Opinions on traditional CO2 pellet rifles like Beeman QB78

Billinoregon said:

I should have bought one of those target models back in the day. Tempted many times.

Click to expand...

They do still sell the QB2078,
John

AirNGasman said:

'Good' is a relative term...

Especially when combined with the term 'Chinese', and/or 'cheap'.

Click to expand...

You have a point. The chinese have put out many garbage-guns over the years, but I don't think that the current QB78 is among them.

Here's some back-story on the QB-78. Back in the early nineties, Tim and an associate decided to return the Crosman 160 and 167 to life...

When Tim (of Mac-1) was arranging for the production of the QB77 and QB22 rifles, I spoke with him about having them made here. He said they'd be great! But that you'd have to spend $400-each for them. He eventually had to fly over to China and work with the factory to get the standards up to what he considered acceptable. It worked out and the originals were wonderfully made. The fit and finish weren't exactly up to FWB standards, but for the $130 "cool guy" price for a gun that would group into 1/4" or less at ten yards all day with inexpensive pellets, that was a pretty good deal. (Most of us just aren't going to spend PB money on an airgun.)

When the chinese took the production-rights away from Tim in the mid-nineties, quality went right into the crapper. You could get a gun-show-QB for forty-bucks and still get screwed in the deal. They were sold under various brand names in rather crappy form for a while. Then others and eventually Beeman picked them up and reintroduced a moderate amount of QC to their manufacture. They're still not near what they were originally, but for the money and the time invested in tinkering them into excellent shooters, I think they're just fine.

All that said, I'd still rather they weren't made in China.

Cheers,

J~

swampfoxoutdoors said:

Is the Crossman 2260 out of production?

And anyone have one?

Click to expand...

I have the Sheridan MB2260, which is the same as the Crosman. The Sheridan MB2260 went out of production last year in 2022. I love my solid wood stock and all metal parts except the trigger blade. Mine shoots right on at 25 yds. and is fairly accurate out to 75 yds., at least I'm on paper out to that point. I shoot with the original metal sights and get some where in the neighborhood of 30 good shots from a 12 g CO2. Just my experience, whats yours. Orv.

Treefrog said:

You have a point. The chinese have put out many garbage-guns over the years, but I don't think that the current QB78 is among them.

Here's some back-story on the QB-78. Back in the early nineties, Tim and an associate decided to return the Crosman 160 and 167 to life...

When Tim (of Mac-1) was arranging for the production of the QB77 and QB22 rifles, I spoke with him about having them made here. He said they'd be great! But that you'd have to spend $400-each for them. He eventually had to fly over to China and work with the factory to get the standards up to what he considered acceptable. It worked out and the originals were wonderfully made. The fit and finish weren't exactly up to FWB standards, but for the $130 "cool guy" price for a gun that would group into 1/4" or less at ten yards all day with inexpensive pellets, that was a pretty good deal. (Most of us just aren't going to spend PB money on an airgun.)

When the chinese took the production-rights away from Tim in the mid-nineties, quality went right into the crapper. You could get a gun-show-QB for forty-bucks and still get screwed in the deal. They were sold under various brand names in rather crappy form for a while. Then others and eventually Beeman picked them up and reintroduced a moderate amount of QC to their manufacture. They're still not near what they were originally, but for the money and the time invested in tinkering them into excellent shooters, I think they're just fine.

All that said, I'd still rather they weren't made in China.

Cheers,

J~

Click to expand...

Though I can't confirm this, it was my understanding that Tim bought the original QB77 and QB22 in parts, and assembled them at Mac-1. Regardless, being such a Crosman 160 fanatic that I'd written magazine articles and book chapters about them by then, I bought an original QB77 from Tim soon as they were available. In sighting it in the first time I shot three consecutive three-shot bench-rest groups at 50 YARDS. The first group measured .30" center-to-center, the second group measured .40", and the third was .50"! Do the math.

