Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns sheridan silver streak

i've got a sheridan silver streak that i bought years ago when i lived in town. it has scope mount with rings. seems to shoot ok is in pretty good shape. what is something like this worth ?thanks ed in idaho <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

$100 give or take. Bill

I have several of the older Sheridan 5mm rifles. Three of them have been to MAC1 Airguns to be rebuilt. With 10 pumps using the Sheridan Diablo pellet velovities for each run 765, 795, 810 fps. There is a 10-15% increase in velocity over stock...

Great rifles for the price they can be purchased for.

Bob

Do they still make Sheridan air rifles ? From what I have seen in books, they look like a well made product. Thanks.

Yes

Yes...but no...the "New" Sheridans are made by Benjamin who has now been bought by Crossman. When Bengamin bought the original Sheridan company in only a few years they changed the sleek Sheridan to nothing more than a boxy Benjamin with a Sheridan name and unique 5mm caliber.

The new rifles are well made and shoot well...but they are not like the original Sheridan rifles.

Bob

Hi, guys. Normally I'm on the Savage Collectors topics. However, I have a Sheridan Blue Streak that's about 40 years old. The seals finally gave up the ghost. RJM52 mentioned MAC1 Airguns....where are they located? Can they wring more FPS outta the old Sheridans? Thanks!

What about the original style of Sheridan pellets, are they still made? Or has something better come along? I'm not too familiar with the currently available .20 caliber pellet selection.

I had a Sheridan Blue Streak from around 1969-70. The original pellets I realized later resembled the shape of Brenneke shotgun slugs. They were deadly on grey squirrels to 30, 40 yards or more, but I haven't seen them available for several years.

What choices of .20 caliber pellets are available? Thanks.

I went to the monthly gunshow today and happened past the big airgun dealer. Very knowledgeable fellow.

Yes, Sheridan's are still made - and easier to maintain/repair since Benjamin acquired them, according to this dealer and newer-improved replacement parts he said are available.

Also, when Benjamin took over Sheridan in '91, Benjamin discontinued the old style of pellets in favor of newer designs.

The newer type of Sheridan and Benjamin diablo pellets look exactly like Crosman Premiers, and I do think that is what they actually are. The Sheridan "bullet" type pellet was replaced by one a little different, it's still sort of bullet shaped, but has a small flared skirt at the bottom. I've got one of the Sheridan Blue Streaks made in the late 1990's, but the friend I loaned it to over pumped it and cut the exit valve stem seal down to bare metal, and the valve won't hold air anymore. I need to get a part ordered and fix it so it's usable.

Old style Sheridan pellets can be found on ebay, but they don't give em away.
I have a Blue Streak I bought new in the early 60's. had it rebuilt in the 70's and it will still shoot a 14.5 grain pellet about 650 FPS. Maybe it should make the trip to mac1. I have a first or second year Silver Streak I picked up at a gun show awhile back. It shoots but not very strong and some body filed the front sight down grrrr. Bought a book called "Know your Sheridans" i think is the name and I am sure this one is first or second year gun. Kinda fun to have after owning one over 40 years now. That Blue Streak has killed a lot of small critters over the years probably well in excess of 1000.

MAC I Airguns is in Kalifornia and pulls right up with a Google search. As to more fps from standard...yes. My guns are running in the 800 fps range with the Sheridan pellets..

Pellets...the original ashcan pellets were not very accurate at all compared to the newer designs. The new Sheridan yellowbox is the ashcans replacement and really the only pellet you need. Sheridan also used to make a standard wasp wait Diablo but I am not sure if it is marketed any longer. Beeman makes .20 caliber pellets in most of their designs, the Silver Jet, Silver Streak, Silver Bear, Crow Magnum are all available in .20. Airguns of Arizona has a great selection.

Books to get if you like Sheridans... Know Your SHERIDAN Rifles & Pistols by Ronald E. Elbe. The other I believe is AMERICAN AIRGUNS but I can't find my copy right now...it is all about American made pnumatic/pumpup air guns...and this guy did a BUNCH of pumping testing many different rifles and pellets.

In Elbe's book he does accuracy tests with the older original Sheridan rifles. At 50' the original pellets ran 2.5" groups on average from several different guns. The Sheridan Diablo 0.9", Silver Jet 0.6" and the Silver Bear HP 0.7". I found the same thing when I bought my first Silver Streak back in the 1970s...tin can accuracy at 50' was about it. With the Silver Jet you could pick the letter on the lable to hit...

