Archer on Airguns

The Archer Airguns Summer Sale Starts Today

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:33:00 +0000

We have a Summer Sale in the Archer Airguns store.

Included sale pricing on selected QB78 family parts, on the QB78 and QB57 Deluxe air rifles and on the Stoeger X20 Suppressor and X50 models in both black and camo stocks.

Here's an example of the performance that can be attained by the Stoger X50 in .22 caliber.

There are also great prices on some Leapers scopes, including "Bugbuster" models.

A few more surprise additions to the sale may take place in future, so keep checking back!

Benjamin Trail Factory Refurbs Available.

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:57:00 +0000

New at Archer Airguns is a range of factory refurbished Benjamin Trail NP XL Magnum air rifles.
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These popular airguns have been refurbished by the Crosman factory in Up-State New York and are offered at great prices complete with a Plano hard gun case, Benjamin sling and mounted CenterPoint 3-9 x 40AO scope. They carry a 30-day Crosman warranty. Look to our Archer Pellet Guns store for details.

Our Benjamin Trail NP XL Magnum air rifle refurbs are available in .25 caliber, .22 caliber and .177 caliber.

These magnum air rifles all feature an ambidextrous, thumbhole stock with ventilated recoil pad, sling swivels and Weaver-style rails for scope mounting. Unlike the standard factory guns, these Benjamin Trail NP XL refurbs have the scope ready mounted for you to sight-in. The Nitro Piston power plant provides high power and all the usual benefits associated with gas rams inthese powerful break barrel air rifles. They're ideal for hunting and the price is tough to beat!

If you want factory fresh - non refurbished - models, we have those too in our Archer Pellet Guns store.

Archer Airguns Sells Parts for Tech Force Air Rifles

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:02:00 +0000

We're often asked if Archer Airguns has parts available for Tech Force air rifles. And, usually, the answer is yes!

Tech Force is the brand name used for many airgun products imported from China by Compasseco Inc. Following Compasseco's purchase by Pyramydair, Pyramyd became the owner of the Tech Force brand and still sells some Tech Force models. Tech Force aiguns usually are designated with the initials TF and a number, eg TF78.

To my knowledge, all Tech Force air rifles were manufactured by the Shanghai Airgun Factory and branded with the Tech Force name. Tech Force guns are otherwise identical to the Industry Brand models manufactured by Shanghai Airguns.

So, if we know the appropriate Tech Force and Industry Brand model names, understanding what parts are available becomes much easier. In this post, we'll see how some of the more popular models match up. Note that sometimes the TF number matches with the QB number, but others have quite different - even confusing - number differences.

Below, This photo shows an Industry Brand QB78 Deluxe. The same gun was sold as the Tech Force TF78 Gold Series.

Here's some more examples:
Tech Force TF78 = QB78
Tech Force TF78GS = QB78 Deluxe
Tech Force TF78T = QB79
Tech Force TF79 = AR2078A
TF79T = AR2079
TF67 = QB57 Deluxe
TF3-1 = B3-1
TF99 = QB36-2
TF58 = QB58

Check out the Archer Airguns Parts Pages to see what's available for your Tech Force air rifle.

I'd like to thank Pyramydair for their help in confirming the product matches given in this post.

Xisico XS46U Close Up Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:15:00 +0000

New to Archer Airguns is the Xisico XS46U underlever air rifle. So, I thought many readers would be interested to see some closeups of this model, particularly as there's a surprise to be found once the stock is removed.

There's an underlever release mechanism situated below the front sight assembly. Pull back on the end of the lever to disengage.

The cocking lever comes down like this.

Here's a view of the cocking mechanism linkage.

Passing towards the rear of the XS46U, we can see the rear open, fiber optic sights, adjustable for elevation and windage. The loading port is directly behind the sights.

For safety, there's a lever that must be thumbed forward before the cocking lever can be raised back to the shooting position.

With the stock removed, the linkage for this safety mechanism is clearly seen.

Here's the surprise! This comparison of the XS46U with the mortal remains of an old Shanghai Airguns QB36-2 (aka Tech Force TF 99) shows a very strong family resemblance, as you can see. The compression chambers of both guns are actually the same length, although the perspective of the photograph makes them look different.

