Thanksgiving
This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the US. BB will be taking the day off, so Wednesday’s blog will be up until Friday. BB plans to sleep in!
Today reader tomek tells us about his new Umarex Legends Cowboy lever action CO2 BB gun.
If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me at blogger@pyramydair.com.
Take it away, Tomek.
My Umarex Legends Cowboy lever action CO2 BB rifle
by tomek
This report covers:
- This gun is for shooting
- Motivation
- The Winchester inside the airgun
- The cartridges
- Shooting
- The test
- Accuracy with pellets
- Surprisingly fast
- What’s it like?
Legends Cowboy Rifle and all the Winchester cartridges that fit in it.
This is my first “real” blog for you. Thank you BB for what you do in the background to load this up. Thanks to the guys who motivated me to write this: CptKlotz, Roamin Greco, Decksniper.
I would like to tell you why I decided to buy the Umarex Legends CO2 Cowboy Lever Action BB gun and what my impression is, now that I’ve had it for few weeks. It is not just a first-time “wow”! This “wow” lasts!
This gun is for shooting
The report includes some target results and velocity measurements. It is nice to see those details and objective data — but what this airgun is really all about is the fun I have with the shooting gallery. I will tell you at the very beginning – it is something that makes you say, Oh, yeahhh!” and puts on a smile that stays with you for a long time.
Today I would like to go through this with you without too much technical content, just a relaxed sharing of my impressions. It is not a one-hole pellet-pusher. This one is made to make you feel good. And against my nature I will not push it to the very end of possible technical performance.
My shooting gallery, dirty as it is.
Motivation
A friend of mine bought one. He wanted a realistic looking Winchester lever action. Through him I was able to see it, to touch and to try it. I never thought I would buy an 1894 Winchester CO2 replica. But I did. And why?
The Winchester inside the airgun
This is a very good replica. It looks like a Winchester, it feels like one and it is an accurate, fun to shoot airgun. I was not aware how long the Winchester lever action firearms were in production. But I found out they were made for a long time — a very long time they were and still are being made. This model was made from 1894 to the present, so it has to be good! There is something about this lever action that addicts people.
The Umarex Cowboy lever action receiver on the right side.
The left side of the Umarex Cowboy lever action receiver.
This old-looking finish is very nice. The surface is not as robust as the original steel – but it looks great. You can see in the picture above that after more than 500 shots the loading port tells the story. The wood is not real but it feels and looks nice.
The cartridges
I never tried to get something like a “real thing”. An airgun will not be the same as the real thing. That is the point of it being airgun — to not be the real thing. My first experience with a realistic-looking airgun was the Umarex Legends S25 revolver. I found its the way its cartridges load pretty clever!
I like the realistic cartridges.
My wife does not like me to call the ammo boxes, “A box of chocolates for the mother-in-law”. The golden ones are the Winchester shells, the silver ones are for the S25. You can use the S25 cartridges in the Winchester (but they need more attention to load properly) but you can’t use the Winchester cartridges in the revolver. There is a small but essential difference in the size and shape.
Winchester cartridge on the left, S25 revolver cartridge on the right.
When shooting the S25 cartridges from the revolver there is no difference in the accuracy and the velocity compared to original Winchester cartridges.
Who counted the cartridges in the very first picture? Did you see 11? The tubular magazine holds 10. Does that not match? Well it does! Ten cartridges go into the magazine and to get the last one into the rifle you need to chamber a cartridge. Then load one more into the magazine and you have it. That’s 11 shots without reloading. Nice!
Shooting
This airgun does the job well. Let me show you some results. Somehow I could not shoot well standing. [Editor: Welcome to my world, Tomek.] I decided to just shoot it like you normally would, without worrying about destroying the gallery. I was standing straight up and shooting offhand.
Mostly I shot 5 times per target for a quick check. I checked two types of BBs (steel and lead) and few pellet types.
The test
Distance to the target was 10 yards. The target was a 10-meter air rifle target with a black bullseye that’s 30.5mm (1.2-inches) in diameter. Shooting position was offhand.
What you are about to see shows also my mistakes – but it will give you the true picture how it may perform when the target is something from the shooting gallery and not just boring numbers.
H&N Excite Smart Shot lead BB – the CO2 cartridges were about half full, 4 shots are almost in one hole. These BBs are also better than the original ones Diana supplies with the Oktoberfest rifle. Their diameter is slightly bigger.
