by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

• The Godfather’s Gold Gun giveaway
• The rules
• Design an airgun contest
• The 788 project
• Remington’s 788
• First trip to the range
• Free-floated barrel
• Relieving the barrel channel
• Ten-shot 50-yard group
• Timney trigger
• Glass-bedded action
• So what?
• Summary

The Godfather’s Gold Gun giveaway

Before we dive into today’s report I must tell you about a new feature on the Pyramyd Air website. It’s called Build Your Own Airgun. It’s an interactive set of pages that allows you to configure certain airguns the way you want them. Think of it as a custom shop where you are the builder. You put all the parts, features and finishes together for a certain airgun and then give your creation a name. Pyramyd Air will put your choices together and construct the airgun you have purchased. From that point on, every gun of that model with those same specifications will carry the name you have selected.

In August I tested the Ataman AP16 Standard PCP air pistol for you. In Part one I made this remark at the end: One last thing — I have one last thing to tell you readers, but not in this report. If you remember West Side Story — Something’s coming! Something BIG!

Well, today is the day you learn what that something is. I got to design the pistol I tested for the Ataman AP16 review through the new Build Your Own Airgun software and Pyramyd Air gave me that AP16 pistol. I designed it and and called it the Godfather’s Gold Gun. They also gave me a second one to give away to one lucky reader. So, all you who poor-mouthed the gun because of its cost — you now have a chance to own one, free and clear. I quote a conversation from that first report, 

Acadian

“Let me understand. We have a 15-18 fpe, 22 cal pistol which is a repeater and very loud, working in the 300 bar zone, for 1.000$. How can I justify the +600$ difference between this and the Marauder pistol, which has the same features plus shroud, ok without open sights? Looking back at BB’s review it gave 32 shots with almost 30fps deviations. That’s for the regulator missing…” Bill

“Bill,

Yes, you are right.  Also, there is the TalonP.  You need to remember though that this is for those who make more than I.  It also gives me something to dream about.  In addition we can compare the results of the top tier to what is more reasonably priced and make a decision from there.” RidgeRunner

Okay, Acadian and RidgeRunner, if you feel the Godfather’s Gold Gun isn’t right for either of you because of the price, you are free to withdraw your names from the giveaway and I will honor your wishes — Ha!

If you live in the United States and are a registered reader of this blog, you have a chance to win the Godfather’s Gold Gun. The prize gun will be the same gun that I tested for this blog.

The rules

The rules are simple. To enter this contest you have to be a registered reader of this blog. And you must live in the United States. I can’t account for all the airgun legislation around the world, so I’m limiting this contest to the US, where the gun is universally legal. Oh if the state you live in has anti-airgun legislation that prohibits owning such an airgun, then I guess that leaves you out, too. Please know your state laws if you want to be in the drawing.

I will select one day in October, and all eligible readers who submit comments to the blog on that day will be entered into the drawing. Your names will go into a random drawing, one entry per reader, regardless of how many comments you make on that day. The name drawn will win the gun, as long as they are registered and I have their email address. There is no way to stuff the ballot box in this drawing, but you also don’t have to do much to be eligible. Good luck to all!

Design an airgun contest

I have had just one official entry in the “Design an airgun” contest so far. Yes, that is also an official contest and so far the only entry is winning! I have read comments from lots of readers who have designed airguns while daydreaming on their couches but the prize will go to the “the niftiest design that the most people could build.” People can’t build things that only exist in your mind. The contest runs until the end of September.

I haven’t announced the prize for this contest, but it has been selected. It will be something that will surprise all of you. I think it’s a very fitting prize for a contest like this.

Okay, enough chatter. Let’s get to it.

The 788 project

Don’t you hate it when some gun writer tells you all about some vintage gun that he just loves, and it’s something that’s been out of production for decades—perhaps even longer than you’ve been alive? But he has one, and, by golly, he writes such enticing things about it that you just have to get one for yourself. Well, sit back, dear reader, because that’s exactly what I’m about to do.

I’m going to tell you all about the Remington 788—a rifle shrouded in mystery and urban legend. A regular Area 51 escapee, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal rifles. 

Remington’s 788

This article is the beginning of what I call the 788 Project, in reference to the Remington 788 rifle that many of us tried and found wanting back in the 1960s and ’70s (1967 – 1983) . The 788 was a budget bolt-action rifle for those who wouldn’t spend the extra to buy a Remingtom 700. We found the 788 wanting because most of us who bought them were young and stupid and we naturally bought the mostest-powerfulest 788 they made, which was the one chambered for .308 Winchester. Furthermore, if you were cheap like me, you didn’t even buy ammunition to go in it. You got a belt of 7.62 mm machine gun ammo (don’t ask) and carefully removed the metal links. Setting aside the orange-tipped tracer rounds, you then filed two crossed notches deep into the tip of each bullet, making what you hoped would be a Dum Dum round that would expand in game like a soft nose, more or less.

It turned out to be less, as fate would have it, but that didn’t matter. The 788 is a light rifle, and the kick from your liberated machine gun ammo loosened your fillings. You probably didn’t fire a total of 100 rounds out of that cannon before you allowed some other fool to pry it out of your hands at the next gun show. But you shot it enough to know you couldn’t hit anything with it. So the Remington 788 was an inaccurate rifle that also kicked like a mule.

Let’s see—you bought a 6.5-pound rifle in a caliber better suited to 8 pounds or more. You then fed it military “spray and pray” ammunition that you first deformed with a file. And, let me make a stretch here and guess that you scoped it with the cheapest Japanese variable you could find, held fast in a premium set of K-Mart scope mounts. Golly! You went to all that trouble and the rifle still wouldn’t shoot for you? What gives?

All sorts of urban legends sprang up about the 788. Everyone had an opinion of what it was and why it was like that. Things like—because the bolt’s locking lugs are in the rear the action is somehow “springy,” and unsuited to powerful cartridges. Or, the 788 proved so accurate that it eclipsed Remington’s more expensive models and therefore was discontinued to stop the harmful competition from within the company.

There was even a Wikipedia entry for the gun that is as fictional as all of the urban legends put together. It states things like “…the 788 retains a cult following for its accuracy, despite several serious design flaws.” Flaws”, I must point out, that the Wiki entry didn’t address. I can’t locate that entry now, so apparently somebody updated it.

Now that I am older, and still stupid, thanks for asking, my thoughts turned once more to the 788 I had abandoned back in 1973. I was led there not because I nurtured a secret love for the 788, but because I held a much older fascination for the .30-30 Winchester cartridge.

My handloading experience had suggested way back in the 1960s that the rimmed and long-necked 30-30 might be one of the most accurate cartridges ever created, though no evidence to that effect had ever surfaced. In the world of super-short magnums and continual incarnations of the AR 15 in another as-yet undefined 6mm, the only press given to the 30-30 is its dubious distinction of being one of the first cartridges designed for smokeless powder and the unprovable contention that it has harvested more deer than all other cartridges, combined.

I wanted to explore the remote possibility that the 30-30 might also be the best-kept secret in all of firearm-dom. However, there seemed to be a shortage of 30-30 target rifles with which to test my theory. Why is that, do you suppose?

Finding myself without the means to explore my theory, I started looking for rifles that might substitute for the target rifles that were missing. You know what I mean. You can’t locate a single-shot Stevens 44-1/2 in the caliber you are interested in, so you turn to the Remington 40X as a substitute. But there didn’t seem to be a spare 40X rifle in 30-30, either. Likewise the Winchester model 70 Target or a good heavy barrel Sharps seemed not to have been made in the “Thutty-Thutty”. In fact, as I expanded my search it appeared as though there was a plot to keep the 30-30 out of accurate rifle actions altogether.

My 788 in 30-30 at the range, preparing for a baseline test.

Then I stumbled across a vague reference to the Remington 788 that said of all the chamberings, it seemed ideally suited to two—the .44 Remington Magnum and the 30-30 Winchester. It seems that the 788 has a special two-piece bolt for just these two calibers that allows the rear body to rotate while the front remains still. This makes it well-suited to feeding a rimmed case from a box magazine.

That discovery prompted me to revisit the rifle I had abandoned four decades earlier, only this time with some important differences. The 30-30 cartridge is certainly lower in power than the .308 Winchester, so I knew the recoil would be significantly less. In fact, it might turn out that the 788 is more or less right for a cartridge of this power.

It might also be that the 788 was in fact never entirely suited to the .308 cartridge in the same way that the model 19 S&W revolver isn’t entirely suited to full-house .357 Magnum cartridges. It’s true that both of these firearms are safe with the recommended cartridges, but it’s equally true that there are warnings and cautionary tales of undue wear that results from the strain of firing many full-house rounds through them. So, in fact what you have with both the Remington 788 in .308 and the Smith model 19 in .357 Magnum is a gun that’s chambered for a certain cartridge, but for gosh sakes don’t shoot them very much!

The realization that the 788 might be a fine rifle for the 30-30 round caused me to realize that my earlier horrible experience could have been prevented by rational thought. Don’t expect a snubnosed revolver chambered for .500 S&W Magnum to be a good plinker, and don’t think that a Remington 788 in .308 will be anything other than a jaw-slapping headache machine. Suddenly the world came into sharp focus. I understood why everyone was selling their almost-new Marlin .45-70 Camp Rifle with most of the first box of ammo remaining.

But a 788 chambered for the right cartridge might be all the wonderful things ever said about the rifle. And I needed a good accurate 30-30. So I set about obtaining a 788 in 30-30 for what I labeled the 788 Project. That was when I discovered, about 40 years too late, that many other shooters had come to the same conclusion long before I did. Remington 788s in .308 were being given away with a half a pound of cheese. They were being bundled with .22 autoloaders and included in their sales, as in, “Buy this fine Ruger Mark II for $250 and we’ll throw in a like-new Remington 788 in .308. Or you can buy just the pistol, alone, for $300.” That’s how the 788 in .308 fares today. I’m kidding, of course, but not that much.

The same rifle in other more suitable calibers commands some value. Of these, the .44 Magnum is at the top, with horrendous asking prices of $1,000 and more. The 30-30 comes next, with some of them asking up to $750. However, like anything else, if you shop around just a little you can usually do much better. I was able to snag a nice 788 in 30-30 on the internet for just $500, plus shipping and registration. So I have about $575 in the rifle, landed in my gun room.

First trip to the range

It wasn’t long before I made the first trip to the range to sight in-the rifle. Since things were just getting started I used factory ammo and was able to put five rounds in about an inch between centers at 50 yards. During this first session I noted that the recoil was quite mild with the 150-grain factory rounds. It certainly wasn’t causing headaches the way the .308 had.

This 0.973-inch five-shot group was fired by the Remington 788 with Winchester Super-X  30-30 factory ammo at 50 yards. That’s not the cartridge shown.

The Remington factory trigger was heavy, breaking at 4.5 lbs. And it is single-stage—a feature I detest in a rifle I’m shooting for accuracy. Still, the release was very crisp and the blade stopped moving upon firing, which adds crispness to how it feels—at least in my perception.

Remington unfortunately made the 788 trigger non-adjustable, and at the price point they commanded I can understand why. If the 788 trigger could be adjusted to a superior light glass-rod performance, why would anyone have to spend the extra money for a 700?

The trigger of my rifle did not hinder accuracy, so it was left as it came from the factory for the time being. But the wood rifle stock was another matter. Using a dollar bill it was easy to determine that the barrel channel was putting uneven upward pressure on the barrel. The 788 has a thinner barrel that heats up quickly, and nothing brings it out like shooting strings from the bench. So relieving the barrel channel was the next step in the quest for accuracy.

Free-floated barrel

Most shooters agree that a free-floated barrel is more stable than one that contacts the stock — especially in a firearm where the barrel heats up. As the barrel heats it expands, putting variable pressure on the barrel channel, which pushes back in uneven ways. If this happens while you are shooting a group, it will cause the group to open noticeably, which was happening to me during that first trip to the range. The solution is to remove enough wood from the barrel channel that the barrel cannot contact the wood even when it heats up.

Of course a hot barrel isn’t something to strive for, because it will wear much faster than one that is cool. So you still have to wait a reasonable amount of time between shots to keep from overheating the barrel, but there is a special tool made expressly for opening the barrel channel. I used it.

Once the barrel was free-floated I returned to the range with handloaded ammo to see how well the rifle shot. There were four different charges of the same powder, each differing by a half grain weight and every charge hand-weighed. One stood out from all the rest.

The load was a relatively light one of 22.5 grains of H4198 behind a Remington 125-grain pointed soft point bullet. A standard Remington 9-1/2 large rifle primer lit the fuse. This wasn’t an attempt at finding the ultimate load for the rifle, because there were still things to be done to improve how it shot. All I wanted was a good baseline load I could use for comparisons.

