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Diana 35: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 35
Diana 35 pellet rifle.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Older 35
  • What was the 35?
  • Soup-up
  • The spring isn’t the thing
  • Back to the Diana 35
  • This Diana 35
  • Trigger
  • What to do?
  • Summary

Today begins a long report on the Diana 35 air rifle. If you just found this blog, here is how we came to this point. Several months ago I tuned a Winchester model 427 (really a Diana 27) breakbarrel air rifle for reader Michael. That 9-part report is pretty thorough and worth a read. At the end I told everyone that Michael’s rifle is now the smoothest spring-piston air rifle I have ever experienced and I thought it would be nice to acquire the larger Diana 35 and tune it for smoothness. That would give me an adult-sized breakbarrel that was as perfect as can be — or at least I think so. read more

The Sig biofeedback scope

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • Biofeedback scope keeps you on target
  • Vibration warns when you’re off target
  • The point
  • The challenges
  • In the mount
  • Similar system used for blind marksmen
  • Functions
  • Future enhancements
  • The name
  • Pyramyd Air
  • Summary

Biofeedback scope keeps you on target

Hunters often do not have a clear picture of their quarry through the scope. A deer will hide behind branches and a squirrel may only be partially visible. A new scope may help in situations like this.

Vibration warns when you’re off target

This new scope has been developed by Sig Sauer, as an adjunct of their very popular Electro-Optic BDX ranging scope. An engineer at Sig who also hunts knew that the software and electronics already packaged in the BDX scope could be augmented to add this helpful feature of alerting the shooter when the scope was straying off-target.

BDX scope
Sig’s excellent BDX scope automatic ranging system was the starting point for the new biofeedback scope. read more

Ruger 10/22: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Ruger 10/22
Ruger 10/22.

This report covers:

  • Well-suited
  • History
  • My 10/22
  • Barrel lottery
  • Custom barrel
  • Why this report today?
  • BUT

Whaaaat???

BB is writing about a firearm? And it’s a 10-shot semiautomatic firearm, at that. Many countries ban semiautomatic firearms! So this one isn’t even legal in a lot of places.

What gives?

I’m not telling — yet! I do have a reason for doing this. It’s a real good reason, but for today you just have to trust me.

Well-suited

Of all the airgun writers on this planet — are there more than 20? — I’m probably the most qualified to write about the Ruger 10/22 because I have written about it extensively for Shotgun News — the previous title of Firearm News, many years ago. I wrote the feature series, What can you do with a 10/22? in which I investigated accuracy, reliability, modifications, customizing, and the use of a silencer. read more

Hatsan Proxima underlever repeater: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hatsan Proxima
Hastsan Proxima underlever repeater.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • Single shot?
  • The test
  • Sight-in
  • Remember the sights!
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Firing cycle
  • RWS Superdome
  • Baracuda Match
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we start looking at the accuracy of the .22-caliber Hatsan Proxima. Since it has open sights, I started with them.

Single shot?

You guys dumped on me last time about the single-shot feature. Okay, I admit there are some aftermarket single-shot adaptors for the Proxima, but I doubt anyone will ever use them. You see, cocking this rifle and closing the cocking lever is a two-handed proposition. Don’t forget the cocking lever release has to be pressed to close the lever. Unless you have a third hand to load a pellet with one of those adaptors while all that is going on, I don’t think it will happen. Is it possible? Sure. But it’s a bar bet — not a way to shoot. read more

In search of the “perfect” tune

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 27
Michael’s Winchester 427 is a Diana model 27 by another name. The rifle pictured is my Hy Score 807/Diana 27.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The fix
  • Michael’s rifle
  • Then came Carel
  • But wait…
  • While I’m at it…
  • Goals
  • My first 35
  • Blue Book

Tuning Michael’s Winchester 427/Diana 27 really ignited a spark in me! That’s why I linked to all the reports. It put me in mind of many things I have experienced over the years. The one that stands out the most is the Diana 45 I tuned for Johnny Hill of Tin Starr Bullets in Weatherford, TX back in 2015. His rifle was bone-dry on the inside and also had a classic Diana bent mainspring. I say classic because when Diana started the velocity race against the FWB 124 in the 1970s, they over-hardened their mainsprings with the result they always bent or broke off at both ends. read more

2019 SHOT Show: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Clarification
  • Hatsan Vectis
  • Nova Star
  • Hatsan Speedfire
  • Air Venturi M1 Carbine
  • The stock
  • The rear sight
  • Summary

Clarification

This report is about the first day the SHOT Show 2019 was open. I must begin with a clarification. The Sig MPX PCP I reported yesterday has a name I never mentioned. It’s called a Virtus. I visited the Sig booth this morning because my pictures of the guns taken at the range weren’t that good, and that’s when I learned the name. So, It’s a Virtus that we are waiting for.

Virtus
The new Sig PCP is called the Virtus.

Hatsan Vectis

I started the day at the Hatsan booth, where Hatsan’s Cecil Bays showed me the new Vectis lever action PCP repeater. It’s available in .177. 22 and .25 with magazine capacities of 14, 12, and 10 shots, respectively. The lever both cocks the rifle and advances and feeds the next pellet. It runs on 200 bar air pressure (2900 psi — hurrah!) and gets 29 foot-pounds, 38 foot-pounds and 40 foot-pounds, respectively. read more

The Beeman P1 air pistol: Part 11

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

Beeman P1
Beeman P1 air pistol.

This report covers:

  • Good things happen
  • The test
  • The “Holy Cow!” group
  • Adjusted the sight
  • Second group of Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets
  • Discussion 1
  • H&N Finale Match Pistol pellets
  • Discussion 2
  • Crosman Premier Light pellets
  • Summary

Good things happen

Sometimes everything works as it should. No, even better, things sometimes work like you think they are supposed to. Today’s report is such a day.

This report is now 11 parts long, so I will summarize. I’m testing a Beeman P1 pistol that someone traded to me at an airgun show. He included the parts I needed for a rebuild, so I did that for you in Parts 4 and 5. Then I tested it for accuracy again in Parts 6 through 9.

In Part 10 I introduced you to the UTG RDM20 Reflex Micro Dot sight that Pyramyd Air doesn’t currently carry — but they had better do so! Because I am about to show you a dot sight that was made for the Beeman P1! read more