by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
The diabolo pellet exists in four smallbore calibers.
This report covers:
- History
- Back to Sheridan
- Early success — sort of
- Why .20 caliber?
- The next speedbump
- Boom
- Bust
- Summary
Today we take a look at the .20 caliber that is also popularly labeled as 5 mm. There were Quackenbush airguns in the late 19th century that were made in .21 caliber and Crosman made some gallery airguns in .205 caliber, but the true .20 caliber didn’t exist until it was created by Sheridan in 1947.
History
According to Ronald Elbe’s book, Know Your Sheridan Rifles and Pistols, 2nd edition, copyright 2018 by Ronald E. Elbe, the 5mm pellet (and airgun) existed in Europe prior to the launch of the Sheridan model A (the Supergrade) in 1947. This is the first time I have been aware of that fact. To the best of my knowledge, only the Zimmerstutzen parlor rifle existed as a 5mm, and that size was at the high caliber range of the rifle. It would be a new ball size 21 or an old ball size 17. But a zimmerstutzen is a firearm by the strictest definition, so I need to find out more about the existence of these pre-Sheridan 5 mm airguns.
Back to Sheridan
At any rate, Sheridan’s model A was fielded in .20 caliber in 1947 and the company maintained that caliber for all their airguns until the company was sold to Crosman. The late Ted Osborn told me that the prototype model A rifle was made in .22 caliber for testing purposes, since .20 caliber pellets were not available.
Sheridan called their new pellet a cylindro-conical design. And they stayed with that shape for the entire time the company was owned by them. In 1977 they did buy a European diabolo pellet and sell it under their brand name, but the mainstay pellet was the good old Sheridan cylindrical.
The Sheridan Cylindrical pellet has no wasp waist, but it does have a hollow tail to move the center of mass forward. The step at the base of the pellet takes the rifling.
Early success — sort of
The model A/Supergrade was a success from the standpoint of accuracy and power. Even the fine British and European pellet rifles of the day were only its equal for power and accuracy. They also equaled the Supergrade for build quality, but they didn’t surpass it. I’m using the Webley Mark III and the Diana model 58 as my comparisons.
The Supergrade has a walnut stock and separate forearm and a large cast aluminum receiver. The rifle itself is no bigger than a Sheridan Blue Streak, but when you take the time to really examine it, the quality is revealed. The valving mechanism is another place quality reigned, but that’s not visible outside the airgun.
All that quality cost money, though, and a retail price of $56.50 in 1947 was too much to pay for an air rifle. The model B that followed at $35 didn’t help sales much. Not until 1949 and the model C that was also called the Blue Streak and Silver Streak, retailing for $23.95, was Sheridan’s place in the market assured. Even then, though, both the Crosman and Benjamin pneumatics were cheaper.
Why .20 caliber?
The question everyone asks is why did “they” (Ed Wackerhagen and Bob Kraus) produce their first airgun (and all subsequent Sheridan airguns) in .20 caliber, when there was no good source of supply for the pellets? Some believe they wanted to corner the market, but that would be like a mouse wanting to subdue an elephant! It just isn’t a viable possibility. I choose to believe the inventors, who said they did it because, and I am putting their stated remarks into a succinct statement, “We simply wanted our gun to be the best. By controlling the ammunition as well as the manufacture of the rifle, we could ensure this.” What they were saying is neither .177- nor .22-caliber airgun pellets of the time were of high enough quality for the gun they wanted to make.
The next speedbump
So, Sheridan was the standalone user and supplier of .20-caliber/5 mm airgun pellets from the late 1940s until…? Well — until Dr. Robert Beeman decided to brand .20 caliber/5 mm airguns and pellets, sometime in 1981. Their 1980 catalogs (numbers 7 and 8) both say that .20-caliber/5 mm pellets are restricted to the Sheridan brand rifle, while in their 1981 catalog (number 9) they say they have developed the first precision-waisted (diabolo) pellets and followed that with the first spring-piston air rifle in that caliber — a Beeman 250, which is based on a Diana 45. Of course to get things like this into the catalog they had to be working on these things a couple years before.
