New air rifle!

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:53 pm

The past year for me has been hmmm well interesting!

I find myself no longer wishing to shoot large game and shoot at long distances favouring getting real close to what ever I happen on. Heck I was even taking small game with a little air pistol last season! The bow and musket seem more apealing these day's.

Yes you have seen photo's of fox's but even those these days I prefer to get in close even if shot with a 308. I much prefer man against wild animal over just opperating a machine to get wild animal.

Enter the young feller at work! He buy's this air rifle and from new has issues with it, together we work on it and finally get it shooting well.

All the time while working and testing it it soon becomes apparent how well it fits me and how well I can shoot it.

Well boy's I held out as hard as I could but broke down and got one. It is a BSA XL Tactical.

The trigger was lousy but the fine stones fixed that. It's in .22 and seems to shoot most well made pellets well.

It is nice going back to my roots, sneaking around and being quiet

Nath.

Rimfire McNutjob · Post by **Rimfire McNutjob** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:37 pm

Nice looking rig there. I should get one for shooting around the yard. I hate to say this, but I think your pet rabbit there might be broken.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:46 pm

I bought Jr. a BSA Supersport when he was in about the 6th grade. They sure do make a nice rifle.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:17 pm

Rimfire McNutjob wrote:Nice looking rig there. I should get one for shooting around the yard. I hate to say this, but I think your pet rabbit there might be broken.

It's been hangin' in a tree for a few hours, gone stiff. The other is in the bag, still warm.

N.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:21 pm

Yep, it's funny, what age sometimes does to perspective, Nath - I've been doing much the same.

Last Summer, I grabbed a cheapo Ruger .17 AirHawk barrel-cocker, and dumped the 4x scope that came with it, deciding to go the the issue fibre-optic open sights for those close distances.

I was fortunate enough to roll a few squills last Fall, with it.

.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:25 pm

Quiet is handy sometimes.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:26 pm

Very cool!

I picked up a Stoeger X20 Suppressor model around Christmas. It is a ton of fun, and is going to have to take out the furry tree-rats invading my attic!

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:34 pm

Pete44ru wrote:Yep, it's funny, what age sometimes does to perspective, Nath - I've been doing much the same.

Last Summer, I grabbed a cheapo Ruger .17 AirHawk barrel-cocker, and dumped the 4x scope that came with it, deciding to go the the issue fibre-optic open sights for those close distances.

I was fortunate enough to roll a few squills last Fall, with it.

.

Ysabel Kid wrote:Very cool! I picked up a Stoeger X20 Suppressor model around Christmas. It is a ton of fun, and is going to have to take out the furry tree-rats invading my attic!

Big dollars if they get in there YK!

N.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:06 pm

Just be careful, Nath. You could be mistaken for an invading terrorist looking like that with a suppressed longarm.

On a serious note, looks like you're reconnecting with the primitive side by getting closer to your prey.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:36 pm

Nath, that looks like a good little game getter!

GK jr. always amazed me with his ability to take rabbits etc with his .177 air rifles, maybe I should go back to my roots and get a new air rifle, I fancy one with fibre optic sights.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:09 pm

My Gammo 1000 fps rifle is louder than a .22 RF.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:36 pm

Very cool indeed!!!

I love air rifles and have been thinknig about another one.
Maybe an RWS 460 in .177?

-Stretch

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:12 pm

Very nice!!!

Mine keeps breaking bunnies too!!!!

and bushy tails can't seem to stay in the trees:

everyone should have at least one great air rifle.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:04 am

Rjohns, have you posted that piccie before?

Looks familiar.....very nice rifle!

-Stretch

Bill in Oregon · Post by **Bill in Oregon** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:09 am

Nath, very nice! BSA still makes some wonderful stuff. I just received a Benjamin Marauder PCP in .25 for my birthday. I also got a nice British-made Hill pump to go with it. Shot it for the first time yesterday and could not believe how quiet it is -- especially for a 45 foot-pound gun. Crosman gets the .25 barrels from Green Mountain -- a very fine manufacturer.
Mike, is that TX200?

