Airgun Depot's Airsenal News

For many shooters, the experiece of shooting airguns that closely approaches the shooting of real firearms is a fun and enjoyable event. And there are some good arguments in favor of shooting airgun replicas. Among them are cheaper ammo, more opportunity, less health hazards, and quite often more shooter friendly due to lack of recoil.

A friend of mine happens to know Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of the CSI programs on television. From what I've been told, the majority of the guns carried in that show are airgun replicas and non-firing versions of those guns. Seems that they help keep insurance costs down for the studios! 

If you browse through the posts here at Airgun Depot's blog, you'll find a couple of blowback airguns that give a very realistic experience. The one that comes to mind quickest for me as a shooter was the Desert Eagle. That was a fun gun to shoot, and the realism was very good, minus of course the recoil one would experience with the real firearm.

I have had folks ask for airguns that might assist them in training scenarios, and I've always tried to steer them towards the most realistic airgun that matched their real firearm. The learned ability not to flinch during the firing process is easier to handle with an airgun. Once you've managed to shoot successfully with an airgun, and to stay on target, then moving up to a real firearm can be much easier. There will be a noted difference in recoil, of course, but the basics of sighting, and trigger control can all be mastered or improved before handling the real firearm. 

Airgun Depot has a category of realistic blowback airguns for the airgun shooter and firearm shooter to enjoy. Here is a link to it, and you'll find it on the home page as well:

http://www.airgundepot.com/reblairpiand.html 

In addition to the blowback style of replica airguns, don't forget about the lever-action rifle that Walther manufactures that gives the shooter a close approximation of what it might be like to shoot a .30-30 lever-action Winchester. The gun is well-made, fun to shoot, and would pass for the real thing in a heartbeat! You can find that gun here:

http://www.airgundepot.com/walther-lever-scope.html 

It is so easy to setup a shooting range in the basement, garage, or backyard that will allow the shooting enthusiast to enjoy their sport without resorting to going to the firing range, or driving out of town to find a place to shoot. The noise level of the airguns are such that you can use them inside the house, or in the backyard with appropriate notification to the neighbors. And I'll bet that if you invite some neighbors over for a fun shoot, you'll find several "recycled teenagers" in your neighborhood who may become new best friends when they realize how much fun shooting with one of these airguns can really be!

Another entire category to consider if lead-shooting airguns are out of the question would be the Airsoft guns that Airgun Depot carries. You'll find sniper rifles, shotguns, pistols, and sub-machine guns that let you hunt your opponent in realistic military-style scenarios without the mess of paintballs....and you can even get the ammo in bio-degradable construction, so clean up is less of a problem for the environment.

A word of caution for replica users.....law enforcement officers do react as if the airgun you are carrying is the real thing. They pretty much have to these days since 9/11. Use common sense and caution when enjoying your airguns. Don't point them at non-participants in the neighborhood, or carry them near restricted areas such as schools and government buildings. And if you are confronted by law enforcement, do EVERYTHING they say in regards to putting down the gun, etc. They are just doing their job, and being safe is part of your enjoyment and public safety.

So enjoy the next-best thing to the real thing by picking up some of the realistic airguns here at Airgun Depot! You'll have a blast! 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The European American Armory company has long been an importer of some very fine and fun guns for the American airgun shooter. They offer one of the most inexpensive competition-worthy pistols on the planet in the IZH-46M, but today’s subject is a gun made purely for the fun of shooting…..the MP514K.

For many, realistic-looking military-style airguns are great fun. They offer the looks of the real thing, with the economy of an airgun. The MP514K brings to the table the bullpup design desired by many shooters. It reduces the overall length of the gun, making it easy to carry and handle.

The MP514K comes with an extra spring, cleaning rod, and manual. Securely boxed, it is a small package indeed, making it easy to throw in the car or stow in a small space for ease of carrying.

The magazine on this gun is located near the rear of the butt. It is an 8-shot magazine holding  .177 caliber pellets of the wadcutter or hollowpoint design. Use of pointed pellets, or pellets that have a pronounced nose to them, is discouraged by the manufacturer. They apparently tend to jam, and in accordance to the directions, I did not even attempt them.  

