by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
My Sheridan Blue Streak dates back to 1978 when I bought it new.
This report covers:
- The test
- H&N Baracuda
- Crosman Premiers
- H&N Field Target Trophy
- H&N Baracuda
- Discussion
- Adjusting windage on a Sheridan Blue Streak
- 10-shot group
- Sights moved the wrong way
- Final group
- Summary
Today I move back to 25 yards, to test the accuracy of the Sheridan Blue Streak for the last time. I used the information that was gathered from the accuracy test in Part 3 to select the pellets for today’s test.
The test
I shot from 25 yards while seated with the rifle rested on a sandbag. I shot 5 shots at each target but one and I will explain about that one when we get to it. I pumped the rifle 4 times per shot for every shot in today’s test. I will comment on the sights as the report progresses, but when I started the sights were where they were for the 10-meter test in Part 3.
H&N Baracuda
I told you in part 3 that the .20 caliber H&N Baracuda is a lighter medium-weight pellet, unlike all other caliber Baracudas. I shot it first because of that. I was back at 25 yards and I wanted to still be on target and roughly in the center of the bull. And I was!
Five Baracudas hit the bull at the right height, but slightly to the left of center. There were still two other pellets to shoot, so I left the sights where they were. The 5 pellets landed in a group that measures 0.71-inches between centers. Three of the pellets are in the same hole, with the other two some distance away.
The Blue Streak put five .20 caliber Baracuda pellets in 0.71-inches at 25 yards. It’s a very good group for a multi-pump pneumatic with open sights and a septuagenarian on the trigger!
Crosman Premiers
The second pellet I tried was the tried-and-true Crosman Premier dome that’s no longer made. Both this Blue Streak and my Sheridan Supergrade like this pellet. In fact my Supergrade put 5 Premiers into 0.397-inches when I tested it a year ago. So I was hopeful, but had no idea this Blue Streak was about to do even better!
The Blue Streak put 5 Premier pellets into a group that measures 0.325-inches between centers at 25 yards! Now, that is some shooting! This group is also left of the center of the bull, though the elevation is right on.
Five obsolete Crosman Premier pellets went into 0.325-inches at 25 yards. This Blue Streak can shoot!
I want you to remember this group because something happened in a minute that changed the test. Just remember that old BB can shoot when things go his way.
H&N Field Target Trophy
The next pellet was the H&N Field Target Trophy that did so well at 10 meters in Part 3. I wondered what I would do after the Premiers had done so well. So I just put my head down and shot my best. I didn’t look at the target until I walked down to change it. If the group had no measurable size whatsoever, would you believe me that there were 5 shots in it? Well, there was no cause to worry.
The five pellets landed in an open group that measures 0.771-inches between centers. Of the three test pellets, this one shot the worst! It also landed to the left and slightly higher than the other two pellets. No worries there, though, because I wasn’t going to shoot it again.
The Blue Streak put 5 Field Target Trophy pellets into 0.771-inches at 25 yards. It’s not a bad group — it’s just not that good.
Discussion
After these three targets had been shot I wanted to shoot a 10-shot group with the most accurate pellet. On this day that was the Crosman Premier — no doubt about it.
I also wanted to refine the sight picture to hit the center of the bullseye, so I went to the Blue Streak manual that’s still online on the Pyramyd AIR website. As you may know, the Sheridan rear sight adjusts in both directions. There is a screw in the center of the leaf for the vertical adjustment. It’s pretty obvious what you need to do. But the windage adjustment is a different matter.
Adjusting windage on a Sheridan Blue Streak
The rear sight leaf has a screw on either side. Both have to be turned to adjust the sight. But what do you do? That’s why I went to the manual. And, guess what? Whoever wrote this version of the manual didn’t know, either. Here is all the manual says about adjusting the rear sight on a Blue Streak.
Yeah — they didn’t know, either!
So I did a search and found people discussing Blue Streak rear sight adjustment on one of the forums. The guy told someone to loosen the screw on the side he wanted to move the sight toward and tighten the screw on the other side. If you want to move to sight to the right, loosen the screw on the right and tighten the screw on the left. My pellets were hitting to the left of center so I needed to move the sight to the right because you always move the rear sight in the direction you want the shots to move.
10-shot group
After adjusting the sight I started shooting the 10-shot group. By shot number 5 I noticed my hands were shaking. Was I really that stressed about this group? Then I felt it — a warning sign that my blood sugar was too low.
I inject insulin 5 times each day to control type one diabetes. I check my blood sugar level before doing this, plus I have to factor in any food I’m about to eat. After 8 years of doing this I have gotten pretty good at it, but every once in awhile I make a mistake. That’s what happened this time and my blood sugar was dropping too far. It starts with the shakes and then I feel super hungry. After that I start a cold sweat and within minutes I will black out. I don’t know what happens after that, because I have only gone that far twice, but I don’t think it’s good.