Now obviously the XS46U is not "the same gun" as the QB36-2, but it looks as if both use some common assemblies. That certainly makes sense from a product design and manufacturing perspective and such similarities are far from uncommon elsewhere in the airgun world, as many people know.

Special Deal on QB18 Air Rifle With FREE Scope

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:09:00 +0000

Now that our special on the QB6 air rifle is nearly over - there's just a couple of rifles remaining - we have a new special on the QB18. The QB18 air rifle was manufactured by the Shanghai Airgun Factory. Our QB18s are new, in their original boxes, but have been sitting in a warehouse for 3 or 4 years. They are clean and serviceable, ideal for use in informal target shooting or plinking. The easy break barrel cocking and fairly light weight means that these guns remain fun to shoot for a long period (unlike many more powerful spring-powered air rifles). And they're just $54.99 each!

The QB18 is light weight break barrel air rifle that's easy to cock and use fun to use. The muzzle velocity specification is 600fps in .177 caliber and we're seeing muzzle velocities ranging from 580 fps with heavy (7.92 grain) wadcutter pellets to 725fps with lead-free pellets in samples we've tested, so that specification is pretty accurate.

As a bonus, these guns are supplied with a FREE unmounted 4 x 32 scope and rings - a $10.00 value! True, this is not the greatest scope ever made, but it works well with the QB18 and gives improved practical accuracy compared to the open sights.

Testing at Archer Airguns has found the barrels on these guns to be remarkably accurate. The only downside is that the trigger is heavy. We've recorded pull weights around 6lbs. This is an inherent characteristic of many spring/piston air rifles of this basic type and many shooters are quite happy with the trigger once they become used to it.

Archer Airguns Bronze Service testing only is available, but every QB18 sold will be test-fired 3 times for functionality. At this price, please do not expect the gun to be absolutely perfect, some may benefit from a little "tender, loving care". As you will understand, we cannot offer replacements or refunds on these guns. If you cannot accept these terms, please do not buy.

The QB18 is solidly constructed in the traditional manner from wood and metal, with just a few plastic parts. At our pricing, this is a great deal! Available in limited quantities in .177 caliber only.

More Triggers, Stocks and Barrels Available Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:03:00 +0000

The latest delivery of parts from the Shanghai Airgun Factory to Archer Airguns allows us to make available again a number of our popular parts kits that have been out of stock for some time.

Among the kits returning are the QB78 Deluxe Trigger and Bolt Handle Kit - this has the gold effect trigger blade and bolt handle, as pictured above.

Also available again is the AR2078A "target" stock kit. This fits all QB78 models and is a very popular upgrade for the basic QB78 and QB78 Deluxe. Again, we have a limited number of Special Select stocks available. These show figuring in the wood and are very attractive at the small premium asked over the standard grade stocks.

For Beeman Model 1073 air rifle owners (AKA the Beeman Grizzly X2, Beeman RS2 and "Walmart Beeman"), the .22 caliber barrels for Beeman Sportsman Series are back in stock.

Another parts kit returning is the Stock Screw Cap Kit for Beeman Sportsman Series. Lots of people obviously loose those little plastic screw covers from the front of the stock, so we have them back again.

An upgraded QB78 Air Rifle from The Netherlands

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:23:00 +0000

Steve Groenewegen, one of our Dutch customers, kindly sent some photographs of his upgraded QB78 air rifle.

As you can see, Steve's air rifle looks very good! He's fitted it with a Walther 6 x 42 scope and an NcStar bipod, which is mounted onto the forend of the stock. The silencer is from a Weirauch HW100 that is mounted on the barrel with an adapter. Note that - unlike the US - most European countries encourage the use of silencers on air rifles, so this fitting is legal on Steve's gun in The Netherlands.

Steve also has fitted an Archer Airguns Oversize Bolt Handle to his airgun and an Archer Airguns XP Tune Kit. He also supplied test data showing that this rig achieves a muzzle velocity of 616fps at only 54 degrees F with 11.9 Grain RWS Sportline pellets. That's about 9.27 ft/lbs.

As the muzzle velocity of QB78-type air rifles increases with temperature at about 2 fps per degree F, that means that Steve's gun would be shooting at about 656fps at 74 degrees F.

Very nice!

Steve, thanks for sharing...

