Dipping my toes. Dont know where to start. Help?

Canadiankeeper

Canadiankeeper

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Ok, so... A while ago, the old man had me get rid of his varmints damaging his property... I used a Benjamin break action 495 FPS with a 3-9 optic. ( http://w ww.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/benjamin-22-air-rifle-0755033p.html#srp)

I gave that away to my girls nephew and he loves it. He moved away, so getting the air rifle back for the day is not an option...

Looking at buying a new one. Top end dollar at 350 (the benj) including optic.

The cross man optimus comes with a fixed 4x optic but reviews say its garbage... For 150 I could snag a stoeger x3 with iron sights...

I will be shooting small game around 20 yards...

Basically looking for a CT air rifle to play with and do very minor back yard hunting lmao

Is the old benj a top notch option.. It did the job last time. It just seems like a lot for an air rifle lol... Just cant shoot firearms where this is ... So air rifle...

Nvm


Found a SWISS ARMS® TAC-1 BREAK BARREL .177 CALIBER PELLET AIR RIFLE WITH SCOPE
INCLUDES SWISS ARMS 4X32 RIFLE SCOPE

At the local surplus store for 150 bucks... Score.
 
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Look in the airgun EE for this title:

"Slavia 630, Model 77 with pics ~600 fps PAL req'd"

If you want pal rated, this is a fantastic deal for a fantastic air rifle. I have one. They are ridiculously accurate and great quality.
 
If you are going sub 500 get a 1322 ($89) and the stock extender ($15). It turns the little pumper into a carbine. THEN, you flip the rear site to use the peep portion and you have a 20 yard tack driver that will hit hard enough to take down squirrels (If you hit them in the head) and similar sized varmints, license free. These are very accurate.

You can get the kit here for a reduced cost and it comes with pellets. I do recommend the domed pellets over pointed but at 20 yards all should be well.

h ttp://scopesandammo.com/storefront/product_info.php/crosman-1322-premier-shooters-kit-p-1104
 
Interesting. I was looking for sub 500 so no PAL needed.

What type of accuracy should I expect ?

I have never had so much issues sighting in a rifle!

I got in close it was about 1 inch high at 25 yard and pepperd all 5 shots into a very tight group that I could cover with a quarter. Went to adjust hight and then it went skewy all over again....


It has no rhym or reason...

After 50 shots I finally got 3 shots in a row in the bulls eye circle (1 inch in size) and said thats it! leave it as it is! Hopefully the zero holds. I think the scope is crap.
 
Some of the cheaper guns....and made in China guns, are slapped together without QC. What I see happening is the piston seals get cut during factory install. The result is an intermittently by-passing compression seal resulting in variance of power output thus accuracy. The scope could definitely be an issue, but take the time to tune the rifle and have a new piston seal on hand. That should correct the random variations.
 
Spring guns (and probably nitro piston too - is that what that Benjamin is - or whatever you have?) need some practice to get used to due to their reverse recoil. You have to use the "artillery hold" and there is a lot of information about it. I don't much like the term - it is more of a principle than a hold - and I nearly chucked it all in listening to it and holding my HW77 as loosely as possible so it "could do its recoil uninterupted". Complete drivel as it turned out, I now hold it quite firmly and do much better. Just practice with how tightly you hold it until you find out what it likes. You also need to try umpteen different pellets to find the ones that suit it too. Stick to dome heads from RWS, JSB or H&N and try different weights. Maybe flatheads too (RWS Hobby are cheap and often do well for low power target / plinking).
Scopes and rings are another story but shouldn't be too much of an issue on a low power rifle. Sportsmatch UK are the best rings and its worth using a Fat Wrench to torque them properly too.
 
Canadiankeeper said:
Interesting. I was looking for sub 500 so no PAL needed.

What type of accuracy should I expect ?

I have never had so much issues sighting in a rifle!

I got in close it was about 1 inch high at 25 yard and pepperd all 5 shots into a very tight group that I could cover with a quarter. Went to adjust hight and then it went skewy all over again....


It has no rhym or reason...

After 50 shots I finally got 3 shots in a row in the bulls eye circle (1 inch in size) and said thats it! leave it as it is! Hopefully the zero holds. I think the scope is crap.
Click to expand...


I have had the same issues with springer guns, most of us do. They recoil so hard ring mounts will slide back on the dove tail. I've seen them peel a little strip of metal with them!

A quality springer like the Highway series or Hatsan with the underlever, not break barrel system, seem to do better. Artillery hold helps but don't solve the scope issues. Because of this scope issue you will see many of these guns with littles holes in the top of the action where you mount the scope. The rear ring should have a retaining pin in it to help stabilize the rings.

Springers are hard on scopes. You need a good scope in the sense of durability. The ones shipped in package deals work....maybe....seen some that are still working and others that were scrapped day one, others that failed later on. Hit and miss and not a reliable source for an optic. For springer guns I find fixed magnification is a better bet as less moving parts means more stability to handle recoil. Be sure to use those rings with the retaining pin with it.

PCP guns on the other hand.....well....you haven't got that far yet.....but if the bug bites you.....we'll see you on the dark side :) In all honesty at about $500 with a pump the sub 500 fps maximus is hard to pass up. You'll spend double that before you realize its the way to go!
 
So the rings had a retaining screw on them. I used it.

No signs of movement on the rings.

Holding in a seated and standing position I can nail 3 inch a 1 inch group on target.

Put it in sand bags and it went HARD right.. like 3 inches...

Went back to holding from seated and it was bang on again...

This is at 20 paces.
 
Before I got into real guns, I had a Crosman 22cal break barrel pellet rifle. It did what I wanted it to (popcans while camping, crows in the back yard) but I never shot for groups.
 
I got back into airguns 50 years after owning one. I have to warn you it's an addictive activity. I now own a PAL rated Airarms Prosport in .22 with a 4x12 scope. I can hit a squirrel in the eye every shot at 20yds.
 
Canadiankeeper said:
So the rings had a retaining screw on them. I used it.

No signs of movement on the rings.

Holding in a seated and standing position I can nail 3 inch a 1 inch group on target.

Put it in sand bags and it went HARD right.. like 3 inches...

Went back to holding from seated and it was bang on again...

This is at 20 paces.
Click to expand...

I think the lesson for us all is don't bench rest springers :)

Airguns are a ton of fun and there are airguns out there that are very powerful. Airguns were used in war, the Napoleonic war was the first where they have a relic in a museum somewhere. And, first explorers here in N.A used them to hunt too. Airguns are as old if not older than powder burners and have an amazing history. While in the recent modern age they have be relegated to toys and novelties there are .50 cal airguns out there that shatter cylinder blocks. Just not a common site. But the cheapest way to shoot .50 cal :)
 
I have a Ruger Airhawk from 2001. It's accurate and no PAL required. Shoots 455 fps and is accurate and effective on pigeons with lead hollow points or wadd cutter rounds. I found the scope worthless taking it off after the first shot and running myself in the eye. This air rifle has recoil equivalent to my 22lr semi's. The iron sights work great and after being stored in he box in a barn or garage for most of its life it still groups an inch at 40 meters.
And looks great. Bonus it will notb shoot through tin roofing so is safe to use in your barn or arena structures. Hands down it has seen the most use out of any rifle I own and has claimed whole flocks of varmints.
I think I paid $149 for mine.
 
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