Some airgun patches I picked up

I picked up some assorted airgun patches all in brand new conditon, along with 3 Crosman belt buckles and some pins off the Yellow classifieds last week. Got a really good deal on the lot so I went for it.

A few of these are quite common and a few aren't so common. Here's a couple pictures of what I got. It's a good start to a collection of them I think. Thanks Brett!

New spinner target

The buffalo spinner target I won last week came today. Very nice target, I am really having fun with it. The Pellet Head forum had a giveaway last week on their site and I was lucky enough to win. They were giving away a Noteworthy Targets buffalo spinner airgun target.

I opened it up and took it to the backyard right away to get some plinking time in. It's quite sturdy and should last a long time considering that none of my guns are over 14 ft lbs. I used my 1740 "Raven" target gun for the shooting session. I used RWS Basics at a range of about 12 meters which is all too easy with the size of the target and the gun I'm using. This thing is a blast to shoot at! I shot at it for over an hour and stopped once my CO2 powerlet was empty. I can see myself shooting that target quite often since I had such fun. Much nicer than just shooting at cans and paper all the time!

Thanks go out to Noteworthy Targets for providing the target in the giveaway. Also thank you to Tom Krein and the guys over at Pellet Head Network. I will definitely get some use out of it guys. Here's a couple of quick pics I took of the target before and after plus the gun I used to shoot with.

Happy Shooting!

My Crosman 2240 "Poor man's match rifle" in it's current configuration

Here's a photo of my 2240 once I got all the latest aftermarket parts installed. Grant's alloy wide barrel band, stainless steel safety, alloy roller trigger and winged steel CO2 end cap. The rest by various makers; a brass bolt with extended probe by Mac1, aluminum bolt handle with rubber orings and stainless steel shaft from MountainAir, aluminum power adjuster by Art Braden, HDD from PSP Airguns, after market hammer spring and valve work by me, TKO sear pin and sear spring with delrin guide and stainless steel screw upgrades from Ace Hardware. The muzzle brake which isn't in this photo was made by Larry Rollins and is polished aluminum with a dovetail milled out for attaching a Lyman globe sight. The rear sight is a Williams peep sight with a .05" custom aperture. 24" Crosman barrel and a Crosman 1399 stock. She puts out an adjustable power range from 525-625 FPS with 14.6gr Beeman FTS. Super accurate. Lot's of shots(40+) on a CO2 powerlet with the HDD installed.

There was basically nothing else I wanted to do to this gun once I got it to this stage...except for one thing. I want a Grant Stace stainless steel breech with full dovetail so I can still use the Williams peep sight on the gun, then she is done forever! Grant is working on the breech for me when he gets some time. I look forward to it being finished and on my gun.

Crosman Quest 1000 gets some new goodies

I recently got some new accessories for my Crosman Quest 1000. I purchased a full length barrel shroud from Rich from Mich. a few weeks ago. Very nice little add on that I got mostly for looks. It does have another nice feature though, it acts as a very secure cocking handle. Now I have a nice fat grip to pull the barrel down with when cocking the gun. It gives you a little more leverage therefore it is easier to actually pull the barrel into the cocked position. I think it looks pretty good on the rifle myself, kind of gives it that "bull barrel" look. It is a 1" diameter aluminum tube shroud painted with a flat black finish.

I also got a new scope for it. I bought a Tasco 2.5-10x42mm Varmint/Target rifle scope. These are a very good buy for what you get. They are very sturdy scopes that will stand up to the recoil of most magnum powered springers. I was impressed by the scopes clarity and brightness and have been very happy with it thus far. It has a very nice mildot reticule as well and adjustable objective. I mounted it with an unknown maker 1 piece scope mount. It was given to me by a very kind fellow airgunner so I don't know what brand of mount it is. It definitely does the job though.

The rest is just a standard Quest 1000 with the addition of a GTX trigger to give it a nice 2 stage trigger pull. I got a pretty good gun out of the box, its accurate and not twangy or harsh at all. The worst thing about it was the stock trigger which was the first thing I replaced. Overall I am pleased with this setup and I think it looks and shoots great. Nice guns for the money IMHO. I didn't expect much for a $100 gun but I have been impressed for sure. Here is what it looks like in it's current configuration.

Until next time...

Daisy Model 188 Pistol...

