30-Yard Challenge

EPG said:

Hi Tommy - Thoughts on 40 scores improving:

We only started doing 40-Challenge and 40-Masters in the last half of 2023.
As shooters are now gaining experience at 40 yards, they are tuning their rifles for that distance.

If you scan our leaderboards, I believe that the 18.13g is the most common pellet. I am guilty of tuning many of my rifles for the 18.13g JSB/FX pellet – because it is perhaps the best all-around pellet JSB has offered. I’ve had success with it at velocities from 700 to 1,025 fps. In the case of my Taipan Veteran, as soon as I tried the 25.39g pellet at 40 yards, I was beating my 18.13 results with that rifle.

It would seem that a good 30 yard tune would also be good at 40 yards, but optimizing for 40 might require some tweaks – or even a different pellet.

I note that Ricky (Airgunnero) is a competition shooter that posts very high 190 scores at 40 yards. He recently was shooting our target at 50 and 55 yards to get ready for an upcoming 50 yard competition. He shot a 185/4X at 55 yards (Wow!!) with his FX Maverick using the 18.13g at 960fps. He then said “more tuning is needed”. So he plans to tweak his great 40 yard Maverick tune to perform at 50 yards.

I think benchrest target shooters almost REQUIRE rifles with adjustability – ideally external adjustability to make it easy to tune. Hunters may prefer rifles like a Daystate Huntsman that come with a good factory tune – that you don’t adjust (easily).

So a 10 yard increase seems to be a significant change for ultimate accuracy with an air rifle.

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Hi Ed,

i’m not using my Maverick because I have to replace all the regulator o-rings and I will use my bnew Philippine made PCP (GCMAG Magnum Gen 2) with a Philippine made barrel (Kalvin barrel or a GF1000) for next weekend’s BR25 and BR50 meter .22 cal categories.
and I’ll try to tune it tomorrow and post some results if the weather is good.

-Ricky

TheAirgunnero said:

Hi Ed,

i’m not using my Maverick because I have to replace all the regulator o-rings and I will use my bnew Philippine made PCP (GCMAG Magnum Gen 2) with a Philippine made barrel (Kalvin barrel or a GF1000) for next weekend’s BR25 and BR50 meter .22 cal categories.
and I’ll try to tune it tomorrow and post some results if the weather is good.

-Ricky

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Very interesting stock is it factory or custom.

TimeRabbit said:

Very interesting stock is it factory or custom.

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It is factory standard but I can request to have my own design made.

TheAirgunnero said:

It is factory standard but I can request to have my own design made.

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When you can shoot like Ricky, manufacturers want to make and give you custom stocks !

Good luck in your upcoming competition Ricky.

Do you think this new rifle has enough lead down the barrel to properly season it before your competition?

EPG said:

When you can shoot like Ricky, manufacturers want to make and give you custom stocks !

Good luck in your upcoming competition Ricky.

Do you think this new rifle has enough lead down the barrel to properly season it before your competition?

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Thanks Ed. I’m about to put 1/2 20 UNF threads on my brand new barrel (GF1000) which I haven’t tested yet. It is very loud without a moderator and our neighbors might complain about the noise it will produce.

I’ll do some tuning after using JSB 18.13gr and post a 30 yard master class card if I discover the sweet spot. I also have to find the perfect hold during the process.

Hi EPG, wanted to make sure my cards shot 7-27-24 are submitted for official score. I guess the cards I post are just automatically submitted?

Today was not a good day to shoot because the weather was bad but I was able to shoot 1 card at 51 yards. The rifle is still in the tuning process and I haven’t discovered the proper hold. Hammer spring hasn’t settled as well as the regulator. I have a few hundred more shots to go through until the rifle is broken in.

Rifle: GCMAG Magnum Gen 2 by Gilbert Felipe
Barrel: GF1000 by Gilbert Felipe
Pellets: JSB 18.13gr unsorted
Scope: Vector Optics Sentinel X
Scope Magnification: 30X
Front rest: Protektor Model Deluxe BB
Rear bag: Protektor rabbit ear
Moderator: BSA 182.4g

Video:

TheAirgunnero said:

Today was not a good day to shoot because the weather was bad but I was able to shoot 1 card at 51 yards. The rifle is still in the tuning process and I haven’t discovered the proper hold. Hammer spring hasn’t settled as well as the regulator. I have a few hundred more shots to go through until the rifle is broken in.

Rifle: GCMAG Magnum Gen 2 by Gilbert Felipe
Barrel: GF1000 by Gilbert Felipe
Pellets: JSB 18.13gr unsorted
Scope: Vector Optics Sentinel X
Scope Magnification: 30X
Front rest: Protektor Model Deluxe BB
Rear bag: Protektor rabbit ear
Moderator: BSA 182.4g

Video:

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Wow that 50 target looks like my 40 targets. (Which means my fifty targets would look a lot worse!)

Shot a few cards today of 40 Masters using a couple different pellets and comparing the two barrels I have for my Thomas. Shot this card and then realized it was pellets I had culled because of “dents” in the skirt of pellet body. So I’m hoping still better is possible.

