Brass barrel in the Benjamins, last as long as steel?

[His lordship.]

I wonder why the Benjamin pump up air rifles use a brass barrel, everybody else uses a steel one.  I can imagine that there is no corrosion problems with this, but won't it wear out faster?

Which is best overall, especially for pest control, .20, .22, or the .177?  I have found from experience that the .117 has a louder crack, and that my .22 cal. RWS 52 that I used to have had good hitting power, but have never tried the .20.  In places like Minnesota the .177 is easier to get over the others.

Thanks. 

[blhof]

As long as you're using soft lead pellets; brass or bronze barrels should last a very long time.  I've had the best luck killing varmits with the 22, but availability of pellets is a major problem, however you can find them online, but watch the shipping, as many times it's more than the price of the pellets.  The 20 and 25 pellets are much more expensive than the 177 or 22 so I stay away from them.  The heavier pellets impart more energy and make better kills than light target wadcutters.

[IOWA DON]

Sheridan also used brass for barrels and the tube for the pump, at least back in the '60s. I think corroision was veiwed as a lot more important than barrel wear for the pump air rifle. If humid air is compressed into the tank of a pump air rifle some of the water vapor will condense. In other words ther will be some small droplets of water in the air tank. When the trigger is released the air is allowed to expand forcing the pellet out the barrel. However, rapidly expanding air also cools. Cool air can not hold as much water vapor as warm air, so there may be some small water droplets left in the barrel after a shot. The brass of the barrels is so much harder than the soft lead pellets that the brass barrels should have a longer life than the rest of the gun's parts. The process is very different for a spring air rifle. That is, the air in the compression chamber gets hot under compression and there is no danger of water vapor condensing in the barrel. Carbon steel is fine for them. - DON

[His lordship.]

Thanks for the info, I mostly have used single pumps, and my buddies and I have had cheap multi-pumps, so it is a little different to have something that I just paid $160.00 for yesterday to have so much brass in the heart of it. 

Managed to test fire and site in the Benjamin rifle, the rear site was off some.  My only gripe is that the instructions to adjust the windage are non-existant.  I had to take out both screws to ponder how it is realigned, once you get the technique down it is easy.  I only ran it up to 3 pumps, but so far it is showing itself to be accurate and powerfull in it's .22 caliber.  Will try to get up the guts to pump it up to 8 and use lots of old phone books to stop the pellet.