by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Crosman V-300 BB pistol.
This report covers:
- For those who care
- History
- M1 Carbine
- Enter the V-300
- The model name
- Oiling, loading and cocking
- Sights
- General specifications
- Summary
Sometimes I write these historical reports about airguns that many of us know and have either owned or wanted. The Beeman R8 is one example. American readers could have bought one when they were new and readers from other parts of the world could have bought the now-obsolete Weirauch HW 50S that it was based upon. Both air rifles are no longer produced, but used examples should be available in their respective markets. And Weihrauch does still make a rifle they call the HW 50S, although it is based on a different platform.
Then there are times when I dredge up some strange airguns that few of us have ever seen. The Lov 21 target pistol I recently reported on is such a gun. Unfortunately I have jammed the CO2 fill cap in the gun and am still trying to extract it so I can write the accuracy report. That one will have to wait, but it wasn’t the only odd duck I found at the Findlay airgun show this year. Today we start looking at a scarce and little-known BB pistol that Crosman once produced — the V-300.
For those who care
After I bought the pistol at Findlay I showed it to Tom Slocum, who was also at the show. Tom is a well-known advanced Crosman collector and rebuilder of vintage Crosman airguns. He congratulated me on buying a rare BB pistol and cautioned me that the aluminum cocking lever on this pistol often breaks. It is a weak link. Not many V-300s were made, and the cocking levers broke on many of them, making it even rarer. This one is in 94 percent condition, with minor paint loss on a few of the edges of the frame. It’s one of the nicest ones you will see. If I had the original box and manual I would have a real collectible! I’m going to take to heart Tom’s caution about the cocking lever and handle the pistol with kid gloves.
I am about to tell you more about this airgun than I believe has ever been written. If there are other articles, I have been unable to find them. On the other hand, the pistol itself seems to sell for very little. Even in a box I’ve seen them go for as little as $40. As rare as they are, they should sell for $250 in the box.
History
In 1960 Crosman brought out a BB-gun platform called the V-350 that lasted for more than a decade. The V-350 was a long gun (a rifle, if you like), and when its production ended in 1968 it was replaced by the V-3500. I don’t know how long that one lasted, but certainly into the 1970s. Information in the Blue Book is quite thin on this model.
The V-350 is a plain little gun. Nothing much defines it, other than the fact that it shot BBs at 350 f.p.s., which was very brisk for the time. It uses a push (or pull) barrel action to cock the mechanism — much like the many Quackenbush airguns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But the valve is unlike anything I have ever seen. It seems to operate like a poppet, containing the pressure of the piston until it blows open violently at the end of the piston stroke. Maybe someday we will get lucky and someone will share pictures of this strange valve.
M1 Carbine
The V-350 spawned the well-known Crosman M1 Carbine that is just a dressed up version of the plainer BB gun. There was a lot of potential to do the same thing with many other vintage firearms. I’m surprised Crosman didn’t do more of it, but I think I know why they didn’t. All of these BB guns have the same push-barrel cocking that was and is too hard for children. Even many adults find it difficult. The tendency was to put the palm of your hand over the muzzle to cock the gun, which is dangerous! Smaller kids would even rest the butt on the ground and use their body weight to push the barrel back — aiming the muzzle at their chests! I think that’s a sound reason to take a BB gun off the market.
Enter the V-300
At the same time as the V-350 was being made, Crosman also built an equivalent BB pistol they called the V-300. It was only produced from 1963 to 1964, according to the Blue Book.
It has a similar firing mechanism to the long guns, but instead of pushing the barrel back to cock it, the V-300 has a backstrap lever that is pulled to cock the gun. This lever is caught at several places (three — I counted them) in its cocking arc by a ratchet mechanism, to prevent the lever from smashing the hand if released too early. Like the long guns, the pistol is hard for an adult to cock. I have no idea of how kids were doing it!
The model name
By this time clever readers have decoded the basic model name of the long gun and know it refers to the expected velocity. That only holds for the V-350. The V-3500 is simply a revised version of the 350 — it doesn’t shoot BBs at 3500 f.p.s.! And the M1 Carbine takes its name from the military rifle it copies. But what about the V-300?
The V-300 indeed does shoot BBs at 300 f.p.s. — or is expected to. In its day that made it red hot. It’s still pretty brisk today, though CO2 pistols regularly surpass it. But back in 1963 there weren’t many CO2 BB pistols, so this powerful spring pistol stood out.
Oiling, loading and cocking
Like the V-350 family the V-300 is a 23-shot repeater, though just like all of the long guns it must be cocked for every shot. To load there is a sliding cover on top of the gun that might confuse some people. sliding it forward opens a hole on top of the barrel, about three inches behind the front sight. That hole is for oiling the gun. Remember, this is a BB gun and they need a lot of oil to keep their power up! I dropped several drops of Automatic Transmission Stop Leak in my pistol to condition the thin rubber flap in the poppet valve, then I stood the pistol with its muzzle pointing straight up.
When the loading lever is slid forward, it opens the oil hole (arrow) where the gun is oiled frequently.
The pistol is loaded through a hole located just behind the front sight. That hole is opened and closed by the same sliding lever that opens and closes the oil hole just mentioned. The V-350, V-3500 and M1 Carbines all have the same oiling/loading holes.
The sliding lever is slid back to open the hole where the BBs are loaded.
The pistol is cocked by pulling back and up on the backstrap lever. Three ratchet stops protect the hand from being pinched if you slip. I don’t believe this pistol would be that easy for anyone who is not in their teens and even some adults might be challenged. I will give the cocking effort in Part 2.
The aluminum backstrap and cocking lever is pulled back and up to cock the pistol.
