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Are Air rifles the pacifier or alternative to ammo availability & cost?
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LOL, I think you better change your alias to MRod, it does have a nice ring to it actually!
Nope, I don't have a P-rod but... the 2cnd clue would be that I mentioned said pistol previously in this thread. If you can guess what rifle in two more try's I'll send you a tin of pellets. Same deal for anyone else that can guess it. Oh and knowing the super deviousness of Mark K, don't you (MK) be emailing Scott with the info, LOL.
Here she is Scott. Kevins pics posted, I didn't buy the scope but am using the match irons.
I've had a great time shooting it! Easy to cock, accurate, nice sights, great trigger, ergonomic and pretty.
Been practicing offhand every day since I received it and started to see some improvement this morning. I'm trying to clip a small dot the width of a pellet at 6 meters. Maybe 30% so far, another 60% just a barely missing, 10% oops.
I'd like to find a very slim post insert for the front sight or possibly a pointed insert. Know where I could find some?
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NICE Steve! Its been crazy busy around here and I've been away from the forum for too long. Sorry I missed your post for a while there. I'm glad you got yourself such a nice looking 300! Love the tiger stripes! -And I'm glad you're happy with it. Thanks for posting the pics. I'm waiting to come across a lefty 300 someday when I happen to have some spare $$$ in my pocket. I'll own one someday. I think I'm on a program now where if I want something new, I have to sell something first... Its awesome that you're doing some dedicated off-hand training. THe FWB is not exactly a light weight rifle, so I bet the training will pay off. I find it hard to do a lot of off-hand practice because I SUCK at it! (LOL!) and I get frustrated very quickly! hahah...
So you ordered a new rifle? -And the big question is what did you get!?! Since you mentioned the LP5 in an earlier thread, I've gotta go with a Steyr... But which model??? Did you sell your old LG100 FT gun? I remember you shooting pretty well with that steyr before you switched to the USFT. The hottest new steyr on the market is that "Hunting 5" -You didn't go for one of those did you!?!
-ScottyD
I figured you were busy with stuff and probably hanging at Network54.
I got my computer cleaned up, then changed my login at Net54 and now I can't post over there. Emailed mods to no avail. Says not accepting applications or something like that.
For a springer the 300 is fantastic but I'm so spoiled with PCP's I'm already thinking of selling it, LOL. For the fun of it I mounted a scope and shot out to 55Y. Man that 8.4 blows in the wind! Robin, my wife was hitting the MS pigs like nothing with her USFT and it'd take 5-7 shots for me to get one with the 300. Interesting that at 45Y it does OK though.
Fun development. A guy emailed me yesterday about trading a FWB601 for one of my knives so I might have one of those to try out soon.
I sold the LG100 to Jamie Piotrowski years ago, lives in Tennessee or Kentucky now and is a engineer. He has done a lot of winning in FT with it. I knew him when he was a boy here in Flagstaff, always a great shot.
Very good! You are warm - even hot with your guess as to the new gun coming, try again though.
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And yes the brand name starts with S.
Found out this morning it was shipped yesterday. Bummer, going to be Monday before it shows up.
Found out this morning it was shipped yesterday. Bummer, going to be Monday before it shows up.
Read all 7 pages and confused as hell. Can I get a short, non-BS answer to something I may be interested in trying:
- Want to shoot in the backyard and not scare the shit out of neighbors; roughly 35 yards distance.
- Something that doesn't need a heavy duty backstop
- Preferably gas powered, but I'll do a pump
- Able to have a scope mounted
- Not ridiculously expensive but I'm not scared to pay for some quality; I'm also not entering the Olympics with this
- Want to shoot in the backyard and not scare the shit out of neighbors; roughly 35 yards distance.
- Something that doesn't need a heavy duty backstop
- Preferably gas powered, but I'll do a pump
- Able to have a scope mounted
- Not ridiculously expensive but I'm not scared to pay for some quality; I'm also not entering the Olympics with this
Multi-shot or single?
Wood or plastic?
If by gas you mean CO2, most of them aren't that fast.
On the cheap side, the Crosman 1077, multishot CO2, not very powerful. High end would be a RWS 850. Accurate and ar-15 moddable, ok, maybe savage bolt gun moddable. Accurate out of the box without having to R700 it, polish some here, add some coathanger there, replace a spring, and you are good to go with a smooth action and two stage trigger. Cheaper yet would be a B-2 or B-3, still less than $50, should have a dovetail, and I bagged quite a few frogs, a rabbit, and a bird that I must not mention with it. But they are springers and are sensitive to how you hold them.
It'd help if you gave us a price point.
