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22 August, 2009

Which QB78 Parts Fit My Crosman 160?

We're often asked this question here at Archer Airguns!

The answer is that many QB78 parts do, in fact, fit the Crosman 160, and also the Crosman 167, Crosman 180 and Crosman 400 models. We publish a list of individual part compatability at http://www.archerairguns.com/crosman-160-airgun-parts-s/24.htm and also list the main parts kits that are available to keep these classic American air rifles in service.

And how to fit them? That's where our QB78 Family Workshop Manual comes in.

This unique 88-page publication gives the information required to make repairs not only to the QB78 family, but also the Crosman 160. The Crosman 167 and 180 models are very similar and can also be repaired using these instructions as a base.

The Crosman 400 is, however, a completely different issue. It's a far more complex air rifle due to the magazine system and we recommend professional repairs for that reason, even though some of the QB78 parts will fit that fine airgun.

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16 August, 2009

The AR2095. The Air Rifle That Never Was.

For several years, the Shanghai Airgun Factory had showed a new PCP air rifle on their website, in catalogs and at the SHOT Show. This model - the AR2095 - has never made it to production and has become something of a mythical beast. But there is one example in captivity and we’ll see it in this blog post.

The owner of the Shanghai Airgun Factory sent me a prototype AR2095 back in 2007 and asked for my opinions. I was, of course, happy to help and provided the requested input. Unfortunately it was not too complimentary. Maybe my view was shared as the AR2095 has never made it to production and has now disappeared from the company’s catalog.

I’ve never shared details of this air rifle before, but here it is in public for the first time.

This AR2095 weighs 6lb 13oz without an air tank and has an overall length of 40.5 inches. The pull length is 15 inches.



The side lever breech mechanism is not unusual for Shanghai as they have used this concept before in the rarely-seen AR2078B and AR2079B models. But probably the most contentious feature to me was the removable air tank concept. The idea was good, but it was - in my view - unnecessarily compromised - by trying to make it also “built in” to the gun. I would have preferred either a built-in fixed tank, as the BAM B50 or an entirely separate tank in QB79 style.

What do you think? Should they have introduced this PCP air rifle?

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13 August, 2009

QB57 Performance Review. Part 2 - Accuracy and trigger Pull


This is my own cutomised QB78, with a re-finished and extended stock, muzzle brake and other modifications.

Here’s some more, never previously published, “hard data” on the performance of the QB57 air rifle from Shanghai Airguns. It’s derived directly from Archer Airguns “Gold Service” testing of these guns and summarises results from a large number of tested guns.

Part 1 covered muzzle velocity testing. In this second part we’ll cover accuracy and trigger pull results.

The factory spec for accuracy is a grouping of 30mm - that’s 1.2 inches - CTC (center to center) at 10m (32 feet) for just 3 shots. This spec is not impressive (in fact it’s terrible), but performance is hugely better in practice. In “Gold Service” testing, we see an average CTC of around 0.6 inches for 10 shots at 10 yards - 2X better than the factory spec - as this chart shows.

This compares very well with the tested accuracy of QB78 family air rifles - it’s about the same CTC as “Gold Service” testing produces with these accurate CO2 guns. And I’m emphatically NOT a good shot with a springer, I just can’t manage a completely consistent hold time-after-time, so good spring rifle shots using pellets the gun “likes” will undoubtedly be able to improve on my accuracy results.

Average accuracy is slightly better for .177s over .22s (just as with the QB78 family), but there’s actually very little in it. It’s too close to call without an even larger population of guns to test. Just give me more time, I’m working on it...

Most of these accuracy results are obtained using a basic Leapers red/green dot scope. Where customers specify our QB57/Leapers Scope Combo, the test results were achieved with that combination. I’ve not differentiated between sighting options in this graph, but you can understand that most of the “tight” groups were sighted with the 4 x 40 scope.

As I measure CTC only to the nearest 1/8-inch, that accounts for the steps in the graph. But, as you can see, here we have an accurate little air rifle!

The QB57 has a long, creepy trigger pull - as you might expect from a cheap bullpup-style air rifle. But it’s actually not that bad and is surprisingly light and consistent. There’s also an adjustment screw, but I never touch that so this data represents completely “stock” trigger performance.

The factory spec provides a very generous range from a maximum pull weight of 5 lbs 10 oz (itself not unusual in a cheap spring-powered air rifle) down to a minimum of 2 lbs 4 oz. But the actual results are much better and are shown in this chart.

The good news is that trigger pull weights are all very close to the minimum factory spec and - as you can see - a reasonable average figure is around 3.0 lbs. Again, a very good performance for such a low cost air rifle. And the trigger is adjustable via a setscrew, so there’s the potential to improve these pull weights beyond the stock factory settings.

So, that’s the QB57! It’s an unique little air rifle and the performance is really very good for such a low cost air rifle. And - being made of real “tree wood” and steel, there’s much potential for tuning and customisation.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this review of the QB57. Try one, you may find it a lot of fun :-)

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About This Blog

This blog shares information, ideas and knowledge about air rifles. It compliments the information Stephen publishes on the Archer Airguns website, on YouTube and the Chinese Airgun Forum.

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