I received this old Hy-Score air pistol .22 repeater model (802RB ?) many years ago, after my uncle passed away... he was quite the expert shot with firearm handguns, but also liked to shoot air pistols since it was hard for him to shoot firearms in his housing development.
I spent more time trying to figure the thing out, looking for information on the net, years ago when I first got it.
I did find out that it has a steel piston ring that can be "oiled".
I wasn't sure, or don't remember, if someone recommended the oil to use... I think I attempted to just use some airgun chamber oil that I had handy, but with little success.
The main problem was that I didn't know exactly "how" to apply the oil.
Well, I finally figured it out, after some internet searching yesterday... I found some photos of an original box that has a nice schematic on the inside of the top lid, and some scans of an instruction manual.
It mentioned to use a "heavy oil", and to cock the pistol before oiling so you can see the piston ring.
So looking at the schematic, I could see the piston ring part was in the back toward the loading assembly... cocked it, turned it over and then I could see a hole and what looked like the piston ring, so I applied a few drops of non-detergent 30W motor oil that I had handy (I use it on my BB guns).
No way to de-cock it that I could see, so I loaded a .22 Crosman Premier pellet into the loading port, once I figured out how to do that, since it was years since I played around with this pistol.
Aimed the pistol at my duct-sealed pellet trap, and squeezed the trigger, and it fired with more oomph than ever before.
That brought a smile to my face, and made my day !
Fiddled with the repeating loading mechanism, and got that to work... actually surprised that the .22 CP pellets fit into it without any interference while rotating the mechanism to the next empty loading "station", because I did have this problem with whatever pellets that I tried before.
Kind of amazed that the pellets don't drop down or through the barrel once the pellet is loaded... I figure the flared pellet skirt must be holding it in place ?
I shot it a few dozen times at about 5 meters, but I didn't get any real good groups... my pistol shooting isn't the best anyways, since I rarely shoot them.
Just wondering if anyone else has one of these old air pistols, and what pellets work well for them ?
Here's some photos of mine and the scans that I found.
I have owned both the single shots and repeaters. I don't remember what pellets shot best. I am not sure how much difference pellet choice makes on pistols like this one. The repeater mechanism is neat but if it mangles a pellet it is a pain to remove.
Good luck, and I am looking forward to another post when you get it figured out.
David Enoch
Way back when, in the 1960's, I remember when my Dad was taking me to buy my first pellet firing gun. There were some Crosman products, and the HyScore pistols. I ended up getting a Crosman 140, but the HyScores stuck in my mind. I few years ago, I decided to scratch that itch, and ended up buying two, single shot 800's, in .177, and .22, and an 802 in .177. These are classic vintage guns, made in the USA. They aren't tack drivers, or power houses, and the triggers and ergononics aren't great, but they have really fascinating mechanisms that make them a real collectors piece. Try some wadcutter pellets in them.
Nice specimen, I have had one or two pass through my hands over the years. I would try some RWS Hobbies. As Doug said wad cutters usually work well in the lower powered pistols and the Hobbies are a light version.
Bob in WV
Nice specimen, I have had one or two pass through my hands over the years. I would try some RWS Hobbies. As Doug said wad cutters usually work well in the lower powered pistols and the Hobbies are a light version.
Bob in WV
Hey, I happen to have a couple of tins of .22 Hobbies... time to open one up and give them a try !
Thanks Bob !
As excerpted from my book Custom, Classic and Otherwise Awesome Air Pistols! -
I’ve owned a couple of vintage Hy-Score spring-piston pistols I found interesting. Perhaps I should qualify that statement with, “despite them being spring-piston pistols”. I found the quality of the Hy-Scores surprising, being far more impressive than what I usually associate with stamped-and-formed construction. The fact that well-used and abused Hy-Scores older than me not only survive, but can still have decades of service left in them speaks to the quality and longevity of their blued-steel, stamped and formed construction. Some years later, stamped-and-formed steel construction was employed in Ruger’s Mark 1 model .22 rimfire semi-auto pistol that literally put Ruger on the map!
Unfortunately and no matter how high the quality, non-recoilless spring-piston pistols are among the most difficult guns to master of any kind. Depending on individual interpretations of the words master and accuracy, I feel it humanly impossible to master a recoiling spring-piston pistol to any high degree of accuracy. Not only have I never managed it, but I’ve never seen or heard of it being accomplished.