The old Olympic springer FWB300 in the pics above will do 35Y just fine. At 6flbs/545 fps with 8.4 grain pellets it blows in the wind a little but the accuracy is there. I paid $450 for it.
The Air arms TX200 is 13-14 ftlbs and is the best springer I've owned in that power level. Can be had in the same price range. Both are easy to cock and have a fixed barrel and capable of shooting into less than a dime at 35Y. What you are paying for with this level of airgun is accuracy, quality, refinement, match triggers, good ergo's, etc. In other words, worth every penny!
A friend has a Benjamin Marauder, it is reasonably quite in 17 cal, a PCP, a repeater, around $400.
CO2 airguns are a little finicky with temps. More of a inside gun IMO.
A old Olympic single pump Pneumatic like the FWB600 series are really nice! Cost you $500-$900
Unfortunately the nicer guns are expensive.
I second the Marauder mainly for it's quietness and accuracy. I shoot my 22 marauder in my back yard and my Neighbors don't care. For a back stop, I took a large plastic bin, put a few layers of carpet in the bottom, then placed a box for my targets to be nailed to.... Works great and the carpet is quiet.
Love this thread. We shoot air rifles all the time. We just did 1,000 yard match a few weeks ago w/ .308 and pushing yourself with hard targets and an air rifle is almost as much fun. I like this shot. This is a golf ball at 50 yards with a .177 Crossman. If you look close, you can see the pellet dropping as it hits the ball.
.177 @ 50 yards / golf ball - YouTube
.177 @ 50 yards / golf ball - YouTube
I was browsing the classifieds today and found a few good deals. All of the guns below will fit the requirements on your list very nicely. You just have to choose PCP (better: generally easier to shoot and more accurate, but generally more expensive and you need a way to fill it to 3000psi), or a spring gun (self contained, no extra gear needed to fill it with air...)
Want a spring gun? (Keep in mind you'll get weird recoil and harmonics, but no charging or filling with air -one pull of the cocking lever gets you one full power shot) this is a great deal that came up on the classifieds today:
Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): Air Arms TX200 MKIII RH Beach .177
The TX200 will be a great 35yd shooter, and nice and quiet for the back yard, but may not shoot well from a rested position... The TX200 has an out-standing reputation for a spring gun.
If you're willing to get a hand-pump, and "not scared to pay for some quality" then this is the ticket:
Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): F/S AA S410 Walnut in .22cal
The AA 410 has incredible build quality, exceptional accuracy, adjustable power (you can fine tune for your needs -power vs. quiet...). Hold the AA 410 in your hands and I promise you will be impressed and smiling...
Want nice and quiet, easy to shoot, accurate, and not spent too much, then this is the ticket:
Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): Bam XS-50 .177 w/Walnut Daystate Thumbhole Stock and Original Stock
One more excellent choice that falls between the other two PCP's as far as price:
Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): Excellent condition .22 Venom Viper for sale
I hope that helps!
-ScottyD
Those are some good deals Scotty! That shows what some nice air rifles are worth used. I like that AAS410!
A while back I was commenting on offhand shooting at 6M with the FWB300 on the pellet sized dots with the aperture sites. Turns out small dots don't work well as a target with the large front aperture, I wasn't able to improve my hit ratio more than 30% with them. After mounting the scope I tried 6M with the scope set at 4x and parallax at 10Y. Scores improved greatly, maybe 60% hits. I took off the scope and put the irons back on, then for the fun of it I printed off some 10M bulls scaled to 6M, they were nearly perfect in size for the front sight. Got about 60% going that way too.
A while back I was commenting on offhand shooting at 6M with the FWB300 on the pellet sized dots with the aperture sites. Turns out small dots don't work well as a target with the large front aperture, I wasn't able to improve my hit ratio more than 30% with them. After mounting the scope I tried 6M with the scope set at 4x and parallax at 10Y. Scores improved greatly, maybe 60% hits. I took off the scope and put the irons back on, then for the fun of it I printed off some 10M bulls scaled to 6M, they were nearly perfect in size for the front sight. Got about 60% going that way too.
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i tell you one thing, since "playing" or a better term ..."utilizing" a simple break barrel, my SB silhouettes have improved and my misses are "acceptably close". setting up a psuedo air rifle silhouette course up to 46 yards in the back yard with paper targets. follow through has improved for a break barrel with nitro piston or springer will let you know pretty quickly your doing something wrong.
though i was going to get the Mrod, i think i'm going to step back from that purchase for the time being, as the furloughs will be kicking in soon and it's hard for me to justify a 600.00ish purchase of rifle and tank w/o glass right now. maybe a benjamin discovery with a pump instead, but going to "slum it" for alittle while with the break barrel.
i got so hooked on even just the break barrel that at the last silhouette shoot i took a poll of who's using air rifles for practicing, turns out about 75% are. so possibly tacking on some sanctioned air rifle silhouette to the smallbore silhouette matches i run for next year.