In their 1982 catalog (number 10) they proudly display the new 5 mm (.20 cal.) Beeman R5 rifle on two pages. The R5 was available only in that caliber, so that marks the first big push Beeman made for this caliber. In 1982 they offered the following pellets in .20 cal.:
- Silver Bear
- Silver Jet
- Bear
- Sheridan
The Beeman R5 was produced in 5 mm only. It didn’t last long.
Boom
Following that Beeman’s push for the .20 caliber took off. But the promotional literature — mainly the catalog — maintained a stable encouragement for all three calibers — .177, .20 and .22 The .25 caliber did exist at the time but it was at a low point around the world — especially in the US, Europe and the UK. That would soon change, but in 1990/91 Beeman started a full-court press for the 5 mm/.20 caliber. Many of their German airguns were offered in that caliber, though none of the UK guns just yet. The FWB 124 and 127 (.177 and .22 caliber, respectively) almost got a companion in the 5 mm 125. But that model was stillborn for reasons to which I am not privy.
Robert Beeman said the .20 was a good compromise between .177 and .22. I always felt it was closer to .22 in terms of power for hunting. But you still couldn’t shoot anything except .177 in formal target competition. And in field target any caliber larger than .177 put the shooter at a statistical disadvantage.
The .20 caliber blossomed in the 1990s and carried over into the new millennium for several years. The Brits finally embraced it as a good compromise between .177 and .22. The Koreans and Turks included it in their PCPs, as did AirForce Airguns, who still offers it in several of their smallbore rifles and their exchange barrels.
Bust
Twenty years into the new century and millennium the era of the .20 caliber is fading rapidly. Pyramyd AIR offers just 6 different pellets in this caliber and one of them is a felt cleaning pellet! There are other pellets out there that Pyramyd doesn’t sell, but nothing like what’s available in .177, .22 and even .25. If there aren’t many pellets there won’t be many new .20-caliber airguns. It’s easier for a PCP with interchangeable barrels like what AirForce makes to stay with the .20 than it is for an airgun to be entirely dedicated to the caliber.
Summary
Will the .20-caliber/5 mm go away completely? Probably not. At least not right away. But the demand for innovation in this caliber just isn’t there today. Of the four smallbore calibers it is number four.
BB,
Nice historical article. I suppose the only thing that would ever make it take off again would be for someone to show exceptional performance characteristics in some way. But, with varying the power and the pellet weights in .177 and .22 (plus the plethora of pellet offerings in .177 and .22), that is unlikely.
Then again,.. there are people that can sell ice to an Eskimo. 😉
Chris
B.B.,
To paraphrase Jeff Cooper the .20 is a solution looking for a problem. I’ve only encountered it once and the owner couldn’t find any pellets for it so he resorted to swaging .22 pellets to .20 caliber. I don’t know what kind of accuracy he got out of it but it seems it was accurate enough for him to use it for hunting.
Siraniko
I like the .20 because I like spring guns. Unless you are shooting a “magnum” springer the .20 can be shot just as flat and accurately as the .177 with a little bit more ftlbs. If shooting a “magnum” then the .22 can be shot as flat as the .20/.177. I don’t shoot ft so I don’t shoot .177.
B.B.
When the HW 50s became available in .20 I decided “to drink the Kool-Aid”.
While in FT in might be at a statistical disadvantage, I believe that if it is a windy FT course it might actually be an advantage.
My only real concern is that when the pellet dies at JSB and H&N wear out, that they will not be renewed. I assume that .20 pellets make up 5% or less of all pellet sales?
-Y
Yogi,
I think your estimate may even be on the high side.
BB
Yogi,
There will always likely be .20 pellets available. Air rifles are still being sold in that caliber. Albeit small, there is still a demand for it. Your choices will always be limited though, most especially when compared with .177 and .22.
Now the strange thing is, the .20 is available in what are probably the favorite pellets of both the .177 and .22, not counting the .177 wadcutters. PA does not carry it, but the .20 is available in the Predator Polymag at other retailers. I am of the opinion that a lot of the pellets on the market are like fishing lures. Most fishing lures are designed to catch the eye of the fisherman.
I myself have considered a .20. I am still considering such. If you should decide your HW 50s in .20 needs to find a good home elsewhere, please do let me know.
