Pumpers

[madcarlos]

I think we always misunderstood them a bit in the U.K. In the U.K., in the 80s they were priced to compete with fashionable springer sporters. So a 2200 cost about the same as a Meteor, the Innova a bit more than a Vulcan and almost exactly the same as an Original 45, and the Ace was more expensive even than an FWB Sport, and a lot more than an HW80.

Whereas in the states, you could get two Sheridan Blue Streaks and change for one FWB Sport, or a Crosman 766/2200 for half the price of a Diana 27.

We’ve always compared the pumpers rather unfairly to the better springer sporters.

If you want to shoot an FT/HFT course, or do bulk pest control like lamping bunnies, the pumper is a terrible choice.

But there is a niche for a light handy carbine that can do quiet indoor target practice on 1 or 2 pumps, outdoor plinking out to 20-25 metres on 3-5, and can still be wound up to 11+ for an occasional rat or squirrel at short to medium ranges. That’s not a bad package.

At an emotional level, there’s also the nostalgia thing, whether a classic Americana one, or a 70s/early 80s one.

Think its the 70s / 80s thing for me, I started off with a relum, in all fairness it was a cracking little gun, easy to work on and could even be made better than some today, The newer ones for some reason just dont appeal to me,

[Geezer]

Think its the 70s / 80s thing for me, I started off with a relum, in all fairness it was a cracking little gun, easy to work on and could even be made better than some today, The newer ones for some reason just dont appeal to me,

The pumpers were controversial in the 60s, seen as (in the tabloids) the new extra-dangerous high-power US guns. Leading directly to the 12ft-lbs limit.

In the 70s, they came back, modified (often crudely) to stay below 12. But they had a strong air of “forbidden fruit”.

I’m looking at a 1981 Sussex Armoury advert for the Sheridan - “power...just within the 12 ft-lbs limit”, “until now this rifle has been a listed firearm” etc.

It said you were getting max power in the power-focussed days of old, and implied that you could get it over the limit if you had the right spanner. (Which you could, metaphorically speaking, and cognisant of the rules here.)

As I’ve said above, if you compare even a Sheridan to an HW35/80, FWB Sport or even a Webley Vulcan it doesn’t come off that well as a general hunting/pesting tool. But a good pumper can fill a slightly different niche very well.

[Antoni]

Can anyone identify a pumper rifle that was around in the 60s, I saw it in it's box and it was a 'Pelican'. My friend's older brother owned it.

As young-'uns I remember us playing on the waste ground opposite his house. I remeber a whizz-pop sound a few times. After a while Andrew heard it too. Eventually I worked out what this sound was.

Andrew sort of inherited it after a few years and was similarly disrespectful of it. All the same it was an impressive piece of kit and I still wonder what it actually was.

Does anyone remember any details of a 'Pelican' pumper?

[ratbuster2240]

I've not heard of that one, have you tried asking in the collectors area?

Can anyone identify a pumper rifle that was around in the 60s, I saw it in it's box and it was a 'Pelican'. My friend's older brother owned it.

As young-'uns I remember us playing on the waste ground opposite his house. I remeber a whizz-pop sound a few times. After a while Andrew heard it too. Eventually I worked out what this sound was.

Andrew sort of inherited it after a few years and was similarly disrespectful of it. All the same it was an impressive piece of kit and I still wonder what it actually was.

Does anyone remember any details of a 'Pelican' pumper?

[Geezer]

Can anyone identify a pumper rifle that was around in the 60s, I saw it in it's box and it was a 'Pelican'. My friend's older brother owned it.

As young-'uns I remember us playing on the waste ground opposite his house. I remeber a whizz-pop sound a few times. After a while Andrew heard it too. Eventually I worked out what this sound was.

Andrew sort of inherited it after a few years and was similarly disrespectful of it. All the same it was an impressive piece of kit and I still wonder what it actually was.

Does anyone remember any details of a 'Pelican' pumper?

I've not heard of that one, have you tried asking in the collectors area?

Never heard of that.

The main non-US “vintage” pumpers were the Japanese ones of which the Sharp was the best known. I can’t be sure without checking references in the library/VAG, but I think similar things were also at times made in S America and SE Asia and the Philippines. But the chances of any of those getting to the U.K. in the 60s seem pretty slight.

Was your friend’s dad perhaps posted somewhere exotic in military or other foreign service?