Shooters Forum banner

Back on the air after 50yrs

3K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Sus Scrofa 
#1 · (Edited)
I am back on the air after some 50yrs. Prompted by my friendly dairy farmer wanting the magpies on his slurry pit controlled, I made some enquiries as to a suitable rifle. I was going to be shooting from a purpose built hide, so weight was not a problem and length was, it needed to be manageable in confined spaces. Eventually it was suggested that an Air Arms TX200HV would be the bees knees.
I visited my local gun store, which also happens to be a serious air gun place and found a second hand TX200HV for the equivalent of $425, as new, not a mark on it. In fact until the guy said it was second hand I thought it was new. SOLD!! He then suggested the EXACT Diablo .177 would work well, so a 500 tin of those also went in 'the cart'.
All of that is now history. I was so impressed with the vast improvements in air rifle design in the last 50yrs. This gun was beautifully made and in the UK as well, although I think it has a German barrel.
Whatever, I put on a Hawke 4 - 12 x 50 scope which has mill dots and went into my wood to get it zeroed. I was not disappointed, this rifle was seriously accurate if I did my job.
I have now had it four weeks and it has seen the demise of 39 magpies, 1 carrion crow, 1 rabbit(head shot) and one hare(head shot). One magpie was a good 40yrds and poked its head above the parapet one time too many ;):D
Seriously enjoying the discipline required with an air rifle and aiming for a half century in the next week or so on magpies:D

The TX200 is a superb piece of kit. However if you require an air rifle to tote around then be aware it weighs in at 8lb !! and may be difficult to fit a sling. From a static position it would be hard to beat.


The only problem I have is the loading. You have to load one at a time and my old arthritic fingers have problems bending into the small space, so I made a little gizmo which places the pellet into the barrel for me. I hope from the photos you can se how that works. The hacksaw blade obviously will bend allowing the piece of nail J&B'd into the blade to push the pellet through and into the barrel.
I made it so the blade swings to one side so the pellet can be fed in head first. Works a treat and saves a lot of fumbling and lost pellets.
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#4 · (Edited)
Upgrade to my loading device. I was worried that the metal to metal system may cause some slight damage to the pellet and also metal to metal the feed had to be a 'just' fit for the pellet making it occasionally fall out:eek:
Sorting through some old stuff in my workshop I came across some hard rubber pipe which looked like the same .177 diameter hole as the pellets. A quick check and I found it was a gentle press fit, so preventing the pellet falling out and the rubber did not cause any damage either. Had some 1/2 x 5/8 ally section and cut off a piece, checked the outside measurement of the tube and drilled a hole JUST smaller so the piece of tube I had now cut off was a push fit. Tried the pellet and that was a gentle push fit still. No getting excited that just by chance I had found what I needed. Fitted the 'spring' ...
old hacksaw blade ... and made up the probe which will push the pellet into the barrel. Now came the tricky bit. I had to recess the face of the tool to go over the end of the barrel. This has proved to be critical and as you can see from the photo I made a bit of a bodge of the first attempt. Will purchase the correct size drills and then convert one of the drills to cut a flat base inside the recess.
It works OK now, but once that recess is tidied up it should be perfect. I have about 36 inches of this ally so plenty to practise on and I really only need one loader/two at most. I will also sculpt the metal to aid holding it. My old adage ..... "Waste not want not" my wife berates me on a regular basis for the stuff I have stashed around the buildings but there was this 12 inch piece of black rubber pipe and can't for the life of me when I put it there:eek::D 42 magpies now with this TX200HV and very pleased with it. Scary accurate.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
I use the same Pellet Pen speed loader but I also have the companion PELLET SEATER. Some but not all guns benefit from seating the Pellet into the Rifling. I may be talking an inch on the mile, but accuracy is the big advantage of Air Guns. All my air guns can drive tacks or put shot after shot in the same hole.

I am recent Air Gunner. Because I can legally shoot in my own back yard, I am doing a lot of air gunning now. IMHO the Springer style Air Gun offers the best Bang for the Buck. My 177 Gamo Whisper at 1000 FPS Lead Pellet is perfect for Pest Control and Back yard Plinking. If I cut notches for kills there wouldn't be any stock left. Of course learning to shoot a Springer takes some practice. The reverse recoil must be accounted for since the Pellet is still in the barrel when the air plunger slams forward.

My CO2 2250 Rat catcher is a 6 foot lb plinking carbine doesn't have any recoil or do Pumper or PCP guns. I actually shoot Geckos at 5 to 10 yards with the CO2 gun. Big Problem with CO2 is not enough power for hunting

I have the 392 and 1377 Pumpers. While they shoot great, I don't like having to pump them. Therefore I have them for sale.

PCP are great guns, but way too expensive for what you get. I have 22 rifles and a assortment of subsonic ammo starting with CB shorts. I can fill the gap between air and Firearms with these low power slow moving bullets. PCP are great, But anti firearm laws in some countries have made them extremely popular.

There are several shooting shows on U Tube that deal with Air Guns. I recommend anyone interested in air gunning to watch as many U tube videos as you can. I have learned a lot from those Videos.


