Are Air rifles the pacifier or alternative to ammo availability & cost?

[jbell]

Well it has taken me some time but I finally shot my 602 today. I ended up resealing the rifle and was able to get the part I needed for the rear sight. Here is my 1st prone target in 17 years. I used to be able to clean this in prone, so it looks like I need a little practice. I shot this prone with an Anschutz sling and glove but no coat just yet. I shot in a t-shirt and the sling chewed the hell out of my arm, so a coat will help. Any way here are the results of my 1st target prone:



It took me a few rounds to zero after the rebuild and the sight repair. However it looks like I was a little low and left on this target. I forgot how much I enjoyed this style of shooting.

 

[steve123]

Fun fun, pretty darn good J. You'll be shooting 100's again soon enough I bet.

I finally got my 601 back last week which was fully rebuild at AOA. Sure is a high quality rifle!

Next month I'll be shooting at AOA's Extreme Benchrest match. This'l be the first time for me trying BR with a air rifle. They're going to have side shoots as well. 10M pistol, 20 round FT match, Extreme silhouette- which is knocking down steels at various distances down as fast as you can plus 25M and 75Y benchrest. Really looking forward to this match!

 

[jbell]

Steve, thanks. After I get a coat and the fit worked out on the rifle 100s in prone will be expected and most of the time in kneeling (but only time will tell). I am more concerned about off hand as that is why I bought the rifle. But yes it is so much fun! I cant believe that I have let this part of the sport slip away for so many years... What was I thinking?

 

[steve123]

Steve, thanks. After I get a coat and the fit worked out on the rifle 100s in prone will be expected and most of the time in kneeling (but only time will tell). I am more concerned about off hand as that is why I bought the rifle. But yes it is so much fun! I cant believe that I have let this part of the sport slip away for so many years... What was I thinking?

Yeah man, what were you thinking, LOL! So nice to shoot a precision instrument right in our own yard isn't it.

I think of all the air rifles I've shot, which is no small amount BTW, that FWB 60? series has the calmest recoil/vibration pulse going! I was having a lot of fun today shooting my 1" steels off the sawhorse at 25Y in the offhand.

I guess I better order some 10M targets to try out, after all that was what the Olympic match rifles are designed for.

 

[jbell]

You should, IMO the Olympic target with these rifles is so fun and addictive.

 

[steve123]

Did any other Hide members go to AOA's Extreme Benchrest match?

This was the first time I competed in any type of Benchrest match. The experience was quite humbling and I ending up pulling off a 7th place in heavy varmint class -(20ftlbs class) with my Daystate Panther MK4. Not bad for my first time but I was hoping for better. I'm just going to have to practice and figure out how to improve. My wind calls weren't too bad but I had some issues with vertical. I rolled the pellets but didn't weigh them, maybe that was the problem???

The combat Silhouette was the most fun for me. Ha, it was obvious the faster shooters had been practicing because they were shooting the 16 targets in a little over a minute. I only missed one target in the whole 3 stage event and averaged 1 minute fifty seconds and wasn't but 80% of the top finishers.

The 75 yard Extreme benchrest match was fun also. I used my FX Royale 22 cal. My first shot was dead center in the X ring with 2 of the next 3 shots being an X and a 10. I thought maybe I'd be in contention but alas things went downhill from there, LOL. Towards the end of the match I made a rooky mistake and shot the same target twice which really screwed up my score, rats! Next time I'm using a scope with higher mag so I can see the holes better. Worth mentioning is I missed the "one shot" Milbro pellet challenge and a bottle of premium whiskey by less than a 16th of an inch! So close, yet so far, LOL.

The good news is that I won two of the pistol events and came home with a pistol and a $250 certificate at Wild West airguns! It was a awesome to be able to use my Steyr LP5 in a match for a change. Man I love that pistol!

All in all I had a great time.

This article describes the match. Daily Bulletin

 

[Kiba]

Steve, how was the mood at the event given the last minute rule change regarding use of slugs? There are quite a few upset people who planned on competing with their slug guns, some of which who had already traveled long distance and were in town when the rule change was announced-- but many of those complaining on the message boards sounded like they weren't even competing and were just jumping on the bandwagon.

