Skout .25 Skout Epoch
- Thread starter Centercut
- Start date
I made a change in the Gold Skout. After many months testing and shooting .25 at various speed with various brands, I was getting good results, both accuracy wise and stat wise with tight ES and good SD.
But something was missing. I just didn’t feel it had the accuracy in .25 to be competitive at the highest level in 100Y BR. EFT yes, 100Y BR no.
When looking at 100Y accuracy, I always reflect back on my old .30 FX Bobcat MK2 that I did very well with at EBR 2019.
That Summer I shot many many 100Y cards and the majority were in the 225 to 228 range.
So, I decided to shift the Skout to .30 caliber and JSB 44.75 (or another JSB variant like FX or Daystate Rangemasters). I changed out the barrel and probe, installed a FX Superior 700mm 1:40 twist liner and .30 pellet probe. I tuned the gun for 870 fps, which is 1205 psi HP reg, 170 psi LP reg, and 23 micro-sec Dwell.
It took about two magazines to break in (lead in?) the new barrel and then this started happening.
100Y, 10 shots, light breeze. The gun started shooting like this. Although I only took one 10 shot group photo, there were more similar to this one. Vertical spread for those ten is about 1/2 inch! I did not shoot a score card as I’m still tweaking the tune, but so far it looks REALLY good.
And the Stats look VERY good also. Here’s an 18 shot string. ES of 5 fps with an SD of 1.4 fps is excellent in my book.
I’m going to keep tweaking a bit but I may have found my 2024 competition rig for 100Y BR and EFT. Hopefully I can duplicate these results the next time out.
But something was missing. I just didn’t feel it had the accuracy in .25 to be competitive at the highest level in 100Y BR. EFT yes, 100Y BR no.
When looking at 100Y accuracy, I always reflect back on my old .30 FX Bobcat MK2 that I did very well with at EBR 2019.
That Summer I shot many many 100Y cards and the majority were in the 225 to 228 range.
So, I decided to shift the Skout to .30 caliber and JSB 44.75 (or another JSB variant like FX or Daystate Rangemasters). I changed out the barrel and probe, installed a FX Superior 700mm 1:40 twist liner and .30 pellet probe. I tuned the gun for 870 fps, which is 1205 psi HP reg, 170 psi LP reg, and 23 micro-sec Dwell.
It took about two magazines to break in (lead in?) the new barrel and then this started happening.
100Y, 10 shots, light breeze. The gun started shooting like this. Although I only took one 10 shot group photo, there were more similar to this one. Vertical spread for those ten is about 1/2 inch! I did not shoot a score card as I’m still tweaking the tune, but so far it looks REALLY good.
And the Stats look VERY good also. Here’s an 18 shot string. ES of 5 fps with an SD of 1.4 fps is excellent in my book.
I’m going to keep tweaking a bit but I may have found my 2024 competition rig for 100Y BR and EFT. Hopefully I can duplicate these results the next time out.
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Wow. Impressive looking target. Looks like you’ve got it dialed in nicely. Hopefully the next outing confirms this.
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Have you tried the longer barrels?
Was wondering if there was a significant difference in performance in longer ranges.
Most seem to be happy with their short barrels,
Any opinion?
Thanks
Mike
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No opinion. I have a 35 inch barrel in both .25 and .30 but haven’t tried either. My plan was to try the .30 long barrel if this setup wasn’t top notch. I know it’s a silly illogical reason, but the 35 inch barrels just kinda freak me out a bit and “feel” too long. Doesn’t make sense but it is what it is for me… now I’ll never know - if this current setup is repeatable - since it doesn’t get much better than that.
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Not much on the longer barrels
hmm..i kinda understand .."Ain't broke don't fix it"
If you were to change to a longer barrel...how many setting would need to be changed?
I am seriously thinking of ordering one. but don't know if the added length is superflous?
Thanks @Centercut , I appreciate the feedback
Mike
hmm..i kinda understand .."Ain't broke don't fix it"
If you were to change to a longer barrel...how many setting would need to be changed?
I am seriously thinking of ordering one. but don't know if the added length is superflous?
Thanks @Centercut , I appreciate the feedback
Mike
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A lot of the Team Skout shooters use the long .30 barrel. I think I’d have to come down in HP reg pressure some, maybe to 1050 to 1100 psi in order to keep the same pellet speed.
Many 100Y BR shooters seem to be inflicted with the “speed fetish” and their manliness would never allow them to shoot 870 fps. With a super slow twist barrel the slow speeds are better in quartering winds even if accuracy faster is equivalent.
One of the best airgun shooters in the world, Matt Dubber, has his .30 Impact setup for 865 fps when he comes to the US to shoot 100Y at RMAC. That’s the speed he tells UA to setup his gun for…. It’s slightly possible he might know a thing or two?
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I believe you can send your FX liner to Skout to retrofit into their barrel system if you dont' have the home skills to do it.
Also, on another note..are you guys storing your Epoch with the bottle valve closed and the regs/plenum depressurized?