***if anyone has a line on a set or sets of air rifle silhouette 1/10 scale targets, please let me know*** looks like these:
IHMSA NRA 1/8" Thick Silhouette Steel Target White Set 1/10 Scale if willing to do some horse trading, i have some homemade 1/2" mild steel pistol / rimfire / light rifle round targets to swap, 4", 6", 8".
a shout out to crosman customer service, i got my venom with the hardwood stock but is just a bit heavier than my SB silhouette rifle so for a better simulation ordered the synthetic venom dusk stock. there was a bit of mixup with the part number, but they really took care of me rectifying it.
though i was going to get the Mrod, i think i'm going to step back from that purchase for the time being, as the furloughs will be kicking in soon and it's hard for me to justify a 600.00ish purchase of rifle and tank w/o glass right now. maybe a benjamin discovery with a pump instead, but going to "slum it" for alittle while with the break barrel.
i got so hooked on even just the break barrel that at the last silhouette shoot i took a poll of who's using air rifles for practicing, turns out about 75% are. so possibly tacking on some sanctioned air rifle silhouette to the smallbore silhouette matches i run for next year.
***if anyone has a line on a set or sets of air rifle silhouette 1/10 scale targets, please let me know*** looks like these:
IHMSA NRA 1/8" Thick Silhouette Steel Target White Set 1/10 Scale if willing to do some horse trading, i have some homemade 1/2" mild steel pistol / rimfire / light rifle round targets to swap, 4", 6", 8".
a shout out to crosman customer service, i got my venom with the hardwood stock but is just a bit heavier than my SB silhouette rifle so for a better simulation ordered the synthetic venom dusk stock. there was a bit of mixup with the part number, but they really took care of me rectifying it.
VERY cool to hear the AG is helping with your silhouette game! Steelplinkers.com makes some great AG targets, and they're good folks to deal with. He's got some 1/10 scale targets for you:
Silhouette
Hey Steve,
It makes sense that the target size can really affect how well your apeture sights work. I hadn't thought of that....
Anyway, I think its about time you spill the beans and tell us what UPS is bringing you on Monday!!!
Patience my friend, patience.
I'll post a pic the evening it comes in, tracking indicates tomorrow.
It was Scott that hooked you up.
BTW, I shot a few of those Discovery's, not bad at all for the money. I'm pretty sure you'd think so too.
Something fun was sitting on the porch today when I got home!....I told you you were hot with your guess Scott.
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A Steyr LGB1 Biathlon.
The last few hours I read the instructions.
Got the LOP and cheek height adjusted first.
The trigger adjusts 6 ways, Nice! I got it to my liking, set it for single stage and set it for 14 oz.
Side not...Geez, it's a good thing I had the fill adapter for my Steyr LP5 or I'd been SOL filling my new LGB1 up, none came with the rifle. I wonder if it's a mess up or not??? Calling Pilk Guns tomorrow. Filled it to 200 bar and tried a few shots with the single shots mags while sighting in at 6M. Let's just say those single shot mags won't be used much, because...
The 5 rounders are way WAY more fun! I absolutely love the way this rifle cocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filling this page with exclamation points would never do this cocking system justice, seriously.
Here's how it works; trip the trigger - fires the pellet, move trigger finger to cocking actuator, give a slight pull of about 1/2", next pellet is now advanced, let go of actuator - actuator automatically returns to it's forward position, return finger to trigger and you're ready to fire again 4 more times. It's soooo nice not having to take my eye off the sight picture! Definitely the closest thing to semi auto there is.
Too me the Olympic style sights are exceptional. Although I wouldn't know the difference between these and what could be considered the best out there since I'm not a 10M match shooter.
The 10M factory test target attached to the instruction book was pretty tight, a little larger than a .177 cal pellet, 18.5-.19cal or thereabouts. Instructions were short, concise and to the point with plenty of sketches. No stupid BS in there like in most manuals these days.
I shot about a hundred 7.9 grain target pellets offhand, man my arms are tired LOL, but I was having too much fun to quit. Did 50 or so shots in the garage at the paper targets and am happy to report that I was never out of the black, even got bunch of 9's and 10's, grin. The Ergo's of this rifle are fantastic, I'm sure that helped produce the good scores. The rest were shot at 30Y on some Rams and Turkeys. The wind is blowing a good 15mph on the low side but still connected most of the time.
Honestly I'm as or more impressed with the STEYR LGB1 than I have been with any long gun I've owned! What a fun gun! I'd spend the money again in a heartbeat.
