Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Sheridan .20

Has anyone here had a Sheridan "Blue Streak" tuned by one of the professionals? I was wondering what the benefits are and if it is worth it. Mine seems to be in good working order, but I would like to put an aperture sight on it. So if I send it to someone for drilling and tapping, should I have it tuned also?
thanks, Gary

I can't say, but when I saw the thread just had to comment. I had two when I was a kid. Mounted a 4x Weaver and shot it so much the first year that I wore out the seals. Christmas day I burned up a yellow box of them pellets. 500/box and I only had two boxes total.

The second one was burned almost as fast. Mom and Dad didn't have much money, but they knew I was a rifle looney in the making so let me shoot until I couldn't shoot it anymore. And that wasn't often. The blackbird population was greatly reduced in my area.

Do you remember how the mount was attached? That would be my preference- a scope, but I have read it gets harder to pump with a scope attached.
thanks

I was attached with a gizmo that clamped onto the "receiver". I simply gripped the pellet gun under the screw and pumped it. You can also place your left hand over the scope and pump it with your right hand. I was way young back them and nothing got in the way of maximum fssssht. Which as you know is 10 pumps.

Check this out:

http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/accessory.pl?accessory_id=431&referer=55

I have several of the older Sheridans and they are a great rifle. Three of them have been to MacI Airguns in Kalifornia for their full billet forend and steroid rebuild and all I can say is that the work was great and the guns should last several lifetimes.

Velocity with the standard .20 Sheridan 13 grain pellet runs 775, 800 and 820 from the three guns that I had done...I don't recall right off if that was with eight or ten pumps. This is up from the low 600s when stock. I killed a crow sitting in a tree at 40 yards with one shot that crossed the whole chest and out the other side.

As to scopes on Sheridan's, mounted on the receiver they are a PITA. If you are just target shootiing, with one to about 4-5 pumps it is not too bad but once the pressure builds up, especially on a Steroided gun, pumping with a scope in place is very difficult. The reciver sight is generally the way to go. If you can find one of the older Intermounts (the ones for the new Benjamine/Sheridans don't work on the older guns) you can clamp it out on the barrel and using the correct 1" rings use a pistol scope scout style...this works very well.

Check out MacI Airguns...they do excellent work...

Bob Makowski

Mount a pistol scope on it, out of the way closer to the front sight, A red dot is even better. The Sheridan intermount will slide along the barrel/air tube juncture so it can be placed anywhere along the barrel that you wish. All of my Sheridans are factory drilled/tapped for the Williams reciever sight made specifically for these guns. The new ones with the plastic parts may/may not be tapped for the WRS. Bill

Mine is an older rocker safety. Shoots good, I have taken two rabbits with it. Spectacular performance,when they get hit in the head with 8 pumps.

I only have trouble getting a good sight picture, (old eyes).
Given the model, and I don't intend to shoot over 30 yards- what would you suggest? I have heard you have to be careful or you could end up with the barrel separating from the rest of the gun. I would like to try the aperture sight, but the option of a pistol scope is really appealing also.

Also are there certain models that are inheritantly quieter than others?
Thanks, I appreciate the responces so far.
Gary

I have had a bunch over the last 30 years, the CO2s were quiet and very accurate. Did you find the two drilled/tapped RC sight holes? They are aft of the loading port. Pnumatic air guns do not rattle scopes and mounts loose,(unlike spring piston designs) use moderate force on the slotted head screws supplied with the intermount and you will be OK. BTW the intermount has a groove in the top that allows the use of sights should you remove the scope, or you can kinda see the sights under the scope as well. If you scope in the usual way get a long tube (older) Weaver scope as both rings will be forward of the scope turret to bring the eyepiece near enough to get the full field of view. Of course that too is a non-issue with a LER scope. Considering paralax, the red dot is the way to go for inside 30 yards. Some of us shoot the mighty 5MM at 100 yards (at non-living targets) just to shake up the nonbelivers. Bill

I've got one that I purchased as a kid in the early-mid eighties. It's got the williams sight on it.

What is the previously mentioned process for 'tuning' a Sheridan?????

Lucked out again the other day...was in a big gun shop and there sitting behind the counter was a nice older Blue Streak that hadn't even made the gun rack yet... $85.00 OTD...will be going to a friend who has shot and loved mine but hasn't been able to find one of his own... I'm sure he will be sending it to MAC I for a Steroid job.