I persisted shooting, thinking I could just tough it out, which is what I always do and it never works. As the symptoms advanced the shakes got worse, so after shot seven I stopped shooting and treated my situation. Believe it or not, the fix is to eat a candy bar! What a disease!
It takes about an hour for the symptoms to go away, but I didn’t want to wait that long. After a 20-minute break I resumed shooting and shot the final three shots. This wasn’t going to be my best group.
When I saw it I was surprised it was as good as it is. Ten Premier pellets went into 0.942-inches between centers at 25 yards. It looks smaller than that to me, but that’s what the caliper says. HOWEVER…
Ten Premier pellets went into 0.942-inches at 25 yards. But the group went the wrong way!
Sights moved the wrong way
So much for listening to people on the forums! The good news is I can fix it, which is why I’m writing this here. From now on this will be a reminder to everyone who wants to adjust an original Blue or Silver Streak rear sight for windage.
To move the sight to the right, loosen the left screw and tighten the screw on the right. That pulls the rear sight leaf to the right. I watched the leaf move this second time and could actually see what it was doing. I knew how much the sight had moved the first time, so I doubled it and added a little extra. What I mean by that is how loose I made the left screw, which is what allows the sight to move to the right when I tighten the right screw. It was a guesstimate, but it was pretty close.
Final group
To check that the sight was adjusted correctly I fired a final group of 5 Premiers. I was still feeling bad and the group was almost as large as the 10-shot group, at 0.862-inches between centers, but it was now centered very well.
It’s not a tight group, but the Premiers are now hitting where I want. Five shots in 0.862-inches at 25 yards.
Summary
This series has been refreshing for me. I think a lot of you have enjoyed it, too. We took a rifle that was made as an inexpensive replacement for the Sheridan Supergrade and we showed that it is every bit as accurate and as powerful as that icon of American airguns.
I will now put the Blue Streak away with two pumps in the reservoir and the hammer uncocked.
B.B.,
Well you did it again, great shooting and 25 yards on 4 pumps, those premiers were fantastic. You and the Blue Streak still make a swell team.
Next time don’t wait to eat the candy bar.
Don
B.B.
Could you please do a blog about the advantages/disadvantages of .20 vs .177 and .22?
Did you find the lack of pellet choices hurt your review?
Will .20 survive the PCP onslaught?
-Y
Yogi,
I don’t know if I can do a blog like that justice. I am prejudiced against the .20 caliber and would have a hard time defending it — even though a test like today turned out as great as it did.
I will think about it and if I can write something fairly, I will.
B.B.
BB that windage adjustment is the opposing screw system. one has to be loosened the other tightened into the space the loose screw makes then it stops. very simple and strong. The FN FAL has the same for windage
B.B.
I’ll jump in with Yogi and ask for a caliber review of .20 vs .177 and .22.
Like you, I am prejudiced against the .20. I am all for innovation and will support a new product (standard) if it proves that it is technically superior to existing standards; but if the proprietary product is introduced for marketing reasons (to the detriment of the buying public) I get “annoyed” and will black-list the product.
Hope that you will do a comparison report – I would like to see if the .20 caliber can (technically) justify its existence.
Hank
Hank,
Well, maybe if I approach it like that, my prejudice against, maybe there is a report in there. I think I have written about this several times in the past.
Here is an article I wrote for Pyramyd AIR in 2003, before this blog started:
/article/Airgun_Calibers_June_2003/4
B.B.
Thanks for the link B.B. – an excellent read, sent the link to a friend who is considering getting his first pellet rifle.
In considering it more, I think that accuracy should not be a consideration when evaluating the performance of a caliber. While accuracy is affected by the design and quality (consistency) of the pellet I feel that accuracy is determined more by the barrel and powerplant.
Guessing that a report on calibers would be rather “dry” (but very interesting to some of us nerds 🙂 ) consisting of mostly charts and graphs comparing ballistic coefficients, retained velocity/energy, and stuff like that.
Do you think that it would be acceptable/realistic to do a theoretical analysis of caliber performance using a program like Hawks “Chairgun”? Might be fairly quick to put a report together.
Hank
And gosh. What did people think about .25 caliber pellets in recent times past.
I myself like a .25 caliber air gun. Pcp that is. No need for me to explain the bennifits. You got to try to see it is all I can say.
It took a while to find the pics and results I found with my Old Streak. I hope they come thru.
I ran different pellets thru the Chrony with different amount of pumps:
And here is a couple of targets shot at 27 yards, these were with sights no scope along
with the pellet and # of pumps:
Great blog…..but then I’m bias 🙂 shawn
It took a while to find the pics . With my Old Streak I ran some Chrony numbers with different pumps here are the results:
MV_MARANATHA,
It looks like your seals need to heat up to work well. Great power once they get going.
They are getting older and tired perhaps? I would oil them with ATF sealant.
