Bug-A-Salt 3.0 Black Fly Edition.
This report covers:
- Why get a 3.0?
- Safety
- Patridge sight
- Cocking
- Trigger
- Not a regular gun test
- What about the 2.0?
- My Bug-A-Salt arsenal
- Don’t feel sorry
- Goin’ huntin’
Today we begin looking at the Bug-A-Salt 3.0 Black Fly Edition. This was given to me by Bug-A-Salt at the 2023 SHOT Show.
As I told you in the overflow report on the show, I didn’t intend for them to give me this gun. I had every intention of buying one when I returned home. I just wanted to tell them how much I enjoyed my Bug-A-Salt 2.0 and the Bug-A-Salt Shredder revolver. I even told them about An unexpected expedition, wherein I learned that plain table salt is the best ammo for these. I had been using sea salt that has larger crystals in the 2.0 and the individual dents were deeper but with far fewer of them I wasn’t having as much success. When I started patterning I saw the need for fine table salt. Don’t get crazy and go to popcorn salt. That’s too fine. Stick with table salt.
I didn’t ask for this Bug-A-Salt 3.0 Black Fly Edition, but I’m sure not going to waste it!
Why get a 3.0?
Truth be told, once I started using plain table salt and shot from 3 feet away or less, there wasn’t a fly I didn’t nail with my 2.0. I’ll now show you the patterning results from three feet away. Bug-A-Salt says the 3.0 is more powerful than the 2.0 and patterns tighter. We shall see.
Bug-A-Salt 2.0 pattern on aluminum foil at 3 feet with plain table salt.
Bug-A-Salt 3.0 pattern at 3 feet with plain table salt. Photo is an image of approximately the same size as the 2.0 pattern. You can see how much tighter the pattern is. Both images show the side of the tinfoil that the salt impacted.
You can also tell from the patterns shown above that the 3.0 is shooting slightly faster than the 2.0. This is what Bug-A-Salt says to expect. The dents left by the salt crystals are smaller because they go deeper into the aluminum foil.
Both the 2.0 and the 3.0 hold enough salt for about 80 shots. I will say the 3.0 salt hopper is larger, so there must be a little more in each shot.
Safety
The safety on the 3.0 is a crossbolt that airgunners are so familiar with. Also, it does not come on every time the gun is cocked (hurray!), so you can take on a swarm of flies and not stop shooting until you want to.
Patridge sight
The front sight on the 3.0 is a Patridge sight made famous by the champion revolver shot, E.E. Patridge in the 1890s. It is FAR BETTER than the front sight on the 2.0! A Patridge sight is just a square post that aligns easily with a square notch in the rear.
Cocking
Like the 2.0 this gun is cocked by sliding the front slide handle to the rear until you hear the sear catch the piston. I don’t find the 3.0 easier or harder to cock than the 2.0. Both take a fair amount of effort.
Trigger
Bug-A-Salt literature says the trigger on the 3.0 is easier to squeeze. That hasn’t proven to be the case on the new gun so far, but maybe that’s because my 2.0 has hundreds of shots and the 3.0 is still very new.
Not a regular gun test
We all know how I normally do a gun test — description, velocity and accuracy. That won’t work for this one, because I don’t think the Labradar chronograph is up to it. The Bug-A-Salt 3.0 won’t shoot the 10 meters that I have found is the Labradar’s minimum effective distance. But that’s also no problem. I plan to hunt flies, creepie crawlers and anything else that comes to mind. This will just be a different sort of report.
What about the 2.0?
My 2.0 doesn’t go away, now that the 3.0 is here. It still works and does the job just fine. I expect it will eventually wear out because all things do. It just means I will have Bug-A-Salt guns in one more place around my home. These aren’t plinking guns, so unless there is a fly or something to shoot at, they sit around at the ready. Spiders on the walls and ceiling are another great target that comes in the spring and again in the fall.
My Bug-A-Salt arsenal
You know I wasn’t the one who decided that we needed a Bug-A-Salt at casa BB in the first place. My late wife, Edith, was the one who bought one. We had used electric rackets and tethered fly shooters, but they either broke or didn’t do the job. The Bug-A-Salt 2.0 worked exactly as advertised and Edith bought two others to use as gifts.
