30-Yard Challenge

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First try at the challenge. I think I scored it correctly but if I didn't please let me know.
3-5mph wind today so really nothing. 63 out and very pleasant. I used my Wolverine R with FX 10.34 pellets. A lot of fun,

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Headshots, you need to score that one up. I think it's over 190. I counted 10 blocks that seem like they are 19 or 20 for the two shots. If you do not have a scoring plug you could do what I do for my 25s, I just use a pellet that I epoxied a large toothpick to. It isn't ideal but I can't fine a 25 scoring plug. They are readily available and inexpensive for 22 (and 177 but we use a 22 for 177s).
 
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JimD said:
Headshots, you need to score that one up. I think it's over 190. I counted 10 blocks that seem like they are 19 or 20 for the two shots. If you do not have a scoring plug you could do what I do for my 25s, I just use a pellet that I epoxied a large toothpick to. It isn't ideal but I can't fine a 25 scoring plug. They are readily available and inexpensive for 22 (and 177 but we use a 22 for 177s).
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It ended up being a 197 . I used a .22 pellet on the questionable ones.

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A 197 is the best I've done so far this year! Really good.

For those of you starting, I would also add that most of my scores the first year were in the 180s and some were in the 170s or worse. It took me a good year to start getting fairly routine 190 or better scores. I still shoot some in the 180s. And that is in my best guns. I've shot one 200 and there was definitely some luck involved (but I shot three 199s first). The advantage I see from all the pellets I've expended at this is I am pretty confident in using one or at most two 5 shot groups to screen pellets for a new gun. My shooting is much more consistent, in other words. I do not think I will ever shoot 200s consistently but I shoot a lot more often over 190 than I did at first. The big issue I have is not stringing together 4 or 5 or 6 10s, it is stringing together 20. And if the wind kicks up a little...

To those shooting springers and less expensive guns (like most of mine) I think we all understand you have a bigger challenge. One of my 5 less expensive PCPs gave me my one 200 but the best the others have done is a 194. I am terrible with a springer. I don't own one but set one up for my son and couldn't shoot a respectable group.

I think this game works best when we look for little improvements and not compare ourselves to others who have been doing it a lot longer and are possibly less limited by their equipment. But I also have experience suggesting that even under $500 PCPs can compete - but I don't think all are at that level, at least mine are not. But a major re-tune took my P35-25 from a 177 to a 194.
 
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Shot a couple of these Rimfire targets at 30y. A little windy, but it was a nice change of pace. No pressure, no score. 😀

My hold offs were mainly at 2 to 5 o'clock on the 10 ring or just a bit off it.

Best wind condition was a tail wind for those holds, so I waited until I saw flag blow towards target.

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I think this is my first target this year with my P35-177. I shot a 194 using H&N Baracuda Match last year but I wondered if it would like H&N Baracuda FT better. So I bought a tin from Amazon, fulfilled by Midway. I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived with no dents to the tin and the pellets look good. Anyway, this is the first target with those pellets. 190 12X is how I scored it. I have not changed the tune from what I used with the Match pellets so I am pushing the FTs at 920 fps. Seems a bit fast. So I plan to detune it a bit to get them going 900 fps or a bit less. Most of my targets with the Match pellets in this rifle were less than 190, despite the 194 target. So I am still hoping for better from the FTs. I was using my Athlon Talos 6-24 set at 24X.

I also shot a 196 with my Caiman X today and I was a little surprised how much I enjoyed shooting the P35. The Caiman is a nice gun and I finally got it's regulator working and it held a 12 ES with a 3 std deviation on today's target. Really good. It's machining is noticably better than the P35. But it's heavier and I've shot the P35s so much they seem like coming back to an old friend.

P35-177 190 12X with FTs.jpg
 
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New best for me this year and best ever with this gun! 197 15X with my P35-177 shooting H&N Baracuda FTs at 880 fps. It's a little windy today and I was hesitant to try the 177 but finally I did. I first slowed it down from 920 to 900 fps and shot two targets. I was struggling to make appropriate wind holds on both of them and shot a 189 and a 190. Then I turned it down another 1/4 turn on the HS and I think it's now shooting at about 880 fps (haven't measured it yet). Did not hold off nearly as much, didn't need to. Wind may have been less or pellets were a bit more stable in flight. My best ever with this gun was a 194 using H&N Baracuda Match (JSB 10.3s are worse). But today, in a slight wind (weather report says 9 mph) it gives me a 197 with 15Xs. Nothing less than a 9. The gun has my Athlon Talos 6-24 set at 24X on it. Fine cross hair. I may still try 860 fps but that's probably getting greedy. With less wind this tune could give me a 200. It's fun when things come together.