There is an order to the loading and cocking of this gun. You must first load the magazine and put it back into the magazine well. THEN you go through the cocking procedure. If you put the magazine back in the gun after cocking it, you will get a dry fire, and this is bad for the spring as the pellet is not positioned correctly to offer resistance to the pulse of air the spring delivers. It is this resistance that keeps the piston from slamming into the face of the breech, and dry-firing the gun will damage it quickly. 

To cock the 514K, you must first push in the barrel latch located near the muzzle of the gun. When you push the button in, the barrel is released from the receiver of the gun, allowing the gun to be cocked by pulling the entire upper portion of the gun to the rear. A solid click will indicate you have cocked the gun, which also serves to rotate the magazine and line up a pellet with the bore.

Push the indicated button to release the barrel.

Now the gun is fully cocked, needing the barrel and upper portion of the gun to be returned to the closed position to be ready to fire.

The trigger and safety are located inside the trigger guard. Both are plastic, but function reliably and smoothly. Push the safety lever forward, and the safety is disengaged, ready to fire.

The magazine is an 8-shot round clip, which rotates each time you cock the gun. It slides out to the left of the polymer stock, and you need only push down on the release to make it slide out of the magazine slot.

Here is look at the 8-round magazine that pops out of the magazine well when you push the release.

Now let's look at the sights. The sights on the MP514K are military-style, with a fixed front sight and an adjustable rear sight. The front sight is all plastic, while the rear is a combination of plastic and metal. The rear sight is a peep-sight that works just fine for target acquisition.

I set up some drink cans at about 10 yards and whiled away some of my afternoon by happily perforating the aluminum sides of the cans. The pellets were traveling downrange at 460-485 fps, a quick enough pace to draw can-flipping results for the delight of the shooter. You also have the option of mounting a scope on the picatinny-style rail included in front of the rear sight.

Do I have any complaints about the gun? Not really, for it is designed to simply be fun to shoot. The accuracy is fine for plinking, as is the velocity. I did notice that the magazine is all plastic, and suspect that over time the "teeth" that help index the magazine will wear down, which may present some problems with correctly aligning the pellets after awhile. However, I haven't had this gun in my possession long enough to verify this potential problem, so can't really say for sure this will actually happen.

The recoil of this gun is light, and the report not loud in comparison to other spring guns. It may seem somewhat louder to the shooter, but that is because the bullpup design places the moving parts of the gun near the shooter's ear, and not further out as in a conventional design.

For $130.00 plus shipping, you get a fun, realistic-looking spring-piston airgun to enjoy in your backyard, or even indoors with the appropriate backstop. Give it some consideration, especially if you like military-style airguns.

The IZH MP514K.....Bullpup Design, Full of Fun! 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Gamo Compact is a single-stroke pneumatic pistol using the “over receiver” setup to keep the gun sleek and compact. With a single movement, the gun is opened up, allowing the shooter to load directly into the barrel. Closing the gun places the gun in the “firing” position, and the shooter is ready to go for pin-point accuracy at competition ranges.

 

The Gamo Compact comes in a foam-lined, hard plastic case with User’s Manual and a tin of Gamo Match wadcutter pellets. These pellets perform very well in this gun.

This Spanish-made pistol is an attractive piece of work, feeling more robust and looking quite a bit better than some other single-stroke pistols on the market today. This is Gamo’s entry into the upper-level target pistol arena, and it deserves a close look if you like pistol competition. At $239.90, this gun delivers a great performance-to-price ratio.

The grips are walnut, with an adjustable palm shelf. The right side is nicely stippled, and the left has a flat slab-like surface. If I have any complaints about the grips, it is that they will be too small for larger hands. I have medium-sized hands, and the grips fill my hand nicely. I would also opt for a wider thumb-shelf for the firing hand.

The barrel is easily accessible in the upper part that pivots. You are able to place the pellet directly into the barrel from this position, seating it directly into the rifling of the barrel. There is ample room for large fingers near the breech end of the barrel, a nice touch for the large-fingered shooter!

The trigger pull is rated at 2.25 lbs according to the literature. This is adjustable, and another nice feature is that the trigger blade swivels to give the shooter a firm, flat surface on which to put pressure to initiate the firing sequence. This translates into an easier ability to stay on target while squeezing the trigger.