This new load gave a 10-shot group measuring 0.824-inches from a rest at 50 yards. That’s hardly earth-shattering, but it is good enough to be a control load as the gunsmithing progresses. I shoot ten-shot groups rather than five-shot groups to save time and confusion. Five-shot groups are rather random when real accuracy is concerned. Ten-shot groups are about 40 percent larger, on average, so there is no need to shoot excessive numbers of them.

Ten-shot 50-yard group

Since I didn’t test the rifle with this ammo before floating the barrel I can’t comment on whether the accuracy improved, but the stability certainly did! On this particular day I shot a total of 50 rounds from the bench to find the best load, and while I did allow the barrel to cool between shots, the rifle exhibited no tendency to open up as more shots were fired. I attribute that result to free-floating.

The best ten-shot 50-yard group with 22.5-grains of H4198 powder and a 125-grain Remington pointed soft point bullet measures 0.824-inches between centers.

Timney trigger

With this baseline established I decided to upgrade the trigger. Timney makes a fine drop-in trigger for the 788. It’s modular, adjustable though still single-stage. The ad says that the travel stop can be adjusted, but I haven’t found that feature yet. But after a relatively easy 45-minute installation I now had a trigger that broke at 1 lb. 7 ozs. with certainty.

The safety on the Timney didn’t have adequate clearance and could not be applied when the action was in the stock. The installation instructions warn of this, so it came as no surprise. Once I examined the area of stock that needed to be relieved, a quick touch or two of a Dremel tool with a rasp bit opened things up and got the safety working again.

Glass-bedded action

Was the next step was to glass-bed the action? A friend who had owned a 788 told me that free-floating the barrel was good ju-ju, and glass-bedding put the frosting on the cake. He stressed that the recoil lug was the most important part to be bedded—that the rear of the action wasn’t nearly as critical. He also warned me about the possibility of a recoil lug that wasn’t set at an exact 90-degree angle to the line of the stock. If you glass-bed one like that, it will serve to anchor the action in the hardened bedding compound.

A word about the stock is needed at this point. While a great many 788s have a light-colored hardwood stock without any figure, the earliest ones were made of walnut. Mine is one of those. Fortunately for me, walnut is the softest of the hard woods and perhaps one of the easiest to work. That comes in handy when you have to remove a lot of it for the bedding work.

So what?

Why am I telling you all of this in what is supposed to be an airgun blog? Good question and I have a couple answers that I hope are good. First, we have been talking about reloading firearm cartridges and this is a first look at what can be done with a little work. There is more to be done and this 30-30 is an ideal way to proceed.

We are also looking at the AirForce Texan — a big bore rifle that also comes in .308 caliber. Until now I have restricted my remarks to the .458 Texan, but Ton Jones told me he killed a Nilgai antelope on a Texas exotic game ranch with a .308 Texan. It was a one-shot instant kill that dropped the 600+ lb. animal in its tracks. He wasn’t hunting Nilgai that day but one wandered out in front of him while he was looking for several hundred pounds of wild game meat for a large barbecue. His guide argued against the shot, but Ton knew he could put the bullet into the heart-lung area where it would be a humane kill. When he told the guide he would pay the trophy fee if the animal went more than 50 yards the guide said to take the shot and when he did the antelope dropped straight down.

The Nilgai is a large antelope from India that can weigh up to 680 lbs.

I would never recommend going for a 600+ lb. animal with a .308 big bore air rifle, but if that’s all you have it can be done. I have contacted Mr. Hollowpoint to acquire several different bullets for my .458, but he is away on a hunting trip. So I thought I would also test the .308 and .357 Texans, since I have bullet molds for both calibers. This 30-30 test came up as I was researching for that and I thought why not continue to test it, as well? I was going to submit the article to Firearms News, but I am no longer writing for them and this is too good a project to abandon. So you guys get it!

Summary

We have covered a lot of territory today. There are two contests for you, plus I have started telling you about my Remington 788 project. I hope you get something from this report.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin Cayden sidelever repeater.

This report covers:

• News from Benjamin
• Craftsman Collection
• Price
• Description
• Fill
• Barrel not shrouded
• Summary

News from Benjamin

I was contacted last week by the Crosman Corporation, They asked me if I would like to test one of the three new precharged pneumatic rifles from their Benjamin Craftsman Collection. You may recall that I showed you all three new rifles in Part 4 of my SHOT Show report, back in January. I asked to test the new Benjamin Cayden.

The Cayden is a conventional-looking sidelever bolt-action PCP.

The Cayden looks conventional. The Akela is a bullpup repeater and the Kratos is a bottle-fed PCP. Both are repeaters like the Cayden and they all three come in .22-caliber. The Kratos bottle gun also comes in .25-caliber — the only one of the three that does.

The Akela (top) and Kratos are the other two new PCP rifles in Benjamin’s Craftsman Collection.

Crosman’s product manager, Phillip Guadalupe contacted me with some information I requested and could not find on the Crosman website. First of all, what is the Craftsman Collection?

Craftsman Collection

Right now Benjamin’s Craftsman’s Collection consists of the three rifle just mentioned. They are produced in Turkey exclusively for Benjamin. Benjamin conducted a survey to find out what their customers really wanted in a precharged rifle. The Foster quick-disconnect fitting for filling the rifle was a given, as were American-style quick-disconnect sling mounts. Seventy percent of those polled asked for a sidelever to operate the bolt, and I will throw my vote in there, too.

I was surprised to learn that 60 percent of those polled wanted a rifle with a removable air bottle. That would not have been my choice, but I can’t argue with 60 percent. That Kratos bottle holds 480 cc of air, where the Cayden’s reservoir that doesn’t remove holds 280 cc, yet both rifles are said to get up to 60 shots on a fill, with maximum power in the 32 foot-pounds realm. But only the bottle gun is offered in .25 caliber. All three are offered in .22. So these are hunting rifles, without a doubt.

All three rifles have genuine Turkish walnut stocks. The survey said Crosman customers were looking for an upgraded rifle — something without a synthetic stock or a plain beech stock. Turkish walnut is certainly the right way to go!

Price

Crosman won’t say this but I sure can. With the current market heat from the price-point PCP arena, any new precharged air rifle has to have a very good price — especially here in America! The days of average PCPs retailing for $1,000+ are over. The Cayden we are looking at retails at $550. The Akela sells for $600 and the Kratos goes for $630. Just from an appearance and feature standpoint all three rifles look like a good value to me.

Description

The Cayden is a .22-caliber 12-shot repeater, and you get 2 magazines with the rifle. The bolt operates by a lever on the right side of the receiver. The grip is ambidextrous, but the sidelever cannot be switched to the left side of the receiver. The 12-shot circular magazine inserts and is removed from the right side of the receiver, though it sticks out on the left.

The rifle is 40.76-inches overall with a 20.87-inch rifled barrel. The weight is 7.95 lbs., with a small allowance for a variation of the wood. There are no open sights. The receiver has a Picatinney rail on the top that’s split into two segments by the magazine. This design indicates 2-piece scope mounts.

The Cayden sidelever stays on the right side of the receiver.

The cheekpiece is adjustable. That allows you to get a better sight picture through the scope that’s required. The Turkish walnut stock is stippled at the pistol grip. The stippling extends to the forearm. I will report on the feel of the rifle in part 2, but as I remember from the SHOT Show, it feels great!

Fill

The Cayden is filled to 3,000 psi. That was smart of Crosman, because higher pressures are still taxing for many shooters. The company says you can expect up to 60 shots from a fill. The reason they say “up to” is because the power is adjustable.

On the left of the receiver is the power adjustment scale that tells where the rifle is set.

On the right side of the receiver is the knob for adjusting power.

There is no regulator. In Part 2 we will see how stable the Cayden powerplant really is.

Barrel not shrouded

The Cayden barrel isn’t shrouded. The muzzle brake is threaded and removable, so presumably an aftermarket silencer could be attached.

Summary

This is a chance to evaluate a new PCP from Benjamin that isn’t based in the Marauder. I know you will be interested in shot count, the power adjustment, the rifle’s report that is sure to be loud and the trigger. Of course accuracy will be above all other things.

Already the jungle drums are asking why Crosman had to go outside the country for these three rifles. I think the answer is obvious — to get them into the marketplace. People need to realize that developing a new air rifle isn’t a 12-month task. Each new platform absorbs the time of a great many people. Even products acquired from other companies take time to develop and mature.  Let’s evaluate these new rifles on their own merits.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin Cayden sidelever repeater.

Part 1

This report covers:

• The test
• Adjusting the power
• DonnyFL Ronin silencer
• Velocity on high power
• Velocity on medium power
• Velocity on low power
• The trigger
• Crosman Premiers
• Shot count
• Summary

This was a fun test because the Benjamin Cayden gives me lots of things to do. Some, like adjustable power, are things I have dealt with in the past and I’ve figured out good ways to handle them. Others, like the sound of the unmoderated gun firing, are not things I usually deal with. And I have a new sound meter to collect data on that! Let’s get right into the test.

The test

Since the Cayden has adjustable power I thought I would test it with a single pellet and the setting on high, medium and low. That would give us a good idea about the power range as well as the stability at all power ranges. I will also keep track of the reservoir pressure and try to get a shot count, though. as we go.

Adjusting the power

When I got the rifle the power was set high, but not as high as it will go. That was the first thing to do and I discovered that the power adjustment knob doesn’t stick out far enough for me to adjust the power. It’s too close to the wood in the stock for me to get a hold on it, and it turns with some resistance. I had to use the needle-nosed pliers on my Gerber Crucial multi-tool. I worked as carefully as I know how but of course I scratched some of the finish on the knob and the surrounding wood. I set the power as high as it will go and loaded the 12-shot rotary magazine with 10 JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets. These 18.13-grain pellets seem ideal for the Cayden’s power level. There are no detents in the power adjustment knob, so the settings can be set wherever you like between both limits. 

The first shot was fired with the rifle exactly as it came from the box. All I did was fill it to 3,000 psi, load the magazine and start shooting. I set my smart phone with the sound meter app up three feet to the left of the muzzle and fired. The sound was loud for sure, but not as loud as I had been anticipating. I would rate it a 4.2 on the 5-point Pyramyd Air noise scale. My sound meter recorded it as 108 dB.

The Cayden I am testing came with straight grain. It’s still handsome! To attach a silencer the muzzle brake must be removed.

The full-power shot registered 108 dB on my sound meter 3 feet from the muzzle.

DonnyFL Ronin silencer

Cameron Brinkerhoff of AirForce Airguns loaned me a DonnyFL Ronin silencer to use with the Cayden. It’s 2-inches in diameter and 6.5 inches long. The rifle looks different with it installed.

As you see, the DonnyFL Ronin silencer is large. And it works!

With the silencer installed, the muzzle report from the Cayden on full power was 85.6 dB. That’s a 22.4 dB reduction, which is about what a normal silencer can do. But the Cayden isn’t that loud to begin with, and at 85.6 it’s quieter than most lower-powered breakbarrel spring rifles. It turns the Cayden into a suburban back yard air rifle. On lower power it is even quieter, and we will soon see what we get with lower power.

With the DonnyFL silencer installed the report was quieted to 85.6 dB.

Velocity on high power

Let’s see what this Cayden rifle gives us. Ten of the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets averaged 857 f.p.s. The spread went from a low of 850 to a high of 865 f.p.s. That’s a difference of 15 f.p.s., which isn’t bad! At the average velocity this pellet generates 29.57 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.

Velocity on medium power

Next I turned the power down to about halfway between low and high. At that setting ten of the same JSB Jumbo Heavy pellets averaged 715 f.p.s. The low was 703 and the high was 724 so the spread was 21 f.p.s. It’s still close enough for good accuracy at targets out to 35 yards, at least. At the average velocity the pellet generates 20.59 foot-pounds at the muzzle.

Velocity on low power

Next I dialed the power to as low as it would go. That still required my needle-nosed pliers. The lowest setting the same JSB pellet averaged 432 f.p.s. The spread ranged from 405 to a high of 444 f.p.s. which is 39 f.p.s. difference. That will work for close-in targets, but beyond 20 yards or so you might want to set the power a little higher. At the average velocity the pellet now produces 7.51 foot-pounds at the muzzle. That is a broad range of adjustability! At the end of this test the reservoir that started at 3,000 psi registered 2,500 psi.

The trigger

First I must remark that the safety DOES NOT set automatically. Thank you, Crosman, for that! Secondly, the safety is very easy to operate with the trigger finger. It’s exactly what I want to see on a hunting air rifle.