Hey guys,
I bought that Winchester 427 from Ebay that BB posted a few days ago. I received it Tuesday. It looks pretty good for an old gun. If I read the date code right, 06 69, it was made in June of 1969? It does have some character, and that is just fine with me. I have wanted a nice break barrel for quite a while. (Nice defined more by the experience of shooting it than condition. A scratch on the stock isn’t going to bother me if it is a nice shooting gun.) It has a pretty nice trigger, super long first stage, nice break on the second stage.
Just as FYI, basically everything I know about spring piston guns came from this blog. I want to be clear that I know very little about them from experience.
I shot about 100 Crosman premier dome 14.3 grain pellets through it. I put about 80 of them through the chronograph. They averaged 393 with an extreme spread of 32 and a SD of 6.6. I oiled it about an hour before I shot it, and the first ten averaged 398, and the last ten averaged 388.
I oiled it again down the muzzle before I put it away for the night. The spring is completely dry. There are a couple things I noticed;
1. I am certainly no expert on spring piston guns, but I don’t notice any buzz or vibration.
2. It does have a surprising amount of recoil for a low powered pellet gun. Or at least movement. I am not familiar enough with spring piston guns to give an expert a good indication of what it is doing.
3. Some blankety blank put a wood screw in one of the side screws, that as far as I can tell, should be a 4mm x 0.7 pitch x 10mm screw.
4. There is a scraping metal sound when I cock it.
5. The cocking arm rattles quite a bit after the gun is cocked.
So, as old spring guns go, what do you experts think of the condition of this gun based on this info?
I really like this gun. I want to make sure that I keep it in good condition. Here are a few pics of the action. I didn’t think of taking pics of the whole gun, I was interested in details of the action.
Thanks guys.
Cap Bravo,
I don’t like that scraping sound when cocking.
Nearly all cocking links rattle, so no problem there.
The Crosman Premier is a hard lead pellet and not right for your Diana. I really likes RWS Superpoints. I bet you would pick up 30-40 f.p.s. with them.
I’d like to get some oil on that mainspring.
Now, let’s adjust that trigger. Remember how?
BB
CB,
I see you have BB’s attention. Good.
You most definitely need some TIAT. You really need to find out what is scraping.
Dig through the blog and adjust the trigger.
Use RWS’s or thin skirted JSB’s. Should work much better and accuracy will likely improve.
The wood screw has got to go. You may need to tap the screw hole and use the right size screw for the tapping. You may even have to drill out the stock some. A tad of Loc-Tite might not hurt either. That is where the wood screw came from.
Another good thing is you do not care about the “character”. Welcome to the world of the eclectic collectors.
BB
I didn’t like the scraping either. I’ll have to see if I can figure out what is causing it. Would you recommend I get or build a spring compressor?
I hadn’t thought about the Crosmans being hard. I don’t think I have any RWS pellets, but I do have plenty of JSBs and H&Ns. I see PA is sold out of the RWS 22 at the moment. Is there a safe substitute?
I don’t remember how, but I know you have given instructions. I think on Micheal’s Winchester 427? I’ll look it up.
Would you put tune in a tube on this or just some kind of oil?
Thanks BB, and thanks for the link. I was like a kid in a candy store with this gun.
CB
CB,
A spring compressor?! LOL! You are starting to think real serious about these things. I have one. I have not used it much. I need to use it a lot more than I have. Once again I have to find my round tuit.
You may need one for this old gal. That scraping it likely caused by the back of the piston gouging the compressor tube. Not good. A little of carefully applied TIAT may help with that. My 1906 BSA was badly gouged, but thankfully I had plenty of good steel to work with.
Talk more with BB about all of this. He is the man, most especially when it comes to these old Dianas.
One word of advise. If you do go inside, you may seriously regret having done such. You will likely find yourself wanting to explore what it is like inside other old airguns. So many like this blog because BB will take them along when he goes inside, but it is not the same as actually going inside yourself.
RR,
I am a tinkerer at heart, so especially when I heard the scraping, my first thought was to take it apart and see what was going on. But, I thought I should ask first.
