Sheridan pump

[Bigfish]

I grew up shooting my blue streak Sheridan. This was in the late 70s. It was a solid and accurate steal sited gun. 

Does anyone know if it's still just as accurate and well made?

 

[tomwolf]

My best friend inherited his grandfathers around 1986 which we believed was from the late 60's. I was envious of the power and accuracy; my 760 couldn't keep up. I bought a new Sheridan in 1988 and i don't remember there being any difference between the two. I don't believe they have made them since the 90's.

 

[biohazardman]

Crosman took over the Sheridan Company many years back. The pumper survives and is still being made albeit without the wood stock.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/benjamin-variable-pump-air-rifle-black?m=4869

 

[moodyblues]

I’ve got two I need to rebuild. A silver and a blue, one from Racine, don’t remember on the other one. Grew up shooting the blue streak, I remember taking a lot of headshots with it. They were both improperly oiled, got mac1 kits to rebuild them, just need to get to it. Great guns, I was shooting mine in the 90’s as a kid and dad had it for a while before that.

 

[Therealld]

My best friend inherited his grandfathers around 1986 which we believed was from the late 60's. I was envious of the power and accuracy; my 760 couldn't keep up. I bought a new Sheridan in 1988 and i don't remember there being any difference between the two. I don't believe they have made them since the 90's.

The way I recall it, Benjamin bought Sheridan. 



LD

 

[OldSpook]

Check the specs on the that 392. Neither of the Sheridan's I owned were 15 fpe rifles... Not even close.

 

[Moog]

In case anybody is interested Baker Airguns has several Sheridans listed in their used gun section but they are very expensive.

 

[Septicdeath]

Awesome gun. My .20 blue streak is my truck gun. Bought it new in the late 70's . With 8 pumps it shoots around 650fps. I usually shoot 13.5 grains. That's around 12+ fps and 11 or so at 20 yards. One of the best airguns ever produced. Hunted alot of rockchucks with that little gun growing up in Idaho. 

 

[Therealld]

I’ve got two I need to rebuild. A silver and a blue, one from Racine, don’t remember on the other one. Grew up shooting the blue streak, I remember taking a lot of headshots with it. They were both improperly oiled, got mac1 kits to rebuild them, just need to get to it. Great guns, I was shooting mine in the 90’s as a kid and dad had it for a while before that.

Mac1 does know how to get way more power from the older Sheridan and Benjamins. When I met him, he was rebuilding older Sheridans and installing whet he called his “14pump” tune … it allowed the gun to hold and discharge up to 14 pumps, rather than the normally accepted 10 pump max many owners used. I had Tim do my Blue streak, and it was more powerful, giving around 17fpe with some hard pumping. I liked it because power was up over stock after around 4 pumps, and full stock energy of about 13fpe came in as low as 7 pumps on mine …. I didn't really like or need the extra pumps.

Later, Tim was a bit down because he could no longer get decent valve-heads from the factory, and was resorting to reworking older takeoff valve parts, which were harder. I took some samples home and ended up redesigning the valve stem, head, and valve seat to give more power with less pumping and a lighter striker spring. This setup became known as the “Steroid Valve” and seems to have influenced the valve designs of many modern airguns.

Benjamin/Sheridan/Crosman began to systematically weaken the powerplant components, perhaps as Tim thinks, to cut costs, or maybe to discourage tinkering and thus reduce liability (my thought). Anyhow when it was clear the newer guns had such weakened pump levers they collapsed with more than 8 pumps, I redesigned the valve to hold more air and redid the porting and bolt shape to flow better, thus delivering more power at lower pressure, allowing more easier pumps up go around 12 to deliver high power without collapsing the linkage. But the writing was on the wall so Terry Depew and I collaborated on a beefy lever design (based on the Supergrade lever) and soon Tim had the unbreakable “billet lever”.

I hung out a lot at the Mac1 shop back then, and loved to come upm with new airgun wrinkles that I freely gave to my friend Tim. In the process of developing the Steroid iterations, I torture tested most mods to failure, to know the reasonable expectations … I achieved around 40fpe from a .22 cal Benjamin “transitional model” when they were merging Benji and Sheridan into a new rifle. It repeatedly burned the pump piston after a dozen or so shots, and the action bent upward enough to dramatically raise the elevation of test shots.

LD

 

[Luckyshot]

Check the specs on the that 392. Neither of the Sheridan's I owned were 15 fpe rifles... Not even close.

I don't know anything about the 392 except that it's quite different than the Sheridan Model CB of old. Different trigger mechanism, safety, and power plant. I just resealed a little used 1961 Sheridan I was given. I chrony'd it at 670-680 shooting 14.3gr pellets with 8 pumps. This equated to 14.5 fpe. Very accurate as well. I stay under 5 pumps for normal shooting. I don't want to work any harder than 4 pumps, which produces in the high 400's. Power is somewhat effected by adjustments to the length of the pump rod.

 

[AirNGasman]

Great post, LD! Many thanks for the historical insights. Just FW(ever)IW, I'll add a few of my own; for entertainment sake only.

Having owned a 70's vintage Blue Streak (back then), I found it impressively accurate (with factory iron sights, no less), durable, dependable, and the Mannlicher(ish) fore-end attractive to the point of uniquely endearing. I doubt the low-life that stole it out of my rotary-powered Mazda pickup appreciated it nearly as much as I had.

Come the new millennium I (finally) got another Blue Streak; this time an early Sixties vintage with the undercut front sight. I not only had Tim do the Steroid modifications to that one, but scoped it and did a trigger-job to better explore accuracy potentials. Assuming I've managed to make it happen, excerpts from my testing of that gun are attached.

In the mid to late Eighties I tested a .22 Steroid Benjamin 342 model for an article in American Airgunner magazine, and was quite smitten with it also. Equipped with a Williams peep sight, it averaged 3/4" groups at 25 yards, and broke 800 FPS on fourteen pumps. Don't recall with what ammo, but probably Eley Wasp, RWS Superdome, Crosman Premier, and/or Beeman Kodiaks.

I'll take this opportunity to thank you and Tim for your many contributions to airgunning, LD. Despite our clashes, I give credit where credit is due; and you both deserve it.

Again assuming I've successfully muddled through attaching the file, there might be a chapter attached touching on a pretty wide array of interesting and impressive multi-stroke pneumatics I've owned (and foolishly let get away); again for whatever entertainment value it might provide.

View attachment Ster Strk excerpt pdf.pdf

View attachment Pneumophilia pdf.pdf

 

[LDHall]

Crosman took over the Sheridan Company many years back. The pumper survives and is still being made albeit without the wood stock.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/benjamin-variable-pump-air-rifle-black?m=4869

Yes, nice