1. PB is not a brand. On this forum or whenever we are default talking about airguns we say PB meaning Powder Burner in reference to "real guns" Cause normally when people say oh I shot my .22 today they'd think a Ruger 10/22 in .22 LR. But this forum you'd distinguish a .22 airgun or whatever caliber from .22 LR or any other gun powder using projectile launcher or caliber by saying PB. Reason is this is an airgun forum and we don't talk much about the other kind cause there are more laws and regulations from 3 letter feds lol
2. Yes the pellet pen would work on an unscoped 901 for sure. Definitely better than having an open tin of pellets ready to spill lol But it may be able to get an angle under the scope if you have either higher rings or smaller diameter tube, that I'm not sure of. My friends is scoped with some 3-9x 40 or something generic $40 Amazon scope and envisioning it I'd think it's probably worth a try using the pen over your finger to load.
Unlike a springer, the 901 you'd just be loading the tray and the bolt will actually put the pellet into the breach. So in summary yeah get the pen and try it out. It is cheap enough that it's worth a shot for helping load with a scope on I just don't have one here to try it out on. You can be the guinea pig on that haha
3. This gun is really popular being it is Daisy 880 internals so even though you say you aren't handy I bet you could handle fixing a leak. The thing is held together with Philips screws of various sizes and is pretty straight forward. Just a few on left and right sides to pop the 2 halves apart. I fixed his last year and I just replaced the whole barreled action it's one piece I think. He shot BBs through his for like a decade so the rifling was worn vs the new one. On airguns the main thing that leaks is O rings and I don't remember there being any in weird spots. I'd just check out the schematic on JG Airguns or a video on YouTube
This one or
this one may help. That Amazon link I sent had all the major ones included and it was inexpensive kit.
I'm sorry I do not know of anything that lists where to repair airguns. Some PB gunshmiths do it but youd have to ask around locally. But honestly I think you'd learn a lot doing it yourself-I don't recall there being specific tools for the job. Plus, you'd be your daughters hero, too! But hey let's just cross that fix a leak bridge when needed IF needed. It might be just fine. Just put extra Pell Gun Oil on the seals when you get it and pump and shoot it to lubricate it all.
4. I looked around and found a video I'm guessing you are referring to
here. Interesting stuff. If you arent confident in re sealing the gun yourself I wouldn't recommend you modify yours. Especially if it is for your daughter. Safety first! That's a lot more pressure in the tube. I see he replaced the plunger piston shaft thing too so that should help if the new one is stronger. But in reality I couldn't imagine wanting to pump 20 times for one shot. On my Avenger PCP the math works about 2 pumps on my hand pump for one shot. But I get 31+ FPE out of mine. Not just 13 or so. So while that's cool they can mod 880s and 901s I just don't see the point I mean it's a plinking gun if you want power get a break barrel or PCP. I'm glad you don't plan on pumping your stock 901 more than 10x cause that's more stress on the internals and I'd rather have a fun plinker like that last a long time and have a different gun for power. My friend and I joke we have "fun guns" and "work guns". 1st is for cans, 2nd for pests.
5. Well my friends dad was using some ammo I don't even know how few grains it was super light stuff like 5 grain or something so I'm sure that didn't help cause it would break the sound barrier and sound like a .22 LR. That ammo also must have been under sized because when he broke the barrel to load, then flipped the barrel back closed, the pellet would plop on the table occasionally. Slipped out of the mag. He thought it was the gun, which it is possibly true but I thought partly was ammo, so anyway he replaced it with a new same one. Once we got him shooting JSBs it was fine. So all that to say Gamo is alright but I might try out a Benjamin or Crosman (same brand, just Benjamin is like Lexus for Toyota, supposed to be better but you'll notice same design or parts on both lol) first because they are US based and have good customer service unlike Gamo who is in Spain. He got his from Bass Pro Shop and just swapped there didn't deal with Gamo.
