Finger Mashing, anti-bear trap devices, and air rifle safety??

[dtdtdtdt]

Regarding mole idea.  You can find/buy pellet tubes that will feed a pellet into the breech.  They sort of look like ball point pens. The clicker helps you push a pellet into the chamber.  Keeps fingers clear at the same time. It will work on breakbarrels but not on fixed barrels like the 300.  I haven't found anything better than issued fingers for that. I tried too!  That was before I found a short scope that let me get my fingers into the chamber area.

I don't think we need to obsess on the subject.  The nasty wound shown was the result of a slip and failure in process not pulling the trigger. 

Many have done well with the usual care that one should take. 

[Steelontarget]

Hey Mike, that block of yours gives me an idea. With just a little more work you could turn that into a loading tray of sorts, or at least add to it so that it helps guide a pellet to the bore, especially if you are prone to drop it at the last instant. If you get it right, you almost wouldn't have to look to see where to load the pellet. (If you look at my list of guns, you'll see I don't have one that could use it, but I could see it making the job of loading a little more sure in addition to the added safety.)

A loading tray would certainly add an extra element of safety to loading the rifle.  However, it could really slow one down.  I would much rather rely on holding the barrel of a break-barrel rifle and the lever on a fixed-barrel rifle.

I've only dropped a few pellets.  When that happens, I shake the rifle and it falls out.

However, the side-levers have me a little concerned as it's impractical to hold the lever back while putting the pellet in the barrel with your right hand.  I don't know if I would really want to trust my fingers to an anti-bear trap mechanism now or what.  Makes me worried about shooting my FWB 300s.

Regarding mole idea.  You can find/buy pellet tubes that will feed a pellet into the breech.  They sort of look like ball point pens. The clicker helps you push a pellet into the chamber.  Keeps fingers clear at the same time. It will work on breakbarrels but not on fixed barrels like the 300.  I haven't found anything better than issued fingers for that. I tried too!  That was before I found a short scope that let me get my fingers into the chamber area.

I don't think we need to obsess on the subject.  The nasty wound shown was the result of a slip and failure in process not pulling the trigger. 

Many have done well with the usual care that one should take. 

That's true but I still see people loading an air rifle (mostly novices with break barrels) not holding the barrel.  Makes me cringe.

Regarding the side levers; has/would anyone do a test in which they place the rifle in some sort of device to hold it firmly in place.  Then hold the cocking lever and pull the trigger at the same time to see if the lever wants to move?

I'm thinking of trying it with my 300s but don't like the idea of breaking a valuable item, if that's possible with the test.

[dtdtdtdt]

The loading device I mentioned is made by Air Venturi and called the Pell Pen.  It can be had inexpensively and with a pellet seating accessory - under $20 on Amazon or other on-line merchant.   The video I watched showed it to be very easy to use and kept the fingers out of the way of the breech.

The issue remains fixed barrel, side-cock, and under-lever systems.  As noted, the RWS 54 has a robust device to keep the action from closing on delicate pieces of your anatomy.  The FWB300, at least, has an internal system.  These are the ones I am personally worried about. 

While thinking about this, I have come up with a possible design for a pellet insertion device that I will try to make this weekend.  If it works, I'll put together a sketch and instructions so more talented machinists than I can improve on it. More likely, someone will explain what I have got wrong and do it better.  Works that way. 

Cheers!

[Mole2017]

I have a pell pen for quick reloads on the CFX. They're great, especially since you don't have to think about what direction the pellet is already pointed as you slide it into the breech. On the CFX, I only need to briefly glance at things to make sure I got a pellet in before seating it and closing the rotating breach.

But it was actually the CFX breach "ramp" that came to mind when I saw the Mike's block. I was thinking add just enough to the block so the pell pen or fingers just have a little assistance threading the needle, so to speak, to get the pellet in the barrel. I'm interested to see what Dave is cooking up.

[Yogi]

When I tried to use the Pell Pen, it would want to load 2 pellets at once.
Now I do not use it at all.

-Y

[avator]

I never could use a pellet pen. No control.
Have a close look at the QB-57. That's how they all should be. Notice the safety catch at the breech.

[Steelontarget]

I never could use a pellet pen. No control.
Have a close look at the QB-57. That's how they all should be. Notice the safety catch at the breech.

I never heard of the QB-57 till today.  It looks like something from a 1950s Sci-Fi movie.  How does it shoot?  Do they still make them?

[Hoosier Daddy]

Bill I am really trying to wrap my head around how this QB-57 would differ from my FWB300S

[dtdtdtdt]

I made a crude prototype of a pellet inserter for straight barrel rifles. 

1.  Old pair of 12" tweezers from junk box.
2.  Cut to 6" for convenience
3.  Drilled and tapped holes to hold screws and rubber fingers
4.  Tested on a small tube similar to entrance of chamber.
5.  Worked on simulation
6.  Will try in real rifle tomorrow.

Picture attached.

[Mole2017]

Hmm. Interesting tool. Have you considered that you could adjust the length of that screw to make it double as a pellet seater?

[avator]

Bill I am really trying to wrap my head around how this QB-57 would differ from my FWB300S

I don't see much difference.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Sorry, that pic I posted was an image of a QB-57 I found on Google. Not a FWB300S
It showed looking at the breech with the lever open. Hoping you could point out " the safety catch at the breech" you spoke of....

[avator]

LOL.... well, ya got me. I was shocked because I've never seen an FBW300S.
The catch is actually on the other side of the breech than your picture shows. It's a spring loaded lever that drops into the breech when opened. You have to operate the lever to close the breech. It's a bit clumsy until you get used to it. It's a fool proof design tho.

[dtdtdtdt]

Hmm. Interesting tool. Have you considered that you could adjust the length of that screw to make it double as a pellet seater?

That was my intent to combine the it into a pellet inserter and seater.  This is very crude  and might damage the inside of the pellet skirt but it does put the pellet below the surface a bit that I could adjust to the desired depth.   My thought was to round the tip of the screw so that it would help with flaring the skirt as it is inserted.  I have a Beeman tool that seats the pellet and flares the skirt at the same time so something similar could be done here. 

Another problem is that the screw doesn't go straight into the pellet.  It's end scribes a very small arc because it is made from a tweezer.  If I had something that has parallel jaws it could be made much more precise.  Parallel jaws are hard to do.

It works out that the inside of my Kodiak Match pellet skirt for my RWS54 is just the diameter of a 4-40 screw.  I cut the screw from stock screws that I have in my stash that are designed to be cut to length and filed smooth on the bottom. 

Working in my basement without precision tools makes it harder.  Also, I am not a machinist or tool maker so I am not real good at making things.  Prototype is usually as far as I go in my designs.

Tried it just now.  It works fairly well but the oversized hole next to the rubber needs to be a bit bigger so the pellet flange will drop into it easily.  The rubber is too thick and makes it a bit hard to push the pellet in.  The screw length let me seat the pellet about 1/16" below the surface of the chamber.  May be too much.  I'll work on it more later.  Have guests this afternoon.