That’s why I am pushing Pyramyd AIR to carry these. Here is a comment made several days ago by reader Berserkerly Mike, “I’d buy a Bug-a-Salt from Pyramyd tomorrow if they stocked one. That is just the type of item I’d look for to put me over the free shipping threshold of many orders. They have until April, when bug season starts around here.
Mike”
Here’s my Bug-A-Salt arsenal. From the top we have the 2.0, the 3.0 and the Shredder.
Don’t feel sorry
Don’t feel sorry for the flies, either. According to the back of the 3.0 box, flies defecate every 4 to 5 minutes. They will lay their eggs on your food and then vomit upon it. Charming!
Goin’ huntin’
As the days warm up here in Texas the flies and bugs will soon be out. And BB will be waiting for them. That’s the plan for the rest of this “test.”
Tom,
The only accessory I don’t see accompanying the Bug-A-Salt kit is a premeasured scoop with cap for rapid reloads when you need them. Especially with the swarms of large mosquitoes coming your way!
Siraniko
Well, it looks like they changed the layout of the blog again.
I have a 2.0 with a laser. It works great, but the Mrs. will not let me shoot it in the house as she says the salt will be everywhere. She bought it for me.
RidgeRunner, I noticed the different layout too.
Shame that the information technology people failed to test this version on the ipad operating system.
Replies to a comment are successively indentend and allocated progressively less width, eventually reaching a 1-letter narrow column.
Pictured is a screen print of this effect.
What an achievement! 🙂
PS solution: I typically hold my ipad in landscape orientation – however, when I rotate it 90° to portrait orientation, all is good again 🙂
RR
Your Mrs must have talked to mine. I had a BA2 on loan from a friend for only two days when she decided the same thing about the spent salt.
I probably will still buy one because,,, shoot,, there doesn’t really need to be a because,,, I just need to.
Ed
Just had a thought. When can we expect a semi or selective fire Bug-A-Salt?
RR, Look for my reply to Yogi’s below. Am I wrong about pump-action springers not lending themselves to semi and full auto?
Michael
Michael,
“…semi and full auto?”
Now you have done it! The ETERNAL CAN-O’- WORMS has been opened…wide!
Long gun or handgun?
If long gun: semi refers to what happens on each trigger press: as in another round is loaded into the chamber (barrel) and waits there for the next trigger release and press. Full Auto: in long guns is a Machine Gun and each press of the trigger results in repeated rounds being loaded and fired until the trigger is released or no more ammunition ready to be loaded by the mechanism is available. There is a sub set called Select Fire which Fires two or more rounds and stops even if the trigger is held in the Operate position.
Handguns are either manually loaded (into the chamber or in the case of a revolver the cylinder is moved to the next chamber) by some type of Action, by hand, or in Automatic Pistols they load one round for each trigger press from an ammunition source; they are also referred to as Auto Loaders by some.
Machine pistols of course exist to confuse everything and everyone…EVEN wikipedia!!!!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_pistol
Which goes on to lable Auto Loading pistols:
“semi-autos” simply disgraceful!
I know this is a lost cause because eventually USAGE will triumph over the correct usage!
shootski
True. To close the can of worms, can a springer be made, within reason, into a “shoots with just a pull of the trigger” air gun? Or can a springer be made, within reason, into a “shoots continuously with just one pull of the trigger” air gun?
Michael,
It could have an electric motor do the cocking work instead of the break barrel , lever, or hand pump stroke to set the gas/metal spring. I think the Airsoft folks call that an AEG.
Shoot springer continuously (multiple times) with just operating the trigger, even with an electrical powered action is not impossible, but rather a bridge to far in my opinion.
shootski
PS: for a pellet gun as this Blog defines it.
It would be a BIG bridge, I’m afraid. The electric motor, battery pack and the transmission to convert rotary motion of the motor to a linear push-pull would be bulky, baulky and burly – not to mention hefty.
I could see this as something that COULD be done, but probably SHOULDN’T be. It would be more given to a stationary weapon on a tripod or carriage with all that baggage.
I suppose a threaded rod to the rear of the compression chamber piston would work with an electric motor with hollow armature and some kind of release mechanism?
