Sharp Innova (original)

[baloono]

Any advice or comments about the old original sharp innova, either to buy and service. Worth doing or not?

[Bad Beagle]

I have just had an old mk 1 and a mark 2 serviced. Both in .22 and now they take 5 pumps to achieve full power and are extremely accurate. I personally love the lightness and length of the rifle and recall seeing them in the mags in early 80s so nostalgia plays a part for me.

My next task is to smarten up the woodwork. I will be taking one rabitting before too long so I reckon we'll worth the effort.

Steve

[rabbitwrecker]

Any advice or comments about the old original sharp innova, either to buy and service. Worth doing or not?

Well worth it, lovely little rifle - one of my all-time favourites...

[Rickenbacker]

One of the guns I never had back in the day, and I should have kept it that way.

Plastic breech, plastic dipped barrel, plastic toy-gun trigger that gets harder to pull with every pump.

The 10 times click/clack of charging the thing for each shot becomes boring very quickly.

Not usually very accurate to shoot either, due to light weight, all that pumping and the bad trigger.

Worth £40. But cost a lot more when new, and still costs more now.

I grudgingly admit they are quite cool to look at and fondle at home - but that's it.

Not trying to put you off one or anything

[Ouch!]

Ah? So you admit to a bit of fondling at home do you?

Ouch!

[gedfinn 2]

One of the guns I never had back in the day, and I should have kept it that way.

Plastic breech, plastic dipped barrel, plastic toy-gun trigger that gets harder to pull with every pump.

The 10 times click/clack of charging the thing for each shot becomes boring very quickly.

Not usually very accurate to shoot either, due to light weight, all that pumping and the bad trigger.

Worth £40. But cost a lot more when new, and still costs more now.

I grudgingly admit they are quite cool to look at and fondle at home - but that's it.

Not trying to put you off one or anything

Ha ha, I see you never had one ! ( Plastic dipped barrel ? )
I think the pumpers have had their day now, However an Ace Or an Innova or a " Thumber " Sheridan are still much sought after & Relatively expensive,

The Innova trigger does get harder to pull after 5 pumps,( That's 12 Fpe ) & will go on to over 20Fpe ?
Light weight, Recoiless, Etc.
As I get older I myself are not too keen on the pumping , However a couple of pumps are 6 Fpe & Ideal for plinking,
A GREAT gun ( In its day )

I have about 5 left & An Ace, 2 Innovas in Chrome & A couple of Aluminium silencer adapters left,I made a couple of Aluminium breeches about 6 years ago & Have this one left,
Ged.
Pics of the Chrome Innovas & The silencer adapters are in the BBS files somewhere.

[Bad Beagle]

Ged. You may have seen my thread seeking silencer adaptors. Do you have spares ?

Steve

[Patrick 2]

Can't really see the point of them(pump ups),why would anyone want a rifle that you have to pump about 6 times to get a shot off,you wouldn't buy a break barrel or side/under lever rifle that you had to cock multiple times before you could fire it.Okay they may have some nostalgic or novelty value but little else.Admittedly they're usually lighter and may offer a bit more accuracy due to being recoilless but this is often offset by heavy or poor triggers.Not very practical for hunting either,they can be noisy to pump, alerting your quarry, and not much use should you need to get a second shot off quickly,which could happen even to the best of shots.A single stroke pneumatic(pump up)with a decent trigger and power output would be excellent but multi pumps have had their day,they've been and gone.

[Benelli B76]

Only two benefits I can think of, very light to carry and very, very easy to re-seal. I can supply pump head seals (not O ring type).

Baz

[Andy001]

They are very quiet to shoot if you have a silencer

[Happy-Harry]

A bit of a revelation in the '80s, cheap, lots of plastic but Japanese plastic so solid compared to Crossman build quality of the same era.
Seen as devastatingly accurate, but compared to the competition in the budget range - Meteors for example - recoilless nature was mind blowing no idea how they'd stack up against modern equals.

Lets say the chances of an airgun being seized and run over a chrono were slim back then, and long range shots were a forte compared to their peers for the youth lucky enough to have one of these as his Christmas present.

Versatility was also excellent compared to its peers - 2 strokes for popping dandelions in the garden was much easier than pumping to hunting power.

Owned a jazzed up venom version, which was short, compact and handled well, but all that pumping relegated it to nominal use once PCP's were cheap and easy to refill, final nail was multishots - you could rattle off 10 or 14 shots from a PCP before you'd pumped enough air for the second shot in the Innova.

I'm sentimental about them, and handled with interest a Webley Raider (?) the rebadged relaunched version in a shop a couple of years ago. Certainly the Ace was on my wish list as a teenager before HW's took over the world

As I understand they've been in production under one name or another (various far eastern clones have been known of through the 90s and the 00's after the originals ceased being imported), they must be pretty much bullet proof, easy to maintain with non complex spares sourcing parts can't be OTT- the AK of pump ups ?

[shauny]

i had a new.22 sharp innova when they were about £45 brand new. i loved it,would outshoot my .177 hw 80.
can remember shooting match sticks that were stuck in a spud. v accurate,and easy to shoot.not a big deal
to pump 4 or 5 times,( unless you are a wimp) the good old days when i could actually see matchsticks stuck in a spud.

[rabbitwrecker]

Must have bagged literally hundreds of rabbits back in the 1980's with a .177 Sharp Innova. Five pumps was more than ample for hunting at sensible airgun ranges. Pumping can be a pain to start with, but there's a knack to it - once you have it sussed, it's easy. Mine (and my pal's .22) was absurdly accurate and not at all pellet fussy - it would group with pretty much any pellet available back then. Yes, there is a lot plastic, but I never managed to break anything - though care should be taken not to over-tighten the scope mount clamps. The upside of all that plastic was a rifle that weighed considerably less than 5lbs (without scope) - a joy to carry about in the field all day. One of the very few rifles that I regret not owning any more.....

[fatttmannn]

Well worth it, lovely little rifle - one of my all-time favourites...

plus 1 on that, have one in .22 and the Ace in .177, some of the best 80,s pump-ups.

[gedfinn 2]

Ged. You may have seen my thread seeking silencer adaptors. Do you have spares ?

Steve

Hiya Steve, Its a number of years since I made these,
I put this up last year ! Although I have not seen them for a couple & Do not know until I look , Whats left, I do know they took a lot of making
I have 1 left for a Thumber Sheridan & A Thumbhole stock & Pump arm ,

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....hlight=gedfinn

Just to add to the " Pumpers " Thread ? In the USA they must have sold MANY ,
The Sheridans & Others are great guns capable of power springers could never achieve, I have had 22 Innova,s , Only 1 had the blowoff valve set !!!
I have never had a .177,

Of course time has moved on, Police checks Etc,
A Sheridan with the " Mod " could be pumped up, & 2 Shots made from a single pumping , Both near
12 Fpe.
Another nice gun was the Crosman 140 & Its derivatives , ( Last forever )

I am not talking up pumpers, They have had their day , But ! Ha ha,Ged.