Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Webley Patriot \ Beeman Kodiak - Part 2


Shooting.

I have an old Beeman quiet trap that included ballistic putty which is much more durable than the duct seal that is popular now. It is actually tough enough to contain a standard .22 LR round out of a pistol. But at the time I do not know that. I take extreme precautions half expecting the Patriot to blow through the trap and cinder block wall behind it.

This is a big rifle. Certainly if you have buddies that rib you because you are an adult and still play with “BB” guns, hand them this. I know it works because I did it. Cocking the Kodiak takes a sharp smack to the barrel just to break it open, not knowing this they will look like 9 year old girls trying to open a pickle jar. At that point, you can advise them to stick with their firearms.
Beeman  \ Williams sight added

At least until they are man enough.

Holding the Patriot it becomes clear where the power comes from. While not as heavy as even the stubby HW97K, it is a big rifle. The receiver tube is huge; it feels like it is built to a 125 % scale.

It likes a middle weight pellet in .25 caliber for producing the best sustainable energy, which is not uncommon in most springers. It is also not accurate with the perfect rounds; I even try making it a shotgun loading 2 and 3 of them at a time. Interestingly the total energy remains about the same, which is lower than pellets at just over 24 ft lbs. It comes close with some pellets, but falls shy of the magical 30 ft lb number. I mark the best, as you can see from my notes on the pellet tins. (The 26.4 gr averaged about 702 fps)

Scoping the rifle proves short lived, as it sends the 18x Bushy to an early grave in no time. Rather than challenge it with another scope to devourer, I put a Beeman aperture sight on it. This makes for a much better match in my mind, also keeping a scope out of the way when muscling the 50 + lb cocking effort and reducing the bigness feel. I believe Tom Gaylord said it best when he one time likened holding the Patriot to feeling like a kid shooting his father’s gun.

Classic good looks

Accuracy is on par with the R1, which means excellent.

So what's the conclusion? I think the pellet tins tell the story, after about 5 years I still had pellets from my original order left. I just never found it to be “the one” when I reached for a rifle, and this was long before I started buying and selling airguns just to test drive them. I had bought the Patriot to use, but when? It was without a doubt not a plinker like the R7. Long range went to the flatter shooting HW97K and my R1 and I were such good buddies, it always went hunting with me. The Patriot seldom left the gun safe; I dare say the same thing happened too many of those Smith and Wesson 44 magnums.

Smack the end of the barrel to open it

Conclusion,

You would not use a sports car to haul a load of mulch home, you would want a truck. Personally I would have it delivered. The point is the Patriot was made with very specific uses in mind for which it excels.


About 1/2 my .25 caliber pellets

Now if you are in an area that makes firearm ownership difficult or perhaps you must have more power and only a Springer will work, it would fill the bill nicely. Or maybe you're a 320 lb football player that finds smaller rifles unsuitable. It certainly is a wonderful niche air rifle. But for me, it would be the first air rifle I ever sold. With PCP's becoming common place and now the Crosman Marauder offering over 45 ft lbs in .25 caliber the niche for it seems even smaller.

For clarity, it is important to point out that my Patriot was made in the UK, and that the latest versions were made in Turkey. The reports on the Turkish guns have been all over the board, so buyers beware.

With my usual good timing I sold the Patriot in the photos just before Webley closed their doors, so I asked $395.00 for it which seemed reasonable at the time. They are easily selling for $200 to $300 more now for a UK version.
In any case, eventually I would turn those funds into my first PCP, which I’ll cover soon.

9 comments:

  1. Volvo,
    Nick set up the link to your blog. Yay, Nick!

    Orin,
    Yeah, probably ad traffic is about the only way to generate any blog income. Blog comments rarely reflect blog readership numbers. We can post a blog and get zero comments though thousands of people have viewed it. (We're very big in Greece--hahahahaha) But ad traffic doesn't result in much real money. Not even coffee money for the day.

    Probably the best way Volvo can make money with the blog is by extortion. He can refuse to publish new material until we each send him $5.

    So, buy a set of Chapman screwdrivers and some Morgan butt pads from Nick or the blog gets it!

    Derrick

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  2. Volvo,
    Good entry once again. I think you will save the wise a good bit of trouble in trying out the big gun themselves.

    Derrick,
    Have you ever gotten to meet "Gossip Girl":)? I think you're right about the profit potential in hobby blogs. One focused on certain specific activities, e.g., hunting or self defense (obviously not airguns) might be able to make decent money, but then it is more of an "online magazine/website" than a blog. I would say if it isn't worth your time to do it for free, don't do it, i.e., only do it if it gives you pleasure.

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  3. Volvo

    I think this might be your best post yet. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I read you used to have one of these, PCP guy that you are.

    AlanL could probably slap it open and cock it in one half-hearted motion. But then we all know about him.

    Keep up the quality and the quantity, and sponsorship will come to you. Tom and Edith certainly paid some dues, as we all know. Certainly you are not as impatient with the blog as you are with airguns?

    P.S. Finally, a PCP review. I was beginning to think you (and Kevin) were going through a springer renaissance or something.

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  4. Derrick38,
    Tell Nick thanks for the hook up on the link.

    Bg Farmer,
    If I was just in it for the money, I would do porn. I think I could hit my $10.00 a day goal that way, on second thought, maybe not. : )

    Sling Lead,
    Thanks. I spent a little more time on it, in order to get to five posts a I have rushed a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Volvo,

    If you post pics and review Walthers and Feinwerkbaus, that's porn alright. Like the judge says, I know it when I see it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Volvo,do a Gamo review...You can kill two birds with one stone!It will count as porn for the part where the consumer gets screwed.I think the wild pig hunt was filmed to make Gamo buyers feel like they got the clean end of the stick...

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  7. I could send you some photos of Feinwerkbaus that are very revealing....these older gals would love the attention!Derrick has a beautiful FWB gal.{I think she's mixed}

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  8. Frank B,

    Sounds like you should do a guest blog!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have an early 90's Beeman Kodiak .25, I have run about 5 tins through it, I have it scoped with no problems, Have to remember to use a reverse recoil scope and it won't blow cross hairs.

    ReplyDelete