by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Daisy 35 multi-pump pneumatic.
This report covers:
- The test
- Sight-in
- RWS Hobby pellets
- Norma Golden Trophy FT domes
- Some research
- JSB Exact RS
- Discussion
- Better sights
- Summary
Today we begin to test the Daisy 35 for accuracy. This test was interesting, so read on to learn why.
The test
I shot the 35 off a sandbag rest at 10 meters with the gun resting directly on the bag. I shot with 8 pumps per shot and I shot 10-shot groups. I think you’ll be glad I did when you see the groups.
I shot with the open sights that came on the gun. And I wore my everyday glasses. Today I shot pellets only.
Sight-in
It took me 5 shots to get on target and even then I wasn’t certain that I was where I wanted to be. You will soon understand what I mean.
RWS Hobby pellets
Because the Daisy 35 is a smoothbore I thought it would be good to try a larger pellet, so the first pellet I shot was also the pellet I used for sighting in — the RWS Hobby. Though they weigh just 7 grains, Hobbys have large skirts.
Ten Hobbys went into 2.205-inches at 10 meters. That sounds bad, I know. And it is when compared to the test I did back in 2013, but that test was in response to an even larger group of Hobbys from the first Daisy 35 I tested back in 2012. At that time ten Hobbys went into a group that was over 3 inches at 10 meters. So, what is the difference between 2012 and 2013? I will reveal that at the end of today’s report.
The Daisy 35 put 10 RWS Hobby pellets into a 2.205-inches at ten meters.
Norma Golden Trophy FT domes
Next I tried some Norma Golden Trophy FT pellets. These domes weigh 8.4 grains and this is the first time I have tested them. Ten of them went into a 2.204-inch group at 10 meters. But that wasn’t all they did.
Five times while shooting this pellet the breech was blown open and only a small part of the air in the reservoir was used. That dropped the pellets that were shot about one inch below the aim point. Of course I didn’t include those shots in the record group. I cocked the airgun and shot off the remaining air and then pumped the gun another 8 times for the next record shot.
At first I thought I was at fault for not closing the breech all the way, but that was not the case. Apparently this pellet develops too much back pressure that the bolt cannot contain. That’s something to keep in mind about the 35; the bolt does not lock in the action the way you think it should. Apparently it is a friction lock that can be overcome with certain pellets. If you’re going to shoot a 35 this is something to watch.
Ten Golden Trophy FT pellets from Norma made this 2.204-inch group at 10 meters when shot from the Daisy 35.
Some research
I went back and read my last two tests of the Daisy 35 in 2012 and 2013. In 2012 I tested a 35 that I got directly from Pyramyd AIR. In 2013 I tested a 35 that Joe Murfin, the Vice President of marketing for Daisy sent me. Joe told me that Daisy engineers were getting 5-shot groups of 1.25 to 1.5-inches at 10 meters with the 35. I don’t normally retest an airgun when it doesn’t do well, but so many people seemed interested in this one that I relented. And that gun did shoot some 10-shot groups that were 0.76 to 1.5-inches between centers. The JSB Exact RS pellet shot the smallest group, so I tried it last today.
JSB Exact RS
Still shooting on 8 pumps per shot, ten JSB Exact RS pellets went into 2.591-inches between centers at 10 meters. That was the largest group of the test.
Ten JSB Exact RS pellets made this 2.591-inch group at 10 meters.
This was frustrating. This pellet had been the most accurate in my 2013 test and here is was turning in the largest group. But I had a thought. Was the fact that I was wearing my everyday glasses causing a problem? I wore them to see the bullseyes better, but then I couldn’t see the front sight as sharply. I had to find out so I shot a second group while wearing my 1.25 diopter reading glasses.
The first three pellets went into the bullseye, so I thought the effort would be worth testing. This time ten RS pellets went into 2.181-inches. It’s the smallest group of today’s test by a slim margin.
The second group of JSB RS pellets was shot with reading glasses and is the smallest group of the test.
The RS pellet is so short that I had a lot of trouble loading them. Several flipped around and a couple ended up in the BB hole that feeds from the magazine. I finally got so frustrated that I used the reverse tweezers that fed the pellets better.
Discussion
Okay, I have a lot to say about today’s test. Obviously these were not the results I was hoping for. I put them down to two or three possible causes, and maybe all of them.
