I picked up these two early Benjamin Co2 air pistols at the Bisley Imperial Arms Fair on Saturday.
The first is a nice boxed Benjamin 250 from the early fifties complete with its original paperwork, unused 8grm Co2 capsule and unopened tin of pellets. The 250 is in .177 calibre and was Benjamin's first entry into the Co2 air pistol market. It was smoothbore and could fire either BBs or lead pellets. The BBs are inserted into a little recess in the 'cocking /pellet seater or if using pellets straight into the breech. The idea was that it would be much cheaper to use BBs if merely plinking with the alternative of pellets for something a bit more serious. The barrel was made from brass not for economy reasons, but to prevent any moisture emitted from the Co2 gas forming within the bore and possibly causing some corrosion. The 250 was quickly followed by dedicated .177 (Mod 257) and .22 (Mod 252) pellet only versions both with rifled barrels.
Benjamin 250 Box Lid.
Boxed Benjamin 250 & Accessories.
Benjamin 250 Paperwork.
The second pistol is the Benjamin 262 (Rocket), which is larger than the 250 and superseded it in the mid fifties. This pistol was also produced in BB (Mod 260), .177 (Mod 267) & .22 (Mod 262). This series continued to use the 8grm Co2 capsules which are still readily available from home brew shops. I bought this pistol to compare with the very similar Crosman 150 which would have been its main competition. Both are well made, powerful & very accurate pistols which provide around 20-30 full power shots from the smaller 8grm Co2 capsules. If I had to choose, it would be the Crosman 150 purely for its slightly more attractive appearance.
Benjamin 262 'Rocket' Pistol.
These Co2 pistols are quite noisy, but great fun to shoot and surprisingly accurate compared with their spring powered alternatives.
Regards
Brian