Just wondering your impression of the overall mood & tone of the event given the last minute change.

Also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed my 4th Edgun, this one a .25 long R3M (multishot) will be in my hands before the end of the year. I'm looking forward to comparing it to my current .25 R3 long single shot.

Oh, and please stop posting pictures of the 10M rifles... you're going to make me spend more money! I don't know how much longer I can resist getting one of those LGB1's.

 

[steve123]

Steve, how was the mood at the event given the last minute rule change regarding use of slugs? There are quite a few upset people who planned on competing with their slug guns, some of which who had already traveled long distance and were in town when the rule change was announced-- but many of those complaining on the message boards sounded like they weren't even competing and were just jumping on the bandwagon.

Just wondering your impression of the overall mood & tone of the event given the last minute change.

Also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed my 4th Edgun, this one a .25 long R3M (multishot) will be in my hands before the end of the year. I'm looking forward to comparing it to my current .25 R3 long single shot.

Oh, and please stop posting pictures of the 10M rifles... you're going to make me spend more money! I don't know how much longer I can resist getting one of those LGB1's.

Too me the mood appeared jovial, everyone I talked to were exited to be there and were having fun catching up with old friends. Fortunately I hadn't talked to anyone about the slug subject and truth be told I didn't even know about the rule change till now. I can see why they changed the rule though, 1st reason is, there is no berm behind the targets, which was the first thing I noticed and made me nervous as the range isn't very far from roads, etc. 2cnd reason is, a slug would give a huge advantage in the wind and thus unfair, and would travel much farther also. It does appear they should have thought this aspect of the rules out better though.

More drama...When I walked into the pistol building I discovered that we were only allowed to shoot the provided pistols and with "cough"- the provided really crappy pellets, LOL. I only had time for one stage on the first day and the pistol was hitting 1.5" right and 1" high so I had to aim out into space to hit the bull, that was frustrating. The guy running the pistol match changed his mind for the morning of the second day and made a separate "any pistol" category for those of us that brought our own as was what we were led to believe before when we read the rules originally, with the prize being the $250 cert. 2cnd day with the provided pistols I got lucky and got a pistol that was hitting at least somewhat close, even so it was hard work to get a winning score.

I forgot to mention I tied for 3rd place in the FT event, although for me it was a poor performance honestly. I was a click or two off from zero and couldn't tell where my misses were going.

Man you really like those Edguns! I'm missing a 25 cal in my stable so I'll have to try and fix that next year or maybe even get a dedicated 30 cal. We're looking forward to your Edgun R3M range report BTW.

Those 10M rifles have helped my offhand shooting immensely! I am happy to report that I never missed a offhand shot all summer in our FT matches, the practice definitely paid off. That LGB1 is my favorite air rifle, it gets shot a couple times a week... sheesh, I'm almost out of pellets again!

While on the 10M subject, we took the FWB601 with us on a ATV sand duning and camping trip with 3 other families and plinked during the middle of the day. Steels sized at .625"/25Y and 1"/38Y weren't hard to hit at all as long as the wind cooperated. The JSB 8.44's really work well in 10m guns with distance involved.

 

[Kiba]

Good to hear Steve. My impression after reading about the rule change online was that the complaints were mostly coming from the few slug shooters who were either already in attendance or planning to attend and many of the others complaining were just doing so even though they weren't competing or in attendance. I did hear the range safety & layout issue brought up and that made sense regarding the use of slugs-- but no question that the timing of the rule change was poor and they should have announced that months ago. I now see there is some chat about shooting at an actual rifle range next year and having both slug and pellet classes.

I'm not surprised that .30 calibers took the top 3 spots in the 75m class given their BC advantage in the wind.

It also appears they really had their act together with the scoring system and things ran smoothly.

Regarding the Edguns... yeah, I really like them. Probably the best small varmint hunting air rifle I've ever had. Lots of power, excellent shot count, excellent accuracy, great balance, and all in a pretty compact package. I only keep one at a time so the loser of the R3 .25 single shot vs the R3 .25 multishot contest will be sold. Ed is also releasing a .30 single shot that I have my eye on... I suppose could make an exception in that case and keep one .25 and one .30. The .30 should be amazing in the wind and really do a number on ground squirrels. I thought switching from a 30 ft-lb .22 to a 48 ft-lb .25 was a big improvement in power on target and wind bucking, I'm guessing the change from .25 to .30 would be similar.

