Beeman P1 fun

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mcoulter

mcoulter

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Dec 16, 2015
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Syracuse, NY, USA
I picked up a used P1 a couple of years ago and have to admit that it does not get much love... it's pretty easy to forget that it's in the corner of the safe.

Anyway, I got it out last week and shot a bunch trying to remember its preferences and figure out holdovers at various distances. After playing with various pellets at different distances, I found 20 yards with R10 match pellets brought the widest smile 😃

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Oh, the Gamo trap took a little beating from the closer 10 yard shots...

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Thanks guys. 😊 I should have also mentioned that it shoots Air Arms 8.4 well too. But I'm saving those for other rifles 😉

Also, if you look at the pic of my yard, you can see a yellow spinner At that distance it was *possible * to hit that with the P1 by lobbing pellets down there about 1 out of 5 times. It's about 60 yards. Very satisfying when pinging them!

I'm not Interested in scoping this now, but a small red dot sight would be interesting.

What are people using?
 
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@MikeVV ,
The P1 is unusual because the piston moves from front to back (reverse acting). The frame first jumps forwards during the shot cycle as the piston accelerates rearward. Then it jumps backwards when the piston reaches the end of the stroke. It's the opposite of spring rifles. Somewhere in-between, the pellet exits the barrel.

It's not a matter of "getting over" or physically handling the recoil, mild as it is; that's kind of insulting for an experienced shooter.

Rather, t's a matter of creating the most consistent grip to minimize barrel movement variations before the pellet exits the barrel.

Dont misunderstand, I shoot firearm pistols too. You can experiment with and vary your grip style and strength to let it jump more or less in your hand. The shot cycle is so much faster with a firearm vs an airgun pellet.

Feinwerk
 
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With Firearms, the bullet has long since left the gun before any recoil takes place….Thus the best pellet pistol is one which is able to get close to getting the pellet out of the barrel before the recoil takes place…reducing the time the recoil has to effect the shot.
I have found this best done by using a .177 pellet pistol which makes in excess of 500 fps ….and using a fast start pellet like a AA Express. You are then in touching distance of a realistic proposition for accuracy.
One issue i have found with Johnstone Fearn designs (barrel over cylinder guns with reverse facing pistons) is they get a comedy recoil…
This goes against what many thought when they first designed these guns.
This being, a piston moving toward the palm of the hand must be easier to control…..it wasnt.
They sort of get shunt downward and to the right (if right handed)
 
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Feinwerk said:
@MikeVV ,
The P1 is unusual because the piston moves from front to back (reverse acting). The frame first jumps forwards during the shot cycle as the piston accelerates rearward. Then it jumps backwards when the piston reaches the end of the stroke. It's the opposite of spring rifles. Somewhere in-between, the pellet exits the barrel.

It's not a matter of "getting over" or physically handling the recoil, mild as it is; that's kind of insulting for an experienced shooter.

Rather, t's a matter of creating the most consistent grip to minimize barrel movement variations before the pellet exits the barrel.

Dont misunderstand, I shoot firearm pistols too. You can experiment with and vary your grip style and strength to let it jump more or less in your hand. The shot cycle is so much faster with a firearm vs an airgun pellet.

Feinwerk
Click to expand...
Umm, I know...I have one !!
I could go on with a sensible explanation for you, but the post would be deleted.

Mike

Forgot - your little thumbs down is cute !
 
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Some more on the P1 as you guys call it (HW45 UK)

I have been tuning and meddling with this gun since the late 80s…when i first got one.
There are things that can be done to improve it in an attempt to get past this rearward recoil issue.
The Webley pistols also suffered from this issue. Despite less power from their mainsprings than the P1 they suffer even more from this problem.
I even went to the trouble of building a test bed for the darn things…

If we initially set out to design the very first air pistol, we would assume that a rearward moving piston might be the better route to go. The recoil comfortably dealt with by the cushion of the palm of the hand, but this is pellet guns….it dont work like that.
This is the reason……
The more traditional recoil from barrels in front of the cylinder designs, like the RWS 6 etc and break barrel air rifles, means there is no rebound recoil into the bones of your hands or wrists, but sees a recoil which tries to leap away forward. Its very mild, it even feels like a mild shock into the shoulder or hand, but it is not, its actually a slight jolt forward, which means the bones of our hands and wrists are actually working for us, trying to grab hold of the recoil, cushioning it shunting forward….
This is why the venerable old Gamo Center, RWS 6 etc will run rings around barrel over cylinder designs, destroying them in MPL competitions we ran here.
The worst of this design came in the form of the BSA Magnum, which had a very powerful mainspring and promised so much with its unique designs, but its very light build with a tall grip, no one could hit a barn door with it unless having a very repeatable hold session.
Trying to shoot this thing accurately from session to session, proved virtually impossible even for a pistol Marksman like myself.

The way to improve these rear piston designs is to somehow damp that rear recoil.
Try shooting a Webley MK1 with its thick leather piston washer, compared to the piston ring of the Senior or hard Teflon seal of the Tempest….the guns are night and day.

The best route to go with the P1 is to fit one of these parachute seals which helps damp the shock….and the fitting with a big lump of sighting aid. A pistol scope, not usually a better choice on air pistol compared to a red dot, is a must on the P1 to help reduce the recoil, maybe even adding a big one piece scope mount. This is a good idea anyway, as your hand will continually contact the scope during the loading procedure…keeping it secure.
Finally, and the real trump card…..there is only one pellet for a P1
The H&N hobby is a tight fit which creates a slow start, but seals very well making the most of the long stroke …despite its slow start can pop out at 600 fps….plus

A longer barrel to the true muzzle also works very well on a P1, the current barrel is a tad short for its pwer plant. I can explain more on that one if wanted..
 
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I have never tried RWS hobby pellets. I tried the JSB 7.33's but the 8.44's seemed better.

I mounted a low profile Bushnell red dot (Picatinny mounts) using a heavy BKL dovetail to Picatinny riser. The added mass helps to smooth out the shot cycle.
The red dot size is 3moa iirc, and is a good pinpoint aimpoint if you keep the brightness adjustment to the minimum. It looks big and fuzzy in the photo because the camera couldn't focus it properly. The dot sight picture is a little hard to aqcuire at first, but gets better with practice. With both eyes open, the dot superimposes over the target nicely in your binocular vision

The P1 has a dovetail that's a little wider than the standard 11mm. I had to spread the dovetail mount apart by first putting the screws in the alternate holes, until the mount would slide onto the dovetail. I definitely recommend antiseize paste on these; steel screws threads into aluminum threads.

The Pachmeyer molded grips are comfortable and help make your hand position more consistent.

When I shoot from a rest, I place my wrists on a bag, not the frame of the pistol.

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Beeman P1 Silver Bushnell Red Dot 3.jpg


Feinwerk
 
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