Sights
The front sight is a squared-off post that’s part of the (aluminum?) clamshell frame/housing that makes up the outside of the gun. The rear sight is an open notch that adjusts for windage by loosening screws and sliding the parts. Elevation is a simple headless screw through the rear sight leaf that lifts the notch as desired. Owners of Crosman air pistols from the same timeframe will be familiar with these sights.
Crosman fans will recognize the shape and function of the V-300 rear sight.
General specifications
The V-300 is a large air pistol. It’s 13 inches long by 6.25-inches high. It weighs 2 lbs. 2 oz. The grips are Crosman’s very ergonomic (for right-handed shooters) pistol grips. They would feel familiar to everyone who owns a Crosman 600 pistol.
The V-300 is made with a 2-piece clamshell of a metal I believe is aluminum. This shell is held together by at least 3 large screws whose heads are visible on the right side of the gun. It seems the left shell was laid down, then the parts that comprise the mechanism were laid in that shell and finally the right shell was attached. Ironically we saw a similar assembly method in the Lov 21 pistol, only the clamshells on that gun were plastic.
Summary
I have already given you more information than I believe has been published on the V-300 in the past 10 years. And we are just getting started. My plan is to test this rare old BB pistol gently but thoroughly before returning it to a safe resting place.
B.B. Pelletier,
I believe the force required to cock this pistol prompted more than one youngster to hook the end of the cocking strap to the lip of a table or edge of a chair and use their weight to complete the cocking of the pistol. That’s how most of these end up with broken cocking arms I suppose.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
That could be. I note that most of them for sale have very little wear, so they weren’t used much.
B.B.
does anyone know anything about the Crosman Power Master 760 rifle?
it’s my dad’s old air rifle that he used to use when he was young however it won’t hold air after pumping for some reason. if you have any advice at all on how to get it working again please let me know. or email me: danb@hotmail.com.au
thankyou
Dan,
Welcome to the blog!
Crosman’s 760 is their most popular air rifle of all time. More than 20 million have been made over the years. There are many versions of this gun and I assume it has sentimental value because of your dad. A new one is quite inexpensive.
The first thing to do is oil the pump head. Here is a report to read about that:
/blog/2008/09/what-to-oil-part-1-a-guide-to-sealing-pneumatics-and-co2-guns/
B.B.
BB,
It looks to be quite awkward to cock. I can see kids using Siraniko’s cocking method with this pistol.
Hi BB et all..
Maybe I should title this blog entry “NO MORE AIRSOFT GUNS”.
I said a while ago that I might write a short blog on an anti-material M82 Sniper Airsoft Rifle that I had just purchased. It’ s been a while now as I am still quite upset about that purchase.
The gun arrived packaged nicely and came out of the box looking awesome. I had to wait a week for accessories and when they arrived it took another few days to install them.
The gun now had a very nice Barret style bipod mounted, a carry handle on the upper rail and a cheap but surprisingly high quality 6 -24×50 scope with nicely indexed windage and elevation turrets!
The next step was a good cleaning of the barrel making sure to stay clear of the bucking which I cleaned from the breach end with a q-tip and a little alcohol. Also a little bit, not much of white lithium grease on the piston and inner air tube. A little on the sear as well. This guns internals are very similar to the King Arms SVD sniper of which I have several in co2 and spring – they are a pleasure to shoot. Last but not least the big red arrow shaped flash hider got painted to match the rest of the gun. The red warning muzzle is not required in Canada.
So after all this prep I got to shoot the gun for the first time. It was fun and easy to shoot but the accuracy was not the best which I attributed to requiring a break-in of several hundred shots. The best groups I was able to get at 10 meters was about 3.5 inches, even after 300 break-in shots. .36 gram bb’s seemed to give the best groups but are pushing the weight limit for this gun (.20 gram @ 410 fps) which should do the best with .28 gram or .30 gram bb’s. Not so good as my other SVD snipers can do 1″ groups at 10 meters all day long! They’re older guns, same price range, but their guality is just that much better.
I took the gun apart again and checked everything over with a fine toothed comb but nothing seemed to be out of spec. The barrel was the best length for its power and if you put a few bb’s in the barrel and shook the gun you could hear them lightly ‘snik’ a little indicating the bore size was good for a sniper, (no tight bores needed for a sniper!) The hopup seemed to work fine and the bucking still looked new.
As a last resort I pulled the barrel and polished out the bore with some fine polishing compounds, checked the barrel bushings and put everything back together.
Back on the range there was not one bit of difference in the groups, so basically all that work for nothing.
I’m a little dissappointed with this gun and the only things left to do are a very expensive large bore sniper barrel (around 6.24 mm bore) and high quality hopup/bucking upgrade. I may leave it as is – it can hit upper torso size targets at 50 yards easily but that’s its max range. OK for gaming and plinking I guess but not for target shooting.
I may do these upgrades in the future but right now I’m becoming very disenchanted with airsoft and might just stop playing on the other dark side.
Why???
New guns are too cheaply made!!!
They fall apart real easy!!!
No quality control!!!
Parts are difficult to source!!!
The co2 guns aren’t built to handle the high pressure!!!
The propane guns are stinky and dangerous indoors!!!
Virtually impossible to find “O” rings and seals for the gas and co2 guns!!!
So, so, so very expensive for what you get!!!
Accuracy is laughable most of the time!!!
Most all plastic bb’s are poor quality, don’t believe what they say on the package!!!
How many times have you been lead down the path by advertising for a gun that breaks all the time!!!
A good place to throw away money!!!
They wear out and die after only about a thousand or fifteen hundred shots!!!
You spend almost as much time maintaining them as shooting!!!
Warranties are mostly nonexistent or so short a time as to be useless!!!
