New Acquisition: 1970 Benjamin Franklin Model 342 in .22 Caliber [Edited]

Well, it appears that what I first thought to be a 1950's era Benjamin is actually a Benjamin that was made in 1970 (According to the info posted on the Crosman website.) Nevertheless, it is still a wonderful piece, which I plan to restore to "like-new" condition, and probably pass on to my son, when he's a little older. (A multi-pumper like this takes a bit of arm strength, especially if you want to use it all day.) In the meantime, I will shoot it a bit, experiment with different pellet types, and take copious notes while doing so.

My newest acquisition: 1970 Benjamin Franklin model 342 in .22 caliber.

Caliber & model number as stamped on gun.

There seems to be a small metal plate missing.

Front of barrel.

Closeup of cocking lever.

Bolt and trigger closeup.

Closeup of stock.

Trigger guard.

Discoveries, Hobbies, and a 3-Inch Metal Post

Ok, this last Friday, I went back to the range; I went after work, so I was only able to catch about an hour and a half of the remaining daylight. But it proved to be sufficient.

I shot up a bunch of yellow targets that I won't bother to post here today; all I was doing with those is trying to fine-tune my shot placement, and also trying to test out my newly-arrived RWS Hobby 11.9 grain pellets. At first glance, using the bench rest, the Hobby pellets don't seem to strike as true as the Benjamin Discoveries; they're close, but I have noticed that I get more fliers with the Hobbies for some reason. I will have to experiment with them some more before I can realistically say that the Discoveries truly perform better; but that is what my gut is telling me that the probable outcome will be.

I did, however, get the chance to pass the Hobbies over the Chrony; they're averaging 520 fps, about 20 fps faster than the Discoveries. I expected a wider variance than that, considering that there is a 2.4 grain difference between the two pellets.

I also had the chance to do some free-handed shooting; at a distance of 10 meters, from a seated position, elbows OFF the table, holding the pistol like a carbine (right hand around the grip, left hand supporting the lower body of the gun) and close to my face and chest, with my shoulders "shrugged." Here are the results of that, which, if you compare them to the bench rest results of the previous posts, prove once and for all that the gun shoots better than I do.

10 of each; Discoveries on top, Hobbies on bottom.

Results with Benjamin Discoveries.

Results with RWS Hobbies.

As you can see, even with the one flier, the Discoveries resulted in a 3.5" group at 10 meters. Using the same hold, same position, etc., resulted in a 5" grouping with the Hobbies. Plus, the Hobbies seem to have a lower POI; I will gladly admit that some of that is possibly my fault, but these targets were shot one after the other, in the space of maybe 10 minutes max. I was not fatigued when I started, nor was I fatigued when I finished. There was plenty of daylight for both targets. And I had the benefit of the red dot on all 20 shots. I can't imagine that the inconsistency of the Hobbies is entirely my fault, when I did so well with the Discoveries. The only thing I can think of is this: If my shooting technique has some consistent fault to it, i.e., if there is something I do every time that affects the POI, then the Discoveries are less affected by it than are the Hobbies.

Another thing that I did while at the range was to re-visit my old friend, the metal post, which sits on the 100 yard line of the rifle range. The post is typically shot with .30-06s and .270s; as you can tell from the enormous holes that have been shot through it. If the post could talk, I am sure that it would have been happy that the only thing I shot it with was a few pellets. (That's airgun humor, in case you missed it.)

The post is actually only 3 inches wide, not 4 as previously reported.

During my session with the post, I never actually hit the cans on top; but I did manage to hit the post. The light faded before I could figure out how many "imaginary mil dots" to adjust upwards by.

The good news is that I videoed the session (or at least, most of it; my iPhone died before I could return to the Hobbies for a second chance) and that I have figured out how to embed videos into my blog, so you can see it instantly, without having to follow a link. Here is the video:

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed creating it. Until next time, may all your pellets fly true and hit with authority!

Millet Time

Well, I made it out to the range again, and this time I decided to really take a hard look at the settings of my new Millet red dot scope.

Boy, I am so glad that I did!

After some extensive sighting-in work, I discovered that the Hatsan is indeed a straight-shooting, tac-driving, dead-on-accurate springer pistol.

I also discovered that I really, really, really like my Millet red dot. It has a HUGE range of adjustment settings!

Today, I shot three pellet types: Benjamin Discovery, Crosman Premier Hollowpoints, and Beeman Crow Magnums. You may remember that in a previous post, I was under the impression that the Hatsan liked the Beemans the best; upon further reflection, I have come to the conclusion that this previous impression was in error. It must have been my technique, and my own shortcomings, because all of the work I did today was careful, contemplative, slow shooting from a bench rest. And the Hatsan (as you will see) clearly performed worst with the Beeman pellets. The best performance came from the Discovery pellets, and a close second was the Premiers.

