Barra Cowboy Series pellet and BB multi-pump pneumatic.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
This report covers:
- The test
- Air Arms Falcon pellets
- Loading
- RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets
- Discussion
- Summary
I said I would shoot the Barra Cowboy Series 1866 BB and pellet rifle one more time while wearing my reading glasses to see the front sight clearly. This is that test. The question is, is the rifle any more accurate with pellets when I can see the front sight more clearly?
The test
The rifle was rested directly on a sandbag and shot from 10 meters. I shot ten shots with each of two pellets. The rifle was pumped five times for each shot.
This won’t be a big test. It’s just enough to show us whether seeing the front sight better makes any difference — and just with this rifle. We will also be better able to form a final opinion of this air rifle.
Air Arms Falcon pellets
First to be tested were Air Arms Falcon pellets. The first shot fired hit above the target I aimed at, so I held the tip of the front sight to the bottom of the deep rear sight notch and shot ten more times. Ten pellets made a group that measures 1.179-inches between centers at 10 meters. If you examine the target you will see that guessing the elevation was a big problem. Half the shots are in a 0.32-inch group at the lower left. From this target we can suppose all sorts of things, but my guess is this rifle is quite accurate and suffers from sights that don’t support its capability.
The Barra Cowboy put ten Air Arms Falcon pellets into a 1.179-inch group at 10 meters.
In part 3 of this report The Barra Cowboy put five of these same pellets into a 0.812-inch group. So the accuracy hasn’t improved from seeing the front sight more clearly.
Loading
I had more problems loading the pellet this time than ever before. I had to use long needle-nosed tweezers and wear a headlamp to see into the breech. I jammed two pellets out of a total of 24. One more was lost inside the receiver where it still lives.
RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets
The second pellet fired was the RWS R10 Match Pistol. In Part 3 five of them made a 0.56-inch group and 10 went into 0.917-inches. Today when I could see the front sight more clearly ten pellets went into 0.949-inches. That’s no change, whatsoever. Apparently I saw the front sight well enough to shoot my best with the Barra Cowboy last time.
The Barra Cowboy put 10 RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets into a 10-meter group that measures 0.949-inches between centers.
Discussion
After this test and the frustration with loading pellets I have to observe this rifle has superb accuracy but the wonky sights and difficult pellet loading process make it a BB gun for sure. Why didn’t I use the Vana2 single-shot loader? Because the breech cover also closes when the bolt goes forward and there is no way to use the loader that I can see. The same will be true for the Crosman Legacy 1000 whose breech cover also moves with the bolt. Those covers hide the pellet loader and can eventually cut it off.
Summary
I think we have gone about as far as we can go with the Barra Cowboy rifle. It has some good DNA, but a couple weird design things (the rear sight and the breech) make it best for BBs. It is quite accurate with them, as well as being quite easy to pump.