Subject says it. I got it a few weeks ago and now have a couple hundred rounds through it and many starlings and pigeons to boot - some were pretty cool shots too -- out to 80 & 90 yards with h&n 18.1g pellets. ;-) ( most between 40-60 though )
Having gotten used to shooting slugs though . . . and a couple of pigeons seemingly 'catching' my pellets like a baseball catcher behind the plate - and then "flipping me off" ( lol ) leaving me scratching my head . . . . ( some pigeons can, sometimes, be surprisingly tough . . . ) I decided to grab a box of NSA 20.2 ( .216 ) slugs and give 'em a go. They showed up today and - get this - I made ZERO change to the gun - singular, only difference is the ammo. I expected them to run a little slower than the pellets - A) slugs, B) heavier. I shot 4 or 5 over my chrony and indeed - mid 830's. ( vs the pellets @895 ) OK - that wasn't entirely unexpected.
Here is what was unexpected. I had two targets still up in the back yard after having mowed it yesterday - one @30 and another at the far end @70. I took aim at the near one first ( 30 ) and pew! "Whoa . . .. " Dead nuts. "What?" ( I expected it to hit a little low ) Nope - sent 4 more - nice tight little group. "Well hell - I'm gonna dial up that one out there at 70 . . . " Pew! ( kinda chuckling a little bit as I could "see" the slug flying towards the target but . . . ) again - damn near dead nuts! "Are you sh#@in' me??"
I send another 4 or 5 more - not ~really~ trying to hold dead on, trying to shoot the pecker off of a gnat mind you - but you know - it's a 1" bullseye and anywhere on that, or even the outer ring of it is a dead pigeon. This thing, with the slugs - not going super duper fast mind you - was delivering dead pigeon all day.
~Everything~ I've read via searching these forums here indicates that these slugs really like mid to high 900's . . . . I've had this gun apart a couple of times and have already familiarized myself with the reg -- I figure a 1/4 turn will get me into that mid 900's range but . . . . . I may just leave it be for a little bit. I need to get to one of my farm permissions and try it out against some pigeons. I duplicated the gun setup in my strelok just for the heck of it and ( obviously ) changed the ammo and then compared the ft/lbs at 70 yards between the 18g pellets and these 20.2g slugs. There is already a 4 or 5 ft/lbs advantage for the slugs over that distance. Nice.
Having gotten used to shooting slugs though . . . and a couple of pigeons seemingly 'catching' my pellets like a baseball catcher behind the plate - and then "flipping me off" ( lol ) leaving me scratching my head . . . . ( some pigeons can, sometimes, be surprisingly tough . . . ) I decided to grab a box of NSA 20.2 ( .216 ) slugs and give 'em a go. They showed up today and - get this - I made ZERO change to the gun - singular, only difference is the ammo. I expected them to run a little slower than the pellets - A) slugs, B) heavier. I shot 4 or 5 over my chrony and indeed - mid 830's. ( vs the pellets @895 ) OK - that wasn't entirely unexpected.
Here is what was unexpected. I had two targets still up in the back yard after having mowed it yesterday - one @30 and another at the far end @70. I took aim at the near one first ( 30 ) and pew! "Whoa . . .. " Dead nuts. "What?" ( I expected it to hit a little low ) Nope - sent 4 more - nice tight little group. "Well hell - I'm gonna dial up that one out there at 70 . . . " Pew! ( kinda chuckling a little bit as I could "see" the slug flying towards the target but . . . ) again - damn near dead nuts! "Are you sh#@in' me??"
I send another 4 or 5 more - not ~really~ trying to hold dead on, trying to shoot the pecker off of a gnat mind you - but you know - it's a 1" bullseye and anywhere on that, or even the outer ring of it is a dead pigeon. This thing, with the slugs - not going super duper fast mind you - was delivering dead pigeon all day. ~Everything~ I've read via searching these forums here indicates that these slugs really like mid to high 900's . . . . I've had this gun apart a couple of times and have already familiarized myself with the reg -- I figure a 1/4 turn will get me into that mid 900's range but . . . . . I may just leave it be for a little bit. I need to get to one of my farm permissions and try it out against some pigeons. I duplicated the gun setup in my strelok just for the heck of it and ( obviously ) changed the ammo and then compared the ft/lbs at 70 yards between the 18g pellets and these 20.2g slugs. There is already a 4 or 5 ft/lbs advantage for the slugs over that distance. Nice.
