20 yards to test a high end gun???????

I really think it depends on what's being reviewed. Example would be any low powered piston gun or even a CO2 pistol, that sort of range would be acceptable. As far as a higher powered PCP's my minimum would be 50 yards, 100 for .25 and above. What I personally don't like is 5 shot groups, I want to see an entire magazine worth of shots on paper.This to me is a more realistic test of basic performance the average shooter can expect. One thing I've started doing is poi barrel test, I shoot a group, flex the barrel and then shoot another group to see if poi changes. This imo is something that NO reviewers will show that I feel is imperative for buyers to know.
 
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Imho different disciplines & different guns require different zeroing yardages, simple as that. As a person who pests 99% of the time I zero at 50 yards. I need to know that that is the MINIMUM with which my guns should perform. Competition shooting requires different parameters. In my mind there is no single magic zeroing number. Most of the times the prey I'm after will barely let one get closer than 50 or 60 yards so it's only logical that would be my starting point for required accuracy. And, of course, it depends what the shooter & gun are each capable of. My gut reaction to posts about accuracy @ 25 or 30 yards USED TO BE "big deal, mine can do that at 75" but I understand the difference between disciplines now & there are different needs.
 
I don't see the point of paper target (PCP) shooting under 50 yards. Seems like a waste of good ammo. Especially when reviewers are shooting 25 yards and testing different ammo. Why not just start at 50?

If someone here likes to shoot 25 yards, I have no critique regarding their hobby as such, but I would think we could agree that it's pretty useless in terms of reviewing a gun unless it's a .177 or BB gun.

I saw a recent review of the Guantlet 30 and the reviewer -- who's a guy I like -- started out at 25 yards and spent half the review at that distance. To his credit he did stretch it out to 100 by the end of the video.
 
So I zero and start testing all my airguns at 18 yards because that is the maximum distance of my indoor range. And if it won’t shoot one hole at 18, it isn’t going to do well further out. Shooting indoors at 18 allows me to have near laboratory conditions while I get my chrono readings and test all of the gun’s function characteristics. This includes RAWs, Red Wolfs, Wolverine HP, Brocock, FXs, AA pcps, and a myriad of “quality springers”

Once complete, I usually take the rifle with the best performing three or four pellets to my outdoor range and then move on out to 50 and beyond to get my trajectory table locked in for a specific rifle ONCE I have determined the best pellet/slug combination. By setting near zero at 18, I can always check zero day or night or when it is 120 degrees or -30 degrees outside, if I need to remove a stock, scope, or other component.

I find it interesting as to how many are so critical of others on this forum without a complete understanding of what others may be working to accomplish.

We should just be glad to have so many enthusiastic participants looking out for the interests of this great hobby/sport, as opposed to criticizing others we don’t even know personally.
 
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I don't see the point of paper target (PCP) shooting under 50 yards. Seems like a waste of good ammo. Especially when reviewers are shooting 25 yards and testing different ammo. Why not just start at 50?

If someone here likes to shoot 25 yards, I have no critique regarding their hobby as such, but I would think we could agree that it's pretty useless in terms of reviewing a gun unless it's a .177 or BB gun.

I saw a recent review of the Guantlet 30 and the reviewer -- who's a guy I like -- started out at 25 yards and spent half the review at that distance. To his credit he did stretch it out to 100 by the end of the video.
Lol exactly and the reasoning in the video stated for starting at 25 was not wanting to waste ammo. I was like WTF
 
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Lol I stopped 10 shot groups as it seems I always screw up on the 9 th or 10 th shot
So it is now 8 shot groups
In terms of statistical significance 6 or 7 shot groups are sufficient to derive meaningful accuracy data.

See linked, it's a few paragraphs in. Math Nerd Warning!

 
I only shoot springers and a few single stroke pneumatic pistols. I start all guns at 10 meters, and do most of my shooting at 20. At almost age77 I am tending to return to diopter sights., and even on my HW77 and 35e have a double diopter, the little circle front sight instead of a post . It's hard to find a target sized properly for those sights for other than 10 yards/meters. I am finding the 10meter pistol target works well for those sights when I use it at 20 meters. and the other advantage of shorter range is that I do not walk back and forth as much. I do have an ok bench settup, one of the Caldwell stable tables, nice but not rock solid, with a Sinclair adjustable tripod and a rear bag. I really use it for zeroing, checking zeros. and am preferring to shoot moree standing up, and yes I don't get one hole groups, I'm not as steady as 50 years ago in my college days shooting smallbore match, so I am getting happy with 1 1/2 inch groups at 20 yards. A lot more satisyfing than shooting tiny groups off a bench. I do have some nylon cord with s hooks on the end and hang soda cans there and plink at them at times just for the satisfaction of seeing them jump.