Hot rodded Smith & Wesson 78g

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I also enjoy the 78G & 79G
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Rickem88 said:
Y’all have good taste. Robo, me and you got the same green camo laminated grips in our 78g’s but mine have incurred some chipping and wish I’d gone with solid wood.
I have a older worn 78g and one that looks right out of the package. The older one is dialed and lethally accurate but the mint one wants me to raise those rear sites quite a bit to dial in the sites. What could be causing this? Do I need to shim the front to raise the barrel?
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My 78G leads a pretty charmed life, but I can see where the laminated grips could get chipped easily. It is an older one, 4 digit s/n and has very faint rifling. I also have a newer (40,000 s/n range) and the rifling in it is very stout. The valve in it failed way before I could find it's favorite pellet. (still needs a new valve)

As to your 78 with sight issues I can't say. It may be bent, rotating it might help.
 
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AirNGasman said:
Legion, having chronied five 78Gs myself (in hot temps) I'd say your 78G was shooting hot before you souped it up further. Good work, Bud!

I'm attaching test notes of my current 78G for reference. It's the hottest I've owned.

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I’d say you’re right Ron! It’s not far fetched to think the previous owner souped it up a bit if he also made a custom barrel for it. Thanks for the chrony data. What do the single digit numbers in the 4th column represent?
 
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ctshooter said:
Nice looking pistol. I picked up a 79G here for an excellent prize. No box or manual, but in near new condition. I don't think it had been fired in a decade or more. All the seals were completely dried up so I picked up a reseal kit that came with a peek poppet valve, gave the barrel a good cleaning and polished it up and it's shooting the 7.87gr 177s @ 400fps with just 1 turn in on the hammer spring.

It's a very good pellet pistol - much better than most current CO2 pistols. Definitely one that should be part of any vintage collection.

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These have exceptional barrels for a co2 pistol. The cool part about them is they were made by Smith & Wesson, in a Smith & Wesson PB factory and not a rebranded pistol made by a different company.

Get yourself a pair of grips from Vernon Austin, you won’t regret it
 
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"What do the single digit numbers in the 4th column represent?"

My testing data is always Low Velocity, High Velocity, Extreme (velocity) Spread, Standard Deviation, Average Velocity/Average Energy. So those fourth-position numbers are Standard Deviation; essentially the average difference in velocity from one shot to the next. I consider single-digit SDs impressive with any gun, and low single-digits exceptional. That so, my 78G's SDs would make most regulated PCPs envious!
 
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Those look like excellent shooters! Too bad the powder burner version is the exact opposite. The one I purchased would not cycle and had the accuracy of a smooth bore. Had the dealer send it back to Smith and Wesson and they said it was within specs and magically cycled ammo. However, the piece of tape I placed on the bottom of the slide was still there. Dealers jaw dropped when I took it out of the pistol. So no one even looked at the weapon. The dealer did not win any future business after THAT debacle. Smith and Wesson will never get a dollar from me again. YMMV.
 
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maxtrouble said:
Those look like excellent shooters! Too bad the powder burner version is the exact opposite. The one I purchased would not cycle and had the accuracy of a smooth bore. Had the dealer send it back to Smith and Wesson and they said it was within specs and magically cycled ammo. However, the piece of tape I placed on the bottom of the slide was still there. Dealers jaw dropped when I took it out of the pistol. So no one even looked at the weapon. The dealer did not win any future business after THAT debacle. Smith and Wesson will never get a dollar from me again. YMMV.
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No idea what model powder burner you have. I have a M41 dating from the early-mid 1980s, long barrel and I have one of the S&W field barrels for it. Very accurate and totally reliable since I have had it, bought it new.
 
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jkingrph said:
No idea what model powder burner you have. I have a M41 dating from the early-mid 1980s, long barrel and I have one of the S&W field barrels for it. Very accurate and totally reliable since I have had it, bought it new.
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I purchased mine new a few years ago and could never get it to cycle out of the box. The dealer let me return it for a store credit. Purchased a MKIV and never looked back. Shame because the 41 looks way better than the MKIV.
 
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