Here's the Crosman M1 BB gun I got for Christmas 1968, and the Springfield Armory/Air Venturi M1 CO2/BB I bought a couple years ago. We've come a long way in 55 years! 
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Crosman M1 Carbine BB Guns, Old and New
- Thread starter Snake45
- Start date
A wood-stock Crosman M1 was my very first airgun! Loved the thing. Very interesting comparo with the modern one!
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I have an early M1 ('66,67) with the wood stock, manual & repair manual. Takes me way back when I use it or just look at it.
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I have the plastic 1960's one, without the mag. IMO, it's not much of a gun even by BB gun standards. The Air Venturi looks awesome in comparison.
Now what would really be cool is if Barra would make an M1 carbine version of their 400e and price it in the $200 range. I'm convinced the AEG system is the future of BB guns. It's like CO2 cartridges if they gave a thousand shots apiece, could be recharged for under a penny and weren't temperature sensitive.
Now what would really be cool is if Barra would make an M1 carbine version of their 400e and price it in the $200 range. I'm convinced the AEG system is the future of BB guns. It's like CO2 cartridges if they gave a thousand shots apiece, could be recharged for under a penny and weren't temperature sensitive.
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Well, they're not "rifles" at all--being BB guns, they're smoothbores.
I'd say basically "minute of coke can" out to 10 yards. Past that you'd be better off with one of my .22s, either the Erma/Iver Johnson EM1 or the pimped-out 10/22.
But then I can't shoot either one of those in my basement day or night, rain or shine. Upvote 0
Had one back when I was 14. It was a lot of fun.
I remember it shooting into around an inch at ten yards. That was the max distance of the basement range at the time.
J~
I remember it shooting into around an inch at ten yards. That was the max distance of the basement range at the time.
J~
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Yeah, almost called it a smoothbore. That's the downside of BB guns -- limited accuracy and a lot of ricochet risk. Ask me how I know. 
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The 1 0n the bottom looks odd ? Where are the sights sourced from? TIAWell, they're not "rifles" at all--being BB guns, they're smoothbores.
I'd say basically "minute of coke can" out to 10 yards. Past that you'd be better off with one of my .22s, either the Erma/Iver Johnson EM1 or the pimped-out 10/22.
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I think BB gun accuracy follows different rules that what we have with pellets or bullets. An accurate BB gun might put 80% of its BBs into a 3/4" hole at 10 yards, but then you'll have those 20% that are fliers and they'll open that group up to maybe 2.5" over 50 shots or so and as the distance increases the percentage of fliers will increase and the group will open up exponentially. With a scope you can actually watch those fliers go curving off away from your line of sight.
So a good BB gun can still be good for target practice, but they're best within 10 yards and have a maximum range of around 25 yards and shooting groups with one is just stupid. Instead set up something like grapes at 10 yards and try to hit them offhand.
So a good BB gun can still be good for target practice, but they're best within 10 yards and have a maximum range of around 25 yards and shooting groups with one is just stupid. Instead set up something like grapes at 10 yards and try to hit them offhand.
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Also, unlike pellets, BBs shouldn't be contacting the barrel as they travel down it. BBs are slightly undersized and should be floating down the barrel with a thousandth of an inch or so of high pressure air on all sides of them. This is why rifled barrels don't work well with BBs as they tend to bounce their way down a rifled barrel.
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They're not perfect, but they look hella better than the goofy Tech Sights or anything else I could find. They work great and I like 'em a lot.
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eabco.com Upvote 0
You are so right. I've found the best use for them is "draw and shoot" or "point and shoot" practice at about 7 yards. For targets I use small paper plates. The CO2 replica pistols are just about perfect for home defense practice, as long as you remember to grip the gun as tightly as if it were a real one--the lack of recoil will ruin your "real gun" skills if you don't keep that in mind.
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