Acquired an air rifle and don't know much about it~

[maskedman504]

I have this air rifle in my possesion and I simply do not know much about it. I am kind of interested because I live in a suburban area and the ability to perform some target shooting in my back yard is appealing. Can anyone share any information about the accuracy, quality, value and maintenance of an airgun like this? The airgun is of Spanish manufacture, named "Beeman". Thanks in advance.

 

[SDC]

Beeman was the name of the importer (now owned by Crosman, I believe), but the air rifle was actually made by Gamo, in Spain. They make decent-quality airguns, but there are a couple of things that you don't want to do with ANY break-barrel rifle like this: one, never "dry-fire" it (ie. fire it without a pellet in the chamber), because this just lets the piston slam into the front of the piston chamber, beating it to hell, and two, you should only very LIGHTLY oil it during cleaning, because oil inside the piston chamber will "diesel", or ignite as the piston slams forward, compressing and heating the oil behind the pellet. This is equivalent to setting off a small explosion inside the piston chamber, again, beating it unnecessarily. Depending on the calibre (.177, .20, or .22) you should be able to find a proper manual for it online fairly easily.

 

[JohnKSa]

The cocking linkage is subject to significant stress, it needs to be kept lubricated.

Avoid cleaning with any solvents and avoid lubricating anything else, particularly avoid putting oil inside the works.

The barrel won't need to be cleaned for a long, LONG time and even then it's not going to require the same kind of effort that a firearm would.

The dryfire prohibition is a good one. Most spring-piston airguns do not handle dryfiring well.

It's going to be odd to shoot. The recoil is due to the motion of the spring & the piston, not the pellet. Since the motion of the spring & piston are what get the pellet moving, that means that the gun recoils before the pellet even starts to move. In turn, that means that how you hold the gun will SIGNIFICANTLY affect the point of impact. The key is consistency in terms of grip tightness and hand placement.

Shooting springers from a rest can be frustrating due to the recoil issue already mentioned.

Here's a good source of information on airguns.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/

 

[sm]

Good info above.

Beeman is a sister company of Marksman.
http://www.marksman.com/index.php

http://www.beeman.com/

My first thought in seeing your picture was "Beeman R1"
http://www.beeman.com/r1.htm

Anywho, the links I provided will allow you to contact Beeman, and get a user's manual and other information you may need.

 

[elmerfudd]

I believe the Spanish Beemans are actually made by Cometa.

Beeman used to be a company that imported primarily high end European airguns and sold them under it's own name. They sold good guns and the name gained some prestige and snob appeal. About 15 years ago they were bought out by Marksman who capitalized on the name and started importing guns that weren't of the same quality from Spain and China. They still sell a lot of the high end stuff too, but the Beeman name isn't synonymous with high end British and German airguns anymore.

There's nothing wrong with a Spanish Beeman and you can still kill a lot of starlings, rabbits and cans with it, but it's not in the same league as the German or British guns Beeman sells. The main problems with the Spanish guns are twang and creepy triggers. Both can be remedied however.

 

[arcticap]

http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/rws maint.html

RWS Chamber Lube is recommended during regular airgun maintenance for use only in your airgun's air chamber to provide long life for your air gun and extended shooting enjoyment for you.
1/2 ounce bottle.
Apply 3 or 4 drops of RWS Chamber Lube directly into your airgun's air chamber exhaust port every 750 to 1000 shots. Consult your manual or contact Umarex USA for assistance.
Do Not use on trigger, barrel pivot hinge, or mainspring.

http://www.umarexusa.com/detail.aspx?ID=2