OT: Air gun 101?

[awp101]

Since the "Who needs gun powder" thread twisted my arm and FORCED me to pick up a Ruger Air Hawk I need some learnin'.

I've dabbled on a couple of the airgun forums in the past but it's been a few years. I recall there are some different "rules" regarding lubes and lubing, a different hold is needed, can they be dry fired, stuff like that.

So basically, I have a steep learning curve and don't know what I don't know yet.

[stretch]

Couple of things with spring-piston rifles:

1. NO dry-firing! That piston slams up against the
end of it's run with no air cushion, and eventually
things break. If you try it once (or by mistake! ),
you'll be able to feel it right away.
2. NO petroleum-based lubes in the chamber. Dieseling -
sometimes damaging is the result. There's a synthetic
chamber lube available - look at the sirgun sites. Its'
not needed very often. If the piston seal starts to squeak on
cocking you'll need some, but it'll take a lot of shots to
get to that stage.
3. Probably not the best idea to store it with the spring
compressed. It may or may not hurt it, but I always store
the gun with the spring in it's relaxed state.
4. Position and hold: Do what you should be doing in the first
place! Forward elbow directly under the piece, forward hand is
"dead" (not gripping the forearm in any way, just acting as a
rest), pull the stock into the shoulder, but not quite as firmly
as with a conventional rifle, and a good cheek weld. Follow-through
is MUCH more important. That pellet is only moving 600 or 700 fps
(or maybe 1000 in the more hi-powered guns!), so it's in the barrel
longer. Anything you do while it's in there will affect your shot
placement - probably negatively.

-Stretch

[oic0]

I hear piston guns are really hard on scopes due to the unconventional way they recoil. It jerks the gun back and forth rather than just back.

[Rusty]

That's right, you can put the nicest scope you can find and if it's not made for airguns (springers) it will be shaken apart in no time.

[AJMD429]

So basically, I have a steep learning curve and don't know what I don't know yet.

What? Why don't you just read the 88-page instruction manual; subtract out the 22-page section in Spanish, the 22-page section in Chinese, and the 22-page section in Antarctician, and you'll have a 22-page section in English. After you skip the 13 pages of 'cautionary statements' and the 4-pages of authorized service centers, you'll have 5 pages left. Between the large, boxed-in 'warnings' advising you that you should not disassemble it while standing in a pool of flaming gasoline on a rooftop in a thunderstorm, there should be two or three sentences that describe the generic loading and firing of the weapon, although they may apply more directly to models other than the one you have.

Actually, my Ruger firearms manuals are relatively decent, compared to most things these days.

[awp101]

It was a close out without the box but the "manual" was rubber banded to the stock. A total of 4 pages... I'll look at it in a bit.

[junkbug]

Not to hi-jack the thread, but has anyone played with the Sheridan/Beeman .20 cal pneumatic rifles lately. I saw in a different thread Terry Murbach commenting on his he bought in 1969. How are the ones of more recent vintage. I would expect some finish shortcuts, but are they as serviceable and accurate as the old ones. Mr. Murbach's comments reminded me of a rifle the father of one of my friends had in the 1970's. It was truely the Cadillac of air rifles back then. Way out of my league then, when I was happy to have that smooth bore Crossman 760 that I literally wore out. I fired it often without a BB or pellet in it, though I'm not sure if that contributed to its demise.

Not a bad way to keep in shooting form, now that all those 70 round bandoliers of Turkish 7.9mm Mauser for $2.50 are nothing but a memory.

[stretch]

.....you should not disassemble it while standing in a pool of flaming gasoline on a rooftop in a thunderstorm....

Gee, doc - you really know how to take the fun out of things........
we did that all the time when we were kids!!!

-Stretch

[rjohns94]

If you get a sheridan, i recommend the ones from Mac1 guns. they do a super tune on them and you get a very fine weapon in the finished product, with more power and better performance.

[Pete44ru]

The new Umarex/Ruger AirHawk I bought Tuesday had a Ruger-stamped airgun 4x scope & rings in the box with it, ready to be mounted/zeroed.

Airgun scopes are specially-built, and while they can be used on firearms, riflescopes should not be used on springers, since the reticles and/or the lenses will separate tuit'-suite'

The Airhawk has a scope recoil block mounted to the rear of the scope mount grooves that negates the whiplash, but online consumer reviews reveal a high % of scope used have probs with the front scope ring coming unclamped due to recoil, letting the scope go walkabout.

I haven't mounted the scope, though - preferring the excellent fiber-optic front/rear sight the gun was issued with.
They're great for airgun distances, and I've been getting about 1/2" groups @ the 50' my backyard affords.

I could do w/o the auto safety, though - but agree that it's a good idea, considering the young age of the gun's target market.

I need to check out .177 pellet types, though - there seems to be a plethora od choices.

I bought a tin (500) of Daisy HP's, but am thinkin the one of the "penetrators" would do better on larger pasts and or very small game like squills.

.

[JB]

Leupold scopes are will work on spring powered air rifles. The higher level Bushnell scopes will work as well. A scope needs to be braced for the forward recoil in order to hold up on a high powered spring gun. I use Leupolds and Bushnell Elites on magnum spring guns and have never had a problem. I once broke two Burris scopes after being assured by Burris that they were rated for spring guns. Burris repaired both scopes free, but I learned never to use them on my spring guns again.

Some of the cheap "airgun" scopes won't work on the magnum spring guns hower. They might hold up fine on a lower powered gun, but I've known several guys that had the cheap $50.00 airgun scopes die on them.