The wood screw is already gone. I had a 4mm screw that does thread in, but it really needs to be retapped to clean up the threads. That isn’t a problem, I just didn’t have time to do it yet.
I have ordered some tune in a tube. I figured that would be the lube to use based on what I have read here. I guess the question is, is the right way to address this to just take it apart and see what is going on, or try some lube first?
The character adds to the gun in my opinion. I know it lowers the value to dealers and collectors, but I probably won’t be selling this one anyway. I have a couple guns that are older that are like this and I have wondered many times what stories they could tell about how this scratch or that weathered spot happened.
Thanks.
Cap,
I’d say build a compressor. You sound handy and they aren’t much to do. Just remember when you build it there are airguns that are a little smaller than this one and some that are a lot larger, so make allowances.
If you use TIAT use itr VERY sparingly. Personally, as weak as a 27 is, I’d go with white lithium grease. That’s what I use in mine.
I looked at the Pix online and I think you did quite well.
If you decide to disassemble, use the TIAT or someother viscous grease for assembling the trigger. It holds those balls in place before the black and silver trigger cages grab them.
How about some pix, with an eye toward a guest blog?
BB,
I’ll look at building a spring compressor. I have some time off coming up around Christmas, so maybe I could attempt to write a guest blog. I have never written anything like that before, but there’s a first time for everything.
I’ll try to take better pictures tonight.
I have plenty of white lithium grease.
CB
CB,
I’ll help you on the writing.
BB
BB,
I am game to give it a shot. Sounds like fun.
Cap,
Go for it! I hesitated about a spring compressor because I did not know you enough. From what you have said to BB I am of the opinion that not only can you do this, but you are capable of bringing this old gal to the point where she was new.
You are also going to find that you are going to enjoy this type of thing very much and look for other old gals you can restore to working order. I have several around here, most of which I have worked on. I find myself buying the one’s that do not work and fixing them up. This becomes very satisfying.
Thanks for the encouragement RR. I plan to!
Check out the spring compressor on EBAY. They are very nice. They also work with all rifles and pistols, old rifles without dovetail too.
The Daisy 499 smooth bore transplant to the Crosman 1600 pistol is being called a wash. I don’t see any substantial improvement in group size. There have been a few tighter groups, but just as many at the same size as the pre conversion control groups. The good news is that the pistol shoots marginally closer to point of aim–a good thing when the sights are non-adjustable.
Derrick,
Well that is a bummer. I am sure that you learned a few things while doing the project. I have put some oil on a sponge and rolled the bb’s in it (light film). Like you, some groups were better and some were the same. The 499 barrel is so tight to the bb’s that the oil film made them roll down even slower when dropped from the muzzle.
Thanks for giving it a go,……. Chris
Chris
I tried with and without oil with my 499 barrel experiment. No luck.
Derrick
I was hoping you would have better luck.
OK, so truth be told, I was secretly hoping for a 20 or 30% reduction in group size. I’m not seeing it. If I only had a couple air pistols, I might be inclined to retrofit a rifled .177 barrel and retest with .177 lead balls. I’m pretty confident that would prove to be more accurate than the smoothbore, albeit at the expense of velocity.
At some point in the project, I also considered making the barrel very slightly adjustable at the muzzle to better dial it in to the fixed sights. Its close enough now that I don’t think its necessary.
I might be swayed to play with it a bit more. We’ll see if it keeps me up at night.
Derrick,
Secretly? I would have expected it. There must be something more to the mystery. A rifle to a pistol is a pretty big switch though. Mass of gun for one.
Chris
“Secretly” because I knew the 1600 was a lousy host gun for an accuracy project. It’s essentially a revolver trigger. I’m wondering if the BB shuttle or elevator as it might be called just doesn’t hold the BB in position. It may be rolling into the barrel to a different position before each shot.
Derrick
I haven’t messed with my 499 barrel that i converted to work in the Crosman steel breeches any more.
I think it’s going to turn into a salt shot gun to blast bugs with when they get in the breezeway where I shoot.
Derrick,
You were curious about my 499, I shot it at 25 yards with good results. See comments at the bottom of yesterday’s blog report.
