My new Maverick is keyholing

There is a possibility that your reg is set to high and the blast of air out of the muzzle is throwing them off never had a pellet keyhole before but I'd say sure looks like that's what is happening

Ok well idk then odd looks to be a keyhole I'd say did you check speed on a chrono

Pellet speed? IT could be the liner. Take it out and check the crown and use a Q tip to check for burs.

I have a brand new Impact compact in .22 and am having same problem talked to Utah Air yesterday and they instantly said something wrong and issued a return label my new baby heading back to Utah don't beat yourself up talk to seller!

Did you try indexing your liner, and see if the direction of the keyhole changes. This will tell you whether it’s a barrel issue, or a tuning issue.

Just another thought path ... try a new backer with no holes in it and also use heavy card stock paper or real target paper. It could be the paper is too thin or the backer has too many holes giving you false indications?

Could be the liner lock isn't drilled center or something must be throwing them side ways . Must be something with barrel assembly

I'd also suggest trying a "thicker" target, and or fresh backing. I get strange shaped holes often when shooting through standard printer paper, but never when using shoot n see targets. Something easy to try just to rule it out at least.

Assuming your tune isn't grossly wrong, and the liner/sleeve assembly is properly installed, it seems to me the problem has to either be the liner or the TP at the breech. I had a Red Wolf barrel that would never shoot, turned out to be a burr at the TP that was damaging the pellet when chambering. It's a new rifle, just return it. Life's too short to fuss with a rifle that doesn't shoot.

Consider pushing a pellet through the barrel. That will check the transfer port and the crown.

As others have suggested, try thick card stock backer. It doesn’t appear to be a keyhole if you look close.

Dave

My targets look like that quite often unless I’m shooting a slug or wadcutter. My targets are photocopies and I figured it was because of the cheap paper.

Send it back . If you take it apart you may Void the warranty.

If you look behind in the card board it doesn't look like the pellets are going straight threw they look sideways on some shots

Shoot a pellet into something hard like a board and then look at the flattened pellet to see if it compressed straight or sideways...that will tell you, but regardless if you can't get a group better than that with several tunes, I would say something is wrong and I agree with the thought of sending it back....don't take it apart an void your warranty

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Maverick liners are choked. Maybe the liner was installed backwards with the choke at the breech end. Or maybe the retainer nut (jam nut) that holds the liner in place is just loose.
Another thing to check with Mavericks is if the magazine is making any contact with the cheek rest that would keep the mag from fully seating into its home position. I know this sounds unrelated, but it's not. If the magazine is not fully seating, then it's out of line with the pellet probe and breech and can chew up the mag and pellets and all kinds of other bad stuff as the pellets (slugs) are chambered. If the cheek rest is keeping the mag from fully seating, then you should be able to just sand down the part(s) of the cheek rest that are making contact with the mag.
grungy

what kinda speeds reg set at 500mm or 700mm rear reg 85-100 bar for 18 gr pelets so 30up more in front reg i never went 40 bar difference was better strings 900-930 fps

Bill_D said:

Shoot a pellet into something hard like a board and then look at the flattened pellet to see if it compressed straight or sideways...that will tell you, but regardless if you can't get a group better than that with several tunes, I would say something is wrong and I agree with the thought of sending it back....don't take it apart an void your warranty

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try shoot into a block of wood and you will see how it goes. Looks like your paper is the problem and you don’t want to the reg to be too low.