I think I’ m just going to stay with bb and pellet guns from now on.
Good – bye other dark side.
Cheers
Dave
Dave,
Well — a twofer today! Two blogs for the price of one.
I may still do an airsoft pistol of two in the coming time, but like you, my heart belongs to airguns.
B.B.
B.B.,
The tail end of your response revived a question I have considered for awhile. Are some (many, actually) airsoft guns air guns? Some are catapult guns, not air guns. And green/propane gas guns might not be air guns if one follows the argument that propane is not normally a component of “air.” But what about CO2 airsoft guns? Furthermore, I presume that many higher-powered springers generate compressed air in a tube with a piston. I don’t know if AEGs do the same but with DC motors, or if they are electronic catapult guns, but aren’t CO2 and spring piston airsofts airguns?
Michael
Michael,
I don’t know of any catapult air=soft guns. Many are spring piston, including most of the AEGs, but they are real spring guns, not catapults.
B.B.
B.B.,
I could be mistaken, but some of the extremely low-powered springer pistols, those which, say, are rated to shoot 12 gram “BBs” at 175 FPS, might be catapults. That written, I’ll now peruse as best I can the clear plastic pistol photos at P.A. If I’m incorrect, Ill own up.
Michael
B.B.,
Well, I’m inclined to think they are all piston air guns as you wrote, not catapults. It is difficult to tell with the clear guns, which while clear, mostly have the powerplant under black plastic. The springer revolvers have swelled grips, which makes me suspect they have a tiny spring piston in there.
Michael
Michael,
I have disassembled many of them and all were spring-piston. Remember, a catapult tops out around 300 f.p.s. and has a hard time going even that fast.
B.B.
BB
Wow! Just looked at my rant from last night. I didn’t realize it was so long.
Most of the airsoft guns today are beautiful replicas with marginal shooting specs. I may just take that Barret M82 and try my hand at giving it a camo paint job. It’s base color is Dark Earth so most of the work is already done!
Then I’ll hang it on the wall and take it down and shoot it only when I get the urge to buy another airsoft gun!
Cheers
Dave
Dave,
Actually,.. that is good advice. (Keep) a gun that does not shoot worth a darn,.. shoot it once in awhile,.. hence the good reminder to not go down “that road” again. Very good.
Ouch them darn bad shooters.
Chris
I have another gun that may get hung on the wall as well – the wall of shame!
Re: your scope reflection problem. Dirty optics may be the cause of the haze. It’s worth cleaning the objective and eyepiece.
I use brand name Windex (other glass cleaners will not work) with a Q – tip or soft white tissue. It won’t harm the coatings and really cuts through the crud that will build up on the lenses over time and cause the haze you’re talking about.
I’ve used it for years on all my optics, scopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, telescopes, cameras and tablet and cellphone screens. Never had a problem.
Cheers
Dave
Dave,
Thanks for the advice. I keep all my lenses covered at all times. I even cover them when stepping back into the house for 5 minutes. They do not even have dust specks on them. But, I could give it a try. When I do clean them, I use the lens wipes with a Q-tip to push it around and then a soft artist brush for any dust. You are right though in that it looks just like that. Thing is, when it is cloudy,.. all of them are crystal clear.
Thanks again, Chris
Chris U
And Redrafter is right also about cleaning the scope lens also.
And to add to what he mentioned the soft cleaning clothes that come with the scope work real good. Even with out Windex.
I usually wipe my scope lens off whenever I get my guns out to shoot. I didn’t mention that in my comment to you below. Just figured you do wipe your scope lens off when you shoot. That is important for sure.
Redrafter,
Check out McMaster- Carr, they carry a HUGE selection of O rings, (and about anything else you can imagine) both inch and metric in several different materials. If they don’t have it, it probably doesn’t exist. The prices are great and shipping is on a par with PA.
Bugbuster
Bugbuster
Very true. Alot of things available from them if you take the time to search.
Thanks for saying.
Gunfun1,
As you are probably aware, MSC is another excellent source for all kinds of “stuff” but their website is not near as easy to navigate as McMaster-Carr.
I also have a colony of zoomies (eastern flying squirrels) behind my house, I have gotten pictures on my trailcam with up to eight of them feeding at the same time. I buy peanut butter and smear it on the tree, they love it and so do the woodpeckers and some other desirable birds. The flying squirrels are also very fond of bacon grease. The downside is that the peanut butter also attracts all of the other squirrels, fox, grey and reds which fortunately we do not have here, along with racoons, opossums, chipmunks and mice. Once the coons and possums find it, I have to live trap them and relocate.
I don’t have many starlings or english sparrows here but my neighbor who lives less than a half mile away is plagued with them! He has an enclosed carport which he can’t park any vehicles in or they are covered with bird dookey. I plan on going there in the near future and thin the herd, so to speak with one of my springers. It is truly a target rich environment!
Bugbuster
Bugbuster
Yep about MSC too.
And yep them flying squirrel are cool. Seen them alot when I was a kid. But not much at all anymore.
And sounds like you got a busy day ahead of you when you make it over to your neighbors house. They are a pain that’s for sure.
I thought it would be easy to add an avatar here- like it is on interweb boards. HA!!! Turns out there’s a good reason you don’t see many here- far too many hoops to jump through.
Cobalt327,
Edith used to talk people through it. I never did it, nor do I know how.
Sorry,
B.B.
Cobalt,
You can jump thru the hoops over here; https://en.gravatar.com/ I did it many years ago on another site and since Pyramyd AIR uses Gravatar my avatar from there shows here as well, just a way to keep your avatar the same everywhere, at least on sites that use Gravatar.
Mike
You know I was going to but like BB said. Edith use to help everybody. I just never did. Seemed like more than I was ready for at the time.
