Air Guns

Here's my RWS Diana 34 in .22. It has a Center Point Illuminated 4-16x40 mm scope. It's a very accurate rifle especially with the RWS Meisterkuglen pellets. Took it to the range and at 75' it was giving very good groups that would have been better with a better shooter. Some where along the line the shroud for the front sight was broken. Super glue to the rescue.

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To me, air guns mean that I can continue the rodent eradication through the dry periods. I fear using my .22 rimfire, and laying down a 200' long trail of fire, as we're so dangerously bone dry.
Depending on what you are after, Edwin, air guns cover the range from the peppy .177, up to shooters that are over .50 caliber. They're now using them in large game hunting.
I understand that some countries limit the performance of air guns to a certain velocity.
 
To me, air guns mean that I can continue the rodent eradication through the dry periods. I fear using my .22 rimfire, and laying down a 200' long trail of fire, as we're so dangerously bone dry.
Depending on what you are after, Edwin, air guns cover the range from the peppy .177, up to shooters that are over .50 caliber. They're now using them in large game hunting.
I understand that some countries limit the performance of air guns to a certain velocity.
England does, or did.
BTW, didn't know Tom Gaylord or Beeman was still around, visited Beeman hq in Santa Rosa in 1989, RB was absent. Bought a demo Webley pistol over the counter, which I have passed on to a fellow AKer.
 
My old Crosman 2100 Classic .177

This thing has been an absolutely intense ground squirrel cleaner outer.
It is the definition of a cheap air rifle. But, it is also extremely light, and, extremely accurate.

I bought it 20 years ago. But, when I bought it, I had nowhere to sight it in, living in a condo complex. So, it sat for long periods. Then we moved here, into the wild lands, and I met headlong with the mother ship of ground squirrels. You can literally see their den from outer space.
It was so bad with rodents, that whenever we stepped outside, you'd see a half dozen of them running in all directions.
So, since I went from a condo complex tightness, to, open lands, I broke out my 2100, and, put some spit on the front sight to make it shine nice, and I started plugging ground squirrels. I took out hundreds of them with this thing. Then it started to lose some pop, to a point of hearing more hammer firing spring than pop.
OK,... the 2100, when new, is only $65, shipped. You just throw out the old, and buy a new one, right?
No I.
I researched, and found a vendor with all new air handling parts, and I ordered a "kit" from him.
The kit was the main air valve, which holds the air, and releases it. A "pump cup" which is what imparts the air into the valve. And an exhaust seal that goes between the valve and the barrel.

This is the trio of parts that I replaced. It is the valve (silver), and its matching pump cup, that pushes air into the valve with each stroke of the pumping forearm.
The exhaust seal is in the valve body in this image:
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The rebuild was fiarly simple, if you have 3.5 hands to work with; you will need all 3.5 hands.


I also found a fiber optic front sight replacement, and installed that. The orignal was all black, and, it was getting difficult to see it when I was in shaded area, looking out at bright sunny areas. I had painted it base white on the viewable face, with a bright neon pink top 1/3. This helped in sighting. But when I found the fiber optic replacement, it got the nod.
 
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One thing I've settled on is the pellets I'm using, the Crosman lead 'Destroyer.' I tried the copper alloy pointed tips and also the alloy pyramid tipped ones but they just shot lousy with absolutely no consistency.
They look awesome and mean as hell but I could not get even a semi-tight group with any of them. Sometimes they'd miss the whole barn side!
From what I've read, alloys are supposed to give the maximum fps velocity but that's not worth a damn if they're not consistent.
The Crosman lead Destroyers in either .177 or .22 (I have both) gives the best consistency of anything I have used.
 
I'm still sorting out pellets.
For my Crosman 2100 .177, it loves the H&N Terminators
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I'm still torn about how they work in the .22 caliber size. But the .177 has been great.

I've been working my way through a tin of rather spendy Gamo Red Fire pellets that are somewhat similar. They are an expanding tip, but with a red plastic insert that expands the pellet. They're light, at 15.4 grains, but, have proven to be really accurate in my long distance plinking; my four 200' kills came with these this week.
gamo-red-fire-177-cal-7-8-gr-150-ct-38.gif
 
A tangent rant regarding H&N pellets,...
I tried the Sniper Magnum pellets. I was sold by their impressive marketing and packaging images.
They look slick and polished, don't they? Look at how well polished that skirt is!
reality below the image
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Reality:
The skirt is so thin that you realize the internal structuring through to the ouside of the skirt. Every one of those internal points is a high spot on the outside of the skirt.
The tin had been severely shaken at some point, prior to its leaving Amazon shipping. I ordered two tins of H&N pellets, and the Snipers tin was all dented, with slamming marks emerging from inside the tin. The pellets were distorted, with many skirts collapsed.

Regarding their Terminators,...
Look at the image that I posted above in the previous post. That is a very sharp point, right?
By the time you get them, they are well rounded off; no point left, just a suggestion of what was there. It hasn't done anything that I can realize, to effect accuracy or effect on impact; But, they're definitely not what they appear by the packaging.

/rant
 
Here's my RWS Diana 34 in .22. It has a Center Point Illuminated 4-16x40 mm scope. It's a very accurate rifle especially with the RWS Meisterkuglen pellets. Took it to the range and at 75' it was giving very good groups that would have been better with a better shooter. Some where along the line the shroud for the front sight was broken. Super glue to the rescue.

43949812354_a29785eb9f_b.jpg


Are those the flat tip "Wad Cutter" pellets?
My neighbor is a target shooter. He loaned me his pellet kit, which is a fairly large box of assorted pellet. He had a tin of what I think you're suggesting. I liked them very much. I did find them to be very accurate.
 