Another AR2078A Air Rifle Test Target

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Here's a test target from today's Gold Service testing. It shows the results we obtained from a new Industry Brand AR2078A air rifle that was shipped to a customer this afternoon.

The 10-shot group is reasonably typical of what we achieve with unselected (and cheap!) The Peak wadcutter pellets. I could have called the furthest left shot a flyer as I knew at the time I'd "pulled" the shot a little, but as it was still in the main group, it was counted. Most customers will shoot better than me!

The trigger pull weight is about average for an AR2078A and the standard deviation of 6fps is very close to the normal average of 5 fps that we find with QB78-type air rifles.

The main difference from normal was the muzzle velocity. Before starting the test, I found that this gun was shooting somewhat slow - about 580 fps at 63 degrees F - so I swapped the breech seal for an Archer Airguns high flow replacement. The result was that the muzzle velocity jumped to an average of 649 fps at 63 degrees F, as you can see.

Swapping the breech seal is a normal part of what Archer Airguns does for a Gold Service test on a QB78 family air rifle if the muzzle velocity of the gun being tested is significantly adrift from the manufacturer's specifications - in this case, 600fps at 65 degrees F for these guns in .177 caliber.

As the muzzle velocity of all CO2 guns varies with temperature, we always quote the temperature in any figures published by Archer Airguns. That 650fps at 63 degrees F is going to equal a muzzle velocity of around 690fps at 85 degrees F with the same gun and same pellets.

Beware any muzzle velocities quoted for QB78-type air rifles that don't indicate the pellet and temperature also!

Easter offer: Stoeger X50s fitted with FREE GTXaa trigger.

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:38:00 +0000

Special Easter Offer! Until 15 April 2012, all Stoeger X50 air rifles ordered from Archer Airguns will be fitted with a GTXaa trigger upgrade - a further saving of $42.98!

We have the X50 in stock in both .177 and .22 calibers with the black synthetic stocks. Price is $279.00, including the free, installed GTXaa trigger and free shipping. This X50 page in our store is here.

Also in stock is the X50 with Realtree camo synthetic stock in .177 caliber. Price is $319.00, including the free, installed GTXaa trigger and free shipping. Here's the product page in our store.

The GTXaa provides a huge improvement compared to the standard factory trigger and transforms these fine air rifles. Everyone wants the GTX trigger upgrade - with this offer, you can get it for free!

Our photograph shows an X50 with black synthetic stock. Please note that pellets are not included with this offer and are shown in the photograph for size comparison only.

New Industry Brand B3 Parts Kits - Including That Cocking Lever Clip!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:08:00 +0000

I've lost count of the number of times people have telephoned Archer Airguns to ask "Do you have that clip that holds the cocking lever in place under the barrel on the Industry Brand B3 air rifle?"

Well now - for the first time - the answer is "yes!".

Archer Airguns has two new parts kits for the Shanghai Airguns B3-1, B3-2 and B3-4 air rifles.

The first is our Repair Parts Kit for Industry Brand B3 Air Rifles. This contains the most frequently requested parts, including breech seals, piston seals, sear, sear spring and cocking lever clip. You can see this pictured above.

Also, for those who only want the underlever clip, we have the Archer Airguns Underlever Clip Assembly for Industry Brand B3 Air Rifles Kit. This contains two of the previously-unobtainable underlever clips for B3 air rifles. Why two in a kit? Well, the spring steel of these clips does not last forever and you're sure to need another!

Of course, all the parts in these kits are genuine Shanghai factory parts, specially packed by Archer Airguns. They're in stock now. They're the ideal way to keep that old B3 air rifle in working condition...

XS28M Combos Now With Weaver-Style Mounts

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:03:00 +0000

As a result of continued testing, we've found that Archer Airguns XS28M scope combos will be a better solution for most users if the scope mounting is done using Weaver-style attachment. So, we're bundling a Leapers dovetail to Weaver rail adapter with our XS28M combos and - obviously - Weaver mount rings also.

The Weaver-style adapter fits the Xisico XS28M perfectly - as you can see from this photo.

It makes a really strong scope mount and prevents the possibility that the scope mount will "walk back" off of the standard airgun dovetail rails.

Below is a photograph of the revised XS28M Weaver combo with the 4-16 x 40AO Rex scope.