Decided this was not going to best me- just too darned stubborn for my own good. 🙂
Found that I don’t have to generate the hash (although I did anyway)- it’s done automatically by gravatar’s software. If anyone’s interested in this I can walk them through it.
Cobalt
Thanks but I think I’ll pass. I’ll just keep it simple ole Gunfun1. 🙂
No problem bro.
Mike
Thanks for the link but that’s where I went already. It’s creating ‘hashes’ and such that is the bottleneck. I’ve decided it’s not something that I want to invest time in to learn, in order to have an avatar that follows me around. So with all due respect, I’ll pass.
Cobalt,
Looks like you went ahead and figured it out anyway, that looks like a drivers eye view out of Mickey Thompson’s Challenger I from the 60’s cool.
Mike
Mike in Atl
It sure is- good eye! I was a young’un’ when Mickey Thompson ran the Challenger I but he was someone my Dad thought highly of and Dad also drove and raced Pontiacs, so I naturally became a fan. Losing Mickey the way we did was a terrible thing and was a huge loss. A little trivia: His son, Danny, resurrected the Challenger II streamliner that Mickey helped design and did build but never got to run for a record before he (Mickey) was murdered. In that streamliner. Danny took back the land speed record Mickey had come so close to breaking in the late ’50s, and was just 0.1 mph faster- but made the all-important return run that Mickey was unable to complete. So it has finally come full circle.
Just happened to get that model as a youngster and your avatar brought it back funny how the mind works.
Your trivia I never knew about as I did not follow Mickey’s racing and being murdered, yikes. That lead to a great deal of searching and reading, some very interesting stories there.
So Mickey was looking down and said thanks for runnin’ it son, you did good, yes a fathers day story.
Back to the thrilling days of yesteryear when school was up hill both ways, fans had metal blades sharp enough to slice lunch meat, and grills you could get your whole hand in. Forget “Ralphie you’ll shoot your eye out” Ralphie you put a BB in your thoracic region.
I have a V-350 dismantled sitting on my workbenk and can get you a photo of the valve assembly if you want Tom.
I’ll try to email a couple snapshots later today.
Chachoze,
If you don’t have my email address, send them to blogger@pyramydair.com
And thanks,
B.B.
What a rare find indeed.
By all accounts the Crosman V-300 was only made for a year.
Regarding the cocking effort, if I’m remembering correctly, there are 3 options for power. Cock the backstrap to the first sear engagement for low power (might hear it hit the can), or to the second sear engagement (might put a small dent in the can) or to the third sear engagement for high power (300 FPS!! and a hole in the can).
Kevin,
Brilliant! That explains the ratchet I’m seeing and the three clicks! I will look at that in Part 2.
If that is the case, this pistol just became a lot more interesting.
B.B.
B.B.,
It makes it more interesting and less likely to suffer a broken lever, provided one avoids the highest power setting.
I very much like the profile of this V-300. I’m a sucker for that Woodsman, angled grip look.
Michael
Michael
I think that’s good advice. Especially if replacement parts are hard to come by.
B.B./Kevin,
three power levels would be very cool! I don’t have one, but have always liked the idea of the two power levels on the Beeman P1 pistol! I also like the idea behind the Webley Alecto pistol, even though that one was pneumatic, it took just 3 pumps for high.
Doc
Is the v300 strictly BB’s or can it push pellets as well?
PelletNoob,
From the way I see it,.. the way this bb gun loads would prevent it from shooting pellets (see article). There is a few bb/pellet guns (pistols) out there,.. but I think that they are all newer ones.
By the way,.. if you hang out here very long,.. you are going to have to drop the “Noob” thing. There is a bunch to learn, but if you are willing, you will progress quickly.
🙂 Chris
Lmao!! Yeah I’m planning on it, I found it quite fitting, as I’m no pellet expert “yet” lol!!
But I’m willing to learn and quite motivated to do so!
So maybe I’ll change my handle to something like “pellet intermediate” lol! Nah that sounds lame, I’ll think of something, I’m bad at picking cool names!!
PelletNoob,
“yet” is the word. Of the highest priority is for you to get that “beast” you (already) have scoped and up and shooting. That will tell a lot. You may have a ton a questions. If so,.. no worries,.. we have your back. 🙂
Thanx for the encouraging words, and I’m very excited to get deep into the hobby, and looking forward to learning!
PelletNoob,
No problem at all,… just passing along what was given freely to me. There is people here that have shot more different airguns than you and I will ever see. Many with a lot of firearm experience. Which,… by the way,.. carries over to air guns in many, many ways. Plus,.. a lot of people with very varied backgrounds. Like I said,.. if you have a question,.. you have found the right place.
Alright, I changed the Pellet Noob name, is my new name showing up?
Never mind it isn’t, ok I’m gonna go figure this out
PelletNoob
Surprised somebody didn’t suggest “Pellet grasshopper”.
But seriously. You just now started shooting air guns? You never shot bb or pellet guns as a kid? What about firearms. Just about all of the old timers shot rimfire guns at some point and time in their life.
Just wondering if you have any shooting back ground.
And yes paint ball and air soft does count.
Or you could go with the handle “padiwan”. Just saying.
GF1,
Hey,… I was going to “get there”,.. eventually! 😉
( PelletNoob,… That is an inside joke back from when I first started. I dubbed myself the “Grasshopper” from time to time,.. I just did not use it as my handle. I would not get in too big of a hurry to drop the Noob” just yet. I think you will very surprised at just how much there is to learn. )
Chris U
And you notice I didn’t mention any names. 😉
Oh and how’s it going with your scope reflection situation?
