Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns First pellet rifle for 8 yr old dude

Just a heads up, piston guns tend to be hard on scopes. Don't be surprised if you knock the hairs loose in older glass.

I know they jar them pretty bad. This scope is no prize pig. If it disintegrates, no big loss. That's why I mounted it rather than a good scope.

I have a Daisy 880 pellet rifle. It's been on a rack for years. I took it down and when I pump it, it doesn't have any resistance, evidently not compressing air. I oiled the piston, still not working. I'm not sure it's worth fixing. Ideas?

DF

Is it cocked? The Daisy guns have to be cocked to make pressure.

If it is cocked but still not making pressure, the trigger valve is probably stuck or has some gunk in it not letting it close all the way. I've had to take those apart a couple times to clear little bits of debris out of them.

Yeah, same deal when it's cocked. I never took one down to clean the trigger valve. Maybe something on You Tube about doing that.

Thanks for the head up.

DF

Yeah, they are pretty simple to take apart. There are YT videos, because that's where I learned to take mine down 👍

Just keep track of the screws carefully, because there are several different lengths that sandwich the plastic housing around the pneumatic guts.

The trigger valves are a bit of a bugger to get apart and back together; the spring in them is really stiff.

Let's go with great minds, because if I had a grandson, I would definitely get him a pellet rifle, for Christmas as well.

My Pellet rifle is a Crossman Nitro Venom and it came with a Center Point 3-9x32 scope, never had any issues with the scope. Dam rifle is a tank and it weighs more than my 30-06 lol.

KB, at least this little Ruger isn’t that heavy. It has a 2 stage trigger, first stage is really long, second stage is very manageable.

I’m studying You Tube info on repairing the Daisy 880. It sat up so long, “O” rings probably dried up. Will figure it out.

DF

It's amazing how much you can learn on YouTube hey?

I learned a lot by watching videos about refinishing stocks before I started refinishing/working on my M1917, which has a 2-stage trigger, the first stage is really long as well. I really like that feature!

Looking forward to seeing the young man with his new rife, I will bet you $1,000.00 that his smile will be wider than the Mississippi River

No way I’d cover that bet…!

I found that my antique eyes don’t do well with the fiber optic sights, unless I hold it out at arms length like a pistol. I tried two different scopes, wasn’t too impressed with accuracy, but those aren’t premium scopes. Tried a number of pellets. Can’t say I’ve found the perfect combo.

Trigger takes some getting used to, but not that bad. Young eyes for sure are better than mine. Gun should shoot good enough for him to learn.

DF

The big piston guns are pretty hefty. I had a couple Hatsan springers that were 8-9# Sold them, they were accurate, but hold sensitive and just too heavy for my liking.

I broke a couple scopes on the 22 cal. Springers seem to be even harder on glass than NP rifles. I had to dampen the stocks on both of those because the vibration actually made my teeth hurt.

Seems this Chinese Ruger isn’t that powerful, so may not be as hard on scopes as the more potent guns.

I’m not too impressed with accuracy, but it should serve its purpose.

Gotta get my Daisy fixed and see how it stacks up against the Ruger.

DF

All of my Daisies are quite accurate. The 1977XS took some work, though. The trigger on that one was beyond terrible. It's still not even close to good, but I did get it lightened up almost a pound.

901 20 yards


1977XS 20 or 25 yards... been a while back so I can't remember which distance.


The 880 is not quite as good as the 901s, but close.

That's way mo better than the Ruger. In fact, that's pretty good.

DF

I like them a lot. They work pretty considering how cheap they are. One downside is they do not take optics well, if you're wanting them scoped. With the dovetail being two sides of fairly spongy plastic sandwiched together, scopes don't hold a zero for beans if the rifle gets bumped around much.

I just use the sights on a couple of them, and have a Williams AG peep on one.

Which pellets have you tried so far? Pellets make a HUGE difference. One of the pellet brands I tested didn't even hit paper and that was 2' x4' foot plywood board. at 30 yards.

After a year of shooting the pellet rifle, next Christmas, he gets the .22 right? hehehe.

I don't have a list, but it's about a short dozen.

DF

Edited to add, my JSB Match Diabolo have been shipped, not yet received. So, those should make the difference.

Will report.

I noticed some of the others dropped into the chamber, some had to be pushed. Some variation from the same can. So, who knows.

They can be really individual animals, too. I've got 2 identical 901s made within a few hundred of each other by SN and they prefer different pellets for optimum accuracy. I ended up putting a little blob of white out on one of them so I remember which pellets to use 😂

As mentioned I have found that Air Arms Field Heavy and Exact are the best pellets, Magpies hate them lol

This is my 10,000 lbs. Beast haha

That’s a hoss of a gun.

DF

It sure is.

I am a big game hunter, I was in a local gun store buying a .300 Win Mag, and it caught my eye, so I bought it on a whim to relive my childhood lol.

It weighs more than my favorite moose rifle.