Beeman Sportsman Series Deluxe Air Pistol - Model 2004

I am a airgun collector and have been for over 50 years. I started when I was about 11 years old. I have handled all types of airguns and pistols. I own more than 50 by now and this is one of my favorite guns to shoot.I have read all the reviews to get a feel of what this air gun was like and how it was designed. At this stage of my life I am fortunate enough to be able to buy whatever I choose so price is not an issue with me. I have two of the P17s. I have had them for about 5 months now and have had no problems at all. I know some people say they will leak and some have had bad experiences with them right away. But no product is perfect every time. It is really not hard to replace the O rings if they fail. You can get pictured instruction to show you how to do this on the web. I thought about doing this when I first got my guns but since they worked great right out of the package I decided to wait until something goes wrong. Going back 30 or 40 years the quality control of Chinese made air guns left a lot to be desired. One of the reason I own so many Chinese made air guns is because I have in some cases 3 or 4 of the exact same model. I have four B3 air rifles. One is a gem. It shoots as accurate as some of my 5 or 6 hunderd dollar German made models another is very good and the other 2 I just have for parts because they spray pellets all over no matter what tunning I have tried. That being said the qulity of the 2 P17s I own is outstanding for the price paid. One shoots an average 380 fps on my Chroni. and the other 391 with the same RWS pellets. Yes they take effort to cock but you do not need CO2 and you only need one pump to be able to shoot. What I like best, other than the price is that the trigger is very light and smooth and these guns are very accurate. I do not care how cool a gun looks or how much it costs if it cannot shoot straight I will not use it. Since it is only a one pump gun it should not be used for hunting or pest control but it is geart to practice with, for target shooting and plinking. I have since bought a P3 just to see what the differences were. On gross inspection they look almost the same. Both have adjustable rear sights. The P3 has fiber optics on both the front and rear sights. That is nice but not neccessary to shoot straight. they both have a scope rail built into a polimer frame. I think it is 11 mm. this is nice if you want to mount a red dot sight. I have done s on both of my P 17s. with these I get 3/4 inch or less groupings at 10 yards rested. Free hand I do not do nearly as well but that is because I cannot hold the gun as steady as I would like and not he fault of the gun. Inside you can tell that the P3 is made from better materials but the P17s are made with metal too but with aluminum for the compresion chamber. I believe the design is the important part. Both the P17 and P3 are built the same way. I really like the P3 and it will probably last longer without maintenance but it also costs 4 to 5 times as much. If you do not get a lemon I guarentee you will not get a better air pistol than the P17 for the money. If you compare it to some of the CO2 air pistols you will see what I mean. The only pistol that comes close in my opinion is the Crosman 2240 and you need CO2 to power it and you need to upgrade it to a steel breach to be able mount a scope securly. The 2240 is a nice pistol too but like I mentioned it needs CO2 to work were the P17 you can just pick up and use. If you do get a P17 that has problems you can return it to Amazon with no hassle. Two more things, if you do buy the P17 I would suggest getting some type of rubber grip sleeve or decal to put on the grip. The gun itself is not small and because the frame is made from a form of tough plastic it can feel slipery. you can get them on Amazon for 10 to 15 dollars. Lastly, if you mount a red dot sight mount it as far forward on the frame as you can so that you have room to place your hand when you push closed the compression chamber. Don't let any of the negative reviews keep you from buying this gun. I am sure you will be greatly impressed. I know I have been. I do not work for Beeman. I am just a very pleased buyer.