GF1,
I’m the AM,.. the sun is at 2 O’clock and reflects off the house and shed till about noon. Today was 88 at 10 AM and humid as all get out. I said the heck with it. Busy tomorrow,.. so no shooting this weekend other than the 499 Mega-Blaster indoors. And no, the Hawke is no better. The eye cup/bellows is a big help on the M-rod. That keeps a ton of light out from the eye.
Chris U
But I bet even with the eye Bellow you get the reflection or glare in your sight picture
The glare is affecting the objective lens too. Next time your bench resting the.25 Marauder with the scope bellow hold your off hand up by the side of your object lense on the side towards the house and see if it helps knock the glare down.
I think you mentioned you have a scope shade on your scope bit can’t remember. If so. You may need a longer one.
GF1,
It shows up as more of a “haze” than anything. I have made some homemade slip on front shades/tubes with little affect. Even 6-8″ long. Like I said,… I love cloudy days for shooting. I can pick up every detail with any of the scopes, with the UTG etched glass reticles being the best.
Chris U
Yep like a fog kind of. And stronger towards the side it’s coming from.
Try getting closer to your house and point the gun out towards your target.
If at all possible you should always try to keep the sun to your back. It makes a big difference in your sighting. And yes the shades can only do so much.
No I’ve shot all my life, my first real firearm besides a “crosman pumpmaster 760” was an old sears roebuck 410 shotgun single shot bolt action and I got that for my 12th bday, now at the age of 34 I’ve acquired a few firearms, ,but I’m just now getting into the Air Gun hobby because hunting small game with an Air Rifle is a hell of a lot cheaper, and its just a pretty cool hobby I loved as a kid, I wanna shoot without breaking the bank, I tried to change my username but couldn’t figure it out, but I am no noob to actual firearms, its just I skipped over Air Rifles this whole time missing out on how cool they really are, and want to know more
PelletNoob
I wondered that. People post and say there newbies. But it seems that they have exsperianced firearms also in their life. At least you have a understanding about guns already. And that’s a good thing. Exsperiance is exsperiance ya know. And to me that’s not a newbie.
I did a mix of air guns and firearms as a kid. And everything from hunting to plinking to target shooting. Plus my dad was into shooting. And then of course found BB’s blog.
And the old 760’s is what I grew up on. Mine was a wood stock and pump handle and when they still had rifled barrels. But probably had at least 4 more 760’s through time. Got a smooth bore one matter of fact that my daughter’s learned to shoot on. And I still use it on occasion to pest with. They are very versatile guns.
Similar guns are the 1377 and 1322 pistols. The Crosman custom gun shop just added them a little while back. So you can have them custom make you one with a 1399 stock and different barrels. Even a steel breech so you can scope it if you want.
I built alot of different Crosman 1377 and 1322’s through out time from Crosman parts from other guns. They are alot like your 760 but with a rifled barrel verses the smooth bores they sold for some time now.
I’m guessing your wanting to get your dad’s 760 going. But if you do decide to get another air gun let us know what you want out of it. That makes a difference in what gun to choose.
Will be waiting to hear. 🙂
PelletNoob,
Just BBs. It feeds by gravity, down a channel that requires a spherical shape.
B.B.
V350 photos are on their way Tom.
Chachoze,
Got ’em! Thanks!
B.B.
Off topic.
BB, have you ever reviewed the Sumatra 2500? If so, your opinion?
Hope to see you again at this years Airgun Show.
Jonah,
I don’t think I have ever written about the Sumatra 2500 but I have certainly shot a few. It’s a powerful Korean PCP that’s like the Career 707 I did write a lot about. Some of them can be very accurate, especially in .22.
B.B.
Hi B.B.
I think you did write about the Sumatra 2500 Carbine over here; /article/Sumatra_a_Powerful_Lever_Action_Rifle_June_2003/8
Been a few years gone by, but for Jonah B.B. said this;
“The Sumatra falls into the same class as the Sam Yang and the Career 707(previously known as RWS CA 707). While it is not quite as refined as the Career as it comes from the factory, it looks like the basis for a wonderful hunting air rifle. The accuracy and power certainly warrant using it for that.”
Mike
Thanks for that.
Just so many blogs BB did. Glad you found that memory.
Mike,
Thank you! I forgot that I also wrote a lot of articles in the old days. That wasn’t the blog and there are no comments, but there are a lot of them.
B.B.
B.B.,
You are welcome, one thing, if you click on the image of the V-300 pistol above it takes you to this; /blog/2017/06/sig-p320-pellet-and-bb-pistol-part-1/ kind of odd. Usually clicking the image takes you to the PA web page to purchase the item.
Mike
Mike,
Fixed. Thanks,
B.B.
B.B., are you still planning on testing the Embark at 25 yards? Also, I’m curious to know how it compares to the Ruger Explorer, if you have any opinion about that.
Rambler,
I like the way you worded your question. “…are you still planning on testing the Embark at 25 yards?” I was never planning on testing the Embark at 25 yards. It isn’t a rifle for that distance. I tested it for the way it was intended to be used.
I also never planned on mounting a scope on it, either, since that’s another thing that was never intended.
But you tell me why you want me to do that test? Are you planning on buying one and need the 25-yard test to convince you? (see how that works?) 😉
B.B.
Well, on May 30, Hank asked ”
If the Embark sales doe[sic] take-off then likely many people will be shooting readily available box-store/hardware store pellets like Crosmans. Might be of general interest is you tested some of these.
Are you planning a 25 yard test? Maybe with a scope?
Hank”
And one hour later you responded
“Hank,
I will test it at 25 yards unless it blows up at 10 meters.
B.B.”
Granted, you didn’t mention a scope, but I’m not making up the rest.