There is one other possibility. If the gun has been rebuilt recently the hammer spring may be so strong that it keeps the first couple pumps from remaining in the gun completely. You can fix that by cocking before you begin to pump. That’s what I have to do with this Blue Streak that has been rebuilt.
B.B.
I also shot a couple of targets at 27 yards with different pumps:
This has been a great blog. Brought back some fine memories.
These ole girls shoot gooder every year with age:) shawn
“These ole girls shoot gooder every year with age:)”
Shawn, I read all your replies; I agree with your assessment 100%; I love my old Sheridan! =>
B.B.
Very nice shooting! I have a Benjamin 392 about 3 years old. I’m still working on best pellet for accuracy, but I never thought of lowering the velocity for better accuracy, i.e. less pumps from 8. I will try that when I get that round tuit everyone talks about the next time I shoot it.
Take care of your diabetes when the signs start to show up, please.
I too am diabetic and I thank God that I have a warning symptoms when I am getting low. I’m LADA (adult onset type I), brittle (hard to control), and have insulin resistance, which is rare in type I’s. My blood sugar numbers are like mountain peaks, according to my doctor.
I too have a tendency to ignore the symptoms to push through things and have similar issues as you when I do that. I have never passed out though. Blood sugars in the 50’s are bad enough, but the couple of 47’s took a couple days to recover from.
God Bless and thank you for all you do,
John Carlisle
John
That’s what I like about the pumpers. You will find if you shoot them enough you will find that sweet spot in velocity and consistency.
And for some reason it’s always slower than you think would work best. Been there done that.
B.B.,
With the accuracy it displayed no wonder Edith was able to dispatch the rats that were disturbing the birds. Very poignant timing for the series to end.
To absent friends!
Siraniko
PS: Hopefully you will take an earlier candy break next time when your symptoms appear. It takes about 60-90 minutes before any sugar you eat gets to circulate into your bloodstream.
Siraniko,
I know you have remembered what day this is. Thank you!
B.B.
B.B.,
With the accuracy it displayed no wonder Edith was able to dispatch the rats that were disturbing the birds. Very poignant timing for the series to end.
To absent friends!
Siraniko
PS: Hopefully you will take an earlier candy break next time when your symptoms appear. It takes about 60-90 minutes before any sugar you eat gets to circulate into your bloodstream.
B.B
How nice to have a report on Ms. Edith’s favorite gun today. Yes, Siraniko, to absent friends. She will always be fondly remembered.
Errol
Errol,
Edith left me 4 years ago today.
B.B.
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
— 2nd Corinthians 5:8
Dave,
Yes. That changes our whole outlook.
B.B.
Amen.
B.B
Yes Sir, I know. How fast time flies. But she is always with you in Spirit, giving you the strength and courage to continue. My reminder rings and I pray to the Lord for her & remember her witty comments. God bless you!!
Errol
Errol,
Thank you.
B.B.
BB
I’ve never met either you or Edith but may have received one of her last reader responses. She told me why the Bronco was no longer available for sale by PA. Her passing stunned me and that is when I started praying for you.
I hope you remember only the best of times together that make you smile and even laugh.
Deck
Deck,
That is how I remember it. I’m not morose. Just sad.
But I have you guys to keep me company. 😉
B.B.
BB,
You had better take care of yourself. Hopefully I have quite a few reading years left in me. I do not want to be missing out on this blog.
It is quite a shame that the .20 seems to have fallen from favor. Every once in a while I will see a PCP offered in that caliber, but they are few and far between and becoming fewer still. I guess what is needed is for the .20 to be offered in an inexpensive PCP and several of the video bloggers demonstrate superb accuracy and power. It is going to take sales to convince the pellet makers to do more research and offerings in this caliber. I just hope the pellet makers do not drop it from their product line.
RR,
Yogi asked me to write a blog about the benefits and disadvantages of the .177, .20 and .22. I want to do it but I think I am prejudiced against the .20 because of how hard Dr. Beeman pushed it, back in the late 1980s and 1990s.. If you readers can shed any light on why it is a good caliber for me, I would appreciate it.
B.B.
B.B.,
My Sheridan is the only .20 caliber airgun I have ever owned, and I have never really sought another gun in that caliber, even though, as your excellent report here shows, it can perform well.
Thank you for yet another excellent report!
Take care & God bless,
dave
P.S. Even though I had my steroid rifle returned to factory internals, there is one thing from MAC1 that I left intact: the beefing up of the pivot point for the pump arm. It would have been nice if all the rifles left that factory this way. =>
Dave,
You’re right. That beefing up is a real plus.
B.B.
B.B.,
Touches like that, along with the moderate but significant increase in the power of each of the strokes early in the pumping process are what attracts me to the Steroid treatment. The Streak becomes more efficient and benefits even if one doesn’t pump 12-14 times. To a multi-pump aficionado that alone is worth the “price of admission.”