I just received this today and put about 50 pellets through it. After adjusting the sight I was able to consistently hit the bottom and top of a soda can from 30 feet away. Many reviews and articles on this gun have reported that some of the bolts can be loose and that a burr on the air intake hole inside the pump chamber can damage the O ring, leading to early pump failure. Before shooting the gun, I immediately took the piston out to check for the burr, but mine was perfectly smooth. This is very easy to do, but most articles fail to mention where the intake hole is: once you pull the piston, look near the the open end of the pump chamber for a very small hole. I also tightened all of the visible screws: most were slightly loose, including the two Phillips screws that hold the barrel in place. As others have noted, this gun requires a lot of hand strength to close the barrel assembly. However, with practice I found this got easier. It is also initially difficult to load a pellet, but I also found that this got much easier. I can imagine that this would be much harder for people with larger hands. I find the fiber optic sights to be excellent--even better than the sights on some of the high quality handguns that I've shot at the range. The gun is also not all that loud. When shooting outside I didn't feel that I needed hearing protection. I don't have much experience with air pistols, but my dad recently bought a Sig P226 CO2 air pistol that I shot around 100 pellets through. The Sig is largely metal and really does look and feel like the real thing. The Sig's 8x2 shot magazine is nice since you can take 8 shots in a row as fast as you can pull the trigger, then flip the magazine and take 8 more shots. However, only the first few shots are at full power and unless you count shots there is no way to know whether you are out of pellets. You also need a good supply of CO2 canisters and it is difficult to judge when you need to replace the canister. Overall, I prefer the feel of the P226, but the single shot consistency of the Beeman. Yes, the Beeman is largely plastic, but it is only 1/3 the cost of the P226. Finally, my son and I were taking turns shooting at splatter targets and cans tonight. It would have been nice to have two guns so that one of us could load while the other aims and shoots. Of course, at the price of this gun, it is easy to justify buying two. Overall, I'm very impressed with this gun. For the price it seems hard to beat especially given the accuracy and nice trigger. I usually don't expect much from Chinese copies, especially at this low a price, but this gun is an exception. There is also a lot of information online about how to fix various issues that might arise, such as how to replace the O rings. That makes the gun an even better value.

I like the weight and feel of the gun, and the convenience of not having to use a CO2 cartridge. Not very powerful but decent power of 400+ FPS for a single pump (you can only pump it once for every shot). It automatically goes to safety after pumping so you'll have to switch it back to fire each time before you shoot. It is accurate. One thing I don't like about the design is that it is difficult to load the pellet even if you don't have fat fingers because of the cramped space. But I did find a simple solution to this problem. I put a pellet at the end of a bamboo barbecue stick and load it from the end, makes loading so much easier and problem solved! Another thing I think is a design flaw is that the sights are secured/adjusted with a screw and a hex nut. When I got my gun and opened the package, the screw, hex nut and spring for the rear sight fell out. The screw must have backed out during shipment. The hex nut could have been a lock nut so the screw will not back out. Or maybe instead of using a hexnut the screw could screwed into the frame itself. But despite all that, I'm still happy with the purchase and I still recommended it.

This is awesome. Though the single shot makes you have to reload much of the time if plinking. It is basically just closing (1 pump) For real look/metal, heft is great and power. Prob the best pellet pistol I’ve had that don’t need CO2 for or another external power. If you want a pistol one that don’t look like a space gun or toy. That kill small vermin or target shoot. If you want to shoot rapidly though no. Loudish pop. Watch not to pinch your hand when closing. Hard for kids to close on own. Got to also put pellet in small space. So for those reasons I’d say really is 4.75 stars. It is what it says. Trigger pull not too hard. Safety great. Sights great. Power great. For a compact air pistol that doesn’t need CO2 is nice (as others seem much longer and less powerful and not really dimensions of a pistol) is a good deal.

It is really too bad - I really tried to be a BEEMAN fan - see my original thoughts below. However, this is my second P17 that I've had to send back. The first one was eventually replaced. In the meantime, I purchased a second P17 that also broke. BEEMAN has had it for 2 months no2. Customer service is non-existent. Repeated e-mails and calls have gone unanswered. I've now spent 30% of the price of a P-17 in mailing them back for repair. There are many other pellet gun manufacturers out there - I will gladly give my business to any of them - never again BEEMAN. Here is my original two posts: I stand by my original post despite a confusing but ultimately satisfying customer service experience: "The more I read the reviews - mostly on air gun sites - the more I was convinced that the Beeman P17 / Model 2004 is a superb pistol for the price. I received mine today and after fifty or so shots I can confirm that so far the reviews were accurate. This pistol shoots way above its price class. The trigger is good, as stated in many reviews. The cocking effort is also as reviewed - significant at 28 pounds or so - and not for the weak. My wife was unable to compress the piston. On the other hand, she shot a very tight 5 shot group on her first try. This is a great pistol for practicing shooting fundamentals. I recommend it for stronger adults or kids. For the low price buy one and see for yourself. " After 4 months I had problems with this pistol not charging. Finding whom to contact to resolve this was challenging because the Beeman website showed different POCs. Ultimately I sent the defective pistol back and quickly received a brand new one. In the meantime I had bought a second P17 to get in my daily practice. Some people report shooting these for years with no issue. I look forward to shooting both of these pistols for a long time.