And yes, I’m trying to figure out if this might be the best gun for a friend of mine who has had five surgeries on her hand.
Rambler,
So, I gather you want to see a 25 yard test with regular lead pellets and a scope? That’s at least 2 more Parts to write. Are there enough other folks who want to see the same things that I should do this?
The writing and testing aren’t a problem for me. That’s what I do. But it does jam the schedule up a bit. I suppose I can find ways of working around that like I did with the Diana 240.
B.B.
I would like to see that because even though the gun is designed for ten meters my friend is, and, I imagine, others may be, interested in it as an affordable general purpose target shooter and plinker. I, for one, would love to know how it compares to its cheaper sibling also. I do hate to crowd the schedule but this may be a significant gun!
Rambler,
I will do it. It may take me some time to work it in.
B.B.
Thank you very much!
I’ve got a question about synthetic vs wood stocks on springer’s, I’ve heard a lot of folks having to use locktite to keep the screws from creeping, does this creeping from the vibration happen more on wood or synthetics, and if I do have to locktite my screws, am I gonna be able to still disassemble the rifle if I had to fix something.
Thanx
PelletN
I like wood on a springer. I think it makes them a more solid gun. I think it cancels the vibration to a extent. But that’s just me. I’m sure that other people have their opinion also.
And just to answer your question about Loctite. Blue Loctite will hold but also will come loose easy with a wrench or screwdriver.
PelletNoob,
Use blue Loctite and all will be fine. Maybe no need, just shoot and see and keep an eye on things. Good to hear you are not new to shooting, (from above). I am very anxious for you to get that 1000 fps lead pellet blaster up and running and let us know what the groups are and at what yardage.
Thanx Bud, I’ve got it sighted in pretty nicely at about 15 feet “not much space in my flat” using crosman premier destroyer’s 7.4. And its grouping pretty nicely since the rifle has settled down a bit from dieseling, and the rifle seems to like the pellets so far, I’m taking it out to my buddy’s place to shoot tomorrow, and we’ll see how it does at longer ranges, but so far so good, nice power, easy to cock, no barrel droop, not what trigger is on it but its smooth as well, these Elite II’s might turn out to be a nice rifle, I guess they just hit shelves within the last few months, it would be cool to see how they stack up to the Hawk and Hawk Elite
PelletNoob,
Sounding good. I can tell from your comment that you are on a very good start with the terminology. I hope that it turns out to be a fine shooter for you.
Lol yeah I’ve been reading practically everything I can for the past week since I bought it, and so far the rings seem to be doing their job on the scope, and the rail system on the rifle seems to be doing its job, I’ve probably put around 40 pellets through it since I zeroed the scope and its still hitting where I aim, but the limited distance I’ve had to use doesn’t tell me too much, we’ll see how it does tomorrow when I can actually get outside in the country and put some distance between the target and I,
PelletNoob,
Sounds good. Try to do 25 yards. If you can do 1-1 1/2″ you got a decent one. If you can do 1″ or better, you got a keeper. That is kind of the “standard”. Oh yea,.. 10 shot groups. That is a more accurate representation/average of what it is capable of. But,.. from the sounds of it,… you already know that! 😉
PelletNoob,
I plugged some #’s into the Hawke Chairgun ballistics program. At 6 mag., 7.43 grain, 1000 fps,…. your best zeroing range will be at 44 yards. That will keep you in a 1″ kill zone the longest. ( -1/2″, 1st zero, +1/2″, 2nd zero, – 1/2″).
If you draw 3 horizontal lines (like notebook paper), your center line will be your zero and the bottom one will be -1/2″ and the top one will be +1/2″.
Now, draw a (long arc) through the lines. Come in on the bottom left and run the arc to the top line and then back down to the right and out the bottom line. That is your pellet in a 1″ kill zone.
The pellet should enter at 10 yards, hit the first zero at 16, peak at 30, hit the second zero at 44 and exit at 50 yards.
For just starting, get it on target at 25 yards. All of the #’s I listed will be different though. Be careful of running the elevation knob up too far. Shimming the rear ring (under the scope) can be some insurance for keeping that elevation knob down. BB uses a plastic water bottle (.002″), but I use a piece of tooth paste tube (.011″). Either way, that is a bit of a trick you can employ. The shim covers the (center) 1/3~1/2 of the bottom half of the rear ring.
I will be out most of the day, but I will check back later in the PM. Just thought that I would pass some more info on to you, since you are getting to “stretch it’s legs” and sight in the gun/scope. Good luck.
Chris USA,
That’s some great info, I really appreciate all the help from everybody, seems like a cool place to exchange info with some cool like minded folks,
But bad news for my shooting adventure to sight in this rifle that i had planned, the weather here in Tulsa has taken a turn for the worse, Oklahoma weather freakin changes at the drop of a hat, it might settled down enough here in a few to be able to go plink around!
God Bless The 2nd!!!
PelletNoob,
You live in Tulsa? You are close enough to come to the Texas Airgun Show on August 26. Hope to see you here!
B.B.
BB,
Oh cool, I will definitely check into that, where at in Texas?
PelletNoob,
Here is the flyer.
http://www.texasairgunshow.com
B.B.
PelletNoob,
Bummer on the weather. Ohio can be like that as well. At least we do not get all the tornado’s like you guys do. We get them, but not like Oklahoma. We are dealing with hot and humid now.
Yea, Chairgun is cool. Go to the Hawke site and it is free download. If you understand ballistics and trajectories at all,.. you will have fun there. Nothing replaces the actual shooting and data collection,.. but I think you will find a few people here that will agree it is pretty darn close to actual results.
Looking forward to when you can get out.