Also, the magazine mechanism blocks the breach I do not think you can use a pellet pen in case of a mag malfunction. But you can ask around cause maybe these Gen 3 Gamos are OK or maybe you'll find a Benjamin or Crosman you like and have peace of mind for better customer service. Gamo and Benjamin springers are about the same price/quality. But Benji/Crosman has 5 year warranty and are US.
5. (You had 5 twice but I'll use it for ease of # matching later). You are exactly right the saying around here when people tout the marketing FPS is Well it doesn't matter how fast it goes cause you just miss faster. Marketing dept has the testing done with PBA pellets which are like 5 grains and so physics says light weight same power equals more FPS. But diabolo shaped pellets fly best around 850 or so FPS. So that's why typically heavier pellets are better for more powerful guns but there is other stuff at play like the heavier it is the slower it is so it is in the barrel longer so any movement or vibrations affect it longer but also the heavier ammo has more momentum and isn't affected by the wind as much.
6. Well I already mentioned Crosman brand and I suppose I'd stay behind that if you are just starting out due to the company being easy to work with if something goes wrong. There are other companies from other countries that make great stuff and it is cause other countries regulate PB guns so much that their airgun industry fills in the gap. In the US we just shoot PB if we need to so it's not that we don't put effort into the airguns it's just other countries literally can't do PB so all that effort goes into air powered ones. So some are like heirloom quality like
Beeman R9 or
Diana,
This one is even more $ and its like $500 -800 for a one shot gun thats not high FPE like a PCP for the $. I couldn't pay that even for the quality. So anyway,
Benjamin Trail XL has been a good seller for years but does not have sights.
The Vantage has sights but is real basic. I personally have the
Diamondback which has power but is like 9 lbs. The Nitro piston elite is nice and easy to cock and the baffles on the end make it quiet gun. The trigger is actually pretty good. No fiber sights but has some, i got the non scoped one and originallyhad a scope on but it was like 10 lbs long too.
And this Hatsan seems to have all the bells and whistles just no magazine. Keep in mind they only make pellet pens in .177 and .22 that I know of.
7. Caliber question is debated a ton on this site. They'll say .22 over .25 for cost and FPS higher making you not calculate holdover as much. But .25 has more surface area to smack / cut hole in target and also more weight = less susceptible to wind so it may seem more accurate. FPS can be played with as mentioned before really light ammo is high FPS. But what we measure and what matters most is FPE. Foot pounds of energy.
Airgun FPE Guide here is a guide you need to read and follow in general but not sspecifically. Once you know whatever you are hunting is legal, then you pick the caliber. Also it matters a lot what pellet you shoot. A JSB Hades does a lot of energy dumping right away but doesnt penetrate as much as a heavier weigh pellet. So would be okay for bird but not as much for raccoon thick skull. The ballistic coefficient of the pellet matters more if you are shooting further.
8. Yeah there are 3 ways to fill a PCP. A compressor, a hand pump, or a tank. They make tanks in all sorts of litre or cubic centimeters or cubic inch sizes. So those guys just have a big tank to feed their gun or maybe to fill a little bottle that they take with them to then feed their gun. The PCP gun has an on board, threaded on tube or bottle that's filled, it is not permanently attached to a giant scuba tank. People may do that for bench shooting though.
I got a hand pump and fill mine that way. It takes me 225 pumps to fill my modded, bottle converted, larger plenum (so ~360cc total volume to fill), Avenger from 2,000psi to 4,000psi but that's with my 4 stage pump which is less work per pump but pump more times. A compressor would be best but they're $$ compared to a pump. Same with a tank/bottle but you have to go somewhere for them to be filled. My 225 pumps takes like 20-30 minutes but that's me stopping halfway at 3k psi to cool the pump and watching TV or something. Compressor is like 3 minutes I bet and tank would be almost instant.
9. Yes it is called the artillery hold and basically your goal is to let it recoil the exact same way every shot so the vibrations are the same so the barrel is moving the same way and the pellet goes out the same way every shot. To do that you hold the grip loose and then support hand out front is flat like just resting the gun on it.
Video ,
break barrel accuracy video
