Okay, finally did it...

[Mauser lover]

I ordered a Daisy 853 from CMP...

These have been talked about on this forum before, and I have heard good things about them, but I had decided that I didn't need to spend the money on them... until recently. I got my 853 on Friday last week, and like a proverbial kid in a candy store, I carefully unwrapped the box, took the bubble wrap off the stock and found...

Doggone it! The Monte-Carlo stock had broken at the top of the pistol grip!

Anyway, I got in touch with CMP, and they shipped out a new stock that I got today (Good job CMP!). I haven't shot it yet, so we'll see how that goes. Pellets haven't gotten here yet (ordered from an online retailer).

I had heard that these looked like they had been run over with a truck, but worked. Mine looks like it has been... run over by something smaller than a truck. Like a Smart Car or something like that. Actually the finish isn't that bad. Stock(s) were grimy, but they scrubbed up nicely. There are paint chips, dents and dings in the stock, etc. but really no big deal to me. I plan to refinish the stock... someday. It isn't at the top of my "someday" list. I'll probably also someday do the pilkguns trigger job, and maybe I'll even make metal trigger parts someday and be able to polish the parts for real.

Anyway, I mounted the sight (which I do like), sling, and extended the stock to the full length (I received two spacers with the gun). When I shouldered it, I found that I really like the size and shape of the gun in general. LOP is not too short for me, and should fit my wife as well. It isn't full size by any stretch of the imagination, but it is really comfortable. After I figured out the sling, I decided that I would probably like that too.

We'll see how it goes! Somehow I'll convince my wife that it is safe to shoot indoors...

 

[cobalt327]

I think you're in for a treat!

I'd suggest running a patch through the barrel just to see what's up- mine had an oil/moly grease mixture that had worked its way from the compression chamber through the valve, TP and into the barrel! I kept patching it every few dozen shots and it kept coming out fouled gray/black with this moly/oil mixture so I ended up pulling it apart (was going to anyway to do the trigger mod) to give it a proper cleaning. While I had it apart I put all new seals and valve seat in it. Daisy replaces the piston O-ring and wiper but beyond that, what you get depends on how long before it went into surplus it had last been serviced, so no way to tell ahead of time what you might get in that regard.

I was disappointed at first because I couldn't seem to get the ES and MV to where it should be. Turns out the problem was less to do w/the gun than I hadn't found the right pellet. Once I tried RWS Superdomes, I found what I had been looking for- tight ES with decent MV. Your gun may or may not like them too but it's something to try, if you have some on hand. Superpoints work almost as well (higher MV but a little wider ES). Hobbys were okay too.

 

[Mauser lover]

Ummm... What is ES? I think I got muzzle velocity from MV.

 

[cobalt327]

Sorry- ES is short for extreme spread. Mine was 40-plus fps between low and high and that obviously is too much. One part of the issue was, I was using Crosman Primere hollow point pellets. Crosman pellets are made from an alloy that's harder than the lead used by RWS. The RWS skirts are thinner to boot- combined w/the softer lead, this results in better sealing from them in my experience. I believe this is less of an issue with high power airguns than it is with a lower powered airgun like the 853.

 

[jmorris]

I had heard that these looked like they had been run over with a truck, but worked. Mine looks like it has been... run over by something smaller than a truck. Like a Smart Car or something like that.

Thanks, needed the laugh.

 

[Mauser lover]

You are welcome. I try to weave some sort of slightly hidden humor into my posts. Otherwise I would be just boring to read...


Okay, on the serious side, Cobalt, you said that you gave yours a "proper cleaning". I need to be edumacated on this. What is proper cleaning for a pneumatic air rifle of this sort? Where can I find the info for that (if you don't want to type it all out)? The manual says to lubricate with a clean motor oil, and I like that idea, because I am a tightwad. But is it really a good idea?

How far do I take it apart?
What particularly do I clean?
With what do I clean it?
With what should I lubricate?

If you know of a particularly good article on the errornet, I would appreciate knowing of it too! Thanks!

Oh, I did try to shoot it. It shoots. I can hit the broad side of the barn from the inside. I didn't get too serious, I think I only used four pellets or something like that. Sometime I will upgrade from my current Daisy pointed pellets if I find they are less than ideal.

 

[cobalt327]

You are welcome. I try to weave some sort of slightly hidden humor into my posts. Otherwise I would be just boring to read...


Okay, on the serious side, Cobalt, you said that you gave yours a "proper cleaning". I need to be edumacated on this. What is proper cleaning for a pneumatic air rifle of this sort? Where can I find the info for that (if you don't want to type it all out)? The manual says to lubricate with a clean motor oil, and I like that idea, because I am a tightwad. But is it really a good idea?

How far do I take it apart?
What particularly do I clean?
With what do I clean it?
With what should I lubricate?

If you know of a particularly good article on the errornet, I would appreciate knowing of it too! Thanks!

Oh, I did try to shoot it. It shoots. I can hit the broad side of the barn from the inside. I didn't get too serious, I think I only used four pellets or something like that. Sometime I will upgrade from my current Daisy pointed pellets if I find they are less than ideal.

I have an article that I started but it's not complete, but IIRC it has links to dis- and re-assembly and other tips that should help. If this is something that you'd be interested in seeing, I will start a conversation with you- it's like sending a private message- so I can give you what info I have.

 

[Mauser lover]

Yeah, I'd love to see it! Go ahead and start the conversation, and I'll try to figure out how to read it!

Thanks!

 

[cobalt327]

All the way at the top of the page look for "Inbox", it should be there IIRC. It looks like it went through okay without having to split it into smaller parts (it's kind of large).

 

[Mauser lover]

Yep, I got it. It was interesting, but I'm not sure it answered all of my questions. I'll shoot some more serious groups this weekend, I got some Crosman wadcutters and some Daisy pointed pellets. I'm really not terribly interested in those single figure ES numbers or 510 FPS. I just want to get decent groups, and eventually I'll tinker with it.

If my groups are just horrible, I'll tear into it, and that will be fun, I'm sure...

I will clean the bore before I shoot seriously though.

 

[Mauser lover]

Okay, my no name brand "bore cleaner snake" wouldn't fit in the bore, so I decided to shoot it without a bore cleaning. My benched 10 yard groups looked like I was shooting my break barrel at 35 yards (daisy pellets).

I switched to my Crosman wadcutters and fired a five shot group that was one hole. Not perfectly round, but all the shots were touching. I adjusted the sights and fired a three shot group into one hole that looked just ever so slightly oblong. As in, barely bigger than one pellet hole.

No idea what my muzzle velocity is, but I'm happy with whatever it is! After I run out of these crosmans, I'll get some rws and try them. But I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting.