What diameter is my QB78 family air rifle barrel?

Lots of people as us for clarification about the barrel diameters of QB78 family air rifles - so here's the scoop!

14 mm diameter barrels are found on the QB78 (basic version, NOT the QB78 Deluxe with "gold" effect bolt handle and trigger blade) and the CAR78a carbine version that we sell.

All the other models use a 15mm diameter barrel. This includes the QB78 Deluxe, QB79, AR2078, AR2078A and AR2079A models.

I made precise measurements of 10 units of each diameter barrel - taken at random from our inventory. The 14mm barrels ranged between 14.08mm and 14.17mm outside diameter, so they run a little on the high side.

The 15mm barrels measured gave a low of 14.87mm and a high of 15.02mm, so they seem to run a little under nominal on average.

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The Top Ten Airgun Safety Tips

For all those new air rifle shooters - maybe with an airgun as a Christmas present - here's our "Top Ten" airgun safety tips. This is not all you need to do to be safe, but our list covers many of the critical disciplines that prevent potentially dangerous shooting accidents.

1. Remember air rifles can be dangerous - always treat them with respect.
2. Always assume any gun is loaded and “live” until proven otherwise.

3. Don’t load the rifle until you’re ready to fire.
4. Never touch the trigger until you have the target in sight.
5. Think before you shoot. Don’t shoot unless you know what will be hit if you miss the target - and we ALL miss sometimes...

6. If in doubt - don't fire!

7. Never touch any airgun if someone is in front of you.
8. Never walk in front of anyone holding any gun.
9. Never point any gun at anyone - even if it’s unloaded.
10. Don’t distract or talk to anyone when they’re shooting.

"Have fun, but shoot safe".

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Leapers Red Dot Sight Torture Test

One of the unsung heroes of Archer Airguns is our Leapers Red/Green Dot Sight.

Why? Well we've used this sight in the vast majority of our Gold Service air rifle tests for about 3 years, multiple times every day - and it's battered but still working!


This Leapers red dot sight - model SCP-RD30RGDL - has survived under the same conditions that caused two previous red dot sights from different manufacturers to fail within 3 months. These other red dot sights both failed with non-functioning turret mechanisms.

For our Gold Service testing, we're constantly sighting-in this sight, cranking the elevation and windage turrets back and forth mercilessly. And although the external parts of the turrets (at least) are made of plastic, they've survived this torture-testing without problems.


The sight comes complete with its own mount. This also has survived literally thousands of mounting and dis-mounting operations - you can see the "collateral damage" from this in the photo below. Again, I had one other manufacturer's red dot sight fail with stripped mounting screw threads after a short time - not so with this Leapers model!


And the other surprise is how long the batteries last in use. I can't remember the last time I changed them, but it's probably only about once a year, which is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than anything I hoped for.

So do I like this Leapers Red/Green dot sight? You bet! Apart from its durability, it's easy to use, has a sharp, clear image and unlimited eye relief.

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Which air rifle is best, the Crosman 2260 or QB78?

Which is better, the Crosman 2260 or the QB78?

I've lost count of the number of times we've been asked this question. Both air rifles have their own benefits and league of supporters. Personally, I don't like the Crosman 2260's completely plastic, non-adjustable trigger - compared to the QB78's metal, 3-way adjustable trigger. And again, I prefer the heftier, steel breech and bolt of the QB78 (complete with scope rails) compared to the plastic breech of the 2260 and the requirement for "intermounts" to fit a scope to the thing.

But let's concentrate on something we can measure - for one objective comparison.

The Crosman 2260 uses one 12g Powerlet at a time for propulsion. The QB78 accepts two. So, the QB78 holds twice the amount of CO2 gas. This means that the QB78 makes around twice as many shots per fill as the Crosman 2260. The graph shown here charts muzzle velocities of these two air rifles. The 2260 is in red, the QB78 in green. Both guns are in .22 caliber, unmodified from factory condition.

As you can see, the 2260 started with a higher muzzle velocity than the the QB78 in this test. But this advantage didn't last for long.

Between shots 15 and 28 , the two guns hold muzzle velocities that are very close to each other, but after that the 2260's muzzle velocity collapses completely and rapidly. Its point of impact drops significantly after about shot 30 due to the rapidly decreasing muzzle velocity and the shooter is into "mortaring" mode if he or she elects to continue firing.

As the QB78 hold twice as much gas, its muzzle velocity doesn't begin to seriously degrade until after shot 53. And then the rate of decline in muzzle velocity - and thus the change in point of impact - is much less great shot-to-shot. It's a more manageable decline for the shooter and the plinker may not even notice it until after about shot 60.

So which is better in using gas, the Crosman 2260 or the QB78?

Well, it depends!

If you prefer the slightly higher muzzle velocity of the 2260, it wins. But only if you're prepared to gas-up again after 30 shots and accept its somewhat inconsistent muzzle velocity performance.

If you want consistent muzzle velocity over a much larger number of shots, the QB78 wins. (This translates into better vertical accuracy). It's shot-to-shot muzzle velocity is clearly more consistent than the 2260 - the gun tested hovered between 500 and 520fps for 50 shots. This makes it the plinker's choice. Oh, and did I mention the QB78 has a better trigger, hefty steel breech, provides a much more stable scope mounting platform and is generally more durably built?

What's your opinion?

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