This is a single shot, single pellet, single pump/stroke pistol. You load one pellet at a time. Please know that before buying. It is still very enjoyable to shoot it. And for the price....just can’t beat this deal. So I had to buy this gun after reading all the awesome reviews and looking at the price. My local airgun shop has the original Weirauch version for like 2 and a half big bills and it looks, feels and shoots the same but it’s also 8 times the price of this one. So after a long delay due to the fires in California I received mine. The plastic packaging was definitely cut open so this was a previously enjoyed gun. It did look new but someone opened this one and probably sent it back. I believe it was returned due to the ridiculous amount of force needed to pump this gun. It’s a single pump air pistol which is done by separating the to portion of the gun from the bottom portion. Like separating the slide from the frame on a real pistol but this one pivots at the front of the barrel. Closing this airgun which completes the one pump cycle is extremely hard. Super hard. No kid can do it. I can do it because I’m an adult but my wife could t close it. Once the gun is separated or open that’s where you load the pellet on the back of the exposed barrel. It’s not fat finger friendly and it requires a bit of practice to load the pellets correctly and fast, but you get used to it. You load one pellet at a time. Shoot it and then repeat the cycle of opening the gun, loading the pellet and closing the gun which gives it the one pump required to shoot. The gun is fairly quiet. The gun is super accurate for what it is. It’s a very slow shooting airgun. It’s advertised at about 410fps and it will shoot that speed and a bit more with lead pellets, IF YOU GET A GOOD GUN. I have 2 of these, one shooting at 410 FPS and the other shooting at 380 FPS. So make sure you get yours chronoed to see if you got a good one. My slow one came in with the box opened like someone had returned it, so it’s going back for replacement. Hopefully I’ll get another fast one. You can hit soda cans pretty easy as the sights are amazing. But since there’s no speed from the gun, there will be no penetration. I was shooting pellet tins to test it and every single pellet ricocheted back without penetrating the tin. I was able to shoot a 4 inch bullseye at 15 yards with it. After 15 yards you loose accuracy big time. I shot several different pellets thru it and was very accurate. My opinion is if you’re an adult trying to get something really cheap to knock down empty soda cans, get one. You’ll like it. If you’re buying this for you kid, don’t buy it unless you want to be there cocking the gun every time. It’s too hard to cock for a young one.

I shoot airguns for fun and love the inexpensive (relatively) shooting hobby. I have a couple PCP rifles and a break barrel. Years ago I had a CO2 pistol but sold it as it only got 12 low power shots per cartridge. I stumbled upon this pistol while searching for some airgun targets. At $30 bucks the reviews seemed too good to be true. I put it on my list and it became unavailable. Then the whole covid garbage went down and I figured this was a lost cause and just gave up on the idea of owning this pistol. To my surprise it became available for a couple days and I went for it. It took a while to get to me (expected as shipping priorities had changed) but it got here this afternoon and all I can say is WOW. This is the real deal as far as all the positive reviews go. I took it out to the garage (we are seeing snow right now so setting up the outdoor range was out of the question) and proceeded to sight it in (roughly) and shot a 5 shot group of just under an inch at 15 feet free handed! Color me impressed. I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can get this out on the bench and properly sight it in and do some real shooting. I was amazed at the power level this shots at with my crosman premier hollow points punching through 5 layers of cardboard. The trigger is amazing and breaks so cleanly that it is amazing to shoot (almost as nice as the trigger on my Hatsan and that trigger is one of the best I have ever used). The gun is pretty easy to cock (considering the power that single stroke provides) and I had very little issue with loading (I take a size large glove but my fingers are pretty flexible and do well with fine detail tasks) but I can see where it might get a little fussy with larger fingers or if your trying to load it quickly. My gun arrived with the elevation screw loose and the nut fell off. A simple quick fix but once it is dialed in I'm going to locktite it in place. Gun is heavy and a lot of it is very heavy weight plastic (like synthetic stock type material- probably some kind of glass filled nylon) and there is a lot of metal where it counts (hinges, trigger, hammer release, barrel, internals). Noise level is moderate- it could be shot indoors with a proper backstop and only slightly annoy the family. The weight and feel in the hand is amazing and there is just a great comfortable feel to it. The top receiver does have a rail for mounting optics but do be careful as the edges are sharp and could cut when closing it. Directions are written in real English and are clear and easy to understand. I also appreciated the warning about brandishing in public as this looks real enough to be easily mistaken for a actual firearm and could cause possible problems in certain situations. This gun is great for plinking and Target shooting, but probably not good for hunting (other than maybe close range small pest control). This is probably one of the best values in airguns right now. Thirty bucks very well spent. Quick update: I spent a few minutes sighting this in and it puts pellet after pellet in a 1/2 circle. I set up one of my field targets just to see if this had the energy to knock one over. At 15 feet it knocks down the target every time. I'm using crosman premier HPs at 7.9 grains. I put 50 shots at the target and only missed 5 or 6 times (more my fault as I'm still using it open sights). I really can't say enough good about this pistol. Update2 Finally got a nice sunny warm day and did some chrono testing. The results are beyond impressive. I won't go into every pellet tested but every pellet tested (3 shots per pellet) yielded a variance of less than 5 fps. The heaviest pellet I shot was the JSB Heavy which went out at 384 fps. The lighted I shot was H&N target trophy greens at an amazing 435 fps. Crosman HPs shot at 401 fps and RWS hobby wadcutters showed a consistent 418 fps(all 3 shots!) So unusual to find a pellet gun that shots as fast or faster than stated. Also very nice to see such consistency in a simple package. As for the accuracy- well this shoots as accurate as it is consistent. I would be very hard pressed to find a better value in an air pistol.