Toward the end (I shot this card from bottom right, winding back and forth to finish top-left, the wind settled into a pattern where I could just eyeball the hold-off and drop bullseyes. Shooting in lighter, less consistent wind is harder IMHO.

Apologies for not marking which I scored with the plug - but I did plug these and confirm the super close ones with magnified photos from my phone.

dgeesaman said:

Wow that 50 target looks like my 40 targets. (Which means my fifty targets would look a lot worse!)

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“ Fifty yard targets would look a lot worse.”

Mine also David!

188-8X at 50y is awesome, to me anyway. That would be a v.g. Card for me at 40 Masters.

dgeesaman said:

Shot a few cards today of 40 Masters using a couple different pellets and comparing the two barrels I have for my Thomas. Shot this card and then realized it was pellets I had culled because of “dents” in the skirt of pellet body. So I’m hoping better is possible.

Toward the end (I shot this card from bottom right, winding back and forth to finish top-left, the wind settled into a pattern where I could just eyeball the hold-off and drop bullseyes. Shooting in lighter, less consistent wind is harder IMHO.

Apologies for not marking which I scored with the plug - but I did plug these and confirm the super close ones with magnified photos from my phone.

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Anytime I see seven sighters hitting the ‘10 ring’ I know I’m going to see a great card. Nice work.

My new RAW TM1000x .177 likes the FX 13.4 trash cans too.

nomojo65 said:

Hi EPG, wanted to make sure my cards shot 7-27-24 are submitted for official score. I guess the cards I post are just automatically submitted?

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Yes - your cards are submitted. I will be doing the August Leaderboard Update soon. There were lots of submissions, so I was hoping for a rainy day to work on it.

Hi Guys,

I have 3 leaderboard submissions from yesterday. I posted some groups on the Benchrest forum the other day, and got some feedback from igolfat8 – a good shooting tip regarding stiction.

So I took my rifle that would in theory have the most stiction in the rear rest – my HW110 – because it has a rubber coated stock that is “grabby”. To really “challenge” myself I shot 40-Masters cards with the HW110 – using lightweight 15.89g pellets at just 705fps. I knew from shooting groups that the rifle would group at 40 yards despite the light weight and slow velocity – but my technique has to be perfect.

First card was a 178 8X 40-Masters. The 178 was not impressive, but I was blown away with 8X at forty yards with the 18 ft/lb rifle.

Second card with HW110 I worked on eliminating the stiction and really managing my follow-through and I shot a 189 5X 40-Masters with a 18 ft/lb .22 ! I submit this for the 40-Masters leaderboard.

I’m also submitting:
A 198 13X 40-Challenge with the Taipan Vet 2 – FX 25.4g MRDs at 860fps with Sightron SIII 45X
A 196 10X 40-Challenge with the Daystate Wolverine R HP – FX 25.4g MRDs at 870fps with Sightron SIII 36X

The practice with setup (eliminating stiction in rear rest) with the HW110 carried over to my shooting with the other rifles. My final card was with the Wolverine shooting a 40-Masters. I started with 4 straight Xs and then my shooting went south – visibility was getting low and I was tired and losing form… but I had a blast with my air rifles on a humid August 2nd.

Will try to get leaderboards updated this week.

TheAirgunnero said:

Today was not a good day to shoot because the weather was bad but I was able to shoot 1 card at 51 yards. The rifle is still in the tuning process and I haven’t discovered the proper hold. Hammer spring hasn’t settled as well as the regulator. I have a few hundred more shots to go through until the rifle is broken in.

Rifle: GCMAG Magnum Gen 2 by Gilbert Felipe
Barrel: GF1000 by Gilbert Felipe
Pellets: JSB 18.13gr unsorted
Scope: Vector Optics Sentinel X
Scope Magnification: 30X
Front rest: Protektor Model Deluxe BB
Rear bag: Protektor rabbit ear
Moderator: BSA 182.4g

Video:

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Hey Ricky,

What does this adjustment do on your rifle? It appears there is a hammer spring adjuster wheel at the back of the rifle - so is this a transfer port size adjustment?

-Ed

These targets are the 30-yard challenge
I shot these 2 cards today with my RAW BM500 sub-12 FPS rifle
Distance: 30 yards
Wind condition: almost 0 mph
Humidity: 98%
Temp: 83
Pellet type: on 200-16X QYS 8.2 domed point at 785 FPS for a FPE of 11.25 on the 200 18X JSB 10.34 at 715 FPS for a FPE of 11.44
Rest: Is a Ahrens pendulum rest
Plug: .177 shank with a .223 rim close targets were looked at with a 30 power lighted magnifying glass
Notice while personal were down range servicing targets the action on the Raw was open

EPG said:

Hey Ricky,

What does this adjustment do on your rifle? It appears there is a hammer spring adjuster wheel at the back of the rifle - so is this a transfer port size adjustment?

