Old air rifle

Moonrover · Feb 14, 2013

This video shows an air rifle that may have been instrumental in the success of the Lewis & Clark expedition.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/451309/thread/1296928404/This+is+just+to+cool+not+to+spread+around

I'm starting to gain some interest in air rifles as an alternative to powder ammo rifles for target practice. Sure does help with my small ammo supply which is difficult to replenish lately.

worldtalker · Feb 14, 2013

Check out Beeman. God Bless Chris Beeman Airguns - AirgunDepot.com

Chadeaux · Feb 14, 2013

I have two of these . . . one is a very old version and needs work . . . but I have shot a bb through a zinc penny with it before it was broken.

Crosman | Airguns | Pistols | American Classic Pump Pistol (.177)

At $400 less, and the same 600 fps velocity, a pretty good deal.

BTW, pretty darn accurate. Can put three rounds in a quarter at 20 yards.

McKinney_5900 · Feb 14, 2013

That is a nice shooter for the money, and you are doing fine with that proficiency at 20 yards with a pistol. A buddy of mine had one and I was startled at how it hit at 30 yards with no scope. I have many adult air guns, pistol and an assortment of extremely fine rifles and scopes. On a good day, off a bench rest from my patio in calm winds,,,I can widen a single hole in pop cans at 50 yards. My air pistol can hit cans out there yet I don't profess to counting on that since my abilities are more focused with the rifles. Air guns are fun!

I've seen that info on the air guns from Lewis and Clark long ago since I used to be an avid AG guy and on those forums. Detecting gets all of my "nice weather" efforts now though, so the AGs and my motorcycle doesn't get too much attention. martin

Chadeaux said:
I have two of these . . . one is a very old version and needs work . . . but I have shot a bb through a zinc penny with it before it was broken.

Crosman | Airguns | Pistols | American Classic Pump Pistol (.177)

At $400 less, and the same 600 fps velocity, a pretty good deal.

BTW, pretty darn accurate. Can put three rounds in a quarter at 20 yards.

Chadeaux · Feb 14, 2013

Yes, they are fun. I used to go out to the shed and pick off single wasps. Shoot once into the nest and wait for them to come back, then pick 'em off one at a time.

onfire · Feb 14, 2013

Try out the Benjamin Rogue .357 Shoots a 145 grain Will take a deer OUT. Could be the next assault gun on the list

and it works on air.

Crispin · Feb 14, 2013

MoonRover: when I see you post it reminds me of the time my puppy had surgery. You know, those white cones that prevent licking...lol.

spartacus53 · Feb 14, 2013

Moonrover, they are fun to have, but all I keep thinking about is

Red James Cash · Feb 14, 2013

Yes, they are fun. I used to go out to the shed and pick off single wasps. Shoot once into the nest and wait for them to come back, then pick 'em off one at a time.

I cheated,i use to use bottle rockets :laughing9:

Tnmountains · Feb 14, 2013

That Lewis and Clark Rifle was something else. They are very expensive though. I feel every man deserves a good pellet rifle at some point in his life. I have the german made RWS Diana. Faster that a 22. One pump. I am unsure what the twist is but it must be pretty tight.

bevo · Feb 14, 2013

my beeman shoots 1000 ft per second.

Tnmountains · Feb 14, 2013

Same here a 22 it was 720 fps? I am guessing on the 22

bevo · Feb 14, 2013

McKinney_5900 · Feb 14, 2013

Spring gun or pneumatic? If it's spring, then my Air Arms at 860fps I bet that will be more accurate. Power isn't what it'a all about in spring guns. Balance and smooth piston action, plus a good trigger pull is it. About anybody can shoot a pre charged airgun. There's a huge, battling camp between springers and pre charged.

bevo said:
my beeman shoots 1000 ft per second.

bevo · Feb 14, 2013

pneumatic, decent trigger, sighted in at 35 45 yrds. pattern 5'' not so great.

Moonrover · Feb 15, 2013

Crispin said:
MoonRover: when I see you post it reminds me of the time my puppy had surgery. You know, those white cones that prevent licking...lol.