First, my aiming was not precise. I see that using the reading glasses improved my last group of RS pellets, though not enough to matter. This is the same pellet that the last Daisy 35 in 2013 put into 0.76-inches.
Second, and I think this is the real reason for today’s results, not every Daisy 35 is equally accurate. I have tested three of them so far and one (2013) was accurate, today’s was mediocre to poor and the first one I tested in 2012 was dismal.
And third, I’m 73 years old and I may have lost some of my shooting edge. Naturally I don’t like this conclusion, but I have to face facts.
Now, what should we expect of the Daisy 35? Is it enough that it can hit a soda can at 20 feet most of the time? It probably is, BUT — and this is a big but — at what point do we start making comparisons to other airguns in this class — guns like the Crosman 760? You guys do that all the time but I try not to. However, if the test results keep coming out like today, I may have to.
Better sights
Remember a few days ago when I showed you a big improvement in the accuracy of the Crosman Vigilante revolver when the UTG Reflex Micro dot sight was installed? Will that happen here, as well? I don’t know, but I sure want to find out. It’s so important that I believe I will test that next before I test this airgun with BBs.
Summary
Well, this test just took a turn I sure don’t relish. I was hoping to see those smaller groups like we saw in 2013. But that’s why I test. If I do my job things won’t always turn out well. But those results can be just as beneficial as when things do go well. At least we know the score. Stick around because we’re not done yet.
BB,
I was comparing shooting a Crosman Tyro to the Daisy 35 a couple of days ago. It seemed easier to see the front sight on the Tyro… the edge of the rear sight on the 35 seemed to pick up some glare. The 35 did pretty well with Crosman Premier 7.9 grain hollowpoints at around 8 yards. I’m thinking of getting some polarized shooting glasses to deal with the glare; my current cheap shooting glasses actually make the glare worse.
A couple of issues unrelated to this review. First, I did an emptying of web history on my Kindle Fire recently as regular browser maintenence. So, I lost my password for this blog. Most of passwords were saved, but not this one. Not to worry, there is a “forgot password” step on the WordPress login page. It sends you a web address where you can make a new password. But, that web address won’t work. I copied and pasted it a bunch of times into my web address box. Nope. I noticed the address does not have a www. in front of it, so tried putting that in front. Nope. Tried http etc. Nope. In my experience, if you loose your password here, you are doomed. I thought. Ok, so I’ll start a new account using a different email account. Nope. Because, when you get to the step of making s new password, it tried to seen me to that same bogus web address.
I was devastated. I’d still be able to read Tom’s blog. But, I could never comment again. I then started going through old saved emails, hoping I had emailed myself that password. Eureka! I found it, and here I am.
Maybe there is something I don’t get. Maybe it”s something to do with the Kindle browser. But I had also tried using my grandaughters Chromebook with the same results.
So, write down your password, put it with your other important documents. Or, maybe I’m just a dummy.
I have always admired break barrel air rifles. I’ve owned CO2 shooters and multi-pumpers with good results. I have also owned break barrels. Mostly springers, pretty powerful ones. Lots if smokeless cartridge rifles, pistols, and even a bit of black powder pistol shooting. All with good results. Except for the break barrels.
Typical is my early model Crosman Phantom .177. Being quite loud doesn’t help either, as being a fire and brimstone springer, I haver really shot it much. Accuracy those times I have taken out that howitzer, has not been very good.
Some time back I grabbed a quick Amazon deal for a new Hatsan Alpha. This is the older model, and the gun has since been redesigned. It’s a 500 fps springer. I’ve put maybe 400-500 pellets through it. Recently, I’ve been shooting just that airgun, and trying different holds and such. One thing I tried was using a gizmo they call a foam roller ad a rest. It belongs to my son. He bought it when he was visiting us in Hawaii, and he left it here. It’s a type of excercising device. It’s made of a fairly dense foam.
I’ve bern testing pellets and comparing accuracy results with my regular rest and this foam roller. I rest the forestock directly on the roller. With my left hand, I just lightly support the gun on ftont just to keep been it perpendicular. Butt lightly agianst my, and shoulder and loose grip with my trigger hand.