Next, I played with the trigger some without firing the rifle before this test started. I was prepared not to like it and to dive into all the adjustments. But there aren’t any, other than the location of the curved trigger shoe can be swiveled around the trigger post.

The trigger shoe can be rotated after loosening a small Allen screw on the opposite side.

The trigger is two-stage. The first stage is very short and stage two that was creepy during my evaluation before this test has transformed into a crisp 2 lbs. 13 oz. break.

Actually there is one unannounced trigger adjustment. I found out about it too late to get it into this report, but I will look at it for you in the next report.

More velocity testing

To this point I had fired 30 shots — 10 at each power setting. I wanted to test a different pellet on high power but was the rifle still shooting as powerfully as before? I shot one more JSB Jumbo Heavy pellet at it went out at 861 f.p.s. That’s spot on!

Crosman Premiers

I now loaded 10 Crosman Premiers into the magazine and fired a string. They averaged 946 f.p.s. The low was 939 and the high was 952 f.p.s. That’s a spread of 13 f.p.s. At the average velocity this 14.3-grain pellet produced 28.42 foot-pounds at the muzzle.

Shot count

The pressure in the reservoir now reads 2,200 psi. That should be close to the point that the rifle needs to be refilled.  So I shot another string of JSB 18.13-grain pellets on high power to see where things were. Let’s look at it.

Shot……….Vel.
1……….….852
2……….….855
3……….….852
4……….….850
5…….…….854
6……….….852
7……….….847
8…….…….845
9……….….842
10…………839
11………….833
12………….834

The Cayden has fallen off the power curve at shot 7. I didn’t tell you that I also fired two blank shots on high power to measure the trigger pull. So, on this fill, doing all we have done, the Cayden has given us 54 shots.

Summary

The first thing I need to tell you is the power adjustmernt knob hasa freed up. It did so after the first 30 shots. It’s still not easy, but I no longer need tools.

We are not finished with the velocity test. Part 3 will be a continuation, because there is a lot to learn about this rifle. How large a pellet can be shot? What is the most power we can get? How slow can it shoot and still keep the shots under a 30 f.p.s. spread? Stay tuned.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Benjamin Cayden sidelever repeater.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

Power adjustment — duh!
Today’s test
Shot count
The trigger
Test 2
H&N Baracuda
H&N Slug HP
Eun Jin domes
CCI Quiet discharge sound
Summary

I told you at the end of Part 2 that this report would be a continuation of the velocity test. The Benjamin Cayden has such good use of air and the power is adjustable, so more needs to be done to fully understand it. We have a lot to do so let’s get started.

Power adjustment — duh!

I told you about my trouble with the power adjustment knob. Well, in the manual it says to turn that knob to adjust power. There is no mention of the scale on the left side of the receiver that the knob is connected to, or the screw slot in its middle, nor is there any picture of it. I knew it was there of course, and also that it connects to the knob. But— DUH!

You guys raked me over the coals on that one and I deserved it. OF COURSE you can use a screwdriver in the slot on the left side until the knob gets easy enough to turn. I was so focused on the time I had to test the rifle and then write the blog that I wasn’t thinking clearly. That’s the sort of thing I should be telling you!

A small screwdriver turns the power adjustment easily

Today’s test

I want to do a couple things today. First, I want to test the rifle on power that’s lower than maximum but still up there, to see how many shots we get on a fill. Last time I was adjusting power and reader Rk thought there would be a lot of shots on medium power. The problem is — what is medium power?

I didn’t try to find medium power What I did was test the rifle at a power level I thought was good, to see how many shots there were but also to see where the end of the power curve is, with respect to reservoir pressure.

Shot count

For this test I used the same JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet that I used in Part 2. I filled the rifle to 3,000 psi and adjusted the power setting to one index mark below maximum.

Then I started shooting. As you will see, the first shot went out too fast for my liking, so I adjusted the power setting to almost the second notch down. You will see why I did that when you look at the numbers. I liked the velocity from the second adjustment so I left it there for this string. Let’s see!

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Benjamin_Cayden_PCP_Air_Rifle/5158
This is the power setting for the test that follows, after the first shot.

Shot……Velocity
1………….817 too fast — adjust power lower
2………….729
3………….737
4………….738
5………….750
6………….746
7………….754
8………….758
9………….754
10.………..758
11.………..758
12.………..759
13.………..761
14.………..767
15.………..764
16.………..763
17.………..761
18.………..763
19.………..768
20.………..762
21.………..766
22.………..762
23.………..761
24.………..765 2,600 psi remaining
25.………..760
26.………..765
27.………..770 fastest shot
28.………..761
29.………..761
30.………..761
31.………..761
32.………..758
33.………..763
34.………..762
35.………..762
36.………..759
37.………..763
38.………..762
39.………..761
40.………..761
41.………..760
42.………..760
43.………..757
44.………..757
45.………..762
46.………..759
47.………..758
48.………..761 2,250 psi remaining
49.………..758
50.………..756
51.………..761
52.………..753
53.………..749
54.………..751
55.………..756
56.………..750
57.………..748
58.………..749
59.………..748
60.………..743 2,000 psi remaining
61.………..746
62.………..745
63.………..743
64.………..740
65.………..744
66.………..737
67.………..740
68.………..732
69.………..736
70.………..733
71.………..732
72.………..730
73.………..727 slowest shot and the end of this test

There are a lot of ways to interpret these numbers. First, I think this entire string of 73 shots will work if your target is closer than 25 yards/23 meters. If it’s out past 35 yards/32 meters then I would go with your first shot at number 5 and your last shot at number 58. To get that on shot one you would have to fill the rifle a little lower than 3,000 psi — perhaps 2,900.

If you like what I selected (shots 5 to 58), that’s  53 shots that varied by no more than 24 f.p.s. If we take 760 as the average velocity for that string then this pellet is generating 23.25 foot-pounds at the muzzle for those 53 shots. Like I said, there are a lot of different ways to break this down. You may want a little more power, which probably means fewer shots, but this test shows the Cayden uses air very well. And, if you decide to go with PCPs — get a chronograph at some point!

The trigger

How does the Cayden trigger compare to a Marauder trigger? It is as light as a Marauder trigger is usually adjusted and, after the first 30 shots on the Cayden, all the creep in stage two disappears — HOWEVER! The trigger also had to “break in” today and the creep that was gone last time during the velocity test returned. It’s very minor and disappeared again after about another 30 shots, but it was there again. Yogi — you asked and I wanted you to know that. So maybe the Cayden trigger needs a lot more shots (hundreds?) before the trigger finally settles down.

The bottom line? The Marauder has the better trigger. It is very adjustable and once set remains where it is forever. That is my take on the Cayden trigger. But I will add that the Cayden trigger is ahead of the triggers of many PCPs in its price range. It is a good one.

Test 2

Okay, how heavy a pellet can the Cayden magazine handle? When pellets get heavy they grow longer and rotary magazines have their limits for pellet length. I will load some heavyweight .22-caliber pellets and see what happens. I will only shoot 5 shots, so all I will report is the average velocity. I am now shooting on high power.

This test is to determine how well these longer pellets feed in the magazine and also to see the maximum power potential of the rifle .

H&N Baracuda

H&N Baracuda pellets weigh 21.14 grains. They fit the Cayden magazine very well and they feed reliably. They averaged 787 f.p.s., which generates 29.08 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.

H&N Slug HP

The H&N Slug HP is a new solid pellet/bullet and there is a wide variety of weights and sizes within the construct of that .22 caliber Slugs. I shot the 23-grain Slugs (that weighed 23.1 grains consistently) and are sized 0.218-inches. In truth they are shorter than the Baracuda pellets because they are solid. They fed easier than any pellet I have loaded into the Cayden magazine so far, and when they were pushed into the breech by the bolt I hardly felt them go in. I have to try more weights and sizes of these, as well as the JSB slugs that are now in stock!

The .23.1-grain H&N Slug HP pellets/bullets are covered with wax to keep them from oxidizing. Just load them and shoot them and leave them, as they are.

Slugs averaged 747 f.p.s. at the muzzle, which generates 28.63 foot-pounds at the muzzle. The velocity was also quite stable, so these are on my list for accuracy testing.

Eun Jin domes

These older Eun Jin domes are the heaviest pellets I tried and they filled the magazine all the way to the top. But they did fit and the clear top moved without hinderance.

These pellets weigh 29.5 grains, on average. The Cayden put them out at 664 f.p.s. and these were the most consistent pellet of the three tested. Velocity for 5 shots varied by just three f.p.s. They did chamber with a lot of force in required by the sidelever.

At the average velocity this pellet generated 28.89 foot-pounds at the muzzle. That tells me that the low 29 foot-pound range is about the top of where this Cayden wants to be, and JSB Exact Jumbo Heavies are a pellet that does it. The Cayden does allow for adjusting the hammer spring, but this rifle is doing so well I’m thinking I’ll not try it.

CCI Quiet discharge sound

Reader Bob from Oz asked me to try a CCI Quiet long rifle round, to see how it compares to the 108 dB of the non-silenced Cayden. The Quiet shoots a 40-grain lead bullet at 710 f.p.s.

I answered Bob too quickly and said I would try one, but then I discovered I don’t have any of them. And the United States has an ammunition shortage going on right now, so I don’t know when I can get any. But I do have a substitute that may be even quieter.

I have lots of CCI CB Shorts. They say they are low noise right on the package. They have very little gunpowder so they should be pretty quiet. I shot one from a Remington model 33 bolt-action rifle that has a 24-inch barrel. The sound meter was three feet to the left side of the muzzle, which is also where it was for the Cayden.

These CCI CB Shorts have got to be quieter than the CCI long rifle Quiet round!

h
CB Shorts registered 112.3 dB on the C scale of my sound meter. That’s higher than the Cayden’s 108 dB level.

Summary

That’s my test so far. Next time I will test for accuracy, which should be interesting! This test is going so well that I’m thinking of asking to test testing another ofCrosman’s Craftsman collection. Whaddaya think?

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• Design an Airgun
• Godfather’s Gold Gun giveaway
• Reload a cartridge
• Types of cartridges
• Rimmed and rimless cartridges
• Resize and deprime
• Bell the case mouth
• Prime each case
• Put powder in the case
• Powder measure
• Insert the bullet
• Summary

Design an Airgun

Just a reminder — the Design an Airgun contest ends on this Friday, October 16. The winner will be the niftiest design that most people can build. The winner will receive the American Zimmerstutzen as a prize. I have to limit the contest to residents of the United States because of international shipping laws but readers from other countries are welcome to show us their designs.

The winner of the Design an Airgun contest will win the American Zimmerstutzen.

Godfather’s Gold Gun giveaway

Don’t forget that some lucky U.S. reader this month will also be drawn to receive the Godfather’s Gold Gun — an Ataman AP16 pistol designed by B.B. Pelletier. So, there is a lot going on this month!

The Godfather’s Gold Gun will belong to one lucky blog reader after October is over.

Reload a cartridge

Today we are continuing our tutorial on reloading a cartridge. We will actually put a cartridge together in this report.

Types of cartridges

There are several different types of cartridges. Some have bases that are rimmed. Those rims are what the reloading equipment holds onto while the case is run through all the reloading steps. Revolver cartridges like the .38 Special and rifle cartridges like the 30-30 are rimmed. 

Cartridges that work in semiautomatic actions have cases that are rimless. Those would be like the 9 X 19 mm Luger pistol cartridge and the 5.56 mm rifle cartridge. 

Rimmed and rimless cartridges

Each type of cartridge, rimmed and rimless, is held by the reloading press at its base. This requires some kind of shellholder for most reloading presses, though the Forester press has an automatic shellholder that opens to grab any cartridge base.

Rimmed .30-30 and .38 Special cases on the left — rimless 5.56 mm and 9X19 mm on the right.

Resize and deprime

The first step is to resize the cartridge case and remove the primer from its pocket. Resizing makes the case a standard size to fit the chambers of all guns. Today I will take it one step further and show you what can be done with a sizing die. Sometimes, one caliber case can be turned into another!

I was aware that the .38-55 Winchester (or Ballard, as it was called when it was first introduced in 1884) is the case that the .30-30 Winchester is based on. To turn one into the other all you have to do is resize the .38-55 case in a .30-30 sizing die! I no longer have a .38-55 rifle, but I do have a .30-30, so I took the few .38-55 cases I had laying around and turned them into .30-30 cases.

A .38-55 case sits in the press, ready to go into the sizing die.

After running it into the .30-30 sizing die and back out, this .38-55 case has been turned into a .30-30 case. Only the headstamp gives away what it used to be.

After this is done, the primer pocket must be cleaned, so the new primer can be inserted.

