The Benjamin CO. M-3030 “HOT SHOT” CO2 BB CARBINE REPEATER” was introduced in 1964 with an advertising campaign stating “Packs a punch that’s so POWERFUL it will DRIVE STEEL BBs Clear Through a 5 Gallon Pail (28 gauge-.016”) at close range 8 GM CO2 (The M-3030 was discontinued in 1976).
I bet that ad alone sold a sh#t load of the M-3030 CO2 BB rifles, I mean if you wanted to get teenage boys’ attention in 1963 my guess is this would absolutely do it! I was 23 and when I got mine!! Of course back then nothing much was mentioned regarding safety glasses and ricocheting BBs and their potential for injury, having said that, this little 3030 CO2 BB rifle puts up twice the velocity of the old Red Ryder Daisy BB rifles, ANY BODY SHOOTING ONE had better damn well wear eye protection and be double careful where you are shooting, this little rifle can launch a 4.5 gr. steel BB at 580- 650fps and about 3-4 ft. lbs, serious indeed!! Not your daddy’s Daisy!!!!!!!
The M-3030 barrel had a blued steel finish with a moveable inner steel shot liner (smooth bore) which had a Cast Magnet Shot Holder, came with a Walnut stock, hammer lock safety, adjustable rear sight, weight 4 lbs, overall length 36 inches, 650 fps, penetration stated as up to 3/4 inch in soft pine and groups of 1- 1 ½ inch’s at 25 ft. and as with all Benjamin CO2 rifles of that period utilized the small 8 gm. CO2 cartridges. Magazine capacity was 30 steel BBs (My guess is the 3030 nomenclature for this rifle came about from the 30 round BB capacity; my guess and I am sticking to it!!)
Charging the M-3030 required removal of a knurled screw on hollow cylinder housing at the rear of the rifle that housed the 8 gm CO2 cartridge, insert neck end first, when installed the large end rear of the CO2 cartridge protruded slightly from an opening at the rear of the housing, screwing in the housing tightened against the rear of the CO2 cartridge securing it. It is a bit odd looking having a portion of the CO2 cartridge exposed but puts the CO2 cartridge directly in line with the valve system / barrel and works well.
After installation of the CO2 cartridge one cocks and fires the rifle piercing the CO2 cartridge charging the rifle. The design of the hammer/barrel system is also a bit unorthodox, because the CO2 cartridge is at the rear in relationship to the valve system/barrel. Cocking the system is accomplished by pushing a bolt attached to the hammer forward as opposed to pulling back as one would normally do to cock the hammer, when the trigger is pulled the hammer/barrel flies rearward striking the valve stem discharging the rifle.
There is a second smaller bolt attached to the hammer just forward of the cocking bolt that acts as a safety, when cocking, this smaller bolt can be rotated up into a slot on the barrel tube, when in this position the rifle cannot not be fired, moving the safety bolt down out of the slot allows the rifle to be fired.
Loading the M-3030 rifle is accomplished thru a hole in the top of the barrel exposing the magazine tube, BBS are loaded one at a time thru this hole with the muzzle elevated (this is a gravity feed system) until 30 have been loaded, after each shot the muzzle should again be elevated to load the next BB. (note charge CO2 first then load BBs)
I picked up my Benjamin M- 3030 at a gun show in Fredericksburg, Texas in 1996 it was in really good shape but would not hold a charge, after a valve rebuild, I shot/plinked with this rifle often, really a joy to plink with. I had never really seriously set down and sighted it in at any particular range (minute of beer can angle was good) nor had I ever shot it over a chronograph. I decided it was time to do just that.
I set up two targets at 10 yards and as I normally do, I used ½ inch adhesive dots on card stock paper as aiming points, I had Daisy zinc plated and Crosman Copper plated BBs on hand and used these for the accuracy test. I might point out that the Daisy BBs looked to be superior in outward appearance, smooth finish, and measured a consistent .173-.175 in diameter, while the Crosman BBs were very rough looking, copper plating was flaking off and the diameter measured .169 -175 very inconsistent. All shots from bench rest!
I installed a new 8 gm. CO2 cartridge charged up the rifle and loaded 5 Daisy BBs then 5 Crosman and again 5 Daisy and alternated in this configuration until 30 BBs had been loaded. The first target at 10yds yielded a 5-round group of 2.815 inches with the Daisy BBs, the second target yielded a 5 round group 3.290 inches with the Crosman BBs. This was consistent thru out the accuracy testing, I could not match the advertised 1-1/2inch factory accuracy claims but I was shooting at 30 ft. not 25 ft, if I had moved up to 25 ft. perhaps?
Interestingly there was little difference between the Daisy and Crosman BBs only 0.47 inches accuracy wise even though the Daisy BBs looked far superior outwardly and were more consistent in diameter, go figure? The velocity test revealed a pretty good shot count over 25 shots, a high of 589 fps and a low of 565 fps for an average of 577 fps and 3.3 ft. lbs. (I was still short about 70 fps of the advertised velocity of 650 fps, don’t know maybe the Benjamin BBs of that time frame were lighter resulting in the higher advertised velocity?
Well after all of that I still have a minute of beer can angle Co2 BB rifle, but it is still a ton of fun to plink with and one that will always be in my collection!! Get one if you can!
Garey
After putting this article together, a good while ago I saw an ad for an Adapter to allow the use of 12 gm. instead of the 8 gm. Co2 cartridges for this rifle, so I ordered one from (Baker Airguns.) I was interested to see how much an increase of another 4 grams in Co2 capacity would affect the shot count this rifle is capable of, so I could compare it to the original 8gm.testing. The following test can be compared to the figures in the original (8gm) evaluation.
Shot/FPS
12 gram Cartridge;
Shot 1. 505
Shot 2. 504
Shot 3. 503
Shot 4. 491
Shot 5. 491
Shot 6. 490
Shot 7. 506
Shot 8. 502
Shot 9. 509
Shot 10. 507
SHOT 20- 511
SHOT 30- 526
SHOT 40- 510
SHOT 50- 545
SHOT 58 -266
It is clear the 12-gram cartridge is superior and what I use!