I’m not sure the juice would be worth the squeeze….
Michael,
You probably are right. Now that they have the Shredder though, why not make one semi or selective fire. hihihi posted a picture of a Bugblaster on the front of a semi bb gun. That might work.
RidgeRunner, there is a workaround:
Just pop a bugblaster (salt shooting barrel extension) into the barrel of your semi- or select fire precharged pneumatic- or CO2 airgun (airgun without recoil or simulated recoil). 🙂
Sorry to who originally mentioned it in the comments on the pyramydair blog, but I have forgotten who you are. 🙁
3hi,
I have one of those for my 2240. Sadly, I do not have any semi or selective fire airguns.
RR
So how does it work so far on your 2240.
I will get back to you on that.
RR
Ok I will be waiting.
I almost bought one but didn’t for some reason. Probably because I already had a Bug A Salt.
But yes let me/us know when you can.
B.B.
I assume that it is a smooth bore barrel?
Will it work on wasps? Mosquitoes?
With the humidity in Tx, does the ammo ever clog or clump up?
Fun stuff,
-Y
Yogi,
I’m sure the barrel is smooth. Since this is a shotgun, that makes sense.
Yes the salt will clump up, but shaking the gun side to side breaks up the clumps.
BB
Yogi,
I use the Shredder pistol for wasps. Mosquitos are no problem for any of them.
BB
Why the pistol for wasps? They are larger and I would assume need to higher energy of the “long guns”?
-Y
Yogi,
The 2.0 and 3.0 are springers cocked by the pump action, which is why semi-auto and full auto are extremely unlikely.
The Shredder, despite its shorter barrel, is much more powerful than the long guns because it is a CO2 air gun. In my experience the 2.0 (I don’t have a 3.0) is ineffective against wasps. They drop but almost immediately recover and fly off again.
Michael
Michael,
Thanks! I was napping.
BB
Well if they drop. I’ll just step on them.
-Y
Wonder if the company has thought of making a CO2-powered version of the pump-action Bug-A-Salt – maybe with a longer barrel for taking out the larger, tougher critters at a safer distance to the user? But that might bring the price up beyond what most people are willing to pay. It could sting one’s wallet.
FM,
I would consider it to be overkill, but one could buy the long gun version of the tranquilizer air guns, which use 12g CO2 powerlets and are smoothbore .50 caliber. One could use cupcake baking cups (baking goods aisle of your supermarket) as patches to prevent salt from backing into the transfer port and then pour a bit of salt in the muzzle after that. You would need to keep the muzzle pointed up or level.
I would not do this as salt aggressively promotes rust. If you need more power, get the Shredder.
Yep, the Shredder is the sensible way to go; fortunately do not have much wasp “traffic” around here, so far, to justify getting one.
>>> the 10 meters that I have found is the Labradar’s minimum effective distance <<<
BB,
The Labradar does register velocities at the muzzle it's just that you have to be aware of near by surfaces that can reflect a (confusing) bunch of echoes back to the unit.
When velocity testing indoors, I use the low power setting, put the pellet trap as far away as I can and angle the trap a bit to minimize a direct reflection to the receiver.
There's quite a bit of power/energy coming in the radar beam.
Hank
Hank,
I talked to Labradar’s American rep at the SHOT Show. He didn’t know about what you say, but I will try it.
BB
B.B.,
I agree with Hank on this.
I will, however, add that LabRadar does NOT advertise a shot or multi projectile capability.
Multiple targets moving at differing velocities/vectors or differing signal gain strength are a big computational problem for even the multi-million dollar Doppler Radar systems.
The muzzle velocities the Lab Radar provides seem to be computed back to the muzzle based on the geometry of the projectiles ballistic travel downrange.
Hank’s other recommendations on how to reduce/avoid the reflected “noise” is spot on in my opinion.
shootski
Tom,
I’m responding here rather than yesterday’s installment because I am hoping for some feedback. Also, the release of a 3.0 bug gun make the “new and improved” topic stay alive. I don’t feel stung (no pun intended for a change) by the new 3.0. The improvements over the 2.0 sound minor to me.
