Page 3 - Beeman P3 Reviews

Accuracy wise it was just super. It will happily put 5 rounds in a group the size of a nickel, and probably better. Notice I said it will, not "I can". Right now my goal is just putting all 5 in the black. It is surprising how much harder it is for me to see the front sight indoors as opposed to outside in the sunshine. The pellets I ordered are Crosman premier light. They are $26 dollars for 1250. If you order three boxes the fourth is free. There are cheaper pellets, but with with cost of .22 LR these days what the heck? I am frankly kind of fired up about my new pistol. It looks like it will give me good feedback on my trigger control and sight picture. And, I can practice in the comfort of my home rain or shine.

It does take a little time to load, but that's probably a good thing, as it made me slow down rather than just plink away. The trigger doesn't reset after you break the shot, so that's kind of a bummer.

I recently ordered a Beeman P3 air pistol. A retired Fish and Wildlife officer friend of mine had brought me a stack of old Shotgun News magazines. The articles by Tom Gaylord had got me thinking about an air pistol that I could shoot indoors. Tom is in the employ of an outfit called Pyramyd Air. I understand that the P17 is a Chinese made copy of the P3 and a bargain to boot. That's all well and good, but frankly I was willing to pay more for the P3, as it is made by Weihrauch in Germany. Besides that, Pyramyd Air was sold out of P17's. 8)
I set up a 10 meter "range" in a upstairs hall using a wooden target holder with a putty backstop. I placed the target on an old milkcrate and set a piece of scrap blandex against the wall, just in case. In the target holder I placed a sheet of 10 meter air rifle targets.
What a hoot! The P3 is a fun little pistol. It seems to be modeled after some generic polymer pistol.
To fire it you pull the "hammer" back to release the "slide". The slide hinges at the muzzle, and after levering it forward you can place a .177 cal pellet in the breech end of the barrel. Then after pressing the slide back down you can fire the pistol. There is a safety above the trigger that is applied automatically. The pistol comes with fiber optic adjustable sights. I blacked out the rear fiber dots. It was difficult for me to focus on the front sight with all those dots shining at me. The trigger is quite good. Two stage and it broke at 1 pound and 6 ounces on my Lyman trigger scale.

Accuracy, accuracy, and more accuracy: Thanks to top quality construction and a phenomenal trigger this little pistol shoots groups that fit under a dime. If I fire five shots, at least two of them are going through the same hole and the rest are touching or very close. I estimate that this pistol is more accurate than I am… and, I am the author of the book rexGun. She’s a shooter! In the era of polymer weaponry this little air pistol is a joy. Yes, it is made (externally) entirely of ultra-modern high-tech polymers. That keeps weight to a minimum and also means that the external of the pistol can be handled frequently without concern of rust or corrosion. All internals are solid and metal.

These Beeman pistols are long since out of production (to my knowledge) and as such they come with old seals. Put a new breach seal in upon purchase and you will not be disappointed with this pistol.

The P3 and the P17 are not comparable: The P3 is a superb piece of German shooting excellence while the P17 is… Not!

Beeman Kodiak pellets are great for this pistol. My accuracy results are using copper plated Kodiak pellets.

I’ve just received the pistol, tried it, and want to share my first impression. Very nice pistol for average and large hand. I read a lot of complains that it’s hard to cock and load, but in my opinion cocking is easy enough (at least for average male) and loading pellets is not an issue at all. The pistol feels very comfortable in hand, shoots precisely right from the box. Trigger is next to perfect – you feel it, but it doesn’t require any sufficient force to overcome before a shoot. Very good bright fiber optics front and rear sights, clearly seen even without bright lighting. It looks like the pistol is powerful enough for 10m target shooting, although the pellets don’t dive into a wooden bar (I was shooting it from 5m).

Maybe it’s just my first excitement, but I don’t see anything I don’t like with the pistol. OK, I wouldn’t argue if it was more powerful, but for this size it doesn’t seem to be possible to do.

The pistol is for target shooting, it might be not strong enough to kill even a mouse.

Solid construction. The plastic parts are very well made, using solid material. The pistol is put together very well. I like the single-stroke feature because it will never run out of CO2 or compressed air. It also does not have spring fatigue or the recoil associated with a spring gun. Also, the P3 can be dry fired with or without air compressed. This feature is great for trigger control practice. Interestingly, this means the P3 can be (ab)used for bug control, shooting cleaning pellets. A spring gun cannot shoot cleaning pellets because they are too light, and the piston will smash too hard onto the cylinder's stop, causing damage. The built-in front and rear sights are a pleasure to use, they are, in a way, better than the ones on my IZH-46M! The cocking effort is okay for me, not too hard. Automatic safety is a good feature, too (the IZH-46M has no safety).

Not much. The pistol is pretty loud for its level of power. Just the hammer/valve mechanical sound may be louder than my IZH-46M with an air stripper.

Compared to the IZH-46M, the P3 is harder to cock and louder. The muzzle energy of the P3 is also weaker. The P3 is quite accurate if I do my part. Compared to the IZH-46M, the P3 is also much more compact. The grip of the P3 is just about right for my medium-sized hands, whereas the IZH-46M requires a bit of customization to make the grip fit.

The P3 makes a great pistol for indoor and shorter range shooting using the built-in sights. It does have a dovetail rail for mounting a sight, but a scope ruins the shape of the P3. The limited muzzle energy of the pistol also means a pistol scope with a parallax spec of 50 yards won't improve accuracy that much over that of the iron sights.

the trigger is nice, and the accuracy is unmatched for the money!

nothing, this gun is amazing!

i'v tried a couple of different pellets, i shot a 1/2 in group at 10m with jbs exact daioblo 8,44gr, 7.0gr rws waddcutters shoot about the same. this guun will shoot just about anything u feed it. i would buy it agian and again!

excellent sights,trigger,accuracy

This airgun is hard to cock and load.