I really like that LGB1 of yours, looks like a perfect backyard practice gun and the biathlon toggle action is really neat. I also really want an air rifle with good diopter sights to play with. I wouldn't mind finding a nice used one to save a few bucks but they seem to be hard to find...

 

[NickS510]

Hi guys, I haven't been around in a while. I was surprised to see this thread still going strong with over 15000 views. In my absense I've been busy working on my Youtube channel. Some of my first vids were very amatuerish but I'm getting the hang of it.
Here's a gong target that was taken at quite long range, roughly 125yrds with my Airforce Condor .22
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=c4-feed-u&v=E-rokVWuFXA#

The largest of the 'gongs' measures just over 3", the wind was terrible but my hit rate was a tad above average.
My channel is called Long Range Nick, please like and subscribe. I have some explosive ideas in the pipeline.
Thanx Nick

 

[steve123]

Air pistol for sale here...

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...1-hw-40-single-pump-pneumatic-air-pistol.html

I'm also contemplating selling my FWB300, if interested give me PM. Pics are 3-4 pages back.

Thanks

 

[duotone]

So I took the summer to get my golf game back, and now with the weather turning sour, I put the clubs away and dusted off my guns... went to the internet figuring the ammo supply would have gotten back to a some-what normal state, but unfortunately the ammo supply is still what it was 3 months ago... :-(

Air'd up my Marauder, sighted 'er in, put it in the den... Went back to her an hour later only to find the air has leaked out!!

Tore her apart, cleaned, replaced all the O rings, applied plumber's tape to the treads, and painted the air tube and barrel shroud to a flat black, re-assembled and sighted it in again. Air's holding steady and seems to be quieter and holds a tighter group now.... Hmm, perhaps I should clean it more often like this!

With ammo in this state, I'll continue shooting the Marauder, and let my wife and kids have the powder ammo.

Cheers,

Tony

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Steve or Kiba----where or who do you get an Edgun from?

 

[steve123]

Steve or Kiba----where or who do you get an Edgun from?

I'm not sure Bert.

I noticed on Wild West airguns site that they carried the Cricket which is a similar bullpup design. I have no idea what the exact differences are though.

 

[woogie_man]

The ed gun is a single shot, while the cricket is a multi shot.

I know there are a few places selling the ed gun. But due to customs it can take a while to get the rifle. Where as the cricket is available at many places. Would west airguns has both the bullpup and the long rifle, as well as precision airguns.

 

[Kiba]

The ed gun is a single shot, while the cricket is a multi shot.

I know there are a few places selling the ed gun. But due to customs it can take a while to get the rifle. Where as the cricket is available at many places. Would west airguns has both the bullpup and the long rifle, as well as precision airguns.

The wait can be long for sure. I had to wait about 7 months for my first .22 R2. It took about 6 months for my .25 R3 long and about 11 months for my .22 R3 standard, my .22 R3 standard took so long because during that time Ed was having the most problems with Russian customs officials. Sometimes you can get lucky and Tony (US distributor) will have a few spares in stock for immediate shipment.

Also, there are now multishot (rotary mag) Edguns. The first US shipment of multishots is due possibly the end of this week, I've had a deposit in on a .25 multishot since June and should be getting one from this shipment. Ed said the shipment left Helsinki this week and should be in the US at the distributor hopefully end of next week.

Ed is also releasing some .30 single shots to the US in this batch... I'm tempted, very tempted.

Steve or Kiba----where or who do you get an Edgun from?

To order one you have to email Tony Rudenko, [email protected] and ask to be "put on the list" for which model you want and a $125 deposit secures your spot in the queue. When the rifle is in Tony will send you an email asking for the balance due. Tony is a man of few words and his emails are brief but he's very reliable to work with.