On the other hand, years ago I bought the first Webley Mark VI. Then about a year later the Battlefield Finish edition came out with its rifled barrel. I had also bought a Gletcher Nagant air gun revolver when they first came out. About a year later Gletcher released a rifled barrel version. Aaargh X 2. These baubles are pricey enough that I refuse to buy the better one later and put the other in a drawer.
As a result, I no longer even consider buying an otherwise tempting air gun when it is first released. I instead wait for the improved version to come out later. If the inproved edition never does come out, I find my not purchasing the initial one doesn’t matter, as the insistent urge to buy is long gone and I have forgotten about it. (Yes, I have a short attention spa . . . Hey, my wife is making pancakes for our breakfast!)
The most recent example of this involves the S&W M29 by Umarex. I happen to know Umarex has already long released a 6 inch barrel version in Europe. I associate the 6 incher with San Francisco Police Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan. To me the 8 incher is the Travis Bickle gun. Also, I’d much rather have one that is rifled, and that seems to happen often with cool smooth barrels.
So I have not purchased an M29, and indeed the exciting thrill of getting one has dissapated. I would probably get a 6 incher with rifled barrel if Umarex opened the American market to them, but after all this time, I can’t be sure.
Is the dynamic I describe above common among air gun enthusiasts, or am I in a tiny minority?
Michael
Michael,
I would say you are very wise.
And I am not! 🙂
BB
Don’t bother with the rifled barrel version as it’s only got a short 2.5 inch rifled barrel in.
I’ve tested them all and the smoothbores shooting pellets are far more accurate
Ade,
I believe you are mistaken. The Umarex site (the German one, not umarex USA) has the 6.5 inch barrel versions in both pellet (rifled, presumably) and BB (smoothbore).
Check it out:
https://www.umarex.com/products/airguns/co2/5.8379.html
Michael
“Smith & Wesson M29 6.5”
4.5 mm (.177) Pellet, CO₂, < 3.0 J, polished and blued"
I’m afraid that the rifled barrels only consist of a 2.5 inch barrel. The rest is a smoothbore tube of 6mm which has a detrimental effect on accuracy. All the smoothbore BB versions have a full length barrel.
Ade,
I stand corrected, and you stand correct. That is design malpractice!
I guess the one for me is, then, the 6 inch smoothbore, still a model not available in the U.S.
Michael
I totally agree that it’s nothing short of deception, which I was keen to point out in my review in a UK airgun magazine.
Michael,
I hope she is putting Blue Berries in them!
Bon Appetit!
shootski
FM be tempted to buy a Umarex PCP MP40 with rifled barrel and in at least .22 cal – if they ever made one. Ditto for the M3 “grease gun” – whichever one shows up first. Old FM wanna have fun mowing down waves of charging feral cans with authority!
Yeeaaah!
Michael
I fully agree to your way of thinking. Obviously we are not alone in this and I happen to believe that it’s quite common thinking about many things people wish to buy when they appear brand new to the market.
B.B.,
The Bug-A-Salt 3.0 sounds like an incremental improvement. I’m still on the fence on IF i need one. It is on my list as possible gift idea for folks that don’t have my go-to favorite.
I use my .58 caliber DAQ Pistol shooting “blanks” and don’t worry about flys (and larger) out to 15′ (4.5 meters) even on windy days! I’m more worried about collateral damage inside the house.
I have used it to down entire mating swarms of mosquitoes, No-see-ums (Cerotopogonidea) and common gnats outside.
shootski
And Chronomids! Don’t forget about the Chronomids! 😉
Vana2,
Chronomids used to be one of my favorites!
Many of my Chronographs fell to them before I got my LabRadar!
Wait…or was that me that did in the downrange Chronograph trying to get the “real” BC numbers….
shootski
Bug-A-Salt bonus – “ammunition you can eat!” Salted crickets, anyone?
https://www.amazon.com/BUG-A-SALT-High-Performance-Salt-Pouch/dp/B09X2F5N28
FawltyManual,
Can I have mine dipped in some dark chocolate please!
shootski
Dark chocolate, yes! 70% or better Cacao!
92% cacao bars will grow hair on your chest though unfortunately not on top of your head, as FM has experienced thru self-experimentation.
