BB’s Goldie is a golden Cerakoted Avenger. The reservoir, receiver, muzzle cap, forward Picatinney rail and cocking handle were colored differently to set off the gold.
This report covers:
- Doesn’t exist?
- Huh?
- Dinosaur
- HOWEVER
- Cerakote
- What now?
Before we begin just a reminder that I will take off the American holiday of Thanksgiving, so there will be no blog this Thursday. There will be a new report on Friday.
Got an odd one for you today. Usually when I report on an airgun I “borrow” the pictures from the Pyramyd AIR web page where the description of the item lives. The only time I take pictures of a product is when I want to show some detail that isn’t shown on the website. Well, today the whole product is something that isn’t shown on the website because it doesn’t exist.
Doesn’t exist?
Wait a minute, BB. How can Pyramyd AIR sell things that don’t exist? Simple. They don’t exist until you create them.
Huh?
What I’m referring to is the new Build Your Own Airgun program on the Pyramyd AIR website. Let me share an email I received at the end of October.
Tom,
I would like to gift you a custom Avenger, but only if you are into that kind of thing 😉
If cerakoting is something you don’t frown upon, please build a version that you like here, click Save&Share, and we will even name it after you online 😉
Thanks
Val Gamerman
Val knows me well. He doesn’t have to offer twice! 😉
And an Avenger? I ALMOST bought the .22 Avenger I tested back in 2020 because it was so darned accurate! Listen to the final summary I gave it:
——–
If you want one exactly like mine you will find it here.
We have now looked at the Air Venturi Avenger 8 times. In every test it has performed in an exemplary manner. It gets lots of shots on a fill, it can be filled as low as 2500 psi and still get 44 good shots, which makes it a candidate for a hand pump. It has a user adjustable regulator that works well and it is extremely accurate. All this for under $300! [In 2020] I’m calling it the best airgun I have tested this century!
Dinosaur
If I had not just spent over a thousand dollars on a .22-caliber Air Arms S510XS Ultimate Sporter with laminate stock the previous year I would have popped for it. And now I was being offered one for FREE?
But here’s the deal. BB Pelletier is a dinosaur, who says he doesn’t like airguns unless they are blued (or black oxided). And Val wanted me to PAINT my gun??? Why would I ever do that?
HOWEVER
Yeah, there is a “however” coming. However, it occurred to me that I bought a used Harley Davidson Road King last year BECAUSE I liked the paint job. I call her Miss Peach.
Miss Peach is BB’s 2019 Harley Road King. She stands in front of BB’s pickup truck, Goldie. Are you seeing a pattern here?
Goldie is BB’s 2006 Toyota Tundra pickup that brother-in-law, Bob, sold me back in 2016. He called it Goldie because that was his nickname back in college and the truck is painted a gold-ish color. Incidentally, she just turned over 100,000 miles on my trip up to Tulsa to see my sister, Nan, last week.
So apparently BB does like brightly colored things — just not airguns. Why? Because BB is a dinosaur. BB needs to adapt. And THAT, my friends, is where the Pyramyd AIR Avenger named BB’s Goldie came from.
Cerakote
So, what is this stuff called Cerakote and why doesn’t BB like it? Cerakote is a thin ceramic coating that is bonded to the surface of the parts. BB doesn’t like it because it’s different. Dinosaurs don’t like things that are different. It’s a simple as that. Oh, perhaps there is one more consideration.
Cerakoting is extremely tough. That’s why it’s used on firearms. Some say it never wears off, but that’s not the case. It does wear off; it just takes a very long time. It’s ideal for guns that see rugged use, such as those used by Alaskan guides and such.
The finish is slick, so not very much (or any) oil is needed to keep the gun operational. And it prevents the metal from rusting. But when it’s not done right, some of the ceramic coating can wear off rapidly, allowing the gun to rust. This is especially true of holstered sidearms.
BB’s Goldie will never see the inside of a holster, so who cares about that? And, from just looking at the rifle, it appears the finish was put on correctly. Prove me wrong — in my lifetime.
So BB’s biggest and only real complaint is/was that he doesn’t like colored airguns. And he FOR SURE doesn’t like “camouflaged” anything because, unless it is a Ghillie suit, camo doesn’t work on a lot of game. People yes; color vision-challenged game, not so much.
What now?
So BB has a new .22-caliber Avenger. Yippie! What’s next? Why, he has to test it, of course. And where will he report the results of his tests? Right here in this blog!
The test rifle was sent back to Pyramyd AIR as all the guns BB tests eventually are and he lost his opportunity to test it further. And now he has another and this one is HIS! It doesn’t have to go back.
BB will look for a great scope that he can leave on the rifle once he mounts it, something like the Meopta Optika6 MeoPro 3-18X56 scope that he mounted on the 510XS, and doesn’t want to remove. If this Avenger turns out to be as accurate as the previous one — wowie wow, wow, wow!
The test will therefore be like my other tests. And we will start with Part 2, because I’m considering today to be part 1. I have linked to the previous report, so if you want to know more about the rifle, read that. And stay tuned.
Tom,
Shall we be referring to you as Herr Goldfinger in the future?