Figured I would mention this. And just exactly now was shooting my new .22 Tx 200 Mrklll.
Haven’t had it long. But getting a little more aquainted with it. So starting slow down and start feeling the gun more since I have it sighted in good now.
But got a surprise when I was pulling the trigger. I thought I had it adjusted how I like. But was wrong. I like a longer first stage pull that’s at the end of the trigger travel when I hit the second stage of the pull and it stops. That is what the trigger was doing. But when I slowed my pull motion down I felt a delay before the shot actually went off as I kept pulling.
That there as most know is trigger creep. So got out the ole Allen wrench and started turning the back screw a half turn clockwise at a time and shooting with the slow pull of the trigger. The trigger creep started getting worse. So went back to the original setting. Then went counterclockwise a half turn at a time.
After about one full turn I felt the creep going away. So turned me more counterclockwise and shot. Yep after one more full turn the shot was snapping off with now creeping delay.
So now when I’m on target and decide it’s time to pull when my scope shake or wiggle as some people call it is on target. Now my shot snaps off instantly helping me to be more on my aim poi t at that point.
And that is what’s the difference between a good trigger or not good one. Getting everything little thing right is what has to happen to help get the accuracy you want.
I know people know this but figured I should say that I really didn’t have my trigger adjusted as well as I thought I did. It was close. But not the best it could be.
GF1
The 800 took out 2 more starlings today .
The suet block is once again safe for the woodpeckers, finches and our flying squirrel .
tt
TT
Cool with the 800 and the starlings. They are a pain in the butt.
And forgot about your little flying squirrel buddy. That was a cool night video you posted a while back.
I bet they are hungry critters you got. How much suet blocks do you go through in a week. I was putting them out about every 3 days. But that isn’t what they ate. That’s when I put them out again. They will destroy one in a day no problem.
GF1
We put out a new block every 3-4 days . It lasts longer when I keep the starlings wacked down . They can take one out in a couple days when a bunch of them are working it .
Wacked 8 of them in one day about 2 weeks ago . The S500 makes them dead too .
tt
TT
Do you use the cage suet block holders or do you put them on a string.
The dang red and gray sqerrials will try to chew through the cages out here where I’m at now. They are definitely more agrresive out here.
And don’t you just love accurate guns.
GF
I made a cage out of some left over 1/2″ wire screen and nailed it to a maple tree out back .
I just drop a new woodpecker block in it when it gets low . Some of the birds like to eat from the open top .
Accurate is not much of an issue . Shamefully close, so it requires a lot of stealth to keep the sharp eyed starlings from spooking .
The squirrel (Rocky) eats from the top too .
tt
TT
That is Rocky the flying squirrel. They are cool little creatures.
And I know what you mean about stealth around the feeder. But you should see them when the farmer plants. I seriously seen so many of them that they made a 75 square yard look like a waving black cover on the ground. If they are out 50 to a hundred yards when I shoot they just take off circle and land again. I can do that for like 5 or 6 shots before they go land in a different part of the feild. They are crazy birds.
GF
They only flock up like that here in the winter . Starting in fall, really . Then they pretty well break up into pairs for nesting in the spring .
I have a pic that I can’t show here of my “take” one winter from my crabapple tree out back . I saved them up until I finally disposed of them . There were 360 some of them in the pile . Quite impressive .
I actually got tired of shooting them . For a while .
tt
TT
Yes sir. That’s what happens here. But literally it’s feild day here when the farmer plants. Don’t know how much one bird can eat. But when it’s solid black from starlings. I’m sure the farmer is loosing crops.
GF!
That is bad . We see some starlings, cowbirds and gracks out there, but I think most are looking for worms and bugs in the freshly turned soil .
tt
TT
They were like that at the other house I lived at.
But out here they follow the tractor planting. And it don’t stop. They land in the corn as it’s growing till the cobb’s show up. Then they pick a spot and start opening the husks. I don’t remember them doing that when I was a kid on the farm when my dad and his buddy planted. I think they evolved to another level now days. I could be wrong. But it seems that way.
GF
WOW . That is something else !
The only good one is …..a dead one.
tt
TT
And they eat the dead ones and keep multiplying.
Remember the movie. The birds.
Maybe our Grand Parents really new what was happening back then. Maybe that was a cover up. Maybe things weren’t as innocent as we thought.
Man we got to stop. Eye opening but Scarry at the same time.
GF
Maybe I should finish this beer and go to bed. Mutant starlings that turn into zombies is not something I want to think about.
Nite nite .
tt
TT
No seriously.
I just seen one. They’re crazy. Really crazy.
😉
And when did you resort to beer. 🙂
TT
Maybe the farmers are spraying chemicals now days that we’re never sprayed when I was a kid.
Now it’s affecting the birds in more ways then I could imagine. All I know is they spray the heck out of the feild now days. And my windows on the house are closed when they spray.
Just makes you wonder about home grown natural now days.
Time to end this conversation I think. But maybe we should really start growing and raising or own food now days. Man this is not where I wanted to go.
Should probably delete this one before I hit the post by
GF
Zombie starlings next . Head shots only .
GAAAAACKKKKKK!
And they will crap a half gallon at a time !
tt
PelletNoob
I retract my earlier sugestion. You have more firearm experience than I have.
Gunfun1
Good talk on making trigger adjustments. I may try making the trigger on my M-rod more to my liking next time I have it out. Today I was adjusting the hammer for power and shots per fill. When I came in from doing that I saw my little pest was back. Long story short, it was lites out.
Gopher
There you go I knew you would get that little rascal. 🙂
And thanks. I think I was too caught up in getting the gun sighted in and lost track of the trigger tunning. Sometimes it’s best to slow up and pay attention. As I found out again today.