As I get more experience behind the LGB1 I'll throw some more comments in here. Any questions, feel free to ask.
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A Steyr LGB1 Biathlon.
The last few hours I read the instructions.
Got the LOP and cheek height adjusted first.
The trigger adjusts 6 ways, Nice! I got it to my liking, set it for single stage and set it for 14 oz.
Side not...Geez, it's a good thing I had the fill adapter for my Steyr LP5 or I'd been SOL filling my new LGB1 up, none came with the rifle. I wonder if it's a mess up or not??? Calling Pilk Guns tomorrow. Filled it to 200 bar and tried a few shots with the single shots mags while sighting in at 6M. Let's just say those single shot mags won't be used much, because...
The 5 rounders are way WAY more fun! I absolutely love the way this rifle cocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filling this page with exclamation points would never do this cocking system justice, seriously.
Here's how it works; trip the trigger - fires the pellet, move trigger finger to cocking actuator, give a slight pull of about 1/2", next pellet is now advanced, let go of actuator - actuator automatically returns to it's forward position, return finger to trigger and you're ready to fire again 4 more times. It's soooo nice not having to take my eye off the sight picture! Definitely the closest thing to semi auto there is.
Too me the Olympic style sights are exceptional. Although I wouldn't know the difference between these and what could be considered the best out there since I'm not a 10M match shooter.
The 10M factory test target attached to the instruction book was pretty tight, a little larger than a .177 cal pellet, 18.5-.19cal or thereabouts. Instructions were short, concise and to the point with plenty of sketches. No stupid BS in there like in most manuals these days.
I shot about a hundred 7.9 grain target pellets offhand, man my arms are tired LOL, but I was having too much fun to quit. Did 50 or so shots in the garage at the paper targets and am happy to report that I was never out of the black, even got bunch of 9's and 10's, grin. The Ergo's of this rifle are fantastic, I'm sure that helped produce the good scores. The rest were shot at 30Y on some Rams and Turkeys. The wind is blowing a good 15mph on the low side but still connected most of the time.
Honestly I'm as or more impressed with the STEYR LGB1 than I have been with any long gun I've owned! What a fun gun! I'd spend the money again in a heartbeat.
As I get more experience behind the LGB1 I'll throw some more comments in here. Any questions, feel free to ask.
VERY COOL Steve!!!
Thanks for the pics! You don't see those everyday. I WAS close with my guess... I think its the same action/cocking mechanism as the "Hunting 5". I wasn't thinking you were going for a 10m gun... I was thinking full power.. Is it like 6fpe or something? Probably 100+ shots per fill, right? That thing looks like A TON OF FUN! Now you need to get some cross-country skis and strap that rifle to your back. Get your heart rate up to about 180 bpm, and then see how the off-hand shooting goes! Haha... Just teasing... I think its very impressive what those biathlon guys do...
As far as I know, steyr doesn't make that gun in a lefty... GOOD news for me because I can't afford one! haha...
You know what I'd love to see? -A video of you whacking 5 targets as fast as you can with that thing! I'd love to see how quickly you can get those 5 shots off...
Thanks for the pics! You don't see those everyday. I WAS close with my guess... I think its the same action/cocking mechanism as the "Hunting 5". I wasn't thinking you were going for a 10m gun... I was thinking full power.. Is it like 6fpe or something? Probably 100+ shots per fill, right? That thing looks like A TON OF FUN! Now you need to get some cross-country skis and strap that rifle to your back. Get your heart rate up to about 180 bpm, and then see how the off-hand shooting goes! Haha... Just teasing... I think its very impressive what those biathlon guys do...
As far as I know, steyr doesn't make that gun in a lefty... GOOD news for me because I can't afford one! haha...
You know what I'd love to see? -A video of you whacking 5 targets as fast as you can with that thing! I'd love to see how quickly you can get those 5 shots off...
my apologies, thanks ScottyD for the link and both you and steve123 for the great input.
if you the guy in the link, let me know so i can mention you, maybe you'll get a discount or something for a referral.
would like to see the rapid fire five too!
if you the guy in the link, let me know so i can mention you, maybe you'll get a discount or something for a referral.
would like to see the rapid fire five too!