Daisy Model 188 Pistol...Years Produced 1979-1993
New in 1979 Single shot pellet or BB repeater 215fps BB's- 180 fps pellets. Very few Variations, it went from a heavy Diecast to plastic around 1990. It became BB only around 1984.

That's about all the info I could dig up on this gun. Why you might ask am I posting about a Daisy 188? What's the big deal about it? Nothing as far as airguns go. But this particular model happens to be the first airgun I ever owned. I don't know what became of the original gun I purchased back in 1980 but I got this one from a nice gentleman on the Canadian Airgun Forum.

When I got this gun in my hands again it really brought back memories of my childhood. I remember saving up my money back then and when I had enough, my mom taking me down to TG&Y to buy it and some BBs. I opened it up on the ride home and started loading it with BBs in the backseat with mom driving us back home. Once there, I ran to our backyard and grabbed an aluminum soda can from the trash and set it up out in the yard. I loaded a BB, pulled down on the cocking lever, took aim at the can from about 30 feet and squeezed the trigger. Miss! LOL Well, what did you expect? I had never shot a pistol before. I loaded another BB, pulled down on the cocking lever, took aim at the can and squeezed the trigger. Ding! OWWWW! What happened? The BB hit the rim of the soda can and bounced right off, flew back at me and hit me right in my eyebrow. That sucks. Well, could have been worse, 1 inch lower and I'm a cyclops. Lesson learned.

So that's why I posted about this gun. Because it has a story attached to it for me. Hope you had a good chuckle at my expense! :)

Be safe and have fun shooting!

Solution to a common problem

I've heard a lot of stories about guys losing the tiny ball bearing and spring safety parts from their Crosman 22XX/13XX guns when they do some mods to the trigger. I have yet to lose either and I have assembled/disassembled my guns MANY times now. Here is why I haven't lost any so far.

When you want to work on your trigger, remove the entire grip frame from the air tube while holding the gun in the upright position. It's only 2 screws that hold it on to the action so it's simple to remove. This one extra step and you will never lose one again due to it flying out of the grip frame once you remove the cover. Once you have the grip frame off you will see the top of the safety spring with the ball being underneath the spring. Cup your hand over the spring and tilt the frame upside down and out slide the spring and ball, gently into your hand. To reassemble place the ball and spring in the little slot on top of the frame, once the cover is on the frame and you are ready to reassemble. Attach the grip frame back on to the tube with the 2 screws while holding the frame to the air tube.

I have yet to lose one using this method and it's only one extra step to do it. I hear of guys using dabs of grease and stuff to hold them in place, but why bother to put any gunk in there when you can easily remove the frame and take the tension off the spring? Easy solution and it definitely works.

Now go do those trigger mods and don't worry about that little ball and spring anymore!

A bit of nostalgia(for me)

A short while ago, a very nice gentleman on the Kitching's Yellow Airgun Forum had offered for free, a 1980's variant of a Crosman 760 multi pump BB/pellet rifle. This caught my eye immediately as I had always wanted to get a 760 for my collection. This gun has always held a special place in my heart ever since my friends and I would shoot one almost everyday out in the field behind our property. I had never owned one myself as it was my friends gun. He would bring it out all the time and let us shoot it whenever we felt like it. It's pretty much the first rifle I learned to shoot with when I was about 9 years old. I swear we shot that gun so much we wore the thing out. Our favorite targets were Pecans that fell off the trees that were pretty much everywhere, cans and bottles, birds and whatever else we could find to shoot at. Later I had purchased my first airgun, a Daisy 188 single stroke BB pistol that I almost put my eye out with on the first day. It's a wonder that I am still on this earth with all the stupid stuff I did as a kid, but I digress. When this gun was offered up I jumped on the opportunity to own one of these myself. The gentleman that sent it to me recently had it resealed, so it was ready to shoot strong for years to come. The gun is in excellent condition and was obviously well taken care of. There are no cracks, missing parts or rust anywhere to be found on the gun. It really brought back some fond childhood memories when I got to hold one of these in my hands again. It's not my most expensive gun or my nicest gun nor is it my best shooter, but it definitely means more to me for sentimental reasons than most of the guns I own. Thank you Gerald for giving me the opportunity to own a little piece of my past once again. I owe you my friend.

Meet the Crosman 1740 "Raven"

This is the pistol I have been waiting to build for a long time now. Last week the final parts I needed to complete the project arrived and I was on my way. Here is what I can tell you so far.