When firing the Gamo Compact over a chrony, I was astonished to find my first three shots going the same velocity…..377 fps. Now that is consistency, just what you want in a competition pistol. That velocity was achieved with the Gamo Match wadcutters that were included in the case with the gun. Other pellet weights will vary, of course, but the repeatable velocity figures should carry over to other pellets, enhancing accuracy.

During test firing, I used a 10-meter distance and a firm, two-handed hold with a hard rest. There is a reason I’m not a pistol competitor, but I did manage to produce a nice pattern. I clover-leafed 4 of 5 shots, with the 5^th messing up the impressive group for my efforts! Like I said, there’s a reason I’m not a pistol competitor! But using the Gamo wadcutters provided with the gun, I still managed a great group. My camera went missing in action during the test firing, so I’ll upload the group later.

I give the Gamo Compact an A rating…..the only thing keeping it from being an A+ is the grips that will feel small to shooters with larger hands, and it needs a larger thumb-shelf. As a competition gun, it doesn’t have a safety. This is because competitions guns are only supposed to be loaded at the firing line as the shooter begins competition. It’s not a gun you’re supposed to carry around loaded. And though the description online states a 3-dot open sight, the sample I received did not have the 3-dot system on it.

So if you want to enter the world of competition, especially on a budget, then the Gamo Compact may be just the gun for you. Give it some serious consideration and enjoy our great sport of airgunning.

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 05:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To make the most of your buck, you need to be on the lookout for great deals. And if you have already taken the plunge into the pre-charged airgun world, you’ve learned that the extra gear you need to make a PCP gun work is often the most expensive part of shooting a PCP gun. But now that you have that gear, you can start acquiring additional PCP airguns to fill your stable of PCP airguns. They are a blast to shoot, easy to be accurate with, and full of many uses.

If you only have one PCP airgun so far, then I have a candidate for you to consider. Airgun Depot now carries the Benjamin Discovery as a gun-only item, without the normally included handpump. That brings the price down to an unbelievable $239.00 for an American-made PCP gun, complete with a walnut stock. To remind you of what the Discovery offers, I’ve included this info from Crosman about the Discovery.

Get into precharged guns at an unheard-of price and also get the accuracy of an expensive European target rifle! Benjamin has bridged the gap and taken the pain out of PCP guns. Not only is this as low a price as you'll ever find on a PCP/hand pump combo, but it's so easy to pump up that a wispy teenager could do it! The Discovery has raised the bar for PCP guns because it uses only 2000 psi of air. What this means for you is less pumping! You can have your gun fully charged in less than 5 minutes. While the European companies race toward higher and higher air pressures, Benjamin is going the opposite direction and making it easier than ever to use a hand pump. If you want to use a scuba tank or carbon fiber tank, you can do that, too.

The Discovery gives you a choice! The gun comes with a magnificent walnut stock made especially for it. It also has Williams fiber optic front and rear sights and a built-in air pressure gauge. Included in the package is a hand pump that's easy to use and very clear on showing you when you've reached maximum operating pressure. When you open your box, you'll see easy-to-follow and easy-to-understand instructions that'll lead you step-by-step. If you're an experienced PCP user, you'll soon see that the Discovery is the easiest PCP you've ever used. If you're new to PCPs, you'll become a pro in just a few short steps. If you want to switch to CO2, that's easy to do. There's a special tool that lets you quickly and safely exhaust all the high-pressure air (or you can just shoot the air out). Attach the optional CO2 adapter (separate purchase), connect it to a paintball CO2 tank and fill 'er up! Now, commence to shootin'! With high-pressure air, you'll get about 35 powerful shots before you need to pump up again. On CO2, you'll get a lot more. The Discovery is manufactured and built in the U.S.

I was fortunate enough to review a prototype of the Discovery, and you’ll find the post here in Airgun Depot’s blog. Since that time, I’ve owned a Discovery of my own, and was pleased with the finished factory-produced product. It is a wonderful entry gun into the PCP world, and a joy to carry, being light and easy to handle. Whether you are a new shooter or an old hand at the PCP game, this gun is one that needs to be in your collection since it is Crosman’s first foray into the PCP airgun market. It is an historical gun that one day will be remembered as a ground-breaking item for the storied name of Benjamin-Sheridan.

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)