.
 
#6 ·
Final design ...

...I think. Sculpted the frame to fit the fingers/hand better. Found some rubber pipe which is exactly the diameter of the barrel so only one hole to drill. The centre hole is also just a push fit for a 177 pellet ( I like that pellet pen idea as well ) Very simple to place this on the end of the barrel depress the spring and in goes the pellet. Found that the insertion pin needed pointing more as well to fit the base of the pellet and control insertion. Works a treat and I am now trying to find a local machine shop with CNC who can turn a number out for me at a sensible price. Fitting/making the springs is not a big job. My local air gun shop says they believe it would be a good seller. Getting the price right will be the important bit.
 

Attachments

#13 ·
...I think. Sculpted the frame to fit the fingers/hand better. Found some rubber pipe which is exactly the diameter of the barrel so only one hole to drill. The centre hole is also just a push fit for a 177 pellet ( I like that pellet pen idea as well ) Very simple to place this on the end of the barrel depress the spring and in goes the pellet. Found that the insertion pin needed pointing more as well to fit the base of the pellet and control insertion. Works a treat and I am now trying to find a local machine shop with CNC who can turn a number out for me at a sensible price. Fitting/making the springs is not a big job. My local air gun shop says they believe it would be a good seller. Getting the price right will be the important bit.
That is pretty cool!
Good luck and I hope it turns out well for you!
 
#10 ·
Recoil on the TX200 is very minimal, due to the design but also due to the weight it must be close to 8lbs and is not the rifle to buy if you enjoy walking and stalking. Not a problem for me because all of my air rifle shooting is from static ambush positions. The rifles are not inexpensive but once you have got past that point then the shooting is very cheap. I need the challenge of hunting with mine, if you could call laying in ambush, hunting, because shooting targets gets so boring because these modern air rifles are so accurate. Maybe trying to strike a match might be fun :) There has been a lot of activity around the farm slurry pits this last week or two as they empty the you know what and spread it on the fields. Once this is over I can settle back into reducing the magpie population further. I am on 47 at this moment and aim to be on my half century in a couple of weeks time. Started on them in early in July. I think the small song bird population is going to be very thankful next spring.
 
#14 ·
I am back on the air after some 50yrs. Prompted by my friendly dairy farmer wanting the magpies on his slurry pit controlled, I made some enquiries as to a suitable rifle. I was going to be shooting from a purpose built hide, so weight was not a problem and length was, it needed to be manageable in confined spaces. Eventually it was suggested that an Air Arms TX200HV would be the bees knees.
....>>>>>>edit for brevity<<<< The only problem I have is the loading. You have to load one at a time and my old arthritic fingers have problems bending into the small space, so I made a little gizmo which places the pellet into the barrel for me. I hope from the photos you can se how that works. The hacksaw blade obviously will bend allowing the piece of nail J&B'd into the blade to push the pellet through and into the barrel. I made it so the blade swings to one side so the pellet can be fed in head first. Works a treat and saves a lot of fumbling and lost pellets.
Hi Sus. The last airgun I had was a daisy BB gun waaaay back in the day. I have been thinking about buying another airgun because I like efficiency and the somewhat quirkiness of the newer take on air powered design. Also I just like alternative ways of doing things! Good shooting with your new found friend!
 
#15 ·
The 51st magpie died yesterday on that slurry pit with the TX200HV. Shot four in 90 mins. They are starting to get scarce there now and the farmer is one happy bunny. About to build a more permanent hide against the tank wall covering all angles because you never ever get rid of all magpies. There will always be new ones moving in. At least with 51 dead the local songbird population stand a good chance of having successful broods next spring along with pheasants and partridges. This TX200 is superb. It weighs in at around 8lbs so not a gun to carry around, but from a static location it is deadly out to 40yrds.
I am having fun with mine RevReb. Are cowbirds legal. I know they predate on songbird nest as well.
 
#20 ·
Shoot all the cowbird you want esp females. Around here cowbirds are trapped and euthanized to protect the Kirtland Warblers. The warblers only nest in a few small areas and a few counties w and s of here. Millions have been spent on them.
They only nest in areas of jackpines 6-15' tall. I believe they nest on the ground and like the pines THICK but nest in the edges of those plantations. Many thousands have been planted for nesting area.
 
#19 ·
That takes me back many many years REDTAIL my grandfather was an artist when it came to making slingshots ..catapults as we called them and I always had the very best, which other kids drooled over.
Living on a farm there was always the odd broken bearing race lying around and a 3/8th inch bearing was lethal on anything from my 1/4 inch square elastic loaded cattie. I still have the scar on the knuckle of my right hand where one went a bit astray because I didn't centre it in the leather correctly.
 
#22 ·
Still trying to find a CNC machinist to make me up about 50 as my local airgun shop would like to put them on sale.

I am now on 56 magpies and they are becoming a rare breed. Saw three yesterday, where 9 months ago over 50 lifted off. I will not be a happy bunny till I sit there for three or four hours and see only wagtails(we have three types) robins, chaffinches, etc., and do not fire a shot. My work will be done.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top