One of my worst fears is to wake up after surgery and find a white cone around my neck.

McKinney_5900 · Feb 15, 2013

bevo said:
pneumatic, decent trigger, sighted in at 35 45 yrds. pattern 5'' not so great.

I am all over the chart in accuracy shooting off hand, not on a bench rest on something. My pneumatic pumper rifle gets nowhere near the accuracy of the fancy pre charged AGs out today. I didn't intend on saying all pneumatics were the same. Those guys charging up off of a scuba tank are holding super tight groups. I kinda cheat by touting tight groups from benchrest shooting. These precision AGs many times outshoot powder burners at the range. Lots cheaper to shoot too. martin

Moonrover · Feb 15, 2013

McKinney_5900 said:
I am all over the chart in accuracy shooting off hand, not on a bench rest on something. My pneumatic pumper rifle gets nowhere near the accuracy of the fancy pre charged AGs out today. I didn't intend on saying all pneumatics were the same. Those guys charging up off of a scuba tank are holding super tight groups. I kinda cheat by touting tight groups from benchrest shooting. These precision AGs many times outshoot powder burners at the range. Lots cheaper to shoot too. martin

What are the various methods of "pre-charging"? This leads me to wonder how the Louis & Clark air rifle was pre-charged. Did they have bike tire pumps back then? Another newbe question ... do small game hunters take a scuba tank out in the field, or are the pre-charged air rifles mostly used for range shooting?

I watched three videos of night hunting for rats. Impressive! The nearly silent air rifle didn't spook rats in the pack as the shooter plinked away. Back in my youthful days my pals would join me at the town dump to shoot rats. We used 22LR, and even cheated with bird shot once in a while. The loud crack sound would spook rats, so we had to sit and wait for more to show up to get another shot. We could have had far more success with air rifles. However back then the only air rifles we knew of were just good old Daisy "BB" guns.

Somewhere in my attic there is a Red Ryder "BB" gun. As I recall it has a capacity of 50 or more shots. Might soon be deemed illegal unless it can be modified to hold seven or less shots !! Otherwise it is an assault Red Ryder.

M

packerbacker · Feb 15, 2013

I have a couple old air rifles that I ended up with some years ago; can't even remember how I came to have them. I know they weren't working and I was going to send them in for repair if possible. This thread has me thinking again about doing it. I had a Crossman CO2 one time that I used to pick oranges out of the trees with and just hit the little stems, not the orange itself.

McKinney_5900 · Feb 15, 2013

Moonrover said:
What are the various methods of "pre-charging"? This leads me to wonder how the Louis & Clark air rifle was pre-charged. Did they have bike tire pumps back then? Another newbe question ... do small game hunters take a scuba tank out in the field, or are the pre-charged air rifles mostly used for range shooting?

I watched three videos of night hunting for rats. Impressive! The nearly silent air rifle didn't spook rats in the pack as the shooter plinked away. Back in my youthful days my pals would join me at the town dump to shoot rats. We used 22LR, and even cheated with bird shot once in a while. The loud crack sound would spook rats, so we had to sit and wait for more to show up to get another shot. We could have had far more success with air rifles. However back then the only air rifles we knew of were just good old Daisy "BB" guns.

Somewhere in my attic there is a Red Ryder "BB" gun. As I recall it has a capacity of 50 or more shots. Might soon be deemed illegal unless it can be modified to hold seven or less shots !! Otherwise it is an assault Red Ryder.

M

Pre charged AGs have a numerous, usable number of shots per charge, so a hunter would more than likely never need air-in-the field. The scuba tank is commonly known as a bulk fill tank and does fit at the range. There are smaller containers they can pack out in the field. There is also a foot pump for charging but they are laborous. I suspect L&C lilely had a hand pump and some grunt had to do that job. But you have a good point about hunters, because there are some big bore AG hunters who take wild hogs, deer and exotic animals with these things, and they are usually always a single shot, gun. I'm not sure how they prepare for a refill. The big bores I've seen and shot were refilled off a costly compressor. You can't just use common air due to the moisture. martin