Several different refurbished Gamo air rifles are being sold at Woot.com only through 12 noon, Central Time, on April 1, 2013. Click here for details.
My pal Ric and I made up a number of these when we were competing in Airgun Field Target back in 1997 and 1998. The idea was to have a quick reference to check if you’re canting the gun, something that can make a huge difference when you’re trying to get a pellet through a 3/4″ hole 50 yards away.
You can buy a commercial scope level, but they’re extremely easy to make. All you need is an inexpensive level bubble, a cheap scope ring, and some epoxy. The bubbles came from string levels we bought at Home Depot, the rings were the cheapest aluminum .22 rings we could find, and the epoxy was generally J-B Weld. Saw off the clamp from a ring, add a dab of JB, press the bubble on, and let it set. It helps to put the ring in a vise to hold it while the epoxy sets.
In addition to serving as a shooting aid, a level like this is also very useful in installing a scope. Put the level on the unmounted scope, in a place where it won’t conflict with the rings you’ll be using to mount the scope. Find a horizontal or vertical reference- I like to use a piece of string and a weight. Align the crosshairs with your reference, adjust the level to center the bubble, and snug it up.
Now you’ve got an external reference that is perfectly aligned with the crosshairs. Mount the scope on your rifle, put a level on the rifle, and when you’ve leveled both the rifle and the scope, snug up the scope rings on the rifle.
The first quality air pistol I owned, back in the 1980s, was a Daisy 717. I paid around $40 for it back then, which wasn’t much, although it did strain my grad student budget. It was astoundingly accurate for a budget gun, and was actually used by many in serious competition. Bullseye pistol legend Don Nygord published a guide to improving the two areas of the pistol that were less than optical- the trigger and the sights. His trigger mod involved adding a sear engagement adjustment and a trigger travel limit screw, and his site mod involved a spacer that could be used to adapt a good sight meant for a .45. His advice was to think of the pistol as disposable. If it ever broke, just buy a new one, and transfer the modified parts over. Nygord actually won the California state pistol championship with his modified 717.
The 717 was followed by the 747, which had a Lothar Walther barrel and an improved trigger, and the 777, which added a metal micrometer rear sight and a carved wood grip. The 777 is no longer made, but the 717 and 747 still survive, and can be purchased from discounters for $150 and $200, respectively.
I’d been thinking of buying one, but $150 was a bit more than I wanted to spend. Used ones came up now and then for around $100, so when I spotted this one on Guns America for $60 I jumped on it. It’s an older model, possibly from the 80s, judging from the paperwork in the box. The manual lists only the 717 and 722, a .22 caliber version that was only offered for a short time. There’s also a reference to the Kidde corporation, and I think Daisy severed their connection with Kidde in the 1980s.
The trigger may not be Olympic quality, but it’s a lot better than I remember. The pump and valve seals appear to be in perfect shape. There’s a bit of creep, not much, and the break is reasonably crisp. I’ll probably leave it as is. I wanted to install a red dot sight to accommodate my aging eyes, and to that end installed a Sun Optics USA Airgun Scope Izh 46 Barrel Mount which just happens to be a perfect fit for the 717 and 747, too. On that went a BARSKA Red Dot 25mm Riflescope as you can see below:
The combination looks pretty front heavy, and to be honest, it is. Much too overbalanced for me, at least. I took the sight off and replaced it with the lighter weight Sightmark that was mounted on my Ruger 22/45. This balances much better:
Something new from Bug-A-Salt: A spring gun that shoots a small burst of salt with just enough energy to do in the typical housefly. Only $30, too.