Target Overview; 10 meters, sunny, occasional strong breeze.

Benjamin Discovery (14.3 Grain) Grouping with 16 shots. (Some of which went through the same holes)

Crosman Premier Hollowpoints (14.3 Grain) Grouping with 16 shots. (Many of which went through the same holes.) Please note that the bottom three holes (in the 7 ring) are Beeman flyers from the target below; they are not from the Crosman Premier grouping.

Only 10 shots were fired with the Beeman Crow Magnums (18.21 Grain), because I quickly realized that these pellets were not shooting consistently. Three of the Beeman pellets actually hit the target above it. Some of this might have been my own error, perhaps even fatigue by this point, but even so, I can tell that even under the most ideal conditions, the Beemans probably won't group as well as the Premiers or the Discoveries. However, in the interests of being fair, I will try them again next time, when I am fresh and ready.

And lastly, here is a picture of the first shot of the day (on one of the brown-paper targets.) It was pure luck, but it made me happy anyway. There are no further pictures of this target, or of the others I shot today, because the groupings were all over the place, as I experimented first with different holds, then with adjusting the settings of the red dot. The yellow targets above represent the "real" shooting, which occurred after I was satisfied that the gun was indeed sighted in properly.

First shot of the day. BULLSEYE!

Well, until next time, may your pellets all fly true!

Range Test: Hatsan .22 caliber Supercharger with Millet Red Dot

RANGE DAY! Just me and Yuri, father and son, punchin' some paper!

Weather: Bright and sunny. Occasional gentle breeze.
Pellet in use: Beeman Crow Magnum .22 Caliber
Today almost didn't happen; the battery in my red dot died! Luckily, the range shop had a spare!

This is what I have in the Hatsan today.

My target: 10m distant.

My Targets.

Yuri's Target: 5m distant. (Hey, he's 6 years old!)

My stance: Standing, arms at full extension, police-style cup-and-saucer grip, using the red dot. Final groupings with the Crow Magnum pellets:

With the red dot, I am now able to notice how badly I shake. I need more arm strength.

The 9 and 10 rings are half-inch rings. I fired 16 shots, 15 of which were in the black, and 7 of those (almost half) were in the center 1.5" area.

Yuri's stance: Most of his were from a seated position, using a bench rest, but for a few of them, he stood up and tried to do what I was doing. Here is his final grouping. He was shooting the Diana P5 Magnum, open (Tru Glo) sights, using .177 caliber RWS Super H-Point pellets:

Not bad for a 6-year old!

By the way, I believe that I have mentioned this before, the black circle (Rings 7-10 + Bull) is 5.25 inches in diameter. Yuri fired 18 shots, and got 15 of those shots in the black.

Does anyone have any pistol groupings they'd like to share, for comparison's sake?

Some Interesting Data

I noticed, while playing around with the calculators on Airguns of Arizona, that there is an advantage to middle weight pellets vs. heavy pellets.

Look at this:

9.3 grain RWS Supermag pellets (.177 caliber)
Ballistic Co-efficient = 0.012
Average muzzle velocity in the Diana P5 Magnum: 450 fps (4.18 FPE)


8.2 grain RWS Meisterkugeln pellets (.177 caliber)
Ballistic Co-efficient = 0.010
Average muzzle velocity in the Diana P5 Magnum: 507 fps (4.68 FPE)


Not only do the lighter pellets provide slightly more power at the muzzle, they retain it better initially as well:


Supermag retained velocity at 10 yards = 406 fps (3.4 FPE)

Supermag retained velocity at 20 yards = 365 fps (2.75 FPE)

Supermag retained velocity at 30 yards = 329 fps (2.24 FPE)



Meisterkugeln retained velocity at 10 yards = 447 fps (3.64 FPE)

Meisterkugeln retained velocity at 20 yards = 395 fps (2.84 FPE)

Meisterkugeln retained velocity at 30 yards = 349 fps (2.22 FPE)


At shorter ranges, the medium weight pellet performs better, but starting at 30 yards (which is long range for a pistol like the P5) the heavy pellet starts to edge out the medium weight pellet. That's because FPE (Foot Pounds of Energy delivered) is a delicate balance between velocity and mass; once the pellets are traveling at roughly the same speed (329 fps vs. 349 fps), the mass of the heavier pellet is going to enable it to deliver a harder punch. The heavy pellet is traveling 20 fps slower at 30 yards, but still hitting harder.

However, at shorter ranges, the medium weight pellet's advantage is that its lighter weight helps it to retain more velocity.

CONCLUSION: Under 30 yards, the medium weight pellet packs more of a punch. At 30 yards plus, the heavy pellet has the edge.

I just thought I would make a note of this. I love examining data like this. It really helps one gain a better understanding of the physics involved in this enjoyable sport.

