.177 For shooting practitce?

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TrxR

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I am in the process of getting my cash inline to pick up a Savage Model 12 LRPV in a .223 ( still debating on a scope though). I was however wondering if anyone ever uses a .177 air rifle for shooting practice? If so at what yardage and what do you use for good targets? I have a solid wood stocked single shot crack barrel .177 with a fairly long barrel and was wondering if it was worth my time to use it for shooting practice until I get my .223 . I will also have a 22 rimfire here in a couple of weeks for some pesky ground hogs that I could use.

Any advise

Thanks
 
Shoot that air rifle for sure. Its all the same to me unless you need to practice fast follow up shots. You'll soon discover what the practical limits are of the rifle for shooting and place your targets accordingly.
 
We use several different air rifles and pistols for practise all the time. Basement is limited to about 10m but outside we go up to about 25m or more depending on the particular airgun. Acorns at 25m are lots of fun, especially when floating so you can see where your shots went. (the pellets do ricochet of water)
 
Why not?

I learned more about trajectory arcs using a BB gun at 10 than any reading about it since, and got so much more shooting in with a 177 Diana than I ever would have been able to if I even had a .22 at the time.
 
Gammo has good targets printed on heavy paper stock that tears nicely and leaves a good hole. The low velocity of pellets in my guns didn't seem to punch nice holes as much as tear holes. Hard to distinguish two close shots. The gammo targets were on thick paper, similar to cereal box cardboard.
 
I acquired a RWS 34 last year just for practice purposes. I have a 3 X 9 scope and its weight and stock dimensions are very similar to my powder guns.

I have set up a 10 meter range in my basement and try to put in at least ten shots shots every couple of days. I cut appropriate pics from magazines
( mule deer, elk, moose, etc.) and use them for off hand practice. You can work out the scale by comparing the pic size to real body size to give a fair approximation of what the real sight picture would look like at a given distance. Most of my elk pics, for example, have the same size ratio that a real animal would have at about 110 yds.

I can't believe how much I have improved my off hand shooting with my powder burners from this form of practice. It has real boosted my confidence level and accuracy on the big range. I highly recommend it as a great way to get lots of meaningful practice at low cost and at a convenient time and place.
 
TrxR said:
I was however wondering if anyone ever uses a .177 air rifle for shooting practice? If so at what yardage and what do you use for good targets? I have a solid wood stocked single shot crack barrel .177 with a fairly long barrel and was wondering if it was worth my time to use it for shooting practice until I get my .223 .

Any advise

Thanks
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The finest shooters on the face of the earth are using .177 caliber airguns at ten meters with iron sights at the olympic games. Nuff said? Probably.

But yeah, if you've got a decent airgun then shoot the hell out of it, all year round. Especially the standing position, which is very hard to get competent at, but is often the only reasonable position available when you are out and about.

We hear alot about sub moa groups at 100 yards, but never when shooting standing unsupported. Never. In fact, if you can regularly shoot a group that you can cover with the palm of your hand at 100 yards, standing & unsupported, you're an extremely good shot.
 
Bobby Ironsights said:
The finest shooters on the face of the earth are using .177 caliber airguns at ten meters with iron sights at the olympic games. Nuff said? Probably.
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Yep, and the 10 "ring" is just a dot (0.5mm). :eek: That means you need to be within 2mm of the centre to score a 10. (.177 = 4.5mm).

Similar to shooting 3/4" groups at 100m OFFHAND, with peep sights. To be in the Olympics, they have to do it every time for 60 shots in each match, since the top scores are just a bit under 600.



The target: total Ø = 45.5 mm. 4 ring Ø = 30.5 mm. 9 ring Ø = 5.5 mm. 10 ring Ø = 0.5 mm, height 1.4 m above the floor
 
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Also, if you`re looking for proper airgun targets, with the short grain paper fibers, get them from cibles canada. He`s quite cheap, much cheaper than going through your home printer ink, although only sells in 500;s or 1k or 10k.
 
[anyone ever uses a .177 air rifle for shooting practice?/QUOTE]

Every serious rifleman should shoot air rifles for practice, (just my opinion fellas). Like previous posters have said, cheap ammo, shoot anytime at home (for guys who have the space), accurate, affordable good rifles available.

As well, Rifle shooting fundamentals are the same for air rifles and firearms.

If you can shoot an air rifle well, you will probably be able to shoot a "live ammo" rifle well, but not vice-versa.
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if youve ever been in cadets you know how challenging those tiny bulls-eyes are at 10m. my top score so far has been 98% out of 10 bulls, enough to place in the top 12 shooters in sask, after two years of consistent shooting, follow through is extremely important as these rifles are most often shooting between 300-450fps (I HIGHLY suggest you get something with a little more oomph, even for paper) mostly because the squadrons arent ALLOWED to do their own maintenance, they must send them in for everything. make sure to keep air rifles well maintained or accuracy will suffer greatly, mostly because of lowered velocity. WARNING: rifles of ALL types, including air rifles, are a known and scientificly proven addiction often leading to severe cases of debt and PO wives.
 
If you can find a place to go, if not in your own yard, sitting shooting grasshoppers, cabbage moths, or similar small targets will really tune you up. Various ranges, time pressure, etc.

A handful of something small an reactive, that you can chuck out onto open ground and hit again and again is good, too. Jelly beans work pretty well, hard candies, too.

There was a program used by the US Army, called "Quick Kill" and sanitized to "Quick Skill" by Daisy, that taught instinctive shooting with a sightless Daisy BB gun, starting with hanging large targets, and progressing to smaller and smaller targets until the students were shooting at thrown aspirin tablets (which make a nice puff of white when hit). All in aid of faster shooting at moving targets.

Lots of ways you can use it to sharpen up, besides just shooting paper, which I find gets boring pretty quick.

Cheers
Trev
 
I am a huge preponent of airgun shooting as a means of becoming a better shot!
I too went-up through the cadet program, although my best was a 96.

Now that I'm trying to get into pistol shooting I'm going to dust off and throw a few parts at my old crossman pumper (1377). I figure learning the bullseye stuff in the backyard is a fast and cheap way to get better. I'm hoping to do 30-40 shots a day.

I was going to build-up a rimfire tactical trainer, basically a .22lr to practise ranging and shooting in the wind. But now I'm thinking that a decent airrifle (not springer, so I can use a bipod) will let me do the same thing. Topped with a nice piece of glass I can do all the ranging practice I want in the back yard.
There was even a post recently on airgunforum.ca that suggested a 500fps airrifle has nearly 1/6th scale balistics on a .308, including wind-drift.

So there you go, all trigger time is good time. It can be tailored to the specific type of training that you want.

Cheers,
Grant
 
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