Tag Archives: Collecting

Chinese B3 underlever: Part 6

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

B3
The B3 underlever from China.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Pre-work baseline
  • RWS Hobby
  • Harsh firing cycle
  • Rifle is breaking in
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • RWS Hobby again
  • Discussion
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Today I will test the velocity of the B3 underlever that we cleaned and lubed on Friday. This will be a fantastic learning lesson for all airgunners, because the results are most informative!

Pre-work baseline

If you have been following this report you know I discovered in Part 2 that the rifle wasn’t performing to expectations. In Part 3 I replaced the breech seal and tested the velocity. That gave us a baseline we can use today for a before and after comparison. Let me get to the tests right now.

RWS Hobby

The first pellet to be tested was the RWS Hobby. In Part 3 Hobbys gave an average 617 f.p.s. with a 24 f.p.s. spread. read more

Umarex Legends Ace in the Hole pellet revolver: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Legends Ace revolver
Umarex Legends Ace in the Hole revolver.

  • History of the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) revolver
  • Buntline Special
  • Sheriff’s model
  • The Shopkeeper’s model
  • Ace in the Hole
  • Fanning hammer
  • Don’t fan!
  • Removable front sight
  • Weathered finish
  • Pellet pistol
  • Heavy
  • Safety
  • Evaluation

Today we begin our look at the Umarex-Legends-Ace-in-the-Hole-revolver. This Legends airgun is different from all others because it does not attempt to copy the firearm exactly. It takes the kind of license you would expect from a person who wanted to customize his sidearm. To appreciate today’s report we’re gonna need to know some history of the Colt single action.

History of the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) revolver

The SAA came into being in 1873, two years after the expiration of S&W’s patent on revolver cylinders that were bored though, front to back. Colt started by modifying their 1860 Army cap and ball revolver to become the Colt 1871/72 open top cartridge revolver, but in late 1872 they began producing what would become the most famous revolver of all time, the 1873 Single Action Army. read more

Chinese B3 underlever: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

B3
The B3 underlever from China.

Part 1

A history of airguns

  • Condition
  • Velocity test
  • Hobbys
  • What would you do?
  • Seal crumbles
  • Beartrap!
  • Safety first
  • Next time

Here we go! Today is the day we find out the health of that rusty old B3 underlever I found in a local pawn shop several weeks ago.

Condition

I’ll start with a description of the condition of the rifle. It’s rusty all over and looks like every Chinese B3 I ever saw. When the rifle is cocked and the sliding compression chamber is pulled back, you can see the breech seal. On this rifle, it looks bad, actually destroyed. So the velocity testing that we’re doing today will be very interesting.

B3 breech seal
The breech seal is toast!

B3-1 breech seal
This is what a B3 breech seal should look like. read more

Old versus new

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

  • Wait
  • Old airguns
  • Pistols?
  • Broomhandle Mauser M712
  • Lookalikes
  • Get it?
  • The moral

Are old airguns better than new ones? “Yes!” says the guy who likes them for their wood and steel. He doesn’t want any plastic on his guns. It bothers him that the firearm handguns of today are made from as much plastic as steel.

Wait

Hold on, brother! That plastic Glock that offends you so much has been test-fired 30,000 shots without a major failure. The 1911 you love so dearly was praised in 1910 for shooting 6,000 shots  with the same results. The Glock endured 5 times the punishment as your venerable Browning design.

The Glock is also built for ease of manufacture. It’s so simple that a guy can build one in his workshop, starting with a plastic frame that’s 80 percent finished. All it takes is a file, a drill and some time. Oh, and a lot of money! When it’s finished he will have about as much tied up as if he had bought the gun over the counter. But it is possible. read more

Finding the pot of gold

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Trick number 1
  • Walter
  • Daisey
  • Trick 2
  • A gem!
  • Trick 3
  • Trick 4
  • Trick 5
  • Trick 6

I’m writing this report today because I need to. Something inside is telling me to get this out and I can’t think of anything else.
Today I’m going to talk about finding great deals.

Trick number 1

Several years ago I wrote a report about how to use common misspellings to locate hard-to-find items on public auction websites
like Gun Broker. We all hear people mispronouncing the names of famous airguns and firearms, but did you know they sometimes spell them that way, too. Take Anschütz. Many Americans pronounce it Anschultz, as in Ann Schultz. So, I went on Gun Broker and typed in Anschultz and, sure enough, there were 6 listings. Nobody who types in the correct spelling of the name will see these 6 listings, unless the seller also put the correct spelling in the title. It also means there will be very little competition on these listings. That’s the way the internet works.  But, if he listed it under Anschultz I doubt that he knows the correct spelling. read more

The development of the .22 rimfire cartridge: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • .22 Magnum
  • Revolvers first
  • Longer range
  • Accuracy
  • Cost
  • Advances
  • .22 hyper velocity rounds
  • Specialty rounds
  • Summary

Today we will look at the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR). round. An argument can be made for it advancing the rimfire cartridge in significant ways. Then I will address the hyper velocity rounds in the Long Rifle class. And finally I’ll give a quick nod to some specialty rounds. Let’s begin.

.22 Magnum

This cartridge was launched in 1959 by the Winchester corporation. It received a lot of immediate attention from the gun press, as well as from little boys like me. I wasn’t able to buy firearms in 1959, so it would be a couple decades before I actually shot a .22 Magnum, but all the gun journals were loaded with stories from guys who could and did shoot it. So, I read and dreamed. read more

Crosman 102 multi-pump pneumatic repeater: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Crosman 102
Crosman’s 102 is a .22 caliber multi-pump repeater.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The rifle
  • Test 1
  • Rebuilt
  • Examine the power band
  • Trigger pull
  • Surprise!
  • Test 2
  • Magazine capacity
  • Feeding
  • Label
  • Summary

Today we look at the power of the Crosman 102 bolt-action repeater that we are testing. This test went in a different direction than I expected because of the rifle’s design. I will explain as I go.

The rifle

You know that I just finished the test of the Crosman 100, and I’m getting confused between that rifle and this one. I re-read Part 1 for this rifle to familiarize myself with its operation, and good thing that I did. I had forgotten one thing that turned out to have a huge influence on today’s test. But I’m getting ahead of myself. read more