 |  | | | |  | |  |  | Browning 800 Mag newbie |  | |  |  | |
 Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:33 pm |
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| flintlock28 |
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| Joined: 06 Sep 2010 |
| Posts: 20 |
| Location: Mid-Atlantic U.S.A. |
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Hello everyone, I just registered and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for the Browning 800 Mag Pistol???
I just got back into Air-gunning after a long time away..... I had a Feinwerkbau 124 years ago, and sadly gave it to a neighbor for money I owed him.....dumb move.
Anyway, I got the Browning for dealing with a bad Squirrel problem (i.e. they wiped out my garden (even after fencing), and have chewed Gas grill lines, 96 gallon wheeled trashcans, and the kids outdoor playground equipment)
The Browning is in .22 caliber, and is relatively accurate, with very good power. I have tried the Crossman Premier pellets with good success, along with Daisy pointed pellets.
If you have any tips, please let me know. I am currently having my Browning tuned up by an old Airgun specialist, and having a Millet red dot sight installed (think it's the SP-1 model??)
Let me know your recommendations for anything related.
Thanks
Don |
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:35 am |
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| AirGunEric |
| Site Admin |
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| Joined: 20 Jan 2007 |
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The Browning 800 Mag has only been around for about a year- and I personally have not seen too many people with them- of course this seems to be generally true for most spring-powered pistols (just not that popular it seems).
Not sure what sort of tips your are looking for? You mention having it tuned by someone, and it was working reasonably well beforehand. I think we can assume that any "tune" work is going to be oriented at smoothing out any rough edges (particularly in the trigger area) and perhaps some attempt at increasing power (a common theme)- although a spring pistol shooting 600fps might get a bit rough if power is increased any significant amount. |
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:40 am |
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| jlwilliams |
| Veteran Member |
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| Joined: 02 Oct 2009 |
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| Location: Jacksonville, NC USA |
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| Maybe you can tell us more about it when you get yours back. I've been looking at those since they came out and now that the .22s are available it's really got my eye. I'd like to get one and put a folding stock on it like the one Beeman used to sell (don't remember the model) Sure looks like a good backpacking set up. |
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:44 am |
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| flintlock28 |
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| Joined: 06 Sep 2010 |
| Posts: 20 |
| Location: Mid-Atlantic U.S.A. |
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| AirGunEric wrote: |
The Browning 800 Mag has only been around for about a year- and I personally have not seen too many people with them- of course this seems to be generally true for most spring-powered pistols (just not that popular it seems).
Not sure what sort of tips your are looking for? You mention having it tuned by someone, and it was working reasonably well beforehand. I think we can assume that any "tune" work is going to be oriented at smoothing out any rough edges (particularly in the trigger area) and perhaps some attempt at increasing power (a common theme)- although a spring pistol shooting 600fps might get a bit rough if power is increased any significant amount. |
Eric, I should have been clearer. I left the Browning with an old experienced local dealer/repairer, after I met with him to have a Millet Red dot installed. He examined the bore, and said that it needed a little lapping to get a couple of slight rough spots, reduced or eliminated for best accuracy. He also showed that the front sight had loosened up (even after I had degreased the screws, and used Blue Loctite on them).
Evidently, you should remove the Bluiing off of the screws to get them to really not come loose....I never heard that before, but he stated that the bluiing on the screws/receiver holes, sometimes doesn't allow a firm grip with the Loctite. The gun was giving me groups of 5 shots of about a Dime sized, to a nickel beforehand, at 10 Meters distance. That was with only about 150 pellets fired in total thru the gun....I'm hoping the accuracy improves, but I don't think that's too bad right outta the box.
As far as tips go, I was hoping that other Browning owners could chime in as to what Pellets seem to work best, what modifications can be done to improve the gun, and any other general information to get the most from the gun.
Thanks
Don |
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:04 am |
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| flintlock28 |
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| Joined: 06 Sep 2010 |
| Posts: 20 |
| Location: Mid-Atlantic U.S.A. |
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| jlwilliams wrote: |
| Maybe you can tell us more about it when you get yours back. I've been looking at those since they came out and now that the .22s are available it's really got my eye. I'd like to get one and put a folding stock on it like the one Beeman used to sell (don't remember the model) Sure looks like a good backpacking set up. |
jl,
The little time that I've had the gun, I've overall been happy with it. The sights are a little bit Cheesy (plastic), and have a shape that is not going to give the best accuracy...that's why I decided to go with a Red Dot. They aren't horrible sights, they just aren't quite up to snuff.
The finish of the gun is decent, overall workmanship doesn't compare to German guns (made in Turkey), but it's respectable. I Don't find the cocking effort too bad, but quite a number have commented that it requires a good bit of "grunt" to cock. I will give a follow up report when I get the gun back from the Pistol smith.
