Beeman P-17 improved

a great deal of chit chat has been going on the forums regarding the accuracy of the Beeman P-17 formally known as the Marksman single stroke pneumatic. the P-17 pistol is basically a cheep knock off of the original German made HW 40 CPA in which case Beeman had listed in there inventory as the P-3 with slight variances. both the P-3 and HW 40 CPA are just put together with slightly better parts than the P-17 and at four times the price. the over all accuracy shooters love. the major complaints were low velocity, and other small  issues that needed to be addressed. .

the P-17 lists for around 35 dollars, and if one gets a Beeman red dot scope as part of the package, then the price jumps to a wopping 49 dollars. the P-17 is a very affordable gun with an adjustable trigger. there is a set screw on the trigger blade to allow a finer weight of pull. for an affordable gun, this one can stack pellets at 10 yards. the problem my assistant Match Director had, as with most others,  is the low velocity producing around 385 -400 feet per second (fps). on the other hand, the P-17  has  a  surprisingly good shot to shot consistency.

what i suggested to Scott was the possibility  of installing a Crosman 10.1 inch barrel from the Crosman model 6300T pistol. this new barrel would replace the existing 6.7 inch factory barrel. the new barrel would have to be machined which made the barrel  9.7 inches when finished.  i love Crosman barrels as they are cheap and accurate for the most part. sometimes one might get a bad barrel but at only 12 dollars per barrel, one could order another at that price. Scott said he could do it but needed to machine out some parts allowing for the thicker diameter barrel. he spent a bit of time on the planning end of it. Scott also suggested to bed the barrel with JB weld then paint it black to mach.  the projected velocity when completed would be a 40 fps gain. well worth the effort and a great deal of fun doing it. the velocity when tested over the chronigraph came to 442 fps, and  the shot to shot consistency stayed the same. bellow are some pictures of the project, and the accuracy is fantastic for a total investment of less than 64 dollars not counting the labor time.

the P-17 improved feels like a real pistol because of the added barrel weight but we were still not completely happy with it. more weight was needed to make it a more sturdy gun so we bounced some ideas off one another and decided to add clear 10 minute epoxy  into the forward part of the lower frame assembly. before adding the epoxy, a table spoon of lead bird shot was added (shot gun bb's). this gave the gun a fantastic feel and put the weight more forward where it needed it. this also made the frame stronger over the factory set up which had some lateral flex when cocking it.

then there was the issue of the factory grip being a little thin and with that plastic feel so we added a rubber sleeve made from a bicycle inner tube around the factory grip. this gave the P-17 a fatter grip with a better more repeatable feel. the end result was  perfect and cheep.

what we found also amazing is the sound of the pistol decreased due to the longer barrel and with less recoil. still not completely satisfied with it, Scott and I machined a muzzle brake for the sharp end to complete the look.

we each have one and thought it might be good to share it with others on Ronnie Report. this project might give others  ideas on there gun if they have the means or desire.

at the following match, Scott entered with his P-17 improved and scored a 43 on the pistol course at Eaton Field Target Club in Sacramento. the pistol has no problems knocking down 1.5 inch kill zones on gamo targets out to 20-25 yards. great shooting Scott!!

Ronnie Easton
916.752.6762
wheelscroller@gmail.com