Michael
Yes; the gun pumps much better (no side to side play). =>
Thedavemyster,
I support your observation and the action you took with your Streak.
For owners of 392/397 Multipumps the full MAC1 Upgrade also replaces a much weaker folded metal leverarm/pumparm along with a few other weak points. As Tim so aptly puts it; “Only STEROID an already accurate gun since who wants an inaccurate Airgun to last forever!”
shootski
Shootski, for sure; MAC1 does excellent work. =D
BB,
I myself would like to see more .20 in break barrels and PCPs. I shoot .177 and .22 all the time. The .177 is fine at close ranges, but when you start stretching out there it loses power and accuracy rapidly. The heavier .20 projectile will retain energy better at longer ranges than the.177.
Of course here is where the argument for the .22 comes in. I myself believe that the .20 will give a flatter trajectory for a longer range than the .22 and deliver more energy than the .177.
Does not AirForce offer a .20 barrel? I think this would be the platform to test the merits of the .20 versus the .177 and .22.
P.S. I may have to have a .177 and a .20 barrel made for my 101.
” I myself believe that the .20 will give a flatter trajectory for a longer range than the .22 and deliver more energy than the .177.”
RidgeRunner, if he was still here, Dr. Beeman would give you a gold star for that statement. =>
Just sayin’, not disputing the truth of the statement.
Is anyone here even old enough to remember the days when the teacher put a gold star on your paper (in grammar school) if you turned in something good? LOL! =)~
Dave
I remember the gold star. 🙂
GF1,
Me too. I tend to remember a chart of (all) class students,…. posted at the front of the class,…. in which the stars were posted in line. Kind like a sideways bar graph. I forget now what even earned a “star”,.. which speaks to how much attention I must have been paying at the time.
Competition is not good,… so I hear. It is better that all are equal,… no matter how much, or how (little) effort one puts forth. I do have that right,…….. right? 😉
I suddenly feel sick,………
Chris
Chris
I remember that too.
They was brain washing us and we didn’t even know it.
GF1,
Equal opportunity is good. Equal rewards, despite lack of effort, is (not). That would be the one lesson that I remember. “Brain washing” seems to be more of a recent (ish) thing,…. caveats aside.
Chris
Chris
Back then too.
Gunfun! & Chris,
I’m glad you, too, remember them; I was afraid I was the only one.
But, yes, this trend of everyone getting the same reward, even if you do nothing is really sad! My wife’s friend, Dawn,…well, her son worked his tail off on a project for their science fair…he spent hours and hours on it for weeks. Then, another kid, who had a lame project on which he put in no time and no effort…got the same award as he did. So, he told his Mom, “I don’t want this award; it has no meaning.” What a perceptive young man, learning to see through the bad trends of our society at an early age. Perhaps he will grow up to help fix them. And while he’s at that, maybe I’ll ask him to see about preserving our gun rights for future generations. =>
Have a blessed weekend all,
dave
GF
Are you still out there ?
tt
Dave,
I would be honored to get a gold star from Dr. Beeman. I never got many when I was young.
No, the .20 has not been popular on this side of the pond, most especially when most of the guns that use it are Sheridans. If I am not mistaken, the entire Weirauch lineup is available in .20. An HW50 in that caliber could be a hot little number. Even an HW30 might be able to hold its own. Hmmmm…
“An HW50 in that caliber could be a hot little number.”
RidgeRunner, I think you’re right on that; that gun gets some high praise here:
http://www.straightshooterschat.com/archive/index.php/t-1103.html
“I’ve had ’em all. Now it’s all I have. HW50S .177”
That’s some high praise, for sure!
But you’re got an excellent point here, too: “Even an HW30 might be able to hold its own.”
My little HW30S in .22 caliber is a great little plinker that would shoot even flatter in .20 cal.
Thanks, man, and have a sweet weekend,
dave
Dave,
If I am not mistaken you can get a new barrel assembly for your 30.
You are correct; the new HWs have been redesigned (I’m sure B.B. mentioned it in one of his reports…somewhere =>) and now have a barrel nut to allow for easy change of barrels. I’ve already had an R7 (Beeman’s version of the HW30S) in .177. Hence, if I ever get tired of the .22 barrel and wish to try something new, I may have to throw a .20 caliber barrel on this ol’ gal…just for fun. =D
Dave
Thanks for pointing out the barrel nut. And for some reason I thought the HW50s I had awhile back had that nut. But I could be totally wrong. No pictures saved and don’t remember.
But that would be cool if the HW50s is like that also.
Gunfun1, yes; the currently-made HW50S also has that barrel nut; I am heavily looking toward one as a “next buy.” =>
Dave
I hope he does do something to preserve our gun rights.
Hopefully he has a air gun and learns how fun they can be.
Roger that!
Dave
Thanks for the info about the HW50s barrel nut also.