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:35 pm

Bill in Oregon wrote:Nath, very nice! BSA still makes some wonderful stuff. I just received a Benjamin Marauder PCP in .25 for my birthday. I also got a nice British-made Hill pump to go with it. Shot it for the first time yesterday and could not believe how quiet it is -- especially for a 45 foot-pound gun. Crosman gets the .25 barrels from Green Mountain -- a very fine manufacturer.
Mike, is that TX200?

I had a BSA in .25 many years ago, sub 12ft/lb! I use to salvage those big slugs out of rabbits and use them again!

Yours 'll pass through, more expensive

Nath.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:34 pm

Yes I posted those pics before. It's weirauch HW 97K with a Lepers scope. .20 cal. Beeman imports/markets them now

444Hal · Post by **444Hal** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:03 pm

I picked up a Gamo Whisper 1300fps “Silent Stalker .177” on last fall’s pilgrimage to Cabela’s. I’ve found that the 5.4gr travels too fast and sounds like a 22lr, but the 7.8gr is just below the sound barrier and is very quiet.

Just wonder how big of critter I could take with it.

deafrn · Post by **deafrn** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:26 pm

Around 1990 I bought a Beeman R7, eventually trading it for something I thought I needed more; I have regretted the loss off-and-on for almost 20 years now. It was accurate, light, easy to cock, simple to maintain and just an all-around little gem of an air gun, but it was not a powerhouse. With its relatively slow mv even in .177, use of the R7 on varmints (starlings, ground squirrels and the like) put a premium on fieldcraft and/or patience.

(It did take some rabbits and squirrels which had become nuisances, but I limited myself to close and easy head shots with animals of that size.)

I could use a little fun shooting like that again...

Hmmm....

Shasta · Post by **Shasta** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:42 pm

Interesting thread here. Didn't know we had so many air rifle aficionados!

A couple years back I decided I wanted an air rifle so I could practice at home for my lever action silhouette matches. After some research, I knew I wanted a fixed barrel with a single cock side lever and an aperture rear sight. The only such rifle at my local gun shop was a brand new RWS Diana 54 in .177 caliber. I would have preferred .22, and something much cheaper, but that sneaky store manager took me downstairs to where they had a ten yard range and let me shoot it. Whoo Boy! that gun will shoot! It isn't very quiet, especially when those pellets hit my metal bullet trap at 1100 FPS, but it sure has helped my silhouette scores. I never thought about hunting with it, but with the success some of you fellers are having, maybe I should give it a try. The ground squirrels will be showing up around here pretty soon!

SHASTA

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:05 pm

Pellet rifles and hunting are the essence of shooting to me. The stalking, the precision, the quality of forearm, the quiet shooting and the great eating after. I shoot about 500 pellets a month in my basement and it keeps my shooting sharp. In the spring, I go to war on starlings and crows. Where legal, pigeons too. I don't shoot song birds. I do pest control to keep the veggies protected. The pellet rifle, though not considered a firearm, is the last gun I would be without. I could feed my family and more with it exclusively

Bill in Oregon · Post by **Bill in Oregon** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:13 am

Mike, that's an interesting observation about being able to feed your family with an air rifle. Somewhere I read a survival blog on that very topic.
We don't have many cottontails around the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon -- mostly jack rabbits and snowshoes at the higher elevations. I'd love to head over to eastern Oregon with the new Marauder, though, as I have heard that rabbits are at the top of the population cycle this year.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:48 pm

444Hal wrote:I picked up a Gamo Whisper 1300fps “Silent Stalker .177” on last fall’s pilgrimage to Cabela’s. I’ve found that the 5.4gr travels too fast and sounds like a 22lr, but the 7.8gr is just below the sound barrier and is very quiet.

Just wonder how big of critter I could take with it.