So are there any downsides to these revised combos? Well, the price is increased by $20.00 and the centerline of the scope is raised a little - although we are minimizing the effect by using low rings. I still find the cheek weld to be good, however, even with the slightly higher scope position.

To me the XS28 Weaver combos make a lot of sense for most of us. But if you're happy with the non-Weaver approach, we have maintained one XS28M combo that uses the factory dovetails.

Test Target for Xisico XS28M

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Here's an early Archer Airguns Gold Service test target for an Xisico XS28M air rifle. As you can see, there's a great 10-shot group, with good shot to shot consistency (shown by the low standard deviation of 8.94 fps) and a low trigger pull weight of only 2.5 lbs.

Muzzle velocity averaged 872 fps - this was a .22 caliber gun - giving close to 25 ft/lbs of muzzle energy with mid weight Stoeger X-Field pellets. Of course this much lower than the manufacturer's specification of 1,000 fps, but realistically it's what we would expect from a magnum spring/piston air rifle of this type.

Overall we have very good performance, particularly given the price of just $149.99 for the gun only.

Oh yes, there's just one more thing...

You'll see that the test target describes the gun as XS-B28. The gun itself and it's box are marked as XS-B28, but Xisico is starting to use new names for its products - XS28M in this case - and that's how we are describing them in our store.

Closeup Photos of the Xisico XS28M

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:41:00 +0000

In response to a number of emails for more information about the Xisico XS28M air rifle, here are a number of photographs I've taken today of a gun drawn entirely at random from Archer Airguns stock...

The scope mount.

The ventilated buttpad looks like this.

Here's some checkering on the wrist of the stock.

This is the T-05 style trigger assembly.

The rear sight area from above.

A lower view of the rear sight and barrel pivot area looks like this.

Here's part of the stock inletting. It's surprisingly good for a part of the gun that's not expected to be seen by most owners.

And finally, here's a view of the cocking linkage, obviously with the stock removed!

I hope you're as impressed as I am!

Archer Airguns Introduces Xisico Air Rifles

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:42:00 +0000

Xisico - pronounced "Sisco" - rhyming with San Francisco - is the manufacturer of many very popular air rifles that are marketed under other brand names. And while the majority of Xisico production is made for other companies, Archer Airguns is proud to be selling a range of Xisico air rifles under their own brand.

Xisico is a US company with manufacturing facilities in China. Their factory has been manufacturing rifles since the 1960s, today the vast majority of production is air rifles and pistols for customers around the world.

The first model we're introducing is the XS28M air rifle. This is a magnum power airgun that's offered at a great price. It's ideal for long range shooting and hunting so long as it's shot using the Artillery Hold to achieve the inherent accuracy of the gun.

As you can see in our store, we're also offering the first of what we plan to be a range of scope combos with the XS28M air rifle - these combos offer even better value in pricing.

More details to follow as we expand the range of products in the Xisico pages of the Archer Airguns store. Watch this space!

New Stoeger Airguns Pellet Sampler and Cleaning Ropes

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

There's a couple of small, but interesting, new additions at Archer Airguns. Both come from Stoeger Airguns.

First is the Stoeger Airguns Pellet Sampler Package. This provides a convenient, low cost way to try six of the types of Stoeger premium pellets - all except the X-Sport 7.48 Grain wadcutters - in .177 caliber. There's 205 pellets in the sampler and they're conveniently packed in tubes that you can take into the field for use.

Stoeger pellets are German made and are of high quality. We've had a lot of success with them and use the X-Field pellets for Archer Airguns Gold Service testing of high power air rifles. And .177 caliber Stoeger X-Speed pellets produced the best 10-shot test target of every pellet type we tested last Summer in the Beeman RS2 dual barrel air rifle.

Stoeger X-Speed are the only lead free pellets I've tested that show accuracy comparable to lead pellets. Their performance is really outstanding and they are - to me - worth every penny of their admittedly high price.

The Stoeger Pellet Sampler Package is available only for .177 caliber at the present time.

The other new product is the Stoeger Airguns Cleaning Rope. Air rifle barrels don't require cleaning often, but when they do, this is the best way to do it!

