Category Archives: CO2

CO2 Category

2019 Texas Airgun Show

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • S&W Pistols
  • Big mouth pays off!
  • S&W 77A multi-pump
  • FWB 124?
  • Outside
  • RAW
  • Raffles and door prize
  • Larry Hannusch
  • Show was smaller this year
  • Walk-ups
  • Summary

The Texas Airgun Show was held last Saturday. The weather was good — no rain, and a mild breeze to keep us cool outside.

S&W Pistols

Every airgun show has a unique personality and this one had several. I’ll start by telling you that I saw more S&W 79G pistols at this show than I can remember seeing at any other airgun show. It started with my first walk through the tables during the set up. A dealer on the far side of the hall had a 79G on his table that was marked as a 78G. It was also marked as .177, which is the 79G caliber so I examined it and it turned out to be a 79. I left it there because I hadn’t sold anything yet, but when someone told me that reader 45Bravo might come to the show, I rushed over and bought the pistol. 45Bravo told me he buys every one of these that he finds. Well — there were at least 7 at this show — five 79s and one 78 with an adjustable trigger. Ron Robinson got that one. A walk-in 79G in the box completed the count. read more

Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Umarex Lever Action
Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

  • Pellet cartridges?
  • The test
  • H&N Finale Match Light pellets
  • Qiang Yuan Taining pellets
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets
  • JSB Exact RS
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • Shells
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we will look at the accuracy of the new Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun with pellets. You will recall that this is the most accurate BB repeater I have ever tested, so I’m looking forward to today.

Pellet cartridges?

Someone may have asked but if not I’m sure we all wonder how the gun does when pellet cartridges are used. The gun (it’s a smoothbore, so I can’t cal, it a rifle) comes with 10 BB cartridges that Pyramyd Air says are the same as Colt Peacemaker BB revolver shells. But there were no cartridges designated for pellets, so I used 5 of the pellet cartridges from the 1875 Remington BB and pellet revolver. They cycled through the action without a hitch, so I thought they might work. I will get to them in a moment, but first I wanted to establish a baseline of performance with the BB cartridges than came with this gun. read more

The difference between strikers and hammers

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • What are firearms?
  • What is an explosion?
  • What starts the burning?
  • Ignition
  • Smokeless powder
  • The hammer-fired system
  • Evolution
  • Hidden hammer
  • Striker
  • On the airguns
  • Valve stem
  • Summary

Today I want to explore a gray area in airguns. It’s gray because airguns operate differently than firearms, so we will begin our discussion with firearms for better understanding.

What are firearms?

Firearms are devices that launch projectiles by means of a chemical explosion. To start the explosion there needs to be some kind of initiator. In the beginning, when the gunpowder that we call black powder was in use, all it took was a spark or a hot coal to start the explosion.

What is an explosion?

An explosion is a violent expansion of gasses. Pop a balloon and it explodes. Anything that burns can explode under the right circumstances — even dust. The flour that bread is made from can explode so violently that it can kill people and even level huge buildings. read more

ASG CZ 75 Shadow 2 airsoft pistol: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

CZ75 Shadow 2
ASG’s CZ 75 Shadow 2 airsoft pistol.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • The history of airsoft
  • BB gun wars
  • Airsoft shooters
  • How accurate is airsoft?
  • This pistol
  • 0.25 gram “BBs”
  • Biodegradeable
  • Remove the magazine floorplate
  • Fill
  • Load BBs
  • Velocity
  • Trigger pull
  • Slide blows back
  • Accuracy
  • Summary

Get ready for an odd report! Today we look at the velocity of the ASG CZ 75 Shadow 2 airsoft pistol. As I told you in Part 1, this is not your run-of-the-mill airsoft pistol. It retails for $180 and is considered a serious competition airsoft gun — just as the thousand-plus dollar firearm (suggested retail of $1,349.00 for the USPSA Production Division) equivalent is considered ready-to-go right out of the box. Of course no champion will ever leave a gun alone — be it firearm or airsoft, so look for another $500 to $1,000 worth of modifications and accessories to be to be bought/made for/ to the airsoft gun — so long as they remain within the rules. read more

Remington 1875 BB and pellet revolver: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Remington 1875
Remington 1875 pellet and BB pistol.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

  • The test
  • First targets not good
  • Why only five shots?
  • Air Venturi BBs
  • Hornady Black Diamond
  • Smart Shot
  • Dust Devils
  • Discussion
  • Pellets are next
  • Summary

Don’t forget the Texas Airgun Show is coming up in less than two weeks. It’s Saturday, June 22 and here is the website. There will be free tables outside for those who have just a few airguns to sell.

Today we begin our accuracy test of the
1875 Remington BB and pellet revolver. Since this air pistol shoots both BBs and pellets, I will test each one separately. Today I will test the BBs, so I used the BB cartridges.

The test

I shot the revolver from the seated position, using the UTG Monopod for a rest. I shot from 5 meters, which is the standard BB-gun distance. read more

Smith & Wesson 78G and 79G target pistols: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

S&W 78G
My S&W 78G pistol.

A history of airguns

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Today’s report is written by reader 45Bravo. This is his report to us on the Daisy air pistols that followed the S&W 78G and 79G.

If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.

And now, over to you, 45Bravo.

The decline of the Smith & Wesson 78-79 series

This report covers:

  • History
  • What’s on the outside
  • On the inside
  • Daisy trigger
  • Daisy model 41
  • Daisy 7900?
  • So, how do they shoot?
  • S&W #2074 has Mac1 upgrades in valve poppet and valve spring, and o-rings
  • S&W #3248 has factory poppet and valve spring, but new o-rings
  • S&W 79G has factory poppet and valve spring, with new o-rings
  • The Daisy 790 has Mac1 upgraded poppet and valve spring and o-rings
  • Why would I throw over $100 in parts into a Daisy 790?
  • Summary
  • The Daisy Line?

The decline of the Smith & Wesson 78-79 series

These observations come from having 4 of the guns at my disposal at this time.
A 78g serial number 2074, with a manual dated 4/71.
A 78g, serial number 3248.
A 79g, serial number 294,6XX, with a manual dated revised 11/77
And a Daisy 790, serial number 3J00891 (third change). read more

Smith & Wesson 78G and 79G target pistols: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

S&W 78G
My S&W 78G pistol.

A history of airguns

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • Blog data helpful
  • The test
  • RWS Meisterkugeln
  • Air Arms 16-grain dome
  • Air Arms dome group 2
  • Air Arms dome group 3
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of my S&W 78G pellet pistol. Normally this would be the final report in the series, but reader 45Bravo has given us a guest blog that shows the difference between the S&W pistols and the pistols made by Daisy, so there is at least one more installment coming.

Blog data helpful

I find the blog is a good place to make notes for the future, so today I looked over Part 2 to find out what sort of shot count I could count on. And also in Part 2 I showed you the manual that says to leave a CO2 cartridge in the gun for storage, so I knew there was a fresh CO2 cartridge inside, because last time I exhausted the gas at the end of the report. Today I can shoot at least 20 good shots from one cartridge. read more