Tag Archives: airguns

Air Venturi TR5 Multi-Shot Target Air Rifle: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

TR5
Air Venturi TR5 repeating pellet rifle.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

  • Complex repeating mechanism
  • The test
  • Don’t do this
  • No barrel swap
  • Cleaning the barrel
  • Cleaning
  • Assemble the rifle — oh oh!
  • Which pellet to choose?
  • Sighting in
  • At 10 meters
  • Too much time
  • Summary

Today I clean the barrel of the Air Venturi TR5 Multi-Shot Target Air Rifle then mount the UTG Micro Reflex dot sight. I will sight in after that, but not shoot any groups in this report. You will understand why as you read this report.

Complex repeating mechanism

The TR5 has a very complex repeating mechanism. It’s practically identical to the repeating mechanism on the IZH 61 that it copies. Repeaters don’t usually offer good access to the breech, and this mechanism is particularly difficult to deal with. There is no room even for a flexible cleaning line or a bore snake. For me to clean the barrel of this rifle properly, the barrel had to come off! read more

Artemis PP700S-A PCP pistol: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Artemis pistol
Artemis PCP air pistol.

This report covers:

  • Not from Pyramyd Air
  • Impressive from the start
  • Description
  • Finish flaws
  • Fill
  • Fill adaptor
  • I filled it!
  • Sights
  • Scope rail
  • Manual
  • Operation
  • Trigger
  • Power
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we start something different. The Artemis PP700S-A (what a mouthful!) is a single-shot precharged pneumatic (PCP) air pistol that comes in both .177 and .22 calibers. This pistol I am testing is a .22.

Not from Pyramyd Air

This pistol is made by Shaoxing Snowpeak Air Gun Factory in China, and sold all over the world. Here in the U.S. it’s only carried by smaller dealers. I ordered mine overseas from a large European exporter and had the airgun in about two weeks. I have no idea whether it’s a good air pistol or not, but after this test we should all know.

Come on, Snowpeak! Give this pistol a real name. If you don’t there will be worldwide confusion about it and you will lose sales. It doesn’t have to be an American name. I would rather call it a Licking Cow than a PP700S-A. What is that — somebody’s password? read more

The AirForce Ring Loc Kit: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Ring-Loc Kit
AirForce Condor Ring-Loc Kit.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • Update
  • The .22
  • 0.232 orifice
  • 0.166 orifice
  • 0.145 orifice
  • 0.125 orifice
  • Discussion 1
  • .177 Condor
  • 0.166 orifice
  • 0.145 orifice
  • 0.123 orifice
  • 0.145 orifice with .177-caliber 18-inch barrel and power wide open
  • 0.123 orifice with .177-caliber 18-inch barrel and power wide open
  • Temperature affects the results
  • Discussion 2
  • Summary

I’m not doing an historical report today because there are too many current airguns and other things on my plate. Today I will tell you more about the performance of the new Ring Loc Kit from AirForce. They have given me mounds of test data to choose from and I am abbreviating it for you. Today we’ll look at the performance in .22 caliber, as well as a glimpse into the world of the .177.

Update

The Ring Loc Kit contains orifices in sizes 0.232-, 0.166-, 0.145- and 0.123-inches. There is also that experimental orifice that has a pilot hole of 0.070-inches that’s too small to shoot anything, but serves as a pilot/guide for a small drill bit. I hope to get to that one soon. read more

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

Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Umarex Lever Action
Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun.

This report covers:

  • Description
  • The cartridges
  • Will it shoot pellets?
  • Sights
  • Loading the CO2
  • Discussion
  • Summary

The moment I saw the Umarex Legends Cowboy Lever Action BB gun at the SHOT Show this year I knew it was going to be a hit.

This is a lever action repeater that holds 10 realistic cartridges, each holding a single BB that’s loaded into the base. The cartridges load into the rifle from the right side of the receiver and feed through the action exactly like firearm cartridges.

Lever Action Loading
The Umarex Cowboy Lever Action gun is loaded exactly like a lever action firearm.

When the lever is pulled down the bolt slides back, ejecting the now-empty cartridge, and the next cartridge is fed by spring pressure onto the elevator. As the lever is returned, the cartridge is aligned with the breech and fed into the breech. It takes a few moments to describe but far less time to happen — making a lever action almost as fast as a semiautomatic. read more

What’s in a picture?

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • What is important
  • Opportunity seized
  • All is not lost
  • Bad picture — something’s wrong
  • What to do?
  • Lit the fire
  • Poor descriptions
  • Bad description
  • Blessings in disguise
  • Summary

Today will be different. It’s sort of a guest blog, with help from me. I’ll explain as we go.

Several years ago I wrote two multiple-part blogs about taking pictures of airguns. Several readers were having difficulty taking the pictures they wanted, and I tried to coach them a little. The most recent report is a 2-parter from 2014. It’s okay and even has a few useful tips, but the first report from 2008 is more detailed. I think it’s the better one.

What is important

Taking good pictures is indeed important, but it’s not the subject of today’s report. Today I want to discuss how a bad picture can cost you a fortune! I have addressed this subject in the past, but there hasn’t been a specific blog devoted to it. So, here we go! read more

Pioneer model BB76 BB gun: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Pioneer BB gun
Pioneer BB76 BB gun.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • More about the gun
  • Feeding
  • Velocity
  • Hornady Black Diamond
  • Dust Devils
  • Air Venturi H&N Smart Shot
  • More ammo
  • Marksman Premium Grade steel BBs
  • Cocking effort
  • Anti-beartrap
  • Summary

Well, well. I finally found something to write about that a lot of you didn’t know about. You guys are getting so savvy that it’s harder and harder to do. I actually did write about this BB gun back in 2005 when the blog got started, but that was a one-time report and this will be a full test. So, it’s the same gun but different stuff being reported, and a whole lot more this time.

More about the gun

I said I’d have more to say about the gun as we went, so here are a couple new things. The first is that the rear sight is adjustable — sort of. It slides up and down on an inclined ramp, and, because the notch is only fastened by a single screw, you can also swing it to the right and left — a little. read more