Great thread to look over with quite a few interesting points of view. I was going to add that modern break barrel springers have been getting fantastic results at our local indoor club. Namely the Cometa Fenix - it is under 400NZD and I have seen a shooter put together the occasional tiny 5 shot group at 25 yards sitting. I got sick of high end pcp's (boringly accurate IMO) and decided to mod up a tx200hc to try to compete with the guys with the better guns. Well it took 2 years of practice but every dog has his day. I managed to shoot a perfect Field target round followed by a second near perfect round (final score 47/50 drop down metal targets, unknown ranges out to 60yards with 10-40mm killzones ) using a spring powered gun that has a 7inch barrel! The MV is an embarrassing 735ft/sec
Spring powered air rifles will magnify any bad habits that you have (and we all have a couple). Mastering this type of weapon will definitely increase your trigger skill across the board
Spring powered air rifles will magnify any bad habits that you have (and we all have a couple). Mastering this type of weapon will definitely increase your trigger skill across the board
I shot the LGB a bunch today, this time at 35Y and 45Y at the Rams and Turkeys, it did well. Feels like more than 6ftbs but I haven't got the chrono out yet to check the velocity or how many shots per fill. Still loving this rifle!
Haha, no cross country skiing for this old guy, that was hard for me when I was young and in shape let alone now.
Hey good news for you, these do come in lefty!
One of these days I'll have to get serious, put a scope on it, bench it and see how accurate it is. Maybe even a video in the future.
That's pretty darn good getting a 47/50 with a break barrel springer! You must practice a lot.
I happened to be squaded with Paul Cray at the 2004 AAFTA nationals, he won spring class that year. I was shooting my Steyr LG100 PCP and Paul tied me. Amazing that he could shoot a springer that well.
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To be honest it was just a standard club day in Auckland but it was in heavy rain and strong wind. I'd average about 21-22 per round though. I practice heaps but there are about 4 guys in NZ who will be very hard to beat at the worlds in Wellington next year. That's not to mention legends like Paul Cray and Bernd Paz who will hopefully be there.
It was Bernd who did the modifying for me. He polished the trigger, swapped out the std spring and piston seal with a V-Mach kit. I also swapped out the cocking arm handle for a brass one, had a male/male Suppressor adapter fitted and i bought a weihrauch can for it. Being a carbine it dumps a massive volume of air quickly out of its short barrel - the advantage is that the pellet the leaves faster so it's effected less by recoil. A local guy made me up a walnut FT stock for it including the all important hamster. It has an aftermarket trigger fitted too. Here's some pics
We use 50x scopes so we can range using the focus wheel. Oh yeah I had the wheel swapped for a custom perspex one that splits the yards up.
My mate and I worked so hard cancelling out the effects of density altitude with a turret that anticipated drops in POI. Very effective.
This is shooting off my knee at 40yards sitting. As you can see it isn't perfect but it is literally the best i think i can do with any airgun. I'm not much better with a pcp lol but then again ive never had a day with a Steyr LG100 or the mighty EV2. Now I'm starting at the bottom with LR centrefire I could never justify spending $4000+
It was Bernd who did the modifying for me. He polished the trigger, swapped out the std spring and piston seal with a V-Mach kit. I also swapped out the cocking arm handle for a brass one, had a male/male Suppressor adapter fitted and i bought a weihrauch can for it. Being a carbine it dumps a massive volume of air quickly out of its short barrel - the advantage is that the pellet the leaves faster so it's effected less by recoil. A local guy made me up a walnut FT stock for it including the all important hamster. It has an aftermarket trigger fitted too. Here's some pics
We use 50x scopes so we can range using the focus wheel. Oh yeah I had the wheel swapped for a custom perspex one that splits the yards up.
My mate and I worked so hard cancelling out the effects of density altitude with a turret that anticipated drops in POI. Very effective.
This is shooting off my knee at 40yards sitting. As you can see it isn't perfect but it is literally the best i think i can do with any airgun. I'm not much better with a pcp lol but then again ive never had a day with a Steyr LG100 or the mighty EV2. Now I'm starting at the bottom with LR centrefire I could never justify spending $4000+
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That's one fancy springer you got there! Shoots very tight as well.
My TX200 is bone stock, I think it is anyways??? I bought it used so...
Good thinking on your part with the short barrel. My USFT is the opposite, 25" barrel. I think it's a deficit with the long barrel and slow lock time, if I don't follow through I'm going to miss.
The guy that beat me at the last nationals I went to used a full length Barrel tx200. His spring broke in 3 places and still shot accurately enough to win. He is really accurate at estimating the range with his eye and prefers to shoot on 6 power (meuller) - breaking all current trends. We all swear by the JSB pellets, but I reckon you cant beat RWS target trophy / or stoeger x-field. sorting pellets a the way to tighter groups but I just cant be bothered.
