Tag Archives: airguns

DIY Rifle Stock – Part 6

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by Tom Gaylord

Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Today’s report is Part 6 of reader Vana’s excellent report on stock making. This is the completion of his very thorough report on stockmaking.
If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.

And now, over to you, Hank.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Slavia 618

This is my original 55 year old Slavia 618 in its new “firewood” stock. I made this one in a “camo” style, using cherry and maple blocks in a random arrangement of the pieces.

This report covers:

  • Finishing the finishing
  • The first rule of applying a finish…
  • Put a handle on it!
  • Dyes and stains
  • Finishes
  • Oil products
  • Other potions and elixirs
  • Polyurethane
  • Precautions
  • Summary

Finishing the finishing

We’ve covered theory, materials, carving the stock, personalizing it and the preparation for finishing. This is where people get anxious and start rushing to be done – that’s a bad approach. read more

BSF S54 Match rifle: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

BSF S54
BSF S54 target rifle.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The test
  • RWS Hobby
  • Resting on the sandbag
  • Artillery hold off hand extended
  • Discussion
  • Adjusted the rear sight
  • Falcon pellets
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • JSB Exact RS domes
  • H&N Finale Match High Speed target pellet
  • Something extra
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of the BSF S54 Match rifle. Now, while this rifle is called a Match rifle and did come with a large aperture sight, it’s not a serious match rifle and never was. Sometimes I have guys ask me questions like, “Could it be used in a match?” and I have to answer, “Yes” but they don’t let me finish by saying, “… but it will never win!” You see, some guys are so enraptured by the design of the S54 Match (and that huge rear aperture!) that they want it to be a real match rifle. Other guys own one and don’t want to spend the money for something different. The bottom line is — The BSF S54 Match rifle is not for formal competition! I think you will see that today. read more

BSF S54 Match rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

BSF S54
BSF S54 target rifle.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • A little more of the BSF Story
  • Today
  • Front sight
  • BINK!
  • Velocity
  • Superpoints for the proof
  • Firing behavior
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

A little more of the BSF Story

Bayerische Sportwaffen Fabrik (BSF) was established in 1935. They made some airguns before WW II, but after the war is when they really got going. They were located in Erlangen, a town that’s about 15 kilometers from Nuremberg, but today is more like a suburb.

BSF airgun models ranged from youth guns to serious adult guns. Their lowest model was called the Junior that was a plain-Jane youth breakbarrel. Above that the Media came next. It shared a few parts with the Junior like the trigger but it was longer, heavier and more powerful. Think of them as the Diana 23/25. read more

Testing H&N Baracuda FT pellets: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
AirForce Edge 10-meter rifle: Part 1

This report covers:

  • Scoped the Edge
  • The test
  • 4.50mm heads
  • Discussion of the 4.50mm heads
  • 4.51mm heads
  • Discussion of the 4.51mm heads
  • General discussion
  • Summary

Today’s report combines two reports, as you can see by the links, above. I’m testing the H&N Baracuda FT pellets that I was given last year, and today I’m testing them in the AirForce Edge target rifle that I got from reader RidgeRunner. That’s why I baselined the Edge in Part 1 that’s linked above. We know from that report that this pellet moves out at 685 f.p.s. in the modified Edge, which is 10 foot-pounds on the nose.

Scoped the Edge

I scoped the Edge for today’s test with the vintage UTG 8-32X56 SWAT scope I got from Leapers years ago. I last used this scope on the Benjamin Fortitude I tested last year. This scope adjusts for parallax down to 25 yards, but since today’s test was at that distance, there was no problem. I ran it at the full 32 power and the target image was crystal clear. read more

Hatsan Proxima underlever repeater: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hatsan Proxima
Hastsan Proxima underlever repeater.

This report covers:

  • Description
  • Firing behavior
  • Feel of the rifle
  • Sights
  • Scope rail
  • Made for hunting
  • Safety features
  • Trigger
  • Power
  • Summary

Today we begin our look at the Hatsan Proxima undelever repeater. As you may recall, I was testing the Hatsan Speedfire breakbarrel repeater, and it had a problem in the velocity test. That rifle is now back at Hatsan for repairs, so I thought why not look at the other Hatsan springer that’s a repeater — the Proxima, which came out in early 2018 and was a contemporary of the Gamo Swarm Maxxim?

Description

The Proxima is an underlever spring-piston repeater that uses a gas piston for power. It’s available in .177, .22 and .25 calibers and I am testing a .22. The circular magazine holds 14, 12 or 10 pellets, depending on the caliber. The cocking effort is listed as 45 lbs. for all three calibers, so this is a big boy air rifle. read more

DIY Rifle Stock – Part 5

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Today’s report is Part 5 of reader Vana’s excellent report on stock making. This one was delayed because of the SHOT Show, followed by my need to catch up on reports followed by my forgetting I had it — and Part 6 that’s still to come.

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

And now, over to you, Hank.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Slavia 618
This is my original 55 year old Slavia 618 in its new “firewood” stock. I made this one in a “camo” style, using cherry and maple blocks in a random arrangement of the pieces.

This report covers:

  • Preparing for finishing
  • Cabinet Scrapers (aka Card Scrapers)
  • Sandpaper and sanding
  • Steel wool
  • Preparing the surface
  • Smoothing the wood
  • Fancy it up
  • Checkering
  • Stippling
  • Carving
  • Accent pieces
  • Accessories
  • Summary

Preparing for finishing

In this part I will discuss the hand-tools that I use to finish the stock and how I use them. The stock, having been shaped with rasps, files and coarse sandpaper, will have scratches, bumps and flats that need to be smoothed out before I can even think about applying a finish. Electric sanders are useful time savers but you can easily get by without them. In truth, I like sanding, and find the quiet time I spend working on the wood relaxing. read more

BSF S54 Match rifle: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

BSF S54
BSF S54 target rifle.

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • BSF
  • The S54
  • Trigger
  • Three variations of the S54
  • Two calibers
  • Hang tag
  • Underlever cocking
  • Loading tap
  • Summary

I’m starting a report on the BSF S54 target rifle today. I reviewed this rifle 4 years ago, but I want to look at it more thoroughly this time.

BSF

Bayerische Sportwaffen Fabrik (Bavarian Sporting Weapons Manufacturer) or BSF, as it was known, operated for several decades, both before and after World War II. They were based in Erlangen, Germany, a suburb of Nuremberg. The guns they made were approximately equivalent in quality to Dianas, though in some respects like power they were ahead for a few years. It was BSF that first broke the 800 f.p.s. barrier with their model S55/S60/S70 breakbarrel. I group those models because they were all the same except for their stocks — kind of like the S54 we are looking at today. read more