When I retested the Crosman 7.4 grain wadcutters from the milk carton package of 1200, something clicked. It started grouping well. The next day, I went back to it. Amazingly, the Alpha was still dead on. I shot a 3 shot group into a tiny whole the size of one pellet. Then, I put one into s small magic marker bullseye on a heavy duty tin can. Again, dead center and it penetrated one side of the can. Then a rain storm came, and I put the Alpha away.
Someone pinch me! I’ve never shot a springer like that. $42.00 for the gun. A Centerpoint 4×32 scope. I’m going to steal my sons excercise roller, and run like hell. But, this has me getting ready to give my other break barrels some more practice.
Birdmove,
Nice! Get a corner on the market before someone else does! 😉 By concept, it makes perfect sense.
Chris
Once I read a message where a guy made a shooting rest based on a standard paint roller. The roller mounted onto it, so the the roller could freely spin. He rested the forestock of his break barrel onto the roller. He ssid it workef good for him. The artillary hold is based allowing the gun to freely move back and forth, I believe, so this makes sense.
Just found that thread. Gateway to Airguns. Do a search on paint roller rest and it comes up first. Read through it and see some variations on the idea. Haven’t tried it myself.
BB,
Seems to me that if a gun maker can’t duplicate a simple tube with a polished interior then they just aren’t trying for consistency. It just seems to me that that would be the absolute easiest barrel to replicate. It just needs to have the same inner diameter and degree of finish. It may boil down to a lot of slop in the way the barrel is mounted in the gun. Not rigid enough, so to speak and the barrel is free to point to a different spot with each shot.
Half
Half
Noticed a lot of slop in some six shooters with spring loaded inner barrels that move with the forcing cone as well as ‘semi auto’ pistols that use the spring loaded moving barrel and retaining block as a hammer inside.
And some airsoft to BB conversion rifles where they replace the inner barrel that could use some aluminum tape around them to keep them centered in place. Seems like a common problem with airguns that have inner barrels. Easy enough to fix on most.
I wonder if they have some slack built in to compensate for cold CO2 and frost?
Bob M,
This gun is exactly the type you’ve described. Iknow there is slop where the straw barrel fits in the front sight bushing and I suspect there will be slop at the point where it attaches to the receiver as well.
Half
B.B.
So if some Daisy 35’s shoot well, but not all. What is a person to do?
Should they buy 3 rifles and send the inaccurate ones back?
-Y
Yogi
I would not get one for serious target shooting only. Plinking and fun stuff.
Bob,
That is the answer. Thanks!
BB
Bob,
The soda cans that I measured are 2.25 inches in frontal exposure.
If the gun shoots 2.75 inch groups, we are still talking about a lot of misses….
Seems like a waste of time, money and resources?
No thank you!
-Y
I have owned 2 model 35s. The first one was pretty accurate. To about 7-8 yards with pellets. That one quit pumping air while still under warranty. Daisy sent me another one, but that one shot like Tom’s in this review. Um, that would be, odious. I had fevided, if Tom’s review 35 shot decently, I might try another one. I wouldn’t mind having a bb shooter to use for night ratting at 7 yards. Looks like I won’t be doing that.
BB
For as much shooting as you do to determine an airguns accuracy I’m really surprised you don’t have some sort of adjustable combination bench rest / vice fixed in place on a rock solid table so you could just pull on the trigger with a scale or something after you sight it in.
Bob,
Yeah, a lot of people wonder about that. But consider that in the 1960s, no major airgun maker tested that way. All the airguns were hand-held. People refuse to believe that, but it’s the truth.
BB
BB
That is how the gun is really suppose to be shot anyway.
Hand held.
Imagine this. A self defense scenario.
Hey wait a minute intruder let me get my lead sled out before you decide to shoot.
Yeah right. Who would do that.
Hold your gun on a bench or in your hands. Not in a vise.
“Imagine this. A self defense scenario.
Hey wait a minute intruder let me get my lead sled out before you decide to shoot.”
