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Give ‘em something to do!

Umarex has been asking some dealers whether Americans would like their pistols in colors like blue and gold and I have to respond to that with a resounding NO! Americans do not want their airguns in bright colors, for the most part. They want them to be able to SHOOT! Every company who has tried to sell bright colors will tell you what a mountain of resistance they encounter. Just ask Shin Sung about their gold receivers, or look at the sales figures for the European target guns that come both in colors and plain old black.

The “action” pistols sold by Umarex-and let’s include Crosman, Daisy, Gamo and even Anics in this discussion-are fun because they are repeaters. Most are very realistic to look at and to hold. So the shooter gets a tactile treat when he has one in hand. But people get confused when it comes to shooting these new guns, as in, “What do I shoot at? They often try to make target pistols out of them, and that’s a role for which these airguns are poorly suited.

The accuracy of the average action pistol is about 1-1/8” at 10 meters- and that’s at their best. At their worst, which is where the compromise Anics pellet/BB pistol is, accuracy is more on the order of 2-1/2” to 3”. That’s pretty far from target accuracy when there
are guns like the Beeman P1 and Gamo Compact floating around. Either one of them and many others like them can hit a dime with every shot 10 meters.

But the action pistols can do something that very few of the target guns can do. They can shoot rapidly and they can all mount optical sights. Set up in this way, they become the airgun equivalents of the firearms they copy-true action pistols.

People thrill to see Mel Gibson on the big screen triggering off 10 shots and drilling his targets every time. With this new group of air pistols, you can do the same thing in your backyard at a fraction of the cost. And now, with a huge new red dot sight red dot sight from Compasseco, you don’t have to spend $350.00 and more on just the sighting equipment to do it. That’s the real story here.

I first saw the big red dot at the NRA Annual Meeting in Kansas City in May 2001. My brain immediately shouted “Bushnell Holosight!” Begging the pardon of the Bushnell Corporation, I have been wanting a holosight ever since Robin Parks mounted one on a Crosman 1077 for aerial shooting at this show. Imagine a $500.00 sight on a $70.00 air rifle. But it worked and I felt like a fighter pilot just looking through it.

Well, the red dot from Compasseco may not resemble the pipper from an F18 gunsight, but it’s almost the size of a picture window, and at $70.00, it’s a bargain even a humble airgunner can afford. It comes ready to mount on a Weaver base, which B-Square makes for all Umarex pistols, so you also save some bucks over the mounts Walther offers for their guns.

Since the sight itself contains the mount that attaches to the rails, there is nothing else to buy. At full retail the outfit tested here costs $247.89 plus hipping. If you shop, you may do even better. That’s a lot of potential fun at a very affordable price. Of course if you purchase a Crosman or Gamo action pistol instead, the savings will be even greater.

Let’s Check It Out
Let’s check out this combo, paying particular attention to the new sight. The Colt pistol Colt pistol we have seen before in February 1998. But this gun has been improved and mostly in the double action trigger pull, which is now as smooth and light as any of the Umarex guns, save the S&W 586S&W 586. You will have no problem shooting this one rapid fire all the time.

Velocity is the same for all these guns, 360 to 390 fps give or take. You can expect 50 to 75 shots, depending on how fast you can pull the trigger because Co2 chills the gun as it flows through and a cold gun uses more gas.

Even with the big sight mounted, there is still plenty of room to insert and remove the metal eight-shot magazine. In fact, you must be careful to keep the gun upright when you open the slide or the magazine will roll out on it’s own rather fast.

The red dot adjusts for the strike of the round the same as a normal reticle in a scope--all you see is the point of intersection which you want to overlay on the strike of the round. The one flaw I found with this sight was that all the adjustments are backwards from the directional arrows inscribed on them. “Want the round to go up?” Move elevation knob in the opposite direction. Undoubtedly the factory has a great explanation for why this is so, but I do not care for it.

