There was a thread recently devoted to the Daisy 1938 Red Ryder BB Gun. It's a fun thread and I posted photos of my adult sized Red Ryder, but in case you missed it, here they are again.
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That's not the intended theme for this post however. What I wanted to discuss is what according to Daisy Outdoor Products is the worlds most accurate 5 meter BB Gun.
That description is applied to their Model 499B Champion Competition Rifle. I have one of these guns (it's not rifled) and can only say that it's the most accurate and easy to shoot BB Gun I have ever owned. Right out of the box, my first five shots created a single hole with a maximum spread of approximately 3/8" from 16.5'.
Daisy Model 499B Champion
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Note the serious error in their stated Muzzle Energy!
A 5.4 Gn. BB at 240 FPS will actually produce 0.69 Ft. Lbs.
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Before continuing further, please be aware that this gun is a single shot muzzle loader. That's right, you drop a single BB down the muzzle where it is held in place by a magnet, cock the gun and shoot it.
Since this gun is rated at a very sedate 240 Feet Per Second muzzle velocity, the cocking effort is (in my estimation) probably 25% of what's required to cock the 1938 Red Ryder Model. Thus, even young children should have no difficulty operating the lever action on the Model 499B.
Other than the obvious accuracy, the other features that were strikingly impressive to me (relative to its price) include the wonderfully light trigger, and the highly useable sights. The trigger feels like it breaks at about two pounds, but taking a reading with my Lyman Electronic Trigger Pull Scale revealed that the average (for five pulls) is actually 2# 10.3 oz. with a highest pull recorded at 2# 10.5 oz. and the lowest pull at 2# 10.1 oz., in other words, amazingly consistent! The sights are surprisingly good when the price of this gun is considered. The front sight is a globe style and comes with six interchangeable inserts, one of which is a post if you prefer that style. The inserts can be rapidly exchanged via the spring loaded mechanism in the front sight assembly. The rear sight is a nice peep style and is fully adjustable without tools.
Here's a backlit shot of the front sight assembly with the insert that was in place when I received the gun from the factory.
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Here are a couple more shots of the front sight without the backlighting.
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The insert shown has proven to be the perfect size (for me) when shooting at NRA 5 meter BB Gun targets, so I have not been tempted to try any of the other inserts, but I did remove and reinstall the existing insert just to see how easily it could be accomplished. Piece of cake.
Here are the other inserts that came with the gun.
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These inserts are steel, and while not quite as refined as the inserts normally encountered on higher grade target rifles, are certainly adequate for their purpose on this short range BB Gun.
Here are a couple of side view shots of the front sight. The inserts drop in and are removed from the top of the assembly.
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Here are some shots of the rear sight assembly.
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Here is the factory test target.
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Negatives. The only negative feature I'm aware of at this point is the buttstock. It's smooth wood, and makes it very difficult to hold the gun steadily on target due to slippage. I have future plans to address this and should have the material required to accomplish it within a week or so.
And now for an important point. The literature that accompanied this gun stresses the critical requirement of swabbing out the bore after every shooting session; so if you decide to try one of these, be sure to have a means of running a patched jag through the bore before you ever shoot it. According to Daisy, this step will prevent the high polish of the bore from becoming degraded over time. Daisy also recommends using their zinc plated BB's or the Hornady Black Diamond Anodized BB's. They specifically warn you not to use copper plated BB's in this gun.
If you're not well versed in .177 cleaning equipment (like me) it may come as a surprise that there is apparently no set industry standard for thread pitch and diameter for the .177 cleaning attachments. I had purchased a .177 rifle length cleaning rod several years ago, and when I attempted to install my one and only .177 cleaning jag on the rod, discovered that it wouldn't fit! Luckily, my old pistol cleaning rod proved to be long enough (just barely) to swab the bore of the 499B Champion with just about 3/8" to spare.
Here's the rod and jag I'm using to give you an idea of the minimum length required.
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So, is this the most accurate 5 meter BB Gun in the world? I have no idea, other than it's the most accurate BB Gun I've ever owned.
Does anyone else have one of these? Whether you do or not, what are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading my post.