Hahahahha! Thanks, man; I needed a good laugh today! =>
Dave
Yep
BB,
Modern airgun makers like BSA and pellet makers like JSB and H&N do test their products in vises. I don’t think they are testing the overall shootability of the gun like you do for your reviews, but they do rely on vises to judge the accuracy of the barrels they make and, in the case of pellets, their accuracy in a barrel that they have deemed “standard” for their test purposes. I use a Rockwell JawHorse to find accurate pellets for my guns because I shake, have bad eyes, and lose focus sometimes on what I’m doing if it’s repetitious. After that I know it’s me that’s at fault if I miss a target of a certain size at a certain distance with a certain pellet. If I miss with an unfamiliar gun shooting an unknown pellet, I don’t know if it’s me or the gun.
Vising just reveals a small part of the info you’re looking for and you have a well deserved confidence in your shooting ability that I just don’t have, so it will be less valuable to you, But it will help folks find the best pellet for a particular gun. I would not under any circumstances ever fool with trying to vise a multi-pump. That’s waaayy too much work!
Half
Wait a minute folks! What is everybody expecting out of this thing? You have to keep in mind that Daisy has a certain amount of profit margin here. This thing is only $40. Do you really expect pinpoint accuracy from an air rifle at this price? C’mon man!
This thing is for kids to get in trouble with trying to shoot the neighbor’s cat. Mom takes it away and sticks it in the back of her closet, never to be seen again. Once that kid grows up into an old geezer, it is discovered again. The old geezer laughs a little, cries a little and cherishes it for nostalgia’s sake.
It is still a hit or miss air rifle that is lucky to get minute of soda can at ten feet, whether you can see or not. It was built to wear the little rug rats out with all the pumping for each shot. Hopefully they would get worn out before they did any serious damage with it and the neighbor’s cat has the opportunity to get out of range between shots.
RR
Yep just like that.
“This thing is for kids to get in trouble with trying to shoot the neighbor’s cat. Mom takes it away and sticks it in the back of her closet, never to be seen again. Once that kid grows up into an old geezer, it is discovered again. The old geezer laughs a little, cries a little and cherishes it for nostalgia’s sake.”
Ridge,
No not really. BUT then again look at the Beeman P17 or the Vigilante CO2 Revolver. Cheap doesn’t always have to be not accurate. I guess in that price range of the Daisy 35, there are better choices.
Doc
Doc,
Those are exceptions to the rule. It is pure accident they shoot as well as they do. It is also what you are willing to accept as accurate. Neither stands a hoot against my Izzy.
RidgeRunner,
“The old geezer laughs a little, cries a little and cherishes it for nostalgia’s sake.”
Not this old geezer!
Only ACCURATE has ever been interesting!
Nostalgical and nonsensical look very similar but sure seem like wistful thinking in my book! Yea, everyone shot Dime sized groups at 25 paces back in the day. LOL!
The .177 WOOD ASP20 arrived late in the afternoon today straight from SIG. It made it (the outer box) in great looking condition nd the inside box even better. The rifle as has been reported is nested in a corrigated cardboard double box sandwiched around the inner box is a full length tagboard printed sleeve. Inside all that boxing armour is a black stiff foam with precutouts to hold the rifle from muzzle to butt with or without a scope. About the best shipping container i have ever received for a non custom built airgun. I need to get to the bore (I have never shot any arm that I have owned before cleaning the bore, just me…) with some wet and dry patches, borescope check, mount the scope and run some off my shelf .177 pellets for a functional check. Then we can start on the detail work slugging the bore, buying pellets based on the actual bore size and starting with recommended pellets by Decksniper, B.B. testing of powerful .177, and others. I look forward to seeing if I can get some Dime sized groups and at what distance. Given Pacoinohio’s price: performance ratio i better get stacked pellets in no time at great distances!
shootski
Shootski,
Now you cannot tell me that if you ran across an old airgun that your mom took from you as a kid, you would no hang on to it. I do not buy it dude.
Now, as to Pacoinohio’s price:performance ratio, I think you are going to be disappointed. I had a Gamo CFX that would put 10 shots in a group at 25 yards that would literally hide under a dime. Now, I have to admit that after 25 yards it looked like a shotgun pattern.
A very nice sproinger will give you about 2 MOA out to about 50 yards. There are a few very rare exceptions to this rule, but this is as good as you should expect.
