AusVarmint

I've wanted one of these classic American pump-ups for many years. A mate had one when we were kids, and when he hinted he might be going to sell it, I told him to let me know. Well, the boob sold it anyway and never told me. :grrrr:

That was in the mid 80's and though I've kept an eye out for either a Blue or the rarer nickel plated Silver Streak none appeared. So when this one popped up I jumped on it quick.

The Sheridan was pretty much the Rolls Royce of American pumpers and unusual in that they have only ever been made in .20 calibre or 5mm as opposed to the common .177 / 4.5mm and .22 / 5.5mm.

These guns are made out of brass alloys so they don't ever rust. The stocks are all of American walnut. Like all pumpers you can vary the power - anywhere from 3 pumps to a maximum of about 8 for small game and an ME of around 13 ft/lbs.

With Sheridans, the older guns are recognised to be better quality - this one left the Racine, Wisconsin factory in 1981 and has been very well cared for and even had the owner's manual with it.







I fixed a small amount of looseness in the pump linkage with a very thin shim so it's tight as new. These guns aren't really meant for scope use and come with regular buckhorn sights and a factory option was a Williams peep. However, a clamp-on mount is available allowing optics to be mounted anywhere along the barrel - a common trick is to forward mount a handgun scope "scout rifle" style to allow for better hand placement when pumping. I'll likely do this, as I will pop a few coneys with it over summer under the torch, and a scope is needed for that sort of shooting. Handling wise, the Streaks feel much like a very short, light shotgun and point really well.

This rifle makes a fitting companion for my FWB 127 Sport.

fenring wrote:I've wanted one of these classic American pump-ups for many years. A mate had one when we were kids, and when he hinted he might be going to sell it, I told him to let me know. Well, the boob sold it anyway and never told me. :grrrr:

That was in the mid 80's and though I've kept an eye out for either a Blue or the rarer nickel plated Silver Streak none appeared. So when this one popped up I jumped on it quick.

The Sheridan was pretty much the Rolls Royce of American pumpers and unusual in that they have only ever been made in .20 calibre or 5mm as opposed to the common .177 / 4.5mm and .22 / 5.5mm.

These guns are made out of brass alloys so they don't ever rust. The stocks are all of American walnut. Like all pumpers you can vary the power - anywhere from 3 pumps to a maximum of about 8 for small game and an ME of around 13 ft/lbs.

With Sheridans, the older guns are recognised to be better quality - this one left the Racine, Wisconsin factory in 1981 and has been very well cared for and even had the owner's manual with it.







I fixed a small amount of looseness in the pump linkage with a very thin shim so it's tight as new. These guns aren't really meant for scope use and come with regular buckhorn sights and a factory option was a Williams peep. However, a clamp-on mount is available allowing optics to be mounted anywhere along the barrel - a common trick is to forward mount a handgun scope "scout rifle" style to allow for better hand placement when pumping. I'll likely do this, as I will pop a few coneys with it over summer under the torch, and a scope is needed for that sort of shooting. Handling wise, the Streaks feel much like a very short, light shotgun and point really well.

This rifle makes a fitting companion for my FWB 127 Sport.

Nice one Scott.My first new airgun was a Blue Streak in 1975.I still remember its smell and nice walnut stock.
Have fun!

Thanks Lewis - got a 4x Simmons handgun scope and Intermounts teed up for the Streak. Should be a lot of fun.

Fenring

I know nothing of these but that sure looks nice! I look forward to seeing escapades with it.

Cool, I have one just the same. Just this day I spoke to Tim from Mac1 and ordered a seal kit $20 to have on hand just in case and a Ingvar Alm mount $45. Have a close look at his web site and this mount. It is a one piece with 3/8" dove tails. This mount is generally considered the preferred method from what I have read. It attaches to the barrel and the rail comes back over the action allowing for a normal scope and easy access to the breach. I had one of the more modern rifles, a 392 maybe, in the eighties when I was around 16 years old and have liked them ever since. I have had this one for about four years. Good down the hall with only a few pumps. Good to see a bit of action on the site.