Steel BB’s — not bad at all. More than 5 shots in this one. I think it was 8.
Accuracy with pellets
Six shots with the H&N Field Target Trophy Power. The CO2 cartridges were about half full. These are very accurate. This copper-plated pellet has a high ballistic coefficient.
H&N Excite Econ II – full CO2 level, 7 shots. 4 Pellets in one tight group.
H&N Sport – a bit heavier target pellet, my HW30s likes it. The CO2 cartridges were about half full.
Umarex Mosquito (the old version 0.48 gram) – nice one, one of the fastest pellets. More than 8Joules energy. [Editor’s note: The Umarex Mosquito pellet, both old and new, is not available un the US.]
RWS Basic — nothing else I own likes this pellet, but the Winchester does like it! Seven times it does! This has to be a good one!
Surprisingly fast
I did the chrony test but to be honest only in the range high / middle CO2 level. I did not shoot until it stops – you can find many test like this which proves that there are many good shots and the repeatability is good. At some point you will see the velocity is dropping and you can decide when to put a new CO2 capsule.
Ambient temp. 20°C. Two CO2 capsules pierced. Test started after few shots (stable velocity level)
A small table I made for general energy check (approx):
Projectile………………Weight…………………..Velocity……………………..Energy
Steel BB………………..5.6gn/0.36gm…………..643 f.p.s./196 m/s………5.09 fp/6.9J
Lead BB………………..7.4 gn/0.48gm………….544 f.p.s./166 m/s ……..4.87 fp/6.6J
JSB Exact Beast……16.2gn/1.05gm…………..377 f.p.s/115m/s………..5.16 fp/7J
JSB Exact Monster..13.43gn/0.87gm…………420 f.p.s./128m/s ………5.2 fp/7.1J
H&N FTTP…………….8.8gn/0.57gm…………..538 f.p.s./164m/s ………5.68 fp/7.7J
H&N Sport……………..8.17gn/0.53gm ………..564 f.p.s./172m/s ………5.77 fp/7.9J
H&N ECON II………..7.48gn/0.48gm …………571 f.p.s./174m/s………5.38 fp/7.3J
UX Mosquito…………..7.48gn/48gm……………604 f.p.s./184m/s ……..5.97 fp/8.1J
RWS Basic………………6.94gn/0.45gm…………587 f.p.s./179m/s ……..5.31 fp/7.2J
RWS Meister……………8.18gn/0.53gm…………568 f.p.s./173m/s………5.86 fp/7.9J
What’s it like?
The Umarex Cowboy is a nice airgun. It’s fun to shoot. And, although it is a smoothbore, it is in good company with my other accurate airguns. Look…
On top, the king of one hole — my freshly tuned FWB300s. Next is the Umarex Cowboy, followed by the tuned Diana Oktoberfest after full tuning and “the babe” — my tuned HW30S.
The Winchester is the one that hasn’t been tuned — yet. It helps to put some grease everywhere where things move, but I am still getting used to it. What do you think?
Thank you for sharing your impresssions of your Umarex Winchester.
I have never owned one of the Umarex Winchesters, but a shooting buddy does and I have shot it on a few occasions. I have owned many real winchesters, and the ergonomics of the Airgun are extremely close and you get to enjoy the feel of the real Winchester without the cost of ammo, the noise and dangers of the full power firearm, and you can shoot the Umarex in your home.
That is a beautiful FWB 300,
I am in envy of your indoor range, it looks to have many targets of opportunity!
Ian.
Tomek, excellent blog! Very interesting reading. Great details. I really feel like I understand this gun. Nice shooting, too.
One question, how far do the shells eject from the gun and is it a pain to track them down for reloading?
Please do a blog on your shooting range and your backstop, next. It looks like a wonderland in your house.
And another quotable quote from Tomek (a Tomekism): “This ‘wow’ lasts!” If you’re not careful, we will have a book of Tomekisms soon.
Great job! Thank you.
Roamin,
The pleasure is mine!
The shells will fly a bit up and away from you depending on the reloading technique. If you work hard on lever it will jump like 4-5 feet away. You may also do it smooth and pointed in one direction – then the shells will land near to you in one place. It is not so dramatic in the basement – it might be challenging outside. It would be smart to have some small “exercise mat” with you and try to get them land there.