My initial impressions of the gun were that it was very well balanced for a pistol of its size. I was afraid it would be a bit too heavy with the long steel breech and 10" barrel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it felt quite nice in my hand. Not too heavy or off balanced towards the front or rear at all. It actually balances quite well considering. Keep in mind that the shroud is just aluminum tube that is basically empty for the last 5" so it doesn't weigh very much on the front end. I loaded up a CO2 powerlet, fired a piercing shot and then loaded a .177cal RWS Basic wadcutter pellet into the chamber. This breech, bolt and barrel combo feeds pellets better than any gun I own. It is super smooth with no pellet hang up, which the Crosman 22XX and 13XX are notorious for. I took aim at my target and pulled the trigger slowly but deliberately and all I heard was the hammer hitting the valve stem, then the pellet hitting the target. Man, this thing is quiet! It’s perfect for my backyard shooting needs. I could shoot this thing in my bedroom and no one else in the house would hear it, it's that quiet. The trigger pull was very smooth with a crisp release at ~2lbs. I took a couple more shots at the target to get the red dot sighted in and then I shot a couple of groups. One was a 10 shot off hand group at 12 meters that I could cover with a dime. The other was a 5 shot group at 12 meters, with the gun loosely rested on a soft and somewhat shaky rest and it was no more than 1/4" ctc. There are 2 photos of the groups I shot at the end of this post. Needless to say, I was very content with the accuracy of this pistol, especially considering I was shooting my favorite cheapo wadcutter pellet. I have literally thousands of those RWS Basics on hand and all of my .177cal guns love them. They work perfect for punching paper, plinking at cans and whacking the occasional small pest if needed. I consider myself very lucky to own yet another .177cal that shoots cheap pellets, accurately.

I don't have any chrony numbers yet, but I will get around to testing all that out later. My best guess is, on low power with the hdd, I am pushing those 7.0gr pellets in the mid 500-600fps range. That is more than enough power to punch through paper and plink all day long at my 15 meter max distance backyard range. I can increase the preload on the hammer spring with the power adjuster and get more power, but at the cost of fewer shots per CO2 powerlet. I don't have a shot count per cartridge yet either, as I am still on the first one after 40+ shots. It looks like I will be getting quite a few shots per powerlet with this setup, which is what I was aiming for with the hdd, stock valve and power adjuster set on low.

I will get you guys some numbers on the fps and shot count here shortly to confirm what this setup is putting out. I can tell you that I am very happy with the results though. What matters most to me, is that it puts the pellets where I aim at the distance I shoot at. Everything else is
gravy.

I have many people to thank for helping me with this project. I couldn't have done it without you guys! I would like to thank Grant Stace the Kiwi for his incredible breech (good ol' #59) and integrated barrel band with polished stainless steel extended bolt and handle, blued steel power adjuster with his aftermarket hammer spring and delrin guide and last but not least a winged CO2 cap from him as well. All top shelf parts in form, looks and function. Grant’s parts make any gun better and that’s a fact. I would also like to thank Mike Tiehen at TKO Airguns for his 9" Stage V barrel shroud, black anodized target trigger, complete trigger kit with hardened sear and trigger pins, lightened trigger spring and delrin spring guide and the 10" .177cal Crosman barrel on which he custom crowned and polished the lead in for me. Your stuff is terrific Mike! I love the trigger and the trigger kit and it makes a huge difference in performance over the stock configuration. The shroud looks great and performs fantastic. Thanks for all the goodies that you sent me gratis! I owe you big time. I want to thank BigEd aka Ed Stack for making me a custom left handed RJ HDD for my build. He didn't have any of these made and went out of his way to custom machine me a left hander for an RJ breech. I needed the RJ breech type since Grant bores his bolt chamber to the same dimensions as the RJ Machine breeches. It works great Ed, fits like a glove. Thanks go out to Michael Chavka for the beautiful and highly functional black tactical target style grips that he custom made for me. They are coated with truck bed liner for that nice black look and superb durability that I wanted. They are extremely comfortable to shoot with and they look terrific. Lastly, I would like to thank my son Scott for buying me the Walther Top Point II 4 MOA red dot sight that is sitting on top of the gun. Great Father's day gift Scott, it works perfect.