Don |
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| Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:00 pm |
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| flintlock28 |
| Member |
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| Joined: 06 Sep 2010 |
| Posts: 20 |
| Location: Mid-Atlantic U.S.A. |
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| flintlock28 wrote: |
| jlwilliams wrote: |
| Maybe you can tell us more about it when you get yours back. I've been looking at those since they came out and now that the .22s are available it's really got my eye. I'd like to get one and put a folding stock on it like the one Beeman used to sell (don't remember the model) Sure looks like a good backpacking set up. |
jl,
The little time that I've had the gun, I've overall been happy with it. The sights are a little bit Cheesy (plastic), and have a shape that is not going to give the best accuracy...that's why I decided to go with a Red Dot. They aren't horrible sights, they just aren't quite up to snuff.
The finish of the gun is decent, overall workmanship doesn't compare to German guns (made in Turkey), but it's respectable. I Don't find the cocking effort too bad, but quite a number have commented that it requires a good bit of "grunt" to cock. I will give a follow up report when I get the gun back from the Pistol smith.
Don |
Well I got the 800 back from the Air-Pistolsmith......
I have mixed emotions about the gun:
First, it cost me a good amount of money to have the gun worked on, due to time put into it. The smith' told me that at first the barrel had varying degrees of diameter. At the Breech, the barrel was too tight, and as he progressed down the barrel toward the muzzle, the bore got looser, and then tightened up again at the muzzle. Turns out, that the fools at the factory must have used some type of device at the muzzle, to push on the sight/muzzle-brake, that turned out too be incorrectly designed (or used improperly), and they partially crushed the last 1/2 inch or so of the Muzzle!!!...hence the smaller bore size at the Muzzle. He didn't notice it at first, because the sight/muzzlebrake was very hard to remove, hence you couldn't see the partially crushed muzzle. He worked on that, and then corrected the overly tight breech. He also stated that the sides of the pivot area for the breech were slightly mis-aligned, since you can cock the gun, and the barrel will not fall under it's own weight, until you get to a certain part of the stroke, than the barrel will fall under it's own weight.
Anyway, after all that and a hefty bill....the guns does shoot RWS Hobby 11.9 grain pellets, at 10 Meters into about a Dime sized circle. Crossman Premier Ultra Mags also did shoot about the same size, but their impact was probably 5 inches lower than the RWS. I'm happy with the accuracy, but it ticks me off that quality control is so circumspect, that this gun left the factory, in a condition like that. I should have had it Chronographed, but I do think it's in the 500fps range, or so (Rated 600 fps in the .22 size)
Conclusions........
I'm pissed that the gun left the factory in that condition, but after the work, it's shooting pretty well. I think anybody who wants a hard hitting springer pistol, can do alright with the 800, ..provided they do a thorough check of the gun when they purchase it. I also had a Millet SP-1 red dot sight installed, that does help make shooting easier. Feel free to ask any questions.
Don |
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| Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:26 pm |
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| AirGunEric |
| Site Admin |
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| Joined: 20 Jan 2007 |
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Honestly, you probably should have just shot it on your own and 'found' problems yourself. If there were defects, it likely could have been returned for an exchange (hopefully for one in much better condition).
And not that I'm suggesting this is the case here, but it has happened before where an experienced "gunsmith" has gotten near a pellet gun and made things a whole lot worse than they started- all the while blaming it on the manufacturer. I recall an incident awhile back where a "gunsmith" took an airgun barrel and re-crowned it, left metal shavings in the rifling, obviously cleaned it using a steel rod and then blamed all the rifling scoring on the manufacturer- which of course was conveniently not noticed until after they 'completed' the work and wanted to get paid. |
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| Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:34 am |
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| flintlock28 |
| Member |
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| Joined: 06 Sep 2010 |
| Posts: 20 |
| Location: Mid-Atlantic U.S.A. |
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| AirGunEric wrote: |
Honestly, you probably should have just shot it on your own and 'found' problems yourself. If there were defects, it likely could have been returned for an exchange (hopefully for one in much better condition).
And not that I'm suggesting this is the case here, but it has happened before where an experienced "gunsmith" has gotten near a pellet gun and made things a whole lot worse than they started- all the while blaming it on the manufacturer. I recall an incident awhile back where a "gunsmith" took an airgun barrel and re-crowned it, left metal shavings in the rifling, obviously cleaned it using a steel rod and then blamed all the rifling scoring on the manufacturer- which of course was conveniently not noticed until after they 'completed' the work and wanted to get paid. |
Eric,
Yes, I probably should have gone that route......
I do trust my pistolsmith, he's been at it for decades, and He was the one I bought my Feinwerkbau 124 from, back in 1986. I do feel that He should have found the Muzzle damage earlier, before He dumped time into the project. Had I known about the muzzle factory damage, I would have contacted Sportsmans Guide, ( the sellers) and gotten another pistol sent out.
The one thing that does irritate me a little bit, is that I feel He should have called me, and told me that the gun was gonna need a number of hours put into it, so that I could make a decision about not having the work done, or to proceed. I'm primarily using the pistol for dispatching Squirrels in my back yard at 15 yards or less, so overall I'm somewhat satisfied. Unfortunately, now I'm considering buying a Beeman HW97K (laminated stock) Rifle, to shoot Paper, and maybe Field targets......I think the air rifle bug has bit me.
D |
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