Don
Yes, I read your comments. I’m quite impressed and amazed with your conversion. Well done!
Derrick,
I too expected improvements in your group size. I have a Daisy bb pistol that likes a very tight hold. Maybe try some different holds. A heavy trigger is always tough especially on a pistol. Good luck, I think you should give it a few more chances. Your machine work looked great, I wonder if shortening the barrel did anything. I don’t think it would.
Don
I’ve tried several holds. With and without glasses. I’m leaning toward checking the BB position in the bore with a delrin rod and see if it’s moving forward out of the shuttle
All this talk of older Diana’s makes me miss my Winchester 427 greatly! I stashed it at my brothers house on Cape Cod when I moved and with this covid crapola I haven’t been able to leave North Carolina.
She’s a sweet shooter pushing the Hobby pellet at 450fps, which I believe is a healthy number. I’m using a Beeman peep with an R7 front sight with the interchangeable inserts. I also rebuilt the inners with new/old stock.
B.B.
Thanks for this!
I have wondered about the .20 ever since seeing my friends (his father’s actually) Sheridan many decades ago. Remember it as a very nice rifle with lots of power (relative to my little Slavia 618) but my friend had to resort to home-made projectiles (plasticine, wood dowels and spit-balls (literally!)) because pellets were very expensive and had to be imported from the States.
Always figured the .20 caliber to be a marketing attempt to be a proprietary pellet to force the consumer to buy from the company.
Agreed that in specific applications (like FT) there may be a slight advantage for the .20 over the .177 or the .22 but I have never seen any sort of report showing that there was a valid technical reason for the caliber.
I know that the people who like the .20 caliber are very vocal about promoting it and will defend it vigorously (all the more power to them) but I would like to see proof. I’ve never seen a detailed study done – the claims I have seen about of incredible an performance advantage of the .20 need more support than a couple of targets.
B.B., any chance that you can do a comparison between the three smaller calibers?
Cheers,
Hank
Hank,
What would I compare? To me that’s like asking to compare the Corvette, the Checker Marathon and a Ford F1 pickup. 🙂
BB
B.B.
Yeah, you are right.
In comparing factors like energy retention and wind-bucking then heavier is better so the .25 would beat the .22 would beat the .20 would beat the .177
Flip that over and look at velocity then lighter would be faster and (all things being equal) the .177 might be the best.
Lots of different perspective to consider and all depends on what the shooter deems to be most important.
To me, the .22 is the all around winner for general shooting, pesting and small game hunting (rabbits and squirrels) in my environment (sub 50 yards). For larger game or extended distances I would opt for a .25 (and suffer the increased cost of pellets). Great to have choices and where you can’t decide get a couple of each caliber 😉
Guess that in a power restricted environment (like 12 fpe in the UK) the .20 makes sense as it would be a bit better than a .177 (wind wise) but shoot a little faster/flatter than a .22.
I’m just trying to understand why people (in unrestricted environments) get so worked up about the .20 – where the .22 has (generally) better performance, more selection of airguns and the pellets are readily available and less expensive.
Yeah, that was an unfair request – sorry ’bout that!
In the mean time, each to their own and if someone prefers the .20 and enjoys shooting it – great for them 🙂
Cheers!
Hank
B.B.,
In the early 90’s, I bought an R1 Laser package in 0.20 caliber from Beeman, along with a supply of Silver Jet and Silver Bear pellets in the shiny square yellow boxes. After having been accustomed to the relatively tame Weihrauch HW50s and the smooth Feinwerkbau 124s that I previously purchased from Air Rifle Headquarters (ARH) in the 70’s, the R1 was difficult to shoot and quite frustrating. It languished in storage….
It wasn’t until I discovered your blog in 2011 that I became interested again in my air rifles, but the seals in my favorite FWB 124s were shot. After reading lots of articles, I built a spring compressor and bought replacement piston seals and springs from ARH (still in business for parts!) to rebuild my springers.
And most importantly, I read your article about the artillery hold, and my passion was renewed by the much improved accuracy delivered by that technique. The rebuilt 124s from my youth, now with a scope replacing the peep sight, was really something!