This .38-55 has been resized into a .30-30 case, but its primer pocket still needs to be cleaned.

Once all the cases are sized and de-primed, I dump them into the tumbler that I showed in Part 1 and tumble them for about 12 hours. I do it overnight, so no time is wasted.

This is how they come out of the tumbler. Yes, this is a different case, because I already loaded the other one.

Bell the case mouth

At this time the mouth of the case is expanded or “belled” so it doesn’t shave off part of the bullet when it’s inserted and pushed home.  This is especially important when loading lead bullets, as I usually do. These days it’s hard to find jacketed bullets to buy, so my bullet casting has kept me and three other reloaders shooting. There is usually a special loading die to expand the case mouth, but when there isn’t, I use a .50-caliber bullet from a .50 BMG round to do it.

My .30-30 die set doesn’t have a die to bell the case mouth, so I use this .50-caliber bullet.

Prime each case

Now it’s time to put a fresh primer in each case. This can be done either with the reloading press or with a separate priming tool, like I showed in Part 2. Make sure the primer is flush with the bottom of the case or slightly below.

A fresh primer has been inserted. As long as the primer pocket is clean the primer will fit correctly. The notch on the rim of this case was for aligning each cast bullet  (that had been loaded into the case) in the same orientation, to help with accuracy. That was for the Ballard.

Put powder in the case

There are many different kinds of smokeless gunpowder. Some burn very fast and others burn very slow. Fast-burning powders are usually for short-barreled firearms like handguns. Slower-burning powders are for rifles and some magnum loads in handgun cartridges.  The reloading manual tells you what the safe loads are for each powder and bullet weight/type (lead or jacketed). I follow those recipes scrupulously. Safety is always the first concern for a reloader!

Powder measure

To measure the powder you put into the case a powder measure can be used. Since different powders come in different-sized granules and coarseness, you use different measures for different powders. It’s not one measure per type of powder. More like one measure for flake and ball powders and another one for granulated (like small grains of rice) powders. However, a few, like the RCBS Uniflow, work well with all powders.

The RCBS Uniflow powder measure I use works well with all powders.

Once they are adjusted, powder measures will throw charges that are within 0.2 grains of each other — at least the ones I use will with the types of powders I use. That’s close enough for general shooting and hunting ammo. But for shooting small groups, it’s best to weigh each powder charge by hand. You set your measure to throw a charge that’s a few tenths light and then use a trickle charger to increase it to exactly the rght amount. Naturally every charge is weighed on a powder scale.

Lee also makes a set of special dippers that measure a load of powder reasonsbly well. With some practice and care you can usually stay within 0.3 grains of the desired charge.

Insert the bullet

The last step is to insert the bullet and ram it home with the press. As the press’s ram gets to the end of its stroke, the die is set to crimp the case mouth into the bullet. At least that is what I have my dies set to do. This step does not take force, but rather a feel for things. It’s easy to use too much pressure on the press handle. Everyone who reloads has a pile of cartridges where something went wrong. You try to disassemble as many of your mistakes as you can to save the components, but some cannot be saved.

It took longer for you to read this report than it took me to do everything needed to turn the empty cartridge case on the left into a fresh new loaded round. Since I made the bullet, this .30-30 cartridge cost me a little more than a nickel!

Summary

Reloading is a good way to save a little money, and a great way to make better ammunition. And, when supplies are short, such as they are these days, it is the only way to continue shooting.

I went through all the steps today pretty fast. Let me know what you need to have explained better.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

This report covers:

• In a handgun
• A target BB pistol
• What it’s for
• A hunting handgun
• Any holes?
• Get real!
• Over to you
• Summary

This is a continuation of your opportunity to affect the world of airguns. I told you last time that airgun manufacturers all over the world read this blog daily. Of course there are exceptions to that from time to time. Sometimes a personnel change at a company diverts the attention of its people to other things and we loose them for awhile, but then someone in the company has a question about something airgun-related and they go online to research it. That usually brings them to this blog and they bring the others in their company back with them.

In a handgun

What do you want to see in an air handgun? It can be anything from a simple BB gun to a big bore airgun capable of taking big game. I’ll get you started and then turn the discussion over to you.

A target BB pistol

Something I have long wanted to see is a target air pistol that’s lightweight and easy to cock. It must be inexpensive yet deadly accurate — BUT!

Okay — right up to the BUT what I’m asking for sounds like what a lot of folks say they want. But there is a difference. I have a way of getting what I want that most people don’t. I give a manufacturer a solid and inexpensive way of doing what I am asking.

I want a target BB pistol that’s made along the lines of the Daisy Match Grade Avanti Champion 499 BB gun. Because of how the powerplant of a BB gun works, the shot tube/barrel on this pistol can be shorter than the one on the 499. It can be made from the same tubing as the shot tube in the long gun. Give me an overlever cocking mechanism that is essentially the 499 spring and piston with the lever on top of the spring tube and in front of where it is now, rather than in the rear. Give me a good Patridge front sight whose width is well-matched to the notch in the rear.

The Patridge front sight (named for E.S. Patridge)  is usually undercut at the back to eliminate reflection. Some are slanted slightly to the front.

For the rear sight give me a good adjustable one with a square notch and fine clicks for both windage and elevation. Put it as far back on the top as feasible, for a longer sight radius.

Give me good grips like the ones on the Daisy Targeteer that shot BBs. They don’t have to be expensive. They do have to be good. Think Crosman Marks I and 2.

Daisy’s Targeteer 177 wasn’t expensive, but it did have nice hand-filling grips.

What it’s for

An air pistol like this is ideal for teaching someone how to shoot with a handgun. Until you train shooters, you can’t fathom all the differences there are between teaching somerone to shoot a long gun and a handgun.

This pistol doesn’t need to be accurate to a great distance — 5 meters is fine. A velocity of 240-250 f.p.s. is also fine. So it should be obvious that I’m talking about a BB gun.

The overlever cocking means almost anyone can cock it. The lever runs from the front sight along the top of the gun to the rear of the gun, and it pivots there to pull a lightweight spring and piston back to the cocked position. The light weight makes the pistol easy to hold in one hand, so the basics of handgun marksmanship can be learned by almost anyone.

A pistol like this could expand the Daisy International BB gun championships. It could be an ideal tool for teaching new shooters how to shoot a handgun. There is no good air handgun for training new shooters. Women and youngsters, especially, would be glad to have a light accurate target pistol. This could be the one to do all of that.

A hunting handgun

We already have several wonderful hunting air handguns. In the lower end of power I just reviewed the Ataman AP16, and don’t forget that October is the month when I will pick a winner of the pistol I reported on from the US readers of this blog. 

In the same power range as the Ataman is the Benjamin Marauder pistol. It’s less expensive and just as accurate, with a trigger we all talk about.

To step up in power you can move to the TalonP by AirForce Airguns. It’s very affordable, yet delivers the best power of any commercial air pistol today. A host of factory accessories can turn it into a handy carbine very quickly. Add a longer barrel and boost the power dramatically!

Any holes?

So we do have good hunting air pistols today. But are there any gaps?

Yes, there are no hunting air pistols in the 25-40 foot-pound range. Is that even a valid thing to consider? Well, any gun that’s built for that power range has to be wary of the TalonP, so watch the price, the overall length, the accuracy and perhaps the flexibility, too.

Some people want a lot more power than air pistols give them and they want it in a package that fits conveniently into a holster. Oh, and it would be okay if the maker charged as much as $300 for such an airgun!

Get real!

For starters, if you are a reader of this blog for very long you know why such an air pistol is impossible. And I’m not talking about the price. To get power from a precharged airgun in any caliber requires a longer barrel. You can’t get there with higher air pressure alone — just ask those guys who have built 4,500 psi airguns, only to see them eclipsed by guns that fill to a much lower pressure but have longer barrels! The laws of physics cannot be broken.

And, speaking about price, let’s get real. When a company comes out with the next great thing they are going to charge for it. They know that there are those who will pay a lot to get the latest technology. If they are the only ones selling it, they would be fools not to capitalize on their situation. How many of you ever turned down a raise at work because it was not in your company’s best interest?

The time always comes when the demand goes down and prices have to be slashed. If the bottom line is your main concern, be prepared to wait.

Over to you

There you go. I have given you a few thoughts to get you started, now you take over and tell the world what you want in an air pistol. I liked my summary to Part 1 so well that I decided to just use it again.

Summary

Want to affect the world of airguns? Then stop tipping over the porta-potties and help us empty the garbage cans!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

The diabolo pellet exists in four smallbore calibers.

This report covers:

• Smallbore calibers
• Before diabolo pellets
• Birth of the diabolo
• Ideal for plinking
• Highest velocity
• Velocity wars
• Target shooting
• Field target
• Summary

Sunday while I was walking through the hall in my church a man stopped me and said, “You know a lot about airsoft? You’re the grandfather of airsoft?” He had been talking to our youth pastor who works part-time at AirForce Airguns and he was trying to remember what he’d just heard.

Most readers can guess my response, but once we were on the subject of airGUNS, he said he needed a good air rifle — something to use on pests. He told me that he was aware such guns cost as much as $100 or even $125, and what would I recommend?

What I would recommend is an education, but of course I didn’t say that. We have all been where he is now and we had to learn from someone! That started me thinking about the basics. A couple weeks ago I completed the series on How to mount a scope. There were plenty of basics in that series, but we also went into some of the more advanced principals. I thought that would be a good approach to use for pellets, as well. Let’s see where this goes!

Smallbore calibers

There are four smallbore airgun (pellet gun) calibers — .177, .20, .22 and .25. I’m going to leave BBs out of this discussion because they deserve a series of their own — and they will get one. In this series I will look at each smallbore caliber on its own. Today I’ll begin with the .177.

Before diabolo pellets

The .177 dates back to the early 1900s, along with .22 and .25 calibers. Before that there were slugs that could be called pellets, though they weren’t in the same class as the diabolo we know today. There was the cat slug, the burred slug (which is the same as the cat slug but by a different name) and the felted slug. All were solid lead with some kind of tail that increased drag.

Birth of the diabolo

Sometime around 1905, the diabolo pellet was born. There aren’t solid histories of this anywhere that I know of, but from pellet boxes we know that the diabolo existed before 1909. And there were British trials conducted with diabolos in 1908, according th Walter. I say 1905 because that’s when the H The Lincoln rifle that was to become the BSA rifle was born.

The .177 was right there with the earliest true diabolo pellets. At the time it wasn’t the favored caliber because of the small size of the pellet. It was found most often in ladies model airguns. But that didn’t last. Even back then it was obvious that if all you wanted to do was shoot or plink, a less expensive pellet was best, and even back then the .177 was cheapest because it used less lead. 

Before we leave this topic of diabolos I want you to understand that at the time it was not clear they would be the pellet design of choice. Several other designs were tried at the same time. Diabolos just outlasted all the others. Even today some solid pellets are attempting to break back into the market. But the diabolo reigns supreme.

Ideal for plinking

This is the first big advantage of the .177. They are the ideal plinking pellet because they use less lead. Less lead means a cheaper pellet. To offset the difference in cost the larger calibers are now putting fewer pellets in a tin. A typical .177 tin still holds 500 pellets, where a typical .25 caliber pellet tin holds — well there really isn’t a “typical” 25-caliber pellet tin. They hold from 83 on the lower end to 350 on the upper end.

If all you want to do is shoot at things and watch them move or make noise when they are hit, the .177 is the best way to go. Oh, the heavier pellets will make more noise and move things around more, but the .177 gets the job done.

Highest velocity = best-selling

Velocity is a strong selling point for airguns in the lower price category, and that is the category that sells the largest number of pieces. The profit margin per piece is usually the lowest, but the volume that is moved more than makes up for it.

What that means is the most “popular” (best-selling) airguns are going to be .177 caliber. More airguns sold translates to more pellet sales in that caliber, with the result that the .177 caliber pellet is the best-selling of all four smallbore calibers.

Velocity wars

The high-velocity wars began in the 1970s — about the time that personal chronographs became affordable. Prior to the 1960s if you wanted to know how fast a pellet went you had to enlist the services of a commercial laboratory. W.H.B. Smith who published Smith’s Standard Encyclopedia of Gas, Air and Spring guns of the World in 1957, used the services of the H.P. White  chronograph — a device that occupied several rooms and used the services of multiple people. Its accuracy was one-tenth or less of what you can get from a hundred-dollar chronograph today.

Prior to that time Americans used pellet guns for pesting, while the rest of the world focused more on plinking and target shooting. In a few places, airguns were used for subsistence hunting and they favored whatever they could get that would do the job. The thousands of Crosman 101 pellet rifles that were bought by the U.S. Government in World War II, along with a million rounds of ammunition, were mostly given as gifts to influence tribal chefs in southeast Asia.

