airguns, what and why

[runningboar]

I am a bonafied airgun junky and somewhat, by accident, a benjamin collector. My 392 gets the most use and is going to go out this weekend for a full steriod treatment. Here is a pic of my big stick, a daystate PH6 in 25 I have killed jackrabbits at just over 65 yards with it and crowmags.

Here is my crosman franken 2200

and a fairly rare f series sheridan I paid 20 dollars for.

 

[TheGame]

Nice write up. Seems as if you know quite a bit about these types of guns.
Now, I will need to re-read that to see if I understand it all 100%, other than that..

 

[richard j]

seeing that crossman pistol with the long barrel gave me an idea. i have a powermaster 760 that has a broken trigger which i havent replaced yet. i might put the barrel on one of the 1377's that i have.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

I have a few airguns and I am getting ready to buy another high power springer BUT

I have killed over 20 squirrels in the last year with a Daisy 747 target pistol, single stroke pneumatic. Pushing a pointed nose .177 at only 400fps. 90% head shots and I don't think more than 2 got away. All shots under 20 yards, most over 10 yards.

That being said, if I were choosing one to take with me on a longer term survival mission, I would choose a springer .22 rifle pushing 700 fps or better. It is just a simpler system. Springs break very rarely. Seals only need oil every 50 rounds or so. Appropriate scopes are inexpensive and you can leave open sights on as a backup.

Turkey, rabbit, squirrel, dove, even Raccoon can be taken if you camo up a bit.

 

[koyote]

Good post. I am an airgun nut and a big fan of the 1377. I have often thought of it as a good survival tool. I think it will kill birds out of the box. I also think you would have to mod it for squirels and rabbits.

I have a stock and a scope, otherwise, it is a basic 1377. I set up a practice range in my basement and shoot at pop cans while waiting for the fletching glue on my arrows to dry when building arrows. My next purchase will be an airgun for squirrels and rabbits. I go back and forth between a Benjie 392 and a modded Crosman 1377. I do not have the time or skills to mod a 1377 myself. I will probably go with something from PSP, Mac1 or Mountain Air.

I am leaning towards a modded 1377 as it is lighter and breaks down into a pack. I think with a peep sight, it would stay zeroed in a back pack. I do not think that a scope would stay zeroed if you carried it in a back pack. I liked your ideas about a sling. I was thinking of just a baldric that went through the back of the skeleton stock. That way you could carry is scoped and bring it up to shoot.

Thanks again

I'm a big fan of the 1377. Out of the box you can take squirrel, it's mostly a matter of the right range, and getting a solid head shot. A 14 inch barrel will help immensely. A 14 inch barrel in .22 with a mountain air tune and it's going to be equal to a benji and half the size!

Thanks alot guy's you are killing my wallet, first knives & now you got me wanting one of those springer air guns, I've been thinking about it for a while just never pulled the trigger I think I still have my old Benjiman.22cal multipump air rifle. My grandpa gave me & my bro. one 15~18yrs ago & they were old guns then. they both startd to leak off real bad so we put them up & haven't had them back out since. These were big heavy guns all wood & seems like brass & the pumo handle was the forearm so when the gun was ready to fire you could'nt see the pump, kinda just blended in with the rest of the gun. Where these good guns & cany you rebuild these ?

Oh yeah. You can so rebuild these guns. You could probably find someone to trade flat out for a decent springer. (I am trying to say that I won't be tempted, I won't be tempted. I won't be temped) Look at Mac1 airguns for fixing that up if you want to keep it, but if you find a localish airgunsmith anyone who does the work can handle it.

Good post, Koyote, on an often overlooked option.

One other benefit of air guns is the ability to train just about anywhere.

That's what got me back into it. Squirrel stew got me to thinkin, and now I'm a pretty avid airgunner. It's not like taking a good .308 out, but you really can get solid .22LR class performance out of them for hunting at 50 yard and under ranges, and have a lot more option for shooting space- and for wilderness carry!

 

[koyote]

I am a bonafied airgun junky and somewhat, by accident, a benjamin collector. My 392 gets the most use and is going to go out this weekend for a full steriod treatment. Here is a pic of my big stick, a daystate PH6 in 25 I have killed jackrabbits at just over 65 yards with it and crowmags.