I directly bought some more shells and now it is a great opportunity to make me a present. “Just buy me a pack of shells” – I will get a lot of shells soon this way 🙂
Tomekism – hahah like this term. I have one book already in German language. 🙂 Believe me, the bio-German original ones sometimes laugh a lot 🙂
Tomek,
Nice impressions for the rifle from you. Definitely one not to the trash!
Siraniko
BB, it looks like you have some talented graduates from your Airgun Academy. The great enabler!
Nice job Tomek.
Just found a new Marlin 1895 Dark Series lever action and was going to mention something about it earlier this evening but decided to wait for today’s new blog. What a coincidence. Old is new again. A black Tact-T-Cool lever action.
Be nice if someone made an airgun copy of it. Just can’t decide if I would like a springer, CO2, pumper or PCP? A lever action pumper capable 600 FPS would be nice.
That’s really interesting and would allow for a great home defense set up with light and dot sight.
Your pondering about the airgun equivalent brings another question to mind for Tomek: how hard was it to work the lever to cock and work the action on the Umarex Winchester?
I think the CO2 or PCP would have an advantage in keeping the effort for working the lever relatively low. A multipump would need a long arm for leverage like the Barra that B.B. has been reviewing recently.
Roamin,
The action works really smooth. Especially after running in. It is a decisive move what you learn very fast.
I found the Daisy Redryder very hard to cock in comparison. (still waiting for supplier reply about it, broke after 700 shots).
Roman,
Adding to tomeks reply. The initial movement of the lever moves it out of a soft detent that holds it up against the stock and drops the bolt locks down and then it moves the bolt back to cock the hammer. Continued movement forward lifts the cartridge into position and pushes out the spent one. The last cartridge gets ejected by a small ejector built into the cartridge lift.
If you cock the hammer with your thumb in advance the lever will freefall to vertical once it clears the detent.
Lifting the cartridge into position from the mag with more forward lever action requires a bit more effort. Things are a little tight there and is probably what will eventually break in and get easier. Same returning the lever to stowed position, only in reverse.
It can all be done with one finger, but it takes a deliberate push to cycle it all and make it happen. Keep the lever in motion all the way to the end of each stroke.
The cartridge never actually enters the barrel. It just sits in position between a breach seal and the face of the bolt. The bolt lock in the rear ‘may’ push the bolt into the rear cartridge seal some or it’s just a tight fit, not sure.
By the way, this is about a 6-pound air gun and feels very solid in your hands. And the selectable safety is right under your thumb behind the trigger.
There is a green gas Airsoft model that feels exactly the same but isn’t, only easier to cock without cartridges. Has a brass? looking butt plate and actually has a flip up rear sight for all those 500 yd shots. 😉 They do go for realistic looks!
Bob,
Thank you 🙂
Very interesting Marlin. Wow.
It’s not a Marlin, but Umarex make a version called the Renegade which is similar
Ade C,
Wow just found out this airgun comes in around 5 different configurations, including the Renegade, but only one is available in the USA.
Dear BB,
I would like to first thank you so much for adding this blog. Now I see how much work you had with this short text and my “denglish”. It proves again how difficult it is to adapt to the native form of the sentence contruction and the general way of describing things – when you are not a native one 🙂 Many thanks!
Also for calculating from metric – ups, to be honest I did not think deep enough to directly calculate to FPS and ft lbs. I will do it better next time! Belive me, it is same exotic for me with FPS and ft lbs as it is for you with J and m/s. 😉 But thanks to this place I got used to it a bit – it is easier to fast re-calculate now.
tomek,
Thank you.
I was concerned that I wouldn’t say things the way you wanted to. I’m glad you like it.
BB
BB,
It is better to be understood rather than to talk to much without it.
Only one small thing I saw in the energy table – 6.83 fp/7.9J (typing mistake by both 7.9J pellets – 5.83fp it is).
Anyway it is a 5fpe+ CO2 airgun which I think is fairly enough for plinking at even 25 yards.
I measured the pellet diameter coming out of the barrel and it is near 4.4mm (bit more than 0.173). I think that is the key for accuracy – smooth bore but tight. I will check it at longer distance soon (I hope during Xmass brake).
tomek,
I corrected both entries, but they were calculated slightly wrong to begin with. I used the formula:
Pellet weight in grains times velocity squared divided by 450240. I checked against the Pyramyd AIR energy calculator and it agreed with my findings.
