The best backyard rifle. European vs American tradition

[45flint]

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps7wnbinis.jpg

This thread is a kind of a summary of my airgun rifle journey so far. I bought my first airgun rifle 20 years ago the Beeman R1, bought it at a time when I was the target market for Mr. Beeman, adult airgunner with money to buy a good rifle. I am a backyard plinker and the Beeman was a stellar gun.

Now I'm into vintage airguns and I bought a 1930s Crosman 102. I always looked down of the American multipump peumatics. To me it made no sense to pump 8 times when I could break a barrel once. These were the cheap American product for the masses.

I bought the 102 cause it was just a intriguing addition to a vintage collection, made in 1930 it is my oldest airgun, and it looked charmingly quirky to me. Also the investment was so minimal, $100. It came in the winter so this Spring I have had both the R1 and the 102 out in the backyard putting each through their paces.

I find that my 102 is now by far my favorite backyard rifle. I know the DT Flecther was called the 101 the best field rifle ever made. I guess I'm not the hunter but I might call it the best backyard airgun ever made. Here is my case for it and it has actually come as quite a surprise.

1. The variable power in the backyard is a huge advantage. I never pump beyond 3 pumps in the backyard often 2. I have a large lot over an acre but I have neighbors, I can adjust for tighter ranges.

2. Variable power means variable noise levels, in the backyard with neighbors, 3 pumps is about silent. Yes in my jurisdiction airguns are legal to shoot, but it's best if your neighbors never even have to think about it.

3. The peumatics is much easier to shoot with no recoil, or maybe I should add fun to shoot. The Beeman has to have a artillary grip, you certainly feel the recoil.

4. The 102 is compact and light, the Beeman is long and very heavy.

5. Both guns are very accurate with the Beeman having the edge, but the 102 is much easier to shoot accurately.

6. Lastly I am no mechanic but I easily changed out the seals in a 101 to repair it. The Beeman would certainly not be a job I would do.

[landymick]

The lower power HW30 might be a good choice for a spot of plinking.

[45flint]

The lower power HW30 might be a good choice for a spot of plinking.

I haven't tried lighter springers, I like everyone else at the time got caught up in a R1 that could do 1000 fps. The R1 given its power is I'm sure not a "easy" springer. There is something nice about using the same gun for plinking with 2-3 pumps and giving it 7-8 pumps if I want to take a squirrel. 95% of the time I will be plinking with 3. There really is almost a cultural divide between the two continents. I personally would love to see a finely made German pneumatic but it would never sell in Europe and no one in America would pay the price. I guess PCP have really taken this market, but again were power mad and your out of the backyard.

[landymick]

I see where your coming from with the Crosman but I wouldn't fancy going through a tin full of pellets in one session with all that pumping, this is the domain for the light weight springer.

Another nice option for a few more dollars is the Diana/RWS 27 which I'm sure are abundant around your way.

I love the R1/ HW80 but its not the best in the garden.

[cinedux]

the BSA CADET MAJOR....177 of course.

[Airsporter1st]

I've dabbled with the odd pump-up over the years, but always found them a lot of trouble for the end result. By the time you've pumped it and then gone through a totally separate sequence of actions to load it (and sometimes another set to cock it), you could get several shots off from a springer.

I'm not saying that rate of fire is everything, but when plinking I just want to throw a few bits of lead downrange with minimum fuss and effort.

Equally, when hunting, there often is not the time to go through all the motions required of a pump-up, while your quarry sits patiently waiting and in the hopefully unlikely need of a second shot, an inordinate delay is unacceptable.

On the other hand, if you enjoy the experience of using a pump-up, the who are we to disagree?

[DT Fletcher]

I started in about the same place; purchasing a number of modern european springers: FWB 124, HW 45, BSA Scorpion. Then, just like you, on a whim, went to the local airgun repair shops and purchased ($24) from the back of the shop, a beat up old Crosman. Happened to be a model 107 Town and Country that I spent the next month figuring out how to fix. Once finished, out shot anything else I had by a large margin. All the springers were beasts and the T&C was sweetness personified.

Another model that is really worthwhile tracking down, imo, is a Town and Country Jr. models 109/110. Exactly the same pneumatics as the larger models but in a tiny package. The slab sided stock is nothing to brag about but the entire gun is all brass construction and is second to none as a shooter.

The model 120 came in both brass and steel; with a brass one being just as good as the model 110.

Another prize for any Crosman collection would be an early pre-1929 (101) model in excellent condition, with an emphasis on excellent condition. These guns were not closet queens. They were used and, from what I've seen over the years, only maybe 1 in 50 come close to being in excellent condition.

You got very lucky with that 102.