I have taken a few fox's! But they will run off and you will find them about 100yds away! Thats my experience, apart from the head shot ones that is!

N.

preventec47 · Post by **preventec47** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:23 pm

If you have something extra special to shoot like a racoon
with your break barrel pellet gun, you can take a syringe
or any comparable tool and extract 4 or 5 drops of 2 cycle
fuel or diesel fuel and put those 4 or 5 drop down into
the piston chamber when the barrel is cocked.
When you shoot you will get combustion and slightly
better than 1400 fps if your rifle works like mine.
Of course there is a bang and some smoke coming
out of the barrel and you can barely believe what just
happened. Further if you are taking on a skull shot for
a Fox etc a round lead ball as opposed to ANY kind of
pellet will penetrate about 40 percent deeper.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:57 pm

Wow!!

I would be interested what long term use of this methodology has on the gun?

preventec47 · Post by **preventec47** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:15 pm

To be honest I dont ( woundnt) use this technique on my
exotic German pellet rifle but I have a Daisy Magnum
wal-mart model that cost 85 bucks 8 years ago and it is
still going strong.

Gentleman what I explained was the automotive equivalent
of diesel engines. Rapid Compression ignites the fuel-air
mixture.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:21 pm

It can also break the spring from the shockwave from combustion. It also is very inconsistant so acuracy usually goes out the window! Modern piston seals can turn inside out too!

The pelet in the fox fur made all but through the chest cavity, plenty for 40yds

N.

CalvinMD · Post by **CalvinMD** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:08 pm

Cool!...anyone else have one of those old Chinese made single strokes like you used to see at the gun shows way back when they were still importing Norinco stuff??...I have one and although crude its pretty peppy and I've filled a trash can full of Starlings and rodents from my sheds and bird feeders..I always wished it had a provision for mounting a scope though as my eyes and iron sight don't play well together any more

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:35 pm

CalvinMD wrote:Cool!...anyone else have one of those old Chinese made single strokes like you used to see at the gun shows way back when they were still importing Norinco stuff??...I have one and although crude its pretty peppy and I've filled a trash can full of Starlings and rodents from my sheds and bird feeders..I always wished it had a provision for mounting a scope though as my eyes and iron sight don't play well together any more

I had something like that years ago now, IIRC it had a rotary mag on it.

It was perfect for close up small pests.

N.

rossim92 · Post by **rossim92** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:44 pm

I have a beeman sportsman rs2 dual caliber breakbarrel. Shoots the .177 at 1000fps and the .22 at 800 fps. I t will move a little faster if you use the gold plated pellets, not worth the price to me in difference in speed. dumped the 4x32 scope that came with it and put on a Bsa scope. very accurate..Like any good gun, no dry firing, and lube piston every 1000 rds or so.

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:18 pm

Lube the piston with what?

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:55 pm

Air rifle chamber lube, of course!

Seriously, RWS makes some and that's what I use. I'm not
sure about it's composition, but it's designed to minimize
dieseling, which as noted above, can be hard on the guns.
Rjohns, what do you use? You shoot enough air rifle to
have a worthwhile opinion?

If you have a low power spring-operated gun, like an IZH-46
10-meter pistol, you can use ATF. It lubricates well, won't attack
the seals, and at those low pressures will not diesel. Where is the
threshold for dieseling with ATF? I dunno - you're on your own
there. I would NOT use it on a high-quality spring-powered rifle
without further research.

-Stretch

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:22 pm

This is worth pursuit, as I have never known the PROPER chemical/solution to use.

deafrn · Post by **deafrn** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:39 pm

Hermann Weihrauch produced an air gun called the "Barakuda" that was intended to raise the MV through deliberate dieseling, but IIRC, it was too easy to overstress it, and it eventually went off the market. I also believe that some European countries had a bit of a problem with the amount of ME it produced along with the question whether it was actually a firearm with the charge set off by compression rather than a primer (or some such thing).