The Hatsan... UPGRADED

Well folks, I took my Hatsan Supercharger in to the local gunsmith, and had him mount and zero a red dot scope for me. I picked it up today after work, shot it a few times, and ran it over the chrony twice.

With 14.2 Grain RWS Super-H Points, the chronograph registered 498 and 499. So basically, 498.5, but we'll go ahead and round our average back down to 498. I realize that I need a longer shot string, but the gunsmith was on his way out for the day, and I didn't want to keep him any longer than necessary.

But if we say 498 is the consistent average, which I have no reason to doubt, we can safely say that the Hatsan Supercharger is a 7.82 FPE gun. (Let's round up to 8 FPE, because 0.18 is not a significant difference.)

Being an 8 FPE gun means that it will, as a rule of thumb, humanely dispatch any pest weighing 8 lbs. or less; rats, rabbits, squirrels, crows, etc. Thus, this pistol could be used to hunt small game.

I didn't have time to set up actual targets, so I shot at the frames that hold the targets. The frame posts are aluminum (painted black) and they are about 1.5 inches wide. I shot at one that was sitting about 40 yards out, and PINGed it 5 out of 6 times from a standing position, using the police-style cup and saucer hold. This red dot (Millett brand) is wonderful!

I will do more extensive tests later on, but for now, check out these pictures:

Another Range Day!

Well, this morning we got up early, tended to all of our errands, and that left time for...

ANOTHER RANGE DAY! YIPPEE!

Range conditions:

All target shots performed at a range of 10 meters.
All can shots started at a range of 10 meters, which increased as the can rolled further and further away.
Weather: Sunny, clear, and mild. No wind.
All target shots were performed while seated, and using a cardboard box as a bench rest.
All can shots were performed standing, using police-style cup and saucer grip. Hands were loose, to allow the gun to roll with the recoil.

Today, I played around with the Hatsan, but not enough to get any real data.

Then, I broke out the P5 Magnum (Diana.)

That's when the real shooting started.

As always, clicking on the picture will allow you to see it at full resolution.



Here's the ammo we used today:

A heavy pellet.

A light pellet.

A medium weight pellet.

First, I made use of a handgun target that someone had left unused; they shot the top four targets, but left the bottom four untouched. So I shot the bottom four; waste not, want not.

Starting target: the one on the right, with two sets of 4.

Here's the four that I shot:

This is what they looked like after shooting, before I labeled them.

Here's what each one was shot with:

Meisterkugeln gave the best grouping.

Both Supermag groupings were decent.

Again, decent groupings.

HyperMax had decent groupings as well. RWS doesn't make low-grade pellets, even their light stuff is pretty OK.

By the way, I experimented with different sight pictures while shooting these groupings. The one that seems to work best for me is to allow the red dot to rest directly above the green dots, with the red dot blocking out whatever I'm aiming at. Like so...

This is what I see when I aim the P5. If I put the red dot level between the green, it tends to shoot low.

Ok, so, in my opinion, the worst grouping was the HyperMax pellet. So I decided to have a shoot-out between Meisterkugeln and Supermag. I set up two targets next to each other, and shot each one alternating until I had 5 shots. Then, I shot 5 continuous shots at each one without alternating. That means that each target was shot 10 times. Here are the results...

First Five Shots:

Here they are, completely blank.

Supermag on the left.

Meisterkugeln on the right.

Shot number 1 for each, off to a great start!

Shot number 2 for each, Meisterkugeln takes the lead!

Shot number 3 for each, Supermag showing some spread.

Closeup of shot 3 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 3 for Meisterkugeln.

Shot number 4 for each, human error creeping in; I wasn't taking as much time to aim by this point; I was getting too anxious.

Closeup of shot 4 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 4 for Meisterkugeln.

Fifth shot for each. Again, human error starting to show.

Closeup of shot 5 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 5 for Meisterkugeln.

Now, 5 more shots for each target.

Closeup of final grouping for Supermag.

Closeup of final grouping for Meisterkugeln. We have a winner!

You may have noticed that I had a Spec Ops target set up today as well, just to play around with. Here are the results:

The terrorist got his nose blown off, as well as losing his lips, and getting his chin clipped.

The terrorist's heart and lungs ain't feelin' so good...

Overall view.

Grouping sizes; fingernail shown for size comparison.

Again, fingernail shown for size comparison.

Yet another photo of my finger :)

There was also a Red Bull can sitting next to the target, on the ground...

See it, to the right of the Spec Ops target?

The Red Bull can after a few pellets.

I have some videos that go along with the can shooting, but they are very large. I will probably need to put them on Youtube first, then link to them. When that is done, I will update this post, so check back in a few days.

Until next time, fellow airgunners, I bid you good day!

EDIT: Let's add the videos:

Red Bull Part One

Red Bull Part Two


Ok, enjoy, folks!