Somewhere around 2013 I think, buoyed by the successful refurbishment of the HW50s & FWB 124s, I finally got around to refurbishing the R1 Laser. I removed the original, dried out, copper-filled ‘laser lube’, and applied fresh moly paste lube to the new piston seal and ARH heavy tar to the spring. Now with the chronograph, the artillery hold, and a better understanding of airguns and pellet selection from your blog articles, I was poised to do much better with the R1 Laser.
The pellet selections are much more limited in .20 cal, and I ended up choosing the H&N Field Target Trophy as the best for the .20 R1. I did some plinking and pesting with it while the shiny yellow boxes of old .20 Silver Jet and Silver Bear pellets languished in the garage. There are still there today… I have moved on to PCP air rifles and rarely shoot my old springers any more, but I fondly remember the process of rebirth and renewal with these first air rifles.
Feinwerk
Feinwerk,
Wow! That’s almost a blog by itself. Good for you.
By the way, the current Air Rifle Headquarters is run by Jim Maccari and is not the same as the older company that went out of business in the 1980s. I think Jim did use the name with the permission of the original owner of ARH.
BB
Yes, I discovered that as well. I bought one of Jim’s nice laminated stocks for my FWB124s. I have such fond memories of the 124 from my youth – that’s why I chose Feinwerk for my member name.
When I was a wide-eyed teen, Robert Law owned ARH and I was excited by the sensationalist airgun articles that he wrote in his booklets and photos of targets from customers. He once published an image of one of my targets (from the HW50s) in one of his newsletters, long since lost. Wish I still had it. I think I still have a copy of his ‘Fun with Airguns’ (or something similar) booklet, along with a couple of his in-house instruction booklets for the FWB 124 & Diana 6g/Hyscore 816 pistol.
That is who the stronger spring came from in my modded FWB 300s. Among the other mods I done to it.
this is from Beeman in the past…the .20 here is as flat as .177…but larger caliber for hunting…see attached photo
Brent
Going to post here.
Did you get your 54 Air King yet?
Nope. Hoping today or Friday!
Brent
Let us know when you get it. I want to know what you think.
And what scope you putting on it?
Gunfun,
I have a 6 x 24 Leapers but I will probably try to shoot it with open sights for a while. I’ve always preferred open sights but unfortunately my eyes won’t let me use them very much anymore.
Brent
Brent
At the risk of giving advice to an expert here goes anyway. BB has written about front sight focus repeatedly. If there are glasses that allow your eyes to see the front sight in sharp focus you can shoot accurately at a distant target if the light and target contrast are right. I am reminded of this because I got some nice groups a few years ago with my then new Weihrauch HW50S using the open sights it came with. My old eyes are not what they once were either.
Enjoy this quality rifle.
Deck
Deck,
That topic always sticks in my craw. (what is a craw anyways?) At any rate, I want to be able to see everything very clearly,… down to a nats hair. This is sharp,… this/that is blurry (cause it is supposed to be),… does not work for me in the least. More power to those that can pull it off with success.
Chris
Chris
And that’s why I have a UTG Bubble scope on my HW0S. I can see what is happening on the target.
Deck
Deck,
Expert, I don’t know who you are talking about??? Certainly, not me! I just have a lot of enthusiasm for my hobbies, especially if I can tinker around with stuff.
I can actually use iron sights at the shorter 7 to 8 yard distances that I shoot inside. The difficulty is seeing the short dark post in the small dark notch of the rear sight. Since most of my air rifle collection is multi pump pneumatics with cheap plastic front sights, sometimes I will superglue a glowy thing on top of the front sight. It helps the post show up in the notch of the rear sight.
I am looking forward to seeing what the open sights are like on the Diana 54 that I’m getting. My glass is that correct for my nearsightedness are about the best it’s going to get. Cheaters for close-in reading don’t help We’ll see what I can do at around 25 to 30 yards.
Brent
Brent
My 54 shoots good with open sights.
As I mentioned before, we had a guy with a 20 caliber USFT win the Open PCP state championship in Tennessee a few years ago. He used 13.73 JSB pellets and I don’t recall him ever missing a close shot. ( we were squaded together). I think the heavier weight of the .20 caliber pellet probably did help with the wind though I can’t recall how windy it was that day.
