Darts and what to shot them with

[ezerhoden14]

I'm looking for an air pistol that's not to expensive, say $100 ,preferably pneumatic and not Co2.

I want it to shot darts, and I'm currently looking at the Milbro Mohawk darts that AoA has.

Anyone have a dart setup that works? if not any recommendations.

Looking for something that will be fun for me and my son this winter in the garage.

 

[bill_dd97]

Break barrel types load darts the best.

 

[frambonian]

Sounds like fun! I bought one of these pistols a few years ago and the price doesn't do it justice. It is super accurate (I only shoot it to about 10 yards) and cheap! I have not tried those darts through it, but standard pellets are a bit of a pain to load but you'll get the hang of it. The red dot on mine was way out of whack and never worked right so I put another one I already had on it. For the money, you and your son could have your own pistol.





Maybe I got a super accurate one or something but I use it for close range chipmunk whacking and it works very well. Head shots are easy peasy....again, close range. But if you are shooting in the garage, it might be exactly what you are looking for. And not powerful enough to blast through a decent trap!

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/beeman-single-stroke-177-pneumatic-pistol/0000000068068

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Beeman_P17_Kit/1231

I should also add that I have shot it enough that the orings finally gave out on it last year. I tore it down and for a few dollars, replaced all the orings and it shoots like new again. Not the worlds highest quality pistol, but mine shoots really well.

 

[azuaro]

Darts are STEEL DARTS and they are very fun to shoot...They were originally designed for SMOOTH BORES and they shoot well with barrels with rifling...The only problem is that these darts will wear out the rifling on your gun....Buy a 100-$200 break barrel gun and have fun!...Keep in mind that replacing the barrel on your PCP would cost you much more than a Beak Barrel investment. 

Regards,

AZ

 

[ezerhoden14]

thanks guys, yes I wouldn't dream about shooting them out of an expensive rifled barrel. I was actually thinking about a P17, I really want a P3, but dont want to ruin the barrel on one of those with steel darts. I think I'll try a P17 its reasonably priced.

 

[MattChastain]

I shoot homemade Q-tip darts out of my crosman 1377. I am sure they are not as accurate as the store bought ones but they don't have any steel to ruin my barrel. That pistol would be easy to load them in if you don't mind pumping it 4 times per shot. 

 

[azuaro]

You can make those steel darts safe and work very well in any gun by cutting 2 grooves along the body of the dart and placing "O rings" FOR good seal without the steel rubbing the bore, I have done this in the past very successfully...The only thing that you need to do afterwards is to keep those O Rings lubricated.

The only problem I had was the power of the gun, the break barrel shot above 500 fps and the dart went through the board at close range...

Regards,

AZ

 

[ezerhoden14]

I'm getting excited about this! I wanted to avoid CO2 guns because my garage is generally 45-55F during winter, which is where my dart board is. we use a heater to take the chill off, but it's only about 10k btu. I'll have to try the O-ring trick. I have a P17 on the way. if it works out well I'll consider buying a second one. anyone used the Marksman Darts that PA sells? they look like they'd be difficult to load in the P17.

 

[frambonian]

The P17 is not very powerful....but should be enough to push a dart at that distance....and not go through the wall LOL I hope yours shoots as well as mine does!

 

[ezerhoden14]

I got the P17 Tuesday in the mail, and got to shoot it yesterday morning while the baby napped. sighted it in in the basement, probably 5-6 yards. my wife was doing laundry and she said let me try.. then I be came the designated loader and she was the shooter!! haha gun performed great with premier 10.5grs. AoA said darts will most likely ship Monday after all the EBR festivities. they had some concerns about loading and the power for the darts, they said the 1377/1322 they were using needed 1 pump and it was perfect, 2-3 pumps and they blew the feathers right off the darts. sometimes the air would go right around the dart and it wouldn’t leave the barrel. may look into using an "o-ring" around the metal tip like Az mentioned, that should help if I have problems. I will keep you all posted. oh and the Dart board cost more than the gun and darts  

 

[bill_dd97]

Quality boards are pricey. My wife wants to do this too.

 

[ezerhoden14]

I went with a Winmau Blade 4. middle of the road. my step father recommended it, he's had a Winmau that's older than me. (30). Yeah, my 10 year old is pretty excited, but I think my wife is even more excited. I might have to buy a 1377 just so I don't have to do all the pumping. neither of them can pump the P17

 

[ezerhoden14]

Ok, so the Milbro Mohawk Darts came today!! They are very well made! (I'll get to this) I bought .177 cal and they come 20 in a package. 5 colors 4 of each it looks like. The dart tips are well machined and the mohair "fletches" are vibrantly colored and durable. So, I wanted to do a quick test run so I grabbed the dart board(not mounted yet) set it up at about 10 ft, grab the Beeman P17 the darts were very easily loaded, very loose fitting in the breech. I shot and buried the dart completely into the board, UH OH!!! I had to gently extract the dart with a mechanics picks and needle nose pliers, so I didn't damage the dart board. Remember how I said the were durable, well I had grasped the mohair with the pliers and gently leveraged the dart tip out with the picks. I'm now convinced that I could have yanked the dart out with just the pliers and not have pulled any of the mohair out of the back. I thought for sure that dart was a gone'r!!

Obviously the P17 is a bit to powerful for 10 ft, so I move the dartboard into my garage and I walked to the complete opposite side of my basement, this is 41ft or roughly 13.5 yards. And I buried the dart... again! And, Yup, I can pull it out with just the pliers. Ok no more with the P17, the tips of the darts wouldn't damage the dart board with the right amount of power, but I'm hammering the whole .177 shaft of the dart into my brand new $60 dart board!! I grabbed my sons Crosman 760 and gave it one pump, it was tricky getting the dart in the breech, I had to use a combination of my pinky finger and the pellet probe to assist. I shot, and I heard the dart bouncing all over the place in my garage!! UGH!!! one pump wasn't nearly enough to even stick in the dartboard, if I even hit it, I couldn't tell. I'm one of those guys that has to find something lost even tho I have another 39 of something sitting next to me... so I burned up all my time finding the dart, which I did and didn't try again. I'll have to try the 760 again at a shorter distance or two pumps. It looks like a Crosman 1377 will be joining my collection soon as it really want a pistol for this project!

Ill follow up again with my 760 tests and also the 1377 when I pick one up.

 

[bill_dd97]

Thanks for that. I may hold off the p17 then and look for something with less power.

 

[bill_dd97]

I've been doing some reading. The P17 seems to be relatively easy to mod. You could try reducing the FPS along with cocking force by milling the piston.