17 replies to this topic

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Here's the story: I had listed my .22 caliber Benjamin Trail NP XL1100 in the classifieds here and on two other air gun forums. On one a member asked if I would consider any trades. I said "Sure. What do you have?" He had a couple different brands of break-barrel rifles and a .22 caliber Benjamin Discovery. He only wanted to trade for the rifle (no scope) and so I accepted the trade for the .22 caliber Discovery. We worked out the trade and exchanged information. Today I received the Discovery via UPS. It is in very good shape. I plan to inlet the Boyd Ross Sporter Thumbhole stock that I have for the Discovery's action. Since I kept the CenterPoint 3-9x40AO scope from the NPXL I'm going to mount it on the Discovery with some 1" Air Force scope rings that I have on hand. I test shot it (dry fire) and it is definitely louder than the Marauder. The only other thing I may get for it is a Power Adjuster. Once I get it inlet into the new stock (after I finish inletting the Marauder stock) I'll post some photos.

[Brant]

Why did he do that?

[crazyhorse]

Got mine 3 years ago (.22) from Mac 1 airguns with his tune inc power adjuster..shoots average 906 FPS and I use JSB Express Jumbo's 14.3..I've killed a ton of squirrels with it and it is still one of my favorites..No issues at all...

[Brant]

Nice gun.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Why did he do that?

I guess from what he said he already had another .22 Discovery and also had a .22 NPXL, but wanted another one for some reason. Go figure . Anyway, I'm stoked about it and look forward to getting it into it's new stock in a few weeks time. I might order the power adjuster tomorrow afternoon so that I hopefully get it next week sometime. I'll shoot it over the chrony and see what kind of numbers it is producing with 14.3 CPHP's. Most guys on the GTA say the 15.9 grain JSB's shoot pretty accurately out the the Discoverys so next time I put in a pellet order I'll add some of those to the order.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Got mine 3 years ago (.22) from Mac 1 airguns with his tune inc power adjuster..shoots average 906 FPS and I use JSB Express Jumbo's 14.3..I've killed a ton of squirrels with it and it is still one of my favorites..No issues at all...

Crazyhorse, How many shots do you usually get at that average FPS? From what I understand, with a 2000 PSI Fill, most guys get around 20 or so shots from around 2000 to 1100 PSI. Does that sound about right? I'm looking forward to getting out and shooting it once I get the Muzzle Brake and get it into it's new stock.

[mackeralboy]

Here is my .22cal Mac1 tuned Disco. I added an afermarket rotory magazine feed.  disco1.JPG   27.72K   0 downloads

[crazyhorse]

Crazyhorse, How many shots do you usually get at that average FPS? From what I understand, with a 2000 PSI Fill, most guys get around 20 or so shots from around 2000 to 1100 PSI. Does that sound about right? I'm looking forward to getting out and shooting it once I get the Muzzle Brake and get it into it's new stock.

Yes,..I get 20 good shots from a 2000 psi fill..I have a Benjamin Buddy tank which gives me 7-8 fills if I need n more shots hunting in the field..

[KNOCKED UP]

I never realised that air rifles were so high tech. I guess I am just old school. (very old school)Tom

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Tom, You should get yourself one . They're a blast to shoot and great for pesting and hunting small game . Come on over to the "Dark Side" as they say in air gunning (referring to PCP air guns as the "Dark Side" of air gunning). Once you get in, you'll be addicted like the rest of us . The Discovery is probably one of the lowest cost PCP air rifles on the market and I think you can order one from Wally world online with the pump included for around $300 or so. The Discovery comes with open sights but as you see in the photos it accepts the 3/8" / 11mm dovetail mounts for mounting a scope. The Discovery is a bit loud. The quiet step up would be the Marauder Rifle which is quieter out of the box, but more expensive. Anyway, come on over... we've got the best cookies ...

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Yes,..I get 20 good shots from a 2000 psi fill..I have a Benjamin Buddy tank which gives me 7-8 fills if I need more shots hunting in the field...

How do you fill your Benjamin buddy bottle? Do you pump it to fill, or fill from a larger tank? If it can be pump filled, I may look into getting a used one to carry with me when I take the Disco hunting. Being able to have 7 to 8 fills from that for the Disco would be great. That would give me a full day of Ground Squirrel eliminating easily.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Here is my .22cal Mac1 tuned Disco. I added an afermarket LDC and rotory magazine feed.

Mackeralboy, I've seen those magazine feeds in photos on the internet. However, I haven't found a place that is currently selling them. I would love to find a place that has them so that I could order a few of them. Do you like the way they operate/function and are they pretty much malfunction free?

[Brant]

I have been shooting for about 45 years and it started with airguns and probably will end with airguns. I own a lot of firearms but 90% of my shooting is now airguns and all are currently PCPs. I shoot airguns from the benchrest under my covered 2nd story deck all year around or on my 20 yard basement range when it is real bad out. My firearms are more for some seasonal hunting or specialized needs like CCW or coyote hunts and i normally have to leave the house except for pistol shooting in the basement. I work from home and even shoot airguns during work breaks. Nothing reduces stress so well.The air guns - especially precharged pneumatics have really come of age and many have gone high tech and the marketplace is exploding right now. They now span the range on power (all north american game have been taken with airguns), quality, cost, and technology even surpassing firearms in many regards with the latest ones touting LCD screens mounted on the side of receivers and the latest electronics. Being a non-firearm they can be silenced and fully automatic w/o the same current regulations (BATF does not regulate airguns) and restrictions. They are even the rumblings of possibly a self defense application very recently. While they may never reach the extreme power and accuracy of many firearms they fit an expanding niche that firearms cannot fill in many cases. If you want more information on some of the very best airguns on the market check out the Air Ranger and the Air Wolf MCT from Daystate (UK) on the web. They have become very popular in the US and major local dealers sell and support them very well. For American made airguns check out Crosman and their Discovery, and Marauder rifle and pistol series for very decent guns at very reasonable prices.Thats my airgun dog and pony show http://www.daystate.com/http://www.crosman.c...guns/rifles/pcp