You are most welcome; B.B. had an even better pic of the HW50S barrel nut in his 2010 3-part blog on that rifle; the pic was back in part 1; here it is:
/blog/2010/07/testing-the-hw50s-part-1/
Dave
Ok I thought the one I had came with that nut back then. Thanks.
=>
My opinion on the .20 from my point of view i wanted one because i do not have the experience of using or owning one, but however good or whatever potential it may possess i am aware of the need in air rifles for pellet selection even in my own very limited experience. Given the wide selection in both 177 & 22 i could never find any sound reasoning for choosing .20 for practical use.
I am limited by funds so as only items for practical use make any sense. If i were a collector well then i might find some real justification. The way i see it the industry seems to be very risk averse and change of this magnitude takes risk and a long history in the market seems to have shown it to be a bad risk.
And perhaps some day in the near future it might become cheap and common place to get perfect carbon tubes to form a latticework scaffold for some metal alloy to form along and then be bonded with titanium for low density strong & lightweight structures or some such and then somebody gets the bright idea of making perfect rifle barrels. That is the problem with the future innovation and chance make predicting it impossible. Personally i think sufficient technology exists to make cheaper more perfect barrels today and that a game changer is coming along some year soon even a few of them and perhaps the .20 might not die.
Mike,
Barrels are one technology that has not advanced as far as other things. That is an area where more research and time could well be spent.
B.B.
Never tryed a 20 yet.
Don’t think I will. Probably .30 caliber for me next.
So are you talking break barrel or PCP as i can get behind them because of not only Hatsans break barrel as FX got behind the skirted.30 in a big way and not only are they top quality and some of the most innovative of brands they also seem committed to moving down the food chain in price point and dragging the advances right along. If you are talking spring piston i am thinking about that as i have never gone in for the PCP ecosystem [yet] i am looking at the Hatsan 130s not just as a curiosity as the advantage of heavier and larger pellets is an advantage in the ability in physically handling the larger pellet. Brings me to the last issue the Hatsan uses plain air piston and in my mod 125 the first cold shot is under powered at least i assume it is as it seems to strike low that eliminates its use as a door gun and that for me is a deal breaker as all spring pistons are door guns for me. My nitro piston does not seem to suffer from the same issue. I will admit when i get a little spendable $ from time to time i think about the HW95 in .20, but the next time i know its going to be the synthetic ASP20 .22 or even an Aspen .22 or another scope before the .20.
Just my take on it.
Mike
Ok that is the reply I’m talking about.
Mike
I got a email that you left me with a long reply but don’t see it posted here on the blog.
But my answer is .30 caliber pcp. I like long distance air gun shooting. I have a .25 caliber Condor SS that does well but eventually want to step up to .30 caliber.
So yep no .30 spring or nitro piston gun. Tryed a couple different Hatsan .25 caliber spring and gas ram guns and wasn’t happy with their performance.
GF1,
Do you use cast bullets in your Condor SS? Have you thought of stepping it up to .257?
RR
JSB 33.95 pellets. And have thought about going up in caliber with it. But decided not to. It shoots too good as is.
Will probably get a gun that is a dedicated .30 caliber from the factory. When I get a round tuit. 🙂
GF1,
Or maybe even a .357, eh? 😉
RR
Probably a .30 caliber pellet shooting gun is what I’m after. No bullets and it seems the .30 caliber pellet guns have been doing pretty good on accuracy and trajectory and foot pounds of energy with the JSB .30 caliber round nose pellets.
Just me but if I’m going to shoot a bullet it will be with a firearm not with a pellet gun.
That response was written then i decided not to post and left so i have no idea how that got through. I tend to drone on and often write posts i never leave. sorry
Mike
No need to apologise. I just couldn’t find it and I try to answer when someone reply’s to me.
And that was a good comment. Don’t see why you wouldn’t want to post it.
Mike,
Like BB said, barrel technology has lagged behind for some time, but manufacturers are starting to bring it into the future now. Many including Lothar Walther are experimenting with polygonal rifling. With the new FX Smooth Twist X barrels, not only are they polygonal, but they have different twist rates for pellets or cast bullets. Daystate and others have been experimenting with twist rates.
There are barrel makers that will make any caliber, any twist rate, any length you want in a liner. Cover it with a carbon fiber sleeve and you have an awesome air rifle barrel.
Is the .20 dead? I don’t think so. As I was telling Thedavemyster, Weihrauch offers it in all of their models. The pellet manufacturers are slowly expanding the .20 offerings. It has not yet really caught on over here as much because we want it bigger, faster, MORE power, but it is starting to get more attention.
BB, have you ever tried the old Beeman Silver Jets in the Blue Streak? I have a box of them that were never opened. I will have to give them a try.
Mike
Mike,
I sure did. Back in 2016 I reported on them.
/blog/2016/10/sheridan-blue-streak-part-4/
B.B.
