This report covers:
- Thank RidgeRunner
- Different airguns
- El Gamo David
- Another little guy
- Diana 23
- BAM XS-B15
- Slavia 612
- Summary
Today we embark on a journey that’s going I don’t know where. All I know at this point is the path we are following. We will be looking at small spring-piston air rifles.
Thank RidgeRunner
You can thank reader RidgeRunner and his report on the Falke 50 for this. Reading that reminded me that I have quite a host of little springers lying around and I have never done anything with them except test them in my usual way. It’s nice to know how well they work but a bit on the boring side when there are so many other things that can be done.
Different airguns
You will notice that I didn’t put any airgun model in the title of this report. That’s because I have several different models to look at and at this point I really don’t know which way to turn. I think I will retest some guns with some of the newer premium pellets that have come out, but with other guns I will do some work. As I see it now there will be some disassemblies (everyone says yay!) and at least one gun needs to have its barrel straightened.
El Gamo David
One of the guns I will look at is the El Gamo David. The WHAT??? Yes, the El Gamo David is a smaller spring-piston breakbarrel rifle. I did a 4-part review of it in 2020.
El Gamo David.
This one is larger than most of the little guys at 38-1/2-inches overall. It weighs 4 pounds 12 ounces. The barrel is 15-7/8-inches long and the pull is an adult-sized 14-1/4-inches. So this one is for adults, too.
I said back when I wrote about it that I might tear the rifle apart and tune it, but I just shot it and it doesn’t seem to need tuning. It’s smooth enough, except for a bump at the end of the cycle, and the 2-stage trigger is almost crisp, but a bit heavy. My test four years ago measured stage two of the trigger at 5 pounds 8 ounces. I said then that lubrication might improve the pull, so I guess it’s time to find out.
I had to order a breech seal from TW Chambers in the UK, because the one the rifle came with was toast. After installing it I did a normal test and was surprised how accurate the rifle is. I am curious about what the rifle will do with the newer premium pellets that have come to market.
Another little guy
Another little guy I have is a Winchester 422, which is a Diana model 22 with a different name. This one is really a pipsqueak!
The Diana 27 (Hy Score 807) on top, Diana 23 (Gecado 23) in the center and the Winchester 422 (Diana 22) on the bottom. Those two Dianas are really tiny!
The 422 measures 35-5/8-inches long over all with a 14.25-inch barrel. It weighs 3.5 lbs. The pull is 13 inches, so the rifle can be used by adults. And yes, the barrel is rifled, as I believe all Winchester pellet rifles were, except the model 416.
This is the rifle that has a bent barrel. I need to straighten this one — just like I believe RidgeRunner needs to straighten the barrel on his Falke 50. Here is the 5-part report series that tells how that’s done.
Diana 23
The Diana 23 is a very similar air rifle to the Diana 22, as you can see in the picture above. I have a Gecado 23 which is just another name for the Diana 23. But there are two differences between the Diana 22 and 23. On the 23 the breech seal is located at the end of the spring tube and not at the barrel breech. And the 23 has a ball bearing breech lock while the 22 has a chisel detent. Size-wise and power/accuracy-wise the two rifles are very similar.
Diana 23 (Gecado 23) on top. Diana 27 (Hy Score 807) below.
BAM XS-B15
A little breakbarrel air rifle I have never shown you is my BAM XS-B15. I bought it to test for you years ago, but the one I received wasn’t working. I got busy and forgot about it until today.
BAM XS-B15. Who knew the Chinese could make breakbarrels this nice?
BAM XS-B15 marks.
This one really does need to be taken apart.
This is a sweet little air rifle and nothing like the hypersonic trash many companies bring in from China. This one is a real airgun and I’m curious how it stacks up. If I knew how to buy an air rifle like this today from the manufacturer the Air Venturi Bronco needn’t have gone away!
Slavia 612
I do have a Slavia 612 that’s very small, but it’s a smoothbore. I’m not including it in this report series.
Summary
Well that’s where we are. Do I have any other little breakbarrel springers? Probably, but the ones I’ve mentioned are the ones I’m looking at. Believe me — there is a LOT to look at here!
Cute. I have a Diana 22 and a 23 to compare with yours.
The fun thing about these little airguns is that in most instances, they can be disassembled without the need for a spring compresser.
I bought a new Hatsan Alpha, with the harvest moon finished stock. Mine is the older model, and I got it for $46.62 in 2019. Fun little shooter, and well worth what I paid for it. Haven’t shot any pests with it, as it’s rated at just 500 fps. It’s a springer.
A little off topic but,
My first dedicated powerful pellet rifle, a QB-25, I purchased at a gun show on my way out. I could not hit anything until I found this blog and learned to check stock mounting screws right out of the box. Of course, they were all very loose and it changed everything. And I really got into air guns later on when I moved to the boonies.
About that time Compasseco was going out of business and had some great sales so I ordered a TF-89 Contender, just for the price. Nice looking air rifle.
Many more followed and I never got around to shooting it. I had the QB-25. It wound up in the back of a gun locker for years and I actually forgot about it. Till a while back. Nice surprise.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where all rifles and pistols must be locked up and some get forgotten or hidden out of sight. Especially when you have … a bunch. Or some are just not that impressive enough to get used a lot.
It would probably be better to keep all your rifles securely stored for easy viewing and access, somehow? to avoid this neglectful situation. Any suggestions or is it just me being too lazy to dig through a safe. Now that I think about it … Many smaller safes may work out better.
B.B.
Shouldn’t the Bronco be on the list?