1740 "Raven" Specs:

Crosman "2240" stock airgun purchased on the Yellow Forum Classifieds
8 1/2" long steel breech with integrated wide barrel band by Grant Stace
Polished stainless steel bolt with extended probe and bolt handle by Grant Stace
Steel power adjuster with custom hammer spring and delrin guide by Grant Stace
Winged steel CO2 cap by Grant Stace
10" Crosman .177cal barrel, both crowned and with lead in polished by Mike at TKO Airguns
9" Stage V barrel shroud with carbon fiber covering by Mike at TKO Airguns
Black anodized aluminum target trigger by Mike at TKO Airguns
Complete trigger kit including hardened steel sear and trigger pins, lightened trigger spring with delrin guide by Mike at TKO Airguns
Tactical/Target grips coated in truck bed liner by Michael Chavka
Left hand RJ HDD (hammer debounce device) by BigEd aka Ed Stack
Walther Top Point II 4MOA red dot sight
B-Square 1" medium profile rings for 3/8" or 11mm dovetail
Black allen head screw upgrade kit from Joe McAllister at MuzzleMack
Stainless steel flat head front breech screw from Jeff Schock
90 durometer urethane bolt probe o-ring from Tim McMurray at Mac1 Airguns
Stock 2240 valve and transfer port

Hope you like it, I know I sure do. Happy shooting!

1377 "UltraCarbine"

Last week I ordered myself a Delrin detachable stock from Joe McAllister at MuzzleMack. It came yesterday and I was eager to try it out so I immediately opened it and installed it on my 1377 to create what I call the 1377 "UltraCarbine".

I love it. It's extremely functional, well built, looks incredible and feels perfect! Once I had it installed I went out in the back to shoot a few rounds and I was sold. It places the red/green dot right where I need it and the LOP is perfect at 12". I was able to easily hold well under 1" at 15 yards shooting offhand without trying very hard. It just makes the gun plain comfortable to shoot. Absolutely worth the money IMO and I think it looks great. What do you think?

I got out and shot it again today and I like it even more. Seems like the more I shoot it the more I like this setup. Today I was shooting 1/2" groups offhand at 15 yards with ease. It's lightweight, compact and accurate as all get out. This gun has all stock internals aside from a Mac1 bolt with extended probe and steel handle. I have a Crosman steel breech installed to mount the Leapers red/green dot. It has a full trigger tune with TKO pins and trigger spring with guide all polished and molyed and topped off with a MountainAir trigger shoe. Makes for a very smooth crisp trigger pull at under 2 lbs. Grips and pump arm are Walnut ambi grips with Walnut super pumper arm made by Ralph Brown at RBGrips. This was the very first set of aftermarket grips I had purchased. I find the ambi grips to be very comfortable for my size hands(large). Next addition will be to replace the stock trigger blade with one from Grant Stace like I have on some of my other guns. Just waiting for him to finish the next batch.

This is the perfect little backyard hunter/target gun if you are shooting under 20 yards. If I needed more range I would get a flat top piston setup for more power. But at 15 yards, it's not necessary. This gun loves RWS Basic pellets at 7.0gr. They are perfect for close range hunting of small game and even better for punching paper and plinking at tin cans. Not to mention they are inexpensive pellets as well and all my .177 guns like them.

If you are looking for an aftermarket wire type stock for your 13XX/22XX project, I highly recommend Joe. At the time of me writing this post he's the only one making these types of stocks for sale for the Crosmans as far as I know. Get one, you won't be disappointed.

Until next time, keep on shootin'!

Lots of tinkering today

I finally got around to installing some of the goodies I have gotten for my guns in the last few months. I am extremely pleased with the way the triggers feel now with Grant's wide brass and alloy triggers installed, along with TKO trigger kits. It is a perfect combo that makes for a very smooth, light pull with no slop. The pull is somewhere under 2 lbs. now. The roller trigger is especially nice and you can certainly feel a difference in how smooth the trigger feels compared to the others. Of course the roller triggers are based on Grant's wide blade design, so you get the nice comfortable trigger surface without the need for a trigger shoe. With the TKO kit and Grant's trigger all of the slop from the stock trigger group is now gone.

These were just prototypes that he made of the roller and I think they need to go into full production now. I believe many would agree with me that these are a huge improvement over a stock Crosman 13XX/22XX trigger. I told him that I would like the roller triggers on all of my Crosmans.

