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31 January, 2011

The QB6 folding air rifle is back!


For those of you who have been saddened by the demise of low cost folding-stock "bombproof" Chinese air rifles such as the BAM B3-1, help is at hand!

Archer Airguns has secure the supply of a limited number of QB6 air rifles, releasing them from years of slumber in a forgotten warehouse. These guns have the cool - MP38/40 style - underfolding buttstock and, with a folded length of 24.5-inches, they're ideal for the backpack or any use where a compact, yet surprisingly powerful, air rifle is required.



I'm seeing muzzle velocities of 600fps in .177 caliber and 500fps in .22 caliber from my sampling of these guns.

The QB6 air rifle is ideally suited for use with a low cost red-dot sight and our Black Sling Kit fits pefectly onto the built-in sling swivels for carrying the gun.



We have the QB6 available in both .177 and .22 calibers. At least while stocks last. No "Gold Service" testing is available on these bargains, but every one will be fired 3 times before shipment to ensure functionality. Enjoy!!!

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29 January, 2011

New Parts Kits for QB36-2 and B3-1 Air Rifles

People kept asking - and finally we have them!

The latest new products at Archer Airguns are two official factory parts kits for the QB36-2 and Shanghai B3-1 air rifles.

The QB36-2 parts kit contains a replacement factory main spring, two breech seals and a main piston seal for this powerful air rifle - together with a tube of oil and a cleaning kit. These parts also fit the Tech Force TF99 which, of course, is exactly the same air rifle sold under different branding.

A similar parts kit is also available for the Shanghai Airguns-manufactured Industry Brand B3-1, B3-1 and B3-4 models.

These are the underlever guns with the sprung steel cocking lever catch. This kit will also fit the corresponding Tech Force models - TF 34 and TF38. These models look like the ones shown here.

Of course, there are many different B3 air rifle models, including side lever guns and versions manufactured by BAM and other Chinese manufacturers, as well as by Shanghai Airguns over a long period. The parts from this kit MAY fit some of these other models, but I've not tested this so please don't buy for other B3 guns unless you have a sense of adventure and will tolerate disappointment if you get unlucky with your particular gun...

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12 January, 2011

Finally! The 100% Compatible HDD Kit for QB78 Family Air Rifles.



As of this month, the QB78 HDD has been shipping with a CNC-manufactured hammer pin that's designed by Steve_in_NC specifically to provide guaranteed compatibility with the HDD itself.

This removes the issue found in our extensive HDD testing program that about 10% of factory hammer pins were too large in diameter to fit the HDD.

To be clear, this means that the HDD fits the QB78, QB78 Deluxe, QB79, AR2078, AR2078A, AR2079A and all clones and other versions of these models such as the Tech Force TF78 and TF79 series marketed in the US and the SMK XS78 etc marketed in the UK.

The HDD itself remains the same and still provides an outstanding improvement of greater than 40% in muzzle energy for the same gas use.

Also, the HDD kit is now shipping with an improved breech seal that makes assembly much easier. This is a square-section hard rubber ring that locates perfectly in the QB78 Main Tube aperture and stays in place while the HDD is assembled. It compresses when the breech screws are tightened-down and gives an excellent seal. There's no deformation and airflow restriction as is experienced with the factory seal. And, unlike the hard plastic breech seals we've previously supplied, they are both more precise in thickness and re-usable.

You can find the HDD on our site.

The new breech seal is also shipping in our "XP" Tune Kits.

As usual, we've done extensive testing on this new breech seal on a wide range of QB78-family air rifles and it works faultlessly. A few of you will already have received this breech seal in HDD and "XP" Tune Kits as we started the change-over to the new style part. But 6 January - was the official availability date for these improvements to our products.

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03 January, 2011

QB57 Tune - How I did it by John Giglio

Our first post of 2011 comes from a customer. John Giglio purchased a QB57 from Archer Airguns and then tuned it. This post describes what John did, in his own words.

NOTE: As with any work on spring-powered air rifles, you need to have an airgun spring compressor and know how to use it - as John obviously does. If not, considerable danger can be caused by the gun's mainspring if improperly removed.


John writes...

I purchased a QB57 a few weeks ago from Archer airguns and thought I would add a few comments to the information already available on the web.

