devils advocate.....................

[triry]

hey folks,...brainstorming time and i wanted to feel ya'll out as far as opinions and thoughts.
first off, im new to the airgun world, and have spent a heck of a lot of time lurking here before i ordered an MM b26 for myself. im a long time powder shooter and am now introducing my youngest son to the sport; not surprisingly, my two 13 year olds have a sudden interest.

so here is my idea............i've seen the crosman 1000/800s available for a relatively small investment. unfortunately, they're big guns, with a length of pull that is geared toward adult stature. my idea is to:

a. trim the butt of the stock, then re-attach the buttplate after reshaping for a shorter length of pull.
b. shorten the barrel, then recrown and add a muzzle weight/brake.

ultimately my goal would be to reduce overall length from say 44/45 inches down to 38/39 inches making it a more youth friendly platform.
the stock is not an issue as it is basically trim and fit;.... my concern is;... will reducing the length of the barrel ( i believe they're 18" in length ) by say 3-4 inches adversely affect velocity and accuracy ? anticipated use would be in the sub 40 yard range with .177 as the preferred caliber.
its not unlike the close quarter modifications found in military or scout style long guns.............and i truly believe it would be a fun modification to perform.
i know that smaller dimension air rifles are readily available, but they seem to be as a generality lacking in asthetics as well as velocity ( 500fps as opposed to 900fps )

thanks in advance for the input !!

[Gene_SC]

Good idea. Really no more money invested for a rifle for your son. Times are tight and you have to make due..:)

[DanoInTx]

The problem I see with what you have planned is that those guns have a high cocking effort and then you are shortenning the barrel and making that even worse.  Velocity shouldn't be the highest priority in sizing a gun to a youth and I'm pretty sure that neighter my 11 year old or my 13 year old could cock a Quest 1000/800 more than once and it wouldn't be safe.  I would think of something more like a Mike Melick tuned QB78 with a chopped down stock.  Velocity wouldn't be bad and cocking it would bring much more enjoyment to a youngster than struggling with an oversprung springer.  Just my 2 cents.

[triry]

guys, i do appreciate the input. hadnt thought about cocking effort. my ten year old will likely have one of mikes b16's, but this wont happen until mike returns from china.
 my 13 year old son...well he's now 5''8"  and about 126#s........must be the texas blood, lol.

shoot, i may have to do this strictly for my own enjoyment !!

[DanoInTx]

I remember teaching my kid to shoot a springer about two years ago and watching him struggle to cock it, and that was a little Gamo Delta.  My 13 year old is on the smaller side, but my 11 year old is a big corn fed guy, he has to be 5' 6" and 130+.  I doubt either of them could cock what you have planned, and if a kid has to fight to shoot something he generally will get tired of shooting it and lose interest....I know I like easy to shoot guns better than one where I have to put a whole bunch of work into it....why I hate pumpers and why I bought a scuba tank for my PCP's.....haha!!!

Having said all of that you could do what you have planned but detune it a bunch by cutting down the spring.  Good luck!

[Gene_SC]

I just ordered two QB78's for my grandchildren. Girl 13 and boy 10. They are reasonably priced and require no cocking.. I ordered them from Mike Melick. Bought 40 airlets from Pyramyd for $22.00

[triry]

grins...i guess devils advocate was the right title with you guys on board.

grandchildren gene ? im 51, my kids are 10, 13 and 13. late start here.............

guess i'll do some reearch on the co2 guns, that means the kids can earn the cartridges, or i can convert one of my bottles to a bulk fill station. so much for saving money huh ?

[RedFeather]

Might want to consider a Daisy 953.  Single stroke pneumatic that's not too hard to cock.  Great accuracy w/no recoil - good for learning how to shoot.  Plus see the thread on reworking the trigger.  If they don't like it, you still will.

[geewhiz380]

YES I JUST BOUGHT TWO QB78 AND I LOVED THEM VERY MUCH AND ACCURATE AND ALL U NEED IS CO2 TINS THATS IT THEY R FUN TO SHOOT LESS HEACHES OF THEM HURTING THEMSELVES AND U KNOW WE DONT WANT TO HERE THAT FROM ANY MEMBERS CHILD .THE QBS R EXCELLENT AND MIKE M. CAME BACK HE HAS QBS AVAILABLE HE JUST LEFT A POST AT THE CLASSIFIED BUT THE PERSON DOESNT NEED THE QB SO I GUESS ITS UP FOR GRABS.THEY WILL ENJOY THEM LIKE U WOULD ALSO .......JORGE...