Let me know if you do end up with something different on your trigger adjustment.
Gopher,
Nice! 🙂 It is quite exhilarating to be on the “hunt”, quarry in sight, with all of the senses at full peak and the adrenaline pumping. Not so conducive to a steady shot,… but you got it done. Congrats!
Chris U
Stop. You just got the ole adrenaline flowing.
That’s another thing when pesting. Adrenaline rush has to be out of the picture. I know. It’s suppose to speed you up.
But if it’s not a slowed down controlled shot shot. Then more than likely it will not be the shot you thought you were going to make.
When you make a shot pesting you get to be on the ball. More than you can think. You really have to be in the situation.
This is a bit off subject, but here we go.
I finally had some trigger time with my RAW HM1000X in .357 today. I had recently mounted one of these scopes on it.
/product/utg-4-16×56-bubble-leveler-ao-rifle-scope-swat-ao-ez-tap-illuminated?a=7683
I used the Sports Match mounts.
/product/sportsmatch-30mm-rings-fully-adjustable-high-11mm-dovetail?a=4353
I just want everyone to know that these mounts have received the coveted RRR (RidgeRunner Recommended) rating. I was able to almost zero the rifle at 50 yards by just adjusting the mounts. These mounts have a tremendous adjustment range. Some may think they are a bit pricey for a Maximus or a Chief, but with these mounts you can align most any scope.
RR
Nice rings. Do they have a positive lock on the adjustments for the side to side or up and down. Wonder if they will hold adjustment.
Probably won’t be bad on your gun. But wonder how they would hold zeroing adjustment on a springer. Plus I see there is no scope stop pin.
GF1,
No, there is no stop pin, so unless you use a scope stop I would not recommend these for an uber magnum sproinger.
They do have a positive lock for both windage and elevation adjustments. Also, if you have the issue of the grooves being slightly off kilter to the barrel, you can adjust the scope to align with the barrel.
RR
Yep that’s why I was wondering about the positive locks. Was wondering if it would try to loose adjustment when you shoot and throw your sighting off.
RR,
RRR rated huh? 🙂 🙂 🙂 Glad you finally got to get out with your new toy. The rings look nice. The thing I wonder about them is can (all) of the adjustments be made with the scope still clamped in? That would be a pain to remove and replace the scope multiple times.
Chris U
That is a good question. Interested in what RR says.
Chris and GF1,
Yes, you can make all of the adjustments while the scope is mounted. I was able to roughly zero the rifle within an inch or so at 25 yards by adjusting the mounts some and shooting. I am very happy with them.
RR
Thank’s. Good to know.
Chris and GF1,
Yes, you can make all of the adjustments while the scope is mounted. I was able to roughly zero the rifle within an inch or so at 25 yards by adjusting the mounts some and shooting. I am very happy with them.
Hope everyone is having a good Father’s Day.
It’s nice here. Out doing some shooting right now. Nice calm day.
So, everybody’s got good shootin’ weather? Greetings from Puget Sound – intermittent rain. A good day to break out the bread machine. I figure it’s good for 7 or 8 fpe.
Larry
Also got a breezeway that I shoot from for those not so good days.
Heck put you one of those pop up shooting blinds in your yard. Then you could shoot when the weather does not want to cooperate.
GF1 – what they used to call a Dog Trot? Wish I had something like that. I do have my indoor setup where I can test for trigger action and speed, but at 9ft it’s not good for anything else.
Where do you get those blinds? Haven’t seen any around here.
Larry from Algona
Larry
Cabela’s and places like that.
Heck you could get a tent if you wanted to be less conspicuous.
Plus you wouldn’t have that glare problem like Chris U has. You could keep the gun inside and be shaded the whole time. Plus heat it in the winter or air condition it in the summer. Would be easy to do if you gave it some thought.
You would probably want to take your guns out to the tent if it was raining in a hard case so you wouldn’t get them wet.
But would be a way to shoot whenever you wanted.
hmmm. Certainly rates giving it some thought. Thanks, GF.
Larry from Algona
Larry
No problem. And definitely a way to keep yourself in practice.
You know that saying. Practice makes perfect.
Just picked one of these up at a garage sale for only $5… lucky me. Nothing wrong with it except some paint wear. The current owner demonstrated how to use it and it worked perfectly. It does need oiling which I will do. Thank you for writing this blog. I was really helpful. I also found this owners manual that might help so eone else. https://support.crosman.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/201669714/CV300-OM.pdf
JewelsSoul,
Welcome to the blog.
Your link to the manual doesn’t work.
B.B.
JewelsSoul,,
I tried it again and it still didn’t work. No matter, because you posted the pages.
B.B.
The link worked fine for me 😉
Worked for me? Just tried it..
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Have a Crosman V300 and the BOX! Dad bought it new and I’ve had it since. Took it apart to clean and put it back together – fires fine. However, I’m noticing bb’s fall out of the barrel – not the loading spot – whether it is cocked or not. Did something get left out or put back wrong? I don’t remember this happening before. Also, should I decide to sell, any idea venue to do so and what should I replace to annoy my squirrels? Don’t want to kill them, but sure like to put the fear of feeding from my feeders! THANKS!
olbupp,
Welcome to the blog.
A V300 in the box is desirable, but not worth much. One that has problems even less. I buy them in excellent working condition for $50, and the box would add something.
As for what is wrong, there is a wire spring that isn’t doing its job, I think. It’s supposed to stop the next BB in line for the next shot.
As far as squirrels go, try airsoft. They will sting but not injure or kill like BB guns do.
B.B.
Thanks for replying….finally getting around to trying to fix this. Not sure where the wire spring would go. Anyone have any ideas or pictures/diagrams?
Olbupp