BB
BB,
Yes, I sometimes gave approximations – I made a bigger mistake using m/s, rounding to “whole value”.
tomek,
Don’t beat yourself up. I sometimes round up as well.
BB
tomek,
Thank you for this. You have almost convinced me to acquire one of these. Even though I have used them on occasion and they are superb when properly made, I never became a big fan of the lever action. I have always been a bolt action fan myself. I guess it had something to do with how I was raised.
Do not sell your writing ability short.
If that FWB300S ever needs a new home, let me know. 😉
BB,
Thanks for “translating”.
Your name is RidgeRunner, and you don’t like lever actions? I sense a disturbance in the Force!
LOL! I was raised with bolt actions. No pumps. No levers.
Something you need to understand is the 1894 could not handle modern high velocity rounds. It was not until Marlin (I think) brought out the rotating, locking bolt on their lever action that lever guns could stand that kind of recoil. A .30-30 was a close-range pop gun.
I adore the Mauser action.
Browning BLR, and Winchester 88 (I think) have rotating bolts, but what about the ol’ Winchester 1895? 30-06 and 7.62x54R, though they apparently have quite the recoil.
Mausers are fine actions; but we need to Make Mannlichers Great Again!
OP,
Are you wearing a red hat?
Not being a lever action dude, I am not up on the various powder burner lever guns. Now as for your Mannlicher, OK. Works for me.
My uncle has a Browning BLR in .308 Win. It’s light, handy, and has a clever removable magazine to hold the cartridges in a double stack instead of the Marlin .30-30 which has a tubular magazine where one bullet pushes against the primer of the cartridge in front of it. Another Browning innovation is the trigger rides with the lever, so you never pinch your finger between the point of the trigger and the lever. Don’t remember what the trigger felt like, but I can tell you it was plenty accurate for deer in the woods out to 200 yards or so.
My other uncle has a classic Marlin .30-30, which has been harvesting deer for 50 years. I’m nostalgic for that one because it was my first gun-related restoration project. After the gun was forgotten and poorly stored, it developed a lot of rust everywhere and would not group. I cleaned that gun like it was my mission in life, and got it back to fist-sized groups at 50 yards. It took a deer for the freezer just today.
tomek,
thanks for the report! This looks like a really nice gun.
Your results look very impressive, too. I don’t think I can shoot a group like your first one from an off-hand position, much less with a “plinking” gun. The FTT Power group looks really good as well.
I think this *is* serious competition to the Walther Lever Action. The Walther has real wood which is nice and a rifled barrel which may not be that important in an “action” gun like this.
How is the Diana Oktoberfest working out for you? From what I read on co2air.de, the first series were really terrible, but they seem to have improved them quite a bit since then. The Diana 30 Neo looks cool, but the price is just ridiculous. I guess it’s made for shooting gallery operators who will pay almost any price for replacement guns.
Stephan
Stephan,
Recently I do my 10m training with FWB300s almost every day. I got much better in standing up position. I remember not soo long ago standing up offhand was my personal nightmare position to shoot! I was terrified to find out how bad I am. It was the time when first thoughts about match rifle were generated. The Winchester center of gravity is pretty at the back, exactly where the loading port starts. It is not heavy on barrel and this combined with almost zero recoil makes it easy to aim and hold on target. One thing I learned is to hold position “longer” steady directly after pulling the trigger. Somehow I had tendency to break the shot at the beginning. I was surprized how in the middle the POI is out of the box (never changed it!). Especially when there is only up-down setting possible you are happy to hit where you aim.
The Diana Okti after mainspring swap (to a bit stronger one, also higher quality) and correct lubrication is a very stable velocity airgun. It is near 108m/s (355fps) average (using lead BB). I changed the original rear sight to Williams (from the Mauser 66, full metal part with visible scale). Also the barrel O-ring (you need to remove barrel to do it) I changed to a bit smaller one to avoid BB falling out through the barrel when the gun is hold down. A bit stronger recoil, quick shot cycle, smooth action with zero buzz. It is pleasure to use – need a bit more force to cock it… It is not as accurate as Winchester but failry accurate. With lead Excite BB’s you are able to stay mostly in one inch target at 10 yards. Some tighter groups with spread like this. My plan is also to test longer range like 25yards. Anyway it is mostly considered as gallery gun, not long range plinker.
