.22 EDGun R3 Long vs. .25 EDGun R5 Super Magnum, Slug Shootout

.22 EDGun R3 Long versus .25 EDGun R5 Super Magnum, shooting slugs at 87 yards. Old school versus New school. ;)

I’ve been trying to decide which of my two Eddies were best for the small bore slug competition at RMAC. While I’m not certain of the targets and distances this year, in 2019 they were from 100 to about 225 yards. Late last year I “found the magic” with the R3 shooting NSA 20.2 HP DB slugs at 965 FPS, and posted some 110 yard groups that were well under an inch.

I also have the .25 Eddy SM, and have been working to get it to shoot slugs accurately for at least six months off and on. It likes the NSA 26.8 HP DB slugs at, coincidentally, 965 FPS.

So early this morning I set up a quadrant type swinger at 87 yards where I usually shoot in Descanso, CA. The center swinger is about an inch I think. Here is where and what I was shooting at. The target center left is at 50 yards used for sight in, the swinger is top middle in front of the large bush.

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So the idea was to shoot two times with each gun ten shots each, and the winner would be the one that hit the middle orange swinger the most times. Here are the contestants.

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I won’t bore you with the blow by blow. The R3 went 8 and 7 for 15. The R5 went 6 and 5 for 11. The wind was right to left about 2 to 3 mph with minor gusts to 5 mph. Despite the BC advantage of the .25 (0.085 to 0.074), I didn’t notice one drifting more than the other. But that’s just my observation, not scientific. Here’s a photo of the target after the second round. I painted it after the first 20 shots. Quarters are for size reference. A quarter is 0.955 inch diameter.

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So it looks like the clear winner is the .22 R3. I’m not sure if it’s because the R3 is easier to shoot with a better trigger, but that makes sense. R3 had Athlon Midas TAC 6-24x, R5 had Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x. Looks like I’ll be bringing the R3 to Utah and selling the .25 R5 SM. :(

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Have you played with the R5 barrel tension at all?

Yes, tried various tensions, 8, 10, 12 and 14 ft-lbs. As long as it’s snug it doesn’t really make any difference in accuracy. I also polished the barrel, with additional work on the crown and leade. Tried every slug that NSA makes in .25 caliber. Tried the best one (26.8 grain) from 920 to1040 FPS in 20 FPS increments. 965 was best, 1040 was also very good. The R5 SM also shoots the Mk2 Heavy pellets very good at 885 FPS. But horrible at anything much over 900. I also tried various reg pressures and settled on 135 bar. The gun is as accurate as it’ll ever be with the current barrel...
 
Nice write up Mike. 

My R5 SM in in the middle of testing to find it's "happy place" as well. (2nd go around) I just don't think these guns were ever designed to be bench guns(IMO). My trigger was the worst of any of my guns but now I have it fine tuned down to about 10oz. That sure helps. I just can't seem to give up the ghost and not try to turn this platform into a bench gun. :) A Hunter I think it is meant to be. Yet they are so easy to work on....Ed did a nice job on the design. Thanks for sharing your results.
 
Thanks, its taken me an inordinate amount of time to get the R5 SM tuned to shoot accurately. It certainly wasn't accurate enough when I got it. Like I said in one of the above posts, I've done everything I know to do except replace the barrel. It does have a Huma, which just makes it easier to adjust reg. pressure. It REALLY doesn't like to shoot the Mk2 Heavy faster than 900 FPS, its horrible above that speed, 2 inch groups at 50 yards. At 885 it shoots penny sized groups at 50 yards with the Mk2 Heavy and with the NSA 26.8. I just got in some FX Hybrids, so I'll try those out prior to selling the gun. Its not going to be a total tack driver like the .22 R3 Long, I won the barrel lottery with that gun. What have you done to your SM as far as pellets/slugs/speed? My R5 trigger isn't bad, breaks at about a pound, but the R3 trigger is just about perfect, very much like an FX Boss or Taipan Veteran (the R3 trigger was tuned by Derrick @zx10wall , Team Centercut shooter/tuner, so of course its perfect!).

Mike