Bob

I've got a whole bunch of them. A buddy back east bought a gun shop and they had a box of about a dozen old REAL old Sheridans. From 1950's to early 60's. A few worked most would not hold air. I bought the whole lot from him for next to nothing. He wanted to be rid of them.

I have refinished a few and given a few away as gifts to kids when I rebuilt them. A few had walnut stocks to die for so I kept those. I already had a couple from 1958 and 1962 which I had as a kid.

I don't see the "tuned" versions adding anything but a headache to the longevity and performance. There will always be a weak link and refurbishing one to do more then designed creates that weak link in an area parts may be more difficult to find.

You can replace the valve assembly and have a like new rifle for a few bucks and an hours time. I often think that Air rifles and archery start to become things they are not. Many start to push the limits and extend the range until they make it something other then designed.

The Sheidan air rifle is a spectacular design and works as planned. Shooting Beeman FTS pellets at almost 800fps with one hole accuracy and no recoil from a 60 year old design is plenty good enough for me.


Mac1 does make the best scope mount, be very careful with the original factory style. It can pinch the barrel away from the pump tube if over tightened. I prefer the Peepsights and they work great for the 30 yard functional range the Sheridan will provide you for small game.

The Steriod stuff they do is supppose to be good quality, but what do you gain in range and power? another 5-10 yards? Maybe? I love the old Sheridan and shoot one often. The Billet forend is only for new guns too. The older sheridans prior to 1970 don't need one they already had an overbuilt lever. 9 or 10 pumps with all of the old rifles provide better accuracy then my Pro Elite, HW, Or even the Beeman with the Gas piston I had. The only airgun as good was my Logan. And that rifle weights a ton, needs a Scuba tank to charge it. The old sheridan has equal accuracy and is about 2000.00 less money and no stinking airtank! There is not likely a Spring piston airrifle with equal power that is as accurate as the Sheridan when fired by a human being. Certainly not on the first shot.

If you have an older Sheridan prior to 1970-75 I would not change a thing. If you have a new one it might justify some work. The old ones simply rock as they are.

My sheridan is about 1963 vintage. I got it when I was 11, skinny, short and about 80 lbs. I shot that thing thousands and thousands of times. All of the pumping helped build my strenght. I still shoot this gun today. The gun has never had a wrench on it and I have never cleaned the bbl. Maybe it is about time eh? The gun has always performed flawlessly and taught a kid the first shot is the one that counts. I cannot recommend these guns enough.pak

Pak,

There is absolutely no doubt that the Sheridan taught me 100% that I have only one shot, better be on and make it.

I also shot my early 60's Sheridan more times then I can count. It's never failed me but it would slowly leak the air out over a week if I left it pumped. It should not leak like that.

It cost about 20 bucks or so for a valve kit and another 15 bucks for the tool needed. About an hour of work at most and you have a brand new Sheridan power supply. I rebuilt several old ones and they hold air now indefinately. My neighbor kid who is ten lives on the dairy next to me. He can only pump it 6 times. He shoots countless pidgeons and plenty of other targets of opportunity with that 6 pump level.

See when you practice with this 100's of times to make that one perfect shot, it's the biginning of a great responsible hunter. Just one more comment on the power level of the stock rifle.

My front porch is 220 yards from the road. On a bet with my wife We tried to see who could hit the corner post first. She shot first and nothing, on the next shot I took I hit the post with a solid "crack" at impact. She then hit it about 5 times in a row... just 5-6 pumps. The pellets were stuck in the wood post too!

What an invention!

JJ, you make a very solid point about the valve. My gun has probably lost quite a bit of power over the decades without my notice. I should replace the parts and be pleasantly surprised. I also have a FWB 124, which is a high quality German spring airgun. Is is more accurate than my sheridan but is heavier and due to the lenght of the barrel it is more easily thrown off target after the trigger pull than the sheridan.pak

I can over haul that Sheridan for you PDQ if you want to take it out of the stock and send it to me. There are a few bucks in Parts, I have all of them here right now. You will be surprised I'm sure!