There were issues at the beginning, now you can buy only “revision 3” version which is free from previous problems and the stock is OK.
Neo 30 – sorry, this price is a joke. It is not more accurate than Okti… If it is going to last much longer, hmm. And the shot counter – you will never watch it.
The rifled barrel is not always a better option. With Winchester you can use steel BB’s without concern. It is possible that the BB will be even more accurate at 25yards than pellets… anyway enough accurate for this type of airgun.
tomek,
your results show the benefit of consistent training.
I think I also like a center of gravity towards the rear (which may be part of the reason I like short rifles like the HW30S or Diana 27). Another benefit of the light ones is that I can easily do ten shots without putting down the rifle. I can’t do that with the FWB300S without my accuracy suffering because my arm gets tired 🙂
You’re right that the Cowboy rifle has advantages over the Walther Lever Action. The part about steel BBs is true, one might like the realistic cartridge ejection (or not) and you can use 12g CO2 cartridges out of the box (which for inexplicable reasons are cheaper per volume of CO2 than the 88g ones).
Since you went to the trouble of writing a guest blog, I’m going to let the cat out of the bag: I have more Diana content coming. I couldn’t resist buying a 1984 25 DS. The tiny scope is what came with the rifle, but I’m using the Hawke for accuracy testing.
Stephan
Great to hear it Stephan! I wait for your report!
Actually what I’m doing right now for the training is warm up – like 20 pellets and than it goes: 10 target in one frame which I can push from one to the other side, each target gets 5 shots (for easy point counting). This makes warm up and 50 contest shots for one training. This is exactly where I should do a brake to not be tired holding this FWB300S. Each time reloading is done with the gun put on table (I hold the back of the stock, the rest is on the bench-rest holder). Similar to tripod used in the real 10m contest game. Otherwise it would be a pain to hold it for the whole time!
I try to do it once or twice a day. After work usually. Once I made 5 session like this in the afternoon, this was hard.
Shooting the gallery does not improve my accuracy but it improves the handling and rapid fire – and here is the Cowboy Rifle the strongest.
Regarding 88g capsule – there is adapter for the Walther to use 2 x 12g CO2 capsules! You can use it as one big 88g capsule and each time decide to go with one or two 12g small capsules, depending on how much you shot. At the end you can leave the gun without pressure to wait for the next time.
Stephan, is the trigger adjustable? I have a Winchester 425 (Diana 25) with two adjustment screws and it is fine!
Greco,
I think there is a good chance it has a ball bearing trigger, which adjusts like this: https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2017/09/the-diana-27-part-2/
tomek
You are becoming quite the enabler. Like RR above I’m starting to get an itch to acquire one of these guns. About 40 years ago I decided I had to have a lever rifle for no other reason than I didn’t have one. So I bought a used Marlin 336 caliber 30-.30. in NRA very good condition. It could just as easily been a Winchester, the point being every gun enthusiast should have a lever gun.
That is good shooting and thanks for doing this report. I look forward to more.
Deck
Been thinking of getting a Henry lever-action in .22 WMR; lead FM not into temptation!
FM
A Henry would be a good choice because Benjamin Tyler Henry made the first practical lever action rifle 163 years ago.
Deck
FM, I can assure you that a Henry Frontier suppressor-ready .22 mag is a fun gun to shoot!
Well thank you for that “enabling endorsement!” 🙂
Everyone,
Funny true story.
Years ago my wife, Edith, and I were in a local gun store and she spotted a Winchester model 94 in .30-30. It had a scope mounted on the left side of the action. She said, “Look, Tom, they have a Walther lever action pellet rifle.”
Long story short, we bought that rifle and I still have it.
BB
“…we bought that rifle and I still have it.”
BB, that’s a great story, and I’m glad you still have that rifle! 🙂
BB,
Like the dream of most of us. Your wife tells you, “Oh, it’s a beautiful gun, let’s buy it!” 🙂
Well done report, thanks Tomek and BB! I couldn’t help myself from envisioning Chuck Connors (as the rifleman) shooting rapid-fire from the hip as I read your report. A couple of questions: How would a left-handed shooter do with this gun? Does it eject straight up or at an angle? Thanks again!
Elmer, thanks! 🙂
There should not be any issues for left-handed shooter. It does eject straight up (mostly), depending on how hard you are on lever. There is no preferable angle while ejecting which I observed. The stock is completely symmetric (ambi).
