Things to Do Before Shooting my Seneca Aspen

[9Qm3]

Hello,

I'm brand new here and mostly new to air rifles, as I have owned only a Daisy 880; she's pretty much outlived her usefulness. But I am expecting a Seneca Aspen (.22) to be in my hands soon.

I intentionally purchased a refurbished Aspen, for two reasons: one, because I figured the vendor would give it a good once-over and do some modest (but necessary) repairs and, perhaps, a minor upgrade or two before re-selling it; second, the lower price. Also purchased at the same time was a second rotary magazine and some JSB Diablo 18.13g domed pellets. Of course the Aspen came with a scope (which some say is "fair").

In any event, since I am new to the Aspen and I have time before she gets here, I am wondering what suggestions you veterans have for things I should look for and do to the Aspen before anything else, as well as recommendations for ammo, maintenance, care and shooting tips, etc.

The intended use of the Aspen is to diminish the small prey population, the shots of which should be within 50 yards, with 99% of the shots being from a somewhat unstable position (standing (most likely) and kneeling).

Thanks very much in advance for your assistance.

 

[willy]

Where did you get the refurbished Aspen ?thanks Willy

 

[9Qm3]

Pyramyd Air

 

[Jonnie]

Lube the pump!

Lube the pump!

Lube the pump!

Lube the pump!

Lube the pump!

Shoot the heck out of it and enjoy.

I run mine between 2600 down to 2400 PSI. No need for higher pressures in this rifle. The pump will last longer

Enjoy your Aspen.

 

[9Qm3]

"Lube the pump!" Got it.

"Shoot the heck out of it and enjoy." Count on it.

"...between 2600 down to 2400 PSI." Appreciate the tips, Jonnie.

 

[DesertSilver]

On page 5 of the manual it will show you where to lube the pump. Make sure you keep in lubed well or the pump will have to be disassembled to replace the little 006 oring in the 3rd stage of the pump. I generally shoot one round and pump 4-5 times and then shoot it again. Much, much easier on the pump. Page 7 tells you how often to lube the pump.

 

[9Qm3]

DesertSilver,

Thanks for pointing that all out. I've not yet gotten to the manual; hopefully later today.

In watching/reading about PCPs in general, it appears to me that one potential problem area is when air is pumped in too quickly via a hand pump. That is, instead of pumping, say, for 5 minutes and taking a 2-minute break, someone pumps from zero to whatever without breaks. People have used the term "overheating" and such. So my thoughts have been to not be in a hurry to get the gun up to my preferred PSI (say, 2400 to 2800). Go for a bit and then give it a rest; repeat. Then, do as you suggest: shoot one or a few rounds, pump to get back to level, and repeat.

So, to my question: with the Aspen, should I be keenly aware of the potential for overheating due to hand pumping (even though I didn't find anything in the manual that expressed such a concern)?

 

[DesertSilver]

That's a concern with any hand pump. I've got a floor hand pump and it gets very warm when I'm trying to pump up my Nova Liberty. I pump for maybe 10 min. then I'll go do something. I come back pump some more then go do something else. Now I'm talking about going from 0 up to 4000 psi, that's why I pump my Aspen in between each shot to make sure the pump never gets warm. I have ordered some 006 Orings from McMaster Carr to get ready for when I will have to change it out.

 

[9Qm3]

Ok; glad to have confirmation. Thanks much.

 

[SaHelo2MyLilFren]

I'm fortunate enough to have a 110v pump but I can't see a reason to hand pump to 4K psi unless you are going hunting for high bag limit quarry and do not want to carry the pump along in the field.

 

[9Qm3]

Well, the Aspen is being returned.

It worked well enough for the most part, but I had one instance on either Friday or Saturday when it got so difficult to pump that I couldn't go any further with it. So I drained the air, and started over. This time, no problem.

But on Sunday it got so bad...again...and I never was able to get much air into it at all, even with on-again, off-again pumping over several hours.

So, yeah. Disappointed.

At this time I'm conflicted about what, if anything, to purchase to replace it. But yesterday I stumbled onto a YouTube video with a guy disassembling his Daisy 880. That's what I have, and I've never cleaned it. So I thought "Why not? It's not doing anything anyway."

So I dis/reassembled it, did a little bit of a clean-up on it, and she seems to work fine. (I was "hoping" to find a damaged seal or something else that might explain why she had some months back a somewhat sudden inability to hold air for "long" periods. But it all looked good to me.)

Anyway, I think I'm going to purchase a modest scope and see if that makes the 880 usable again.

The deal is, I want to be able to greatly vary the velocity of a shot. Sometimes I have varmints in my garage, and I don't want to have the "blast it to kingdom come" setting where missing the target could be problematic. I want the gun to be light (under 6 pounds, say). I want it to be accurate, and to be able to (relatively easily) mount a scope on it. I don't want to have to buy a ton of "support" gear (like $50 rotary magazines I saw for a Hatsan (I think)). I want it to be able to kill up to a raccoon at 35 yards (might be asking a lot, but, I'm asking). And I want it to be under $250.00.

Some times I think that's impossible.

I did consider the Benjamin 392 but that thing looks like a beast to pump, and I'm not a big, strapping Hulk-armed guy. I think that while I could do it, I'm not sure that I want to do for every shot.

So, I'm at an impasse. Like I said, I think I'm going to purchase a modest scope for my Daisy 880 and just see how that might work.

Thoughts? Criticisms? Suggestions?