Dynamite Nobel now handles the Colt air pistols. You can look for them on their website and in their catalogs. Finishes are available in both silver and black and there is no charge from the last report on the quality of the black finish. It still looks mottled and hazy. I wonder why Umarex doesn’t bring out a Colt with the same matte finish they have on their Walther PPK/S pistols. It would resemble the Parkerized WWII model and would probably appeal to collectors.

Targets Can Be Cheap
Although the falling plate target used in this test is a stout and rather expensive commercial job, you don’t have to be anywhere near as fancy to play this game. Juice cans with a string fastened through their bottoms, can be stood on a flat board 15 feet away. Each can should be standing over a hole in the board through which the string passes. Paint them black for contrast and have at em! The pellet should topple the cans and a pull on the combined strings at the shooting line should bring each back to standing over their holes once more (you’ll need some ground clearance under the board for the strings.

The point is your targets don’t have to be store bought or expensive. Save your money for things that really matter like maybe a special action pistol holster when you think you are good enough to make it pay. You can even get a sound powered timer when things really start to heat up. There is a sport lying dormant here, and you airgun dealers will realize greater sales if you help your customers discover it.

And don’t just count the guns, sights and mounts in your calculations, either. Imagine the pellets and powerlets a game like this will consume!

How does it shoot under pressure?
I’m no Mel Gibson that’s for sure, but neither is he when the prospect of editing isn’t available. One thing I noticed as I shot the magazine after magazine in preparation for this report is the more you shoot, the better you will get. Better means faster. I shot almost one full tin of RWS Hobby Pellets-that’s a full 500 rounds in just one session. And there was more than one session! I went through dozens of powerlets gathering data and experience, because, aside from this report, I also intend to provide a public demonstration at the Mid-Atlantic airgun show on the 11th of this month August 2001.

I contend that the public doesn’t buy these pistols because they don’t know how to use them-or even what they are sued for. It’s hard to sell a $160.00 to $200.00 air pistol to a person unless there is motivation to buy it. The first sale will be the easiest, as the weight and realism of the gun do a lot of the convincing, but the second gun will be a much harder sale, because the mystery has worn off. Unless there is some sort of re-stimulation people won’t buy that second gun.

Ask yourself why a person who already owns $1000.00 target pistol or rifle would ever consider buying another one. The answer is they are curious how much better they will be able to shoot with a different gun. I may preach all day that one 10-meter gun or field target rifle is as good as another, but when a person is putting themselves on the firing line, they want to see for themselves. Hence you get repeat sales of very expensive equipment.

The action pistols will move too, if there is some kind of motivation beyond just their look and feel. And with this new sight there are no more barriers-this is a sweet action pistol package at a great retail price. But that’s not all.

Besides the 47mm dot sight47mm dot sight, Compasseco also shipped me two other new dot sights to look over. One is set up for hunters and features a changeable-color red dot that you can switch according to the ambient conditions afield. Red or green-you choose the color you like best.

The other has an optional lens that is supposed to magnify the target image-something not that common in a dot sight. I attached it but as far as I could tell there didn’t seem to be any change. Perhaps it works with the sight closer to the eye, like a rifle. It did seem to make a difference when I held it close, but I didn’t submit it to a full test like the big sight. So I really can’t say.

All three sights come from the same factory and have 11 levels of brightness for the dot. They are made to military specifications and compare well to other brands costing much more.

We thank Compasseco for providing this outfit for our review.

Wrap Up
Action pistol package with – Colt M1911 A1 air pistol with the 47mm red dot sight47mm red dot sight on the B-Square mountB-Square mount.

Pro- Fast Firing, accurate, realistic, a sport that has yet to be discovered (action pistol with an airgun).

Con - The dot sight adjustments are backwards.

Cost- See Compasseco WebsiteCompasseco Website for updated prices.

Availability- Contact Compasseco at 1-800-726-1696 EST or visit their website at www.compasseco.com.


Copyright Airgun Letter August 2001
All rights Reserved

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