For the Matadors, there are .22 single shot short/medium/long, .25 single shot short/medium/long, and .22 and .25 Multishots in each configuration. There are .177s but they're few and far between and mostly seem to go to England where they have the 12 ft/lb limit. The .30 cal single shot was a special run but I'd imagine he will make more as the demand seems to be high.

There is also the .177 and .22 Leyla (very short carbine) and a the .177 and .22 Veles pistols. Ed is focusing production on the Matadors right now so the Leyla and Veles have been nearly impossible to get for over a year now.

Tony is the sole importer and parts source for the US. Ed likes to run a very "tight" dealer/distributor network.

Best place to go for info is here, Ed himself is a frequent poster... http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=22

The Crickets are good guns too, a buddy of mine at work recently picked one up in .22. It's well made and accurate but the regulator isn't as efficient as the Edgun and thus it doesn't get as many shots per fill. Some of the mag indexing linkage looks a little fragile but they've been out a while now and so far the reports on the forums are very positive. They certainly have a wider US dealer network and there are much more rifles in stock at any given time than the Edguns. I've had extremely good luck with the last 3 Edguns that I've had so I'm sticking with them for now.

I'm looking forward to comparing the new multishot to my current single shot. Ed says his mags don't affect the pellet skirts or accuracy (and he made them long enough to run JSB Polymags) but I'm primarily interested in how the bolt & mag indexing feels and functions. The current single shot is quite smooth feeling and it's been 100% reliable for me but there have been a few occasions hunting where I wished I had an immediate followup shot available without having to grab a fresh pellet out of my pellet holder and stuff it in the feed ramp.

 

[Snake-Eyes]

Steve or Kiba----where or who do you get an Edgun from?

I'm still muddling my way through this new world of airguns, but I stumbled on this For Sale on the Yellow Forum Airgun Forum:

Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): EDGUN MATADOR R3 LONG .25 AZ TUNED


The more I read about these pneumatics, the more I get hooked...

 

[Kiba]

I'm still muddling my way through this new world of airguns, but I stumbled on this For Sale on the Yellow Forum Airgun Forum:

Classifieds Airgun(Kitching): EDGUN MATADOR R3 LONG .25 AZ TUNED


The more I read about these pneumatics, the more I get hooked...

That's a good deal, before the Crickets hit the US market he could have easily sold that rifle in less than an hour for $2000+ on the Yellow.

That rifle is an .25 early R3 long, same as my current rifle The early R3's had the steel breech of the R2.5 and R2. The later model R3s went to a hard anodized aluminum breech, stainless bolt handle, and Ed did some slight tweaks to the regulator to squeeze out a couple more shots per fill.

The steel bolt handle of the initial R3's and earlier models is/was my only real complaint about the Edguns, the part of the rifle you handle to load every shot was bare polished regular steel and if you forgot to wipe it down with an oily cloth at the end of the day it would be surface rusted by the next morning.

Pics of the latest R3 single shot style breech & stainless bolt handle here: TalonAirgun.com ? View topic - My Edgun R3 is finally here!

That particular rifle for sale, while not the absolute latest version, doesn't give up much to the latest version. I would expect to see several Edguns listed in the next few weeks once the new shipment of the R3 Multishots get out to guys who have been waiting to upgrade.

 

[worvin]

I am going to order the iris today and also a pack of targets. I think it will take me a while to get back up to speed with the offhand shooting (I still need to get a coat and pants) but I will shoot it as soon as the rear sight is fixed and get you some info on how it shoots. However based on past experiences when you get a quality air rifle (Anschutz, Feinwerkbau, Walther, Steyr) they will out shoot most any shooter and day of the week. But then again look at how the 10M target is broken down in to the decimals with the electronic scoring system...

I would hold off on the coat and pants until after the first of the year when the ISSF rule changes come out. For the past two years they have jacked around with stiffness, seam measurements, belt loops, and other things on the coat and pants. Should be all decided by Jan or Feb 2014. Then you can go shopping for the clothing. And don't bother with used stuff. That will just be folks looking to get rid of the stuff that doesn't pass equipment control anymore.

Marc
ISSF "A" Judge
Rifle, Pistol and EST

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

I want a .25 bull pup for hunting---researching the EDgun, Cricket, and FX bull pups. Wish a magazine would directly compare them all!

