Where Are They Now? The BAM B26-2

Something a bit different today--a quick revisit.  Been at least six years now since the .22 cal BAM B26-2 has seen the light of this blog.   Thought I'd follow up with how it's been going.  Forgive me as I'm not finding all the right words to express myself this morning, but I'm plugging along anyway.  If you've followed this blog, you'll recognize that I've long been fascinated by the mechanicals and the ergonomics of dedicated target-type guns.  The precision accuracy coupled with the adjustability of the stocks and grips made an impression. There's a uniqueness and almost a science fiction aspect to some of the equipment.  All purpose driven to improve the shooter's results.  My mechanical aptitude is attracted to that uniqueness, the engineering and manufacturing.  And since I'm interested in experiencing these features--especially in a price range I can afford--I attempt to incorporate some of them into my various field/sporter airgun projects.  

Originally purchased this (in person!) at a Pyramyd Air open house.   Way back in 2008, this rifle for some reason was on my hit list.  It was a lot of things.  Wanted to try a thumbhole stock, it was available in .22 cal, liked the overall design, wanted to see how the quality of the BAM air rifles had progressed...

Spent some time working out the accuracy and ergonomic issues the rifle presented.  Certainly got some blog fodder out of it--maybe 12 or 13 posts worth.  This rifle (and an evil Remington Summit) taught me quite a bit about how important positive, consistent barrel lock up is--and how difficult it can be to achieve.   The 26-2 also really drove home the point about ergonomics and fit.   The original high cheek piece made it impossible to get a comfortable position behind the scope.  Even with high rings and a riser adapter, I was smashing my face into the stock to see through the scope.  Amazingly, after lowering the absurdly high comb, this is now one of my favorite rifles to shoot offhand.  That adjustable palm shelf and buttpad allow the rifle come to point immediately because the hold is so consistently repeatable.

The padauk wood has darkened and mellowed a bit from the bright red when it was freshly cut.  This particular feature was inspired by the Anschutz 1913 Supermatch rifle.

The quick set Devcon epoxy is still holding the rubber pad to the aluminum plate without any gaps. 

 

The barrel sleeve has been refinished at least twice over the last twelve(?) years.  It's next to impossible to keep a cold blue finish on gun parts that are handled as much as a break barrel.    Got a blued, bead-blasted finish at the moment.  If (when) it needs another refinish, I'm going to try my hand at rust blueing as I expect it to be much more durable.

Update:  I had the sleeve treated with black nitride by H&M Metal Processing in November of 2024.  

Made a replacement pivot pin for the cocking linkage at some point.  Nearly identical to the one we blogged for the .25 cal R1.

Seems like the only real change over the years was a scope upgrade.  Originally, I believe the B26-2 was wearing a fixed 4X power Leapers Bug Buster.  Switched to the 3-9 variable power Bug Buster a few years ago backed up by a separate scope stop.  

The scope eye relief combined with the short mounting area for the rings wouldn't allow the stop pin in the scope ring to line up with the hole in the receiver.  The separate scope stop solved the problem.

There were quite a few modifications made over the years--from the stock surgery to the chisel detent barrel latch.  The 26-2 slowly morphed into a very fine shooter.  The scope relative to the bore line is still high, but it's now a very comfortable heads up position rather than a smooshed face position.  I look back at the original comb height and marvel that BAM designed a stock solely for a guy like Herman Munster.  I should put the rifle across the chronograph again and see where the velocity is compared to the original tune over a decade ago. 

Maybe later this week just for fun...

BAM B26-2 Stock Modifications -- Part 2 Final

Since I can't just cut down the cheek piece and refinish the stock, I'm also going to add an adjustable palm rest to the grip.  It's an ergonomic feature that I've seen on several vintage Anschutz match rifles and thought could work on this rifle, too. The rest cradles the base of the palm and makes for a very comfortable and consistent hand placement.  Aside from all that, I like the variety. 

With the padauk grip cap glued up, I did some shaping.

Rubbed in a coat of a Varathane brand walnut colored stain.

