are the chineese beemans any good ??

[gamoshooter]

 i used to see lots of chineese beemans in the big box stores and now  it seems there aren t any for miles around where i live  other than the dual caliber ones sold at wal mart  and a few at big 5  it seems they aren t as popular as they used to be
or maybe they just don t sell as well as the crosman/ruger line  of chineese guns 

seems back in the day beeman used to be the brand to go with when thinking of getting an air rifle but now it seems everyone around here wants crosman gamo and ruger 

 are the china beemans any good ?? 

gamoshooter

[Donny]

i love my rs2 .22 scope combo, no .177 .22 combo for me, i found mine at a walmart next to the sportsmans warehouse, but have not seen them at any other wally world

[Hunter45]

I have the RS2 and only use the .22 as well.  Just loctite the screws and it works well.  I have taken 25+ squirells and a few bandits with it this year and it has been quite the hunting rifle. Iit may not hold a candle to a disco or mrod, but for $150 its a good gun.  I am happy with it.

[Kailua]

It has passed through my thoughts why the Beeman name is on a Chinese air rifle.  Most people not really familiar with air rifles seem to know the Beeman name standing for a high quality airgun.  Crosman and Ruger come from a different Chinese factory than the Chinesed Beemans but not up to German quality.  It seems Chinese air rifles can be hit or miss but all need to be better tuned.  A lot of shooters are happy but not all with the Chinese products.  Going through the German Gate it would be a surprise to hear a complaint of a German purchase.

[RedFeather]

I think that Beeman hit the slippery slope when Doc Beeman retired and sold the company.  That's about when the big influx of Chinese guns started.  Most are what you might call entry-level and copies of Spanish guns like the old Marksman 0035 (Norica 56?).  When Beeman (the company) was recently reorganized, it spin off into two, distinct entities - one retailing the German R series and the other Chinese.  I think the Chinese Beemans, such as those mentioned, are still good values for the money but they are Beeman in name only.  (And the "good" Beemans are simply rebadged HW's.)

PS - Doc Beeman was never averse to offering modestly priced guns along with the HW's.  His Falcons, for example, were Gamo models.

[Paul68]

The Beeman Dual Calibers and 1051, 1073, Teton, Grizzly, Carnivore, Elkhorn ect are rebadged AR1000 rifles from the Shanghai Airgun Factory and are very good values for the money. They have very good power, very good accuracy, and sacrifice only finish and over all quality consistency compared to higher dollar counterparts. Like most of the other rebadged Chinese rifles, they suffer mainly from seal and assembly problems, both of which are easily addressed with a tune. However, they have improved a lot over the last couple years and QC with the Chinese rifles is no longer the mythical horror some would still believe it is. The fact of the matter is, when a Chinese clone can be just as accurate and often more powerful than the original it copies, they must be doing something right. (XS28M -RWS 350)

These rifles will perform very well out of the box more often than not, and produce energies in the 20 FPE range easily. The RS2 trigger is a very good unit, particularly considering the low cost of the gun and is much better than those found on comparable Crosman or Gamo rifles. 

These rifles respond particularly well to a spring and seal replacement along with a lube tune and are definitely worth the $115.00 you can find them for in some of the big box stores.

The best bet with the RS2 Sportsman Series Beemans from Wally World and the like is to avoid the dual caliber models and get the dedicated .22's.

[z28rod]

WOW Paul that was a great post, excellent. I even learned something from this thread, my rs-2 is a dedicated 22 cal. if anyone needs a 177 barrel for one let me know, its new and never been shot. These beemans fit you like a glove and have real good power in 22 cal. for small game hunting. They are a great bang for your buck.

[VAFarmer]

This is a fairly common business practice though, rebadging cheaper stuff under name brands.....

Look at nearly all yard tractors, for example.....you can buy the real-deal husqvarna, John Deere and Cub Cadets at a dealership only.   
You can also buy wally world versions of the same brand, but they are just repaired thru the local dealership, and are no better than the store brand lawnmowers.

Nothing wrong with china guns if you can work on them, IMO.   they can be made to shoot pretty darn good, and if they are being used for pest elimination, hunting, or informal target plinking, they ARE the best deal.   For example...if you hunt rabbits, and take 40 yd shots max, and have a china gun that will nail one down every time, why pay for an HW beeman when you can buy a shanghai beemen for 300 dollars cheaper?
The heirloom factor comes in to play with the germans, I think.    And all the stuff surrounding ownership.

But yes, they can be nice guns....
the Beeman P-17 is a VERY good shooting gun.

God bless,

Farmer

[CAP207]

I have the Chinese Beeman dual caliber bought at Walmart a few months ago.  I started out with the .177 then changed to the .22.  I like the .22 much better and will likely stay with it.  The .22 shoots smooth and accurate even without a tune.  I am mostly using Crosman Premier Hollow Points, which the gun seems to like. 

I have a Beeman P-3 and also a P-17.  They seem to shoot about the same although the P-3 cocks much smoother and is much more comfortable in the hand due to better clean up from the grip mold and more attention to QC.  I have cleaned up the P-17 grip but its still not as smooth as the P-3.

[RedFeather]

Do a search here on the dual-caliber Beemans.  Lots of good advice on how to set them up for single-caliber use.

I wasn't saying that the Chinese Beemans are not good guns.  Just that they are not the old "Beeman quality".  Personally, I think that side of the Beeman branding is a bit misleading through how they name the guns.  A newbie would think he was buying an elephant gun.     Of course, this is now the vogue for a lot of the manufacturers.  Witness all the SWAT, Black Ops and Bone Collector badges as compared to, say, R7, HW77, etc.  (I do like the Hatsan Torpedo, though, being an ex-Torpedoman, LOL.)

What many here in the sport miss is that these less expensive guns are still miles above the old BB guns many of us grew up with.  I started with a Daisy-rebadged Gamo and was amazed at how accurate the little gun was.  In short, lots of this stuff is much better than we realize.

[z28rod]

Craigslist has a bunch of rs-2 dual cal. beemans for sale from $75 up to $120.