Tag Archives: vintage airgun

Peep sights: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

Ghost ring
However
Daisy combination sight
The lollipop sight
Buffalo hunters
Zimmerstutzen and Schuetzen peeps
Cheep peeps
Summary

Today we are going to look at the oddities among peep sights. We will start with the ghost ring.

Ghost ring

A ghost ring is a peep sight with a very large hole and very thin sides. Compared to the peeps we have been exploring, the ghost ring is barely there. Let’s see.

Mossberg ghost ring
The Mossberg ghost ring sight pairs with a red ramp front sight — ON A SHOTGUN!

Ghost ring sights are in favor right now because they provide rapid target acquisition, with a slight loss of precision. They are found on tactical shotguns and some handguns where the speed of target acquisition is favored over the last bit of precision. read more

The Webley Hurricane: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hurricane
Webley Hurricane.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Air Arms Falcons
  • HOWEVER
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • What is the Oh, oh?
  • Galling
  • Wrong lubrication
  • Change in direction
  • What’s next?

Today I’m going to test my Webley Hurricane’s velocity. Like I said in Part 1, I have never tested the Hurricane in my standard way. This series is an attempt to correct  that. However — I have tested the Hurricane’s velocity before and I recorded the results. I will now show a table of those results that I recorded in August of 2014, so I can do some baseline testing as I start the velocity test.

table

As you can see from the table, Air Arms Falcon pellets are the fastest and also the most consistent in the Hurricane. If I shoot 10 more today, how will those results compare to the numbers I got six years ago? read more

What is a BB gun?

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • Intro
  • Wow!
  • Red Ryder
  • BBs have changed
  • Safer BBs
  • Modern BB guns
  • Conclusion

Intro

This blog went live on March second, 2005. Two days later, on March 4, I wrote this report that I am reprinting today in total — just as it was published then. After you read it, I have a few updates at the end.

A BB gun is the fundamental starting point in our hobby. We shoot them, talk about them, collect them, and, for most of us, just hearing the term “BB gun” evokes a flood of memories. But what we think of when we think of BB guns depends largely on how old we are and where we came from.

The most common BB gun known today has got to be Daisy’s Red Ryder. It was the first BB gun many of us had or wanted and, since it has been around almost continuously since its introduction in 1938, that includes nearly every airgunner alive today. read more

IZH-61 repeating spring air rifle: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

IZH 61
The IZH 61 sidelever repeating air rifle.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The test
  • The rear sight
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • What if I really, really tried?
  • JSB Exact RS
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • No longer seating pellets in the clip
  • RWS R-10 Match Pistol
  • RWS Hobby
  • Trigger behavior
  • Firing behavior
  • Feeding reliability
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of the IZH-61 repeating pellet rifle I am testing. And I’ll give you a heads up. There is a surprise coming. At least it surprised me!

The test

I shot off a rest at 10 meters. I tried to use the artillery hold, but the pistol grip of the 61 sort of foils that. Let’s just say I held the rifle gently. And I shot 5-shot groups.

I had planned to shoot one pellet from each chamber of the clip at different targets when I found the best pellet, but as you will see, that will not work today. I will explain as we go. read more

Diana 27S: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 27S
Diana 27S.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Trepidation
  • Disassembly
  • Anti-beartrap mechanism
  • Pictures!
  • Secret washer
  • Remove the trigger?
  • The rest of the disassembly
  • Cleaning
  • Lubrication and assembly
  • Hit the wall
  • Frustration
  • The solution
  • The final solution
  • Denny was a pattern maker
  • The irony!
  • One more thing
  • Summary

Today I do something different. I show you a tuneup that is not complete. I do that because the monster has been vanquished and I will be able to get the Diana 27S back together to report on the performance after a cleaning and a lube tune. Here we go.

Trepidation

When I began this job a week ago I had trepidation because of the anti-beartrap mechanism Diana put in this model. I have stripped other springers with anti-beartraps before and I’ve always been successful, but their presence complicates the rest of the powerplant quite a bit — especially the trigger. read more

Crosman Mark I and II reseal: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier


Crosmnan Mark schematic

Today’s report is another guest blog from reader Ian McKee who writes as 45 Bravo. He’s going to finish the report on resealing the Crosman Marks I and II CO2 pistols.

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

History of airguns

Part 1 — resealing the end cap

Over to you, Ian.

Crosman Mark I and II reseal

Ian McKee 
Writing as 45 Bravo

This report covers:

  • Disassembly
  • Bolt removal
  • Hammer spring
  • Remove trigger guard
  • Remove the valve
  • Prep and assembly
  • The 4 o-rings in the pistol
  • Piercing cap o-rings
  • Assemble the pistol in the reverse order
  • Test the function

So, your Crosman MK1 is still leaking, even after you replaced the seal in the piercing cap as we covered in an earlier blog. 

There are only 4 o-rings in this pistol, only 3 have constant gas pressure on them when the gun is charged, and 2 of those are in or on the piercing cap assembly, and those we already covered.  read more