Monthly Archives: March 2020

Springfield Armory XD-M Compact blowback BB pistol: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Springfield-XD-M
The XD-M BB pistol from Springfield Armory.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Compact pistol
  • The grip
  • Installing the CO2 cartridge
  • Not a small pistol
  • The loading assist — doesn’t!
  • Velocity Air Venturi Steel BB
  • Dust Devils
  • Slide does not remain open
  • Smart Shot
  • Shot count
  • Blowback
  • Trigger pull
  • Evaluation
  • Summary

I don’t encounter many airgun copies of firearms that I am unfamiliar with, but the Springfield Armory XD-M Compact blowback BB pistol is one. So my report will be a first hand observation of all the features I notice about this handgun.

Today is the day I test the velocity of this BB gun and we will get right to it, but first I need to make a couple observations. They came from installing the first CO2 cartridge in the pistol.

Compact pistol

In Part One I told you I was testing the smaller version of the Springfield Armory XD-M pistol. There is a larger pistol whose barrel is 4.5-inches long. The pistol I’m testing has a 3.8-inch barrel. On the cover of the owner’s manual Air Venturi refers to this one as the Compact. The other one they call Full-Size.  read more

The Webley Hurricane: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hurricane
Webley Hurricane.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Air Arms Falcons
  • HOWEVER
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • What is the Oh, oh?
  • Galling
  • Wrong lubrication
  • Change in direction
  • What’s next?

Today I’m going to test my Webley Hurricane’s velocity. Like I said in Part 1, I have never tested the Hurricane in my standard way. This series is an attempt to correct  that. However — I have tested the Hurricane’s velocity before and I recorded the results. I will now show a table of those results that I recorded in August of 2014, so I can do some baseline testing as I start the velocity test.

table

As you can see from the table, Air Arms Falcon pellets are the fastest and also the most consistent in the Hurricane. If I shoot 10 more today, how will those results compare to the numbers I got six years ago? read more

The Haenel 311 target rifle: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Haenel 311
Haenel 311 target rifle.

History of airguns:

This report covers:

Not the Hurricane today
So what?
Haenel target rifles
The 312
The 311
Different way to oil the piston seal
Construction
Sights
Trigger
Summary

Not the Hurricane today

I was going to do a Part 2 velocity test with the Webley Hurricane today but this is Friday and I wanted to give you guys something to talk about over the weekend. Velocity tests of airguns I have tested before aren’t usually that exciting, so I looked for a different topic for today.

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you but I have forgotten something. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. I have forgotten that my Haenel 311 bolt-action target rifle from East Germany shot the smallest 5-shot group I ever shot at 10 meters. Let me show you. read more

What is a BB gun?

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • Intro
  • Wow!
  • Red Ryder
  • BBs have changed
  • Safer BBs
  • Modern BB guns
  • Conclusion

Intro

This blog went live on March second, 2005. Two days later, on March 4, I wrote this report that I am reprinting today in total — just as it was published then. After you read it, I have a few updates at the end.

A BB gun is the fundamental starting point in our hobby. We shoot them, talk about them, collect them, and, for most of us, just hearing the term “BB gun” evokes a flood of memories. But what we think of when we think of BB guns depends largely on how old we are and where we came from.

The most common BB gun known today has got to be Daisy’s Red Ryder. It was the first BB gun many of us had or wanted and, since it has been around almost continuously since its introduction in 1938, that includes nearly every airgunner alive today. read more

Gamo Swarm Fusion 10X Gen II air rifle: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Sight in
  • Falcon group
  • Discussion
  • RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets
  • Discussion 2
  • JSB Exact RS dome
  • Discussion 3
  • Second group of JSB Exact RS
  • Third group of JSB Exact RS
  • Summary

Today I mount the 3-9X40 Gamo scope and shoot the Fusion 10X from 25 yards. It will be an interesting test.

Mounting the scope

The scope that’s bundled with the rifle comes with a one-piece mount already attached. All you have to do is loosen the three Torx screw on the scope mount base with the wrench provided and clamp the mount to the 11mm dovetail base on the rifle. The mount has a scope stop pin that fits into the rear hole in the base and locks the mount from moving under recoil. I had the scope on and ready to go in 10 minutes.

The test

I shot off a rest at 25 yards. I used pellets that showed potential in Part 3’s test with open sights, except I had run out of H&N Match Green pellets, so I substituted something else. read more

Peep sights: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Target-grade peep sights
  • Different peep sights
  • FWB 300S peep
  • Walther peep
  • AirForce Peep
  • East German Haenel 311 sight
  • Not much change
  • What about sloppy peeps?
  • The “GAMO” peep
  • Daisy plastic peep
  • Summary

Today I get to play a little. One of the reasons I wrote this report that is turning into a series was to talk about target-grade peep sights. I didn’t do that in Part 1, so today is my day.

Target-grade peep sights

The first target-grade peep sight I saw was on the Winchester model 52 target rifle on which I learned to shoot. I was impressed by what could be done with such a sight. The first airgun target peep sight I saw was probably on an Anschütz 250 target rifle I once owned. It was large and had crisp adjustment knobs to move the peephole where I wanted. The size of the sight was impressive and I think I equated that size to precision. It was precise, but not for the reason I thought. read more

The Webley Hurricane: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hurricane
Webley Hurricane.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • History
  • The Webley Premier
  • Webley Junior
  • Premier Mark II changes to Hurricane
  • Webley Premier Mark III
  • Quick fix?
  • The Hurricane
  • So?
  • Webley Tempest
  • There is more…
  • Back to the Hurricane
  • Cocking
  • What to expect
  • Summary

Today I begin a report that I thought I had already written. But when I looked in the archive I find that I have never reported on this pistol in the traditional way. I have included it in other reports and I have referred to it many times but I have never done a full report on the Webley Hurricane.

History

Because of my oversight I have decided to spend additional time covering part of the history of Webley air pistols and the things that lead up to the Hurricane. This will be from my perspective, because there are probably several different stories about how the Hurricane came to be. read more