Thanks, PM sent.pak

Uncas,
Sorry, I did not respond to your post very timely. No, this Sheridan does not have the two drilled and tapped holes by the loading gate.
Gary

JJ...you could be right about a steroid job doing more harm than good in the long run if someone constantly ran the 14 pumps for max velocity in a Sheridan... But the reason I had MAC1 do their work on my guns was to just beef them up so they would never wear out in normal use. I think they are an honest enough company that for the amount of time they have been in business and the number of guns done, complaints would be posted on forums like this if there was a problem. I have never read one.

These are great guns...to be as powerful as many PCP guns with not having to drag a scuba tank around is wonderful. And what speed and balance compared to most springers.

Bob

I have no quarrel with the quality, just the remanufacture and lack of easy to get parts down the road. You can get parts for a stock mid 50's Sheridan easy as pie and they can be completely overhauled in about an hour or less.

Within the design intended, 30-40 yards on small game and pests the stock rifle with Beeman FTS pellets will do the trick. Yesterday I shot a pigeon off the top of the powerline pole at 52 yards from my front porch. I was actually just trying to see how close I could get by seeing the pellet in the air. Holy smoke if I did not hit it square in the lower back and see it fall to the ground.

As a kid squirrels and rabbits out to 40 yards were a routine event with head shots, Rabbits even died with body shots. I just think that within the design intent there is yet to be as well made, dependable and powerful rifle as the Sheridan. I've had logans, Air Arms, etc. they are all gone with various problems and repairs. The Sheridans just keep pumping along and hitting the targets!

JJ...I had never seen that FTS pellet...looks pretty good.

You are of course entirely correct...once modified one can probably not drop locally obtained parts into the gun. I have one stock Silver Streak that I plan on just leaving stock...it is one of the faster Dans I have had...

It is really too bad Sheridan was sold to Benjamin...after a short period of time the sleek Sheridans became nothing more than a .20 caliber BoxyBenjamin.

Bob

I can't beleive what happened yesterday. I had a woodchuck in my backyard tearing up part of my garden. I pumped up my old Sheridan 10 times and took a shot at him. I figured it would sting him and move him back to his hole. I couldn't beleive it, one shot at maybe 25 yards or so and it folded up. I have shot chucks with centerfires and didn't see them fold up so fast at times. I never expected it to kill him, just maybe sting him hard. I am simply amazed with this gun. I also shoot a lot of "tree rats" with it, the ones that try to get to the bird feeder. Besides, we are over run with them at times. I prefer the birds to the rats.

You have rats living in your trees in NY?

..in NY they have Rats living everywhere. They even elect them to the US Senate.

Bob

Sorry for any confusion. Tree Rats = Squirels

I know plenty of people who eat squirrels but never heard of any of them eating rats. I don't see the comparison?

We have lots of tree rats in So Cal. An actual species of rat, smaller than the Norwegian rat, that lives in trees.

I have a Daisy pump pellet gun. I used to live in a house with several fruit trees which attracted crows - a fig tree was the worst. I got tired of them and grabbed the pellet gun - I figured that 5 pumps would be a minimum to sting a couple of the crows and get them to go away. (It turned out that 2 pumps was the minimum...) I shot a crow and it fell dead - right in my neighbor's pool. He happened to have 2 GOlden Retrievers, who dove in and fought over the crow and tore it into pieces. Also, there must have been 1000 screaming crows drawn to my house by the death cry of the one crow. It looked like a scene from "The Birds."

JJH
Don't know about why anyone else calls them tree rats, but when I was much younger I used hunt gray squirrels on the farm I lived on. I liked to eat them until one of my cousins commented he liked them too, then one of his friends told him if you cut them around the body (centered)you can just pull the hide off them in both directins at the same time. Only problem is their tail and body looks a lot like a rat. Don't think I ever ate another one.

I used to work for a large tractor and implement store... we had a pigeon problem in our outdoor warehouse. My boss asked me to do some research and find out what it would take to eliminate the problem... without even thinking I said $200, cash. The next day I went to the local hardware store and bought a Ben-Sher .20 cal Blue Streak, a box of Sheridan cylindrical pellets and a Receiver sight. I had to braze a piece of bronze rod to the top of the front sight to gain enough elevation to sight it in, and to provide a 'bead' rather than the simple ramp front sight. I got that thing sighted in and I don't think I ever missed a pigeon inside of about 25 yards. Even with only 3 pumps it would fully penetrate a pigeon and leave a dent in the roof of the warehouse.