RidgeRunner,
Shootski’s Mother, a Royalist, would have never ever have thought about taking away any of my (or anyone elses guns) since she had an experience that most women and many men in the USA should learn from. She was born in Yugoslavia and witnessed the German Occupation with the disarming of the civilian population! Then she witnessed the German retreat and the Communist Partisan’s takeover of the unarmed citizens. She and my sister, along with most of the rest of the family, wound up intered in a Partisan Concentration Camp. I lost almost all of my ancestors in a few short months! My Mother led a Christmas Eve 400 kilometer escape to safety in Vienna. She would never have stopped me from shooting since she knew the value of that skill! I’m certain I would have felt the strap however, had I ever shot at cats or people…unless it was totally and unquestionably necessary.
I make no predictions on the SIG ASP20! I will give it my best and lose all interest if it is NOT ACCURATE!
shootski
Shootski,
I am certain you will find the ASP to be accurate, for a sproinger. With something like the TX200 MK3 or the HW97, you might get a little better, but not much. A sproinger is a whole different critter than what you have been shooting.
RR-
On the nose. It is what it is, and if it was more than it is it wouldn’t cost $40. It’s MO2L- minute of 2 liter bottle.
PST,
Exactly. Accept it for what it is and enjoy it.
BB,
Good luck with part 4. If I can not be 100% confident of my sight picture,… I do not trust anything.
Chris
So, let me get this straight. This $40 smooth bore shoots 2.2” groups. Yesterday’s blog is about a $350 rifle. Therefore it had better shoot nine times better/smaller groups with mid to high priced pellets based on value alone. Add the unknown increase of accuracy due to a rifled barrel…. Seems like the Diana better have groups beginning with .1xx, or it goes on the scrap heap. Am I right or am I right?
Paco
Do you really think any of that will work out like that.
The Daisy 880 for an extra 6 bucks gets similar groups at 25 yards. The Crosman 760 is 5 bucks less than the Daisy 35. I don’t see the 35 as a good buy.
Benji-Don,
About a week and a half ago I saw the 880 with scope for $25 it is now $37 so I missed that deal. I have one already and I think I like it better than my Benji 392. Lot less work for sure.
Half
Half,
Wow at $25 for an 880 I would buy a couple of them. Better than a 393 is a good endorsement.
Don
PS: I see they also have a Red Ryder for $24.47, a great deal.
This is why I say forget the smoothbore and start them off with a Daisy 880. Much better accuracy in about the same price.
Brent
Brent,
I understand what you mean, but what if the youngster isn’t ready for the power of the 880. I have a Daisy 840 (I think they are called Grizzly now) that is a single stroke pneumatic. It’s smooth bore and also shoots bbs or pellets. With pellets, it’s surprising accurate (for what it is). Even bbs are ok, but they fall off (scatter) much faster as the range increases.
Doc
I think the Daisy 35 will do it’s intended job just fine.
And I’ll say this. The smooth bore 760’s I have had acrually shot pellets pretty good.
I had a few 880’s too. I had a couple not too accurate and a real good one.
Matter of fact I have a few Daisy 74’s they don’t make anymore that are real fun out to about 20 yards.
From what I see on the blog there are a few of us that grew up plinking with firearms. I know those people know what plinking is about with different guns.
I’ll ask this. How many accurate firearms have you shot under 50 bucks. Maybe these smooth bore air guns could out shoot a firearm of the same cost.
Really these low cost air guns do have thier place in the shooting world.
GF1,
I have to agree with you, especially if you include hand guns and their CO2 replicas. It’s hard to get a 3 inch 10 shot group at 10 yards with an entry level 1911 style gun that isn’t tricked out and reworked at hundreds of dollars in additional costs for the gunsmithing and parts. Folks that have never shot firearms don’t seem to appreciate that they are not the laser beams that are portrayed on TV. That’s why “just shoot ’em in the leg” sounds like “deliberately miss ’em and give him the chance to go home instead of you, tonight. Come on,man.” to a street cop. Co2 replicas do an amazing job of replicating the accuracy potential of most firearms, out of the box, but I think it is underappreciated by many airgunners.
Half
Halfstep
Yep agree.
I have a question from the comments from an older report on the Diana Chaser kit…
Halfstep mentioned that the silencer on his rifle barrel can be removed and placed on the pistol barrel. I also read a conflicting report that the silencer is removable – in certain countries (but not in the US). I just asked PyramydAir in a chat and they told me the silencer cannot be removed from the rifle barrel. Is this the answer they are supposed to give… And it is removable but voids the warranty?
