Beeman FWB 124/127 Jnc; how many are there?

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

When you cock the rifle and look at the breech face you will see a round black rubber seal known simply as the breech seal. That seal when the barrel is closed in firing position seals against the receiver tube face. In the middle of where that rubber seal rests on the receiver tube face there is a hole. That is the transfer port. Might be hard to see the piston seal with the barrel attached to the receiver fork. I would change the piston seal before firing it. If it's original..it's toast ! 

I paid $400 for mine. From the looks of yours based on photos you provided I'd say the rifle and scope would easily get $500. That if it's been tuned by someone who knew what they were doing.

 

[captainfun]

Thanks Golden, when I first looked for the original seal I fully cocked the gun so I loaded it up and shot it just to relieve the spring pressure. It fired just fine so I shot it again. Function seemed fine. I am going to take it to the range today to see how it does with a half dozen rounds through it. The front action screws are slightly buggered up which makes me think someone replaced the seals already. I don’t have a spring compressor and don’t know anybody who does but if I can find one to purchase I would grab it. I do all my own gunsmithing already and wouldn’t be afraid of working on this beauty to tune it up if I had the proper guidance. Is there a particular post on this site you would recommend for tuning? Thanks again for your comments.

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

My suggestion is to chronograph it to see what kind of power it has and also how consistent the shots. That will tell you a great deal about its condition. Also, when loaded and cocked place a tissue over where the barrel breech and receiver meet. When you fire the rifle if the tissue blasts off the gun the breech seal is bad. One more thing! The nice thing about the 124's is they can be uncocked without firing. Just hold the barrel in the fully cocked position with tension on it. Very important! Then pull trigger until it clicks. Now release spring tension by slowly returning barrel to the lockup position. Most newer design break barrel air rifles have what is called a anti-beartrap safety feature. You can't uncock the rifle in the manner I described. Reason is simple. People probably have been seriously hurt by the barrel releasing under spring tension by a trigger that was accidentally pulled. Not only that, a bent barrel may also be the result. Fortunately, the 124 doesn't have a real powerful spring so uncocking is easy. Just hang on to the barrel until the tension is released.

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

Try YouTube for some guidance in tuning the 124. The 124 does have quite a bit of spring load (long spring) so a spring compressor is a must.

 

[DualMagMike]

It will likely be very difficult to "see" if the seal is bad by looking through the transfer port and assess if it is good or bad. In all honesty there is at least a 90% chance if not higher if the original seal is in there it's bad or going to be very shortly especially with use. What might look OK now might turn into a seal that shatters in a short time with use. I bought my first 124 in about 2005 and the seal was gone, that's over 15 years ago! There should be info out there on the rebuild of these, I have done a number of them including 5 of mine in the past 2 weeks and one for a customer about a 2 months ago. If you need some info send a message to my inbox rather than on this post.

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

It will likely be very difficult to "see" if the seal is bad by looking through the transfer port and assess if it is good or bad. In all honesty there is at least a 90% chance if not higher if the original seal is in there it's bad or going to be very shortly especially with use. What might look OK now might turn into a seal that shatters in a short time with use. I bought my first 124 in about 2005 and the seal was gone, that's over 15 years ago! There should be info out there on the rebuild of these, I have done a number of them including 5 of mine in the past 2 weeks and one for a customer about a 2 months ago. If you need some info send a message to my inbox rather than on this post.

Good points Mike ! If that seal is original it's bad no matter how good it might look. When I removed the barrel from mine I could easily see the top of the piston seal when shining a light down the port. Granted, no way can you determine condition that way. I was able to tell by the color that my seal was the ARH Mongoose seal. I have a couple Feinwerkbau seals and they are black.

The Mongoose seal

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

This was the breech seal test I did on mine that told me the seal was bad. 

 

[captainfun]

GSA, DMM I can’t thank you both enough for the excellent responses to my inexperience with this rifle. Too often in gun related forums people get arrogant and down right rude when it comes to answering what some folks consider simple or stupid questions. Before joining this page I did some research on line and discovered much of what you guys are talking about so it’s great to hear it all confirmed. The fellow that suggested inspecting the piston stated that if I could see a white seal it was original and to just replace it, no questions asked. At the range today I was showing off my new find and it turns out one of my favorite members collects fine Airguns and has a couple of these so he explained all sorts of things I should know. He even showed me the decocking trick which I thought was great. I ended up shooting two five shot rounds and the gun grouped well both times though one pellet out shone the other. Photos to come.

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

Helping people is why I enjoy this site ! Glad it helped. You still need to chronograph it to really tell you if it was tuned. What was the distance of the groups you shot ?

 

[DualMagMike]

I hate to say and not trying to be rude but those 2 pellets are likely to be very poor choices especially if shooting beyond 30-40 yards are so. Wadcutters generally are very short range and pointed pellets tend to be the least accurate pellet design around. A good round nose pellet will outperform all other diabolo designs especially at longer ranges. Every serious field target or long range shooters use them for that reason. If you only shoot at closer ranges (<30 yds) then many pellets will do the job but likely a round nose pellet will meet or substantially exceed other pellet designs. No one can tell you just what pellet exactly will be the best, only the rifle can tell you. I own a number of air rifles and pistols and never bother saying which pellet is "best" and only let the airgun itself decide. In the end it's test, test, test...

 

[captainfun]

Golden, I don’t own a chronograph but I can borrow one for sure. I really don’t want to use it too much until I know if it needs to be rebuilt or not. Those groups were at 25 yds.


Dual Mag, I am not offended in any way regarding your comments on my choice of ammo. I am a centerfire/rimfire guy who happens to own a few Airguns. I use them primarily to kill rats in my neighborhood (we have a real problem here on Cape Cod) so any pellet will do. Locally I have a very limited choice available but I can find them online. I will take any recommendations offered for more reliable and accurate ammo. To be honest I am very happy with the group I got using the pointed pellet but I could deal with one ragged hole too, haha! Thank you both again for your pleasant and knowledgeable comments.

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

It's true that pointed pellets don't normally shoot that well. Some are better than others but I'd say that's a pretty decent group for 25 yards with a pointed pellet.

 

[captainfun]

Thanks for that GoldenState. I’m pretty good at benchrest rimfire and shoot often. To be honest, for the first group I wasn’t really concentrating until I saw the first three shots were pretty close together. For the second group I took my time and zoned in to what I was doing. I will look around for some better ammo. Do .177’s typically perform better with a heavier or lighter pellet? I know the answer is going to be it’s all in the gun, I am just inquiring in general. Thanks again and happy holidays!

 

[GoldenStateAIRGUNer]

Thanks for that GoldenState. I’m pretty good at benchrest rimfire and shoot often. To be honest, for the first group I wasn’t really concentrating until I saw the first three shots were pretty close together. For the second group I took my time and zoned in to what I was doing. I will look around for some better ammo. Do .177’s typically perform better with a heavier or lighter pellet? I know the answer is going to be it’s all in the gun, I am just inquiring in general. Thanks again and happy holidays!

For the power level of the 124 the best pellet weight is in the 7.5 to 8.5 gr range. Mine loves the 8.44 gr JSB with the 4.53mm head. Right up there is the Air Arms 7.87 gr. which seem to be very accurate with awesome velocity. I did a 10 shot string with these pellets over my chronograph yesterday. 

Averaged 841 fps

Extreme spread of 9 fps

Standard deviation of 2 fps

 

[DualMagMike]

Generally, slightly lower speeds rather high seem to be more accurate but as mentioned it must be tested per gun. Field Target matches have been won shooting over 1000fps with 8+ gr pellets!