American Airguns Blog
Friday, April 21, 2006
Custom Stocks
A few years ago someone sent me a picture of an Air Arms ProSport in a Custom Stock CS800 thumbhole stock. I really like the CS800 stock design and it thought the ProSport really looked nice in the CS800 stock. The stock in the picture was very nice. I decided then that I was going to try and find one for my ProSport.I called Custom Stock back then and at that time they told me that they weren't shipping to the US market. I was disappointed but not deterred. I decided to try to find a used stock here in the states for my rifle. Since then I have kept a close on my classified ads and others for a CS800 stock either by itself or with a rifle action. I figured I could always resell the extra ProSport action in my standard stock and keep the CS800 stock. I even posted wanted ads from time to time. But, alas, I have had no luck finding one.
After shooting Hunter class in Baton Rouge this year I decided I was going to pursue a stock purchase with a little more energy. I brought up the issue of getting a CS800 stock to David Slade and he told me that he thought that Custom Stock was now shipping to the US again. Well, it was time for another call to them. I tried emailing them but I was having some problems this week with my email so I decided to call. I got up early in the morning and gave them a ring. A very nice gentleman answered and I told him that I was looking to get a CS800 stock for my ProSport. He mentioned that he had just read my email (so they did get it) and that he had replied to it.
Long story short is that they are now shipping to the US but they no longer make the CS800 for the ProSport. As it turns out, they upgraded their equipment over the past few years just stop making that stock. He mentioned that they do make it for several other models like the TX200 but not the ProSport. Darn. I was so close too. I know that there are a few US stock makers like Jim Macarri and Mike Abernathy that have designs for the ProSport but I really wanted a CS800. But that is life we don’t always get what we want. For now I will just keep using the standard beech stock until I find something I like better.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
String Theory
Like most airgun clubs that shoot field target, we use braided Dacron for reset string. I have both 50 and 80 lbs Dacron wound on spools 1 5/8" spools. I have found that the 50 lb Dacron has plenty of strength for the targets that we have and that is all I buy anymore. I started with 80 lb Dacron when I first started buying it for my club in Florida but it really is overkill. Anyways, when we first started shooting here in Huntsville Donnie Ross and I left the reset string out in the woods between matches so that if we wanted to have some practice matches or just go out and shoot the course during the month for practice we could.
It didn't take long to find out that we couldn't do that. Each month we would gather together for our monthly FT match and we would find one or two strings that had been chewed clean through by some critter. Worse than that, sometimes a line would be chewed almost all the way through but it would still be connected enough that we would not see it during setup and within the first shooter or two it would break. I talked with other clubs around this area and they have the same problem. So now we wind up the string after every match and reconnect them before every match. It is a bit of a pain but it has to be done.
Dacron is a cotton based line and I heard someone theorize that the critters like to chew it because it the cotton line felt good on their teeth. Well, I don't know if that is true or not but they certainly do chew it. Gamo and Knockover targets are sold with nylon based line that is made for fishing and crab/lobster traps. My memory is bad but somewhere along the line someone told me that critters don't seem to like the nylon line and won't chew it like the cotton Dacron. I have several spools full of the nylon reset line s I decided last month to set one lane up with that line and leave it out all month to see if the little critters would leave it alone.
Well, as I went out the range last Friday night to paint targets and trim grass I was a bit anxious to see if the line survived the month. I started through the course painting the target faces and paddles. When I got to the lane with the nylon strings I checked the first target and it was good. The second target was fine too. Then I got the third target and couldn’t see the reset string anywhere near the target. It had been chewed through about an inch off the target face and dragged away a few feet. Well, that ended that experiment!
So I found that the critters will chew through the nylon as well as the Dacron line. After completing the painting I started weed-wacking the lanes and when I got to the lane with the nylon line I realized that leaving the line out each month is a real pain when it comes time to prep the course for the monthly match. Donnie usually runs his riding mower down the course and through most of the lanes even if we could leave the string out it would make course prep a real pain. So, I learned a couple things this month. Critters like to chew string, perhaps it is to get back at us airgunners for shooting targets that look like them. Also, pulling up the reset string each month makes course prep easier for us before the next match. It was an interesting experiment even though it didn’t turn out like I expected, sometimes experiments work out that way. .
It didn't take long to find out that we couldn't do that. Each month we would gather together for our monthly FT match and we would find one or two strings that had been chewed clean through by some critter. Worse than that, sometimes a line would be chewed almost all the way through but it would still be connected enough that we would not see it during setup and within the first shooter or two it would break. I talked with other clubs around this area and they have the same problem. So now we wind up the string after every match and reconnect them before every match. It is a bit of a pain but it has to be done.
Dacron is a cotton based line and I heard someone theorize that the critters like to chew it because it the cotton line felt good on their teeth. Well, I don't know if that is true or not but they certainly do chew it. Gamo and Knockover targets are sold with nylon based line that is made for fishing and crab/lobster traps. My memory is bad but somewhere along the line someone told me that critters don't seem to like the nylon line and won't chew it like the cotton Dacron. I have several spools full of the nylon reset line s I decided last month to set one lane up with that line and leave it out all month to see if the little critters would leave it alone.
Well, as I went out the range last Friday night to paint targets and trim grass I was a bit anxious to see if the line survived the month. I started through the course painting the target faces and paddles. When I got to the lane with the nylon strings I checked the first target and it was good. The second target was fine too. Then I got the third target and couldn’t see the reset string anywhere near the target. It had been chewed through about an inch off the target face and dragged away a few feet. Well, that ended that experiment!
So I found that the critters will chew through the nylon as well as the Dacron line. After completing the painting I started weed-wacking the lanes and when I got to the lane with the nylon line I realized that leaving the line out each month is a real pain when it comes time to prep the course for the monthly match. Donnie usually runs his riding mower down the course and through most of the lanes even if we could leave the string out it would make course prep a real pain. So, I learned a couple things this month. Critters like to chew string, perhaps it is to get back at us airgunners for shooting targets that look like them. Also, pulling up the reset string each month makes course prep easier for us before the next match. It was an interesting experiment even though it didn’t turn out like I expected, sometimes experiments work out that way. .
