Slavia 612.
This report covers:
- Whoops!
- Remember
- BB velocity
- Pellet velocity
- Discharge sound
- Velocity with feathered darts
- Velocity with bolts
- Cocking effort
- Trigger pull
- Summary
I told one reader I would soon return to report on darts. Today is the day.
Whoops!
I thought I had already covered the velocity if the Slavia 612 airgun, but was surprised to learn I hadn’t. I guess I need a whole case of round tuits! But this is a good thing because I can test the two types of darts at the same time I test BBs and pellets.
Remember
Remember that the Slavia 612 is a smoothbore airgun that is lower powered and originally meant for kids. I showed the box in Part 1. This airgun is made to shoot BBs darts and pellets and of course darts come with both feathered tails and also as bolts. I will test the velocity of all four projectiles today. First let’s see what it looks like when it’s broken open to cock and load.
The 612 is broken open to cock and load. Sorry, Yogi, but no cardboard for the angle. My eye says it’s about 125 degrees.
As a gun (no rifling, so not a rifle) the 612 has a compromise bore that can shoot BBs (0.173-inches/4,39mm), darts, bolts and pellets (0.177-inches/4/5mm). So BBs will be loose and pellets a bit tight. We will test the accuracy so you get an idea of what that means — but not today.
As a dart gun I have reported that this one seems to be a magnum. It buries darts so deep in the sisal dartboard when shot from 12 feet that I’ve bent two just by pulling them out. Today we learn what sort of velocity it takes to do that. And from that we will learn what the relative velocities of the other dart guns I’ve tested for you might be. Now, let’s start testing.
BB velocity
First I will test the velocity of BBs. I will shoot the ASG Blaster BBs since they are on the large side and also premium. In this airgun BBs are pressed into the opening of the leather breech seal.
Ten BBs averaged 404 f.p.s. The spread was from a low of 389 to a high of 425 f.p.s. — a 36 f.p.s. spread. Given the nature of the airgun, that seems both acceptable and also on the fast side of what I was expecting.
Pellet velocity
I chose a 7-grain RWS Basic pellet for this test. Since the Slavia 612 is lower-powered, it seems to be the right choice. Ten Basics averaged 276 f.p.s. The low was 253 and the high was 305 f.p.s. — a spread of 52 f.p.s. I note that the average for pellets is 129 f.p.s. slower than for BBs. That seems surprising, but the Basics did fit a little tight in the breech. Just their skirts were tight and I thought that would seal the air behind them. Perhaps it did because of what I saw.
While shooting pellets I noticed that with each shot I saw a blast of oil vapor escape from the breech. It came out around the breech for about 3/4 of the circumference, so air was leaking out everywhere. If you look at how the barrel breaks open, plus look at both the breech seal and the breech in Part 1, you’ll see that the 612 will never seal very well. Sure, I could have held the barrel tight against the breech and improved the velocity somewhat, but since I would never shoot that way it wouldn’t be realistic. So I didn’t.
Discharge sound
I expected the discharge to be nearly silent — perhaps in the 65-70 decibel range. I was surprised to see 91.6 dB. Yes, that’s relatively quiet, but I had guessed a lot less.
Velocity with feathered darts
I didn’t shoot a string with feathered darts, just one dart. I wanted to know a ballpark of how fast a feathered dart leaves the muzzle, because this Slavia 612 has buried feathered darts so deep into a sisal dart board sitting 12 feet away that I bent the dart point freeing it. How fast does it have to leave the muzzle for that to happen? I would have guessed 250-300 f.p.s.
The dart went out of the muzzle at 172 f.p.s. and those “feathers” on the tail will slow it down much faster than even the skirt of a diabolo pellet. So at 12 feet it’s probably traveling no more than 100 f.p.s.
Velocity with bolts
With bolts I expected the velocity to be really high because this gun buries bolts so deep in the dart board that I ruined several while prying them back out! But I also noticed when I loaded this one that it fit the breech very loosely. In fact, if I tilted the barrel down I believe the bolt would fall out of the barrel altogether.
The bolt went out the muzzle at 177 f.p.s. That’s not much faster than the feathered dart. It’s true the bolt won’t slow down nearly as fast, but it doesn’t start that fast either.
Cocking effort
The gun cocks with 14 pounds of effort. That’s very much in keeping with it’s intended purpose as a youth airgun.