The Cleaning Rope is a convenient re-usable "pull through" that is the ideal way to clean the delicate rifling of airgun barrels without the risk of damage that's always present if a rod is used for this task. There's a brass weight to lead the rope through the barrel and bronze brush elements built-in that actually do the cleaning. Clear instructions are included on the packaging.

Available for both .177 and .22 calibers, these Cleaning Ropes are reusable and can be washed if required.

Sidelever Breech Kit Upgrade for QB78 Family Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Now you can convert your QB78, QB79, AR2078, AR2078A or AR2079B air rifle to sidelever operation - just like the super-rare AR2078B and AR2079B models. This new Archer Airguns Sidelever Breech Kit for QB78 Family includes all the official Shanghai factory parts that you need to make this conversion, together with replacement barrel O rings and a high flow breech seal.

The sidelever breech is shown installed on a QB78 Deluxe in these photographs. Above, the gun has the bolt open for loading and below it's closed and ready to fire.

The sidelever breech makes these guns easier to cock, and it looks really cool. There's just a couple of limitations.

The main one is that it's available for .177 caliber only. The factory doesn't make a .22 version as they use this breech for their top of the line target models only.

Also, as the bolt itself is a different design, the Archer Airguns XP Tune Kit will not fit the sidelever action. But you will gain a muzzle velocity increase of about 40fps compared to a standard factory gun if you install this sidelever breech kit together with the high flow breech seal supplied, instead of reusing the standard factory breech seal.

Again, Archer Airguns special relationship and contacts with the Shanghai Airguns factory allows us to offer this unique up-grade for QB78 family air rifles. I hope you find it interesting!

Interview With Stephen Archer in International Shooting Industry Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:03:00 +0000

The latest (March) issue of Gun Trade World, the international industry magazine for the shooting sports, featured an interview with Stephen Archer. In the interview, I discussed some insights behind Archer Airguns, as well as share thoughts about where I see the airgun business moving in future.

You can see the interview on page 19 of Gun Trade World, March 2012. A snapshot is included here (double click the image to make it larger).

The same issue featured a review of the international airgun business - starting on page 44. It makes interesting reading to see how airguns are viewed by professionals "in the trade".

Are you surprised by the industry perspective on our sport?

Beeman 1073, RS2, Grizzly X2, Walmart Beeman Dual Barrel Test Review Results - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:22:00 +0000

This time we're looking at the muzzle energy produced by the Beeman model 1073 air rifle, also known as the RS2 and Grizzly X2.

Muzzle energy represents the "hitting power" of the air rifle. It's a very different thing to muzzle velocity. A heavy pellet shooting slowly may have a higher muzzle energy than a light pellet shooting much faster. As an extreme example, a cannon ball traveling at walking pace may demolish a stone wall, yet a (much lighter) ping pong ball traveling 1,000 times faster will simply bounce off the same wall.

In my opinion, muzzle energy is a much more meaningful measurement of air rifle performance than muzzle velocity, as muzzle velocity is a more or less meaningless number unless the pellet it's achieved with is also specified.

As you can see from the chart here, the Beeman produces somewhere between 14.5 and 18.5 ft/lbs of muzzle energy - which is about what would be expected. A typical muzzle energy, attainable by a wide range of pellets, is around 16.5 ft/lbs, as the line of best fit shows.

The data that produced this chart is listed below.
Interestingly, the highest three muzzle energies were produced in .22 caliber.

18.6 ft/lbs muzzle energy was achieved using light .22 caliber Stoeger X-Speed lead-free pellets with a weight of 10.22 Grains.

17.7 ft/lbs muzzle energy came from very heavy .22 caliber Stoeger X-Power pellets with 21.14 Grain weight.

17.3 ft/lbs was achieved by .22 caliber Crosman Premier domed pellets weighing 14.4 Grains.

The pellets with the highest muzzle velocity - Stoeger X-Speed lead free pellets in .177 caliber - weighing a mere 5.66 Grains were next highest with 17.1 ft/lbs. This proves that the lightest pellets - with the highest muzzle velocities - do not necessarily translate into the highest muzzle energy.

So, a final conclusion is that the Beeman 1073, Grizzly X2, RS2 typically gives about 16.5 ft/lbs of muzzle energy in both .177 and .22 calibers, although it will tend to produce higher muzzle energies in the larger caliber, depending on the pellet being used.

For the price being offered at Walmart for this air rifle. It's a bargain!

