Just ordered my first break-barrel air rifle!

Status
Not open for further replies.
I love airguns! There was a time when i owned more airguns than firearms. I still have a few custom jobs in the safe but I have sold most. As sentry said, spring guns are "recoil sensitive" meaning you have to hold them a certain way. You won't be able to rest your new rifle like you would a firearm. Your shots will bounce all over the place. If the Quest has a dovetail to mount the scope to, you might need a scope stop. They are inexpensive. Otherwise the scope will creep forward with every shot, throwing off your zero.
A good way to clean the bbl is using weed eater line. Take a lighter and soften one end of a 3 foot section and flatten it a bit. Then make the other end sharp so you can thread patches directly on it and pull them through the bbl.
 
Stay away from "heavy" and "light" pellets. Neither are good for a spring rifle. The Quest 1000 will do best with pellets that weigh between 8 and 9 grains. As already mentioned, light pellets will destroy your internal seal (too little resistance), but heavy pellets will wear out your spring.

At close range (10 yards) match pellets with flat heads are OK. Much farther than that, you need to get dome pellets for accuracy. Crosman Premier Lights (7.9 gr) are a good standby dome head pellet that shoots well in most rifles. JSB exacts are another good one to try.

Careful with steel cleaning rods. Airgun barrels are softer steel than a fire arm barrel - steel rods are not so good for the rifling. The weed eater line and patch is the way to go. Goo Gone works great for barrel cleaning-light and leaves little residue. Clean it before you shoot it.

Never use petroleum based oil inside the air chamber. It will diesel/explode. This is terrible for your seal and spring. Look for 30 weight pure silicone shock oil at hobby stores (on-line) for remote control cars. A couple drops every 1000 pellets is plenty. Grease and oil on parts that aren't in the air chamber are OK, just not inside it or the barrel.

In addition to finding the right pellet, let your rifle break in for a couple hundred shots before you render a verdict. Blue lock tight on stock screws is a good idea if they loosen (let sit 24 hours), as loose screws are no good for accuracy.

The Quest is not known for its trigger, but there is an after market trigger that helps quite a bit if you like the rifle enough to put another $30 into it.

Enjoy it. Airguns are addictive.
 
I use old phone books inside my steel backstop. I found the pellets were splattering in my backstop (not good in the house or garage). I have the RWS48 and it's not terribly powerful by today's standards, but it's way more than you need for indoors.
 
**the weed-eater bore cleaner also works great on firearms where you don't need a brush and you just want to swab the bbl**
 
Well that doesn't look too dirty, I am guessing that just swabbing the bore and cleaning the breech now and then should be adequate.

One thing throws me off though, Pyramid air says that the gun weighs 6.02 lbs, but FedEx tracking says that it weighs 5.1 pounds, AND I ordered a tin of pellets with it. That is awful strange, that and it says it's been in Ohio for a couple days now and that it's in transit. If it's one thing I despise it would be slow shipping on guns. It happens with my blackpowder guns, it drives me crazy.

~Levi
 
Stay away from "heavy" and "light" pellets. Neither are good for a spring rifle. The Quest 1000 will do best with pellets that weigh between 8 and 9 grains. As already mentioned, light pellets will destroy your internal seal (too little resistance), but heavy pellets will wear out your spring.
I don't know that I would buy into that too much. Maybe for the lighter pellets, but as for heavier, I know that many rifles are made using the same spring to power a .177 cal and a .22 cal version of the same rifle. My RWS 34 is certainly one of them. I have used Beeman Kodiak match pellets almost exclusively (completely exclusively if I don't count the first few weeks when I was testing which pellets worked best in my rifle) and it is every bit as powerful now as it was the day I bought it.
 
Forgot to mention, I've had my RWS for 27 years. It's as accurate today as the day i got it. Not sure how that stacks up to other models but seems impressive to me!
 
I've had alot of fun with my first and only break over pellet rifle. Once it was sighted in I was hitting clothes pins consistantly at 40 yards and also cut the clotheline with 3 shots. My wife wasn't very happy with me but I was pretty inpressed, bottle caps a little farther out. The trigger on mine sucks but I can't do that with any other gun I own.
 
Well I got it today, and shot some pellets in my backyard. I love this rifle! The stock looks like beechwood, I like it. It reminds me of those Opinel knives. I shot a soda can full of water with a Crossman destroyer pellet, for being a pellet gun that thing sure does have quite some power behind it. The can was split wide open, it actually did more than those CB shorts I was using. I think that's due to the destroyer pellets, they really are impressive. I think I want to try those Crow Magnums next, at the higher velocities I bet they'd really snuff out small game.