Siraniko
Bravo Siraniko!
I’m still smiling while writing this… 🙂
Maybe Odd-Job??
-Y
Yogi,
Odd Job was the first thing that popped into my mind, as well. 😉
BB
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier), I think you could be likened to several Bond villains, such as
Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his cat,
Francisco Scaramanga, The Man With A Golden Gun and
Auric Goldfinger, as per this “BB’s Goldie…” blog.
But never (!) a henchman like Nick Nack or Odd Job.
🙂
My favorite Bond villain is a little esoteric: Maximilain Largo in “Never Say Never Again” (1983). Played by the incredible Klaus Maria Brandauer, Largo in this film is 3-dimensional, capable of grief and sadness and self-reflective. To capitalize on Largo’s emotional vulnerability, Bond cruelly seduces and steals Largo’s fiancee, whom Largo loves dearly and who loves him. Unlike most Bond villains, viewers might pity Largo and like him more than they do Bond.
Michael
“Say hello to my little fren’!”
Yogi,
Only if he wore a bowler hat regularly!
Siraniko
Hahaha! Good one, Siraniko! 😉
Seeing the picture of the Avenger woke me up for good… I love Miss Peach’s look though. To each his own as RR often says.
B.B.
Great story! Now do you know if Pyramid Air will also Cerakote springers?
-Y
Yogi,
I do know they will expand the service as they learn it, but what will be included I do not know.
BB
That would be cool.
BB,
I certainly hope they will expand it some. I have considered having cerakoting done to that Edge and the other AirForce air rifles I have now. We have a local gun shop that does such. It would be sweet if PA was to include other airguns in their cerakote offers. I myself am not a big fan of the Avenger, but I can see this on other airguns. I have two right now I would like to have done.
I also would like to have other gun’s done that I already own. And option to have done on other gun’s bought from PA besides the Avenger.
Since you are doing a report on it maybe you could show the colors that are available. And maybe a description of how the coating is done. Is it similar to powder coating?
Please and thank you!
I’ll second GF1’s request for more details on the process!
Hank
Yep would be nice to know. Will kind of help justify what they are charging for each piece they coat. I’m guessing but I bet that the gun will need taken apart to coat each piece.
I guess I should go back and watch the video that’s in the link BB provided. Maybe it shows some of the process there.
GF1,
Follow the link to the Build Your Own Airgun I provided and all the colors are shown.
BB
BB
I did go to the link and checked out the colors. I put a Avenger together then changed it around. I like it gives a option to start over. And it tells the cost of each thing you want to coat. It’s a little pricy when it all gets added up. But in the end you do get to create a one of a kind gun. So yep pretty cool.
Tom,
I’ve given up trying to get what I want with the Build Your Own Airgun thing. I can’t ever get the features I want, even though I know the manufacturer makes it and that it is do-able.
Back when the Legends Ace-In-The-Hole Pellet Revolver, Weathered was still made and a part of the Build-your-own, I wanted one completely stock except for faux ivory grips, a standard weathered hammer, and a 4 3/4 inch “gunfighter” barrel, weathered. Nope, no cigar!
Michael
Lucky me, I already own BB’s Golden Gun!
Deck
As I get it cerakote is very protective. But I hate that tan color everything has on it, FDE-Flat Dark Earth. It reminds me of changing diapers not something I’d like to experience again.
crackedshot2.0
crackedshot2.0 even though I have no children, I think I know what you mean.
As I take one of my, originally delightfully perfumed, poop-a-scoop bags out of my pocket to clean up after my dog, nowadays that same fragrance, I find thoroughly revolting. We learn by association, eh. 🙂
crackedshot2.0,
Ah, yes — baby poop brindle! 😉
BB
B.B., Miss Peach is gorgeous! 🙂
dave,
She thinks so, too! 😉
BB
LOL! 😉
Hi everyone. Off topic, I have a Diana 25 (really a Winchester 425) with a peep sight rail, but the end cap is a bit larger than the spring tube, so my vintage Diana peep sight won’t slide onto the rail. It hangs up on the end cap. Are there other models of Diana peep sights with the special grooved foot and the large locking dial that will fit over the end cap? If so, how do I distinguish them from other Diana peep sights? I can still use the peep sight I have on my Diana 35 (really a Winchester 435), which has an end cap that sits almost flush with the spring tube and does not interfere with the peep sight sliding onto the rail. Any information or advice is much appreciated. Thanks.
Roamin,
Remove the action from the stock. The end cap now comes off. Install the peep sight.
BB
Hmm. Learn something everyday. Did not know the end cap was able to be removed without any complications. Thanks, B.B. Now I can get a second peepsight of the same type.