So Americans favored the .22, while most of the world liked the .177. The British also had the .25 caliber (6.35 mm) pellet at this same time but no powerplant was up to the task of launching it very fast. So it lagged behind the .177 and even the .22.

Target shooting

Ten-meter target shooting with airguns is an outgrowth of shooting 4mm zimmerstutzens that shot (and still compete today) at 15 meters. Like plinking, the size of the pellet makes little difference to accuracy when you shoot at paper, so the less expensive .177-caliber naturally dominated this category. However, the British, notable contrarians that they are, did make several target rifles in .22 caliber, and even Diana and BSF of Germany did the same. But all of this was before the world cup and finally the Olympics put their stamp of approval on .177. When they did that all the scoring gauges were standardized in .177 caliber (4.5 mm). Today the .177 caliber pellet is mandatory for national, international and world competition.

Field target

The far less popular sport of field target (millions compete worldwide in 10-meter target shooting, thousands in field target) also favors the .177 caliber, though it is not mandated. The reason it is favored is statistical rather than rule-based. In field target you shoot through a hole in a steel target at a moveable paddle that stands behind. If you hit the paddle and it moves far enough, the target falls and the shooter is awarded a point. But if the pellet strikes the steel target first as it is trying to pass through the hole, it pushes the target backward against the release mechanism. If the push is hard enough, even hitting the paddle with part of the pellet won’t be enough energy to drop the target. The result is no point.

Statistically, the .177-caliber pellet is smaller than all other calibers, giving it a better chance of passing through the hole without contacting the side. Or, if it does touch the side, the .177 is small enough that it has less chance of locking the target in the upright position. It’s a probability thing and competitors understand that the smaller pellet is the best choice.

In recent years the British field target power level cap of under 12 foot-pounds has been incorporated into the world-class rules and the lighter .177 pellets travel faster at the maximum permissible power than do heavier .20 and .22-caliber pellets. A faster velocity means a flatter trajectory that translates into improved scores for everyone. The bottom line of this discussion is the .177 caliber pellet is better-suited to field-target competition  than any larger caliber.

Hunting

If I don’t address hunting someone will complain. And you can hunt with a .177 caliber airgun. Doing so means your shot placement has to be perfect, as the tiny .177 projectile cuts a narrow wound channel. I don’t recommend the caliber for hunting solely , unless you allow for its shortcomings. Killing mice in the cellar would be preferable to hunting crows in the barnyard. If you want to hunt crows and .177 is all you have, go for it. Just don’t choose the caliber because the pellets are cheaper.

Summary

So .177 is the most popular pellet caliber for all these reasons. Can you think of any more?

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

AirForce Texan big bore.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• Mr. Hollowpoint
• The test
• Two important things
• Bullet seating
• Shot count
• 255-grain bullet target 2
• 300-grain bullet group 1
• 300-grain group 2
• 350-grain bullet
• 365-grain bullet 
• Discussion
• Summary

Today I finally report on my AirForce Texan .458 that we looked at last in September. Some reader asked me to try different commercial bullets in my rifle, and while I was talking to Ton Jones at AirForce he said they really like the bullets Mr. Hollowpoint, Robert Vogel, makes. So I contacted him and ordered a selection of bullets to test.

Mr. Hollowpoint

Robert was on a hog hunt when I contacted him, but when he returned we communicated and he generously sent me a sampling of some of his .45 caliber bullets. I asked for them to be sized .459, because my Texan’s bore is .458. He said he understood and would try his best to satisfy my needs.

If you get nothing else from today’s report get this. The best accuracy with lead bullets comes with bullets that are sized exactly the diameter of the bore, measured from the depth of one groove to the depth of the groove on the opposite side, or up to one-thousandth of an inch larger. In my experience, one-thousandth of an inch larger is best.

Because Mr. Hollowpoint casts his own bullets, he can control the sizes, up to the limits of his molds. And I have to tell you this — I have been casting lead bullets for over a half-century and I can see that Robert Volgle does excellent work. Not all who cast bullets do. Many people cast hard lead bullets because the antimony that hardens the lead also makes the lead flow better. But these are bullets so soft a thumbnail can scratch them. That’s what you want for a big bore airgun.

By maintaining a tight watch on the temperature of the lead and the bullet molds during casting good bullets can also be made from soft lead, and it’s obvious that Robert Vogel knows what he is doing. Every bullet mold has a “personality” of its own, which means you have to learn what they like before you can do good work.

One last observation. Casting hollowpoint bullets involves extra steps that many bullet casters won’t take the time to do. Not only do the bullet molds have to remain at a constant temperature — the hollowpoint pin also has to, and that’s not a given.

Robert sent an me assortment of bullets to try, and I’m not going to rush things. I selected four of them to start with. We will refer to them by their nominal weights in grains. There is a 255, a 300 a 350 and a 365.

Mr. Hollowpoint’s lead bullets are well-cast. As you can see, the shapes differ a lot, though they are all hollowpoints.

The test

I shot 5-shot groups for this test because of the amount of air being used by the rifle. I shot off a concrete bench with the rifle rested in a long sandbag. The rifle is scoped with a UTG 6-24X56 SWAT scope.

It was good to get behind the Texan once more.

Two important things

When I visited Ton in September he reminded me of two important things. The first is to always seat the bullets deep in the Texan’s breech or they will tilt in the bore. That destroys accuracy. The second thing is to adjust the rifle’s power adjuster for each bullet you shoot. It’s best to find one good bullet and set the rifle up for it, rather than to hop from bullet to bullet. It’s the same as for a pellet rifle that likes certain pellets, only with the Texan it’s more sophisticated because you are adjusting the powerplant for each bullet you shoot.

I did one of those things in today’s test but not the other. I seated each bullet deep into the rifling like Ton said, but I did not change the power adjuster. Until I find the bullet I’m searching for there is no sense adjusting the power for each bullet. I will waste all my samples just trying! So let’s look at bullet seating first.

Bullet seating

I started shooting the 255-grain bullet first. Shots one and two overlapped each other on the paper, and then shot three landed 1.5-inches lower. I wondered what caused that and then remembered my lesson from Ton in seating each bullet. So bullet 4 I seated properly and it went back to bullets 1 and 2. Lesson remembered! Let’s look at what I’m saying.

Bullets one and two overlapped, but bullet 3 dropped because it wasn’t seated properly. Bullet 4 was then seated correctly and went back to bullets 1 and 2. Group measures 1.991-inches between centers at 50 yards, with the top three in 0.516-inches.

The 255-grain bullet lies loose in the loading trough. Whatever you do, don’t close the breech with the bullet laying out like this!

Here I’ve pushed the bullet into the breech half-heartedly. Don’t do this! the rear of the bullet is tilted up. I have exaggerated the angle for you to see. But I can feel a much smaller tilt when it clicks down straight. I press the bullet down and then in with my thumb.

All bullets do not seat in the barrel to the same depth, but each different type of bullet does seat into the rifling to the same depth every time when the same thumb pressure is applied. And it takes a LOT of thumb pressure! The rifling straightens the bullet, aligning it with the axis of the bore and setting up the rifle for the best accuracy.

This is how deep the 255-grain bullet seats when it is done right. 

Seating the fourth bullet right is what caused it to return to where the first two bullets strike the target at 50 yards in that first target. And here is BB’s tip to Texan owners. Press the base of the bullet down and in to seat it correctly.

Shot count

I remembered refilling the Texan after 3 shots in the past, but that was in 2016 when I was shooting at 100 yards. This time I fired 4 times on the first targbet and there was still 2,300 psi remaining from a 3,000 psi fill. So, on the second target I fired the rifle 5 times on a fill. That is very good air management for a rifle in the Texan’s power range. I haven’t chronographed these bullets yet, but suffice to say we are getting something in the low 300 foot-pounds range with a bullet this light.

255-grain bullet target 2

I just shot the second target and did nothing special. Just 5 shots, one after the other. This time the group was more open, measuring 2.388-inches between centers. I still think this 255-grain bullet is worth spending some time on, but for now I moved on.

The second group of 255-grain bullets is more open and larger. Five shots in 2.388-inches at 50 yards.

300-grain bullet group 1

Next to be tested was the 300-grain bullet. This one has narrow bands that the rifling engages It seats easier and a little deeper. The first 5 shots landed in 1.258-inches at 50 yards. Shot number 4 is the stray and the other four bullets are in 0.504-inches between centers. Wow! Now, THAT is a group!

Five 300-grain Mr. Hollowpoint bullets are in 1.258-inches at 50 yards with 4 in 0.504-inches.

This is a bullet worth pursuing! And I can tell that the power adjuster is set almost optimal for this one. It probably needs to come out (less hammer pressure) just a little. A second group might tell us more.

300-grain group 2

The second 50-yard group of five 300-grain bullets is also small, measuring 1.232-inches between centers. Three of the bullets are in 0.349-inches. This bullet really wants to shoot!

Five 300-grain bullets are in 1.232-inches at 50 yards, with three of them in 0.349-inches.

350-grain bullet

Next to be tried was the 350-grain bullet. Five of them (still on a single 5-shot fill) went into a vertical 3.714-inch group at 50 yards. Given the 300-grain bullet’s performance I think I’ll leave this one alone.

Five 350-grain bullets strung vertically in this 3.714-inch group.

365-grain bullet 

The final bullet to be tested was the 365-grainer. The Texan put five of them into 4.857-inches at 50 yards. It was another vertical group and the worst one of the test.

The Texan put five 365-grain bullets into this vertical group that measures 4.857-inches between centers. It’s the largest group of the test.

Discussion

In light of the 300-grain bullet’s performance, I think it is the one to pursue. The 255-grainer is also good and shows promise to be even better, but the 300-grain groups tell me they are the bullet the Texan likes the best out of the ones I tested — so far. I have one more Mr. Hollowpoint bullet to test — a 333-grainer. I also want to try adjusting the power setting to optimize the rifle for the 300-grain bullet. If it turns out the way I imagine, that will be the bullet to order in quantity.

Of course I also need to test the velocity of this bullet, so we can find out the power. No sense doing that until I’m sure the power adjustment is set to the optimum. And then if this bullet warrants it I will shoot it at 100 yards.

I did measure the diameter of the 300-grainer, though, and my caliper says it is 0.4570- to 0.4595-inches across at the base. Soft lead bullets usually measure out of round after they have been handled awhile. But their softness squishes them into all corners of the bore, which is where the accuracy and velocity come from.

Summary

That’s it for this report. But as you can see, we aren’t finished with the .458 Texan just yet.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

The diabolo pellet exists in four smallbore calibers.

This report covers:

• History
• Back to Sheridan
• Early success — sort of
• Why .20 caliber?
• The next speedbump
• Boom
• Bust
• Summary

Today we take a look at the .20 caliber that is also popularly labeled as 5 mm. There were Quackenbush airguns in the late 19th century that were made in .21 caliber and Crosman made some gallery airguns in .205 caliber, but the true .20 caliber didn’t exist until it was created by Sheridan in 1947.

History

According to Ronald Elbe’s book, Know Your Sheridan Rifles and Pistols, 2nd edition, copyright 2018 by Ronald E. Elbe, the 5mm pellet (and airgun) existed in Europe prior to the launch of the Sheridan model A (the Supergrade) in 1947. This is the first time I have been aware of that fact. To the best of my knowledge, only the Zimmerstutzen parlor rifle existed as a 5mm, and that size was at the high caliber range of the rifle. It would be a new ball size 21 or an old ball size 17. But a zimmerstutzen is a firearm by the strictest definition, so I need to find out more about the existence of these pre-Sheridan 5 mm airguns.

Back to Sheridan

At any rate, Sheridan’s model A was fielded in .20 caliber in 1947 and the company maintained that caliber for all their airguns until the company was sold to Crosman. The late Ted Osborn told me that the prototype model A rifle was made in .22 caliber for testing purposes, since .20 caliber pellets were not available.

Sheridan called their new pellet a cylindro-conical design. And they stayed with that shape for the entire time the company was owned by them. In 1977 they did buy a European diabolo pellet and sell it under their brand name, but the mainstay pellet was the good old Sheridan cylindrical.

The Sheridan Cylindrical pellet has no wasp waist, but it does have a hollow tail to move the center of mass forward. The step at the base of the pellet takes the rifling.

Early success — sort of

The model A/Supergrade was a success from the standpoint of accuracy and power. Even the fine British and European pellet rifles of the day were only its equal for power and accuracy. They also equaled the Supergrade for build quality, but they didn’t surpass it. I’m using the Webley Mark III and the Diana model 58 as my comparisons.