Let me please check this ejecting angle again. As right-handed shooter I didn’t even thought about it.
Tomek,
A great report! I have long thought about getting one of these, and you might turn out to be yet another great enabler. ;^) I have held off because I have a couple of the older, no shells, Walther Lever Actions, and I have felt unable to justify the expense of a third lever air gun. But you might have just given me enough of a push!
Michael
Michael,
Let me be the thought catalysator – 🙂
That’s a great sentence!
“I have felt unable to justify the expense of a…”. This problem I struggle with almost once a week! Yesterday I modified my new Crossman 2240… Damn, it’s a great gun, especially with the custom wood grips and some extra mass. I was unable to justify another pistol – I just bought it 😀
Picture size.
Just realized that if you use a white or very light-colored background it will accept larger pictures to post.
I’ve got a 1950 model Marlin 39, a 1951 Marlin 336(30-30) and a reproduction Winchester 1892 in .357 magnum, love lever guns. I’ve had a “Cowboy” four years now and it just sprung a leak. It is leaking inside the receiver, likely where the tubing enters the poppet valve. I will eventually get round to it and try to fix it. If I did the math on the number of shots through it in four years and compared cost to .22 LR I am money ahead including the cost of the bb model.
Nothing can touch BBs and airsoft for cost per round, but I just saw an ad for a case of .22 rimfire cartridges (over 3000 of them) for a calculated $0.07 per round. That is less than many premium .177 pellets containing a lot less lead, not to mention no brass and no primer. So when are we going to see prices dropping on pellets?
This week, gas is $1.99 per gallon! What year is it? How old am I?
I can easily remember Federal”Lightning” .22 LR regularly on sale for 4.99 per 500 rd Brick. Yes Sir, the cost of some pellets are getting out of hand. I mainly use Crosman bulk for .177 and .22 and Hatsan for .25. I am fortunate that most of my Airguns do well on either.
These days I get most of my kicks with Daisy Number 25, I just ordered another and three bottles of Black Diamonds from PA, the free bullseye bucks were too tempting.
The price for pellets is ridiculous. When I read about the .22 rimfire cartridges cheap prices compared to a stupid pellet I’m lost in translation.
BTW: the fuel costs today like 1,73 EUR per one liter. It is 7,87 EUR per gallon…
I drilled and tapped mine for a standard peep for Marlins and Winchesters. It shoots very well with Crosman wadcutters and the silver cases for the Umerex pellet Peacemakers.
Good, fun read on a good fun gun, Tomek. Nothing wrong with the writing; hope this won’t be your only blog article. You might try this shooting technique and see how your groups turn out. 🙂
FM,
Already tried it! This is great position to not lose your shells spreaded all around. Just turn the gun a bit to your left during re-load and the “empties” will land directly in front of you. Already lost one shell in the basement 😀 The groups are not much better, unfortunately. But – they don’t have to be better! Just load it with 11 shells and destroy the gallery – no chance to miss.
If you could find small plastic figures of “bad hombres,” you could make your own “Rifleman Moments” in your gallery.
Like these?
Roamin Greco,
what a collection!
I think those figurines are too nicely painted to risk damaging.
However, their shapes are hilarious !!! 🙂
My favourite, by an absolutely minimal margin, is the squinting revolvers shooter… 🙂
That squinty shooter may represent the little-known Sheriff Fawlty Dead-Eyes, who had a reputation for hitting anything but his intended targets; eventually, as legend has it, he was only allowed to load blank cartridges.
FawltyManuel,
you may be right.
Because I can’t see a badge, I wonder if we see him represented off-duty?
By the way, have you noticed the different sizes, ie little people and giants, and none have tumbled despite lack of base-platforms? I think something’s wrong… 🙂
Well tomek, thanks for this (I think… LOL! )
I’ve always avoided anything Co2 (due to bad experiences as an uninformed newbie teenager) but you have me considering one of these Legends Cowboys. It would be great as a casual shooter to compliment my FWB 10 meter airguns for the winter indoor shooting season. It’s good to take a break between serious shooting sessions.
I’m going to look into price and availability here in Canada.
I agree – the “smile factor” is an important metric 🙂
Enjoyed your blog, excellent content! Don’t worry about “perfect English” as the readership understands and is generally happy take your meaning. Heck, I speak 3 languages (English, French and Dutch) and my sentence structure is pretty weird at times 😉
I’m hoping that you share more of your experiences and knowledge in future guest blogs.