~Levi
 
I'm kinda surprised that no one has mentioned a danger with break barrel rifles. It occurs when reloading, at the moment that you're putting the new pellet into the chamber. YOU MUST hold onto the end of the barrel with your free hand. If you don't, and you manage to somehow pull the trigger, the barrel can close on your fingers. This is probably in your instruction manual, but many don't read them.

Develop the habit of using your off hand to break the barrel, and then hold onto it. It's easy to do, if you place the butt on your hip or belt for support. Then, with your strong hand, load the new pellet. Use your off hand to close the barrel.
 
hello
i got a break barrel airgun for years now , i used it to convince the mice in my voliere to better find another home to nest in , and it did a great job at it.
i personnaly dont like micepoison and clamps , so i went for a airgun.
its a weirauch hw 30 in 4.5 mm cal and i got the original weirauch silencer
on it , later on i mounted a webley mill dot scope and bipod as i didnt see the original true glow as good as i used to in the semi dark .
i wipe the gun down with a damp oily cloth with ballistol oil , and from time to time shoot a cleaning pellet from vfg type 66792 through the barrel.
its a kind of vilt pellet on wich i put a drop of ballistol on.
i also use the ballistol on the moving parts that i see and the sealring.
its a very accurat and quiet airgun , some ten years old now and looks and shoots as new.
enjoy the hobby !
 
I'm kinda surprised that no one has mentioned a danger with break barrel rifles. It occurs when reloading, at the moment that you're putting the new pellet into the chamber. YOU MUST hold onto the end of the barrel with your free hand. If you don't, and you manage to somehow pull the trigger, the barrel can close on your fingers. This is probably in your instruction manual, but many don't read them.

Develop the habit of using your off hand to break the barrel, and then hold onto it. It's easy to do, if you place the butt on your hip or belt for support. Then, with your strong hand, load the new pellet. Use your off hand to close the barrel.
What? Maybe don't pull the trigger.
 
Well I just fired a couple dozen pellets from my new rifle, I'm hooked for good now. I even figured out how to hold it to get good accuracy. I dialed in the sights, and I can shoot ketchup packets from about 90 feet, and that's pretty good I'd say. I love my new rifle! That's probably the best 80 bucks I ever spent. I had a chance to recover the a few of the Crossman destroyers, they mushroomed out very nicely.

I did read about holding the barrel, I did that every shot and will make a habit of doing that.

As for the shipping, I say with all my experience I have had with FedEx Ground that they are horrible. I had to pull a Tom Sawyer just to get my gun, but I got it this morning. I called them about 5 or 6 times yesterday, they don't deliver Saturdays. Well I managed to get my package after all that nagging and trickery I did. It worked too! :) Finally I scheduled the delivery for this morning, got up, had my coffee, then signed for my package. Outstanding service. I'm sticking with UPS instead of FedEx for as long as I live. I love how I can just get that light bulb above my head to turn on when I really need something. I got my package on Saturday and FedEx doesn't even deliver today. Ha! I win!

Levi
 
If you don't, and you manage to somehow pull the trigger, the barrel can close on your fingers. This is probably in your instruction manual, but many don't read them.
Even worse than that, it can destroy the gun if it slams shut and your finger's not there to cushion it. That barrel has a lot of momentum, it will just keep going after it snaps shut.
 
The RWS 34 automatically engages the safety when you cock the barrel. No way it slams your finger if you accidentally pull the trigger. Besides, the basic rules of firearm safety also apply to airguns. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. It can be de-cocked by turning off the safety, then holding the barrel and pulling the trigger. BTW OP, I agree with the Fed ex thing. They stink compared to ups. Plain and simple. I never have delivery issues with UPS, and I have had issues with fed ex on 3 separate occasions now.
 
I just can't believe I actually had to trick em' to get my gun. I'll be at college Monday to Thursday so I figured I should do everything I can to get my package. I'm glad it worked so well! What I did is I did my "old man" voice and told them that I had only one leg and there were crutches in the package and my wheelchair broke. I also said that I had some catheters in there and that I'm down to my last catheter and I can't go a whole weekend without needing one. Well it worked! And can you believe they were hesitant to deliver even after I told them that? I really had to raise hell and be persistent to get it but I finally did. Believe me, I'm usually nicer than that and I know that wasn't very High Road of me. But I have had it with FedEx, they stink. Good thing they delivered on Saturday!

My friend Bennett said he's got a squirrel problem, with those destroyer pellets I'll definitely be of some help to him. I'll let you guys know how well that works for me.

~Levi
 
The RWS 34 automatically engages the safety when you cock the barrel.

As does my Beeman R7. I also have an older rifle - a Weihrauch HW30 without a safety. Regardless , I always grip the rifle by the forend when loading.

Air rifle target shooting has given me many hours of enjoyable shooting. The accuracy is actually very good. After one winter of shooting air rifle on a weekly routine my shooting with "real" firearms had improved by the following spring/summer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top