Trigger time on my Red Rider

[Jim]

Not much I can do on a rainy day, so I rigged up a target to get in some trigger time on my Red Rider BB gun. When I hit the can, it goes to swingin'. That just presents a little more challenge for the next shot.

As silly as it may seem, I still enjoy shootin' my Red Rider.

http://floydpics.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dscn1045-e1344703460120.jpg

[WILCO]

I still shoot my Red Ryder Jim. It's a fun gun.

[Lead Freak]

I still shoot my Red Ryder Jim. It's a fun gun.

I think my favorite BB gun was my Daisey model 10 that was modeled after a Winchester 94. I wish I had kept track of that through the years! :sad::sad::sad: I remember accidentally shooting my Dad in the back one time with it while shooting targets in the basement. It was a hot summer day outside and he didn't have a shirt on while he was doing something to the water softener. He gave out a pretty good yelp, but I don't remember getting into too much trouble over it. It taught me to keep my finger off the trigger until I was ready to send a BB down range!

Here's the ad from '61.... http://www.daisymuseum.com/historyphotos/scan0001.jpg

[429421Cowboy]

Have shot tens o thousands of bbs through my RR i got for christmas when i was 8. I think i must have been about 14 and my cousin 12 when we took ours apart and did "trigger jobs" on them, new springs (stolen out of ballpoint pens) and polishing all the parts with emery cloth, and decided to do our own stockwork, grafting wood and sanding finger grooves and homemade sling studs. Shot it so much and could see the bb which makes instinct shooting easy to pick up i could throw ping pong balls in the air and shoot them. I sure do still love the old girl, still shoots after dad ran it over with the tractor when i leaned it against the shop door...
There is alot of good sklls to be maintained with the ol' Red Rider!

[1Shirt]

Havent shot a bb gun in iyears. Remember my first one was a Red Ryder under the tree on Christmas morning when I was about 8-9. Went right out with it and shot out a window in my grandmothers front porch. They took it away for a month!

But--------was really in tall cotton when I got my Daisy pump, probably about age 12. New that thing would shoot clean thru one side of a tin cans at 20 or more feet, and take pigons even with a breast shot at reasonable range. Served me well until my 22 came at about 14.

Maybe I ought to get one again!

1Shirt!

[Urny]

It ain't silly at all. When I was a kid my parents thought BB guns were the most dangerous guns out there and bought me a .22 instead. I had to wait until adulthood (60 years old) to get my first, and now have a Red Ryder and one of those Boy Scout target models with the adjustable receiver sight. In the garage I set up for 5 meter shooting and have a ball. Never grow to old to enjoy a BB gun.

[WILCO]

Never grow to old to enjoy a BB gun.

I agree! Dropped what I was doing after reading this thread and made a depleted can of cooking spray dance about for a spell. :mrgreen:

[Jim]

Them squirrels better walk a fine line.

http://floydpics.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dscn1046-e1344724245577.jpg

[jnovotny]

I don't own a Red Rider, but when I goes to my nephews house, the poor kid loses his while I'm there! They are the best thing in the world for just backyard elephant huntin.

[WILCO]

Really tore that up Jim.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Got a Daisy BB gun when I was 10 or so. It sort of looked like a Red Rider except it had no forehand. The sights where way off at 25 feet and in the process of trying to "adjust" them I broke the front sight off. It actually shot a little better after that because I would just line up the rear sight with a bright spot on the barrel. Stink bugs and beetles didn't stand a chance. Then I got a 22 when I was 12 and never touched that BB gun again.

[TCFAN]

I don't have a Red Rider but I do have a Daisy model 25 pump. We have a big crop of grasshoppers this year so I have put the BB gun to good use shooting some of those big bull grasshoppers.Lots of fun...........Terry

[GT27]

Got one, and enjoy it every now and then.I just wish they had left the handle metal instead of the plastic...GT27

[Jim]

Wilco, I found out that putting a few drops of good oil in that little hole on the side of the barrel actually makes a big difference. Once the oil was distributed, I put the sights on a bullet paster on a cardboard box and dialed it it at 20 feet. That's how I managed to mangle the can so badly.

Try this for some fun: Fill a soda can with water and hang in by a cord from a tree branch or some such. Start at the top of the can and work your way down. The more water that drains out, the more swing you get out of the can on every hit.

I can't get the rifle cocked and the sights lined up on the return swing from the hit, but I can hit it on the second return swing. If you time it right and hit the can at the zenith of the return swing, it makes it swing again that much faster.

It amazes me how occupying this can become.

[WILCO]

Wilco, I found out that putting a few drops of good oil in that little hole on the side of the barrel actually makes a big difference.

What's a good oil Jim? I tried a drop or two of Zippo fluid down the bore. Made some heavy dings in a cooking spray can.

[Jim]

I put three drops of 2 cycle oil in it. 2 cycle oil is a bit thinner than 30 weight motor oil. I don't know that it's better than 30 weight, but it sure made a difference. 'Course, it could be imagined, too.

[WILCO]

Wilco, I found out that putting a few drops of good oil in that little hole on the side of the barrel actually makes a big difference.

Thanks for the "Oil" tip Jim. In regards to the little hole on the side of the barrel, are refering to the sliding cover where the BB's go??

[Jim]

Thanks for the "Oil" tip Jim. In regards to the little hole on the side of the barrel, are refering to the sliding cover where the BB's go??

