Tag Archives: Spring-piston pistols

Testing the Beeman P1 for accuracy

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by Tom Gaylord, The Godfather of Airguns™
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Parts 1 & 2
Part 3
Testing the BSF S20 and the Webley Hurricane

Beeman P1
Beeman P1 is a powerful, accurate spring pistol.

This report covers:

• Where does the P1 fit?
• Which is best — Scorpion or P1?
• The accuracy test
• Crosman Premier pellets
• RWS Hobby pellets
• RWS Superdome pellets
• Analysis
• Something to remember
• Blog navigation: One more change…and we want your feedback

Today, I’ll finish the test of spring pistol accuracy at 10 meters. I’m using the same pellets and holds that have been used throughout this test, so it’s apples to apples. This time, I’m testing the Beeman P1. I’d also said I would test the Beeman P17; but since it’s not a spring gun, that’s mixing things up too much. read more

BSA Scorpion air pistol: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord, The Godfather of Airguns™
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Parts 1 & 2

BSA Scorpion
BSA Scorpion

This report covers:

• Powerful air pistol!
• How the test was conducted
• The trigger
• Crosman Premier lite pellets
• The next big test
• RWS Hobby pellets
• RWS Superdome pellets
• Overall evaluation

Today, we’ll look at the accuracy of the BSA Scorpion. In a moment, I’ll tell you what this test has inspired me to do. But first, let’s look at the Scorpion’s performance downrange.

Powerful air pistol!
We saw in Parts 1 & 2 that the Scorpion is a very powerful spring-piston air pistol. It pushed pellets out the spout at the same speed as my Beeman P1, which is another powerful spring-piston airgun. read more

BSA Scorpion air pistol: Parts 1 and 2

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by Tom Gaylord, The Godfather of Airguns™
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

BSA Scorpion
BSA Scorpion.

This report covers:

• Brief history of the BSA Scorpion pistol
• Description
• Velocity test
• Trigger
• Sights
• Cocking effort
• Evaluation so far

Brief history of the BSA Scorpion pistol
When I first started reading about airguns in the 1970s, things were similar to today. There were always some models I couldn’t get, or guns that I had missed getting when they were new. I didn’t find out about them soon enough. It created a feeling of inferiority — as if I’d missed the party and could tell it had been a good one by the wreckage that remained. read more

Why powerful mainsprings don’t always increase velocity

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

Today’s report is the one I mentioned forgetting in last Friday’s blog! Blog reader Errol reminded me about it yesterday.

I hear this so often from airgunners — how they think they’re going to add a more powerful mainspring to their airguns and increase the power. It sounds logical, but it often doesn’t work; and it nearly always doesn’t work as well as you think it should. Today, I want to discuss why that is.

Fact 1
The Weihrauch HW 35 was always considered to be one of the most powerful airguns in its day — which was the 1950s. They delivered over 700 f.p.s. when new in the 1950s; and over time, this rose to 750 f.p.s. Careful tuning could get close to 800 f.p.s. from certain guns. This model is still being made today, but now it sells because it’s so pleasant to shoot and doesn’t produce excessive power. How times change! read more

Beeman HW 70A air pistol: Part 4

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

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Beeman HW 70A air pistol
Beeman’s HW 70A breakbarrel spring pistol.

Remember that I said I would return and do another accuracy test of the Beeman HW 70A pistol because I didn’t test the best pellet seated? I felt a little guilty about missing that; but after my wife, Edith, got done with me, I felt really guilty. Good job, Edith!

Today is a revisit to see the effects of deep-seating the best pellet, which you may recall was the Beeman H&N Match. The other two pellets I shot last time aren’t in the running, so they don’t get retested.

However, a reader commented that his HW 70A really likes the JSB Exact RS dome, so that one got tested, too. read more

Beeman HW 70A air pistol: Part 3

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

Part 1
Part 2

Beeman HW 70A air pistol
Beeman’s HW 70A breakbarrel spring pistol.

Today you get a twofer. Or at least it will be more than just one test, as I’m starting to test a second product with today’s accuracy test of the Beeman HW 70A pellet pistol. The other product I’m testing is the EyePal Master Kit for Rifles and Pistols. Because it did play a pivotal part in today’s test, let’s begin with it.

EyePal Master Kit for Rifles and Pistols
The EyePal is a soft patch that’s applied to prescription or safety glasses to provide an aperture for the sighting eye. This concept is close to a century old, and many of the veteran readers will remember the Merit adjustable iris that had a suction cup to attach to glasses. The Merit was adjustable, so the aperture you looked through was controlled by the user. The EyePal is not adjustable. In the Master Kit I’m evaluating, there’s one soft patch for handguns and another for rifles. They have different sized holes, and the handgun patch that I used in today’s test has the slightly larger hole. The lids on the boxes and the patches themselves are color-coded so you know what each one is. read more

Beeman HW 70A air pistol: Part 2

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

Part 1


Beeman’s HW 70A breakbarrel spring pistol.

Okay, there’s some interest in this Beeman HW 70A, but many of you have avoided it like I have. Let’s see what it can do.

First, the cocking effort. HW advertises 21 lbs., however the test pistol registered 27 lbs. on my bathroom scale. While that may not sound like a lot, remember this is a close-coupled pistol, so there’s no long lever like you have on a breakbarrel rifle. So, 27 lbs. does feel like a lot.

The trigger-pull, on the other hand, is very light. The test pistol releases at just 2 lbs., 3 ozs. And that’s after I adjusted it to be heavier. I’d gotten it so low that it surprised me when it went off. That felt too dangerous; but where it is now feels pretty good. read more