QB57 Seconds are back!

First an apology. This is my first post for a month.

Why the long pause? Well we've been very busy fulfilling customer orders (our TOP PRIORITY), taking year end inventory, attending the SHOT Show, suffering from a heavy cold and a whole load of other things.

Anyhow, now normal service is resumed!

As of today, we have a few QB57 Deluxe air rifles available as "seconds" in .177 caliber. These guns all have dings, cracks, scratches or gouges in the wood. But they shoot and provide an ideal project gun. A little tender love and attention can make them into a very attractive air rifle.

As usual, there are limited supplies available and they sell very fast at the low price being asked.

The photograph below shows how Doug Wall - a customer - refinished a QB57 seconds model last year. He sprayed the stock with bedliner, fitted the barrel with a fake suppresor, added a long eye relief shotgun scope and tuned the gun. Very nice, Doug!



How will you refinish and modify your QB57 Seconds?

Read more...

Customer Test Target from QB79 Air Rifle

The following message comes from Wesley and is posted here with his permission.

Wesley writes...

"Here is a photograph of the accuracy of a QB79 .22 caliber. The gun was sighted in at 25 yards by me using Crosman HPs and a fixed 4 x 32 AO Winchester scope. The target was shot by me from a bench at 10 yds. Center to center group was three shots with CHSs to see where the pellets hit at 10 yards.

Top left Gamo 15.21 gr pointed 5 shots. Top right JSB Exact 15.6 gr dome 5 shots and lower right was H&N 12.65 gr Hp also 5 shots.

Archer Airguns built this gun for me in November with XP Tune Kit, tuned valve, HDD. You can always spend more, but for me you won't get better."



Click the image for a larger view of Wesley's test target.

Wesley, thanks for your comments. That's great shooting!

Note, Wesley ordered his gun through Archer Airguns QB79 Custom Shop.

Read more...

January 2014 Airgun Hobbyist Magazine Preview

This next issue of Airgun Hobbyist magazine will be shipping from 1 January, 2014 - subscribers should receive their copies about a week later, as usual.

The contents of this issue are exciting and include reviews of the following airguns:
- Evanix GTL380S
- Cometa Indian
- Winchrster M14
- Umarex Octane
- Hatsan Model 25 and Super Tact
- Rapid Air Weapons TM1000

There's also an article titled "What IS that air rifle" about the QB57.

Further topics include no less than three articles on Field Target and a look inside the Umarex USA complex. And there's more yet...

You can order this copy, or subscribe to Airgun Hobbyist magazine from this link.

Read more...

Improving the Beeman RS2. Barrel, Trigger and Gas Ram Upgrades.

Blog reader Paul Mattoon is interested to share share the processes by which he has modified and improved the quality of his Beeman RS2 air rifle. Paul writes...

"I know that there is very little information regarding the RS2 rifle, and what is available is not necessarily focused on improvements or modifications. So far I have done the following modifications to my RS2:

* Cut, choke, and re-crowned the barrel.
* Deburred the (3rd generation) trigger sears, added shims, and reshaped the trigger for more responsive action and feel.
* Honed and deglazed the compression chamber for a better piston seal/cylinder interface.
* Added a "dimple" in the rear of the receiver tube for the use of the Hammers scope mount stop pin; works in conjunction with the beeman scope stop= no scope movement.
* Modification of the trigger housing to accommodate the use of the Crosman Trail NP nitrogen piston "gas ram".
* Modification of the gas ram for proper fitment.
* Chamfering the anterior end of the transfer port to reduce turbulence behind the pellet. 
* Heat shrinking the main spring, polishing/deburring spring ends for less recoil (pre gas ram installation).

These processes have also made it necessary to re-blue some of the parts. In addition, I have found several lubricants for specific uses that can be purchased in commonly found stores, which eliminate the need to "special order" tuning lubricants. 

Attached is a photo of my Beeman RS2 (top) and a 1990 RWS Diana 34.



The Diana was given to me in a terrible state. It had rusting and pitting on the exterior, a bent barrel and spring, dry rotted stock butt, cracked piston, and a malfunctioning trigger. I have completely restored the rifle which includes installing (with modification) a Crosman Optimus .22 barrel, welding and sleeving the cracked piston, tuning the spring ends/adhering heat shrink tubing for a proper fit, honing the compression chamber, tuning/rebuilding the T01 trigger, re-bluing all of the metal, re-finishing the stock, and fabricating a custom rubber butt plate.

I plan to document and share the processes in which I have modified and improved the quality of my rifle and hope to share it with you in this blog."

Paul, thanks for your post. I look forward to reading more about this project in 2014!

Read more...

New Stoeger Airguns Website Goes Live

Stoeger Airguns has introduced a radical improvement in it's online presence with a complete new Stoeger Airguns website.

This website is very professionally produced as these screen grabs show. First, the Home page.



Here we see a sample product page.



And here's the support area, with parts diagrams for several of the models.



Also, there's a direct link to the Stoeger Airguns YouTube Channel, which makes that much more accessible.



Of course, Archer Airguns specializes in Stoeger Airguns and we have a range of spare parts available, too, as the official US parts supplier for Stoeger Airguns.

Read more...