The new air rifle of choice is the RWS target hunter 56th. That thing is a work of genius and it is the equal of almost all hunting pcps. A local down at Wellington has been training with one and he punches dime sized groups all day with it (gulp) at 50m. For those of you who don't know what a RWS/Diana airgun is, its a semi recoiless unique airgun that has a rail system that absorbs felt recoil. Absolute murder on scopes though - this thing is harsher than a .50cal on scopes. I used to own the airking model and the only scope that survived was a leapers 8-32. That was the springer I found that was capable of 1MOA in .22 using heavy 21gn pellets
The new air rifle of choice is the RWS target hunter 56th. That thing is a work of genius and it is the equal of almost all hunting pcps. A local down at Wellington has been training with one and he punches dime sized groups all day with it (gulp) at 50m. For those of you who don't know what a RWS/Diana airgun is, its a semi recoiless unique airgun that has a rail system that absorbs felt recoil. Absolute murder on scopes though - this thing is harsher than a .50cal on scopes. I used to own the airking model and the only scope that survived was a leapers 8-32. That was the springer I found that was capable of 1MOA in .22 using heavy 21gn pellets
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I saw a review on youtube about the RWS 56th. Interesting, thanks for the heads up!
That's amazing that a guy can estimate range accurately enough to even be competitive, let alone win!
Must be airgun season right now.
A guy traded me a mint FWB601 for one of my knives. I'll post some pics and impressions on it next week.
A guy traded me a mint FWB601 for one of my knives. I'll post some pics and impressions on it next week.
--
The 601 came in, beautiful condition- looks brand new still, all excited to shoot it, and...
Of all the darn things to happen, I took 5 shot's and it broke, rats.
Off it goes to Pilkguns next week for repair.
Steve,
I was just about to say congrats on the new FWB 601, and then I read it needs some help. Bummer! Shouldn't be too painful to ship the 601 away since you've got that new steyr to keep you occupied. Thanks for letting me know that steyr IS available in a lefty. I did not know that. I might have to check into that "hunting 5" and see if they offer that in a lefty as well. A .22 at 30fpe with that fast 5 shot action would be something I could definitely have some fun with. Any chance you're going to Raton this weekend?
I was just about to say congrats on the new FWB 601, and then I read it needs some help. Bummer! Shouldn't be too painful to ship the 601 away since you've got that new steyr to keep you occupied. Thanks for letting me know that steyr IS available in a lefty. I did not know that. I might have to check into that "hunting 5" and see if they offer that in a lefty as well. A .22 at 30fpe with that fast 5 shot action would be something I could definitely have some fun with. Any chance you're going to Raton this weekend?
As luck would have it the breach seal went out on the FWB300 last week, it was dry rotted, bummer for that as well. I guess that can be expected when buying 30 year old air rifles. I've already dropped it off at AOA for repair which might take a couple months.
It makes me more glad I got the LGB1. I already have almost 2 tins through it. It's my favorite gun right now. Everyone who shoots it comments on how accurate and easy to shoot it is. Off hand practice is still showing improvement with 9's and 10's becoming more common place now. Kneeling is my weakest position so I'll start working on that soon.
Probably going to be September when the AZ crew carpools out to the SRM.
Hi guys,
I mounted my BSA Tactical 4-14 FFP on the Steyr last week. Because the action is so compact I had to buy the offset rings to get the proper eye relief. I love FFP scopes because I use holdovers/offs a lot and don't need to be concerned what mag the scope is on. This BSA is a great air rifle scope as it has 10Y minimum parallax and also the turret adjustments track perfectly.
Shooting over the chrono proved the rifle to be right around 6ftlbs. 600 fps with 7 grain flat points and 575 fps with JSB 8.44's.
150 shot's are attainable from a 3200 psi fill.
Accuracy is much better than I had expected!!! I would have taken pics of the groups but the box I used is thrashed from being rained on and is all shot up. At 25Y it'll touch all five shots most of the time. Out of 7 groups the worst was .3" and the best was smaller than a pencil eraser would fit through. Surprising considering that the pellets are shot directly from the magazine like a revolver. Last weekend my daughter and I put the Rams and pigs at 60 yards. We hardly missed as it was pretty calm that morning. I have a 50 yard reset target with a 1.125" kill zone that is no challenge when the wind is down, conversely very challenging in the wind. I end up shooting at it the most. I'm amazed what is possible with a air rifle of such minimal power.
I made a couple videos of the Steyr LGB1 Biathlon this morning. The first one shows the magazines and loading them and the second is some rapid fire shooting with a reload. I was shooting the Rams at 30Y/1.5" top to bottom and Pigs at 25Y/1" TTB. Normally I'm taking my time and shooting but this is about as fast as I can shoot well aimed shots.
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Pacifier or not I just bought a Daystate Huntsman XL. I've been shooting my TX200, but decided to step into the PCP world. Ted's Holdover did a review of the Classic. When I got to looking for them online, what really caught my eye with the Huntsman was the 6.2# weight. I went with the XL for the greater air volume. I should have it in a couple of weeks.