Normally the only air pistols that interest me are match pistols- those capable of making one-hole groups at 10 meters, with triggers that can be set to just a few ounces. But I’ve heard so many good things about the P17 that when I saw it at Amazon for under $33, I decided to bite and see why it had such a strong following. The P17 is a Beeman-licensed, Chinese manufactured, copy of the Beeman P3, which itself is a rebranded HW40 manufactured by Weihrauch in Germany. The Weirauch gun is all metal gun that sells for around $240. What kind of quality and performance can you get for one seventh of that? Ive never handled a P3, but I have owned two Weirauch HW45s, which Beeman markets as the P1. They’re excellently made, with all the quality you expect of fine German guns. The P17, on the other hand, feels like a well made toy. It’s mostly plastic, with a few metal parts- barrel, cylinder, trigger, and sear. I wouldn’t expect it to last as long as a P3, but if decently cared for it should last a few years. The pumping system is the same as that found on the FAS 6004 and the Game Compact, and it cocked and loaded the same way: The upper part of the gun is unlatched via what looks like a hammer at the rear of the gun, and hinged forward. A pellet s inserted at the breech of the barrel, and the barrel/arm is hinged back into place, compressing air in the cylinder and cocking the trigger. This takes a surprisingly high amount of effort, far more than the FAS 6004 or the Game Compact. I don’t know if this is because the energy is higher, or because the cocking geometry is poorer, but there it is. It definitely takes an adult to do it. Once cocked, the slide safety is automatically engaged- an excellent feature on a gun designed for beginners, I think, and perhaps a necessary for experienced shooters as well, given the contortions you have to go through to cock it. The adjustable sights are inexpensive but cleverly designed, using short pieces of “light pipe” plastic to create luminous dots under reasonably bright illumination. They’re the sort of sights you’d put on a combat gun, not one designed for shooting at paper targets, though, so while they’re very easy to see and quick to acquire, they’re not ideal for paper punching. The trigger is… well, not wretched, but not very good. Its’s not too heavy, but it’s very long, You can’t feel the break coming, s there’s no way to stage it. The best technique I found was to get a good target hold while quickly and smoothly pulling straight through. Shooting two handed, I got groups under an inch at 10 meters with the stock sights. I then tried attaching a Millet dot sight that costs twice as much as the gun, and shooting one handed, as if I were shooting Bullseye. After a few shots to get the Millet more-or-less on target, I got the equivalent of around 485 out f 600 shooting at a standard ISSF Air Pistol 10m target. That’s actually not bad, considering how horrid the trigger is when compared to even a cheap match gun like the Gamo Compact. In summary, then, The plusses: Surprisingly accurate Really Cheap Fairly well made High velocity for a single stroke pneumatic You can mount a scope or dot sight Recoilless Minuses: Horrible trigger Very high cocking force Sights are wrong for precision shooting I’d have to say that all things considered it’s an excellent value, a more accurate plinker than anything else in its price range, and a good budget choice for learning basic pistol marksmanship- especially if you can’t afford anything better.