To establish a dividing line as to what I mean, there are still a number of springers that are based on adult sized actions with reduced size stocks. Most of these still run around 5lbs in weight and are a chunky handful as they were larger to begin with. Those can be used by smaller shooters, but still a bit too much for some.
In the firearms world there is the Cricket rifle, it is marginally usable by an adult since it is so petite. If anyone happens to have or has handled a Slavia 618, you will know that it's completely scaled down springer.
I have a Slavia 618 that my grandfather owned and he would sit in the living room with me and we would shoot across the room at a phone book with a target on it.That sat under the black and white television that was the only one in that multi-family house in South Boston.
After having it follow me around for the past several decades, I pulled it apart to see how it looked and the piston cup was mush. I honed the cylinder, made a new seal out of teflon and amazingly, it will fling a 7.9gr pellet at 440-444fps shot after shot. To say that I was surprised was an understatement.
It got me thinking, nobody makes anything this small today, at least that I can find out there. So my question is, would anyone want to buy a reasonable quality, mid-priced springer that would be specifically made for really small shooters? I want to emphasize, this would not be made with the expectation of making crazy power, or 100yd accuracy, but something well made, accurate, good trigger and a power range of 3.5-4fpe.
Small size won't mean inexpensive, a good barrel doesn't care how big or small it is, nor does a quality trigger, a nice piece of walnut and machine work certainly doesn't care about size, only tolerances. With that established, as there isn't a ready to go manufacturer, you would be looking at a small manufacturer with a higher cost per unit to stay afloat and a rifle like this could easily start at $400 and be higher than that depending on how refined it was.
Keep in mind, a barrel blank from LW starts at over $130, and a Rekord trigger $130, those being with shipping for a single unit. Add in other costs and you see what I mean. I'm not trying to get into logistics of bulk purchases that would reduce unit costs, because without assured financial backing coupled with buyer demand, those reduced costs are pipe dreams.
Sure, you could make a deal with some Chinese manufacturer for a low cost option of indiscriminate quality, but that's not what I'm asking about here.
Think about your reply and I will look forward to what people have to say.
Mark
In the firearms world there is the Cricket rifle, it is marginally usable by an adult since it is so petite. If anyone happens to have or has handled a Slavia 618, you will know that it's completely scaled down springer.
I have a Slavia 618 that my grandfather owned and he would sit in the living room with me and we would shoot across the room at a phone book with a target on it.That sat under the black and white television that was the only one in that multi-family house in South Boston.
After having it follow me around for the past several decades, I pulled it apart to see how it looked and the piston cup was mush. I honed the cylinder, made a new seal out of teflon and amazingly, it will fling a 7.9gr pellet at 440-444fps shot after shot. To say that I was surprised was an understatement.
It got me thinking, nobody makes anything this small today, at least that I can find out there. So my question is, would anyone want to buy a reasonable quality, mid-priced springer that would be specifically made for really small shooters? I want to emphasize, this would not be made with the expectation of making crazy power, or 100yd accuracy, but something well made, accurate, good trigger and a power range of 3.5-4fpe.
Small size won't mean inexpensive, a good barrel doesn't care how big or small it is, nor does a quality trigger, a nice piece of walnut and machine work certainly doesn't care about size, only tolerances. With that established, as there isn't a ready to go manufacturer, you would be looking at a small manufacturer with a higher cost per unit to stay afloat and a rifle like this could easily start at $400 and be higher than that depending on how refined it was.
Keep in mind, a barrel blank from LW starts at over $130, and a Rekord trigger $130, those being with shipping for a single unit. Add in other costs and you see what I mean. I'm not trying to get into logistics of bulk purchases that would reduce unit costs, because without assured financial backing coupled with buyer demand, those reduced costs are pipe dreams.
Sure, you could make a deal with some Chinese manufacturer for a low cost option of indiscriminate quality, but that's not what I'm asking about here.
Think about your reply and I will look forward to what people have to say.
Mark