B.B.,
I wonder how scarce those are in .20 these days.
Michael
Michael,
I think you can only find them at a show or from an online contact.
B.B.
Looks like they shot well. I will give them a try!
Thanks
Mike
Before we get too down on the .20, a friend won theTennessee State Field Target in Open PCP with a .20 cal USFT several years ago. I was teamed with him that day and don’t recall him missing any of the shorter shots with small kill zones and I think the heavier pellets helped with the wind for long shots (he was shooting the 13.84 gr. JSB’s).
Brent
Is this the same 20 cal USFT. I bought it from Arnold Smith who bought it from someone else. There can’t be too many 20 cal left handed USFTs around.
David Enoch
David,
It doesn’t look like it. It was right-handed, blued, and had the full attachments for the stock.
Brent
Brent,
I didn’t figure there were many 20 cal USFT made so I thought that might be it. I am left handed. Arnold had bought it with the idea of having Tim convert it to right hand. But, in the mean time he found a right handed gun and bought it. He made me a sweet deal on this one. Both Arnold and I assumed that it was .177 and it wasn’t until after I got it home that I found that it was a 20 cal. I would like to get a .177 barrel for it. I think it is easier to shoot FT with a .177.
David Enoch
All I know is I’m left handed.
But 100% happy I shoot right handed. And yes I’m right eye dominant. But I can throw or catch left and right handed.
Sometimes you think those left hand guns are worth money cause not many made. But from what I have seen they are hard to sale unless you find the right person that wants that particular gun.
Gunfun1,
Sounds to me you are ambidextrous!
Do you shoot pistol left handed as well as right? I as about pistol since it doesn’t give issues with eye dominance. So can you shift eye dominance if you work at it? That makes you truly ambidextrous!
shootski
Shootski
Definitely no ambidextrous eye with rifles anyway. Only right hand rifle and yes I can shoot a pistol left or right hand as well as a sling shot. And for some reason only right hand bow and arrow which I never have been good at shooting. My daughter’s blow me away at bow and arrow shooting.
And I’m in big trouble if I pick up a gun and try to shoot left hand. It’s one of the most uncomfortable feelings I have. Thinking about it and I have mentioned it on the blog before. One of my buddies was a right hand rifle shooter and got in a car wreck and messed his right eye up. He relearned to shoot left handed and is real good at shooting again. He was always a very good shooter before the accident also. That was probably 20 years ago when that happened. He shoots skeet and bird hunts and target shoots and such and you would never know that he was a right hand shooter by the way he shoots.
Me. I’ll be in trouble if I loose my right eye. I’m sure I could adapt but it would never be the same. I have tryed shooting rifle left hand and it just don’t work. Scarry stuff in more ways than one to loose a eye if you know what I mean.
I would love to have one of those but too spendy for me right now. I especially like the fact that it is a 2000 psi fill or less. I’ll probably try to do something similar with a paintball marker if I can find one that’s suitable.
Brent
Brent
Do what that with a paintball marker?
I made a pellet gun out of one of those ER2 plastic paintball pistols you can buy at Academy or Dick’s Sporting Goods. It had some potential but the plastic parts don’t stand up to any sustained used. I’m looking for a metal marker that I can use with a 12oz CO2 bottle and CO2. It’s been a ongoing project in the back of my mind.
Brent
Brent
What did you do? Swap out the barrel? Or more?
And to say I’m not familiar with paint ball guns at all or what’s out there. All I know is the Tipmans if I’m saying the name right. And only kind of know what they look like. Don’t even know how they operate. I just never ever looked into them.
But to convert one to a pellet gun grabs my attention. That’s right up my alley. I like modding.
Would like to hear more about that.
What you basically do is make enough sleeves so that a pellet barrel(old air master 77 that I got from a pawn shop for $10) fits tightly in the paintball barrel then trim off the feedport and you’re good to go. You need to make sure the bolt goes over the soda straw barrel when it goes forward. The ER2 is a slide action. I had to load the pellets with tweezers but you get the hang of it pretty quick. You should epoxy all the sleeves together with JB Weld. Secure the pellet barrel with electrical tape until you get it where you want it and then you can epoxy it in there. Something like that 🙂
Brent
Ok thanks. Was it accurate? How fast did it shoot? And what caliber?
Maybe I’ve been watching too many Forgotten Weapons episodes 🙂
Been
Or maybe not. 😉
I can’t help but chime in here, or somewhere.
My small collection of .20 cal is sweet. First is the Blue Streak, next is the Sheridan CO2 pistol (both of the 60’s), then I picked up a HW77 from PA (refurbed), then my Talon SS with a 12″ and 18″ barrel, and now my Condor SS.
I have dropped hundreds of Ground Squirrels from 10 yards out to 125 yards with the AirForce’s and the old Hw77 dropped my first 84 yard GS. I don’t push the yardages any more except with the Condor.