P35-177 197 15X with FTs at 880fps.jpg
 
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JimD said:
New best for me this year and best ever with this gun! 197 15X with my P35-177 shooting H&N Baracuda FTs at 880 fps. It's a little windy today and I was hesitant to try the 177 but finally I did. I first slowed it down from 920 to 900 fps and shot two targets. I was struggling to make appropriate wind holds on both of them and shot a 189 and a 190. Then I turned it down another 1/4 turn on the HS and I think it's now shooting at about 880 fps (haven't measured it yet). Did not hold off nearly as much, didn't need to. Wind may have been less or pellets were a bit more stable in flight. My best ever with this gun was a 194 using H&N Baracuda Match (JSB 10.3s are worse). But today, in a slight wind (weather report says 9 mph) it gives me a 197 with 15Xs. Nothing less than a 9. The gun has my Athlon Talos 6-24 set at 24X on it. Fine cross hair. I may still try 860 fps but that's probably getting greedy. With less wind this tune could give me a 200. It's fun when things come together.
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Awesome card JimmyD - great shooting.

Those H&N FTs are awesome pellets, but hard to find.
 
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Its great to be back home shooting the 30 & 40 Challenges.

I was up at NAC shooting 100 yards with .30 caliber Apr 17-21. I improved over last year, but I lost my cool and didn’t shoot my best either day - missed qualifying for Sportsman’s finals. Overall, I had a blast - had great fun in the speed shooting and the long range. Met some new friends and hung out with my friend Joe who I met at NAC 2023.

I did win an Accu-Tac bipod in the NAC raffle. First time I’ve owned a bipod. This thing is solid - and has cant adjustment.

Its been too windy to shoot last week, except a few groups at 40 yards.

So… a rifle I’ve been lusting after showed up in AGN classifieds. Owner was a really nice guy, we made a deal and I received it quickly because he doesn’t live that far from Connecticut.

Its a Taipan Veteran 2 .22 cal with 550mm CZ barrel. The original owner swapped out the Taipan regulator for a Huma and installed a Saber hammer spring adjuster knob to make adjustment of hs easier.

I zeroed it yesterday in about 1 shot using cheap Hatsan Vortex Strike 17.75g pellets. It made a one hole 10 shot group, I said hmm - Wow.

Today I cleaned the barrel and shot a few groups - played with turning down hammer spring adjuster as original owner has reg at 150bar and was shooting MRDs at 900fps - 28g MRD Grands about 880fps.

I shot a 30 Challenge card with H&N Baracuda 21g - shot 186 7X at 875fps.

Then I shot my 2nd card with the rifle, 1st with FX 18.13g. I turned hammer spring adjuster down a bit more - put up target - bullseyed my sighter, shot another sighter, hit the edge - then shot 30-Challenge card.

Shot 200 13X in very breezy conditions! Almost 14X - see target 2b. Also triple checked target 12b - just caught the line (a change from mu usual just missing on 12b, lol).

Can you believe that?!? 200 the 1st card with JSB/FX pellets. She’s a shooter and I must say this - this Taipan is built to the highest quality I’ve seen in an air rifle. Its a tiny rifle but weighs a LOT !

So, its a leaderboard submission.

Its shooting a bit too fast with the 18.13 still 914-932 fps on the 200 card - so I’ll start doing my EPG tuning stuff to it… but just a phenomenal “out of the box” experience with my 1st Taipan. Incredible.

BTW - if you look at the times on the chrono, you’ll see that I shot this 200 card in 12 minutes including the 2 sighters and magazine reloads, lol - I wasn’t really trying for a high score, just getting used to rifle.

Also, used an Athlon Argos Gen 1 6x24 at 24x (reticle is very thick at this setting) - so no Sightron Target scope needed!

-Ed

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JimD said:
A 197 is the best I've done so far this year! Really good.