Brent
B.B.,
I remember reading somewhere (probably here) a long time ago that everything else (action, barrel length) being equal, a .20 caliber pellet will be slightly slower than a .22 of the same weight. I suppose this could be because a 14 grain .20 pellet is slightly longer — and therefore produces more drag in the bore — than a 14 grain .22 pellet. Also, a .22 caiiber bore has more air volume behind the pellet than does a .20 caliber one.
For the hunter the .20 makes a smaller wound channel than does the .22, presuming the expansiojn is comparable.
Dr. Beeman’s theory that .20 was the best of both worlds might have been incorrect. Perhaps it is the worst of both.
Michael
this is from Beeman in the past…the .20 here is as flat as .177…but larger caliber for hunting…see attached photo
Cheap spring compressor for do it yourself types.
Some parts missing at the moment, but you get the idea.
Sorry for the cheap cell phone pics.
and this.
“Will the .20-caliber/5 mm go away completely? Probably not. At least not right away”.
B.B,,
That’s why I just bought another 1000 JSB .20 caliber pellets from PA for my Sheridan C-model.
Since I use 6 pumps per shot. that’s 6000 pumps…that will hold me for a while. =>
Thank you for another interesting report!
Take care & God bless,
dave
Thedavemyster,
Make sure you pump with both left and right arms Dave! Can’t have you get all lopsided! Lol!
Enjoy!
shootski
A few years ago I picked up an Original (Diana) 45 in .20 cal. Interestingly Diana state 5.05mm for their 20 calibre. I bought it because it was a very tidy example of a favourite gun, it just happened to be .20 cal.
The issue with the calibre is that there only a relatively small selection of pellets available. Fortunately, and by sheer co-incidence, I found a selection of NOS pellets in a small local shop, including several discontinued ones. I bought the lot for not much money. As I don’t shoot the gun all that often, they will likely last me for years.
I do prefer a lighter pellet in this calibre, to make the most of the benefits of a flatter trajectory over .22.
Regards,
Drew
this is from Beeman in the past…the .20 here is as flat as .177…but larger caliber for hunting…see attached photo
“Make sure you pump with both left and right arms Dave! Can’t have you get all lopsided! Lol!”
Thanks, Shootski, I’ll do that! LOL! =)~
gf,
“~” could be a good addition to “+^)” … what do you think? u r the inspiration behind the purple, so u tell me.
+^)~ or ~+^)
fish
🙂
Fish
I don’t know what your doing. Heck I can hardly speak English. Ask Chris. He’ll tell ya.
🙂
🙂
GF1,
I know,… you use your phone and texting on the fly and let the auto-spellcheck get your back. Heads up,.. it ain’t working a bunch of times! 😉
Chris
Chris
Hey but I know what I mean. 😉
I wanted to comment about the .20 all day but couldn’t find time. When I started shooting air rifles and pistols towards the end of high school, Beeman was going full force and made a big impression on me. The R1 and R10 were available and the Lazerised R1 was soon to be released. The FWB 124 was on its way out with Beeman heavily pushing theit Weihrauch sporters. At that moment in time, it seemed to me that Beeman’s big push with the .20 cal was a way to further stand apart and stay out of a direct caliber comparison to RWS and their Model 48 and 52s.
I’ve owned seven or eight .20 cal rifles and pistols over the years. Maybe down to five at the moment. Still appreciate the easier handling of the .20 pellets compared to the .177s. All the rifles and pistols seemed to be flatter shooting that their .22 counterparts. The only downside is the lack of current pellet options—though I still have a large supply from a couple decades ago. I always found it ironic that the hardest .20 cal pellet type to find was the simple wadcutter.
Derrick,
Didn’t they make a few 20 caliber are WS 48 or 52’s?
Brent
Brent,
Yes, RWS did eventually make some of their guns 48/52 and I think some Mod 45s in .20 caliber. But RWS didn’t have pellets to really support the caliber. I think I’m trying to say that Beeman did an amazing job differentiating his rifles from RWS/Diana.
this is from Beeman in the past…the .20 here is as flat as .177…but larger caliber for hunting…see attached photo