These .20’s are tack drivers from the git-go. I love em! just my .20cals worth, shawn
MV
Well that’s nice to know you have good luck with them.
Is your .20 caliber Condor SS quiet in that caliber. My .25 Condor SS is pretty quiet.
What grain pellet you shooting with the Condor SS and what velocity? My Condor SS is shooting a 34.95 grain JSB pellet at around 930 fps and shoots great out at a 125 yards. A 5-7 mph wind doesn’t even affect it when I shoot. How does yours do in a light wind like I described out at a 125 yards. Would like to know. I know my .22 caliber guns don’t do as well as my .25 Condor SS.
B.B. and the Blog Readership,
I have been reading the comments on today’s blog with great interest especially the eloquent defense of .20 caliber pellets/guns. I think it boils down to a contrariness issue. WHAT!
Okay now, given equally accurate rifles the .177 cal. wins the statistical nod for Field Target (FT) and enclosed pesting due to over penetration.
The .22 cal was for a long time the choice for actual hunting out to say 40-45 yards.
That was true for spring piston as well as pump pneumatics.
Twenty-five cal didn’t really start to roll into airgun hunting until the PCP entered the picture in the late 1980s and the steady growth of pellet selection in .25 during the late 1990s. The Twenty-five never got into FT because FT organizers didn’t allow the ft-lbs ( of energy) that would have made .25 an effective category killer at 30-50 yards (especially on windy days) because the FT Targets couldn’t take the pounding delivered by the .25 ;^)
The .20 cal suffered the pellet selection issue that the .25 cal experienced early on but because the rival .22 cal had the mistique of Hitting Harder than the .20 and never gained the market share among hunters. That may have been true given the wound channel advantage of the .22 over the .20 even though a few of the .20 cal pellets had better external ballistics. SAY WHAT!!!!
James E. House did a great deal of testing before and around the turn of the Millennium on American Multipumps. He calculated and recorded BCs (using Chrongraphs) and tables so here is his kicker.:
“The various Sheridan models drive pellets at up to 675 fps. Some .20 caliber pellets weigh about the same as those in .22 caliber (14.3 grains). The older Sheridan cylindrical pellets weighed 15 to 16 grains. Even for the 14.3 grain pellet, the .20 has about the same energy as the .22 caliber Benjamin Model 392, but the .20 caliber pellet is more efficient ballistically because it is smaller in cross sectional area. In fact the Crosman Premier domed .20 caliber pellet has a balistic coefficient of 0.040, while the .22 caliber Premier pellet has a balistic coefficient of 0.035. Thus, it is not uncommon to find that the .20 caliber pellet may have a higher remaining velocity at a practical range of say 25 to 35 yards than a .22 caliber one of the same weight if they have the same muzzle velocity.”
So that sounds like the hunting followers of the .20 had it right all along…or did they?
House goes on to say: “Sometimes penetration of the .20 caliber pellet may be slightly greater than the .22 caliber, but the smaller cross sectional area of the .20 caliber (0.0314 square inch, compared to the .22’s 0.396 square inch) works against it creating a large wound channel. In the final analysis, there is little difference between the .20 and the .22 calibers as long as pellets of the same weight and type are considered.”
And, that is why did shootski moved to .25 caliber PCP running 3,000 PSI for out of doors hunting/pesting in 1992. Way bigger wound channel, far better BC, slug (bullet) capable and effective out to at least 75 yards and eventually out beyond 100 yards. Then I got my first .458 Big Bore with 500 ft-lbs and have never been the same since…
The Dark Side!
shootski
Shootski,
Well said. I have been pondering the .177, .20, .22 testing comparison,……… and my assumption is that someone has surely been down this road before. The .20 may have been a gimmick,…. but just like the .22 has advantages over the .177,…… so does the .20 over the .177. That said,…. all within a given “sweet spot” range.
Of the three calibers,…. I am not exactly sure how one would do a fair side by side comparison. Far too many variables,… especially if switching gun types between calibers.
Chris
Chris
Read my comment to Shootski.
It’s kind of a complicated subject but not at the same time.
Let me know what you think about what I said.
GF1,
……………., a complicated subject,….. like you said. I see fps and projectile weight being the biggest factor among calibers. Then again,………. none of it means a flying hoot if the barrel is not accurate. Toss in twist rate,……..toss in projectile type,………….
This topic is one of those “bottomless pits” of speculation. Back it up with facts (actual shooting) is all I can say.
Chris
Chris
Kind of heard that somewhere before.
Get it on paper.
😉
Shootski
Maybe as time goes we won’t need the inbetween .25 caliber anymore either.
It might go .177, .22 then .30 caliber. No .20 or .25 caliber anymore.
But probably not. What I see is all the calibers have their purpose. It reverts back to what your using your air gun for. Just like firearms. People have their preferences there too.
I don’t think one is better than the other.