I never realised that air rifles were so high tech. I guess I am just old school. (very old school)Tom

[crazyhorse]

How do you fill your Benjamin buddy bottle? Do you pump it to fill, or fill from a larger tank? If it can be pump filled, I may look into getting a used one to carry with me when I take the Disco hunting. Being able to have 7 to 8 fills from that for the Disco would be great. That would give me a full day of Ground Squirrel eliminating easily.

I get it filled at Velocity Paint ball on Magnolia..

[mackeralboy]

ARH,Here is the link to the website where I bought the rotory magazine from. http://www.qbmags.com/They work reasonably well for an aftermarket item. I won't say they are jam free, but there are some things you can do to make them jam less often. They also will not take the larger and longer pellets. An example being the leadless pellets sold by Airguns of Arizona. One of the things that I found that contributes to jamming, is if the pellet has a heavy head relative to the weight of the tail. (forward center of gravity) This causes the the pellet to fall head down/ tail up into the feed tray causing a jam. I found I was getting a lot of jams with the heavier JSB pellets in .22cal. As soon as I went to a lower weight JSB pellet they fell into the feed tray on thier side just like they were suppose too. If you get the rotory magazine you will have also have to get higher scope rings so your scope will clear the magazine. Bottom line I feel it was a good investment because of the quick follow up capability and I always found loading a single round into the Disco's reciever time consuming and a bit fiddly.Mc

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Well, as typically happens when I have something that I really want to see completed, I ran out of patience and decided to start working on the replacement Discovery stock first (Boyd's Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock) and leave the Marauder project stock (Boyd's Blaster stock (modified)) until next week (or until I get some more time). The Discovery has a smaller diameter reservior and therefore it worked out well (and made it quicker to inlet too) for the Ross Thumbhole Sporter stock, which allows for a 1" maximum diameter barrel. I've completely inlet the stock (Except for an inlet area for the barrel band which I am going to see if moving it to the end of the stock messes with accuracy at all or not. If it does then I'll inlet the stock for the barrel band at it's factory position) and have the first two coats of Tru-Oil on it (first coat and wet sand coat) and now it has to dry for 24 hours before applying the next coat. It is turning out much darker than I imagined it. The Tru-Oil turned it from a light or medium gray to an almost dark charcoal gray. It still looks way cool and is a much more comfortable stock to me than the factory Discovery stock (which while sufficient, light and nice was a little small to me), though the Thumbhole Sporter stock it is a bit heavier. The inletting, due to only using a chisel, a piece of 13/16" diamter PVC pipe with sand paper applied to it with adheasive and a power drill (using 1", 5/8" and 1/2" spade bits and 1/4" drill bit), took me approximately 14 hours (that is a lot of time consuming chiseling and sanding (back and forth, back and forth at the reservior location). I can see how using a milling machine with box core bits would turn it into about a 1 to 2 hour process at most . I must admit though, some of that time was drawing the stock and action in AutoCad to ensure where the action would fit best for reach of the trigger and hold and now that I am more confident in doing the inletting, if I do it again I should be able to complete the same work in about half the time. I'm going to attempt to put a satin finish on it so that it isn't glossy or majorly reflective. I also need to get some sling studs and once the stock is completely finished with the Tru-Oil, drill and mount the sling studs. I think I'll get some of those 6-32 hex (grub) screws to and do the (2) screw mod to the trigger and the lighter trigger spring too. I wanted to get the power adjuster right away, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait a few weeks before getting one, or I can make one myself for alot less (I've seen the videos and I know I could make a nice one pretty easily). I'm estimating that I'll be done with the finish on the stock by the first part to the middle of next week. I'll take photos off the finished stock with the action attached once the stock is completed.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

ARH,Here is the link to the website where I bought the rotory magazine from. http://www.qbmags.com/

Mc, Thanks for the link. I looked it up and added it to my favorites so that I can order it when I get some extra cash.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

I'm basically done with the new stock for the Discovery and I'm waiting for the last, very thin coat of finish that I'm putting on it to fully dry. Before I put the last coat on it I placed the Discovery's action in the stock... man, it looks pretty cool to me ! I can't wait to polish it to a satin finish and get the butt pad back on the stock so that I can assemble the Discovery to take some photos of it. Maybe I'll just assemble it for some photos and then disassmble it again for the polishing . I've also completed the two screw modification to the trigger (I drilled it and threaded it using metal screws and I am actually using nylon screws for the adjusting screws and they seem to work very well). I changed the trigger spring to a lighter spring too (about half the tension of the original). I'll adjust the position and travel of the trigger before re-assembly. I also made my own power adjuster and it functions as it should. I'll get to try it out when I chrony it and if I don't like the way it works, I'll just remove it and leave it out, using the stock set up until I eventually order one from AOA. Well, next time I post it will hopefully be with pictures of my customized Benjamin Discovery!