Category Archives: replica airgun

Sig Sauer Spartan BB pistol: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Sig Spartan BB pistol
Sig Sauer Spartan BB pistol offers a lot of pistol at a budget price.

This report covers:

  • Sig firearms
  • The airgun
  • Manual safety
  • Full blowback
  • Grips
  • Finish
  • Sights
  • Trigger
  • Magazine
  • Light rail
  • Evaluation

Today we begin looking at Sig Sauer’s latest BB pistol, the Spartan. It’s a faithful copy of their Spartan 1911 firearm, which has upgraded features that put it ahead of many production 1911s. And it’s made in Japan.

Sig firearms

I will say this about Sig firearms — when they decide to make something they don’t cut corners. I never had much contact with them in the past, but since they have started making airguns I have been giving their firearms a look, as well. I am a died-in-the-wool conservative when it comes to firearms. Don’t try to sell me on a process like metal injection molding (MIM) unless it performs better than machining in some way other than just the cost to manufacture.

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Collecting airguns: Fakes and counterfeits 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Scarcity Part 1
Condition Part 2
What is collecting? Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Counterfeiting
  • The racketeer nickel
  • Made to deceive
  • The tale
  • People want them!
  • Fake airguns
  • Refinishing and modifying
  • Personality airguns
  • The Rosetta Stone

Here we go again. Today we will look at the shady side of collecting — the works of intentional deception. In some collecting fields fakes and counterfeits are so common that they have become a whole area of study within the field. Let’s look at the oldest of all — the counterfeiting of money.

Counterfeiting

Long ago it was more possible to counterfeit money because there were fewer ways of determining whether something was fake or real. It wasn’t until old Archimedes came up with a way of knowing how much gold was present in an object (Eureka!) that people had much of a chance of knowing what was real and what wasn’t. They learned to trust the money issued by certain governments (Rome) or kingdoms (Babylon) because those authorities made every effort to police their own money. The death penalty was usually the price for counterfeiting, because the authorities did not want the expense of policing the currency.

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Poor man’s Garand — the Hakim

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hakim
Egyptian Hakim was a “make-do” battle rifle, designed around cheap ammo.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • History
  • Development
  • Innovation
  • Cartridges thrown forward
  • Hakim action
  • Accuracy
  • However…
  • Why is the Hakim the “poor man’s Garand”?
  • Corrosive ammo
  • The airgun
  • Summary

You have read about Hakims in this blog many times already, but all of them were air rifles. Today is different. Today we look at the firearm that inspired the pellet rifle trainer — the 8mm Egyptian Hakim!

History

At the end of WWII, the Egyptians found themselves in possession of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of rounds of 7.92 X 57mm Mauser ammunition — the 8mm Mauser round. The Germans had stockpiled it in Egypt, thinking they would be there for a long time. When they left, there were storehouses of munitions left behind that the Egyptians inherited.

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ASG X9 Classic BB pistol: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

ASG X9 Classic
ASG X9 Classic.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • The test
  • ASG Blaster BBs
  • The eye is sharp
  • Hornady Black Diamond BBs
  • Recoil
  • H&N Smart Shot lead BBs
  • Evaluation

I had to go out of town suddenly today for a family emergency and I don’t know when I’ll return. I will do the best I can with the blog. Fortunately I shot and took pictures for today’s report before this happened.

Today we look at the accuracy of the ASG X9 Classic BB pistol. Let’s get to it.

The test

I shot from 5 meters using the UTG Monopod to rest my shooting hand. Because this pistol uses a lot of gas, a fresh CO2 cartridge was installed at the start of the test.

ASG Blaster BBs

First up were ASG Blaster BBs. I learned how to load the magazine in this part of the review and it went a lot easier than in Part 2. Put the BBs in the channel of the magazine with the follower pulled all the way down. Then tip the mag slightly back and they roll down to the hole, where they drop into the mag. Loading is much faster and easier that way.

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Crosman’s M1 Carbine BB gun: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Crosman M1 Carbine
Crosman M1 Carbine BB gun is a classic lookalike airgun.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Daisy BBs
  • Hornady Black Diamond BBs
  • Accuracy spoiler
  • Air Venturi Steel BBs
  • H&N Smart Shot BBs
  • Hornady Black Diamond BBs
  • Results
  • Value
  • Summary

This is accuracy day for the Crosman M1 Carbine BB gun we are testing. I have tested this BB gun several times in the past, so I have a pretty good idea of what it can do, but there is always the hope that a new BB that hasn’t been tried will surprise us.

The test

I shot from 5 meters (16 feet 4 inches) using a UTG monopod rest to steady the gun. I was seated for this.

Daisy BBs

I have tested Daisy BBs in this gun several times in the past, so I didn’t test them again. The last time I tested them at 5 meters, I put 10 into 5.148-inches, with 9 landing in 1.354-inches. I think that one wild shot was a fluke and the 9 shots better represent what this gun will do with this BB. In fact, I learned something in this test that probably explains that wild shot. I’ll tell you about it in a moment.

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Colt Peacemaker BB pistol: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Colt Peacemaker
The new Colt Peacemaker is also available with ivory grips.

This report covers:

  • 300-yard shots with an SAA?
  • The revolver
  • Hidden from view
  • What’s different about this one?
  • Hammer doesn’t go all the way down
  • A licensed Colt
  • The gun
  • Sights
  • Safety
  • Evaluation so far

When Umarex started making the Colt Single Action Army BB pistols a couple years ago, we all knew they had a large number of variations to go through. The most popular of these was the very first Colt SAA — the revolver with the 7.5-inch barrel that was also called the Peacemaker, The Frontier Six-Shooter and the Colt Army .45. This is the revolver so many western stars like Paladin and Marshal Dillon carried. It’s not the fastest in a gunfight, but for 300-yard shots, it’s the one to have.

300-yard shots with a handgun?

Yes. When I was a gunfighter at Frontier Village in San Jose, California, I used to shoot live ammo on my days off. I was reading Elmer Keith at the time and didn’t know that a handgun could not shoot accurately to 300 yards, so of course I tried it and found that it worked just as Keith described. Too bad Keith was a liar, because so much of what he wrote is still true today!

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Daisy’s 179 BB pistol: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The Spittin’ Image
  • What is it?
  • Catapult gun
  • A kinetic gun?
  • Very low power
  • Cowboys are cool
  • Four variations
  • The Holy Grail
  • The pistol
  • That’s all for today

The Spittin’ Image

In 1960, Daisy Manufacturing Company embarked on a marketing campaign that was to blossom into one of the largest segments of the airgun market. They brought out their model 179 BB pistol that was copied after the Colt Single Action Army revolver. A few years later they brought out their first 1894 that was highly successful, and a half-century after that not many people remember the first Spittin’ Image BB gun.

Daisy 179
Daisy’s 179 BB pistol came out in 1960 — the first of the Spittin’ Image guns.

Today the lookalike airgun market is huge. It’s expanding all the time, with more and more realistic models coming out every day. You can argue that the 179 was not even the first such airgun Daisy made. many folks think their Targetmaster BB pistol copies the Colt Woodsman Match Target and the Number 25 slide action BB gun was patterned after the Winchester model 12 shotgun. But in 1960 the term Spittin’ Image was first used to describe this pistol as an intentional lookalike.

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