I also installed the wide alloy barrel band that I got from Mr. Stace on my 2240. I must say it looks great on my gun, i'm really happy with the looks. It's also so beefy that it really does a great job of supporting the barrel/breech. Top notch airgun bling, thanks Grant!

I bought a DPH(dual power hammer) from Ken Amos at CrustyBs around Christmas that I hadn't installed yet. I put that in my 2250 today and it looks and seems to work just fine. I had no time to run it over a chrony yet to see the numbers or to get the shot count with it installed. I will have to give a more detailed review of it when i get a chance to shoot it instead of just dry fire it. You can definitely feel the seperate sear engagements for low and high power. I also like the fact that the act of cocking the hammer and opening the bolt are now decoupled. It's just easier to cock the hammer with a rear handle and it's safer as well since you don't have to cock the hammer until after you load the pellet. It is supposed to dramatically improve shot count per CO2 powerlet. This is because there is no longer hammer bounce with the DPH so it conserves air that is normally wasted when the stock hammer repeatedly bounces the valve open after you fire each shot. It should also affect the noise level, again this is because there is no more wasted CO2 from hammer bounce which creates a lot of extra "pop" so it should be quieter. It looks great and if it does what it's supposed to do then I will be very happy with the results. More to come...

Here are a few photos of the newly installed parts.

Got some good shooting time in today

My brother stopped by today and we had a nice shooting session in the backyard. He is pretty new to airguns and is still trying to figure out which kind of guns he likes to shoot the most. He's decided that out of springers, pumpers and CO2 that he likes the CO2 guns best. So, he spent most of the day shooting my 2240 "poor man's" match rifle. Before you know it, he was getting so comfortable shooting with it that he was stacking pellets. Pretty damn good for a guy who hasn't shot guns much in his lifetime.

We have my usual 12-15 yards to shoot within so, it's not too much of a challenge if you shoot rested. Offhand and sitting positions proved to be more of a challenge for such a short distance.

We spent over 3 hours slinging lead as fast as we could load and pull the trigger. Him feeding my 2240 with Beeman FTS and me slinging Beeman Bearcubs with my open sighted Crosman Quest with GTX trigger installed.

I started off with the cheap Centerpoint 4x32 scope that comes with the Quest, but after watching the POI change all over the place with each shot, coupled with the fact I couldn't get the cheap scope to focus I eventually removed the scope and just went with the open fiber optic stock sights. That is when I actually started having fun shooting the Quest. I was amazed at how tame the gun has become once it is broken in. It took about 250 rounds through it before it finally settled down and started to group really well. I found that my Quest shoots Beeman Bearcubs the best, lucky me since they are a cheapo pellet that I have tons of. I was shooting .25" groups CTC with the Quest rested at 15 yards using the stock fiber optic sights. The POI was consistent and I couldn't ask for much better from a $100 Chinese made springer.

I must say I am extremely pleased with the GTX trigger I have installed in my Quest. I bought the trigger from Skyler at PSP Airguns back when they were still selling the aftermarket parts(HDDs and GTX triggers). This one modification will make your Quest or Gamo shoot like a different gun. The stock triggers on these guns are VERY stiff at over 5lbs of pull. The GTX reduces that down to around 2lbs with a true 2 stage design. You can easily feel each stage as you slowly squeeze the trigger. First a nice easy, short pull with the 1st stage and then a slight resistance as you hit the 2nd stage. Once you hit that 2nd stage the slightest squeeze of the trigger causes the sear to let go with a feeling that can only be described as breaking glass. Very crisp and consistent each time. I really love this trigger design and the difference it makes in these cheap springers is unbelievable, you truly have to experience the difference yourself to believe how nice it is. If you have a Quest or Gamo that can use the GTX or MicroGTX trigger mod, GET IT. You don't know what you are missing out on.

Overall, it was a fun day punching paper in the backyard with family while at the same time, helping to get another person into this great sport of airgunning. I have to think I was successful in recruiting my brother into the airgun world since by the end of the session he was talking about "building his own" CO2 gun. :) I love it!

Sorry for no pics today, but we have all seen holes in paper before and I was just having too much fun shooting to be bothered snapping pictures in the middle of it all hehe.

Until next time, happy shooting!

P.S. I will be posting some new pics of my guns soon with some of the new aftermarket goodies I have purchased but haven't installed yet. That alloy roller trigger from Grant is gonna be SWEET.