensible possibilities (beyond lapping and that type of thing) as it is.