my new "hunting rig" B51 .22

[randy_68]

I bought this gun used a couple of weeks ago off the yellow classifieds. It is my 3rd pcp, AA S400 extra .22 and Sumatra .25 carbine(which I just sold). It neede a little work, which I expected. Had to fix the leaking check valve and clean the barrel real good. I sanded the stock and sprayed it with duplicolor bedliner, added a sling and 3x9x42 scope. I have to say this gun really shoots. It is powerful and accurate and pretty quiet. I found that it likes Kodiak pellets with a 2300 psi fill and will shoot one hole 3/8-1/2" groups at 30 yards. Now its time to take it squirrel hunting to see what it will do.

[johncedarhill]

Looks good!!

[shadow]

too cool and looking foward to some hunt stories and pic's with her.:) Ed

[DanoInTx]

Just wondering, did you have to shorten the stock at all?  The LOP on my B50 was way too long, so I cut an inch or so off at the butt, reinstalled the buttplate, shaped in to match the contour of the buttstock.  The trigger pull was still too long, but at least I could shoulder the gun.  Just curious if the thumbhole stocks have the same issues.

Looks like a nice hunting rig btw....bet it likes Kodiaks:)

[randy_68]

Dano, this gun loves Kodiaks. I sighted it in at 30 yrds and it just keeps putting them in one hole. I tried other pellets and the Predators actually shot pretty good with the fill pressure below 2000. I'm going to chrony it tonight next to my AA S400 .22 and my new R9 Goldfinger .22 that I just bought for an early Christmas present. I had sold all my .22 springer to get into PCP's and I missed having a good one around so I bought the R9. So far I really like it. BTW the stock fits me fine but the trigger placement semms off a little. I installed a trigger shoe and that really helped. Saturday I'm going squirrel hunting and crow calling with it. We'll see how it does then.

[DanoInTx]

You know the trigger is brass right?  You can remove it from the action by just removing one pin, then very carefully bend it up to any postion you like.  If when bending it it starts to get tough to bend, just anneal it with a torch or over a hot stove burner and it will be soft again.  My B50 had a severe hook to it out of the box, I could barely get my finger into it.  I took it out, popped it a couple times lightly with a hammer, and it was much better.  The stock was miserably long, and the trigger reach was also super long....makes me wonder how anyone in China could shoulder these things.  I'm a good sized guy and I found it very uncomfortable.  I always suspected the thumbhole version was a better fit.  I've yet to find a gun that doesn't shoot Kodiaks well, and the B50 is no exception.

I got an R9 clone (B26 sporter) and it fits the bill as far as springers go.  A good lube tune and a Macarri tune kit and it's a real sweet gun.  Then I have my two new Korean PCP's when I feel like waking the neighbors:)

[randy_68]

Dano, I had the B26-2 also and changed it to .20 but I sold it to " Penn Pistol". I also had a Sumatra .25 carbine. It was a great gun but the pellets were expensive and I kept using all my air up so I sold it. I had a homemade barrel attatchment that worked real good to make it neighbor friendly and only cost a couple of bucks to make. I also got a new Preymaster digital call and last night I called in some crows. I shot one at 50 yrds with the B51 and he just glided down into a thicket. It was pretty cool to call these crows in. They started coming in after only 30 seconds.

[Jaymo]

How many coats of bedliner did you apply? I'm a lefty, so I'm going to have to plane down that righty cheekpiece and contour the comb over to the left a little.
After that, I'll need to refinish it. I'd prefer to go with a nice Tung or Teak oil finish after using a nice reddish brown water based stain.......However, I don't feel like having my darksider out of comission for the  3 months it'll take me to apply a proper 8-10 coat oil finish. The results are well worth it, but I want to tune and shoot it during small game season.
Plus, that bedliner looks plain cool and is tough as nails, perfect for a hunting gun. Where can I get a replacement stock for it? I would like to have one to oil finish just for when I want it to look like a million bucks.

[Jaymo]

I also need to make or buy (if possible) a thin butt plate to replace that thick recoil pad. The LOP is about perfect for me with the recoil pad removed.  Trying to decide if I want to make one from steel, brass, aluminum, rubber, fiberglass, or resin impregnated 1/4" birch plywood. I'll have to stabilize the plywood myself. Haven't decided whether epoxy or polyester would be better.
Any ideas??

[Jaymo]

I also had to straighten the trigger on mine. It had way too much curve to it, which wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't cause it to sit so far forward. I'd like to get a replacement trigger to experiment with.
I was amazed at how soft and malleable it was.

[DanoInTx]

The trigger is soft brass, it'll bend quite a bit before breaking, but once it's broke....oops!  You can anneal the trigger with a torch in between bending sessions and get it to bend even more.  Brass tends to work harden, so when you bend it you actually make the trigger more brittle, the more you bend it, the more brittle it gets until...."plink!".  If you anneal between bendings you will be able to bend it until it looks like a pretzle if that's what floats your boat.  You can get a replacement trigger blade from Xisico for about $5.  Go to the Mall section of the forum, lookup either Bestairgun.com or Sportsmen Target.com, either of those sites will have some contact info for parts which will give you the phone# for Xisico.

The stock on my B50 was way too long for me, and I'm a decent sized guy.  The B51 I believe has exactly the same LOP as the 50 variant.  So what you said about removing the buttplate is spot on for 99% of people....not including gorilla armed DaveD:)  What I did was removed the buttplate, cut 1" off the stock, reinstalled the buttplate, and sanded it back in to the contour of the stock....of course I also bedlinered the stock first because I don't care much for "Chinese Mystery Wood"...yes, I am a wood snob:)

Just doing those two things helped the feel of the gun a whole bunch...the hardest part will be keeping it full of air:)

[Jaymo]

Yeah, I have been agonizing over what material to use for the butt plate. I could use one eighth inch lexan, and stipple it. Then theres always iron, brass, aluminum, copper, rubber, fiberglass, and resin impregnated wood.
Or I could do what you did, Dano. How do I fixture the butt to ensure I cut it straight and square?
If I could cut an inch off and plane down the cheek piece, then plane the comb over to the left so it is centered, I think I would be happy.