Thank you for the kind replies gents! It always feels a bit risky to do something "different" to a stock, but I can always sand it down again and go for a traditional, 100% dark stained finish.@Bantam5s, lovely 180. Nice spoon handle! Did you make that yourself? The leather sling adds charm too. I would prefer a nice original stock/finish on my gun, but mine was so ugly that I had to refinish it. It had an orangy colour, with lots of scratches, and a cracked grip. @TerryM, always great looking guns in your collection. I have a long tube Sears 180, which I could use to go 2 capsules. I like the idea of using the original, short spacer, instead of the longer long tube Sears one. @Goose, thank you. I asked a few gunsmiths to do the grooves, but they couldn't help me. I think it is a bit tricky to get it right? There is an interesting article on this subject, on the great Another Airgun Blog: http://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/milling-scope-mount-grooves-in-crosman.html@Latches, CraigH, Extreme .457, it is always nice to see that so many people love the 180/187. I think that most people simply like a light, compact gun? Same reason why in the world of pcp's, the BSA Ultra is one of the best selling pcp's of all time? At least in the UK and Europe. I guess in the States, higher power pcp's are more popular. I digress.
I did some testing with the 187 this morning before work. It was about 16.5 degrees Celcius (about 62 F). I shot quick; load, shoot, write, load, shoot, write, etc. Impressed with the results: I got 42 "useable" shots, most were at 178 m/s (584 ft/s), using the same pellets as in the Bobcat: 8.44 gr 4.53 mm JSB Exact. The highest reading was 604 ft/s, lowest and also last tested shot was 558 ft/s. Will have to test outdoors, but I think this will be fine for 20 meter plinking on a nice day?What is useable... Will have to see in practice what the difference is between the highest and lowest velocity of my "useable" interval. I could actually check with Chairgun! @Goose, it will be interesting if this velocity gives good accuracy. If I can hit used coffee cups at about 20 meters, I'm a happy chappy!
Very nice Louis.I do like how you did the stock. It has some very fine looking grain.CONGRATS
My tricked-out 180. Factory finish on wood.