One day I even killed a coyote with it at about 15 yards... one shot just under the ear and it was DRT. I shot a lot of pellets over the Chrony with that rifle and found that 8 pumps was the most efficient with just about any pellet short of the Crow Magnums. The cylindrical pellets were always my favorite though... they hit HARD and always penetrated well.

I'll never be without a .20 cal Sheridan, and I can't wait until my new son is old enough to pound on the crows and starlings with a Sheridan of his own. ~JT

In a survival situation I would almost be tempeted to take a Sheridan and several tins of pellets over a .22 rifle. You could carry a lot of ammo in just a pocket and still have a gun that would provide all the small game one could shoot. Wonder how it would do on a short range head shot from a treestand on a deer....

Bob

It will not penetrate a deer skull without the hide or meat. I just tried it for you. From 20 feet one pellet stuck in the bone the others bounced away.

With the hide they would likely all stick but no chance of bone breakage. You might knock them out for a second? I also tried Coyote skulls while I was at it. Some break and penetrate well and some just barely crack. These are bare skulls too.

JJ;

A squirrel is an oversized rat, nothing more. Squirrels are genus Sciurus, Family Sciuridae. Rats (like Norway rats) are genus Rattus, Family Muridae. Both are Order Rodentia. Distant cousins, biologically.

Feeding and behaviour, though, they are too similar for comfort if you like to hunt and eat them. Had a good buddy at Va.Tech in the Wildlife Science program. LOVED to squirrel hunt, until he did a year-long study on them, and discovered that for all intents and purposes, they lived, ate, and acted like rats. He wouldn't touch another one after that.

JJ..it may also have to do something with the skull being dry... If you have your Dan around the next time you are skinning out a deer try a flat-on forehead shot at 10 yards..

VA...as long I don't see any TreeRats foraging in dumps I'll continue to shoot and eat them... One of my hunting partners found a recipe for Squirrel Pot Pie last year and it was so good as to kill for the last piece...

Bob

Bears shot in SE AK stink so bad in fall you can hardly skin one without Puking. They eat the rotting salmon. They taste so bad the law actually does not require you to salvage the meat.

Bear above treeline in Sept are among the best eating animals on earth. Those berry fed fat blackies are simply awesome. So what game eats in many cases determines how well they will taste. With that I can see how a nut fed wild squirrel would be much different then an urban dwelling Norway rat. I also know that beaver and Porcupine are very good eating as are rabbits. All of them are also rodents.

Waterbuck are among the worst eating game alive but Impala are delicious. Both antelopes. At leat to my mind just because an animal is remotely related to another does not tell me anything about how well it will eat.

My Sheridan Blue Streak .20 was the first in - Christmas 1959 - and will be the last out. It still has the original seals, even though I usually pumped it 10 times back then - it outshoots my Beeman R7. The only maintenance I've ever done on it is store it with two pumps.

Jaywalker

Guess I'll have to go back and give that coyote mouth-to-mouth! What pellet did you use for your tests, and where did you shoot the skulls? Just wondering because the coyote I killed with a Sheridan cylindrical pellet went down and never even twitched, shot was to the side of the head... just below the ear. I also killed quite a few ferel cats with it and in almost every case the pellet fully penetrated the skull and left a nasty exit wound. I always find it interesting how terminal ballistics seem to differ person to person, even with the same weapons. Cool tests though, thanks JJ. ~JT

Hi guys, new to the forums. I also have an older Sheridan late 60's if I remember. My problem is I wore out the pump arm assembly and cannot find anywhere to get one. Sent a e-mail to Daisy,said they owned Sheridan & Benjamin now but they didn't have any parts. If anybody could give me a lead I sure would appreciate it. I also kept the bird, rabbit & squirrel population in check on my grandpas ranch (boy that was a long time ago).Thanks

Are you sure it was daisy? Crossman owns Sheridan.

Search Ebay, they always have parts for sheridans. The vintage is important, make sure it's equal or older, not a newer rifle.

300...worst comes to worse call MAC1 Airguns...they have a billit pump arm replacement that I had put on three of my guns...it will never bend or break,

Bob