Also, on another note..are you guys storing your Epoch with the bottle valve closed and the regs/plenum depressurized?
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You don’t need to send it in to Skout. All you do is install an FX Superior liner in the Outer housing you order from Skout. Choose your length, 700mm, 600mm, whatever. Easy day.
As far as depressurizing the gun between uses I don’t, but Augie @Bigragu does. I’m gun shy doing that since it bit me in the ass in December 2023 when I brought the gun to the Orlando EFT GP and the LP reg failed when I pressurized the gun the morning of the competition.
I’ll live with a 200 to 300 psi drop daily, not a big deal.
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Mike!
Just wanna say that your depicted group is stellar. Nice shooting and good outcome on all of the work that you have performed over the last several months on your rifle. It appears to be paying off!
Mike
Just wanna say that your depicted group is stellar. Nice shooting and good outcome on all of the work that you have performed over the last several months on your rifle. It appears to be paying off!
Mike
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Yeah, I depressirize my rig religiously after each use, bottle valve closed and bleed knob left loose after bleeding the action. I’ve found this Skout to be a “procedures to follow” type of gun, a series of steps that I follow.
The other day while performing tests I didn’t pay much attention to my fx chrono that I had left on, as my attention was more focused on testing for accuracy and as far as I was concerned, my tune was good and done.
When it came time to put things away, that’s when I noticed this shot string
This Skout is truly unbelievable in its performance. It keeps getting better with each passing day, for me anyway
The other day while performing tests I didn’t pay much attention to my fx chrono that I had left on, as my attention was more focused on testing for accuracy and as far as I was concerned, my tune was good and done.
When it came time to put things away, that’s when I noticed this shot string
This Skout is truly unbelievable in its performance. It keeps getting better with each passing day, for me anyway
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I have nobody else around me local to ask, so here me go with a tinkerer question...
So far I was shooting my .25 Impact heavy modded MK2 up to 100 meter BR, and I was planning/hoping to add one more .22 rifle for longer range let say 200 ish distance. These I am talking gun range shooting controlled environment only.
My local FX dealer have a Pantera I was eyeing may come up with some updates, and never noticed that earlier but he is listing a .22 Epoch as well...
I know couple of you guys have both ... if the budget can buy only one which would you chose? I know the comparison is not fair apples and oranges.... but again ....
So far I was shooting my .25 Impact heavy modded MK2 up to 100 meter BR, and I was planning/hoping to add one more .22 rifle for longer range let say 200 ish distance. These I am talking gun range shooting controlled environment only.
My local FX dealer have a Pantera I was eyeing may come up with some updates, and never noticed that earlier but he is listing a .22 Epoch as well...
I know couple of you guys have both ... if the budget can buy only one which would you chose? I know the comparison is not fair apples and oranges.... but again ....
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For shooting long range with slugs, the FX Panthera is the better choice, as long as it's a 600mm or 700mm version...
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I'm not sure how much of a rush you are in to purchase a rifle, But we just finished up our slugs and slug barrel for .25 caliber and it is amazing in the Epoch and shoots at 200 yards with ease. This will be available starting later this week. We are currently finishing up .22 caliber (will have them for sale nearing the end of April) and they are also performing well!
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I am not an impulse buyer, also here in Canada (North of Toronto) the outdoors shooting not really healthy up to May maybe, at least that was a routine earlier years.
The other thing is, I shall call my local FX dealer @ AGS how frequently he is re-stocking the Epoch's ... I would not buy now the existing off the shelf if the updates coming right next week.
With my Impact .25 liners the pellets behave much better @ 100 vs ZAN's, very interested to hear what your .25 barrels can perform.
.22 or .25 slugs I don't mind if the barrels can deliver as promised.
Edit:
So far I have not seen airgun BR competition events around me in decent driving radius, at my 500+ members gunclub me alone shooting air @ 100 BR and 20-100 silhouettes. Kind a tickling my mind I would want to poke the rimfire guys ... somehow
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We have made the slugs with the help of Corbin to be the perfect size and grain weight for our barrel. They are truly incredible. We will be posting some content this week on the slugs and their accuracy. I believe you will be thoroughly impressed.
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I would be for sure down for this combo and will check in with Darryl later this week. Thanks for the update.
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Custom built slugs? Those my be hard to find at my place, but can I resize my existing available instead? (or these are geometry specific?) I am a big fan of resizing my pellets anyway
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Come to the Ashland, OR event first weekend in May 2024 and shoot Long Range 140 to 300 yards with the new barrel and new slugs. That would be worth thousands of words and photos! You could also shoot 100Y BR and EFT GP event. Team Centercut will have eight shooters competing. And I'll be shooting my Gold Skout .30 in 100Y BR and EFT.
https://www.airgunnation.com/thread...hallenge-may-2nd-5th-2024-ashland-or.1304386/
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It is a mix of sizing and geometry, but we have had pretty good results still with the correct size slugs in different shapes.Custom built slugs? Those my be hard to find at my place, but can I resize my existing available instead? (or these are geometry specific?) I am a big fan of resizing my pellets anyway
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