The Supergrade has a walnut stock and separate forearm and a large cast aluminum receiver. The rifle itself is no bigger than a Sheridan Blue Streak, but when you take the time to really examine it, the quality is revealed. The valving mechanism is another place quality reigned, but that’s not visible outside the airgun.

All that quality cost money, though, and a retail price of $56.50 in 1947 was too much to pay for an air rifle. The model B that followed at $35 didn’t help sales much. Not until 1949 and the model C that was also called the Blue Streak and Silver Streak, retailing for $23.95, was Sheridan’s place in the market assured. Even then, though, both the Crosman and Benjamin pneumatics were cheaper.

Why .20 caliber?

The question everyone asks is why did “they” (Ed Wackerhagen and Bob Kraus) produce their first airgun (and all subsequent Sheridan airguns) in .20 caliber, when there was no good source of supply for the pellets? Some believe they wanted to corner the market, but that would be like a mouse wanting to subdue an elephant! It just isn’t a viable possibility. I choose to believe the inventors, who said they did it because, and I am putting their stated remarks into a succinct statement, “We simply wanted our gun to be the best. By controlling the ammunition as well as the manufacture of the rifle, we could ensure this.” What they were saying is neither .177- nor .22-caliber airgun pellets of the time were of high enough quality for the gun they wanted to make.

The next speedbump

So, Sheridan was the standalone user and supplier of .20-caliber/5 mm airgun pellets from the late 1940s until…? Well — until Dr. Robert Beeman decided to brand .20 caliber/5 mm airguns and pellets, sometime in 1981. Their 1980 catalogs (numbers 7 and 8) both say that .20-caliber/5 mm pellets are restricted to the Sheridan brand rifle, while in their 1981 catalog (number 9) they say they have developed the first precision-waisted (diabolo) pellets and followed that with the first spring-piston air rifle in that caliber — a Beeman 250, which is based on a Diana 45. Of course to get things like this into the catalog they had to be working on these things a couple years before.

In their 1982 catalog (number 10) they proudly display the new 5 mm (.20 cal.) Beeman R5 rifle on two pages. The R5 was available only in that caliber, so that marks the first big push Beeman made for this caliber.  In 1982 they offered the following pellets in .20 cal.:

• Silver Bear
• Silver Jet
• Bear
• Sheridan

The Beeman R5 was produced in 5 mm only. It didn’t last long.

Boom

Following that Beeman’s push for the .20 caliber took off. But the promotional literature — mainly the catalog — maintained a stable encouragement for all three calibers — .177, .20 and .22 The .25 caliber did exist at the time but it was at a low point around the world — especially in the US, Europe and the UK. That would soon change, but in 1990/91 Beeman started a full-court press for the 5 mm/.20 caliber. Many of their German airguns were offered in that caliber, though none of the UK guns just yet. The FWB 124 and 127 (.177 and .22 caliber, respectively) almost got a companion in the 5 mm 125. But that model was stillborn for reasons to which I am not privy.

Robert Beeman said the .20 was a good compromise between .177 and .22. I always felt it was closer to .22 in terms of power for hunting. But you still couldn’t shoot anything except .177 in formal target competition. And in field target any caliber larger than .177 put the shooter at a statistical disadvantage.

The .20 caliber blossomed in the 1990s and carried over into the new millennium for several years. The Brits finally embraced it as a good compromise between .177 and .22. The Koreans and Turks included it in their PCPs, as did AirForce Airguns, who still offers it in several of their smallbore rifles and their exchange barrels.

Bust

Twenty years into the new century and millennium the era of the .20 caliber is fading rapidly. Pyramyd Air offers just 6 different pellets in this caliber and one of them is a felt cleaning pellet! There are other pellets out there that Pyramyd doesn’t sell, but nothing like what’s available in .177, .22 and even .25. If there aren’t many pellets there won’t be many new .20-caliber airguns. It’s easier for a PCP with interchangeable barrels like what AirForce makes to stay with the .20 than it is for an airgun to be entirely dedicated to the caliber.

Summary

Will the .20-caliber/5 mm go away completely? Probably not. At least not right away. But the demand for innovation in this caliber just isn’t there today. Of the four smallbore calibers it is number four.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

BSA’s Mark 2 repeater has a rubber-covered beechwood stock.

Part 1

This report covers:

• Lots of discussion
• Before we begin
• Prevent supersonic
• H&N Baracuda Magnum with 4.50mm head
• H&N Sniper Magnum with 4.50mm head
• H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head
• Crosman Premier heavys
• Shot count
• Trigger pull
• Summary

Today we look at the power of the BSA R10 MK2 precharged repeater. Remember that, although this particular rifle is no longer sold, it is very similar to the BSA R10 SE that’s currently available. So in essence this is a review of a current pellet rifle, even though it’s also something of an historical review.

Lots of discussion

For some reason this rifle sparked a lot of discussion among you readers. Most of it was about other things, which is fine with me. But a couple of you said that you did like the look of the R10. I put that “dog ugly” remark in the blog to see who would rise up to defend it. There weren’t as many as I anticipated. But you did have lots to say.

Before we begin

Before we start let’s look at a few things first. This rifle is very powerful. The .22-caliber version that’s still in production as the BSA R10 SE is supposed to generate 29 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. The rifle I’m testing is a .177, and it was supposed to generate 21 foot-pounds. That’s obviously with heavier pellets, because precharged airguns generate higher energy with heavier pellets.

Prevent supersonic

I had already fired the rifle a couple times and I knew that at the velocities the lighter pellets exit the muzzle, it is impossible to silence this air rifle. But heavier pellets should exit at a velocity lower than the sound barrier, and that would make it reasonable quiet. I plan to test it both as it came and also with a DonnyFL silencer screwed on the front. That means I will be testing heavier pellets today.

Reader Brazos comments that he had the same rifle in the same caliber and his really liked the smaller head sizes. So I will be watching that, as we go. When we get to accuracy testing that will become more important.

H&N Baracuda Magnum with 4.50mm head

This Baracuda Magnum is a heavyweight in .177. Don’t confuse it with the much lighter but still heavy Baracuda and Baracuda Match. Ten of these 16.36-grain .177 domed pellets averaged 792 f.p.s. from the R10. That generates 22.79 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. The low was 787 and the high was 798 f.p.s., so the difference was 11 f.p.s. I did see that waiting a few seconds after cocking added velocity, so the new regulator is no doubt breaking in. I’m only talking 5 seconds, or so. I started this 10-shot string with 232 bar in the rifle’s tank. At the end of 10 shots the gauge read 200 bar.

I shot the first shot with the rifle just as it came from the factory, and shot number two was with the silencer attached. Without the silencer the R10 generated 98.6 dB. When the silencer was attached it generated 82.5 dB. That is with the Baracuda Magnum pellet that averaged 792 f.p.s., so the sound barrier was not an issue. With the silencer, the R10 is as quiet as my best-tuned Diana 27. It’s definitely suburb-friendly. Without the silencer it’s about as loud as a standard breakbarrel, which is to say not bad at all. And thanks to the reader who reminded me of how to take a screen shot with my smartphone!

R10 without the silencer generated 98.6 dB at the muzzle. That’s not that loud. It’s maybe too loud for a small yard, but fine for a larger one — say a half-acre.

With the DonnyFL silencer attached the muzzle discharge dropped to 82.5 dB. That’s just over the ambient quiet room level.

H&N Sniper Magnum with 4.50mm head

The H&N Sniper Magnum domed pellet weighs 15 grains. They averaged 815 f.p.s. for ten shots. At the average velocity the Sniper Magnum generates 22.13 foot-pounds at the muzzle. The low was 805 and the high was 822 f.p.s. — a difference of 17 f.p.s.

H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head

Ten 10.65-grain Baracuda Match pellets averaged 933 f.p.s. the low was 928 and the high was 939 f.p.s. — a spread of 11 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet generated 20.59 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.

Crosman Premier heavys

The last pellet I tested was the 10.5-grain Crosman Premier Heavy. This pellet is the lightest pellet tested, but it’s also the only pellet made from hardened lead. Ten averaged 928 f.p.s. from the R10 with a 11 f.p.s. spread. The low was 922 and the high was 933 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet generated 20.08 foot pounds of energy.  And, after 40 shots since the fill there was now about 140 bar remaining in the rifle.

After the first 40 shots this is what the onboard pressure gauge read. I’m calling it 140 bar.

Shot count

But after 40 shots at this power level, where do we stand? To find out I shot 5 more Baracuda Magnums. In the first string they averaged 792 f.p.s. Now they averaged 790 f.p.s. After that I fired five more Sniper Magnums. In the first string they averaged 815 f.p.s. This time they averaged 821 f.p.s. So, after 50 shots the R10 is still on the reg. The reservoir pressure now read 125 bar.

Then I fired five Crosman Premier Heavys. In the first string they averaged 928 f.p.s. Instead of showing you the average let me show the entire string.

Shot……….Vel.
1…………..933
2…………..922
3…………..920
4…………..919
5…………..917

From this short string it appears the rifle is coming off the reg. But let’s look at five Baracuda Match before we decide. In the first string they averaged 933 f.p.s.

Shot……….Vel.
1…………..938
2…………..927
3…………..923
4…………..919
5…………..913

I don’t think there’s any doubt that the rifle has come to the end of its useful air. At the end of these shots the onboard gauge reads about 105 bar. I have caught it right at that instant that it dropped off the regulator. So I am going to say this BSA R10 Mark II can get 60 good shots on a fill.

Trigger pull

As it came from the factory the two-stage adjustable trigger had a first stage pull of 9 ounces, followed by a second stage break at 1 pound, 9.7 ounces. The second stage had two spots of creep in the pull and was not crisp, though it was light. The instructions in the manual said I could reduce the second-stage travel, so I adjusted the trigger.

In the first place, there isn’t supposed to be any second-stage travel! But BSA provides an adjustment to get rid of it, so I tried it.

I did remove the reservoir that the manual calls the “buddy bottle,” and then the stock came off with the removal of one Allen-head bolt. Then I adjusted the second stage travel. To my utter surprise — it really worked! I have adjusted several airgun triggers through the years, but most of them don’t do much, if anything, to change the trigger pull. This BSA trigger, though, actually responded to my adjustment and all the creep in stage two went away!

After I replaced the stock and tested the pull again I was surprised that the trigger now breaks crisply. Often after the stock is back some creep can be detected, but not this time. Stage one is still 9 ounces and stage two is now 1 pound nine ounces on the nose!

Summary

Well, I still don’t think this BSA R10 Mark 2 is an attractive air rifle, but I now have a lot more respect for what it can do. It gets a lot of shots at a reasonably stable velocity before falling off the regulator. It has a great trigger and the magazine doesn’t stick above the top of the receiver. This is going to be a fun one to shoot for accuracy!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin’s new Semiauto Marauder repeating PCP.

Part 1

This report covers:

• What is it, again?
• JSB Exact Jumbo — huge learning curve!
• Wait a minute!
• String two
• Beeman Kodiak
• JSB Exact Jumbo RS
• Sound level
• Shot count
• More power?
• The trigger
• Summary

Today we start testing the velocity of the new .22-caliber Benjamin Semi-Automatic PCP air rifle (SAM). Your comments to Part 1 were thoughtful and enlightened. I was hoping you readers would understand that this rifle is no more a Marauder than a NASCAR racer is a stock car. And you did!

What is it, again?

The SAM is a semiautomatic air rifle. It looks something like a Marauder, and Crosman has chosen to brand it that way, but this rifle is quite different from what we have all come to know as the Marauder. Some of that will come out today. Let’s get started.

Crosman said they sent this rifle out tuned to around 22 foot-pounds, which they say is around 900 f.p.s., but of course that depends on the pellet. It’s also going to vary a little from rifle to rifle, but since the hammer spring can be adjusted, we can tune it higher.

JSB Exact Jumbo — huge learning curve!

Okay — sometimes BB Pelletier is just as confused as anyone, and this was such a time. The first pellet I tested was the 15.89-grain JSB Exact Jumbo. Let me show you the first shot string.

Shot…………Vel.
1…………….802
2…………….528
3…………….529
4…………….556
5…………….536
6…………….791

… and the magazine was empty! HUH? How did I shoot 10 pellets in 6 shots? Unless…

Wow! The SAM is double-feeding with most shots! I gotta tell my readers about that! Unless…

Wait a minute!

Oh, THAT is what semiautomatic means! I don’t have to pull the bolt back, cock the hammer and reload for the next shot. But I did! I treated the SAM like it is a bolt-action repeater. Crosman, copy that explanation and show it to whoever said the Vigilante is a semiautomatic revolver.

