Hi all. This is my attempt to answer the age old question of what practical accuracy can be expected from a springer, quirks included. With no wind to speak of and my TX shooting well it seemed like a good time to see what it could do from my favorite position, sitting using a set of old Stony Point Shooting sticks. My personal standard for good accuracy is anything less than 2 MOA, which is approximately 0.50” at 25 yards or 0.70” at 35 yards.
I started off shooting from 25 yards, and as expected with that rifle, the first shot went a bit low. The other four shots went a little high and right. The second group continued that trend with a reasonably tight cluster high and right. Groups three and four showed nice tight groups, still a bit right but lower. POI shifting a bit lower after ten shots is not unexpected with that rifle, and one of the “quirks” I was referring to. The tendency to hit a bit right may be simply the result of how I timed the shot, or something else, who knows.
After finishing at 25 yards, I moved to 35 yards to confirm my zero. The group made the cut at under 2 MOA, but was a bit high and just a little left. Why was it a little left instead of right like I had seen at 25 yards? Might have been a wind effect, might have been me, who knows.
The take away I think is that a good springer can be very accurate at short ranges, but may subject to a little more POI drift than a regulated PCP or a high quality rimfire. And of course there is the problem of position sensitivity. I would expect to have to adjust my zero were I to shoot the same rifle from the bench. A PCP or rimfire might show some shift in POI depending on position, but nowhere near as much in my experience.
Have a good evening.
Chuck
I started off shooting from 25 yards, and as expected with that rifle, the first shot went a bit low. The other four shots went a little high and right. The second group continued that trend with a reasonably tight cluster high and right. Groups three and four showed nice tight groups, still a bit right but lower. POI shifting a bit lower after ten shots is not unexpected with that rifle, and one of the “quirks” I was referring to. The tendency to hit a bit right may be simply the result of how I timed the shot, or something else, who knows.
After finishing at 25 yards, I moved to 35 yards to confirm my zero. The group made the cut at under 2 MOA, but was a bit high and just a little left. Why was it a little left instead of right like I had seen at 25 yards? Might have been a wind effect, might have been me, who knows.
The take away I think is that a good springer can be very accurate at short ranges, but may subject to a little more POI drift than a regulated PCP or a high quality rimfire. And of course there is the problem of position sensitivity. I would expect to have to adjust my zero were I to shoot the same rifle from the bench. A PCP or rimfire might show some shift in POI depending on position, but nowhere near as much in my experience.
Have a good evening.
Chuck