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff,
My Chaser is one of the early ones. I just looked at PA and it appears to be the same gun. The pistol shown on PA has a different end cap than the one pictured on the Diana web site but the one pictured at PA looks like mine. It screws off with a regular standard right hand thread that is much smaller than those typical for firearms silencers. I am almost certain that mine didn’t have any thread locker on it because I don’t see any sign of it on either barrel, but I seem to recall that some folks used a hairdryer to loosen theirs. From what I can see through the center hole, there isn’t anything about it that would attenuate a firearm anyway, so I don’t see a need for locking it on. It does quiet the pistol though.
I did some extensive testing with many pellets and found that my pistol is more accurate with many of them with the silencer and it needs it because it is pretty loud. The long barrel does about the same with or without it.
You may want to double check that PA is showing an accurate image of the gun they’re selling. If it is, it should come off.
Hope that helps.
Half
Half,
I have wondered why they did not put the silencer on both barrels. The rifle barrel is pretty quiet anyway at least put it on the pistol barrel.
The Chaser kit is a great package.
Don
Half,
Yes, that’s very helpful.
The Chaser bundle really sounds like a great deal – even better if I can swap the silencer to the short barrel!
Thanks again.
Jeff
Off subject, finally something that lets you take out a 88/90 gr C02 cartridge without losing the gas. Way over due. In fact, if this works and would have came out years ago, maybe the 88/90 gr cart would be more popular than it is now.
https://hardairmagazine.com/reviews/the-new-umarex-88-gram-co2-saver-is-an-useful-accessory/
/product/umarex-88-gram-co2-saver-adapter-fits-airjavelin-fusion-2?a=9888
Doc
These should be built into the gun really rather than having to pay for it as an accessory.
88g cartridges are way too expensive in comparison to 12g to be popular in my opinion
Ade,
But it’s the cartridge that doesn’t have a check valve. If the gun had one and you took the cartridge out, it would still dump the gas out. This adapter comes out with the cartridge. C02 bottles (for like a paintball gun) have a check valve built into them. The gun does not.
Doc
Doc,
That’s great news and terrible news! Great to know I can buy something to save the CO2 in my Air Javelin. Terrible in that yesterday I received a $150 dollar shipment of pellets and arrows form PA. Rats!!
Oh well, gotta have one, so I guess I’ll just have to bite the..eh…pellet and pay the shipping. Thanks for the heads up.
Half
B B,
I must admit that I’m finding it difficult to say anything at all about the Daisy 35. I can say that there is a local guy, 73 years old or thereabouts, who is one of the best marksmen in our Island here. If not the best.
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/fife/1028239/cupar-shooter-ken-72-makes-history-by-winning-three-titles-in-same-year/
Regards,
Drew
Drew,
For a moment there, I thought you were going to say that he won them all with a daisy 35
Brent
I don’t understand the logic behind shooting a pellet through a smoothbore barrel. It’s like a waste of pellet to me. Only an extra five bucks gets you a Daisy 880 Multi-Pump, which comes with a rifled barrel according to the specs on PA.
Fish
My smooth bore Wingshot ll air shotgun shoots a .50 caliber slug pretty accurate.
GF1,
Good point, but that is an air shotgun at its very best. .50 cal slug is heavy, and the gun is insanly powerful. With that level of weight and power, it’ll, of course, shoot like a dream – just like shooting slugs on a regular shotgun. Wingshot II, by the way, looks beautiful from every angle.
My point was about how much accuracy could be gained by adding only $5 to the budget. Skip a McDonalds breakfast and you possibly triple the accuracy. Picking 880 instead of 35, I think, is a heck of an upgrade in regards to value and accuracy.
Fish
Yep the Wingshot ll does make power.
But let’s scale it down. I have had a few 760’s that shot minute of 12 oz. breavage cans out at 35 yards with wadcutter pellets.
But yep a rifled barrel should do better. But there is more factors than a rifled barrel. A 760 barrel is in a sense a floating barrel. The 880 barrels are in a shroud sort of. From what I have seen the 880 barrel moves around in the front sight of the muzzle. Even though the barrel is rifled it is not secured right. That my friend means accuracy problems.
So onward we go.