Unfortunately, that has been my experience also.
FawltyManuel, that reminds me of the European Commission’s decision (January 6th), to permit crickets and mealworms to be included in foods for human consumption.
However, I doubt very much that they intended for us to go get our own bugs. I think the idea is for the food producers to process the things first before we’re fed.
So, rather than “Salted crickets, anyone?” it’ll be ‘everyone’ ! 🙂
Perhaps your friends across the Channel believe that is not cricket…
Precisely, FawltyManuel, although some “…of my friends across the channel…” think it boring and don’t care, most would indeed think, ‘That is not cricket !’
but also, ‘mustn’t grumble’… 🙂
____________________
For your entertainment/ interest:
“…mealworm producer Ynsect… will expand… into the U.S. and is… to build an insect farm in Mexico.”
“…cricket protein producer… to level up its commercial facility in Ontario…”
“North America will soon have… all the crickets and mealworms it can eat.”
“… question, “Who will…?”
(“Edible insects: Two billion bug fans can’t be wrong”
by Denis Faye, January 17th, 2023, naturalproductsinsider.com)
____________________
Can you guess why I list the following foods?
“pizzas;
pasta-based products;
nuts and oilseeds;
snacks and sauces;
meat preparations and soups;
multigrain bread and rolls;
crackers and bread sticks;
cereal bars;
dry premixes for baked products;
biscuits and processed potato products;
legume- and vegetable-based dishes;
whey powder;
maize flour-based snacks;
beer-like beverages; and
chocolate confectionery.”
(“EAT BUGS AND BE HAPPY…” by Ramon Tomey, January 25th, naturalnews.com)
____________________
‘Soylent Green, anyone?’ 🙂
____________________
Warning:
BEWARE OF ‘Climate Change’ !
FM’s final comment on the subject – in the end, the bugs will eat us no matter how many of them we shoot down with our Bug-A-Salts.
So go ahead, have that chocolate-and-cricket bar. 🙂
B.B.,
Did the Reps indicate if the next Mark 4.0 is the Green Fly or perhaps the Horse Fly?
shootski
shootski,
Ha, ha! 😉
BB
B.B.,
I did take note that the 2.0 and Shredder do not have the WARNING to not shoot in Face or Eyes…how do you not hit the eyes or face on a fly or other bug?
shootski
Shootski,
That’s easy. BB, always the sportsman, gives them a fighting chance by flushing them first so that they are going away from him.
The warnings say nothing about shooting in the ass.
Ed
edlee,
ue, goombah!
scorchamend’
Fair Chase rules I’ll go with that Ed!
shootski
Ed,
What goes through a fly’s mind as it gets hit by a windshield on a speeding car?
Answer: Its butt.
Michael,
Silence, infidel! I keel you! 🙂
BB
BB,
First thing first, congrats on the new look of the blog. It’s way better. Now, I can read what I write without running a mild migraine. Kudos to the PA’s IT folks.
Back to the Zada. I know I’ve been commenting about it for the past couple of days. I’ll try not to repeat the same things over and over again. Anyway… Finally, the Zada has showed up on the Hatsan USA site, and I had the chance to take a look at its clear photo. I bet, inside, it is the same air rifle as the Edge, AirTact, and Striker 1000S. We’ll see. In case they all carry the same platform, I’d like to share the YouTube video below with you. I’m aware that it’s the third video I’ve shared about it so far, but I think you might find this one interesting as well. Please, bear with me.
The gentleman in the video is from Pakistan – according to the location on his YouTube page. The reason I am telling you this is because I don’t know the air gun regulations in his country; the Hatsan Edge that he is disassembling might be a low powered export version.
https://youtu.be/YYWFqNJgBoM
Fish
Fish,
I have read all your messages, but I don’t know what to tell you. When I get a Zada for testing I will begin to comment.
BB
I tried to type “thumbs up,” but came as blank. 🙂
Bug-a-salt patterns nicely. Perhaps, it should come with chokes. Some sort of tiny, light indoor clay pigeaons could be thrown by a tiny clay pigeaon thrower. This could turn into an indoors skeet, sporting clays and trap air shotgun — Next livingroom entertainment. “Pull!” Bang, bang! Sporting clay shooting while sitting on the couch right in the middle of the livingroom. Wives will, then, really be upset at BB.