Yes folks, old BB was bamboozled by this plumbum launcher! He forgot it was semiautomatic! Never mind what the title of this report is — old BB plumb forgot.

Okay, erase, erase. BB gets a do-over. This time he’ll make it work.

String two

Same pellet only now BB knows what semiautomatic means. Let’s see.

Shot…………Vel.
1…………….802
2…………….804
3…………….806
4…………….802
5…………….806
6…………….802
7…………….805
8…………….802
9…………….806
10..………….800

So — better numbers, no? The average for this string was 804 f.p.s. At that speed this 15.89-grain pellet generates 22.81 foot-pounds of energy. The velocity spread was a mere 6 f.p.s., which can be attributed to the regulator. So far, so good.

Beeman Kodiak

The next pellet I tested was the obsolete Beeman Kodiak dome, which is an H&N Baracuda by another name. This pellet weighs the same 21.14-grains as the Baracuda and should be the most powerful one I test in the SAM because it’s the heaviest.

The first shot was 537 f.p.s., which I thought was slow. Shot two went out at 688 f.p.s., which was more like it. The last 9 pellets averaged 684.11 f.p.s. At that velocity this pellet generates 21.97 foot-pounds. So the way the rifle is currently set up, the JSB Exact Jumbo is the most efficient. And the real spread for those last 9 shots was just 9 f.p.s.

But what about that first shot? What happened there? I have to know because this cannot be a hunting rifle with that kind of thing happening!

JSB Exact Jumbo RS

The last pellet I shot was the JSB Exact Jumbo RS — a 13.43-grain dome. Ten of them averaged 865 f.p.s. and old BB learned what he did wrong on the first shot of the previous string. He didn’t push the forward assist after inserting the magazine. The manual tells you to do that for a very good reason.

Pushing the forward assist ensures that the bolt probe is all the way forward. When the rifle fires, the inertia of the bolt as it cycles carries it forward all the way, but when you load a new magazine, the bolt probe may not push the pellet far enough into the breech and the velocity will drop. I will prove this in a little bit.

The low for this string was 862 and the high was 867 f.p.s. — a difference of just 5 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet generated 22.32 foot-pounds of energy.

Sound level

The SAM is pretty quiet. It registered an 84.3 on my sound meter.

The SAM registered a quiet 84.3 decibels on the sound meter.

Shot count

To this point I have fired 36 pellets on the fill. Now I shot 20 blank shots to avoid wasting all my expensive pellets. That brings us up to 56 shots fired since the fill. The onboard gauge reads about 2,300 psi remaining, and well more than half of the green scale on the pump dial remains. In other words, the rifle is still on the power band. Then I shot another string of JSB RS pellets because I have more of them than the other two types. Let’s see what I got.

Ten RS pellets averaged 864 f.p.s. on this string. That’s just one f.p.s. different than the string 20 shots ago. But this time the high was 873 and the low was 857 f.p.s., so the spread has opened to 16 f.p.s. And that’s 66 shots on the fill.

The next string, which was shots 67 through 76 is shown below.

Shot.…………Vel.
67…………….853
68…………….855
69…………….853
70…………….853
71…………….855
72…………….848
73…………….851
74…………….854
75…………….849
76…………….852

Looking at this string it seems like the rifle is nearing the end of its useful pressure, but even then, at an average 852 f.p.s., the velocity may have fallen (from 864/865 for the RS pellet) but the total variance, low to high, is only 6 f.p.s. The rifle is not off the reg, but it has settled down to a slower average. I think you could still shoot at this average and be fine out to 50 yards, because the difference between this string and the first one is still not that much. That’s at least 76 shots on a fill, when the SAM puts out 22 foot-pounds.

Let’s look at the next string of JSB RS pellets.

Shot.…………Vel.
77…………….593 (I forgot to use the forward assist!)
78…………….850
79…………….839
80…………….841
81…………….831
82…………….828
83…………….840
84…………….833
85…………….828
86…………….830

Here is where we might argue. The SAM is still shooting pretty well, but I think we would have to scale it back to 35 yards. Discounting that first shot for a moment, there is a 22 f.p.s. variation in velocity and the rifle is definitely slowing down. You could still shoot it and do okay, but maybe not on those farthest targets. Let’s add 4 more shots and say the SAM has about 90 shots for 25-35 yard plinking and at least 60 good consistent shots for long-range hunting, when the hammer spring is set as it came from the factory.

After 86 shots on one 3,000 psi fill, this is where the SAM pressure gauge reads.

Secondly, I forgot to use that forward assist after inserting the magazine and there is the velocity drop again. So that’s what it is and don’t let anyone tell you different. The magazine has functioned perfectly in this test.

More power?

Yes, there is more power available and I will adjust the rifle to get it for you. But not today. We’re already doing too many things in this report.

The trigger

Here is something else I’m not going to change. I like this trigger — for this rifle! It has a long, smooth second-stage pull that I can work with. But I’ll show you what it looks like inside.

The SAM trigger parts, as shown in the manual.

Trigger pull

The two stage trigger has a 5.7-ounce first stage, followed by a long second stage that breaks at 2 lbs. 5 ounces. It’s not what I’m familiar with, but I like it.

And I am going to recommend that you always store the rifle with the safety on. Remember — this rifle is a real semiautomatic. As long as there is air in the reservoir, it will fire when the trigger is pulled.

Summary

By golly, we got through it. But next time we’re going to adjust the power up and do it all over again. I hope I can remember to push that forward assist!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin’s new Semiauto Marauder repeating PCP.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

• Adjusting the power
• The test
• JSB Exact Jumbo
• Beeman Kodiak
• Misfeeds
• JSB Exact Jumbo RS
• How loud?
• How much air was used?
• Adjust the rifle back to the factory setting
• Dial off 7/8 of a turn
• Dial off another full turn
• Dial off another 3/4 turn
• Dial back a half turn
• Dial back another half turn
• The bottom line
• The trigger
• Summary

Today we look at the Benjamin Marauder Semi-Auto (SAM) PCP air rifle adjusted up as high as it will go. I want to know how much power and also how many shots I can expect at this setting. I will also adjust the rifle back to how it came from the factory to see if I can achieve the former power by simply counting the revolutions of the adjustment screw.

As an aside, reader GunFun1 found out that his .22 Marauder magazines worked just fine in his SAM. He wanted to know because SAM magazines aren’t available yet. I do believe he increased their spring tension just a little.

Adjusting the power

The first step was to determine how far out the adjustment screw was set on the test rifle. To do that I unscrewed it until it stopped, which it did after 5-1/8 revolutions. That is all the power adjusted out.

After that I screwed it in as far as it will go without slipping. The manual says that it’s impossible to turn the screw in by more than 6 revolutions, and when I did I felt a click with every additional revolution. So Crosman has designed something to prevent over-tightening. Now I was ready to test the rifle.

The test

I will use the same pellets from the previous test in Part 2 so we can compare the power levels. I will also test the discharge sound again, to see if there has been any change.

JSB Exact Jumbo

This time I remembered the SAM is semiautomatic. I also remembered to press the charging handle forward and also the forward assist to properly seat the new pellet in the breech after installing a loaded magazine.

Last time at the factory setting the SAM pushed JSB Exact Jumbo pellets out at an average 804 f.p.s. The spread was 6 f.p.s. and the average energy generated was 22.81 foot-pounds. This time the velocity averaged 828 f.p.s. with a 10 f.p.s. spread from 821 to 831 f.p.s. The muzzle energy this time was 24.2 foot-pounds. That’s only a little faster after the adjustment, but as I said the adjustment screw was already turned in 5-1/8 turns as the rifle came from the box.

Beeman Kodiak

The next pellet I tested was the obsolete Beeman Kodiak, which is identical to the H&N Baracuda that’s still available. In Part Two this 21.14-grain pellet averaged 684 f.p.s. for a muzzle energy of 21.97 foot pounds. In this test the same pellet averaged 706 f.p.s. for a muzzle energy of 23.41 foot pounds. The spread was 10 f.p.s. from 703 to 713 f.p.s.

Misfeeds

With the Kodiak, though, there were several misfeeds. I only recorded 7 good shots out of the first 10, The other three were misfires. And when I tried to get the last three shots by reloadinbg the magazine a second time, all three were misfires. By misfires I mean that one pellet might have gone out at 333 f.p.s. followed by a double feed that went out at 515 f.p.s. Since it happened twice with this pellet I determined that the SAM doesn’t care for Kodiaks. So I stopped using them.

I think the Kodiak pellet is either too large or too heavy for the SAM’s action and it “confuses” the semiautomatic action. The same thing happens in semiautomatic firearms when the wrong ammo is used. In the case of the SAM I think the pellet is putting more backpressure on the action than it was designed for and that is what is bolloxing things up. This is something you must pay attention to if you plan to shoot a semiauto.

JSB Exact Jumbo RS

The last pellet I tested was the lightweight JSB Exact RS dome. In Part Two they averaged 865 f.p.s with a 5 f.p.s. spread. On the high power setting today the same pellet averaged 888 f.p.s. with a 9 f.p.s. spread from 885 to 894 f.p.s. At the average velocity the RS pellet generates 23.52 foot-pounds at the muzzle.

How loud?

In Part Two I recorded the rifle’s report as 84.3 decibels. How loud is it now that the power has been increased? My sound meter recorded it as 91.6 decibels, though it still sounded pretty quiet to me. I took several readings and this one was in the middle.

With the power up all the way the SAM’s report was 91.6 decibels.

How much air was used?

At this point in the test 34 shots had been fired (the three magazines, plus 4 additional shots for the Kodiak pellet string). The onboard gauge says 2,300 psi remains in the reservoir. In Part 2 we learned that the test rifle runs out of steam when the onboard gauge reads around 1,600 psi. So, there are lots of shots remaining.

Adjust the rifle back to the factory setting

Can I now adjust the rifle back to where it was set when I first tested the rifle? Theoretically I should be able to “eyeball” the position of the 1/4-inch Allen screw, by watching the short end of the Allen wrench and return to that setting. Let’s see what happens when I try.

Dial off 7/8 of a turn

I dialed the wrench off 7/8 of as turn and recorded the following string with JSB RS pellets that had averaged 888 f.p.s. on high power.

Shot………Vel
1………….891
2………….888
3………….886
4………….881
5………….880
6………….880
7………….880
8………….889 Oh, oh! Wrong way.
9………….880
10..……….887

The average for this string is 884 f.p.s. so some velocity has been dialed away, but not much. Until shot eight I thought the rifle was going to settle down to a lower velocity.

Dial off another full turn

Next I dialed another full turn off the power screw. Here is what I got.

Shot………Vel
1………….877
2………….869
3………….870
4………….871
5………….871

Dial off another 3/4 turn

That was much closer to the 865 f.p.s. average for the RS, but I wanted to get even closer. So I dialed down the screw another 3/4-turn and got this.

Shot………Vel
6………….857
7………….853

Dial back a half turn

Wooops! I went too far. So I put back 1/2 turn of the power adjustment.

Shot………Vel
8………….867
9………….858
10..……….854

Dial back another half turn

Well, I’m close, but I want to get even closer, so I dialed in another 1/2 turn of power and got this.

Shot………Vel
1………….866
2………….862
3………….861
4………….864
5………….864
6………….861
7………….864
8………….857
9………….856
10..……….855

By the way, that’s 64 shots on a fill and the rifle still has 1,900 psi in the reservoir. So there is at least one more magazine’s worth of air.

The average for this string is 861 and I decided to leave the power set where it is. But there are two important things I have to say.

First, why didn’t the velocity go back to exactly where it was before when I adjusted the power screw to exactly where it had been set? Maybe I miscalculated where the screw was really set. Or maybe when you mess with the power setting it takes a long time for the rifle to settle back down.

Second, How come I dialed it down 3/4 turn of power and then put a full turn back in and the power didn’t go to higher than it was before the 3/4 turn adjustment? Same answer as before, except this time I know I did adjust the screw exactly as indicated.

The bottom line

The bottom line, guys, is to get a chronograph if you want to play around like this. Don’t think that counting screw turns is an exact science. This is the reason when someone says they are shooting their AirForce TalonSS at setting 8.12, it means nothing to anyone except that guy and only at the time he records it.  If he ever adjusts his power setting somewhere else he may never be able to get back to that exact velocity! Chronograph, chronograph chronograph!

The trigger

I must tell you about the trigger. Stage two is smooth and light, but there is absolutely no hint of where it’s going to break — other than the distance it has travelled. I’m starting to know where the rifle will fire by how far I have pulled the trigger. It’s a new experience for me, but it’s not hard to learn.