Trigger pull
The single-stage trigger is stiff and jerky. The letoff comes at 5 pounds 10 ounces, which is more than double the gun’s weight of 2 lbs. 6.7 oz. Not good for teaching youngsters how to shoot.
Summary
Today we have seen the performance of the Slavia 612 airgun. It’s both faster and not as fast as I imagined. But going forward we now know how it performs. Next we test accuracy and then we can compare all four types of ammunition.
” It buries darts so deep in the sisal dartboard when shot from 12 feet that I’ve bent two just by pulling them out.”
BB,
That is pretty interesting that the dart velocity was 172 fps.
Based on the performance in the dartboard, I would have expected 100 fps more than that.
But the really interesting part will be the accuracy testing.
Thank you for a most entertaining report. 🙂
Blessings to you,
dave
B.B.
It is the mass of the dart that buries it so deep in your target.
I was surprised to learn that Walther makes a smoothbore barrel blank….
-Y
Tom,
Are you sure darts are supposed to be shot at 12 feet? Maybe it ought to be shot at 5 yards like BBs?
Siraniko
Siraniko,
When it comes to darts I’m sure of nothing.
BB
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier),
8 metres !
At least, according to the Slavia 612 Manual (first page of two pictured below) that I found online here: http://www.vzduchovka.cz/dokumentace/Slavia612_En.pdf
Does anyone else have to now play a tick a box game before they’re permitted entry to this site?
It’s been annoying me all weekend and still is today! 🙁
3hi,
Fortunately, I do not have to go through that gobbltygook. It could be that you are from across the pond.
RidgeRunner,
Yup! Got to protect our SECRETS and Intellectual Property from them foreigners so that Hunter, family, and friends can sell them to the highest bidder.
shootski
In defense of Pyramyd I must say that this can be a reasonable precaution.
Yes, these CAPTCHAs are annoying, but they can prevent the site from being swamped with nonsensical / abusive requests that overload the server.
And yes, there might be some kind of geo filter active which can make sense if abusive traffic comes from specific regions.
CptKlotz,
thanks for offering your different perspective. Selfish me, too often fails to see another’s point of view… 🙁
I just wish we were forewarned about these changes.
RidgeRunner,
special treatment for people “… from across the pond.”, what, because we’re unlikely to become customers? Maybe.
Kinda reminds me of the one time I tried to buy from pyramydair and was told, my money was no good, hmm… 🙁
——–
Actually, I thought that these interactive hurdles were just another way of ‘pinging’ a computer to unmask it’s true online identity.
In my case, I expect the trigger for this type of nuisance, could be my use of a Virtual Private Network that is supposed to re-route my connection to the internet via some other location / computer.
——–
Whatever the reason, why now?
I wonder if pyramydair is trying, yet again, to ‘improve’ things…
I think it is most likely from your use of measures to maintain your privacy rather than your location. The site thinks you are a new visitor every time. If I deleted my P/A cookie, I think I would get the same thing. However, I visit every day and log in and click ‘remember me.’
That seems to work for about a month and then I’ll have to manually log in again. Not sure if there is a workaround. Is it each time you visit the site?
Remember that spinner that used to annoy you so much that you temporarily left our little group? I was browsing the website but without logging in and the spinner was lying in wait for me. But once I logged in, it hasn’t come back in a while.
Roamin Greco,
what a good egg you are! Thanks for trying to help me. Again. 🙂
I have not made any changes, yet, which is why I suspect pyramydair has.
And yes, since the weekend, I am inconvenienced every time I visit pyramydair.
Oh well, let’s see how long this’ll go on for, eh? 🙂
——–
By the way, I have encountered that spinner pop-up elsewhere on pyramydair’s website, erm, let me see… yep, it’s still a thing! 🙁
3hi,
PAIR is “improving things”. Have you not noticed all of the changes they have made recently. We must be sure to thank PAIR for going through all of these “improvements” just for us.
RidgeRunner,
assuming “PAIR” means Pyramydair: Yes, I have noticed this website deteriorating further. 🙁
I wish I didn’t care to communicate with the nicest people in this most awkwardly awful online place!
Hurrah, five days later and it’s gone ! 🙂
Neither for the first visit, nor after refreshing the page after a while, to see if the “comments” number has gone up, do I first have to remove the popup blocker.
I don’t know how many times I had to perform the same robotic procedure to verify I’m human… 🙁
BB,
This would indeed be a “fun gun” to play with some, most especially in the shape this one is in. I am looking forward to your further exploits with this “toy”.
