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Winchester Air Rifles

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

winchester-1000bWinchester has never actually made air rifles- but some of the first quality German air rifles imported into this country after WWII had the Winchester name stamped on them. Now we’re seeing the Winchester name again, this time on less expensive guns like this scoped Winchester Air Rifle available at Amazon.com for only $139.40. Like a lot of air rifles coming out these days it brags of 1000fps performance- which is a pity, for reasons I’ve discussed earlier.

At that price you can be pretty sure it’s not German; there’s a good chance it’s Spanish. The gun is actually distributed by Daisy, who say that “Winchester is a registered trademark used under license by Daisy”, and in fact the model number- 1000B- is the same as a discontinued model sold as a Daisy. I’d say it’s probably a safe purchase, as Daisy has a good reputation for selling good merchandise and good after-sale support. With included scope and synthetic stock it should make a good  basic hunting rifle- though I’d ignore that nonsense about “1000fps” and use heavier pellets, which will give you far better accuracy. Just don’t expect something that looks like a Winchester Model 70.

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Whiscombe’s Dual Piston System

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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Spring air guns are rugged, reliable, and simple to maintain, but they do have a disadvantage compared to pneumatic guns- as they get more powerful, they get heavier, and larger.  More powerful guns require larger, heavier springs, and heavier pistons- which means more recoil and higher stresses. Spring strength has to be increased not just to propel the pellet, but to move the combined mass of itself and the piston quickly enough to keep lock time reasonably short. There’s a point at which the mass of the combined spring and piston simply makes a gun unwieldy.  It’s difficult to make a spring gun with a power much beyond 22 foot-pounds. But John Whiscombe, one of the true wizards in airgun design, came up with a very clever way of overcoming many of these limitations.

Back in 1987, Whiscombe reasoned that by using two springs, and two pistons, he could increase the power of an airgun without overstressing the parts. And by having the pistons move in opposite directions, recoil would cancel out! Result: A spring air rifle that could achieve muzzle energies of over 30 foot-pounds with zero recoil. The dual-piston system was not original- RWS/Diana used it in the 6G target pistol- but making both pistons active was original. Like the Diana system, the Whitcombe system requires careful adjustment and synchronization to get the pistons moving at exactly the same time. A bit off one way or another and you get a huge loss in efficieny and the recoil returns as well.

About the same time Whiscombe was developing his dual-piston system, Dave Theobald and Ben Taylor of Theoben came up with another, simpler system: Replacing the spring with a cylinder of pressuring gas. Low mass, no metal fatigue, and no overstressed springs. The result was a simple system capable of over 30 foot-pounds without the complexity of Whiscombe’s system.

But even as Theoben’s rifles gained traction in the marketplace, Whiscombe continued making his unique guns. Not only do they have the advantage of zero recoil, but for many airgunners, there’s the simple pleasure of owning a precise, hand-made example of the airgun maker’s art- and owning a rare gun made entirely by hand, and in very limited numbers. If you’re intereste din obtaining one of these handmade beauties, you can read more about Whiscombe’s guns here.

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What’s in a Name?

Monday, June 1, 2009

I was perusing the new offerings over at Airgundepot.com, when this blurb caught my eye:

Hammerli is a Spanish-made gun from the long-established Norica firm located in Spain. Norica, not to be confused with Norinco (which is China North Industries Corporation), has been making airguns for nearly a century, starting around 1917. And making arms of some sort or another in this part of Spain can be traced all the way back to 1482, before Columbus made his historic voyage.

All well and good, except the Hammerli I recall was a Swiss maker of exceptionally fine firearms, including some of the world’s finest target arms. But Hammerli was purchased by SIG in 1973, and then by Umarex/Walther in 2006. As has happened with many venerable names, the Hammerli name is now a commodity itself, freely applied to a variety of products that have nothing to do with the original Hammerli factory- like Spanish made airguns.

Not that there isn’t a fine tradition of gunsmithing of Spain- I have a fine sidelock 20ga double from AyA in Spain that I’d put up against just about any English made Best Gun. But we don’t know where these new “Hammerli” guns are being made, other than they’re not being made by the ’smiths we associate with the Hammerli name.

The lesson? In today’s world of international marketing, with trademarks being traded like any other commodity, the name alone doesn’tr necessarily tell you anything about the product. Don’t buy on name alone.

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The Crosman Nitro Piston Short Stroke

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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Regular readers of this blog are probably familiar with the Theoben line of air rifles from England, and Theoben’s patented gas ram spring system.  The advantages of the gas ram spring are many: Less vibration, no metal fatigue, no spring torque, quieter, and infinite adjustability. Those of us who own Theobens tend to be fanatics about them.

Theoben has pretty much had this technology to themselves since 1982, when they founded the company. One American company that I’m aware of (Vortek, of Farmington Hills, Michigan) tried to come out with their own gas ram spring, but Theoben’s lawyers successfully argued that the Vortek design was a patent violation. Now that Theoben’s US patent has expired, Crosman has come out with their own gas-ram airgun.

In Crosman’s own PR they don’t mention previous art in this field- not surprising, as they’re not looking to promote Theoben!- but they do repeat the same benefits that Theoben has always stressed. They also add one additional one: Their ram is pressurized with nitrogen, rather than with air. This is curious, as Theoben used nitrogen for a time, and then switched to air. Perhaps Theoben didn’t find any advantage in using nitrogen?

The use of nitrogen does suggest that the gas piston is not user serviceable. Earlier Theobens had a user-accessible gas valve, and Theoben distributed a high-pressure air pump used in pressuring the ram. The problem with this was that too many owners tried to pump their guns up to magnum power levels, damaging the ram and destroying the piston seal, and so they went to a factory sealed system that requires sending the ram or gun to a service center if pressure is lost. My Theoben Sirocco is an earlier model with the valve, and I own a pump; this was very useful when I pulled my Sirocco out of the safe a while ago and discovered it had lost all pressure- probably from not having been used in several years.

At a list price of $390, and an advertised price of only $324, compared to $682 for Theoben’s cheapest gas ram gun, I have no doubt that Crosman are going to have a hot seller on their hands. The synthetic stock and camo finishes should make it a fine hunter, too. I am a bit disappointed that Crosman is touting the ability of this gun to achieve 1200fps in .177 with super lightweight pellets (see previous post), but with proper .177 pellets in the 7.5-10gr range, or in .22cal, it should be a fine performer. Doing the math, 1200fps with a 6grain pellet translates into 19 ft/lbs. A 10gr Premier would take that down to 929 fps- ideal velocity for an airgun.

Thanks to Christopher Robinson for tipping me off to the Nitro. You can read  his discussion on the Nitro at the Airgun Advice forum.

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