The 880 barrels are tight in the front sight/barrel spacer and have been for years. They went away from the barrel seal/ clamp/ receiver arrangement on the breech end of the barrel about 40 years ago.
Paco
Well that explains that sort of. The 880’s I had was not tight at the muzzle end. And look at the 760’s. The barrel was tight at the breech and the pump end. Matter of fact I always got the front barrel pump clamp from the 760’s when I modded my 1377’s and 1322’s throughout time. To me the Crosman guns were always built more solid than the Daisy’s.
And that’s about how long ago I had my 880’s and 760’s.
All I know is the old smooth bore 760’s was much more accurate than the 880’s back then I had.
I never tried any newer 880’s so dont know about them. But I have tried the late 760’s and they are still about the same as the old ones.
Anyway just what I have seen with what I had.
GF1,
Forget I even mentioned the 880. Let’s say, the airgunner buys the next rifled barrel airgun within the $10 price increase bracket instead of the 35 – so not just one, two McDonalds breakfasts worth of cost difference in this case. Not only will the airgunner live two days longer for skipping two fatty breakfasts, she’ll also have much more accurate pellet gun.
Fish
How do we know that.
You sound like you don’t think a smooth bore can be as accurate or more accurate than a rifled barrel.
There is more to it than just the rifling or smooth bore.
Maybe that would be a good blog for BB to do.
Rifled barrel verses smooth bore accuracy.
I bet that would be a interesting blog.
GF1,
Great blog idea! I’d read that.
GF1,
Actually, if you write such a report, I bet BB will publish it here.
Fish
I’m sure there is more people that have more information than you or me out there.
I’ll wait for BB’s blog.
GF1,
My airgun experience is very limited, but you are one of the most knowledgable people I know when it comes to airguns. If you ever write a piece on smooth versus rifled barrels, I certainly will read it.
Fish
Thank you but will never probably happen.
“It’s so important that I believe I will test that next before I test this airgun with BBs.”
That’s great, B.B., as I am really curious to see if some type of optical sight shrinks the groups; thank you. =>
Back to CO2 matters – FM is no genius scientist/engineer, but wonder if there could be a type check-valve built into our “gas shooters” to preserve the CO2 in the cylinders, whether 88 or 12 gram, if still partially filled after a shooting session, to avoid the problem of seals remaining under pressure. Rather than just taking out the partially-filled capsule and wasting gas, perhaps the retaining nut/screw would be backed off slightly, the pressure taken off the seal(s) with the check-valve preventing the remaining gas leaking out. When ready to shoot, tighten the nut/screw and you’re good to go.
This is probably another impractical/not cost-effective idea from the basement of The Rube Goldberg College of Impractical Engineering. FM’s head is just full of gas.
Basil,
Seals under pressure is a good thing, not a bad one. When they are under pressure they seal the insides of the valve from airborne dust that can cause leaks.
BB
Thank you for clearing that up because thought I read “somewhere” not to leave a full or partially full CO2 capsule in a gun. Maybe FM just imagined it; was having some anxiety about leaving 2 partially-charged cartridges in the Umarex MP40 magazine, though was still doing it anyway. The gun kept working fine.
I did learn from a video by a gent who goes by “Rune Rebel” the MP40 will work with just one full cartridge – fewer shots, of course. You need to have an empty one to make this work; the empty one loads in second.
Basil,
In some guns you don’t want to leave a partial cartridge. In others, no problem. I’d like to give you three quick tips, but I would undoubtedly miss something..
BB
BB,
As I recall,… some gun’s seals are prone to taking a set. That has been my main takeaway.
I guess that is not the case in all instances.
Chris
Chris,
I’ve heard of taking a set but in 50+ years I’ve never seen it — except for breech seals in springers. On the other hand I have purchased bulk-fill CO2 pistols that were just dug out of the heap after 20+ years and they were still holding.
BB
Fawlty,
I have left just a little C02 pressure in all my C02 guns when done through out the years. Never had a problem. Maybe I’m lucky, but it hasn’t hurt. That said, when I have shot the C02 down to where the velocity is low, I then take most of the remaining pressure off but dry firing, but I leave a slight amount just to keep the dust out of it. All of them are 12 gr C02 cartridges. I guess that wouldn’t be feasible on an 88 gr cart.
Doc