AR2078B and AR2079B Both Now in Stock.

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:21:00 +0000

Now in stock again at Archer Airguns is the very rare AR2078B - the sidelever cocking, competition version of the popular AR2078A CO2-powered target air rifle that uses 2 x 12 gram Powerlets to propel the pellets for about 60 shots from one fill.

The AR2078B scores with its easy cocking and accuracy. A factory test target and quality inspection sheet is included with every gun - as is shown in the photograph above.

But wait! There's more...

Also available at Archer Airguns - for the first time - is the AR2079B model.

Even more rare than the AR2078B, the AR2079B is a very similar CO2-powered target rifle with sidelever cocking. But it is designed to be used with either 9-ounce paintball tanks or 88 gram AirSource tanks - both require an adapter that is also for sale in our store. Using these larger CO2 supplies increases the number of shots per fill into the hundreds and also gives somewhat more consistent muzzle velocities due to the greater volume of CO2 stored in these tanks.

Very limited quantities are available.

Beeman 1073, RS2, Grizzly X2, Walmart Beeman Dual Barrel Test Review Results

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:08:00 +0000

First off, I apologize for the long gap in posting! Normal service is resumed as of this post...

This post contains the first results of a significant test review on the Beeman dual barrel air rifle sold at WalMart and known by a number of names including 1073, RS2 and Grizzly X2. This time we're looking at the muzzle velocity capabilities of this Beeman air rifle.

The photo shows the Beeman RS2 with the Archer Airguns Sniper Upgrade Kit.

Because the RS2, 1073, Grizzly X2 - or whatever you call it - is available with interchangeable barrels, it provides an excellent opportunity to test the comparative performance of the same gun shooting both .177 and .22 pellets. The barrels were simply swapped to compare the two calibers!

As you can see from the data presented below, there is a very interesting graph showing the relationship between muzzle velocity and pellet weight. The "line of best fit" on the graph shows the basic general trend of the individual point results.

The data creating this graph looks like this...

As you can see, the highest muzzle velocity was achieved - unsurprisingly - by the lightest pellet, the Crosman Silver Eagle. But the .22 caliber Stoeger X-Power pellets weighing nearly 5 times greater than the lead free Crosmans, were still fired at half the muzzle velocity.

Yet note that lighter pellets are not always necessarily faster than heavier ones.

So, we can say that the Beeman Dual Barrel air rifle is capable of muzzle velocities around 1,200fps with lead-free pellets in .177 caliber. This close-up of the .177 caliber data shows that the Beeman is still producing 772fps with the heaviest .177 caliber pellets tested, the 11.7 grain Stoeger X-Magnum pellets. This means that the claim of 1,000fps for this air rifle in .177 caliber is justified.

And here is a focus on the .22 caliber performance.

Note that most of the .22 pellets tested had quite similar weights, hence the grouping in the middle of the graph.

This information, in itself, shows the difficulty of answering the "how fast does this airgun shoot?" question. It also leads us to consider that muzzle energy - rather than muzzle velocity - may be a better method of assessing the performance of an air rifle. We'll look at the muzzle energy performance of this Beeman air rifle in future.

QB57 Scope and Mount Choices

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:15:00 +0000

We've received quite a few questions recently about the situation regarding scopes for the QB57 air rifle, so I hope that this up-date will be useful...

As the QB57 scope mount is part of the barrel assembly - and thus far forward - eye relief questions come into play when using scopes on the gun. We have addressed this issue by offering scope combo versions of the QB57, utilizing long eye relief scopes. However, sadly, our QB57 scope combos are currently available. This is because Leapers have discontinued manufacture of all three long eye relief scopes that we have used for these combos: there are none remaining for us to buy

One solution to this issue is to use a scope with standard eye relief and mount this on the gun using the Leapers Offset Mount, such as the one you can see in this link. This approach has always been the preference of some QB57 owners because it allows almost any scope to be used with the gun.

Another is to mount a red dot sight on the gun as this has infinite eye relief. The issue here is finding a red dot scope that fits airgun rails, as most current red dot sights have Weaver mounts, requiring the Leapers Tactical Adapter Rail.