You need small fingers to load this airgun and strong hands and arms to cock this beast. Just watch the video and you will see. I loved the accuracy and trigger.

Accurate-very accurate of r a pistol.

cut out the rear of slide so inserting a pellet would be easier-make it easier to pump, very hard to close

very accurate-slow to load-very hard to close.

Light-weight , grip is just about ergonomically perfect , nice sights , amazing trigger , and outstanding accuracy !

I would have liked to see the barrel extend to the end of the gun for cleaning purposes since you can't get a rod into the other end , but this is solved by using a flexible pull-through system instead. I would have made the overlever and it's hinge joint a little beefier - if roughly treated it is at risk for damage.

Left sided safety only [ not a problem for me ] and some have complained about lack of room to load pellets at the breech end.
Doing a "rolling lay-up" with your finger solves this problem [ I too have beefy fingers ] - just lay the pellet on it's waist and "roll it" in there.
This gun likes RWS 7gr hollow-points - they roll in smooth as butter.
For the money , you cannot beat the P-3. It is easy to shoot , very accurate , and can be "dry-fired" as well.
I highly recommend this gun !

The sights are nice, high quality, and are very easy to aim with even in low light. The build quality of this gun is very high and also well engineered. The trigger on this gun is amazing, it is very smooth through the entire stroke and has a nice crisp break.

I really like this gun the way it is.

I was a little nervous when ordering this gun that it wouldn't be a very high quality pistol and the fit and finish may be lacking, I was wrong. This pistol is $220 well spent and compliments my .22lr pistol very well. If you want a high quality air pistol that shoots accurately for a fair price this is the one. No regrets on this purchase.

crisp trigger, accurate, impressive quality, overall fit & finish.

pricey but you get what you pay for. be careful as it may pinch when cocking (ouch!)

i wanted this single pump for 10M target shooting. fits this intended purpose flawlessly.

An very accurate pistol. Try different pellets to see which is best, mine likes RWS R-10 Match 7 gr. and Meisterkugeln 8.2 gr. Is hard to cock but accuracy makes up for it. Right amount of power for 10 meter.

Nothing, each air gun is different.

I picked the P-3 over the P-17 because where is was made.

Very accurate, looks good. Very hard to load, especially with wadcutter pellets. Extremely hard to cock.

probably couldn't make it any easier to cock or load

Doing business with Pyramyd Air is a pleasure.

accurate, no co2, great ergonomics

nothing

easy to cock???? what are you people thinking...its a bear to cock...and if you get pinched you will know it.

good trigger. very visable sights easy operation

better loading port. it is slow to insert the pellet without damaging the skirt

this is not a toy.

This is my first air gun and after 500 or so rounds I can say that I am very pleased with it. It is solidly built, has a very crisp trigger, great sights and a very comfortable grip. Its accuracy is amazing with just about any pellet I have tried. I highly recommend this gun and would purchase one again if needed. Agreat by for th money.

Nothing.

I suggest using a pull through for cleaning the barrel as you can not use a cleaning rod from the breach end and cleaning from the muzzle is a good way of damaging the rifling at the very end of the barrel.

I like the price and the overall quality. I wish it would last though! Seems to feel like a steel replica gun . I like the grips . Excellent gun overall... if it works a long time! Mine is still under 40 shots and seems weak, too soft. I do not have a chrony. Compared to my other guns , it is quiet. Very quiet, and is a blast to shoot anyway due to it's grip and balance.I like the sights too.

quality, make it able to be rebuilt?

I see the air chamber is presed together. I suspect the German one is better built in many ways and is worth it. I can see that the hinges could be built better, and still I like this gun! Hard to load as you must fit your finger inside the barrel+/slide at some point to load the pellet. I have big hands and can do it. No real problem.

Simple to use. Very well made. Very accurate. Has a safety that sets each time you load.

I wouldn't mind if it had a little more power, but it does fine like it is.

The trigger is great- light and crisp. The fiber optic sights are very easy to see, and provide a very good sight picture. The grip is very comfortable in my medium/large hand. This handgun is solid and well made.

I would add a quality screwdriver for sight adjustment to the package.

So far I have only been plinking pop cans at about 20 meters, so I can not comment on group size on paper, but if I do my part the pistol hits every time. I have been shooting the Beeman 6.5gr Laser pellets recommended by Pyramyd, and this pistol really likes them.

heavy and easy to aim with feels very steady in your hands

the price!!!!

get the p17 same exact thing but cheaper... WAY CHEAPER

Sights, accuracy and "feel". Trigger is very good and the metal construction should provide good durability.

Used it for a few days then gave it away. Not easy to load, not very powerful. The same "rant" I have concerning the P1. With Beeman's eagerness to make an air gun look like a firearm there are just too many compromises. Hard to cock, difficult to load, all as a result of trying to make an airgun look like something it is not. My Beeman Tempest is a much better design. Easy to cock, easy to load and it looks like what it is... an air pistol. I don't expect this to be published, as my review of the P1 was not, for the same reasons. Replicas should be limited to C02, this would not degrade the function. If you must have a Beeman, I'd buy the P1. Easier to load and more powerful, even if it looks like a Colt 1911 with some kind of serious bloating of the receiver.

I would pass on the P1 and P3 and buy the RWS P5. Great sights and trigger, more power and very easy to cock and load. There will be complaints that it looks like an air pistol....fine by me. Form should follow function. If I want a firearm I'll buy one, rather than a "replica" that looks like a mutant copy. One downside... the RWS P5 does not provide a rail to mount a scope. Hopefully, RWS will come out with a scope mountable version. I would buy it at once.