I also vaguely recall warnings against trying it with a typical springer due to a potential for damage and/or personal injury. My R7 instructions made a point about how to avoid dieseling when lubricating the innards.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:13 pm

No way but I'm all eyes and ears if you guys want to report on it. My 20 performs just fine

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:58 pm

rjohns,
what do you use to lubricate?

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:31 am

Beeman has oil specifically for air guns so as to not cause dieseling. It's what I use sparingly like they suggest but not on my .20. It has self lubricating seals. My .20 shoots close to 1000 fps and is accurate to an amazing degree at distances further than I would shoot an animal with. I often shoot iron animal targets at 100 yards and they get hit hard enough to fall every time. Some air rifles do not require any lubrication, some require one drop every 1500 shots. Some up to three during break in. U oil in the transport port and stand the rifle up on it's butt for 30 mins or more. Than fire 10 shots to distribute the oil. Check ur instructions on ur own firearm. If u have self lubricating seals, oiling them will cause premature failure.

444Hal · Post by **444Hal** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:38 pm

preventec47 wrote:If you have something extra special to shoot like a racoon
with your break barrel pellet gun, you can take a syringe
or any comparable tool and extract 4 or 5 drops of 2 cycle
fuel or diesel fuel and put those 4 or 5 drop down into
the piston chamber when the barrel is cocked.
When you shoot you will get combustion and slightly
better than 1400 fps if your rifle works like mine.
Of course there is a bang and some smoke coming
out of the barrel and you can barely believe what just
happened. Further if you are taking on a skull shot for
a Fox etc a round lead ball as opposed to ANY kind of
pellet will penetrate about 40 percent deeper.

I did buy some GAMO "Rocket" with the little ball bearing in the tip. Tried them on one of those splatter targets while (finally) sighting in with the standard lead pellets. They do sound like they hit harder and triple the size of the splatter mark left behind.

JB · Post by JB » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:04 pm

preventec47 wrote:To be honest I dont ( woundnt) use this technique on my
exotic German pellet rifle but I have a Daisy Magnum
wal-mart model that cost 85 bucks 8 years ago and it is
still going strong.

Gentleman what I explained was the automotive equivalent
of diesel engines. Rapid Compression ignites the fuel-air
mixture.

I wouldn't pull that trick on any of my quality airguns. Maybe the cheap Chinese and Spanish rifles. Sometimes even with new spring powered rifles you'll get slight dieseling as it burns off excessive lube from the factory.

The fellow told you exactly right. You're causing a explosion of the oil from pressure without a spark just as in a diesel engine. The rifles obviously weren't designed for it and you're causing extremely rapid wear to the airgun.

JB · Post by JB » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:07 pm

Mescalero wrote:Lube the piston with what?

With either RWS or Beeman lube, we're only talking one or maybe two drops at the most every 1,000 rounds or so. The old airguns with leather seals needed more lube, but modern guns with synthetic seals need very little. Too much lube is risking excessive dieseling which is very hard on the rifle.

CalvinMD · Post by **CalvinMD** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:12 pm

My chinese gun has synthetic nylon or delrin seals....I use Mobil synthetic auto tranny fluid (also as a general gun oil)...a great oil thats never gums or changes viscosity...no danger of dieseling as it has a super high flash point..paid 5.25 for a qt back in 2006 and still have most of it left

1894c · Post by **1894c** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:39 pm

i wasn't going to read this post then i noticed it was from Nath...that did it for me...not into air-rifles, but love to read nath's stuff... :)

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:28 pm

Nath'sposts are always worth reading!

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:17 am

We had an infestation of racoons in our attic... that the son trapped and disposed of with his new air rifle...

Why it needed a scope, I couldn't begin to understand... but he said it did. So it does.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:28 pm

Griff wrote:We had an infestation of racoons in our attic... that the son trapped and disposed of with his new air rifle...

Why it needed a scope, I couldn't begin to understand... but he said it did. So it does.

Neat stock on that rifle Griff. Just what air rifle is it?