They all have their purpose. And like I said about me. I see myself probably will be going .30 caliber before I try .20 caliber. 20 caliber is just a caliber I don’t need. And I would probably be into .30 caliber already if it was available back when I got into .25 caliber.
I keep thinking about eliminating certian guns and calibers I have but the guns I have been keeping are accurate guns. So it’s hard to let them go right now. I done learned that lesson about letting go of accurate guns.
To me this is a hard subject as well as easy at the same time. Sort of. But for sure a good subject.
Attempting to post a pic of one of my tree rats.
TT
Nice picture. Cool little critters.
GF
You like the built in camo pattern ? Makes them look more like the side of a tree, even in the dark.
tt
TT
Yep I did notice that. At first when I seen the picture I had to look twice.
B.B. and Blog readership,
The NRA Sight has a good article about stuff to make range time more fun!
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2019/7/27/5-things-to-make-range-time-easier/
They have a DIY shooting bench made from one sheet of plywood and links to plans that look really interesting.
They also have currently have discussions going about synthetic and wood stock making/methods.
shootski
BB and Fellow Airgunners
A very nice blog on an iconic airgun. Back in 1990, I went to a local sporting goods store to purchase a Sheridan Blue Streak in .20 cal. so I could might make a dent in the starling population who were gorging on my 3 cherry trees. I was unable to purchase the Sheridan because it exceeded Canada’s 500 fps limit on projectiles shot from an airgun. I ended up with a sweet little Rico Model 62 in .22cal that served me well until I finally got serious in 2007, and purchased a Weihrauch HW97 in .22cal. I found out later the Rico was made by Gamo of Spain. I still own the Rico, and might even shoot it more were it not for the extremely heavy trigger of about 7-8 pounds. It lacks any sear or ball bearings, and is merely a single steel piece, 2 1/2 inches long which engages/disengages the spring. After shooting my HW97 with the Record tigger factory set at 2 lbs, you could say I found my trigger nirvana. It’s funny how I hardly noticed the extra weight of the Rico trigger until the HW97 entered my life.
I thought I might weigh in on the .20 calibre debate currently dominating the comments section. I was introduced to the cal when I purchased a .20cal barrel for my .22cal Weihrauch HW45 spring pistol. I was hoping to get some extra speed due to the lighter pellets, and possibly squeezing a tad more accuracy from the pistol. I believe my first .20cal pellets were the 11.42gr Field Target Trophy which had proved to be very accurate in .177, and .22cal. I don’t remember the exact velocity, but I did gain the hoped for speed, as well as achieving tighter groups. I have since converted a HW80, HW98 to .20cal, and have a .20cal barrel for my HW90. All three are break barrel rifles. I also have a .25cal barrel, and breach for my HW90, however that is another story. The pellets that have proved most accurate for me are the H+N Baracuda 13.89gr, and the JSB Exact 13.73gr. I recently bought a few boxes of the last of Crosman’s 14.3gr pellets.However having only recently acquiring them, I don’t have any information about groups or speed. Its hard not to notice they are the same weight as the .22cal Crosman’s, as well as being noticeably longer. Other pellets I have obtained are the very accurate Predator Polymag at 13gr, and the no longer obtainable Beeman Crow Magnum 12.03gr, Beeman H+N Match Wadcutter 10.20gr, and Beeman’s pointed Silver Sting 10.92gr. I believe the Crow-Magnum pellets are still available under the H+N name. I also have quite a few tins of the Beeman FTS Double Gold 11.43gr pellets that are every bit as accurate as the Field Target Trophy pellets. I believe they are the same round nose pellets but for a copper coating.
The single reason I chose to try .20 cal is solely based on the fact they seemed headed for extinction. A point that seemed strangely appealing to me for some odd reason. I suppose human beings sometimes have little quarks, and foibles they must deal with. If indeed extinction is the case, I have since purchased enough accurate ammo to last me a lifetime. The other pellets are merely for novelty purposes, such as demonstrating what was once available in that calibre.
Ciao
Titus
Titus
Thanks for the info about the .20 caliber.
And would like to hear more about when you do the .25 caliber HW90 conversion.
sorry to jump into such an old thread but I am looking for the publication that had the write-up on the original first production Blue Streak and it’s one time only production rear sight with the strange windage knobs.It is the firsyt Blue Streak made in 1952 I beleive and someone book (Ron Elbe Perhaps) had a nice little write up on it. Thank You for your time and knowledge,
David
‘
this is the 1952 Sheridan Blue Streak rear sight I was talking about. Thank You, I know if anyone knows , you do 🙂 I just saw that article in a book-ish publication within the last year but when I pulled out my two favorite Sheridan books and the Air Gun Blue Book I have I did not see it. Thanx again, D
David,
Maybe we can help you. What do you want to know? I have Ron Elbe’s books on Sheridans.
Are you trying to adjust the rear sight?
BB