 

[swampthing]

I have no recent experience with the new family of air guns. My Daisy pump, which I purchased in 1950 still out shoots most pistol shooters up to 40 yards so it is an inexpensive way to git happy. I would just like to throw in the fact my personal preference, in the event ammo gets shorter, is still my cross bow and long bow. I suppose it depends on what you are wanting it for.

 

[swampthing]

Umm dont mean to be disrespectful but I can knock over cola cans all day with my 1950 Daisy Pump BB gun that I personally purchased in 1950. Had mentioned it in an earlier post. Its the one where you remove the muzzle and load up the spring loaded tube magazine.

 

[Chard]

My twenty year old Beeman R7 does not do it for me. I want to smell burnt powder.

 

[boingk]

Interesting thread and got me hooked on watching videos on YouTube of pest control, haha.

I've always thought air rifles were pretty cool and would be a great tool to have. The low cost and wide availability of pellets is also a huge plus.

The sort of thing I'd be using it for would be target shooting and small vertebrate pests - birds, rats, rabbits etc with ranges from 10 to 50 meters. Anything over that I'd most likely go to .22WMR. I'm looking more at .177 calibre as opposed to .22 as it is a lot more cost effective here in Australia to buy .177 pellets - .22 pellets are bordering on the cost of .22LR ammunition.

I'm thinking of getting a Stoeger X10 in .177 as they seem to get consistently good reviews for a basic air rifle. I would most likely be fitting a Nikko-Sterling 4-12x40 'Mountmaster' to it as I've got one lying around - overkill perhaps but its not a bad scope.

Can anyone recommend anything beyond that? I'm really just looking at break-barrel rifles for now as I like their simplicity and don't want to have to get recharge gear. I'm fine with one shot if it means I have a dependable rifle that is easy to look after.

Cheers - boingk

 

[woogie_man]

Make darn sure that the scope is springer rated, or you will destroy it quickly.

Other than that, get a few different pellets and shoot. Just likea normal rifle, you will need to find the pellet that it likes the best.

 

[boingk]

Thanks woogie_man.

The NS Mountmaster is designed for '22LR and air rifles' according to the NS website and is one of the reasons I bought one - that and its got positive review from people using them on them.

As far as I can tell the Crosman Premier and JSB Jumbo Heavies seem to give consistently good results so I may buy a tin of each to start with.

Cheers - boingk

 

[woogie_man]

Then get out and start shooting!

I would get some pics up of my new gun.....but barrel is still off getting threaded Going to see how it runs with my suppressor on the end. Figured I am going to want to quiet it down, and am not wanting to do all of the "LDC" crap you see. Want to make sure it is legal so there is no questions about it.

 

[Kiba]

Woohoo... just got the magic email from Tony, my new Edgun .25 R3M should be shipping end of next week.

Guess I should check and see if I have another Accu-Shot front rail and some epoxy-in brass threaded inserts on hand to add a rail to the stock for the Atlas.

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Let's see some groups and rifle pics KIBA! Can't decide on 22 or .25, guess I need one of each. Still looking for a comparison on all the premier bullpups for hunting. How far could a coyote be dispatched with that .25 Edgun?? Any experience with these Steve123 ??

 

[steve123]

Sorry I've never shot a Yote with a air rifle. I have shot 2 in the vitals with a 22rf standard velocity and they ran off like they weren't even hit, well except for a little flinch when the bullets struck.

Head shots with the 25 would put em down DRT. Probably best if shot closer in. Not a bad idea to use a 50Y zero so you have some fudge room on the trajectory.

Yeah Kiba, let's see your new EDgun.

 

[Kiba]

It's supposed to be here Tuesday. There was a couple day delay in customs and then Tony had some problems with his UPS account which delayed him shipping the rifles for a couple of days.

Tuesday should be a good day, have to go to the FFL after work to pick up my new-to-me SVI Infinity and UPS should be dropping off the new .25 R3M in the afternoon.

I'm already regretting not ordering one of the few .30 R3 that Ed shipped to the US this batch. Initial reports look quite good. I suppose I'll wait for the next batch, since Ed usually does slight design tweaks between batches...