P.S. Boy, did you make a bunch of booboos this time. Throughout this article, including some of the picture captions, you have referred to this airgun as a 618 instead of a 612. There was another mistake elsewhere, but I cannot find it now.
RR,
I counted two 618s. Fixed them.
BB
BB
I witnessed the interest in Ireland over Christmas for dart throwing matches. Seemed every pub TV was tuned to it. So your earlier report tweaked my interest for darts so I ordered some bolts and feather tails. Shooting results were good and bad. Accuracy at 10 meters was a pleasant surprise because I wasn’t expecting much at that distance. But extracting either type of dart from whatever target backstop I tried proved daunting. One pump using a .177 dart in a .22 multi pump might keep velocity low enough but it’s tough to muzzle load the feather tail type.
The good news is I get to see your upcoming test rest results.
Please get well,
Deck
Decksniper, other Darters and Bolters,
To load feather or hairy type darts get some copper water tubing (Aluminum or Brass works too) and slide the projectile NOSE first into the tube. Next place the rear of the tube up to the airgun muzzle and push the projectile into the bore with your rod. You could get fancy and have a short starting rod and a long rod to seat the projectile deep in the bore.
Choose your tubing Outside Diameter (O.D.) to match your Bore’s I.D. (Inside Diameter); CLOSE is good enough.
shootski
Shootski
So choose a tube with O.D. slightly under .22 and thin enough to slide in the .177 feathery thing. Is the tube easily found after shooting for reuse?
Deck
Decksniper,
Think of the short tube as a funnel of sorts to start the dart or bolt tail first into the muzzle.
The O.D. and I.D. of the short tube is based on the caliber of the dart shooter you are using.
The loading tube and ramrod do not take part in the shot.
Shootski
B.B.,
Do you think pliers or other device could be designed to pull those buried darts?
https://www.amazon.com/Removal-Pliers-Fastener-Plastic-Dashboard/dp/B0BV18NXK7/ref=asc_df_B0BV18NXK7/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=663237418261&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1183368324229725559&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007528&hvtargid=pla-2253441202317&mcid=36a35cb2293f322292611e1d13e73aac&th=1
shootski
PS: Some type of Nail Puller: https://www.amazon.com/Bates-Puller-Pliers-Remover-Carpenter/dp/B07W1H1ZZL/ref=asc_df_B07W1H1ZZL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385124930314&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7782747090375961414&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007528&hvtargid=pla-836510965429&psc=1&mcid=b2dbe4fe38cb3642a757a1f3ceb3a8c8&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=80210700684&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385124930314&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7782747090375961414&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007528&hvtargid=pla-836510965429&gclid=Cj0KCQjwq86wBhDiARIsAJhuphm5wCCDjWdM5k7WKABtWEvQrAAFCIXpVqQAy5VnNzhQAABDK7cGaVIaAuTMEALw_wcB,
shootski,
The first one is a modern replica of what some antique dart guns came with originally. Good show!
BB
BB
Not sure why the dart is embedding at that FPS. I use a Daisy 35 at one pump with Bolts. Target is a paper dart board but I use cork rounds on a Shoot NC. Posted target is at 15 feet, 20 darts. I pull after each shot.
Kind Regards
jda-001
Determining an airguns accuracy.
The days are getting sunny and drier, and I thought about resuming my accuracy testing for the BM8 and Crosman Mag-Fire but after a lot of thought I decided no. I don’t think I have enough experience shooting springers for accuracy testing to come up with any determination. I consider myself more of a collector.
If as you say, there are lots of people out there reading this blog we know nothing about, I would hate to mislead any future buyer or potential airgunner as to the quality or accuracy of any new airgun without being a qualified marksman or having a lot of experience with springers and target shooting in particular.
I have set aside my springers for plinking after getting my first FX PCP early on and am in the learning process of shooting springers accurately myself. The reason I was looking for a shortcut to separate the airguns accuracy capability from my own.
Knowing what to do and accomplishing it takes time and practice for sure. Not to mention finding the best pellet for each situation.
If great accuracy comes easily, I will comment on it but if it requires a real challenge with trial and error to get it to shoot well, I will pass on it, for now, and leave it to the experts … like you!
If I luck out and find the right combination for any given airgun to shoot well, I will certainly let it be known, in the future.