Category Archives: Airgun History Project

History of airguns posts

Diana model 30 gallery gun: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana model 30 gallery gun
Diana model 30 gallery gun.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Description
  • Caliber 4.4mm
  • The fix
  • Power was intermittent
  • Rifled
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Apparently there have been three Dianas model 30. Blue Book of Airguns calls them out and tells us the differences. Last week there was some confusion about which Diana model 30 airgun I was referring to in a comment, and when I clarified it one of our readers asked for a report. It happened that I then visited a friend who has a model 30 gallery gun, and he told me it wasn’t working. I said I would try to get it working again if I could test it for the blog, so here we go.

Description

The Diana model 30 gallery gun is a spring-piston rifle that uses a bolt to cock the mainspring. It’s similar in function to a great many other bolt-action airguns like the Schmeisser model 33, the Anschütz model 275, the Haenel model 310 that copies the Anschütz, and even the Czech models VZ35 and VZ48. All of those airguns are rifles like this one, but if we expand the list to include smoothbores we have to acknowledge the Mars models 85, 100 and 115. There are probably others I haven’t mentioned. read more

Daisy Number 12 model 29 single shot BB gun: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Daisy model 29
Daisy Number 12 model 29 single shot BB gun.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The gun
  • Hough front sight
  • Loading
  • The BB changed from lead to steel
  • Getting 0.175-inch lead shot
  • Darts, too!
  • Summary

Sometimes we like things for reasons that make no sense to others, though we know why. Today’s report focuses on a BB gun that I have liked for many years, after discovering late in life that it existed at all.

The gun

Daisy’s Number 12 Model 29 is a lever action BB gun with a difference. It looks older than it is. It resembles a Daisy model H that was made from 1913 to 1923. The strangest thing about the model H is the cocking lever, which catches your eye immediately. In many respects these guns look similar to the more common BB guns we know today, but that cocking lever seems strange. I have not read an explanation for why it looks like it does, so allow me to posit a guess — leverage. read more

Crosman 102 multi-pump pneumatic repeater: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Crosman 102
Crosman’s 102 is a .22 caliber multi-pump repeater.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Clearing the jam
  • The jam
  • Assembly
  • Accuracy
  • Re-sighting
  • Crosman Premiers
  • Crosman wadcutters
  • 10-shots
  • Discussion
  • Summary

You may recall that the Crosman 102 jammed last time I tested it and I had to clear it before continuing. I did that and today we will shoot it at 25 yards. First, let’s clear the jam.

Clearing the jam

Crosman designed the 102 to be easy to clear, but without a manual I had to discover it for myself. The rear peep sight slides to either side, revealing a hole through which many jammed pellets can be removed.

Crosman 102 jam hole
Pull the bolt back and rod the pellet out of the breech. It will fall out this hole.

My jam was more involved, though, and I had to partially disassemble the action to clear it. The top receiver cover is held on by one shoulder bolt that has a large thumbscrew head. Remove it and the top cover slides back and off the receiver. The peep sight is attached to the cover by a rivet and comes off with the cover. read more

Benjamin 700 multi-pump repeater: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

Benjamin 700
Benjamin 700 repeating BB gun.
This report covers:

  • The Benjamin Automatic
  • Model 700
  • Repeater
  • How many pump strokes?
  • My encounter
  • The gun
  • Takedown
  • Accuracy
  • Price
  • Ammo
  • Getting it fixed
  • Summary

And now for something brand new, because it is so old that most of you will never have heard of it. We have to go back to 1930 for this one! And those were exciting times at the Benjamin Air Rifle Company in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Benjamin Automatic

Early that year Benjamin launched the model 600 they called the Benjamin Automatic. It was a smoothbore 25-shot BB repeater that fired as fast as the trigger was pulled. Well, that was the story. I’ve never tested one so I can’t say anything about one for certain, but my general knowledge of multi-pumps of the day tells me you can expect a handful of shots before it’s time to top off the gun by pumping again. I’m saying don’t expect to rattle off 25 shots at one go. read more

Punting with the FWB 124

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

FWB 124
Feinwerkbau 124.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The ship hit the sand!
  • Plan B
  • Plan C
  • Open sights
  • Getting ahead of myself
  • The test
  • RWS Superpoints
  • JSB Exact RS
  • RWS R10
  • What’s up with the lone “flyer”?
  • H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head
  • Discussion
  • The FWB 124
  • So what?
  • The big deal
  • Summary

Well, well. Sometimes the bear eats you! Today is one such day. I returned from my Sig trip last Thursday and wrote this report on Friday and Saturday. Everything that could go wrong did, giving me a lot to tell you about. And I have some exciting news to share today, as well.

The ship hit the sand!

I was going to test the Crosman 105 Target pistol for you today, but I couldn’t get it to hit the paper. Whoever guessed that it would shoot way low was spot-on. It shoots so low that I can’t get it up on paper, even using aim-off tricks (aiming at one thing to hit another). I have to work on the pistol before I can test it again. read more

Crosman 105 “Bullseye” multi-pump pneumatic pistol: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Crosman 105
Crosman’s 105 is a .177 caliber multi-pump air pistol.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Test 1. How many pumps?
  • Test 2. RWS Hobby pellets
  • Test 3. Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets
  • How stable?
  • The pump stroke
  • Pump force
  • Rear sight fix
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Today we look at the power and velocity of the vintage Crosman 105 Bullseye multi-pump pneumatic pistol. I said in Part 1 that I would be surprised if this pistol breaks 450 f.p.s. Well, surprise, surprise! It didn’t even go that fast. And, that is what today’s report is all about, so let’s get started.

Test 1. How many pumps?

I looked through my library and didn’t find a manual for the 105. Crosman has a PDF online, or what they call a manual, but it’s just  a parts list and disassembly procedure. But in that document they do say to test your valve by filling the gun 6 pumps and then looking for bubbles around all the exit places. Oddly I found that 6 pumps is one too many for this particular gun. Let’s see now. read more

Crosman 102 multi-pump pneumatic repeater: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Crosman 102
Crosman’s 102 is a .22 caliber multi-pump repeater.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • More than one shot per fill?
  • How many pumps?
  • The test
  • Sights
  • Pellet feed
  • RWS Meisterkugeln
  • Crosman wadcutters
  • RWS Hobbys
  • Crosman Premiers
  • Now 10 shots
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of the Crosman 102 repeating multi-pump pellet rifle. The last time I shot this rifle was back before the SHOT Show in January. I kept putting it off for no reason that I can remember.

More than one shot per fill?

Since it is a repeater, does it get more than one shot per fill? It’s not supposed to. There are multi-pumps that do get more than one shot per fill and I will be covering one of them for you — a rare Benjamin 700. But that’s not today. The 102 has to be pumped for every shot.

How many pumps?

If you take the time to read Part 2 you will see that I discovered that this rifle doesn’t need more than 5 pump strokes to achieve its best velocity. I tested it to 8 strokes, but after 5 strokes the velocity increase got really small. read more