 

[woogie_man]

Here is my newest shooter! A Cz S200, a copy of the AA S200.... I sent the barrel off to a smith and had it threaded for the sparrow. I was nervous as to what it would sounds like, and if the suppressor would even work on the air gun. Well I am EXTREMELY happy to say that it works great! Now I am able to use the suppressor on the T3 ( in the background ) as well as the S200. That and it is legal as well, where you will hear a TON of talk about the suppressors/LDC/Mufflers or anything else people call them, so really have no worries now.

Great little rifle, and even better in the accuracy department! Have been picking off .22lr brass at 10 yards very easily.
Would suggest this little guy to anyone.

 

[JoeMartin]

I decided to jump into the pellet rifle shooting with the Ruger Air Hawk. Ordered one today through where I work and should have it next week some time. Also ordered some 7.9 and 10.? grain pellets that Pyramid Air said worked good with this particular pellet rifle. I also shot my friend's Air Hawk a few times and was impressed with it. I doubt I'll mount a scope on it, I plan on just using the open sights. I have a 25 yard archery range at my house, so now it will include a pellet rifle range for some trigger time while I ride out the rimfire shortage. Ought to be fun!

 

[Kiba]

Ok, finally got some pics of the new .25 R3M.

Everything was not perfect out of the box. The cocking action was a little rough and the magazine didn't index completely. The cocking feel was fixed by polishing a few contact points with an ultrafine cratex wheel and afterwards removing the factory grease and applying 60% moly paste and some Slide Glide. Now it's quite smooth. Not quite as smooth or light as my single shot R3 but it's smoother and lighter than a friend's Daystate Air Ranger.

The magazine not indexing completely seems to be a result of Ed using the same indexing cam for the .22 and the .25. The .22 has a 10 position magazine whereas the .25 has a 9 position magazine and thus the .25 needs a little more rotation every cycle of the action. Out of the box the mechanism would index the magazine about 80% of the way and then when you closed the bolt the tapered nose of the bolt would finish rotating the mag into position and chamber the pellet. I never noticed any flyers or accuracy difference if I manually indexed the mags completely or let the mechanism index it 80% of the way but having it not fully index the magazines bugged me. I fixed that by TIG welding some additional material on the engagement portion of the indexing cam and then stoning and lapping it back into shape. There's a lot of grumbling/arguing and also some constructive talk going on over on the Talon forum about this issue. It's an easy fix if you have the means & equipment but it's something that shouldn't have happened given the price of the rifle. Rather than join the bitch session I went out to the shop and fixed the problem.

The regulator is set a little hot right out of the box, as of now the rifle is shooting the 25gr JSB's at 945 +/- 4 fps for 55 shots per fill. It hits *hard* at that velocity, it's about 51 ft-lb and hits the targets with a loud thwack. Once I get 1200-1500 pellets through it to settle in the o-rings and springs I'll adjust the regulator to drop the velocity to about 900-915fps. The rifle is quite accurate right now but I know from experience with my single shot .25 R3 that the 25.4gr .25 JSBs are most accurate between about 880-920fps. I like to favor the high end of that range at about 900-915fps for hunting as it gives a little more power and a slightly flatter trajectory. Lowering the velocity a bit will also increase the amount of shots per fill.

Neat thing about the magazine is that with the bolt all the way back you can manually rotate it and refill 3 slots at a time with fresh pellets without having to remove the magazine from the rifle. It's not like say a Daystate where you have to remove the magazine to reload it. There's also a magazine disconnect lever which disables rotating the magazine with the cycling of the bolt. This way you can lower the hammer if you don't want to shoot the pellet already in the chamber and not have the rifle double feed the next time you run the bolt to cock the hammer. There are also slots to store 4 spare mags under the scope rail. The rifle came with 2 mags and I ordered 3 spares but there were no spare mags to be had in this shipment, I'll have to wait for the next batch. Loving the new magazine repeater action, I can walk through the orchards and when I see a critter I can cycle the bolt and be ready to fire without having to look down to stuff a pellet in the feed ramp like I did on the single shot version.