Some one posted , about needing defensive loads for air rifle , some of these rifles are very powerful , so much so that in New Zealand , the expensive powerful PCP models are now classifed as firearms and require same licences/permits etc .
WHY , because we had a case of one being used to kill a Police officer who was plain clothes , and placing a tracking device on a car .
So they are capable of killing more than small game .
Later Chris
WHY , because we had a case of one being used to kill a Police officer who was plain clothes , and placing a tracking device on a car .
So they are capable of killing more than small game .
Later Chris
The huntsman is a great looking rifle! When you get it please shoot me a quick review of them, that is if you can keep from shooting it all the time 
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the videos! GREAT STUFF! As they say, a pic is worth a thousand words. Well a video is even better! That cocking mechanism looks pretty slick. I can't believe that 6fpe is holding up for you at 50 and 60yds! That is some good shooting. That's pretty cool that you get 150 shots per fill. I remember when I had my LP50, those magazines would get empty SO fast! I remember spending more time loading than shooting! LOL! They need to develop a speed loader for those steyr 5 round mags. I also remember wishing they did a 10 round mag as well! Great to hear that gun is such a good shooter for you, but that shouldn't be a surprise with all the quality you get from Steyr...
I'm sure you've guessed as much but the second any wind kicks up hitting stuff at the longer ranges goes completely to sh!t. In calm conditions though I'm thinking to myself WOW, I'm hitting those things with 6fpe, actually more like 3-4 fpe by the time the pellet gets there.
Yep, I wish they did a 10 rounder too. Too offset that desire a little I traded in my single shot mags for two more 5 rounders and ordered 4 more on top of that so I can keep all of them loaded up in their carrier which is mounted on the rifle.
I can't believe I'm about to open my 4th tin of pellets up for it. I think I shoot this thing more than any gun I've ever owned.
I'd almost consider getting one of those Steyr Hunting 5's in 20 cal but I'm pretty well covered in most of the airgun needs right now. I have to keep reminding myself it's only a 15 minute drive to shoot the rimfires out to 400Y if I get the urge to shoot puny projectiles way far away! My rimfires haven't been shot much the last few months.
A guy here in AZ that belongs to our FT club is going to rebuild my 601. That'll be nice because it'll save some money in shipping.
Oh, I got a hold of Ben of Steelplinkers and custom ordered a bunch of round steels of various sizes for use with the aperture sights and ordered a quadrant target also. I was surprised how reasonable his prices are.
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I have a friend that won a Huntsman in the raffle at our state FT match 2 years ago. It's been a great rifle for him! He even won a match with it once and has placed high on more than a few occasions which isn't easy to do with the gun being so light weight.
Congrats!
The Huntsman Regal XL is what I have my eye set on. Even with my access to Krickets, FX, AirArms and CZ200's, the Huntsman Regal XL is looking like the bee's knee's.
Any news on the airgun front?
I ordered another 45 more round steel targets from Steelplinkers, 15 each- .625", 1" and 1.25". Also a 1" quadrant target for 45Y.
I'm planing on shooting Hunter Field Target next weekend with my Daystate Panther. Only problem is I don't have a side wheel for my SWFA 3-15. So I've been practicing ranging with the reticle on the kill zones. I can do pretty good till I get to 50Y and 55Y. The dope calls for .8 mil of holdover at 50Y and 1.1 mil at 55Y. It's kinda hard to distinguish .1 mil while trying to hold the rifle still enough to range especially if the kill zones aren't freshly painted. The parallax knob helps a little with trying to determine a distance, I can see a slight difference in it's setting from 50Y to 55Y but not much. Well it'll be a fun experiment anyway. Wish me luck.
I ordered another 45 more round steel targets from Steelplinkers, 15 each- .625", 1" and 1.25". Also a 1" quadrant target for 45Y.
I'm planing on shooting Hunter Field Target next weekend with my Daystate Panther. Only problem is I don't have a side wheel for my SWFA 3-15. So I've been practicing ranging with the reticle on the kill zones. I can do pretty good till I get to 50Y and 55Y. The dope calls for .8 mil of holdover at 50Y and 1.1 mil at 55Y. It's kinda hard to distinguish .1 mil while trying to hold the rifle still enough to range especially if the kill zones aren't freshly painted. The parallax knob helps a little with trying to determine a distance, I can see a slight difference in it's setting from 50Y to 55Y but not much. Well it'll be a fun experiment anyway. Wish me luck.