Hi Whitey, I've seen pics of the IA mount but I actually prefer the Scout style forward mounted scope as it makes for easier pumping.

What pellets are you feeding yours?

Scott the best pellets to try are: JSB Exact .20 ( Rob Potter can fix you there; Beeman Kodiaks ( I think Lewis still has a few); and if you can find some, the Crosman Premiers in the cardboard boxes - but I think Lewis long ago sold out his last (probably to me ).

When the Crosman Premiers first arrived here in the early to mid 90s I found them to be a revelation as they grouped so tightly compared to the various iterations of the original Sheridan Bantam cylindricals ("trash cans"). Here are two examples of the best 100 yard groups I have shot with Sheridans that have been in the family since 1972 and 1968.

1968 Sheridan Blue Streak 5 shots at 100 yards ctc 1.10 inches, JSB Exact 13.7 gr .20 cal pellets. Old post war Raven 4X scope ( very good old scope).



Close up of group:



1972 Sheridan Blue Streak 5 shots at 100 yards with 14.3 gr Crosman Premier .20 cal pellets ctc 1.23 inches. Shot April 1994 in The Snowy Mountains at Ingebyra.. Kahles 2X scope.



I have a click/ drop chart for the Kahles and the '72 BS running at 8 pumps with Crosmans. I made it up using a simple quadratic polynomial plot :



With this and a range finder I have slain many a bunny to 50 yards and a longest one shot kill on a big buck at a measured 92 yards one still day!

Both these rifles belonged to my father but my association goes back to 1967 when I bought a Sheridan and terrorized the bunnies around Quirindi and New England when they were plentiful and the ranges were generally under 35 yards at which distance the old Bantam pellets were good enough.
There is a modern version of the trash can made by Crosman. It is much better than the old one but still not as good as the pellets I mentioned above.

Hope you enjoy my input for what it is worth and my reminiscences. ... Kind regards, Harry Yrrah.

Thanks Harry - very impressive accuracy.

One thing I'm going to try, is making a tapered sizer that sizes 5.5mm down to 5mm. Back in the 80's a mate of mine got hold of a sizer made by Daystate that did just that - .22 RWS Superpoint sized down to .20 were a long, streamlined pellet.

Jim Maccari of ARH is familiar with the idea, and thinks it's a good concept - there used to be a US made version back in the day.

Oh yeah, should have added that I have a Simmons Pro Hunter 4x32 handgun scope, Intermounts and some Weaver Grand Slam rings en route to mount up.

All set up with a 4x32 Simmons Pro Hunter handgun scope, Intermounts and Weaver Grand Slam steel rings. Works quite well. A lower scope height would be good but the Intermount design prevents it.

Your set up looks good. I got the one piece mount from Tim at Mac1. I have no low rings on hand so I'll get some tomorrow on my days off and set it up. Pictures will follow.

Cool.

I love these guns. Wish I'd had one when I was a kid. The fact they are recoilless is just awesome in a little compact package like that. Enjoy it.

Pity we can't get them but with a Mac1 Steroid they really hum, and as mentioned above if you need any parts for it contact Tim at Mac1. He has some great bits for them such as billet levers and hinges etc and all the seals and parts to keep them running.

Have a look at the Airguns of Arizona site. They have a custom Benjamin 392 ACP. It has some fancy bits to stop waste of air, hence you pump eight times, then each of the next few shots only needs a couple of pumps to bring back to full power. Very neat. They have the good old Sheridan pumper for only about $140 US. Good value.

Thanks guys. This one will fully exhaust ten pumps, but I have not chrono'd it yet.

Picked up a set of low B-square mounts yesterday and put the BSA scope on it. Came up a treat. Threw a few Exacts down the hall and it shoots very well with the scope set up. Mount is from Tim at Mac1 Airguns in the states.