school me on air rifles

[Blmpkn]

Dudes. This thread is turning into another cast iron thread.. or Coleman thread.. I dig the nerdy-ness. Making me want more air rifles lol.

 

[James Morse]

Found this on tuning QB78
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/library/Charlie_QB-78_Tune.htm
QB78D is probably a little better than the standard QB78 but more money
"The 78 stock is a bit short for full sized people and there really isn't a cheek piece. The 78D's are usually a little better finished, the barrels are of a larger diameter than the 78's. The last (new) standard 78's were much nicer than the ones from just a couple of years ago and they do make for a lighter rifle. Vel. and accuracy is about the same." from https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/yellow/qb78-or-qb78d-t158181.html

 

[scotts90ranger]

The 2240 makes a fine carbine, the one I have with a long .177 barrel is a nice shooting light gun, the 2240 in stock form is loud because it's stock barrel is so short so it's not efficiently using it's CO2, if memory serves an 18" barrel is the best balance before diminishing returns... I grabbed the file from work, it's not as complete as I thought, I don't remember what I did with prices and the rest of the part numbers I've used over the years... I'll throw them up here after a bit...

Most of the tuning on airguns is on the triggers and smoothing out the actions, almost everything has a 10lb trigger stock or even worse, that's likely the main mods... On the Crosman pistols the easy way of making the trigger smoother is removing a grip panel (single screw), pulling the spring you see with the gun not cocked, over compress the spring (can be done with your fingers or pliers) to the point it has about 1/8" of preload when put back in, but before you put it back in take a spent .22lr shell casing and put it on top of the spring before you put it back in. That'll leave you with a smoother trigger that's about 2lb pull...

Flat top piston just reduces the volume of the piston assembly... stock they have a rubber cup that doesn't actually fit the face of the valve so there's some dead space, the gains aren't too great until you exceed 5 pumps but there's crazy people that pump those things like 50 times to get every ounce of power there is... I have a Powermaster 66 that I put a flat top piston in that at 15 pumps it gives one shot at the same velocity of 10 pumps and a second shot at the equivalent of 5 pumps which is kinda neat...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, we'll see how this turns out:

Desc​	PN​
Barrel 24" .22​	2260-003​
Barrel 14.5b.22​	2250-019​
Valve assembly​	1322A013​
front sight​	788-101​
front sight​	760-201​
stock​	1389-022​
Barrel Band 760​	760D008​
barrel band screw​	781A012​
pump handle​	1389-010​
Left 1700 grip​	1700-031​
Right 1700 grip​	1700-032​

Neat, it worked... that's most of the part numbers I had handy... I could come up with the steel breach part numbers if I looked in the right place...

 

[James Morse]

uh, is this upgrades to the 2240, right? I see some are duplicates so I assume those are choices. What happened to 18" barrel, or, maybe, 16" since yet I haven't seen 18", probably out there. THANKS. also for info on piston which of course would apply not to the 2240 but to the 2289 (I think) - the "Drifter" pkg pistol.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, most of that is different options... I apparently made that in 2013 so some could be discontinued. Yes, 2240 and 2289 compatible parts. I think the 18" barrel is only on custom shop guns or something, there's places that offer that length cut down from longer barrels... The valve assembly part number is the 1377 or 1322 part in case anyone needs it. The two front sites are likely standard on top and fiber optic below, the barrel band is if you want to put a longer barrel on a 1377 or 1322, the 1700 grips are nicer than the stock 13XX/2240 grips (and were like $2 a side when I got some), the pump handle is the one like on a 2289 I believe.

For reference the phone number is 800 724 7486 and their hours are 8-4:30 EST, unless something changed...

 

[James Morse]

Does fiber optic sight take a battery? I don't get what the heck they mean by that fiber optic term.

 

[scotts90ranger]

It means it has a piece of neon green plastic in it that gathers some background light and is more visible, but the front blade on those is 3x wider than normal so not quite as precise for some things... I was going to say look at a current 760 but they don't use them on that anymore...

 

[sgtsandman]

Does fiber optic sight take a battery? I don't get what the heck they mean by that fiber optic term.

This is an example. They gather ambient light to make the sight brighter. They are not powered in anyway and will do nothing if it's dark.

 

[James Morse]

Great pics. Funny cuz I thot fiber optics were supposed to keep the light in, which would imply they wouldn't let outside light in but obviously I don't know wtf I'm taking about, my only experience with it is in computer networks. I see what you say about them being kind of big for front sight. Certainly must work or people wouldn't buy them, but I suspect as you say there are kind of for specific use. Thanks.

 

[sgtsandman]

Great pics. Funny cuz I thot fiber optics were supposed to keep the light in, which would imply they wouldn't let outside light in but obviously I don't know wtf I'm taking about, my only experience with it is in computer networks. I see what you say about them being kind of big for front sight. Certainly must work or people wouldn't buy them, but I suspect as you say there are kind of for specific use. Thanks.

They generally aren't a precision sight for sure. At least not with the styles I've seen. Good enough to take game and as a self defense sight though.

 

[Chapap]

I have a some base model .177 Benjamin break top nitro piston. Un-zeroable if I held it tight like a regular rifle. I balance it on a thick pillow and try not to touch it when I pull the trigger. The scope it came with is meh but good enough. Can nail a squirrel in the eye at 20 yds. I just post up in the dining room and open the window if I want some pelts. I’d rather upgrade to a decent pcp instead of investing in some air rifle specific glass.

i tried a gamo first. Was a pos. Had a thick plastic barrel with a steel sleeve in it. Would bend like a noodle when cocking. .22 is supposed to be more humane cause there’s more kill power in it.

And get a pellet assortment kit. Your gun and shooting style will prefer a specific pellet.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

My drinking buddies have a .177 pellet rifle at their property. I forget the name but its a cool unique setup. It is break barrel, but has round magazines that hold pellets, I think 8 shots. It rotates the clip to reload automatically when you break the barrel to cock it. Takes Co2. Its a 2 acre flat, and they take the smallest game from across the yard with it. I was impressed.

 

[James Morse]

That's confusing to me because I thot break barrel guns are to cock/pressurize them, but then you said it takes CO2, and if it that's true then it seems like it wouldn't be break-barrel. Hope you can clear up my confusion... thanks.

 

[James Morse]

Where I am right now is this: Pistol, 2240, or perhaps better 2240XL but would have to deal with no-sights issue on the latter. Also Drifter pkg but you can add that stuff. Rifle, Beeman QB89D. Yes you have to buy the CO2 cartridges but they aren't very expensive and I think the convenience outweighs it. Pressurized guns are very cool but high budget. I'm talking starter guns that you can customize and tune and are tried and known. Scopes are all over the place, I think you kind of get what you pay for there, but it's easy to spend a lot more than the guns on just scopes.