ZeSpectre
Member
I've been considering some sort of higher end airgun for backyard plinking and had been casually looking around when I found a Beeman model 1073 (2 barrels, .177cal and .22cal in one kit) on clearance for $99 at WalMart.
Yes it was a complete impulse purchase, I'd done no research, I was just trusting that Beeman was still a quality name
Well here's the quick rundown...
The two barrels (.177 cal and .22 cal) seem to be good quality and are easily interchangeable but have different POA so I have to re-dial the scope if I change barrels. As a result of this I will probably use the .22 barrel almost exclusively. The barrels both had a LOT of packing grease in them and it took some Gunzilla and quite a few patches to get them cleaned out but once clean they were in excellent shape.
Scope is adequate and while I've certainly seen better it does hold true on it's zero so I doubt I'll change it. Once I had dialed the gun in at 40 yards (using the .22 barrel) I was able to shoot some pretty tight groups.
The breech seal (o-ring) is kinda soft and cheap and was allowing a lot of blowby. I replaced it with a tougher (and slightly thicker) o-ring I had on hand and the performance increase was noticeable even without a chrony to test things.
The gun is surprisingly heavy for an airgun. Easily on par with my Remington 7600 rifle. Also this is an ADULT precision airgun and it pretty much requires an adult's strength to cock it. Do NOT buy this gun for a kid, they won't be able to use it. The gun did seem to break in some after about 20 shots and that combined with an improved cocking technique on my part made for easier (though still high effort) operation.
After I got the gun I read some online reviews. A lot of people complain about the trigger. I guess I got lucky because my trigger is adjustable and is actually quite nice. Someday I may pull it apart and improve it even more but I'm not unhappy with it as it sits.
So once it was all cleaned up and dialed in I started trying some serious plinking and was very pleased to see it producing great accuracy at 40 yards. Even with the gusting crosswind in my back yard I was able to consistently put the pellet within 1 inch of where I was aiming. The gun does have enough recoil for you to notice which caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting that from an airgun but once I'd adjusted it was easily controllable.
I suspect I'm going to have a lot of fun for quite some time doing some really inexpensive back-porch plinking with this beastie.
Decent airgun...recommended
Yes it was a complete impulse purchase, I'd done no research, I was just trusting that Beeman was still a quality name
Well here's the quick rundown...
The two barrels (.177 cal and .22 cal) seem to be good quality and are easily interchangeable but have different POA so I have to re-dial the scope if I change barrels. As a result of this I will probably use the .22 barrel almost exclusively. The barrels both had a LOT of packing grease in them and it took some Gunzilla and quite a few patches to get them cleaned out but once clean they were in excellent shape.
Scope is adequate and while I've certainly seen better it does hold true on it's zero so I doubt I'll change it. Once I had dialed the gun in at 40 yards (using the .22 barrel) I was able to shoot some pretty tight groups.
The breech seal (o-ring) is kinda soft and cheap and was allowing a lot of blowby. I replaced it with a tougher (and slightly thicker) o-ring I had on hand and the performance increase was noticeable even without a chrony to test things.
The gun is surprisingly heavy for an airgun. Easily on par with my Remington 7600 rifle. Also this is an ADULT precision airgun and it pretty much requires an adult's strength to cock it. Do NOT buy this gun for a kid, they won't be able to use it. The gun did seem to break in some after about 20 shots and that combined with an improved cocking technique on my part made for easier (though still high effort) operation.
After I got the gun I read some online reviews. A lot of people complain about the trigger. I guess I got lucky because my trigger is adjustable and is actually quite nice. Someday I may pull it apart and improve it even more but I'm not unhappy with it as it sits.
So once it was all cleaned up and dialed in I started trying some serious plinking and was very pleased to see it producing great accuracy at 40 yards. Even with the gusting crosswind in my back yard I was able to consistently put the pellet within 1 inch of where I was aiming. The gun does have enough recoil for you to notice which caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting that from an airgun but once I'd adjusted it was easily controllable.
I suspect I'm going to have a lot of fun for quite some time doing some really inexpensive back-porch plinking with this beastie.
Decent airgun...recommended