Another little improvement Ed made for this run is an extra action retaining bolt at the rear of the stock. Normally the actions are held in the stock by a single screw just in front of the trigger. Depending on the stock fit the action could "rock" a little bit. There is now a slot on the hammer/sear housing at the back of the action that engages with the rear stock bolt. The rear stock bolt is on an eccentric so you can apply just a little bit of tension to prevent the action from rocking.

Anyways, here's a couple pics of the rifle plus a pic of a "dot drill" target I shot at 75Y today. The last 8 or so shots in the upper right corner of the target were right as the rifle was falling off the regulator and the point of impact started shifting because of the velocity change. I have about 900 pellets through the rifle now, once I get to 1200-1500 it will be time to disassemble it and adjust the regulator down to 900-915fps and I expect the accuracy to improve at the lower velocity.

 

[jbell]

I set up a 10m range in my basement for these long COLD Maine winters. I have been making some adjustments to the rifle and trigger and working on my rusty standing position. It is starting to come together. I decided to not use a coat as to help with my centerfire shooting. Shooting air rifles off hand with no support like a proper coat will really make you focus on the basics like bone support, proper position, breathing, sight alignment, trigger control, ect. But not only that it will help you learn to divorce all your other thoughts and body parts during the firing sequence. It is good mental traning. I have been not only shooting 10 round Olympic targets but also shooting 5 round groups to help identify any problems in my shooting and it seems to be working. So in short I think that air rifles can be a great trainer at a low cost of ammo after the initial investment of the rifle.

Here is an example of a 5 shot group that I shot today where everything came together pretty well. I have been able to shoot 3 or 4 very tight and centered but will let one or two slip out because of me letting something go wrong. But I can identify it and work on correcting it. I did have one round get a little lose to the right but I am working on that too...

 

[steve123]

Kiba,

Man it's too bad Ed didn't take some extra time and make the mag indexing line up right. Good for you that you are handy with tools and such.

The rifle looks and shoots very nice though! Groups good enough to win the Extreme Benchrest match near as I can tell too.

I like the idea of stopping the rotation of the mag when wanted and the mag storage, both great ideas.

 

[steve123]

Hi Jbell,

That's pretty good for offhand! Offhand without sling, coat and glove is hard isn't it.

I've been doing something similar. No room at my place for 10Y indoors so I've been shooting at 6Y on .33" black dots. 10 of those on a printed white card stock that my wife and I made up. I've been scoring 10 points for a hit cleanly inside the black without breaking the edge and 5 points for hitting any black. 75 points is the best I've been able to do. 60 is average. A muffed shot makes for a OHSH!T out into the white, LOL.

Those 601-3's are heavy enough to simulate a centerfire and build those offhand muscles up don't they. I get fatigued quickly and can only shoot 30 shots offhand before my performance wains.

 

[jbell]

Steve, It is hard but I love it. There was a time when I was much better, but that will come. I hear ya on the long shot strings. My rifle is heavy for an air rifle (I have all the weights I own on it) and I too fatigue pretty quick but that is part of the training. My "indoor range" is just under 10m (32 feet) and I am cramped in to get it. I am shooting threw a door way and standing right a my boiler, hell I set my pellet box on my zone valves HAHA. But it beats the temps we have here in Maine in the winter!! Even if I am not shooting well it is still a good way to spend an afternoon when the weather is crap.

 

[Kiba]

Kiba,

Man it's too bad Ed didn't take some extra time and make the mag indexing line up right. Good for you that you are handy with tools and such.

The rifle looks and shoots very nice though! Groups good enough to win the Extreme Benchrest match near as I can tell too.

I like the idea of stopping the rotation of the mag when wanted and the mag storage, both great ideas.

I'm a little disappointed in the indexing issue as well, hopefully Ed makes new cams for .25 owners and ships them out at no charge and fixes all future batches. Not everyone has the means to fix theirs. One other guy on the Talon forum had several new indexing cams cut out on an EDM and is planning to help out other .25 owners.

Regarding the dot drill target, there was absolutely zero wind yesterday afternoon when I shot that dot drill-- made my job a *LOT* easier. I was shooting prone with the Atlas up front and a TAB bag in the back.

