by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Haenel 310 is a different kind of trainer.
This report covers:
- How does the magazine work?
- Velocity
- Oiled the leather piston seal
- Re-test velocity
- Smart Shot lead BBs
- Conclusions
Today we look at the velocity of the Haenel 310 trainer. I was asked by one reader whether the Smart Shot lead BBs will work in the gun, so we will also look at that.
How does the magazine work?
Another thing I was asked by a reader is how the magazine works. You saw a picture of the mag in Part 1, but the angle was wrong for understanding how the balls feed. Here are three pictures that tell the whole story.
Here the steel ball follower is held down by the magazine feed pawl (arrow). This spring-loaded pawl is pushed down out of the way by the bolt as it passes.
When the feed pawl is pushed down by the bolt (arrow), the steel ball magazine follower springs all the way up as far as it will go. The follower is too large to escape the top of the magazine.
A 4.4mm copper-plated lead ball has been loaded into the magazine. It’s held down by the feed pawl, but when the pawl is pushed down (out of the way) by the bolt, the BB springs up and out of the magazine by a foot or more, unless it is captive inside the breech.
Velocity
I’ll begin with a test of the 4.4mm German-made copper-plated lead balls that I bought for the rifle. Most of these weigh 7.6 grains, but a sample was tested and ranged from 7.5 to 7.8 grains. They velocity averaged 326 f.p.s., which is on the low side for this particular rifle. The low was 237 f.p.s. and the high was 360 f.p.s., so a spread of 123 f.p.s.
Oiled the leather piston seal
I then dropped 5 drops of Crosman Pellgunoil down the muzzle and let the rifle stand on its butt for a couple hours. Following that I got these results.
Re-test velocity
After oiling and waiting a few hours, ten 4.4mm balls averaged 321 f.p.s. The low was 268 f.p.s. and the high was 355 f.p.s., so the spread was still large, at 87 f.p.s.
Smart Shot lead BBs
Now that you understand how the magazine works, you can see that the size of the ball is important. So our reader was wise to wonder whether Smart Shot BBs will work. But they do! Smart Shot BBs that weigh an average 7.6 grains averaged 341 f.p.s. The sprtead went from a low of 296 f.p.s. to 359 f.p.s. That’s 63 f.p.s., so Smart Shot BBs have a tighter spread than 4.4mm balls in this particular 310.
Conclusions
This was a valuable test that showed us several things. First, we learned out the balls feed through the magazine, and that helps us understand the operation i of the airgun a little better.
Next we discovered that the gun was not shooting slow without oil. Oil actually slowed it a little, though it did become more consistent.
Finally, we find that Smart Shot BBs not only work in ther 310 mechanism — they probably work better than the ammo that’s made for the rifle. Of course the accuracy test will be where that is confirmed.
This is a BB gun in the same category as other BB guns, so I will test it at 5 meters first. If it has enough accuracy I may back up to 10 meters, as well