Tag Archives: hunting

Diana Mauser K98 PCP rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana Mauser
Diana Mauser K98 PCP.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Fill
  • JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
  • Fill to 200 bar
  • Discharge sound
  • Discussion 1
  • Beeman Kodiak
  • Pellet feed with the single-shot tray
  • H&N Hollow Point
  • Discussion 2
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Today we test the velocity and power of the Diana K98 PCP rifle. According to the description on the Pyramyd Air web page, this is a 26-foot-pound air rifle in the .22 caliber I am testing. This information helps me select the right pellets to test. A pneumatic in this power range is probably best with medium-weight to heavyweight pellets, though I will also test lightweights, just so we know.

Fill

I tried to fill the rifle to 200 bar/2900 psi — the recommended fill pressure, but I waited an instant too long to shut the tank valve and the fill went to 3,000. It’s only 100 psi more. read more

Air Venturi Avenger repeating air rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Avenger
Air Venturi Avenger.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Test strategy
  • Why was it showing higher?
  • Adjusting the regulator
  • Are you following this?
  • The test
  • Beeman Kodiak pellets
  • The regulator
  • JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
  • Beeman Kodiaks
  • The last string
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Test strategy

Today I will begin the velocity test. The Air Venturi Avenger is so adjustable that it will take several reports to cover just the velocity. Not only is the hammer spring adjustable — the regulator is, as well. In fact, that presents a challenge for how I will test the rifle. The rifle came out of the box with a charge of 3,600 psi and the regulator set to 3,000 psi. That means that until the internal pressure falls below 3,000 psi, the pressure that the valve “sees” will always be 3,000 psi. That is the highest pressure to which the regulator can be set — at least accurding to the manual. read more

The first compound bow

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Allen compound bow
This Allen bow is one of the first compound bows ever built. Allen invented the compound system!

History of airguns

This report covers:

  • The first compound bow
  • A gift!
  • History
  • Description
  • Made for a southpaw!
  • Bow data
  • Tuning the bow?
  • Dimensions
  • Value
  • Summary

I was looking for something completely different  for today’s report. I was temporarily bored with my list of airguns to cover and I didn’t feel like another rant, so today I am reporting on something that is in the shooting sports, but a long way from airguns — the world’s first compound bow.

Discovery

About two months ago, and just before my town locked down for the Covid-19 pandemic, I was in my favorite pawn shop, looking to see what new/old things might have come in. Naturally I searched the whole store, as I always do. There are things on my watch list, like a long-bladed plain-head screwdriver with a wide tip, that I’m always searching for. I didn’t see anything interesting until the very end, when I spotted a strange and simple-looking compound bow standing in the corner by the gun rack. It looked homemade so I asked to see it. I wasn’t interested it it beyond seeing how it had been made. It looked for all the world like something that had been built from plans published in Popular Mechanics. read more

Umarex Air Javelin airbow: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Umarex Air Javelin
The Air Javelin from Umarex.

This report covers:

  • Get ready
  • Not an airgun?
  • Low cost
  • Industry Day at the Range 2020
  • Noise?
  • Description
  • Action is ambidextrous
  • Performance
  • Will it accept air?
  • Size and sights
  • What’s the purpose?
  • Summary

Well, lookie, lookie, who’s got the cookie! I write about airgun manufacturers putting peep sights on their guns yesterday and today’s star — the Umarex Air Javelin — has them! Not only that, the Air Javelin (AJ) is a thousand-dollar airgun selling for $170! Or at least it will be when they come in.

Get ready

I’ve been sitting on this report for over a month for a couple reasons. The main one is the AJ that isn’t quite on the market yet. I don’t like to write about airguns you can’t get, but I expect this one to be available soon.

Not an airgun?

Is the AJ really an airgun? We can get into a long discussion about that, and I expect we will, but here is my opinion. The AJ shoots arrows, so it’s definitely not a BB or pellet gun. And it runs on CO2, so we can have that discussion, as well. read more

The advantages of hunting with an airgun

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Today’s report is a guest blog about the advantages of airgun hunting by Pyramyd Air employee Derek Goins.

If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog,

please email me read more

Advancing airgun accuracy

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by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

Several years ago, a big bore airgun manufacturer was heard to say that his hunting rifles were accurate enough to hit an Oreo cookie at 30 yards. He argued that it would be very hard for a deer to hide behind an Oreo cookie. So, the question is: Were his rifles accurate? He obviously thought they were, but most of the public disagreed. He had to improve the accuracy until his rifles could hit that Oreo at 100 yards. He managed to do that, and the sales were very good from that point on. True story.

Was this an issue of perception, or was the manufacturer right — that no deer can hide behind an Oreo? Well, here’s the deal. If he doesn’t sell any guns, nothing else really matters because he goes out of business, making his opinion as a manufacturer moot! Today, I’d like to talk about what drives practical airgun accuracy.

You might think it’s the World Cup and the Olympics that drive accuracy for airguns, but that would be incorrect. The World Cup matches certainly have had a huge impact on the accuracy and ergonomics of target airguns at close range. They’ve gone from being capable of making very small groups in the late 1950s to almost being able to stack all their pellets on top of each other. But that took place back in the late 1960s and early 1970s timeframe. Since then, there hasn’t been much advancement in accuracy because there wasn’t much room to improve. So, the target airgun designers turned their attentions to improving the sights and the ergonomics of their airguns, and that’s still going on today.

In this same time period, the pellet makers have advanced their art, as well. There’s still room for some improvement of lead-free target ammunition, but things in the lead pellet realm are slowing down. Once again, we’ve gone about as far as it’s possible to go.

But all of this progress has been in the world of close-range target guns. Longer-range airguns had a lot more room for improvement, and that was accomplished by different means.

History of field target and accuracy read more

Where do I start?

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by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

“Hi! I am new to airguns and I have a question. I live near a farm that has lots of feral hogs. Around here, people hunt them with high-powered rifles and shotguns, but I want to try something different. I saw on TV where someone used a Gamo air rifle to kill a wild hog that they said weighed over 200 lbs. I would like to do that, too.

“I bought a Winchester 1250SS at a local discount store. What I want to know from you is, do I need to use the Gamo PBA pellets, or will any pellets work for this? Also, where in the head do I shoot the pig? And can I reuse the PBA pellets that I find? They are very expensive and this would help a lot with my hunting budget. Thank you for your answer. I’m looking forward to going out next week!“ read more