Here is my crosman franken 2200

and a fairly rare f series sheridan I paid 20 dollars for.

Nice guns! That .25 is a hell of a hunting gun.

How's the 22xx with that barrel length? I keep thinking that if I'm going over 14 inches I want a 2260 fram with the long tube for support.

Nice write up. Seems as if you know quite a bit about these types of guns.
Now, I will need to re-read that to see if I understand it all 100%, other than that..

I know it needs rewriting. I left out the trigger jobs as a basic tune on the springers, like Tony has. I also left out the 'lube tune' aspect of spring guns and probably didn't clarify the ever confusing world of bulk filling much.

seeing that crossman pistol with the long barrel gave me an idea. i have a powermaster 760 that has a broken trigger which i havent replaced yet. i might put the barrel on one of the 1377's that i have.

Should work out great. You'll have to expand the barrel hole in the 1377 barrel band a bit and shim it or tap for a set screw to float the barrel inside the band (or order a 2289 barrel band from an airgunsmith or crosman directly via phone for a few bucks). It's not the "normal" .177 barrel since it's designed as a rifled barrel that can shoot pellets, but should work fine. If you have any accuracy issues try lead ball.

If you do that, can I buy the 760 donor parts? I've got a repair job on one I *could* do, but parts cost as much as a new 760

 

[DWK2]

I have an old RWS .22 springer on which the action moves about 20 mm to offset recoil (Model 54?). With the right ammo, it is effective on rabbit-size game. I just wish I had something that was equally effective but half the weight and bulk.

Thanks for the thorough treatise!

DancesWithKnives

 

[runningboar]

Nice guns! That .25 is a hell of a hunting gun.

How's the 22xx with that barrel length? I keep thinking that if I'm going over 14 inches I want a 2260 fram with the long tube for support.

It's OK but I would like to have a longer tube, it has a BOSS valve in it and when I built it I planned on making it a bulk fill gun, still do, just haven't gotten a round to it yet. It is hella light and packs well, with crosman premier heavies it is pellet on pellet accurate, and hits hard for a gas gun. I cut, crowned and lightly lapped the barrel myself. More than a few starlings and destructive squirrels have felt it's wrath. Chris

 

[richard j]

over 20 years ago a friend was throwing away an old airgun called the minuteman. he had it since he was a kid. it had a leather washer piston which dryrotted so i replaced it with neoprene and to this day it still works.

 

[koyote]

It's OK but I would like to have a longer tube, it has a BOSS valve in it and when I built it I planned on making it a bulk fill gun, still do, just haven't gotten a round to it yet. It is hella light and packs well, with crosman premier heavies it is pellet on pellet accurate, and hits hard for a gas gun. I cut, crowned and lightly lapped the barrel myself. More than a few starlings and destructive squirrels have felt it's wrath. Chris

Bryan and Associates has the tube extender to use with the bulk fill adaptor. Though I dunno, a 2260 tube from corsman might not be that expensive.

I have yet to order a BOSS valve, but do plan to.

 

[Salamander42]

What a great thread Koyote! I was thinking about picking up an air gun or two a while back, but ended up getting a rim fire .22 instead. Now that I've got a place with a basement I've been thinking about an air gun again for something to play with indoors. I had been considering a 1377, but kept passing on it, thinking that I should save my money for something better. I think you're write up on it just convinced me to go ahead and get one. I didn't realize that there were so many options available to modify and upgrade air guns in general, and the 1377 specifically. Thanks for all of the great info!

 

[MBTull]

Salamander42 - I started with a 1377 after I got tired of paying for range fees. When I added my travel time and gas to the increasing cost of ammo, I think I covered the cost of a 1377 with 1 trip to the range. I have a basement range with a bunch of old bankers boxes for a backstop and then target boxes that I cobble together with scrap wood and plumbers or duct putty. I save pop cans and shoot them as well.

The 1377 is a fun pistol and reasonably accurate out of the box. You regulate the power by the number of pumps. 3-4 should be plenty for plinking. Up to 10 and you should be able to kill small game, although I have never tried it.