As a third option, we will be at the SHOT Show in 10 days time and plan to check with Leapers - and other vendors - for any other long eye relief scopes that could be suitable for use on the QB57. Leapers do have some new long eye relief scopes in the works, so we'll be establishing if they are suitable for use on the QB57. I'll let you know what we discover.

Help! I Can't Cock My New Stoeger Air Rifle...

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:53:00 +0000

At Archer Airguns, we've heard this cry enough times now that it's obviously useful to post this information on how to cock Stoeger air rifles.

If you simply try to break the barrel by pulling it down, the gun will probably not break - however hard you pull. The obvious conclusion for new owners is that their beautiful new gun is broken somehow.

But if you hold the gun securely and then tap down with your hand sharply on top of the front of the barrel, it breaks very easily. The barrel can then be pulled down for cocking. This is what page 10 of the operator's manual for Stoeger Airguns is trying to describe. It's this sharp tap that's key to breaking the barrel.

We've had a number of customers unable to break the barrel on their new Stoeger airgun - each time it's been resolved by using this tapping techique.

As one customer described it: "Give the barrel a good rap on the end - like rapping a disobedient pup on the nose - to break the barrel, then pull down to cock". Well said!

New Camo Dip and More Service for Air Rifle Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:03:00 +0000

The new year has arrived and this is a great time to give your air rifle a whole new look!

The new Camo Dip and More service from Archer Airguns allows you to give a totally unique appearance to your air rifle stock - no two are exactly alike.

The pattern shown here is Mossy Oak (TM) Blaze Winter - a seasonal choice that's been applied to a Stoeger X20 black synthetic stock. What a difference!!!!!!!

Maybe you would prefer your air rifle to have a camo pattern that blends in to the background when hunting. Or maybe your favorite airgun's stock is looking a little tired and would benefit from refreshing. Perhaps the stock is a rather boring black synthetic - like that of the Stoeger X20 shown here - and you would like a change.

The Camo Dip and More service allows you to choose from a wide range of patterns - including those from market leaders such as Realtree (TM) and Mossy Oak (TM). Just remove the stock from your air rifle, send it to Archer Airguns and it will be returned to you with a whole new look. It's easy to order and the cost is very competitive...

Notice how our experts have carefully run the pattern right around the molded trigger guard that's integral with the stock. The buttpad was removed prior to the service, then reinstalled to give the sharp, black contrast effect.

The Archer Airguns Camo Dip and More service is highly specialized. We just work with air rifle stocks using the process known as camo dipping or hydrographics. You can find this new service in our Archer Pellet Guns store. Start choosing a new look for your favorite air rifle stock!

New QB79 Custom Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:32:00 +0000

At the request of several customers, Archer Airguns has today launched a QB79 Custom Shop. Although we have been building QB79-based guns through our QB78 Deluxe Custom Shop, this has required telephone conversations to arrange and is not so user friendly as we would like.

Hence the QB79 Custom Shop is available for those of you who like the QB78 Deluxe Custom Shop concept, but would prefer your gun to be based on the QB79 platform, allowing the use of 9-oz paintball or Airsource tanks for huge numbers of shots per fill.

You can see details on the QB79 Custom Shop by clicking this link.

And, just to whet your appetite, here are photos of two more QB78 Custom Shop guns that were shipped out yesterday. The top gun has a particularly-dramatic QB78 Deluxe "Special Select" stock and 91/30 bolt handle. The lower one featured a mounted scope and all the power mods.

At the QB78 Deluxe Custom Shop, every air rifle is unique - thanks to you!

AR2078B First Test Target

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Archer) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:22:00 +0000

Here's the target from the first "Gold Service" test I've made of an AR2078B air rifle.

This is about the best 10-shot group I've ever produced from a QB78-family air rifle in our standard test conditions, and confirms the factory's claims of increased accuracy for this model. It's also interesting to see how similarly-shaped was the group I shot compared to the factory test. (See the previous blog post right below this one).

In accordance with our standard "Gold Service" testing, I used " the Peak" wadcutter pellets straight from the tin. I've no doubt that there's more accuracy to come from the AR2078B with careful pellet selection and experimentation. And - of course - with a better shot than me pulling the trigger!

The sidelever cocking mechanism was fast and easy to use. I would say it's definitely a step forward in ease-of-use for those shooters who find the standard bolt action to be a little tough in operation.