Tag Archives: youth rifle

Air Venturi Tech Force M8: Part 1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Ari Venturi M8
Air Venturi M8 is very much like the Bronco.

This report covers:

  • Comparison
  • Stock
  • Powerplant
  • Double trigger blade
  • What is it?

Here is an alert to everyone who missed getting an Air Venturi Bronco. From what I see so far, just having taken the .177 caliber Air Venturi Tech Force M8 out of the box and shooting it a couple times, this rifle is as good as the Bronco. For some of you it is even better, as you will learn today.

Comparison

The M8 is practically identical to the Bronco. Both rifles are 40 inches long and weigh 6.5 lbs. The M8 stock has a slightly longer pull of 13 inches, to the Bronco’s 12-1/2 or 12-3/4 inches. Both rifles are said to cock with 18 lbs. of effort, which puts them into the comfortable range. The Bronco came with adjustable open sights, while the M8 has no sights. Both rifles have the 2-bladed 2-stage trigger that uses the first blade to take up stage one of the pull. read more

Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle kit: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Umarex NXG APX rifle
Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle.

This report covers:

• Sight-in
• Accuracy, starting with Premier lite pellets
• On to RWS Superdome pellets
• What to do?
• Anything else?
• Summary

It’s been a long time since I looked at the Umrarex NXG APX air rifle kit. The last part was published on October 3, and it was an accuracy test at 10 meters with open sights. The next test was supposed to be shot at 25 yards with the scoped rifle, and that is what I’ll do today, but there was a problem.

Try though I did, I couldn’t find a scope mount that fit the top rail of the rifle! Without that, there’s no way of mounting a scope, and there goes the test. read more

Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle kit: Part 3

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

Part 1
Part 2

Umarex NXG APX rifle
Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle.

This report covers:

• Sight-in
• Pellets first: JSB Exact RS pellets
• RWS Superdome pellets
• Shooting behavior
• Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellets
• RWS Hobby pellets
• Switch to BBs
• Evaluation so far

We’ll look at the accuracy of the Umrarex NXG APX Air Rifle today, and that means we have to test it with lead pellets and BBs. There’s a lot of work to do, so let’s get going.

Sight-in
I sighted-in the rifle for 10 meters using the open sights. The fiberoptic front sight was no problem, because I lit the target bright and the place from where I shot was dark. I got the elevation okay, but I couldn’t get the windage adjusted. It takes a Phillips screwdriver to loosen one screw and slide the rear sight notch left or right. The screw was too tight to move — it may be painted-in. So, I left it were it was, and the groups landed just to the right of the bull. If the APX is accurate I’ll probably mount some sort of optical sight that can be adjusted, so this isn’t a big problem. read more

Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle kit: Part 2

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

Part 1

Umarex NXG APX rifle
Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle.

This report covers:

• Standard velocity test
• Second test
• What does this mean?
• Third test
• Fourth test
• Fifth test
• Making sense of the data
• Other observations

Today, we’ll look at the velocity of the Umarex NXG APX air rifle, and I learned some interesting things.

Standard velocity test
First, I did my standard velocity test. That’s where I pump the rifle a number of times and record the velocity for each set of pumps. For this test, I always use a Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellet — assuming a .177-caliber air rifle, of course. Let’s look at the results of that test. read more

Umarex NXG APX multi-pump air rifle kit: Part 1

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

Umarex NXG APX rifle
The NXG APX multi-pump is new from Umarex.

This report covers:

• What’s different?
• What’s the same?
• Comes as a kit with a scope
• Summary

As I was leaving the Ft. Worth airgun show, Umarex U.S.A. Marketing Manager Justin Biddle handed me a plain cardboard box that said, “Personal for Tom Gaylord.” It was a full week before I opened the box; but when I did, I found today’s topic air rifle inside — the Umarex NXG APX multi-pump that shoots both BBs and pellets. There are enough new features on this rifle that I’m going to cover them in this special Part 1. Justin said every kid will want one for Christmas, and I want to find out why. read more

Diana 72 youth target rifle: Part 4

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

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Diana 72
Diana 72 is a youth target rifle from the late 20th century.

This report addresses:

• More on the trigger.
• Accuracy with various pellets.
• Why 5 shots?
• Accuracy with deep-seated pellets.
• Summary.

Today is accuracy day for the Diana model 72 target rifle. We had one extra report in this series, and that was on adjusting the trigger. I want to tell you some more of what I have learned about this trigger.

More on the trigger
During the accuracy test, the trigger failed to work two times. The first time I made a small adjustment and got it running again in a matter of a minute. The second time, however, I worked on it for 15 minutes without success. I finally read Part 3 of this report, to see where the two adjustment screws had been positioned when the trigger was working. The camera angle of that photo isn’t the best, so there was still some guesswork involved; but even then I couldn’t get the rifle to fire. read more

Diana 72 youth target rifle: Part 3

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

Part 1
Part 2

Diana 72
Diana 72 is a youth target rifle from the late 20th century.

This report addresses:

• Examining the Diana model 72 trigger.
• Two trigger adjustments.
• Caution — you may not want to do this!
• Trigger adjustment directions.
• Blog reader Mikeiniowa.

Today, we’re going to look at how to adjust the Diana model 72 trigger. I know this report is needed; because when I searched for information on the Diana model 72 target rifle, this blog was at the top of the list! I wish I had an owner’s manual for this little rifle, as I’m sure clear trigger adjustment instructions are in there. Lacking that, let’s first look at the trigger. read more