After conversion to regulated HPA bottle and a different stock, that QB went on to take second place in Hunter Class at my first-ever AAFTA National FT Championships in 2009-



However, since the Hunter 'Champion' that 'beat' me CHEATED, that's actually a National Champion trophy. Said cheater has since been banned from AAFTA field target after being caught cheating years later in a similar way (after he also cheated me out of a second National Champion title).

And here's how good a 1950's vintage Crosman 160 is; in this case a Sears & Roebuck Ted Williams Match 160 variant. The awards below were captured at the expense of 40+ year more 'evolved' airguns, including Air Arms TX200s, HW97s, and Whiscombe. I'd say they never knew what hit them, but I made sure they DID know what hit them!

That's awesome!

I used to hang out at Tim's shop on saturday afternoons with the FT crew. When one of them said that you couldn't have an accurate 5mm QB, I had Tim order and machine a 5mm LW barrel for one. It stacked pellet on pellet all day long.

I think the first few came in and Tim had to pull them down and fix them. After that, he did all the assembly himself. I remember watching him straighten barrels... Good times.

My only complaint is that the comb is too low. I had to make up an adjustable cheek-piece for my newer one.

J~

I really enjoy the old vintage Crosman rifle steel and wood.

swampfoxoutdoors said:

Is the Crossman 2260 out of production?

And anyone have one?

Click to expand...

I have a "Sheridan". Crosman lists the 2260 as out of stock on their website. But I don't know if they're going to make another run of them or not. They still show the Maximus, which is out of production.

swampfoxoutdoors said:

From what little digging I have done these appear to be a Chinese import CO2 rifle.

Are these good rifles?

What are other options similar to this design that are instock? (Like the wood)

Any other CO2 guns to look at?

Just exploring the idea of a CO2 gun as a plinker and nothing more.

Click to expand...

Hey Swamp,
I know this isn't exactly what you wanted, but the QB78/QB79 are best in HPA.
I added a tank block/bottle to my QB78 and just a bottle to my QB79.
70 shot per fill, Regulated flow instead of the inconsistency of CO2.

The small paintball tanks used to be $50 on Amazon.

Unfortunately, you need a pump.

The regulator comes with the bottle and simply screws into the tank block.
The regulator uses Belleville washers which need to be rearranged to get pressures of 1200/1500 psi.

The QB 7x series and the XS-60C both rank high on the value per dollar scale. Out of the box, I would say the XS-60C is the better of the two but I do still prefer the QB platform for modifying and tuning and for HPA conversions.

Either one can be made to really shine if you have the motivation to do some cleanup and light smithing, because at this price point there is zero margin for the factory to do things like deburr edges or that sort of thing. For example it’s common for O-rings to get a bite taken out during assembly so breaking the sharp edges on the air tube or receiver will pay dividends. Accuracy can usually be improved by breaking the sharp leading edge into the rifling, and sometimes the crown needs dressing. I have not run into instances where the rifling was damaged, the way I’ve seen with SPA/Diana models in the same class. Granted I have seen the occasional barrel that just refused to cooperate and found a second life as a tomato stake but those are pretty rare.

The trigger groups on these are virtually identical, basically copies of the Crosman 160 platform. It’s a drop-sear design that can be made very nice with some smoothing, lubrication, and a lighter spring.

Leaks are an inevitability over a sufficient period of time but the good news is these are about as easy to work on as they come. And although they’re made in China, for the most part there are standard (AS568 or “dash”) O-rings sizes that work perfectly.

Best wishes for getting a good one. Mike is a stand-up guy so in the off chance you were to have trouble, I expect he will take care of it.

Just dug this one out Crosman 167

Congratulations! Fun I purchased one when Mike 1st started selling them but with his FULL power tunes. A nice solid rig.
Having neighbors up so close to you (Kidding, looks like a great neighborhood) noise shouldn't be any issue but a TKO added (I added one) and you can shoot it all day long and the misses will have no idea where you are. This goes well with the honey "I'll be right back" but you walk outside with a full tin and some spare carts.

Did you spring for any tuning? When you get it scoped up please give an update.

John