I'm still getting used to the trigger on the new rifle, it's much lighter than on my old single shot rifle. Ed revised the trigger mechanism after a lot of requests that the older triggers were too heavy. Right now I feel the new trigger is too light for my taste but the more I use it the more I get used to it.

I stripped the rifle this morning to adjust the regulator down to try and get the velocity somewhere around 900-915fps. Unfortunately on the first shot after reassembly I got a puff of air to the face-- turns out the rifle launched the breech/bolt o-ring down the barrel and out into the lawn somewhere. I have an inventory of spare o-rings on hand for my old single shot Edgun but the new multishot uses a completely different breech/bolt sealing scheme and a different o-ring which wasn't in my spares kit. None of my usual o-ring suppliers in town were open today so I was moping around the house realizing the gun was going to be down for at least 2 days... but about an hour later I had an "ah-ha!" moment-- turns out the bendix on the starter motor for my turbine RC helicopter uses the exact o-ring I needed and I had a bag of 100 75A durometer viton o-rings in my RC spare parts. Unfortunately by the time I found them and got the rifle back together I was out of time to set up the chrony and verify the new regulator setting. I'm hoping I can sneak away tomorrow morning for about 2 hours before anyone comes over.

Teething issues aside it's probably my favorite rifle from Ed yet. Hoping I got the regulator adjusted correctly today and all I need to do tomorrow is adjust the hammer spring tension to match the new regulator setting and then get back to shooting.

 

[steve123]

You are very resourceful Kiba! There's a lot to be said about the convenience of a repeater and that energy the 25 produces. Plus bullpups are handy anyway.

Merry Christmas man!

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Well I know a bit about the Edgun and Cricket, anybody able to chime in on either of the 2 FX bullpups?

 

[boingk]

Check out tedsholdover on YouTube. He does a good review of a lot of air rifles, and the new FX Bullpups as well - he says he actually got a prototype for testing and contributed to its released stock design.

- boingk

 

[Hammer47]

I'd agree...we need a precision/adult airgun forum. Saying that an airgun form isn't necessary is like saying we don't need an knife forum or a rimfire forum.

Roger that.

 

[Big_Rig_416]

I have shot lots of air rifles. Pneumatic is the only way to go. Springers are inconsistent and inaccurate IMO the best bang for the buck is the crossman challenger.

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

I vote YES for airgun forum!! Also need help from ya all regarding nitro piston conversions.
I have a .177 BSA Lightning springer and know the conversion is avail but need a good source to purchase
and install---thanks in advance for assistance.

 

[VYD]

Springers are inconsistent and inaccurate.

BULLSHIT. Out to 50 yards, modern springers from Weihrauch and Air Arms can challenge any PCP in existence. You might want to do some research before spitting out baseless blank statements.

 

[jbell]

VYD, I am not saying you are not correct but really!?!? I don't know much about "springers" but I do know what modern PCP rifles are capable of. Rifles like the Anschutz 9003's & 8002's, Feninwerkbau 800's & 700's, Walther 400's, ect are arguably the most accurate firearms on the face of the Earth period. Maybe by PCP you mean a different grade rifle than the Olympic grade Compressed Air rifles I am thinking of.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

Feinwerkbau - Mit Präzision zum Erfolg! - YouTube

An Olympic level shooter can shoot groups like this prone, I am still trying to get the pellet to hang...

 

[Big_Rig_416]

BULLSHIT. Out to 50 yards, modern springers from Weihrauch and Air Arms can challenge any PCP in existence. You might want to do some research before spitting out baseless blank statements.

I stand my my statement. I have much better consistency with PCP's on paper than i do "springers". The high end springers ive shot are not even close to a mid level PCP. No need to be an ass.

 

[VYD]

Jbell, you are talking mainly about 10 meter competition PCP air rifles. They are all low power and group one hole at that distance. On the other hand, precision spring piston guns like AA TX 200 and HW 97 K will group .5" at 50 yards...this is something Olympic 10 meter PCPs were not designed to do.

 

[VYD]

I have much better consistency with PCP's on paper than i do "springers". The high end springers ive shot are not even close to a mid level PCP.

It is not their fault you could not master them.