Looking for Thoughts on QB78S

[toddbrat]

Hello all. I made the "mistake" last week of letting my 10 year old son shoot my Maximus after a new scope and trigger. After pumping it for him for a couple of series of strings, I thought there has to be a better way. I bought him a Gamo youth break barrel last year and he loved it, but he loves his little .22lr more, we're both big fans of load a round, pull the trigger that PCP gives us. He isn't strong enough yet to work the pump for the Maximus so thinking about a QB78s for him so we won't have to make the expensive trips to the range to shoot the powder burners and i'm not spending my entire time pumping. We both love the looks of these and with all of the options on the QB series I'm thinking it is a win-win; I get my Maximus back, but more importantly we get to spend more dad-son time away from video games.

My question is, I'm looking to keep it stock CO2, at least for now, and probably in .177. I've heard great things about the accuracy in QB's. The range in back is maxed at about 70 yards, most of my targets start about 40. How well do the QB's handle that kind of range in stock form, keeping in mind at this point he's happy just hitting the target. I'll also start out with a 4x scope for him. 

[Bentong]

I got Qb78s & QB79 all fine shooters then I got this > http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=125531.msg1227969#msg1227969
You can never go wrong with Mikes airguns.

[toddbrat]

I've been thinking about an Xisico all weekend as well as the QB's. I really like the fact that Mike will add a tune for free. I'm still pretty green when it comes to PCP's, if I were to convert one of these to a low pressure PCP as was mentioned, how do most folks go about refilling the bottle? As of now, it will be CO2 only, just thinking ahead to this winter if I can keep his interest up. I can get a regular paintball tank filled at Academy, but they can't do anything with any higher pressure. I'm thinking about a SCUBA tank for the Maximus, can the bottle be filled with a tank? I can get a tank for free, but has to be SCUBA, not the 4500psi SCBA's.

[Doug Wall]

You might consider getting a QB79 instead of the 78. You can use either a regular paintball CO2 tank, or you can go with a regulated HPA tank. I have a QB79, with a Ninja tank, regulated at 1100 psi.  With the CO2 tank, you can get tons of shots. With the regulated HPA, you'll get more power, but not as many shots. If you're planning on getting a SCUBA tank, you could fill both. The dry air from a SCUBA tank will be better for the guns than the moist pumped air.

[Bentong]

I've been thinking about an Xisico all weekend as well as the QB's. I really like the fact that Mike will add a tune for free. I'm still pretty green when it comes to PCP's, if I were to convert one of these to a low pressure PCP as was mentioned, how do most folks go about refilling the bottle? As of now, it will be CO2 only, just thinking ahead to this winter if I can keep his interest up. I can get a regular paintball tank filled at Academy, but they can't do anything with any higher pressure. I'm thinking about a SCUBA tank for the Maximus, can the bottle be filled with a tank? I can get a tank for free, but has to be SCUBA, not the 4500psi SCBA's.

Last time i checked MM site, he's got xs60 set up low power pcp and get 60 shots.  You can also bulk fill this with co2 and get hundreds of shots. If you're sticking to 9oz co2..get the qb79...just make sure it's 2 inch less dia. or you will need drop down adapter so the bottle don't wedge against the barrel.

[39M]

I'd get something a little lighter weight.

XS60C, 2260MB, or the Plinkster maybe.

[toddbrat]

Really appreciate all of the info. The more I think about it, I'll stick with CO2 for him and keep reminding myself it is his gun, I can't and won't tinker with it. No more than he'll shoot, at least for now, I don't think I'll break the bank on 12grams. Plus, I know my son and cold weather shooting will not be an issue for him. Come to think of it, hot weather may not be an issue. Oh well, if I can get 2 weeks in spring and 3 in fall I'll take what I can get.

[Smaug2]

Your best option (assuming there's a dive shop nearby) is to get a used SCUBA tank and fill the Maximus from that. They can be filled to 3000 psi (some of them will go to 3300) and will give you a LOT of fills on the Maximus, which needs only 2000. If you're not close enough to a dive shop, I guess that's not an option.

CO2 is temperature sensitive, so the velocity and point of impact will change depending on the weather. That's bogus, skip it if you can. Better to have him man-up and cock the springer until he can pump the Maximus. Better springer shooters eventually make better PCP shooters.

Failing that, if you really decide to settle for CO2, how about a Discovery? They can run on CO2, so your son can shoot it on CO2 until he's big enough to pump, then set it up for air.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Do the QB (maybe even a Deluxe), get him hooked, then move up later when HE desires.

[toddbrat]

So I decided to go with the QB78s. It came in while he was in school so I spent a quick couple of hours setting up the scope, sighting in, all that good stuff. He was grinning ear to ear when I showed it to him. After spending the better part of a month researching, reading reviews, asking here, my work was going to pay off. I had both of our guns set up, ready to go for a fun afternoon of shooting with my boy. He takes his position beside me, I show him how to load it and he takes careful aim. He squeezes the trigger, smiles when he hits the target, then say "I'm going inside, its too hot out here..." Oh well, I sure had fun running out the co2....

[shultz]

Been there done that Dad

Give him time. If you have the area to do so,set up reactive targets. Paintballs, spinners, small steel plates etc. I found the more reactive targets held my son's interests longer than simply punching paper when first teaching him.

My youngest now has a two year old....he still loves to shoot and can't wait to teach his daughter to shoot

[Smaug2]

If you have the area to do so,set up reactive targets. Paintballs, spinners, small steel plates etc. I found the more reactive targets held my son's interests longer than simply punching paper when first teaching him.

Maybe I shouldn't admit it here, but I like reactive targets better too. It's like a pass/fail class or a go/no-go criteria.  "Good enough" is all the same, and misses are all the same too. If it's good enough to get a squirrel's lungs (1" x 2" ? ) that's a good one. At the fun shoot last weekend, we had a blast with reactive targets:

• Pressurized soda bottles
• Old spoons, with the handle end bent to go around a wire to make cheap spinners
• Proper spinner targets are reasonable, and at CO2 power levels, you can even get them where you shoot 4 up, and the 5th one resets them.
• Old bells
• Old skillets @ 50+ yards
• suckers
• paintballs
• balloons

There's a thread going on here just FULL of ideas for reactive targets. I'm a woodworker, so I like to cut up my scraps into small squares and use those. When they're all blasted to splinters, they're good tinder for my fire pit, and they also are satisfying because they show damage.