For those of you starting, I would also add that most of my scores the first year were in the 180s and some were in the 170s or worse. It took me a good year to start getting fairly routine 190 or better scores. I still shoot some in the 180s. And that is in my best guns. I've shot one 200 and there was definitely some luck involved (but I shot three 199s first). The advantage I see from all the pellets I've expended at this is I am pretty confident in using one or at most two 5 shot groups to screen pellets for a new gun. My shooting is much more consistent, in other words. I do not think I will ever shoot 200s consistently but I shoot a lot more often over 190 than I did at first. The big issue I have is not stringing together 4 or 5 or 6 10s, it is stringing together 20. And if the wind kicks up a little...

To those shooting springers and less expensive guns (like most of mine) I think we all understand you have a bigger challenge. One of my 5 less expensive PCPs gave me my one 200 but the best the others have done is a 194. I am terrible with a springer. I don't own one but set one up for my son and couldn't shoot a respectable group.

I think this game works best when we look for little improvements and not compare ourselves to others who have been doing it a lot longer and are possibly less limited by their equipment. But I also have experience suggesting that even under $500 PCPs can compete - but I don't think all are at that level, at least mine are not. But a major re-tune took my P35-25 from a 177 to a 194.
Click to expand...
I am sure this is a growth type progressive exercise in concentration and remaining calm in the process .
 
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JimD said:
A 197 is the best I've done so far this year! Really good.

For those of you starting, I would also add that most of my scores the first year were in the 180s and some were in the 170s or worse. It took me a good year to start getting fairly routine 190 or better scores. I still shoot some in the 180s. And that is in my best guns. I've shot one 200 and there was definitely some luck involved (but I shot three 199s first). The advantage I see from all the pellets I've expended at this is I am pretty confident in using one or at most two 5 shot groups to screen pellets for a new gun. My shooting is much more consistent, in other words. I do not think I will ever shoot 200s consistently but I shoot a lot more often over 190 than I did at first. The big issue I have is not stringing together 4 or 5 or 6 10s, it is stringing together 20. And if the wind kicks up a little...

To those shooting springers and less expensive guns (like most of mine) I think we all understand you have a bigger challenge. One of my 5 less expensive PCPs gave me my one 200 but the best the others have done is a 194. I am terrible with a springer. I don't own one but set one up for my son and couldn't shoot a respectable group.

I think this game works best when we look for little improvements and not compare ourselves to others who have been doing it a lot longer and are possibly less limited by their equipment. But I also have experience suggesting that even under $500 PCPs can compete - but I don't think all are at that level, at least mine are not. But a major re-tune took my P35-25 from a 177 to a 194.
Click to expand...


I reread your last paragraph Jim.

I have been shooting the challenge since it’s origin in February 2022. As I reflect back and consider your words, I think you hit the nail on the head. Looking for little improvements and experimenting with different pellets, velocities and tunes; is rewarding in and of itself. It is easy to get caught up in the high scores and trying to achieve them, but equally rewarding is coming back from the range knowing your “rifle and you” are steadily improving. In other words, if I shoot a 185-190 at 40 yards, but my rifle is very accurate at 30y; I know it’s my wind reading or technique that needs more work.

But, I sure wouldn’t complain if I shot a friggin’ 200-20x either. See what I did there? 😀😀😀



Tom
 
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tommyb said:
I reread your last paragraph Jim.

I have been shooting the challenge since it’s origin in February 2022. As I reflect back and consider your words, I think you hit the nail on the head. Looking for little improvements and experimenting with different pellets, velocities and tunes; is rewarding in and of itself. It is easy to get caught up in the high scores and trying to achieve them, but equally rewarding is coming back from the range knowing your “rifle and you” are steadily improving. In other words, if I shoot a 185-190 at 40 yards, but my rifle is very accurate at 30y; I know it’s my wind reading or technique that needs more work.

But, I sure wouldn’t complain if I shot a friggin’ 200-20x either. See what I did there? 😀😀😀



Tom
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Its fun to try to get your name up high on our leaderboards with a great score…

… but what I’m always trying to do is find a tune / setup / pellet for each rifle that gets me a consistent high score.

My best shooting rifles can shoot consistently around 195 at 30 yards with decent wind conditions.

If you really wanted to go after 200 scores then it would be beneficial to weigh and sort your pellets - something I find very tedious.

So, a rifle that can consistently shoot 190+ 30-Challenge cards with pellets straight from the tin is a darn good shootin’ rifle.

Even more challenging is getting your technique consistent enough so that you can shoot the 190+ that the rifle is capable of..
 
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