Hank
Imperfect English can be charming; FM knows…Mrs. FM, she corrects him sometimes, after a good guffaw.
https://youtu.be/RoCslBHMDfM
Has H&N discontinued producing their Excite copper coated lead shot BB’s or is stock just really low, they seem hard to find in the usual channels…
Chachoze,
They are not discontinued. People are just buying the heck out of them.
BB
Chachoze,
I found the Excite copper coated lead BB’s to be more accurate than original Diana Oktoberfest. There is not dramatic but measurable difference. I think since the Diana Oktoberfest air rifle is available without big issues and the price is really OK there is a lot people who need BB’s. Recently I bought 7000 of them (to be prepared for the Xmass brake …). So you can see I have alone bought more than 15000 since I have this rifle. Crazy. They also work fine in a BB pistol like the Makarov (UX Legends).
Tomek, no-one minds a spelling mistake here or there, but I know you appreciate a correction without being offended. So, even though Mass has two s’s, Xmas has one. And brakes slow things down but a break is an interruption or a division into pieces.
Using translator to check is like driving with navigation 🙂
Right…every once in a while you end up going the wrong way down a one way street. Ha!
Ok, Thanks for the info. These seem to tame my Lil Duke bb gun better than most other bb’s.
Will have to continue to keep an eye out for them.
I would like to see the return of the Daisy 99(I think). I lever action bb long gun with a peep sight and a spring loaded shot tube so one does not have to point the gun to the sky to load a bb.
I find my Walther lever action rifle to be satisfyingly accurate and my Umarex Cowboy lever action airgun fun, especially due to handling of the shells.
Because I struggle to find the shells, especially in grass – their shiny finish camouflages them surprisingly well – I now catch each shell before it drops to the floor.
I half-cycle the action with a determined downward push of the lever and catch the ejected and now spinning shell out of the air. Having pocketed it, I finally complete the cycling of the action by returning the lever up to it’s stowed position.
It’s easier than it sounds and I enjoy the process. 🙂
Cool trick!
Tomek,
Great report!!! Nice Job! I too have been on the fence with this gun. The only thing I’m not crazy about is part of what makes it cool. The ejecting shells. I love to walk in the woods, along the river and so on with my air gun (sometimes firearm). I don’t like the idea of having to worry about the shells. I used to want a Walther for that reason, but I think they aren’t available anymore and they were expensive for what it was. Just this last weekend I went and took my Winchester 9422 (lever action 22LR). I like the slim lines and the way the gun handles. Only thing I liked as much was the Winchester Pump 22 I had. It was faster shooting than my lever, but didn’t look as “cool” to me. If I can ever get over the fear of losing shells, who knows. Thanks again for the blog!
Doc
Doc, you could invent the “brass”-catcher mod.
tomek,
Thank you for your excellent report!
In general, I’m a big fan of lever-guns, and you really highlighted the desirable traits of this one.
Also, I love your shooting gallery; it puts mine to shame! 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
Did a bit more research. There actually is a working shell extractor on top of the bolt assembly. It doesn’t actually extract the cartridge form a barrel but pulls it back just enough to clear the edge on the breach that captures the cartridge and holds it in position and probably works in conjunction with the ejector on the cartridge lift to throw-out the cartridge.
The inner bolt is spring loaded to apply pressure to the seals and has its own protruding edge to hold the cartridge in alignment with the barrel. There is also an air / CO2 tube inside the bolt center, and it too may be part of the ejection cycle?
The bolt ‘carrier’ is closed tight when the bolt lock(s) come up behind it with lever action. A lot going on in there.
Pic shows Bolt Carrier with extractor on top, spring loaded Bolt within and the now protruding Air Tube in the center. You can also see the protruding Breach Edge that holds the Cartridge centered.
Didn’t mean to Highjack the blog. Just wanted to add a few interesting points I found.
Bob,
Actually the report is missing one picture which is similar to what you uploaded. Thanks for that! 🙂
tomek,
Glad you feel that way and it worked out. I thrive on the technical stuff, and you left some room for that information. I think BB skipped over it too. Others who think like me might enjoy it or it may be helpful in deciding on purchasing one or not. This is a fine general-purpose, well built, Historical Airgun anyone would be proud to own and experience shooting.