- i need yall's feedback and knowledge concerning the benji pumps , please -

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ranedouglas

ranedouglas

Member
Jul 14, 2016
547
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.\"...big (red) balls in cowtown...\"
... some ten or more years ago , a fella named duane sorenson began supplying the benjamin hand pump to crosman . this , along with the release of the benjamin discovery air rifle , enabled the enjoyment of the 'air superiority' we came to know as pcp or hpa - for tens of thousands of us blue-collar income fellas.... it came as a $350 combo package of gun and pump . prior to this , and even back to the napoleonic age and lewis and clarke expedition days of the louisianna purchase from napolean , one had to be a 'sportsman' to afford these highly compressed airguns .. ( it would be comparable to being able to afford the little riding outfits, horses, and hounds to go out thru the hills, yelling " tally - hoe !! " (a big f-ing production for a tiny red fox - and i wouldnt be screaming about my tally, unless i was really trashed and naked)... and then have two guys pumping on the bellows in an all out effort to refill the 800 psi buttstock tanks, or the spherical globe hangy tanks , like they were pumping themselves down the railroad track in "o brother where art tho ?".. these could kill a man or elk at up to 300 yards , and were in the neighborhood of 10mm rounds (.40 cal , maybe .45) ---- but , back to the point of need here :: does ANYONE here in our 'cold lead' nation have any info or intel as to who , if anyone , is servicing these benjamin / air force (gunpower in the uk) handpumps ?? the whole pump ordeal was moved to duane's rural homestead upon the sale of sun optics .. (extra pumps, all the rebuild parts, everything - there are even some customer's pumps still in his home sent in for rebuild .. he passed suddenly and in a bad way.) duane sorensen owned the patent on these chinese-made pumps .. things were arranged with jim (the then co-owner of sun optics) , the two guys in china that own that outfit (ding and hahn i think) , and duane's older daughter , amy - who lives in kansas city .. she was to really just get the checks or royalties - but we cannot seem to raise or reach her , and perhaps she doesnt want anything to do with any of this airgun mess ... and from what i understand , the air force folks werent interested in any of it .. i have emailed crosman , maybe cameron and sally, or mrs vandruff will know something... -- if yall know anything about the benji pump situation , please lemme know . . we're doing this for duane , on the most-part .. he was a great guy that taught me an awful lot about airguns and dealings of such.. (he helped to open compasseco among other things.) - in all sincerity .... - paul douglas self III .. [email protected] ... 817-798-4598 . . thanx for your help here, guys. -- ps : i was told that fx no longer has the patent on their handpumps , and this has left a bit of a void - which has been filling quickly with pumps direct from china into calif.. i have been contacted by 4-5 different chinese outlets proposing to supply me with the handpumps (which look like they would be fine for a short 2-3 yrs before needing service) and also with the 110 volt mini compressors.. i gather duane's improvement upon the weak points in these little quiet blue rigs is what the benjamin portable compressor came to be....but idk... maybe soon we can just plug the damn $2K , 300 bar uber airguns into a socket or cig lighter - and let it fill itself......like those belgian-made , self-cocking browning spring / piston air rifles which had a nickle-cad battery inside gearing the piston back down into cocked position.....that would be lighter lithium battery nowdays, making the gun NOT an 11lb airgun....but they're damn sure collectable nowdays :: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqceyC7DTIM .....

BROWNING AIRSTAR 

.177 cal., electronic cocking mechanism powered by rechargeable Ni-Cad battery (250 shots per charge), 17.5 in. fixed barrel, 780 FPS, flip-up loading port, warning light indicates when spring is compressed, electronic safety with warning light, hooded front sight with interchangeable sight inserts, adj. rear sight, frame grooved for scope mount, beechwood stock, came in Browning box, 9.3 lbs.

This model was originally marketed in Europe through Browning dealers for $1,000, was available in the U.S., and marked with both the Browning and Rutten names and Browning Trademark.





Last MSR was $1,000.
 
You might try to find Steve Munson or his son Eric - both of whom worked with Duane at Compasseco. They were living in Bardstown and Steve often attends the annual black powder show in Lex.

You are right about Compasseco. They had a much better grade of QB than the ordinary Industry Brand rifles. Their contacts in China made their rifles to tighter specs with better QC. Used to visit there frequently and still have one of their Model 79 rifles. It is a great shooter with a match barrel.
 
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....yeah , i had one or two fully customized qb79's from rich in mich he sold to me when he was shutting down his shop......had one of his shrouds too....shot .22 jsb lites (13.5 grain air arms falcon tins) at an avg of 790 fps , for about 200 high co2 exhaust shots from a slimline 9oz tank.....but that was when the thermometer on the back porch had the needle buried into 110 degrees , and the psi gauge on that gun was buried ......poop , it was HOT that summer of 2011...99 days in a row at 100 degrees or more.... --- duane would tell me that he would swap out mainsprings on some of those tech force airguns as he was doing his own quality control ( i had to do the same this with all of those turkish-made webley rifles designed for the austrailian markets , but dumped at legacy sports in reno , nv )... ..... i had always reckoned that he got the hook up in china after marrying the chinese woman he had a daughter with - who is now about 21 yrs old ( she goes to a school out there that has an excellent special needs program and resources ) ..... duane would tell me about all kinds of legandary stuff while we were out in the warehouse , where he could smoke his winston cigs -- like about how he was importing the myriads of chinese- made ak47's that sold for like $75 each ( remember those days ? ) ... then later these dang handpumps - from ah freaking china.... ---------------- OK , YA"LL , I HAVE THE RUN DOWN ON THE PUMPS .. ---------- crosman explained to me that mike taylor is doing the rebuilds , or overhauling the non-working pumps .. he was also part of the b-square gang , back when b-square was machined and made right here in south fort worth, tx.... good , sturdy , reliable parts and screws machined with high tolerances.... back when b-square was KNOWN ... mike handled the shipping there , i think.. his father , bill also worked at that b-square outfit... bill would come in and man the phones while jim and duane were at shotshows and iwa and stuff , as i was in the warehouse making a huge pallet full of defective hand pumps trying to salvage what i could.... bill and mike ended up with duane's horse and maybe his refinished antique horse-drawn buggy (that was cool) ...... so we're golden .. duane's work appears to have been saved by another relief pitcher in the b-square family..... cool... i havent met mike (or i dont remember it, anyway) , but i did offer my help if ever he needs it concerning anything that had do with duane - or jim gekeler ... jim was explaining that crosman probably wouldnt attempt servicing the pumps and that portable compressor , not only because no one else really knows how to reseal them well , but also that is a liability .... better to sub all of that out for crosman ... but maybe mike taylor is repairing the same pumps which have an air force decal instead of a benjamin decal on the shafts.... but those who need their chinese benji / air force hand pumps repaired can still have the resource of former b-square / former sun optics members to correctly dismantle , reseal , and re-assemble, then test their pumps... and we were taught by the fellow who designed, patented , and then had his product produced in communist china - all before these handpumps were shipped directly to crosman and offered to american pcp patrons with or for the 5-6 or more different pcp airguns offered from crosman corp ( or velocity outdoors , now ) ....... so , cool ....... we're golden .. - thanx , yall .. - paul..
 
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