Bob Makowski

There's been an impressive amount of good information and insights shared here and on this thread.

I'm surprised the old-style Sheridan pellets were such poor performers in the accuracy department! Those old pellets reminded me A LOT of the Brenneke shotgun slugs (and design), which now makes me wonder if those [Brenneke's] are also poorly accurate projectiles too. When I tried them in my shotgun, had a helluva time hitting a milk jug at 30 yards!

If I ever get into air-rifles again and use a caliber other than .177, it will be a .20.

It's good to know about the much-improoved .20cal pellets available.

RJM52,
What was the total cost to have Mac1 to rebuild and I assume tune your Sheridan?

I believe at the the time it was around $165.00 with postage. That is the Steroid Tune and heavy billet pumping lever which is a must if you get the Steroid Tune...you will buckel the old stamped metal lever if you try pumping over 8 strokes into the gun... I have had three Blue Streak rifles done and my friend had one of his done also.

Somewhere around here I have the chronographed velocities on the first gun that I had done, all the way up to 14 pumps....an early 60s vintage Blue Streak. In comparing it to the other two guns it is the slowest of the three by about 25-30 fps.

SD...the Brenneke slugs run very good in my shotguns... In a Valmet 12ga./.223 using a scope they will run 1.5" at 50 yards and are very consistant. I think that the reason that the Sheridan ashcan style pellets were not accurate was because the skirt of the pellet was what was riding the rifling...not the whole pellet. Quite possibly the pellet started to tip slightly as it exited the bore... I have several boxes of them and will do some accuracy testing...but as I recall they just were nothing to write home about when I lasted shot them...

Bob

Well I had a little extra time today because something I was supposed to do fell through..so I did what I have wanted to for a while and that is do a pellet test...while not extensive it will give you an idea of how a Sheridan shoots...

This is 70s vintage Blue Streak that has been to Mac1 for the full tune... Found the scope and mount last year at a shop near here...they had no clue what it fit...$25.00 for both the mount and 2.5 power Bushnell Phantom...



The back yard range....



Put the target 10 meters away as that is that standard that most airguns are compared.

Each of the following pellets was shot with six pumps...five shots per target. Later I shot three rounds over a chro and the velocity is listed...the shot to shot varrience was very small...like the greatest one was 5 fps.....

#1...Sheridan Diablo...three through one hole...I pushed the low on and the one out of the group was the last shot...no clue why it ended up where it did... 668 fps



#2...Original Sheridan Cylindical...ashcan...it didn't like six pumps at all... 578 fps



#3...new style Cylindrical... 596 fps



#4...one of my favorite designs...Beeman Silver Bear HP...always a screamer and deadly accurate. 681 fps



#5...Beeman Crow Magnum 613 fps

[img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/RJM52/Sheridans072607013.jpg[/img]


#6...very expensive but worth every penny when you can find them...Beeeman Silver Jet. 647 fps

[img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/RJM52/Sheridans072607014.jpg[/img]

I then gave the original Ashcans another try at a higher velocity..8 pumps, 627 fps. Better but you can count the five holes...not like the others that give a ragged hole...

[img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/RJM52/Sheridans072607018.jpg[/img]

Using 8 pumps:
Old Cylindrical... 630
New Cylindrical... 644
Diablo... 720
Silver Bear... 731
Silver Jet... 700
Crow Magnum... 660

Using 10 pumps Diablo only..795



The old Sheridan pistol is now slouch either... This is with the new style Cylindrical... 8 pumps... 400 fps. Don't count the shot at 9 o'clock...that was a nine pump mistake. There are four in a ragged hole and 0ne dead center...

[img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/RJM52/Sheridans072607022.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/RJM52/Sheridans072607023.jpg[/img]

9 pumps with this pellet gets 414 fps, 10 pumps 421 fps.

Using the Silver Bear accuracy was just about as good and velocity was 487 with 8 pumps and 517 with 10....

Fun day..have wanted to do this for a while...

Bob

Brings back memories... My kid brother had a Blue Streak in the '60's. Beat the Crossmans and what all by a big margin. we would hang the small size orange juice cans from by a string from the furthest apple tree down in the back yard. From my bedroom window, with the open sights and teenage eyes, we could wack one of those orange juices cans every shot. It was close to fifty yards. Far superior to the flat-nose, hourglass shaped crossman .22 pellets. They would break bones that stopped the crossman pellets. Sometimes you could get through and through penetration on rabbits and squirrels.