So last night I took the Winchester 425 out of its stock, and the end cap was stuck. I coaxed it off with a few gentle taps around its edge with a screwdriver and found some kind of brown sludge caked on underneath it that was holding it in place. I cleaned that crud off with some ballistol and a lot of scrubbing. Then the rear pin suddenly fell out the one side, and I nearly had a heart attack. Fortunately, no ball bearings or trigger parts exploded everywhere. I then proceeded to slide on the Diana peep sight, but try as I might, I could not wiggle that end cap back on. So why would Diana put their characteristic, ridged peep sight rail on this rifle, but not make it tall enough to provide sufficient clearance for their peep sights? So I searched around a bit and found a forum called the Dianawerk Collective. There is a familiar username there, MDriskill, who I belive has commented here fairly often. He seems to know a lot about vintage Diana’s too, and he had advised another reader in my position that perhaps the flat-bottomed Diana 75 peep sight made for the Diana 75 target rifle may work better than the Diana 60 peep sight that was available as an upgrade to the Diana rifles of the 60s and early 70s. The only place I have seen any vintage Diana peep sights is on eBay from a seller in Bulgaria of all places. I just wanted to share that info. I think that Model 75 peep is shorter than the one I have and may just fit on the rail without overlapping the end cap. Then, if the aperture is too far from my eye, I will have to solve a different problem. I am thinking it should not be so difficult to put a peep sight on this Diana, but based on my experience with the Umarex Embark and the Beeman R7, I would think a typical one-screw peep sight mount would move under even the mild recoil of the 425, so I am wanting to use a Diana peep sight with the ridged vertical screw that locks into the ridges of the top of the Diana rail.
Roamin,
One pin can fall out with no problem. The other one is under tension and won’t.
BB
Yes, but there was a moment when that pin hit the table and rolled when time seemed to slow down…. When nothing happened, my heart started beating again. :o)
Congrats! I absolutely love my Avenger .22! As you said, it is super accurate, lots of shots and mine has been problem free from day one! I went a different route of course on mine. I did a DIY sniper camo paint job on it and it has held up really well for the past year. $9 bucks.
2
Fwiw, I have used a local Cerakote vendor to restore a couple of old air pistol projects.
Top is the original finish of a vintage Crosman 38T (177) (It’s not too bad, but flaking in some areas)
Bottom is the Cerakote finish of a first generation Crosman 38T (22). Looks way better than when I got it…
Random, I like the comparison picture which to me has the value of a before and after cerakoting. Thanks, I think I am now sold on the improved looks… 🙂
Glad you found it useful. Here’s my Croman Mark 1 that was also Cerakoted, but it was given a somewhat “blued” finish.
Here’s the before picture with original finish. It was well worn in several areas such as the loading port and trigger guard. The downside is the $120 cost to completely strip and Cerakote a pistol..but it definitely makes them look new again.
Random, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. I have several Crosman Mark I and II’s in different stages of wear. How do you prepare them for cerakoting? Do you remove all the old paint? How? And does the cerakote find its way into the place where the CO2 cartridge goes? So many questions…. But the results look great!
Hi Random. I just received another Mark II that I bought as a gift for my niece. This one is about 85% or so. I replaced 3 seals so far and there is still a small leak that Pellgun Oil won’t cure. The seals I replaced so far were black and very hard, and I replaced them with Urethane seals. I’ll have to go inside and tear it apart to get to the seal inside. But it shoots pretty well even with HN Plinking pellets, so that’s a good sign. I’m going to give a pair to her and her new husband. So they can practice on the cheap.
When you get a chance, I would appreciate a reply to my other question on how you remove any onld paint and prepare the pistol for cerakoting. I have another one, a Mark I that probably has 5% of the original paint left, but it is in all the little cracks and nooks and crannies. That one is a candidate for cerakoting or at least a new paint job. I might leave it silver-gray. It actually looks pretty cool.
“When you get a chance, I would appreciate a reply to my other question on how you remove any onld paint and prepare the pistol for cerakoting.”
I take the air pistol totally apart, and give it to the Cerakoting shop as-is. I presume they bead-blast the old finish off so its’ down to bare metal, and then apply the Cerakote. I think for the Mk 1 – I taped-off one section where the CO2 flowed, just to keep any paint or debris out of that one area. I did file/sand down the mold marks on the trigger guard of the Mark 1, but otherwise they do all the surface prep. The metal is Cerakoted both inside and out. I think they bake it on to harden it as well – so no rubber parts should be on the frame when they heat up the Cerakote to harden it.
For the Crosman 38T I also completely dissembled the parts and gave them only what they needed to refinish. I don’t have a bead-blasting cabinet at my house….but surface prep is everything when it comes to refinishing something like this, so I leave it to them to strip off the old paint. (I’ll ask next time I go there what is their process).
“When you get a chance, I would appreciate a reply to my other question on how you remove any onld paint and prepare the pistol for cerakoting.”
I take the air pistol totally apart, and give it to the Cerakoting shop as-is. I presume they bead-blast the old finish off so its’ down to bare metal, and then apply the Cerakote. I think for the Mk 1 I taped-off one section where the CO2 flowed, just to keep any paint or debris out of that area. For the Crosman 38T I also comlpletely dissembled the parts and gave them only what they needed to refinish. I did file/sand down the mold marks on the trigger guard of the Mark 1, but otherwise they do all the surface prep. I don’t have a bead-blasting cabinet at my house….but I will ask them how they do the finish removal next time I take them a project.
Thanks for the info. Now I have to find a place near where I live where they do cerakoting….