If you can get them you have a hell of lot of very nice Euro pellet rifles to choose from.

Pellet rifles (and pistols) are widely available, it's just a matter of heading downtown, looking 'em over, and making the purchase. Then I gotta figure out what to do w/ it, e.g., are there target ranges around town (or more likely outside of town) @ which one can enlist/join and, well, enjoy shootin'? I don't know, but the seller of these items would so I s'pose I'll ask him. I don't envision such a tool as s.t. for home defense, etc., but rather for taking out to the rural climes and plunking cans, setting up and hitting targets, etc. My home (and beyond) defense weaponry, e.g., a couple of Python revolvers (too expensive/collectible to shoot these days?), Colt Detective & S&W Chiefs (sic) Specials (both of which have seen lots 'o rounds through 'em), a couple of Colt 45s (not the malt liquor variety), and some military riflery are a long way from this home, all back @ the former home in The States in storage along w/ a lotta ammo. Nope, it's air rifle/pistol or bust here. Sure, I could apply for a hunting rifle or shotgun but the amount of red tape would reach from Paris to Los Angeles and back. Twice.

P.S. And the shotguns available here? Nothing remotely like the Remington 870. Nope, that'd be regarded as (practically) as "street sweeper" gun. Too much.
 
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I'm still sorting out pellets.
For my Crosman 2100 .177, it loves the H&N Terminators
terminator_19._19.jpg


I'm still torn about how they work in the .22 caliber size. But the .177 has been great.

I've been working my way through a tin of rather spendy Gamo Red Fire pellets that are somewhat similar. They are an expanding tip, but with a red plastic insert that expands the pellet. They're light, at 15.4 grains, but, have proven to be really accurate in my long distance plinking; my four 200' kills came with these this week.
gamo-red-fire-177-cal-7-8-gr-150-ct-38.gif

Those are nasty lookin' little guys, probably not legal in the EU. Just a hunch.
 
Are those the flat tip "Wad Cutter" pellets?
My neighbor is a target shooter. He loaned me his pellet kit, which is a fairly large box of assorted pellet. He had a tin of what I think you're suggesting. I liked them very much. I did find them to be very accurate.

Yes they are flat. 75' feet is about the limit of their accuracy at 30' you can stack them if your doing your job. For varmints I use Crosman Premier Hollow Points. You definitely know when you get a hit. There is solid thwak sound. The Diana is not really particular unless your using some of the cheap/poorly made pellets.
 
EU does sound challenging. But, they've also been one step ahead of the US in allowing barrel mufflers on the weapons for hunting and general shooting purposes, realizing the health effects of ear damage from shooting. But, also, because of closer quarters hunting and shooting, in areas where populations are a bit more dense. The muffler/baffle/extensions considerably lessen the pop, mitigating bothering people in close quarters. In fact, they are required, to my understanding, for example, in Denmark (I have no sources to quote; just gleaned from my recent readings).
I first saw this on a fishing programs network, where there was a major retailer; think: Cabelas-type TV advertisement. On it, was a father and son out hunting, and, I saw a barrel extension on a gun for the first time, and wondered if it was what I thought that it was.
Barrel mufflers are now legal in the large majority of states, with somewhere hovering around 45 states allowing them. But, the Feds require a stamp, and annual registration fees ($200? $300?? annual); and some states do not allow them at all.
At any rate, as mentioned, I just recently learned of this, and thought how forward thinking that was of the EU, to allow them, and even require them in some instances.
 
Here's a very handy thing for you who have beak barrel rifles. It's a pellet pen. Much better than digging in the can each time. Fill up the pen with I believe if I remember right is 15 .177 pellets. It's faster and cleaner. I need to get a .22 version.

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Here's a very handy thing for you who have beak barrel rifles. It's a pellet pen. Much better than digging in the can each time. Fill up the pen with I believe if I remember right is 15 .177 pellets. It's faster and cleaner. I need to get a .22 version.

43960955714_8ee21e67fa_b.jpg


43960969164_c77e90674a_b.jpg

Pretty handy device. Wonder if they have those over here?
 
EU does sound challenging. But, they've also been one step ahead of the US in allowing barrel mufflers on the weapons for hunting and general shooting purposes, realizing the health effects of ear damage from shooting. But, also, because of closer quarters hunting and shooting, in areas where populations are a bit more dense. The muffler/baffle/extensions considerably lessen the pop, mitigating bothering people in close quarters. In fact, they are required, to my understanding, for example, in Denmark (I have no sources to quote; just gleaned from my recent readings).
I first saw this on a fishing programs network, where there was a major retailer; think: Cabelas-type TV advertisement. On it, was a father and son out hunting, and, I saw a barrel extension on a gun for the first time, and wondered if it was what I thought that it was.
Barrel mufflers are now legal in the large majority of states, with somewhere hovering around 45 states allowing them. But, the Feds require a stamp, and annual registration fees ($200? $300?? annual); and some states do not allow them at all.
At any rate, as mentioned, I just recently learned of this, and thought how forward thinking that was of the EU, to allow them, and even require them in some instances.
Among the advantages with ag shooting is cost, noise, and relative safety, while honing skills and enjoying the activity.
A shooter friend is an advocate and user of the firearm muzzle mufflers. Myself, I have reservations for unregulated general use related to likelihood of nefarious use. The circumstances and culture in the U.S. are quite different than elsewhere, we use gunshot location detection as a means of crime control, and how firearms are regulated and distributed is quite different.
I do use earplugs for outdoor firearm shooting, I assume my outdoors shooting neighbors do as well.
One of my things with my own firearms use is the wisdom of noise supression for hearing safety. One consideration for concerns with home defense discharging a firearm indoors for instance, probably the last thing I should consider should the necessity arise.
 
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