BB guns/second childhood/have fun!

[seamusTX]

A couple of weeks ago at the skeet range, the puller was AWOL. While we were waiting, El Gato brought out a couple of old Red Ryder BB guns and we practiced shooting ammo boxes and stationary skeet.

Mrs. Casey never had a BB gun when she was a kid, so I bought her one. They're less than $20.

These little rifles are remarkably accurate. I can put most of my shots in a soup can at 20 yards. We can shoot until our arms fall off for less than a buck.

The only word of caution is that shooting BB guns is against the law in many cities and possibly contrary to restrictive covenants.

If, like me, you can't shoot firearms at home, give this a try. They don't go bang, but they build aim and trigger control.

- Jim

[lrb111]

I was recently made to feel guilty about having better toys than my grandsons. In other words. I gave up my Walther replica CO2 pistol. so that their father might teach them handgun safety with it.

But it was pretty cool, about $60 at Walmart. Has the same heft as the real thing, a bit of recoil with the slide movement etc.

I was using coffee cans positioned on their side, with the plastic lids on. Shooting through the plastic lid traps the BB inside but still makes a neat ping sound when the BB hits the bottom of the can.

I had taken to setting the cans up in little "stages" and trying to do a few drills with it. Great mental and physical movement practice, anytime i felt like it.

[John]

I get my son's pellet gun out from time to time

While I was out of town, recently, my wife called me to tell me that a mockingbird was terrorizing her and the dogs in the back yard. She said that she couldn't go out and the dogs couldn't do their duty without the bird swooping down. I suggested that she get our son's airsoft pistol and show the bird that it's her yard. She did... Couldn't get the thing out of her hands for two weeks after that. She'd sit on the patio and litter the yard with green plastic BB's. She probably never actually hit the mockingbird, but she sure had fun target shooting and the mockingbird picked a different yard for it's territory.

[KBCraig]

I have one of the "Fast Deer" Chinese side-lever pellet rifles. These are also commonly seen by their model number, KL-3B , made or imported by Norinco.

They're absolutely the best value in air guns: cheap, accurate, and powerful.

http://www.southsummit.com/catalog/prod ... ts_id=2896

Kevin

[Lodge2004]

I recently picked up a Daisy Avanti 747 to run my daughter throught the NRA's International Air Pistol Marksmanship Qualification Program. We marked off a 10 meter range in the garage and built a target backstop with an empty moving box stuffed with newspapers.

It's great marksmanship training with no range fees and the ammunition is cheap ($5 per 500 match pellets).

[res1b3uq]

It was really unbelievable to me how accurate pellet guns are. I have a Daisy 853 that will put 5 shots in 1 hole at 31 ft. ( that's how far it is from my couch to the front of the house.) yes, I shoot it inside, at a cardboard box full of catalogs, with a metal backstop just in case. It sure has cut down on my gas bill to the range. I have a Daisy 777 pistol paid for and on the way.

[Greybeard]

KB - Needing a "backup gun" for hunter ed. classes, last Monday I ordered one of those Chinese side-cockers in your link. UPS delivered today. Did not have time to even open the box today. But tomorrow ...

[KBCraig]

Don't forget: never, ever, dry-fire a spring piston air rifle!

If you don't have a pellet chambered, there is no resistance to the piston, and it will crash right into the chamber, which can cause irrepairable damage.

Kevin

[Greybeard]

' Sounds like I may need to tie off or maybe put a trigger lock on it if used out of my sight, even briefly, in hunter ed. classes. Twice that I can remember with the unloaded air guns we've used on skills trail, bratty kids cocked unloaded Red Ryder or Benjamin while no one was looking and subsequently pulled the trigger (in a crowd) to see if it would go "poof". Let's say the aftermath both times was what what we'd call "teachable moments".

[Venus Pax]

My first gun was a Daisy BB gun. Daddy got it for me for Christmas when I was eight.

[Scott Murray]

Thanks, KBCraig, for the link. Mine just arrived yesterday afternoon. It looks like a terrific value.

I've never owned an air gun before. How do you open it for inspection or cleaning without subsequently dry firing it? Is there a safe way to decock it? Can you hold your finger over the barrel while dry firing, to provide a cushion of air? Or do you just leave it cocked for storage?

Scott

[KBCraig]

How do you open it for inspection or cleaning without subsequently dry firing it?

Short version: you don't.

You can ease the cocking lever back slightly (before the first ratchet catch), but there's no way to do a positive visual check of the chamber, because pellets don't show like a brass cartridge does.

If it bothers you, you can buy a .17 cal cleaning rod, and mark it to show the depth with an empty chamber (like marking a black powder ramrod).

No cleaning is required for the barrel. The first time you take it out to shoot it, you will want to clean out the chamber area between shots, because there will be some shipping oil oozing out.

Is there a safe way to decock it?

No.

Can you hold your finger over the barrel while dry firing, to provide a cushion of air? Or do you just leave it cocked for storage?

At these pressure levels, don't put anything you value in front of the barrel. This is not a Red Rider!

Fortunately, you can safely fire it almost anywhere, and a box full of newspaper or rags makes a handy "clearing barrel". If you inadvertantly cock it, just chamber a pellet and fire it into your backstop. Then you know it's clear and decocked; just put it away like that.

A few break in tips for you...

You will smell lots of burnt oil. It could be castor, peanut, or soy oil. Expect wisps of smoke from the barrel.

Expect some "dieseling" on the first shot or two of each shooting session, for the first few sessions. Spring piston rifles produce enough compression to actually ignite oil in the air path, just like a diesel engine. The combustion produces higher velocity (obviously), so the first shot will typically have a different POI than the rest. This will eventually go away, but you should always expect it on the first shot after the rifle has been put up for some time.

The trigger on this particular rifle will get better with use. There's a website out there somewhere about performance tuning, but that's for the experts to tackle. I sure haven't tried it. Charlie da Tuna (get it?) has information: http://www.charliedatuna.com/

If you use a scope, only use one rated for air rifles. Springers produce a kind of "reverse recoil" that will shake a regular scope to pieces. Plus, you need parallax set to (or adjustable to) very short distances not normally found on rifle scopes.

Firing often is good, and helps keep the piston seal lubricated. The Chinese used a leather seal, but I understand that a synthetic RWS seal is a direct fit replacement.

Have fun!

Kevin

[seamusTX]

At these pressure levels, don't put anything you value in front of the barrel. This is not a Red Rider!

Even a Red Ryder develops about 300 PSI and will hurt you.

IMHO the rule about not pointing the muzzle at anything you don't want to destroy should be absolute.

- Jim

[sparx]

Even a Red Ryder develops about 300 PSI and will hurt you.

And could put your eye out!

IMHO the rule about not pointing the muzzle at anything you don't want to destroy should be absolute.

- Jim

I agree, and I think may be why so many parents like to start out their children's firearm safety training with Red Ryders. (I wouldn't know first-hand though... I grew up on a ranch and my Dad said [ironically] said that they weren't powerful enough to kill one of our cattle... only powerful enough to put one of their eye's out! Needless to say my first rifle was a .22, though I used to shoot my best friend's Daisy all the time over at their house.)

[Scott Murray]

Thanks again, Kevin, for the advice and the link.

Like sparx, my folks didn't believe in BB guns. We went straight to the real thing. I did the same with my children. Now after close to 50 years of burning powder, I'll try this out.

When I quit learning about firearms, it'll be time to quit.

Scott