Sheridan Silver Streak

[trapperP]

What would be a fair price for a Sheridan SS? This one is probably from the 60's and works well, would be about average in overall condition.

[nagantguy]

this September at the countries second largest gun show I saw several for sale, being a huge fan of them since childhood I looked at all and bought one,100-150 USD seemed to be the going rate.

[Beagle333]

I think it would start at 100 and go up, based on condition and availability in your area. They are awesome airguns.

[big bore 99]

Had one when I was a kid. It was the blue streak. Shot that so much I could snuff out candles at 35 ft. Once in awhile could pick off dragonflys in flight. 100 sounds about right. Have a Crossman 22 and a Benjamin 177 pump ups I'm going to rebuild when I get around to it.

[GhostHawk]

Would not pay above 150$

I bought a spare blue streak off gunbroker a couple of years ago, had close to 150$ into it. By the looks of it, it has seen a lot less use than my old early 70s blue streak.

Either will still put 5 into one ragged hole with a rest from 20 feet out. Cover the hole with a dime and get a nickle change.

[PerpetualStudent]

I saw one at a fishing swap this spring here in WI and it was was...100? 120? Somewhere around there.

[nagantguy]

so with this thread in mind I asked my dad this morning during our coffee what he was going to do with his blue streak, he's had it since the early 80s and other than a little finish coming off the stock it's near mint, he said "didn't I give that to you years ago?" "or maybe your brother?" turns out he didn't give it to anyone, my brother, who's 7 years younger dint want it, or at least not as bad as I did so it's now mine, I'm starting to get a decent collection of nice air rifles! most expensive one to date cost me about 110 USD.

[calaloo]

Like most everything else value is dependent on condition. I recently bought a late '50's Blue streak for $180 that is in excellent condition. The models that were made by Sheridan in Racine, Wis. are better built than the later ones and command a higher price. If you find a nice one that wont pump up be aware that they can be brought back to life. Rebuild kits are available if you want to do it yourself or there are places that will do it for you. Mac1 Airguns will even do a 'steroid" build which makes the gun more powerful and easier to pump.

[richhodg66]

I bought a nice Blue Streak a year or two back for $80. A few months later while visiting out of town, found a Silver Streak (not in great shape but fully functional) for $35 in a shop. I've killed a few squirrels with the blue streak and haven't been terribly impressed, pellets didn't go all the way through with eight pumps.

To be fair, I haven't worked with them that much, I would suspect adding a peep sight and testing several different pellets would probably improve their performance.

[sparky45]

Hey rich; you ever decide to let one of them go, give me a holler.

[No Blue]

I bought a nice Blue Streak a year or two back for $80. A few months later while visiting out of town, found a Silver Streak (not in great shape but fully functional) for $35 in a shop. I've killed a few squirrels with the blue streak and haven't been terribly impressed, pellets didn't go all the way through with eight pumps.

To be fair, I haven't worked with them that much, I would suspect adding a peep sight and testing several different pellets would probably improve their performance.

Something wrong if the pellet didn't completely leave the squirrel after 8 pumps. Actually 7 pumps is the official limit. The cylinder pellet works the best, looks like a small garbage can. When they're right, a pellet will go thru a 3/4" pine board from 15'.

My BS will be 52 this Xmas. Putting a Peep sight on it, finally....

[Multigunner]

Wadcutters and hollow point pellets don't have nearly the penetration of field point pellets.
Some hunting pellets deform so quickly on hitting flesh that they dump all their energy into muscle before going deep enough to damage organs.

Just today I tried out some Crosman premier pointed pellets in my .177 Daisy 880 and found they had twice the penetration that the Beeman wadcutter has with the same number of pumps.

When using the relatively low velocity ( 400FPS or less) S&W 78g in .22 I found that when using wadcutters on large rats it would fatally injure them but not penetrate their tough hides. A chest hit had them spewing blood from the mouth and nose and spinning in circles on their sides but they took a minute or so to stop kicking. A pointed pellet on the other hand ripped straight through the body and killed instantly, likely due to the heart being punctured.

PS
I've seen squirrels in Central Park the size of small dogs. Squirrels here are tiny in comparison but tough as a pine knot. My brother blew one in half with a shotgun and the upper half lived for several minutes even trying to fight him and chattering its rage.

[richhodg66]

Can't rememberthe brand of these pellets but they looked just like the old Beeman Silver Jets I used in my RWS .177 as a kid, pointy. I know the Sheridans were designed around the cylinder pellets mentioned, are these still available?

[PerpetualStudent]

I was looking into airgun pellet production a week or so ago. Since the cylinder ones would theoretically be easier to cast or swage I was looking into those and found this article http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2011/12/are-vintage-sheridan-pellets-better-than-modern-pellets/

the take away is that they seem to be less accurate than modern pellets.

[Fenring]

Yeah, they are less accurate. I have an '81 Blue Streak and a couple of kinds of cylindrical pellets - the original Sheridan "Bantam" pellets and the pointed H+N made Sheridan Spitzkugeln.

They don't shoot as well as diabolo pellets and as they need to fit the bore a bit snug along their length they rob a bit of power. Occasionally you can see one unstable in flight through the scope. Like a curve ball. :D That said, they penetrate really well on pest birds.

IMO if you want a great pellet for the Streaks, try the Beeman Kodiak. Very accurate from my gun, and pneumatics tend to give higher energy with heavier pellets (within reason, of course.) The Kodiak is long, streamlined, and penetrates really well.