 

The padauk turned a vivid red color.  

 Mirroring the CP1-M palm shelf installation, I set up on the mill...

And cut a slot for a scrap piece of Anschutz accessory rail.    

Drilled for a wood screw.  

Rail stub fit.

Turned my attention back to the Bisley recoil pad.  The aluminum base plate was fit to the rifle in the last blog post, so now I'm looking at the backing plate for the rubber pad itself.  The plate doesn't quite fit and stands proud all around the edge.    Used a magic marker as layout fluid and traced around the rubber pad with a scribe.

 Sanded the backer on a belt sander then polished the edge.

Can't really see it here, but the rubber pad doesn't lay flat against the aluminum backer.

Mixed up a two-part epoxy and clamped the plate to the pad.   With the five minute quick set epoxy, there is a moment in time near that five minute mark where the epoxy turns rubbery as it begins to harden.  That's the time to peel off any excess glue that's squeezed out of the joint.  Beats trying to wipe the glue off early when it still wet and just smears everywhere.

As all this was going on, I was also filling the grain with shellac and scuffing the coats back after each dried.  Used a gray scotchbrite pad.  Think it's listed as 800 grit.  The sanding pad is readily found in auto parts stores that carry painting supplies.

The stock is pretty much done.  Just need to figure out the palm rest.

More of the padauk.  Traced the bottom of the grip and started cutting.

This was the first one I cut.     

After test fitting, I think it's too big and blocky.    The second one is there on the bench.

Much more diminutive.  It also matches the lines of the grip cap.

Gave it a coat of clear shellac then started making a screw cup for the fixing bolt.

After making the cup, it was filed and sanded to the radius of the wood.

Blackened and installed.

Finally got the scope mounted without the extra riser plate. 

I'm very pleased with how the rifle finished up.  It shoulders better than I ever could've hoped.  The palm rest works and functions perfectly with the thumbhole stock.  Feels like its been custom tailored to fit me.

BAM B26-2 Stock Modifications -- Part 1

Reconfiguring the stock on the BAM B26-2 has been on my list for a few years now. 

I've been wanting to lower the cheekpiece--mostly because I'd like to lose the dovetail to weaver adapter and drop the scope closer to bore line. The reason was the lateral offset introduced into the scope caused by the stacking of adapter and rings.  The rifle could only be sighted in at one distance.  

Started by removing the stock.  That cheek piece is so tall that high scope rings alone are not enough to see through the scope. 























The belt sander took off about half an inch in a few minutes. 

Dropping the action back into the stock revealed that just removing height wasn't enough.   Needed to change the angle and remove some mass to get my face closer to centerline.

Like so.

Started to remove the rest of the finish, then hit a wall.  The factory stuff is damn near impermeable.  "Regular" paint stripper was barely making a dent. 

Ran down to an auto parts store and bought an "aircraft" stripper.  Oddly, the back of the can states that it's "not for use on aircraft".  Do wear a mask and gloves.  Wear a long sleeved shirt.  Seriously, this is nasty stuff.

Took a couple hours of scraping and brushing to make it all go away.  There's quite a bit more grain under that heavy original finish.

Sanded the bottom of the grip flat on a granite plate.

Wanna add a grip cap.




























Found a cut of African(?) padauk purchased several years ago from WoodCraft.  

Traced the bottom of the grip and started cutting on the scroll saw.

F marks the front.

Left it oversize for fitting.

Mixed up some epoxy, clamped, and set it aside to dry.

While the glue dried, thought I'd fit a Bisley adjustable recoil pad I've been saving. 

Naturally, the bottom hole in the base plate doesn't match up with the one in my stock.  The stock also has a sling swivel stud that would prevent simply using this hole location.

Spotted and drilled the base plate

Countersunk.





























Next this is screwed to the stock, marked, and ground to fit.  Nick and I have previously covered fitting base plates here.

Here, the plate has been ground to the stock contours.

Next time around, well, I've always wanted a palm rest on a rifle...

Thanks for checking in.  More in a couple days.