🙂
Fish,
What? You think they’re not now? 😉
BB
🙂
There is actually an in home skeet set, but with Bug-a-salt, it would be the real deal. 🙂
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZvYYGczUyLRV0dyxAtTPKVMDvrV7ZQQCenw7lRyuydaNg2rnKm_qjtcBIqHX6tRhwGAlFAGE6KIWUWPOwzaenjJAUTh5p1Q
BB-
Husband is in the kitchen killing flies. Wife walks in and asks, ‘Did you get any?’
‘Yes, 3 males and 2 females’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Well, 3 were on the beer can and 2 were on the phone’
Hahahaha! If you are married, you will not be for long.
pacoinohio,
An anglophone student is learning to speak French
…when a black fly lands on his teacher’s desk. “Regarde le mouche”, the student tells his teacher.
“It’s not LE mouche” says the teacher. “It’s LA mouche”.
…the student is impressed: “how could you tell? Your eyesight is amazing!”
shootski
Shootski-
Perhaps we should limit (bad) jokes to only one language…..
pacoinohio,
Which of my two jokes are you referring too?
The Italian/American Slang one or the French lesson?
Ah! Foreign language jokes in general!
No comprendo…
shootski
Speaking of two jokes, here is another bad one – of the PUNishing variety – to start the week.
Two peanuts walk into a bar. One was a salted.
FM promises this will be the last time he bugs you with aforesaid “groaner.” Have a great week, everyone!
For many years I had a pergola over my patio and it was infested with Carpenter bees. Nothing I tried would rid me of the bees. I decided to have some sport with them. Took my 2240 and loaded it with grits. Final tweaked set up was to cut out .250 cardboard wads and chamber one,use a Lee powder dipper(can’t remember which size) scoop and pour the grits down the muzzle. I could knock down carpenter bees at about ten feet. The grits would compromise the wings , the bees would go down and then I’d stomp them. After Hurricane Harvey we replaced the Pergola with a nice all steel patio cover which is much more pleasing to the eye but not as much fun.
Of questionable relevance, here is a vocabulary lesson embedded in an enjoyable exchange at the store where I worked.
A customer came into the hardware store to buy some stain for his pergola project. I asked, “What’s a pergola?” He described it as a wooden structure to hold up roses and flowering plants. It’s big, you can walk under it.
“Oh, so it’s like a big trellis.”
“Yeah, but they call it a pergola.”
“A pergola.”
“Yep.”
“Well, when does a big trellis become a pergola?”
“I don’t know (a short time passes while we ponder). “It’s a good word though, “Pergola.”
“Yeah. All full of roses.”
“Yep.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for one.”
To tie in with the blog content, grits seem like an excellent shot out of your 2240, singleshotcajun! I bet you had fun with that.
I’m having a good time with the new Daisy 499B that BB enabled me to buy from PA last week. I shoot at five yards and it’s one air gun that I feel OK about using outside the yard, exposed to the neighbors’ scrutiny. An “ice breaker” air gun. It might draw them in if they’re curious.
Good story Will S.
I have always understood that a climbing aid for plants is a trellis. But up until recently, the ‘pergola’ would have had me scratch my scalp too. 🙂
However, having assembled a pergola in the garden, only a few weeks ago, I now know that it can be a free standing thing, with it’s sides and roof made of fancy metal lattice.
I also planted various climbers around it, in the hope of scented shade later.
My favourite: a climbing version of “Arthur Bell”, a rose with yellow flowers and, oh my goodness, what a heavenly perfume! Can’t wait for summer! 🙂
The only resident here that likes to kill bees, is my dog. I hear ‘clack-clack’ as she tries to bite them briefly in mid air, and then, when they’re on the ground.
Sometimes she comes inside, repeatedly licking her lips, which means she got stung, and I think ‘serves you right!’ 🙂
h3,
I’m glad you liked my story and that you have a fine, recently installed pergola in your yard. I see a pair of opposing benches inside to sit on, with the yellow Arthur Bell roses climbing the sides, I think you have something going there!
regards,
Will