Overall I agree with Stephen Archer’s assessment of of the QB 57 as a sturdy and accurate air gun. It is a comfortable gun to hold; however, the combination of the extremely long trigger travel and the short length of pull created by the bullpup stock combine to make firing the gun feel rather awkward. I find that my finger simply does not fall in the proper position to allow for the correct trigger squeeze. I think I may have to add a butt extension at some point, as Stephen did with his own QB 57.

Also, because one’s ear is directly next to the receiver, the gun seems startlingly loud, and this can interfere with accuracy as well as health. I really suggest ear protection. Despite these facts, I enjoy shooting the gun, and, as Stephen says, it is a unique and interesting addition to an air gun collection.

I did a basic tune up on the piston, compression chamber, etc.. The chamber itself was surprisingly smooth for a Chinese gun, and I ended up not needing my brake hone at all, especially with the synthetic seal. As firing – despite the long pull – was fairly smooth I got lazy and left the trigger and sear alone. I only gave what areas I could reach a quick degreasing, and a tiny touch of moly here and there.

Although there are no complete tuning guides on line for the QB 57, as there are for other Chinese guns, you can find Russ Sauer’s B-3 tuning guide and CharlieDa Tuna’s Fast Deer guide easily enough, and between the two you pretty much have the QB-57 covered.

One thing that is different about this gun is that when removing the block that holds the spring in place (in your spring compressor for sure with this gun), you don’t just knock out a pin to free it up; there are two screws on either side of the receiver that hold it in place. Remove the one behind the sear first; it is a bit puzzling because it is held in place with a square block rather than a slotted, Philips, or hex head. Nevertheless, if you just fit a wrench or pliers to this square and treat it like a bolt it unscrews just fine (see pic). Mine was in really tight and at first I wondered if I had things right. After you remove this screw, take out the slot-headed screw on the opposite side, and then you can back your block and spring out.


Removing the top screw from the receiver. John's spring compressor is in use here.


Removing the lower retaining screw from the receiver. Action still in the spring compressor!

The only really new thing I can add to tuning this gun is you might want to fit some washers on either side of the cocking arm pin. I didn’t like the amount of play in the arm – it really seemed to flop around – so I found appropriate sized steel washers to fit on either side of the pivot hole in the arm, and that tightened things up perfectly. I did, however, have to grind them down thinner, as I couldn’t find ones thin enough to work. I added a little moly when fitting it all together.

Arrows show where John fitted the washers.

I also took a little time to sand out the cut-out indentations in the fore-grip, which had been left rough and partially un-stained by the factory. I re-stained these bits with some mahogany Minwax when I was through and it helped with appearances. Areas that wouldn’t take stain because they still had some Chinese varnish soaked in I hit with a brown sharpie marker.

Lastly, I used a suggestion Mike Melick posted long ago and went over the stock with some Carnauba wax. This did wonders for my QB 78, and it helped out with the finish here, too. It helps even out the finish of the stock, as sometimes there are variations in the level of gloss or dullness on the same stock of these Chinese guns.

The QB 57 is unique in that it seems to prompt many variations on how people fit it out with sights. The scope rails are too far from the eye to simply fit a scope the conventional way: your eye will be simply too far away and you will have to thrust your head forward while shooting. Stephen Archer has solved this problem by offering a long eye-relief scope which is also nicely compact; however, it doesn’t have AO, which is something I was set on.

I was pleased to find that, despite its “compact” size (the gun is actually surprisingly big and heavy when assembled) the QB 57 can easily take a full-size scope and remain balanced. The longer-tubed scope gets the eyepiece closer to where it needs to be than if you used a Bug-Buster or other compact AO scope. I gained a little more by adding a pair of Leaper’s offset-mounts. They were only $13, and when combined with the Leapers inexpensive 4 x 32 Golden Image AO scope it makes a nice compliment for a gun in this price range. The set-up isn’t perfect in terms of comfort, but it’s close enough to work for good shooting.

And this gun really can shoot. My tuning helped make it less harsh, and made cocking so much more pleasant. I was surprised how quickly the gun settled down: after about fifteen shots after tuning I shot the group below: at ten yards, four of the five pellets went into one elongated hole; the other probably would have, too, if I had shot better.

Overall I think you can’t go wrong with this gun, especially if you have a lot of conventional rifles or pistols and would like a change of pace.

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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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