-Ed

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Ed, that is the power wheel and HST micro adjuster beside it (inside the dark area) similar to the FX Crown, Panthera and Impact. The transfer port setting knob is found at the back.

bearbar said:

These targets are the 30-yard challenge
I shot these 2 cards today with my RAW BM500 sub-12 FPS rifle
Distance: 30 yards
Wind condition: almost 0 mph
Humidity: 98%
Temp: 83
Pellet type: on 200-16X QYS 8.2 domed point at 785 FPS for a FPE of 11.25 on the 200 18X JSB 10.34 at 715 FPS for a FPE of 11.44
Rest: Is a Ahrens pendulum rest
Plug: .177 shank with a .223 rim close targets were looked at with a 30 power lighted magnifying glass
Notice while personal were down range servicing targets the action on the Raw was open


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Were you shooting "stone age" - no camera on the scope feeding your 14' x 7' ultra high resolution 7 million x 7 million pixels per square micron flat screen?

Normally I hear you counting the threads on the target to determine your hold for the wind conditions.

Nice cards!

Figured I would get out this morning b4 Debbie's rains get here. Next three days are forecasting solid rain.

I shot the FX Royale .22, which is quickly becoming my most accurate target challenge rifle. The Smooth Twist barrels are the best!

Shot three 30Y Masters and one 30Y Challenge target. The Leupold 6.5X20X40mm EFR AO with duplex reticle is the most clear reticle in the scopes that I have. Wish it was 30-35x magnification . They really know how to make glass!
This rifle's accuracy and consistent POI rewards you with a little help from wind reading.

Conditions - muggy, light wind @ 1-2/3 mph
Distance: 30Y
Accu-Tac, rear Protektor bag
JSB 18.1 @ 896 avg.
Garmin Xcero Chrony

Leaderboard Submissions:

198-15X 30Y
196-12X 30 Masters

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Gentlemen,
I am impressed with the number of submissions and the overall high quality of shooting this past month – great job!

These Leaderboards contain submissions through today – August 6, 2024.

Notables:

Our competition shooter from the Philippines, Ricky ‘The Airgunnero”, not only shot numerous 200 30-Masters cards, he introduced Speed Shooting - and actually shot a 200 18X 30-Masters on video… in 62.78 seconds!! I’ve never been able to shoot a 200 Masters card (30 or 40) or an 18X card – in ANY amount of time, lol.

Ricky also had great submissions at 40, 50 and 55 yards – I added these to the 40-Masters board for reference (in case anyone else wants to try these distances).

Longtime Challenge shooter TommyB submitted his first 200 of 2024 – congrats Tommy.

We have 6 new 200 30-Masters submissions on the leaderboard since the last leaderboard update.

We have 5 new 200 30-Challenge submissions on the leaderboard since the last leaderboard update.

MReynolds shot the first 40-Masters 200 ever – an incredible 200 16X on July 13th with his .177 Thomas.


There were many more 200s submitted, top shooters like The Airgunnero, Demphna2, dgeesaman, mreynolds and bearbar have submitted multiple 200s with the same rifle – only the best submission for a specific rifle is posted on our leaderboard.

Remember, if your rifle can switch calibers, you can submit for both .177 and .22 with that same rifle.

We actually had a Spring Piston rifle submission by our longtime sharpshooter beerthief – a 188 8X 30-Challenge with his Air Arms TX200 – nice job (and send me your scope info and pellet velocity for your springer).

Loff had our first slug submission – a 190 8X 30-Challenge using ZAN 20g .177 slugs with his FX Dreamline GRS – one slug actually passed through his 2 inch thick backing board!


Challenge Shooters, tonight you can sit back and admire your scores up on the Leaderboards… tomorrow get your rifles out and GET SOME LEAD DOWNRANGE !!

-EPG

Leaderboard submission:
30-Masters: 200 16X
FX Crown MK2 .22 – 500mm superlight barrel
FX 18.13g @ 882-895fps
Sightron SII 36x fixed power

Shot 3 cards with my Weihrauch HW110, then I swapped the scope back onto the Crown. Had not shot the Crown in a couple weeks, as I had no scope mounted.

The stars were aligned – checked cylinder pressure, 185 bar – perfect (reg pressure is 135bar). Outside temp 78F, inside temp 68F – perfect – no huge temperature change. Wind was almost still – extremely mild breeze. I used 4 or 5 shots to resight the Sightron on the Crown at 30 yards. I almost never shoot the Crown at 30, but since it was sighted… thought to myself, hey why not shoot a 30-Masters? Result was this 200 16X. This is my first 200 Masters card (either 30 or 40). I have many 199s.

It’s the details. The fill pressure was right. The conditions were right. I didn’t use a couple pellets with iffy skirts. I paid attention to eliminating stiction on my rear rest. I concentrated and didn’t put pressure on myself on the last row. I have a streak of 19 straight 190+ 40 yard cards with the Crown – so I am confident and trust the rifle. I believe I’m getting better. Of course, shooting pellets straight from the tin, I always feel there is a bit of luck involved with a 200.

I had a bourbon to celebrate.

-Ed