Growing Into The CO2 Habit

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ironlion269

ironlion269

Member
Mar 10, 2017
773
78
North Central Indiana, United States
Growing up I was pretty snobbish about shooting, like so many brainless youths tend to be. I was taught in Scouts using rimfire rifles; by my early teens my friends and I would walk with our .22s and black-powder rifles 4 miles to a quarry to shoot; and CO2 was for sissies and "little kids" shooting BBs. Recall, this was before insanity leaked through the membranes surrounding our Schools of Higher Learning and contaminated the public at large. We learned gun safety, policed one another on it, and survived to procreate.

Now within spitting distance of beginning my 7th Decade, I've discovered what serious sportsmen knew 100 years before I was born: shooting with CO2 is a challenge, an addiction, a total hoot! I'm not a collector so I don't claim this to be a "collection", but it does amaze me to discover how much joy these modest guns provide.

First up, my 2300S from the Crosman Custom Shop. .177 with the trigger sears polished, the tension spring clipped by one coil, the trigger spring replaced with a milder spring, and Moly used at all contact points. Feels about 1 lb though that's a SWAG; it is crisp, easy, and allows for steady sight pictures as I fire (well, as steady as I can get it). The bolt handle stripped out of the bolt the first time I tore it down and Crosman sent me a replacement at no cost! Nickle Steel with a long probe nose - nice and so smooth. Kudos, Crosman!

1553911649_13192401285c9ecf61a37098.60468414_2300S Ironlion269.jpg
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The 2300S joins my Beeman AR2078a as the starting line-up for my Winter Shooting Season. The Beeman is a .22 with the most beautiful stock of any gun I've ever owned. That's not actually a very high bar since most of my guns have been black steel or polymer; don't even ask about the Marauder stock - love the gun, replaced the stock. Still and all, the AR2078a is a pretty gun and settling in nicely.

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1553911928_3610829195c9ed078165ca6.56923968_Contrasting Wood.jpg


I guess it's natural for a guy to begin having to deal with more gas as he gets older... I'm happy to have discovered how rewarding that trend can be.
 
I agree with you two guys. Despite having a small collection of very powerful PCP's, I hang on to (and use) a lot of old school, Green Forum technology 2240's in various calibers. Sparrows in a bush? a mouse in the tool shed? Maybe a short range rabbit for the stew pot? I tend to reach for these guns first. I'll use the bigger stuff when the job calls for it! Great write-up Ironlion. A nice trip down memory lane.

Cheers,

Glenn in Texas
 
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In my experience, the 2300S has a sharper 'snap' sound to it when the CO2 is still working at full pressure - not a supersonic CRACK! but definitely a SNAP that tells you there's lead on the way. When the CO2 begins to exhaust itself the sound develops a kind of 'flatulence' to it... like the gun has begun to spit the pellet out through loose lips that flap a bit. My Benji Titan (no shroud) and my Crosman Fire (no shroud) both had a snap when firing but it was more subdued as you'd expect from gas rams. Certainly there's no ear protection needed when shooting the 2300S, just the expected eye protection for any "Little Ralphie" moments that come up... and they do come up. I'd go with Pyramyd's rating on this. And yet... having neighbors see and hear me shooting what is clearly a target pistol at just 10 meters doesn't raise nearly as many eyebrows as would a CO2 replica handgun or even a rifle for 10m shooting like my AR2078a. It's a perception thing, I figure. Also, I've taken pains to gently introduce my air gun enthusiasm to my neighbors, all of whom know I shoot carefully in the back yard. Still, I prefer my quietest guns for subdivision antics in deference to my neighbors so my 2300S is generally my indoor (garage) shooter at 8m.
 
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BTW, that's the Williams Notch Site on the gun, one of the Optics options in the Custom Shop. I have two guns with peep sights (the AR2078a is one) but with the 2300S held out in a typical pistol stance I find the notch gives me a better sight picture with the front post. After working over the trigger assembly, taking a coil off of the hammer spring, and tightening up the seal on the transfer port I am seeing 70 usable shots on a 12gm Powerlet.
 
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