The plunger is forward of the oil hole. Stand the rifle up on it's muzzle and add a few drops. For lack of a method to do so, stick the straw of a WD-40 can in the hole and give it one quick shot. Like Brylcream, "A little dab'll do ya!" Take it outside and run a few rounds through it to spread the oil and you're in the business.

http://floydpics.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dscn1048-e1344806841757.jpg

[Firebricker]

18 posts and not one "You'll shoot your eye out kid" Make sure you guys got your spare glasses handy. LOL

[WILCO]

The plunger is forward of the oil hole. Stand the rifle up on it's muzzle and add a few drops.

I hate to admit this, but I've had my RR for many moons and never knew that oil hole was there. Jim must have the "Deluxe" model, as the wording on mine is just stamped and hard to see in the bluing. Thanks again Jim. [smilie=s:

[rodsvet]

I've had a BB gun ever since 1954 and still take it out and plink the neighbors dog when it howls all night long. Not powerful to do any damage but quiets things down at 3 AM. The last time I really practiced with a BB gun was in 1968 just before shipping off to Viet Nam for the '68 Tet. The army had us learn to point shoot half dollars thrown in the air by a buddy. After a few hours of training we could hit quarters. By thrown, I mean 5-6 feet in the air. Didn't help when shooting the M16 in anger. Wonder if anyone else trained like that. Rod

[Jim]

I hate to admit this, but I've had my RR for many moons and never knew that oil hole was there. Jim must have the "Deluxe" model, as the wording on mine is just stamped and hard to see in the bluing. Thanks again Jim. [smilie=s:

Actually, Wilco, I filled in the letters with "White Out" so you could see it well. If you look close, you can see where I scuffed the finish on the barrel around the lettering trying to get the excess White Out off.

Very poor form there. Now, I gotta see if I can buff that out. One job makes another.

By the way, you're quite welcome. Always try to be a team player.

[WILCO]

Always try to be a team player.

Not blowing smoke here Jim, but you're a valued member of the forums with what you bring to the table at Cast boolits.

[Jim]

Wilco, I 'preciate the vote of confidence, but I'm just one o' the guys, that's all. My bein' here don't keep this forum runnin' and it sure won't shut down if somethin' were to happen to me.

[fcvan]

I got my first shotgun when I was 14. I had been shooting one of Dad's since I was 11 but each of us boys eventually got our own shotguns. We hunted, shotguns are a tool. BB guns were toys.

I got my Daisy Red Ryder for my 15th birthday. I guess Dad figured I was mature enough :) I made a BB trap out of wood to recycle the BBs. Dad and one of his boolit casting buddies would take turns casting and shooting my Red Ryder. We literally wore it out.

Father's day a few years ago, Dad got ties and handkerchiefs and assorted father's day stuff. I got him a Red Ryder. The look on his face was priceless, like a little kid again. He keeps the Red Ryder handy and shoots it often on his 10 acre place. Dad is 72 and still enjoys the pleasure of rolling tin cans out by the barn. Frank

[FergusonTO35]

When I was a kid (early 80's) I got a Daisy lever action BB gun for Christmas. It was an econo model with a plastic stock and no forend. It was surprisingly accurate in spite of the fixed sights and 30 lb. trigger pull.

[GH1]

A few years ago I ordered one for my son-in-law and had it shipped to my workplace. Of course all of my coworkers helped me test it out in the shop, I bet we wasted two hours playing with that thing.
I agree, you're never too old for a BB gun.
GH1

[Jim]

It might certainly be imagined, but I do believe my sight picture, breathing control and trigger control has improved a bit. With a few drops of medium weight oil in the action, I'm getting to where I can hit a Coke bottle top from about 20 ft.. Not every shot, certainly, but way more than half the time. Considering it's an inexpensive air rifle that shoots RBs with no riflings, that ain't all that shabby.

The other day, late in the afternoon, I was sittin' on my camper steps with my Red Rider enjoying an adult beverage. I had been still and quiet for a bit and ol' Mr. Squirrel apparently didn't notice me. The rifle was cocked. He hopped up on a hand rail of a small foot bridge that goes over a large drainage canal. I never moved.
He made the (almost!) fatal mistake of turning his back on me. I got the rifle up in a blink, lined up the sights and touched it off. I hit 'im right in the rudder post!

"Houston, this is Kennedy, we have a launch."
"Kennedy, Houston, roger, we have telemetry."

He came off that hand rail like he was fired from a 75 MM deck gun. He was aimin' for a tree on the far side of the canal, but apparently misjudged the distance. Right in the bottom of the canal. When he came outa' the canal, he looked like Dale comin' outa' number four turn at Daytona. I didn't know squirrels could do 185 MPH.

[popper]

Mine was a daisy single shot break action cocking ('50's). Had it 2 weeks before I broke a thermopane picture window with a ricochet off pavement. I never saw it again. Got a 177 gamo a few years back to reduce the rabbit population, worked fine until the city outlawed it. Anyone want some rabbits? My son used it for sewer rats in his neighborhood, but said the squirrels were way to fast for him.

[izzyjoe]

oh' Jim that's funny. that's some fine shootin' too, i was raised up with a 760 crossman pump. the other day after work i set up a 8x11 sheet of paper with a 2" red circle, at 15yds. i was shocked that i kept all the shots in a 4" group. BB gun's are still fun after all these year's.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

A while back I hung up a coke can at 100 yards and fired a magazine at it out of my Marlin 60. Only got it to dance once or twice so I figured I was missing. Checked out the can and it was like a piece of swiss cheese. Most of the .22s had just sailed through without pushing the can around much at all. Amazing how much more reaction/deformation you get with the slower and lighter BB!