Hey Steve,
Good luck at the match. Let us know how it goes. What's the verdict on your swfa 3-15 so far? How do you like it? Is the glass just as good as their fixed power models? I just pulled a big old sightron SIII 10-50x off of my AA Ev2, and put on a swfa 12x instead. I've been practicing with the sticks and the Ev2 in my yard at 45yds to try to train for the raton match tomorrow. I like the mil/mil turrets and the mil-quad reticle better than the 1/8 moa dot on that big sightron. Its better training for my center-fire matches... I think I'll sell the sightron and either get another swfa 12x (for hunter FT), or maybe a 16x, or that 3-15... Do you think its worth the extra cash for that 3-15?
Good luck at the match. Let us know how it goes. What's the verdict on your swfa 3-15 so far? How do you like it? Is the glass just as good as their fixed power models? I just pulled a big old sightron SIII 10-50x off of my AA Ev2, and put on a swfa 12x instead. I've been practicing with the sticks and the Ev2 in my yard at 45yds to try to train for the raton match tomorrow. I like the mil/mil turrets and the mil-quad reticle better than the 1/8 moa dot on that big sightron. Its better training for my center-fire matches... I think I'll sell the sightron and either get another swfa 12x (for hunter FT), or maybe a 16x, or that 3-15... Do you think its worth the extra cash for that 3-15?
Hi Scott,
Post a pic of your EV2, Id like to see it! What's the power level of it? I bet you have some killer follow through because you train with your air rifle!
I think the glass is pretty much the same as the fixed SS scopes, maybe a hair better. My only complaint is the eyebox is kinda tight, especially on 15X. I find that I have to get my eye low and right to clear up the reticle, otherwise it blurrs. The SWFA 3-15's are nice scopes but honestly not much better than the BSA 4-14's except for the glass which is much better. The eyebox is actually better on the BSA in comparison. If BSA would put one step up in glass quality or coatings and put a 5 mil line on their reticle and charge $300 it would be a much better scope.
I'm considering selling one of the 3-15's and getting a March 3-24 with the FMLreticle. I should never have bought my S&B, I'm ruined now.
I have a 10/22 with an AAC element and can get away with shooting it in my yard. Segmented hollow points help... but more often than not I reach for one of my Theobens. The shape of the pellet keeps it from carrying very far at all and its only a 30 foot pound gun to begin with. This groundhog was taken at 50 yards. I knew by the sound of the impact that I hit my mark; a perfect eye shot. It really stacks the pellets out to 70 yards.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the info on the scope. I know what you're saying about the S&B, once you look through good glass, its hard to go back. I wish there were more affordable FFP mil/mil scope choices out there. You'd think somebody could do one at $400 or $500 that would be a winner... like how the old bushnell 4200 6-24's used to be an easy choice back in the day...Definitely give us a full report if you do go for that March scope!
My Ev2 is below. Its a very rare lefty! Its a 12fpe gun and does 800fps with 8.4g jsb's for 100 shots per fill. 12fpe is great for the 45yds I have in my yard -the wind keeps things from getting boring at 12fpe. I think the Ev2 is one of the best options out there in a 12fpe gun. Super reliable and a very well thought out design...and it shoots as well as you would expect...
Did you shoot the HFT match today? How'd the panther shoot for you? I'm down in Raton right now. Looks like its going to be a mud bath out there tomorrow!
how'd you do?
i like the look and setup of FT and would love to get a match together in my area, however i got a ton of irons in the fire and really can't get a course going.
i did get a prelim AR silhouette 20 pellet match going after my SB ones. as it's the same day and pretty much the same portion of the club's range, it's not too much more work to get going. shot 12 of 20 targets on my first go. amazing how one can hit them good in the yard or during practice, but when the timer goes off....can't hit $hit. with the silhouette nationals going relatively close, most of the "regulars" were there, so can't really get a bead on how popular it may be.
will run them as fun matches the rest of the year, probably going to sanction them next year if the popularity is there.
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I'm am thoroughly enjoying my Daystate Huntsman XL. Things changed downrange from my house that ended my suppressed rimfire shooting. We started talking about moving to another area, but family and friends started getting bummed out by the potential move. I talked to my wife about a quality PCP. Her comment was, "It's cheaper than moving. Get one on the way." It came in two weeks ago. I'm very pleased. Groups got very tiny after I figured out the best fill pressure to get 40 consistent shots. I've got spinners out to 50 yards and am hitting the 3/8 spinner repeatedly from the bench. After the initial learning curve I started on the house sparrows and black birds. (Black birds are good eating by the way.) The 15.9 JSBs smack them down with authority. Much more dramatic than my .177 spring guns. DRT.
Currently I'm working on setting up a Marauder Pistol with a Marmot Militia stock for the kids.
Good shooting. Good practice. Good fun.
Currently I'm working on setting up a Marauder Pistol with a Marmot Militia stock for the kids.
Good shooting. Good practice. Good fun.