-Ygoi
Yogi,
The Bronco is quite a bit larger than these little guys.
BB
Yogi,
After some consideration I have added the Bronco to the list.
BB
I’m a big fan of the Diana 25! Smaller than the 27 but bigger than the 23.
For a variation on this, try the Daisy 250, made in Scotland marketed by Milbro using German machines and technology appropriated from ww11. The Daisy has it’s design in pre-war technology but made Into the ’60s. The Diana is post war tech.
Me too! And the newer 24. But the 23 and 22 were quite a bit smaller.
If you ever get a chance to buy a Daisy 250 buy it fast!!
There’s even a Daisy 230 the Scotish version of your Daina 23!
Sumpin to look fer…
I have a Daisy 230! The owner’s grandfather cut down the stock even further for her when she was very young. It has a very curious dovetail on top.
BB,
Thank you, thank you! I am glad I stirred up an itch that had to be scratched.
It has been pretty nasty around here airgun weather wise for the last few days, so I have not been doing any shooting. It was raining some last week, the wind has been doing quite a number for the last few days, and it was even snowing a little yesterday. Temperature wise it has been a little on the chilly side. REAL chilly.
I do hope the weather settles down some. I would enjoy a little range time myself. I might even let you guys look over my shoulder some. Maybe when I get my new garage built, I will be able to deal with some of this a little bit better.
Do I hear a little German falcon calling me?
BB,
Do you still have that Belgian Hy-Score 801 thats covered in checkering?
Derrick,
I think that one has left the building.
BB
Good, interesting read; these make the HW30 seem a giant. Speaking of, that is a smokin’ fun little gun. 😉
Hope the weather is not too intrusive on everyone’s shooting activities; here we have the reverse of what RR faces – finally the exhausting heat and rain broke so one can sanely enjoy a bit of outdoor shooting.
BB
Hoping you will include trying newest premium pellets in all. So far I have not found any new pellets that outshine the old guard for accuracy in any power range or type airgun. Perhaps readers will point me to some I haven’t tried.
This series should be fun.
Deck
This promises to be an interesting series. I was curious about the barrel bending process, and read the five older reports. Just looking at the photo, I think I see the barrel of the Winchester 422 pointing upwards more than it should be….
Elmer,
It looks that way to me, too.
BB
Nice to read about the little springers BB!
They are great close range plinking rifles ideal for basement and backyard use.
My R7 has pretty much replaced my old Slavia 818 in that role but this series might just motivate me to take out the 618 for a complete overhaul.
Hank
B.B.
I feel the way FM commented above about now the size of a HW30/Beeman R7 isn’t a small break barrel. Now I need to reconsider. It’s more of a middle weight I guess. Not asking you to include it, but maybe a pic of a size comparison of it with these small guys? Looking forward to the rest of this one.
Doc
“I do have a Slavia 612 that’s very small, but it’s a smoothbore. I’m not including it in this report series.”
Aww, c’mon BB!
Your title is “Little springers,” not “Little springer rifles.”
Why not throw that little spud in?…at least for a quick photo and some specs.
I’d be curious, as I’ve never seen one. 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
Dave,
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2024/04/slavia-612-breakbarrel-airgun-part-two/
BB
Thanks, BB; it looks like I’ve officially lost my mind, LOL! I MUST have read that earlier report as I did comment on it! 🙂
Brother Dave,
My rememberer is also a bit rusty, so I understand completely.
BB
Thank you! 🙂
Whatever happened to the Haenel 1? Also, have you ever had the pleasure of shooting a Belgian Hyscore 801?
jiminpgh,
Please allow that in 15 years a lot of airguns have changed at my house. I buy and sell them to have different one to show you.
As for the 801:
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2010/02/hy-score-801-part-3/
BB
Jim, in case you don’t know, and as a reminder for the good of the order, if you are ever curious about whether B.B. covered an airgun in the blog, or even whether any readers have commented about practically any topic (ballistics, remote control airplanes, motorcyles, etc.), there is a way to search both B.B.’s posts and the comments (which the Pyramyd Air website will not search the comments). What you can do is use Google and first search for “Google Advanced Search.” Then you can use the fields in Google Advanced Search to insert your search terms, and then the trick is to limit the search to “pyramydair.com/blog”
Diana 23s are lovely. Maybe out of your size range, but so are 25s (esp the D and DS) and the 27 in any form (esp the S).
The old small Webleys (Junior, Jaguar, Ranger) aren’t quite as good, but are rather charming.
No mention of the Diana 24J.
A great beginner’s rifle in 177.
Just need to add better front globe sight and Williams peep!
Made those improvements for my son. He turned into quite a marksman.
He’s now a Lt. Col. in the Army Engineers. His pieces are a bit bigger now and make a LOT of noise!
The 24J has lots of power for a small beginner’s piece, but also the precision of the German RWS Diana line.
Sorry for being late to the party. This summer I bought another Belgium Hyscore 801 to replace the ones that I had sold. They are just the neatest little rifles.
One time at a pawn shop I bought a little Slavia 618. It was missing the rear sight but was functional. I crudely formed a rear sight from a small chunk of aluminum. This is one of those guns that taught me a lesson, or at least reminded me of the fact that it is just fun to shoot. With the little Slavia I was happy to hit a small plastic bottle at 10-15 yards. Every time I hit it made me want to giggle like a kid. Misses didn’t mean anything, but every hit made me smile. Funny thing is that I had more fun with that little gun than I often do with guns costing way over a grand. With those expensive guns come expectations to make small groups at long distances. If I can’t do that I become frustrated.
David Enoch