I enjoy casual plinking with a spring-piston pistol. But invariably, plinking sessions become more serious as tin-can ranges increase with every hit.
A typical spring-piston session starts innocently enough at 10 yards. But as ranges approach 20 yards the fun devolves evermore to frustration with each additional yard. By the time ranges approach 20 yards, plinks become rare enough to either abort the session or switch to arms more appropriate to the task (like Co2 or PCP pistols); whereupon the fun returns to 30-40 yards with iron sights, and 40-50 yards with optics.
I received this old Hy-Score air pistol .22 repeater model (802RB ?) many years ago, after my uncle passed away... he was quite the expert shot with firearm handguns, but also liked to shoot air pistols since it was hard for him to shoot firearms in his housing development.
I worked on at least one of them several years ago. It wasn't a repeater, and I didn't realize they even made one until this post of yours. Although it's been awhile, the circumstances were odd enough that I still remember some basics. At his request, I had to meet the owner in a parking garage to pick up the broken pistol. Then I had to contact 'someone' (??) in the northern US somewhere because he was reported to be the last resort for parts at the time. He came through for me and I got what I needed.
Although I tend to be a magnum fan when it comes to air guns, I had (ahem) 'a blast' shooting that pistol after the repair. One of the best parts of doing this work is getting exposed to, and then shooting many models that I wouldn't otherwise get the chance to.
Thanks for the post/information, with lots of good details thrown in.
Hey Ed... I'm having a blast shooting this one... driven mainly by the fact that this air pistol belonged to my Dad's brother, and that I finally figured out how to apply the oil to it to make it shoot with some authority again.
Trying out some different .22 pellets makes it interesting too, even though I don't have a wide assortment handy, but enough to have fun with it, and may have to find some others eventually.
The RWS Hobbies seem to shoot best so far, and have not really shot very much with an air pistol in several years, so this is honing my shooting skills some, even though I'm only shooting at 5 meters right now... at least I can hit the bullseye from this distance... 🙂
One thing that I did do several years ago, was locating a rear-sight ramp since mine was missing... seems to be a common problem with these, because they can easily be removed or lost... I bought mine from John Groenewald way back when... not sure he is still around, although there does appear to be a "JG Airguns" website... it looks like they still have a lot of the Hy-Score parts.
To get inside it to access the piston, seal, spring, etc, it looks like you would have to remove the end loading mechanism which appears to be held in place by a circular spring clip... not that I want to get inside it, but I can't help not thinking about it... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind !
Love your "clandestine" story about your experience with this air pistol !
Shot this Hy-Score Target Air Pistol some this afternoon.
It sure seems to like to shoot high, no matter where I move the sliding rear sight elevator... probably due to spring-piston bouncing recoil.
Seems to hit high at the same aim point, whether I shoot from 5 meters to 25 feet, using the same aim point, which is about 5 inches below the bullseye on the paper target.
Still fun though... would love to know how my uncle shot this... he was quite the point shooter using firearm pistols & revolvers... he probably shot this the same way, just knowing where it would hit.
Looking forward to taking it outside and shooting steel cans with it, if the weather ever gets a little warmer... 50s would be awesome !
Finding this post, even as old as it is, totally made my day! Thank you for the uploaded pics!
My dad passed a couple years ago and I got both of his pistols, one of which is this old Hy-Score (he called it his squirrel gun) 😆
While I love the case he kept it in, it didn't help me with how it works, so you just made me a very happy camper. Thank you so much!
I got some wadcutters, and have been plinking around the back yard for a bit. The gun is a little awkward and stiff for me, but it has a nice little kick to it. Shoots straight, I'm gonna have fun once I figure out the ammo.
I don't think the rounds are quite right as they want to fall through when I advance the loader. I'll play with it more next weekend, maybe widen the skirts a bit with a smol dapper, and get some variety to mess with.
Thanks for sharing the scans! I have a Hy-Score 800 I bought used back in the 70s for ten bucks that still shoots as hard as ever...
@tarheelbilly You're very welcome... Have you been applying the oil to steel piston ring ?