The grips and pump handle are cheap plastic. I think it is worthwhile to get a wood set at www.RBGrips.net. However, if you really want to see what a 1377 is capable of, get a skeleton stock, a scope intermount and a scope from www.pyramidair.com. At that point, you can order from Crosman the pump handle for a 760 and replace the one on the 1377. www.crosman.com You may want to do this before you upgrade the grips as a lot of guys shoot them as small carbines. I think this makes an ideal wilderness airgun.

The 1377 sights basically suck. Although adjustable, they are largely plastic and very easy to strip the screws. However, they sight blade is reversible, it is an open sight on one end and a peep on the other. The peep works pretty good with the skeleton shoulder stock.

There is all sorts of info on the internet regarding mods. Longer barrels, steel breach, higher capacity valve, etc. etc. If you are handy and have the time, I understand that it can be a lot of fun. If you are like me, check out Mountain Air, PSP or MAC1

 

[koyote]

MBTull ha some good suggestions. There's also the 2289 forearm grip, which is larger (wider) than the stock pump grip (which can pinch fingers on occasion)- the 760 grip is just a hair shorter and that makes pumping a bit less fun.

RB Grips also makes a superpumper forearm with matching inserts for the synthetic stock option.

If you like the pistol, then get the stock and like that, then the RB grips order is a nice bonus later. After that, if you are going to go with a scope at all, I'd suggest skipping the intermounts as I can't ever get them REALLY tight on the stock 1377 barrel and narrower bottom tube - they are made for the 22xx series. I'd go for a breech kit, either stock crosman steel like you can get at PSPairguns.com (steel breech with screw in bolt), or Crooked Barn breech and bolt or RJMachine. You *can* order directly from Crosman, over the phone, if you have the part numbers, but it's easier IMO to use a smith's shop where they can tell you exactly what parts you need and send you a kit. Given that Crosman charges a minimum $6 shipping even for a $2 part, it's not going to end up costing much more.

The stock 1377 sights have a LOT of wiggle and a risk of overtightening, but if you can get it set up how you like, it will work well. I've done stock open sight hunting out to 20 yards with some success. (and both the 1377 carbines are currently getting breech and bolt upgrades prior to getting longer barrels because I want to mount williams peep sights on them.)

I run 12 pumps for hunting, which risks a teensy bit more mechanism wear but works fine. 16 pumps I'd never do. I can knock a squirrel down flat at 15 yards no problem with the stock barrel and a head shot.

 

[kage]

Excellent post Koyote!

I've just recently been looking at pellet guns and you've convinced me to get a 1377 when I'm ready to buy. I'll be looking this post over carefully to see what upgrades to get and in what order.

Thank you for doing the write up!

Look me up when you have time to let me check out your shop.

Kage

 

[kvaughn]

I got a Sheridan Blue Streak at a garage sale for 10$ because the guy said something was wrong with it because the pellets fell out of the barrel. When I got it home and looked at it with my glasses I saw it was a .20 and he was using .177!! Its got the williams peeps and is death on squirrels out to 25 yds or so with the Crow-mags--KV

 

[DWK2]

I love it when people do that kind of stuff. I once bought a really nice, new condition Mazda station wagon very cheaply because the owner said it handled like a truck. It had manual steering and she was running around 8-10 PSI in the front tires.... I inflated them properly and it handled fine.

DancesWithKnives

 

[richard j]

kvaughn, i never had another blue streak to test mine against after i done the mod on mine. i posted some pictures on the first page, can you see if yours will flatten pellets out like mine did?

 

[kvaughn]

What kind of pellets were you using at what distance? I'll probably get mine modded after looking at that MAC-1 website but I'll do a before and after and let you know how it works.--KV--I just saw 30'. How many pumps?

 

[richard j]

i was using the straight walled pellets with the skirt ring at the base. they used to be sold in a yellow plastic pack of 500.

 

[dd61999]

here is my custom crosman 2300

It has

10" .22 cal barrel
RB custom grips
trigger stop
adjustable trigger pull
LPA rear sight
Crosman DAY-GLO front sight
Steel breech with custom bolt

I will be modding the valve shortly