Tag Archives: 1930s

FLZ Luftpistole, version 2: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

FLZ pistol
The FLZ version 2 pistol was made in Germany from 1938 to 1940.

A history of airguns

  • Uncommon
  • Description
  • Stock
  • Marks
  • Looks like a rifle

Today we start looking at an air pistol that’s uncommon in the U.S., and indeed, around the world — the FLZ Luftpistole version 2. FLZ stands for Fritz Langenhan of Zella Mehlis, Germany. We have looked at one other FLZ airgun on this blog in the past — the Millita that now resides in RidgeRunner’s Home For Wayward Airguns.

Uncommon

I don’t think the FLZ air pistol is rare, but the first version that has a rounded grip was made from 1926/7 to 1940, according to The Encyclopedia of Spring Air Pistols, by John Griffiths. Version 2 that I have was introduced in 1937 and lasted until 1940. The nation of Germany was preparing for war in the late 1930s, and commercial production was curtailed, so I think the second version of the gun must be less common. That doesn’t make it more valuable — just harder to find. read more

Remington model 33 single shot rimfire: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Remington 33
Remington’s model 33 single shot .22 was their first bolt action rimfire.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • New versus old
  • Irony
  • The second test
  • Summary

Remember what I wrote about the range last Friday — how everything went bad for me? Well I did manage to test my HW85 and one other rifle. That rifle was my venerable Remington model 33.

New versus old

You may recall that I bought a nice example of the Remington 33, to hopefully replace my current rifle that’s rusted up. I was thinking that with a better barrel the new rifle would really show up the tired old bolt action I only bought to burn up discarded range ammo.

I was out on the 50-yard range, so I decided to try my luck with both rifles shooting the CCI standard velocity long rifle cartridge. First up was the old rust 33. You will recall that I had cleaned the barrel of this old beater for the first time in anticipation of this test. Well, I had forgotten to bring my reading glasses to the range, so the sights were quite blurry. Still, I did my very best and with the tired old 33 I put 5 into 2.293-inches at 50 yards. The rounds hit a little above the bull I was aiming at. That was a good start, so now let’s switch over to the nicer 33 I just bought. read more

Remington model 33 single shot rimfire: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Remington 33
Remington’s model 33 single shot .22 was their first bolt action rimfire.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The new desire
  • How accurate?
  • Start point
  • 30 minutes later
  • Differences
  • Summary

Happy New Year! May 2018 be a blessed year for each of you!

Today will be a short report, if you don’t mind. No — I didn’t stay up that late on New Year’s Eve. I wrote this last Friday, as is my custom of staying a little ahead of the blog. I am getting ready for the 2018 SHOT Show and a lot is happening, so I’m trying to stay ahead.

Yes, this is still an airgun blog. If you read Part 1 you’ll discover that this report started with a friend from church who had a pest problem. I tried solving it with an airgun, but he was ahead of me and solved it himself with a shotgun. But it got me looking at my old Remington model 33 single shot bolt action .22 rimfire, shooting CB caps. Read Part 1 to catch up. I’ll wait. read more

Remington model 33 single shot rimfire: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Remington 33
Remington’s model 33 single shot .22 was ,made in the 1930s.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

      • The cobbler’s children have no shoes!
      • Barn gun
      • Lightbulb!
      • The question
      • Remington 33
      • Success
      • Addictive
      • Why not an airgun?
      • CB caps are quiet…
      • … and not that powerful
      • Super Colibri
      • Summary

      Hey there, BB — you’re talking about a firearm in an airgun blog?

      Sure am! I do it from time to time to attract new readers like Kevin, who joined us years ago from my comments about Roy Weatherby. The shooting sports is full of guys who just like to shoot, and I lure them in with these occasional excursions off the beaten path. And, there is a very strong tie-in to airguns in today’s report, as you will discover. Let’s go!

      The cobbler’s children have no shoes!

      It all started when a guy at my church needed something to kill a bobcat that was raiding his chicken coop! I immediately suggested an airgun — my “go to” Talon SS. But, when I located it, there was no scope mounted! Oh, no! I found a scope and mounted it quickly and then discovered that my tackdriver air rifle now puts five pellets into one inch at 25 yards. That’s terrible for this rifle. Looking down the bore told me the reason — dirty barrel! That will be the subject of an upcoming blog. read more

Diana model 5V pellet pistol: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 5V pistol
Diana model 5V pellet pistol.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Update on the Hakim
  • The Diana 5V air pistol
  • The test
  • Sig Sauer Match Ballistic Alloy pellets
  • JSB Exact RS
  • RWS Hobby
  • A different hold
  • Summary

Update on the Hakim

On Friday I took the Hakim to the range to shoot it again. This time I listened to my own advice about adjusting the gas port and was able to begin with the rifle not ejecting the spent cases. It kicks like a 98 Mauser that way, but the cartridges are reloadable.

Then, with the gas port open as small as it would go, the rifle extracted and ejected factory rounds softly enough to be reloadable. I caught them in a cartridge trap I use for a lot of my semiautomatic arms. The cases were still dented, but not so much that they wouldn’t fit in a resizing die, so this fixes the problem I told you about last Friday. read more

Diana model 5V pellet pistol: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 5V pistol
Diana model 5V pellet pistol.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • 5 screws
  • Gun fell apart!
  • The solution!
  • Case-hardened parts
  • Stoning is out!
  • Back to the pistol
  • Testing the trigger
  • Job done

This one will be a quickie. You will remember that I wanted to remove the grip from my Diana 5V pellet pistol to see if I could do anything to reduce the trigger pull that was over 12 pounds. Well I did, and in less time than it will take me to write this short report, I discovered and corrected the problem.

5 screws

The grip is held to the action by 4 screws. They sit two to a side. The fifth screw is a wood screw that holds the base of the triggerguard to the grip. The front of the triggerguard is hooked over a pin in the action. If you don’t remove this screw first, the grip won’t come off the action. read more

Diana model 5V pellet pistol: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 5V pistol
Diana model 5V pellet pistol.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • RWS Hobbys
  • JSB Exact RS
  • What is dieseling?
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Next
  • Observations

Today we look at the power of my old Diana model 5V air pistol. I expected to see results in the same class as the BSF S20 and Webley Hurricane, but perhaps a little slower because of the age of this airgun. I reckoned somewhere in the high 300s, at least.

RWS Hobbys

The first pellet I tested was the RWS Hobby, which is often the standard for velocity in an airgun. In the 5V Hobbys averaged 397 f.p.s., which I think is a pretty healthy result. The low was 387 and the high was 408 f.p.s., so the spread was 21 f.p.s. At the average velocity, this pellet produced 2.45 foot pounds of energy. I will add the Hobby fit the bore pretty tight. read more