[Multigunner]

Saw some pellets at WallyWorld yesterday that looked much like the cylindrical body pellets but these are two piece with what appears to be a gold colored plastic body and hard alloy pointed nose. I at first thought these were CB caps placed in the wrong section. They are long in the body with a flange at the base that looks like a rim, about the same OAL as a .22 short.

I wasn't interested in trying these, I doubt my medium velocity air or CO2 guns would benefit from these. Perhaps a more powerful air gun could show some positive results.

[Fenring]

Yeah, there are a few around like that. Back in the early 80's the plastic skirted, steel headed Prometheus pellets were the first, in the UK. Very light for calibre - the .22 ones were as light as .177.

TBH, I think you'll find that good lead pellets work better in most airguns.

[Light attack]

This thread is timely. I have been stalking a squirrel around my house the last week or so. Living in town and not wanting to make too much noise my wife said the 25-06 was a little much. So I got out the Benjamin air rifle I taught my kids to shoot with. I had cut the stock down about 4 inches so my first son could shoulder it back in the 70's. ( He is currently the executive officer of a Marine ANGLICO Battalion.) Any way the squirrel had eaten a hole in the eave of my house and had been robbing the bait out of my Hav a heart trap. I caught him outside trying to rip the wire screen out of his entrance hole and was able to outflank him and dispatch him with a single shot between the eyes at about 40 feet.

My Benjamin is one like my cousin and I tried to wear out on his farm in East Texas when we were in high school and college.
I never had a Blue streak but this one of mine has done yeoman service for almost half a century now. With 10 grandkids it will probably go on into this century quite a bit too.

[Fenring]

Those old Benjamins are cool too.

[Newtire]

Take a look on Gunbroker. Some guys are asking more than $200 for the Silver Streak. Just a premium because Silver & not Blue Streak model. I might pay $120.00 myself. Shot plenty of varmint type critters with mine. The then new Beeman Silver Jets and 7- pumps would drop the quarry at 40 yards. A Sheridan cylindrical type bullet/pellet would go thru both sides of a steel soup can with 10 pumps. Of course, today's springer guns have them beat by a mile but back in the day, they were "the bomb"!

[Blanket]

I bought a nice Blue Streak a year or two back for $80. A few months later while visiting out of town, found a Silver Streak (not in great shape but fully functional) for $35 in a shop. I've killed a few squirrels with the blue streak and haven't been terribly impressed, pellets didn't go all the way through with eight pumps.

To be fair, I haven't worked with them that much, I would suspect adding a peep sight and testing several different pellets would probably improve their performance. If your BS won't shoot thru a squirrel with 6 pumps and standard pellets it needs either lubed (ATF) or resealed. Benjamin 20 cal pellets are real close to the originals Russ

[Tracy]

...lubed (ATF)...
Or non-detergent 30 weight motor oil. That's what Crosman Pellgunoil is.
I have a Blue Streak that would not hold air. You could pump it 30 times as fast as possible, and listen to air escaping as fast as it was going in. If you were quick, you could get it to shoot but the pellet would literally bounce off cardboard. So over the course of a few days I kept adding ND 30 oil, pumping and shooting, oiling, pumping and standing it in a corner, over and over. That fixed it completely. Now it will penetrate a raccoon's skull, and it holds air indefinitely.

[Fenring]

This is my '81 Blue Streak with refinished stock and 4X Simmons pistol scope set up scout style.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010563.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010564.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010565.jpg

[Multigunner]

I don't know if it would work with these Benjamin and Sheridan type air guns , the seal materials may be different, but I've been using the Silicone oil I got for my airsoft guns to lube my pump up daisy 880 and I've noticed a significant increase in velocity.
I suspect its more due to the oil migrating into the bore and reducing friction and drag.
Petroleum based oils will air dry and become slightly gummy after awhile , which will result in drag on the pellet. Oils that are formulated to act as a preservative can also leave a thin coating of a varnish like residue over the years.

While air guns aren't prone to the same sort of fouling that powder guns are it takes very little residue in the bore to slow down a pellet.
I use a one piece cleaning rod made for .177 bores, I used to use a piece of radio aerial for the purpose.
Removing all lead and other residues then lubing with silicone can make quite a difference.

[sparky45]

Beautiful refinish job, what did you use?



This is my '81 Blue Streak with refinished stock and 4X Simmons pistol scope set up scout style.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010563.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010564.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Shooting%202012/P1010565.jpg

[Fenring]

Thanks. I applied a thinned coat of an oil based jarrah stain to add a reddish brown tinge as the base timber was lighter than I prefer.

Then a few coats of 50/50 boiled linseed oil-mineral turpentine mixture.

[sparky45]

Excellent!!

[Multigunner]

I've used leather stain thinned with lots of rubbing alcohol to get a similar effect on blonde wood that didn't respond to applications of wood stains.
The thinned leather stain soaks into the most porous parts and those areas remain damp when the rest of the surface is dried. On repeated applications the damp areas don't soak in as much stain so by the time the surface has taken on the hue you want the whole thing is pretty much equally stained without darker spots.
Between applications I de fur the wood with steel wool. On porous wood care should be taken to be sure that loose grain ends don't shred the steel wool leaving tiny metal flecks that could later show in the finish.