New Option For Beginners & Juniors: Diana Airbug

[Gwhite]

I talked to one of the Massachusetts Junior Pistol Team coaches this afternoon, and he just bought two of these to evaluate for new kids:

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/dian ... tol?m=4832

for $130, it looks WAY better than Crosmans costing significantly more. The grips are ambidextrous, and smallish for junior shooters.

They also have a PCP version for $170:

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/dian ... =4637#9056

It's not clear if you can remove the "moderator" to get it to fit in the ISSF box. It may be possible to install the Airbug front sight in place of the Bandit one.

The reviews for both have generally been quite favorable, except the grip on the Bandit seems to run on the large side. I'm guessing the grips are interchangeable.

[NotRocketSurgery]

Your post said, "It's not clear if you can remove the "moderator" to get it to fit in the ISSF box. It may be possible to install the Airbug front sight in place of the Bandit one."

I have an Airbug and I would love to get the front sight off! Has anyone ever done that? Is it threaded onto the barrel, maybe with some Locktite? Or is it just pressed one with something like epoxy too. If I can get mine off, I will gladly donate it ... :>)

John

[Sergei1950]

I have chineese version of this gun. The sights are "not perfect" to say gently )) but the trigger is very nice

[B Lafferty]

Your post said, "It's not clear if you can remove the "moderator" to get it to fit in the ISSF box. It may be possible to install the Airbug front sight in place of the Bandit one."

I have an Airbug and I would love to get the front sight off! Has anyone ever done that? Is it threaded onto the barrel, maybe with some Locktite? Or is it just pressed one with something like epoxy too. If I can get mine off, I will gladly donate it ... :>)

John

I'd be a bit surprised if there isn't a small screw somewhere on the underside that will allow to be slide off much like the Daisy air rifle that I bought for my daughter a few years ago. Then again, production-wise, sliding it on with some glue of some sort might be cheaper to do. Please keep us updated on what you discover.

At this price level for a pcp version, I wonder if the CO2 version might be more dependable over the long haul. Thoughts?

[Rover]

I'm sure most of you potential buyers won't care if it doesn't fit in the box. But, just in case, I'm sure you all have a hacksaw or cut-off wheel.

CO2 cylinders are a PIA, but on the other hand, you don't want kids (big or little) playing with CA.

You may also wish to check this out:
http://targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=64702

[ABerryhill]

I bought one of these after having several customers ask for custom or smaller grips for them. It is a fun little pistol for the money, but I'm not sure it is a direction I'd go if I was still coaching. But if someone wants to put an upgraded or replacement grip on them, that is something I'm happy to help with.

Andrew

Precision Target Pistol Grips

[Gwhite]

I just bought one to evaluate as a pistol for junior programs on a limited budget. It's nicely made, far better quality than the Crossman 2300T "Target" pistols my Club bought a number of years ago. The Crossman's are total junk, and do more harm than good. The triggers are awful, and that's AFTER polishing everything & installing lighter springs. The Crossman sights can't be adjusted for a sub-six hold, and are very skinny. I haven't had a chance to fire the Airbug yet, so I will update this when I get the time.

Pros:
Price: $130 USD is phenomenal.
Quality: The parts appear to be precision cast or machined, with no obvious stamped components.
Grip: The grip is ambidextrous & small enough for kids, although the younger ones might need a smaller grip that could be 3D printed.

Cons:
Trigger: The trigger has a reasonably nice break to it, but the only adjustment is for sear engagement. Mine came with a trigger pull around 1.1 kg, MUCH heavier than a competition pistol should be. In theory you can back off the sear to get a lighter pull, but I suspect it would be inconsistent & unsafe if you could get it down to 550 grams. The trigger position is not adjustable in any way.
Sights: The front & rear sight are VERY skinny. It would be easy to mount a fatter front sight (it's held on with a single screw), possibly 3D printed. The rear sight notch would need to be widened. It looks like it's hard to get just a replacement rear blade, but you can buy the entire rear sight assembly. I'm not sure how easy it would be to swap out the existing blade. The elevation adjustment can be set for a sub-six hold, but it has a simple screw, with no detents. There are tiny marks that you can use with the screwdriver slot to track your changes. The windage adjustment also has no "clicks". Contrary to what the manual implies, there are 2 opposing screws. You back off one, & tighten the opposite one to move it.
Shots per Cylinder: The specs claim it's good for 50 shots, but it's not clear if that is for .22 or .177. Some reviews claim it will go significantly higher. It would be nice to get a reliable 75 shots or so for sighters & a match, but swapping out mid-match isn't fatal. I suspect the velocity could be backed off a bit to get up to 75 shots, but I haven't studied it enough to know where that screw might be located. The max velocity is 525 fps, which is much higher than it needs to be. I've fired mine a few times now, and it not only appears to be cranked up pretty fast, but I think it's blowing excess CO2 out with every shot. My basement is dry, and I still see a puff of vapor when I fire. I found an exploded diagram, and it looks like the only way to back off the velocity is to cut down the hammer spring. There's no screw adjustment coupled to the spring that I can see.
Accuracy: Not having fired it, that's still TBD. One reviewer claimed a dime sized group holding on a rest. That's probably good enough for getting new shooters hooked.
Dry Firing: Once you have a cylinder in, there is no dry fire feature built into the pistol. I've designed & 3D printed a plastic insert that blocks the bolt, which prevents the hammer from hitting the valve.

I really wish they had given more consideration to making this an entry level ISSF pistol. Whether it's worth the hassle to modify to make it one remains to be seen. A Tau-7 Junior is a much better pistol in that regard, but (if you can find one) costs 3 to 4 times as much.

[Agt. Smith]

I just bought one to evaluate as a pistol for junior programs on a limited budget. It's nicely made, far better quality than the Crossman 2300T "Target" pistols my Club bought a number of years ago. The Crossman's are total junk, and do more harm than good. The triggers are awful, and that's AFTER polishing everything & installing lighter springs. The Crossman sights can't be adjusted for a sub-six hold, and are very skinny. I haven't had a chance to fire the Airbug yet, so I will update this when I get the time.

You are so correct. I made the mistake of buying a 2300T as a starter pistol - a complete waste of both time and money.

[spektr]

Has anyone actually touched a Snowpeak PP20?

https://www.krale.shop/us/snowpeak-pp20/

[Gwhite]

Interesting. I wonder if all of Steyr's patents have run out...

[Gwhite]

Update: I got about 55 shots from the first cartridge before it started sounding a bit feeble. The holes in the paper got ratty, and the impacts started dropping.

Adjusting the sights isn't as awful as I thought it might be, but the heavy (and uneven) trigger make it hard to tell where my zero should be. There's some muzzle flip from the blast of CO2 that also make it tricky to shoot well. Shooting with one hand, I can at least keep them in the black.

They are doing Physical Education air pistol classes at the college where I coach, and I want to show it to the instructor before I try to fix some of the issues I've found. A little polishing and a couple weaker springs will help the trigger and the shot count. Fixing the sights will be a bit more involved.

I think it can be turned into a decent beginners pistol, but out of the box, it is pretty uninspiring. I think my Chiappa/FAS 6004 was better, although I've gone through the recommended tune-ups on it.

[B Lafferty]

Has anyone actually touched a Snowpeak PP20?

https://www.krale.shop/us/snowpeak-pp20/

I saw on one of the UK air pistol forums that there were problems with the regulator requiring service. I wonder if anyone posting here has owned this pistol and can give us a brief (or long) review.