Summary

Well, the SAM didn’t go up as high as I thought it would. But it still has all the power I will ever need in the .22 semiauto. 

Remember that Kodiaks didn’t work so well this time and be willing to accept that as part of the cost of having a semiautomatic action.

The accuracy test is next.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

AirForce Texan big bore.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• Upgrade to the TX2 valve?
• Mr Hollowpoint
• The day
• Mr. Hollowpoint 333-grain bullet
• Stretching the air
• Cold!
• First two bullets
• Time to refill
• Summary

The .458 Texan from AirForce Airguns I’m testing has been with me for many years. Mine is from the first production run. And AirForce has made significant changes to the rifle in the time since mine was made (read Part 3, where the new TX2 valve is discussed), but I don’t care. My rifle still hits hard and drills heavy bullets where I want them to go.

Upgrade to the TX2 valve?

AirForce offered to upgrade my Texan to the new TX2 valve if I wanted. I would gain additional power from the new valve, plus with the new carbon fiber air tank I would retain the 4+ good shots, because even though the new valve uses more air, the CF tank it’s in gets filled to 250 bar/3,626 psi. I could also switch over to the new barrel that is just as long as mine, but has a faster 1:30 twist rate that stabilizes the heavier bullets better. My 535 foot-pound rifle would become a 700 foot-pound rifle with the heaviest bullets.

I don’t know if I want to upgrade or not. My rifle has proven deadly accurate already with a 215-grain semi-wadcutter from Tin Starr bullets. It put 6 of them into about 1.5-inches at 100 yards. And it doesn’t take 700 foot-pounds to dispatch a whitetail deer or a feral hog.

Remember, we measure from the center of the 2 holes farthest apart. Those two radii equal 1 bullet diameter (center-to-edge equals one radius). So, subtract one bullet diameter (.458″) from the measurement shown on the calipers and you get the center-to-center measurement. The group measures 1.506-inches, center-to-center.

If, on the other hand, I did upgrade I would be testing an entirely new air rifle, because both the barrel and the powerplant would be different. To work properly with the TX2 valve the internals of my powerplant would also have to be changed.

In Part 4 I tested my unaltered rifle, using the new TX2 tank and valve. My rifle’s best power had been 535 foot pounds. But now, with the new valve and a Mr. Hollowpoint 490-grain bullet, the power jumped up to 655 foot pounds on the first shot. And that was without the powerplant modifications my rifle needs to do its best with the new valve.

I’m the guy who always says, “Never get rid of an accurate airgun.” Is that what I would be doing if the changes were made? I want to hear what you think. Now, let’s get on with today’s report.

Mr Hollowpoint

Robert Vogel, who is Mr. Hollowpoint to big bore shooters, sent me an assortment of his bullets to test in my Texan. I showed you four of them in Part 4, last November. My thoughts were to select the one or two best performers, tune the power adjustment wheel to optimize the rifle to that bullet — and then leave it alone. 

In Part 4 I tested four of the five bullets he sent. Today I will test number five. I’ll also go back to the bullet that has proven to be the most accurate previously and see if it still as good as it was in Part 4. Remember from Part 4 that I asked him to size all the bullets 0.458-inches, because that’s the size with which my rifle does its best.

The day

I shot the Texan last Friday at the rifle range with reader Cloud9, who is still testing his RAW field target rifle. We were on the 50-yard range that is covered and has nice concrete shooting benches. But my first test that day was the BSA R10 Mark II, and I shot a lot of 10-shot groups with it. You’ll see that one tomorrow.

The day was a cold Texas day. The temperature wasn’t that bad, but the wind was chilling both me and Cloud9 to the bone. By the time I got to the Texan I had already been shooting for almost 2 hours and was pretty cold. 

Mr. Hollowpoint 333-grain bullet

First I will test that last bullet that Mr. Hollowpoint sent. It’s a long 333-grain bullet with a deep hollow point and wide grease grooves that are separated by narrow bands. It looks different enough from all the other bullets I’m testing that I decided to save it for last.

The 333-grain bullet from Mr. Hollowpoint looks quite different from all the others.

The first bullet landed in the bull because the rifle was still sighted in from last November. When the second, third and fourth bullets also struck black I thought maybe this would be one to consider — especially for shots at close range. Those first 4 shots grouped in 1.405-inches between centers at 50 yards.

Stretching the air

Then I tried to take a fifth shot without refilling. The onboard pressure gauge read 2,000 psi before the shot and I knew I should refill, but I thought I would take a chance. That fifth bullet landed 2-1/2-inches below the lowest bullet that was already in the bull. It was still in line with the group above, just much lower. It opened the first 5 shots to 3.838-inches at 50 yards.

At this point I refilled the rifle to 3,000 psi and took a final shot. If it went into the first group I would know that 4 shots are all I can get from this 333-grain bullet on a fill to 3,000 psi. 

Well, it did go to the first group, but it landed higher, opening those first four shots to 2.308-inches at 50 yards. Obviously I’m disregarding the lower fifth shot from the first fill in this measurement.

The first 4 shots all hit the bull and grouped in 1.405-inches at 50 yard. The fifth shot on that fill dropped lower, opening the first five shots to 3.838-inches. By filling the tank again, I fired a sixth shot that hit above the first four. That group of 5 shots measures 2.308-inches between centers. Sorry for the blurry image.

Cold!

My little fingers were getting really cold by this time, so I knew I didn’t have much more time remaining. When you see all that I shot with the BSA R10 Mark II you’ll understand how long it took me to get to this point.

I wanted to give the most accurate of the five Mr. Hollowpoint bullets one final chance to see if it was still as accurate as it had been back in November. That was the 300-grain hollowpoint. Back then I put five of them into 1.232-inches at 50 yards, with three of them in 0.349-inches. Could I still do as well on this frigid day? And if I could, maybe I could adjust the power adjuster to optimize it.

Mr Hollowpoint 300-grain bullet that you have seen before is the most accurate of all his bullets that I’m testing.

First two bullets

Since I had just filled the Texan for the last shot with the 333-grain bullet, it still had a lot of air, so I decided to shoot the first couple 300-grainers before refilling. Shot number one nicked the top of the bull at 50 yards. Shot two, however, could not be seen clearly through the UTG 6-24X56 SWAT scope. My Meopta MeoPro HD 80 Spotting Scope, however, revealed that the second shot had gone through the same hole as the first shot. I thought that was what I was seeing through the UTG scope, but I needed confirmation. You can see it in my photograph.

Time to refill

At this point I wanted nothing to spoil this group, so I refilled the rifle to 3,000 psi. Shot three landed apart from the first two shots, but it was very close. Shots 4 and 5 are clustered with it. This five-shot 50-yard group measures 0.659-inches between centers!

Back in 2015 I shot five shots into 0.762-inches at the same 50 yards. Those were the same bullets that made a 1.5-inch 100-yard group.

Back in 2015, I managed to put five 215-grain bullets into 0.762 inches at 50 yards. This was clearly a good bullet!

Last Friday, five 300-grain bullets made a 0.659-inch group at 50 yards. This bullet from Mr. Hollowpoint has edged out the Tin Starr bullet from 2015. Will it do as well at 100 yards?

Well, there is no way that I am fooling with the power adjuster after shooting a group like this. This Texan is sighted-in for 0-75 yards right now with this bullet!

Summary

My current Texan is very accurate and as powerful as I need it to be. But by allowing AirForce to upgrade it to the new TX2 valve and the new barrel, I would have a brand new airgun to test. I’m leaning in that direction, but I would like to hear what you readers think.

As it stands now the 300-grain bullet from Mr. Hollowpoint is extremely accurate. I do think I need to test it at 100 yards before I do anything to the .458 Texan.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin’s new Semiauto Marauder repeating PCP.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• Important announcement
• Back with the Benjamin SAM
• Pulled the baffles
• Loading single shot
• The test
• Crosman Premiers
• JSB Exact Jumbo RS
• Air Arms 16-grain domes
• Discussion
• UTG scope was a huge benefit!
• Summary

Important announcement

Pyramyd Air will be redoing the website and the blog design next week. The anticipated cutover date is Wednesday evening, 1/27/21. Therefore my last blog posting before the new site goes live next Thursday will be this Friday, 1/22/21. There is a possibility that the blog will also be dark on Thursday, 1/28/21.

Nobody likes missing the blog for several days, but I will use the time to get several things done that take a lot of time. Please bear with us as we make this transition. I will remind you of this tomorrow and Friday, too. Now on to today’s report.

Back with the Benjamin SAM

Okay, we’re back at it with the Benjamin Semiautomatic Marauder again today! Today will be a quicky but also an important-y. Brilliant reader, Kevin, reminded me of how I could bypass the SAM magazine by loading singly and see what the rifle was really doing. Reader GunFun1 said his SAM was shooting way better than what I showed you in Part 4. So — today is the day we find out for sure!

Pulled the baffles

Reader RidgeRunner advised me to pull all the baffles first, to verify that none of them was being hit by a pellet. I pulled all seven of them and the large holes through each one are clearly not being touched by pellets. We can rule out the baffles as a problem that causes inaccuracy. That leaves either the barrel or the magazine. Given that this is a semiauto, I suspect the magazine. Loading each pellet singly will make the determination.

Loading single shot

Because of the narrow SAM receiver slot that’s cut for the magazine, loading pellets single shot is not straightforward. At least it wasn’t for me. I tried needle-nosed pliers with a long thin nose, but what worked best was a hemostat — long thin clamping pliers used by surgeons. I didn’t clamp them. I only held onto each pellet loosely until the bolt pushed the pellet into the rifle’s chamber.

The test

I tried to repeat the first accuracy test from 25 yards exactly. The rifle was rested directly on a sandbag at 25 yards and the pellets were loaded singly. I positioned a light to shine on the breech so I could see to load the pellets. Care was taken not to damage them in any way. I did not adjust the scope for this test, but I will have more to say about the scope in a bit.

Crosman Premiers

In the first test that is covered in Part 4 I sighted-in with Crosman Premiers and also shot the smallest group of 10 with them. It measured 0.454-inches between centers.

Loading singly this time 10 Crosman Premiers went into 0.349-inches between centers at 25 yards. That’s enough better than the first test to be significant. The point of impact shifted over to the right but remained just as high as it was in the last test.

When loaded singly the SAM put 10 Crosman Premier pellets into 0.349-inches at 25 yards.

JSB Exact Jumbo RS

Next up were ten JSB Exact Jumbo RS pellets. In the first test the SAM put ten of them into 0.521-inches at 25 yards.

In today’s test by loading singly the SAM put ten JSB RS pellets into 0.431-inches at 25 yards. That’s quite a bit better than the last test. As before, the point of impact also shifted to the right just a little.

Ten JSB Exact Jumbo RS pellets went into this “Mickey Mouse” group at 25 yards. It measures 0.431-inches between centers.

Air Arms 16-grain domes

The final pellet I tested is the one I was most interested in. In Part 4 the Air Arms 16-grain dome scattered all over the paper at 25 yards. The 10-shot group measured 1.159-inches. Would loading singly help this pellet?

Well, it did help! This time ten of the singly-loaded Air Arms domes went into 0.46-inches at 25 yards. It is the largest group of today’s test, but it’s almost the same size as the smallest group in Part 4 when the magazine was used! I find that fascinating!

When loaded into the SAM one at a time, ten of the Air Arms 16-grain domes went into a group measuring 0.46-inches between centers at 25 yards.

Discussion

It should be clear to everyone that the SAM magazine is the reason the first accuracy test didn’t do so well. This is not my air rifle so I can’t modify the magazine the way reader GunFun1 told us about, but if I could I would. The SAM feeds reliably enough, though when I load it singly there is a slight problem. Longer, fatter pellets do not seat into the breech deeply enough to clear the air transfer port in the breech. That’s why I didn’t shoot a test group of Beeman Kodiaks. I shot four and had trouble getting them past the air transfer port unless I let the bolt slam on them. That seemed to open the group, so I stopped the test.

I will also point out that today the SAM is not very picky about the pellets it likes. That means we can rule out the barrel as a potential problem.

UTG scope was a huge benefit!

I told you that I mounted the UTG 4-14X44 SWAT scope on the SAM for Part 4. Well, that illuminated etched-glass reticle is worth the price of the scope! It made seeing the crosshairs so easy against the black bullseye!

Summary

This SAM is very accurate and today’s test proves it. The magazine may need a period of prolonged break-in. Or GunFun1’s modifications might do the trick.

I will shoot the SAM at 50 yards. Because of what we have seen today I will also load singly for that test. If I owned the rifle I would modify the magazine, but I will be sending it back and the mag has to remain as it came to me.