30-Yard Challenge
- Thread starter tcarlson777
- Start date
Leaderboard Submissions - Various Rifles over the past two weeks:
30-Challenge: 194 9X (3/19/25)
Weihrauch HW110 .22
FX 15.89 @ 657 (yep - tuned for 17 ft/lbs currently - almost silent)
Arken EPL-4 6x24 FFP @ 24X
40-Masters: 196 12X (3/19/25)
FX Crown Mk2 .22 (700mm Superlight Barrel with carbon sleeve)
JSB 20.83 @ 880-885fps
Sightron SII 36x (fixed power)
30-Masters: 196 12X (3/22/25)
FX Crown Mk2 .22 (700mm Superlight Barrel with carbon sleeve)
JSB 20.83 @ 889fps
Sightron SII 36x (fixed power)
30-Masters: 196 14X (3/28/25)
Daystate Huntsman Regal .22 (Huma Reg, Custom hammerspring, No barrel band)
FX 15.89 @ 780-785fps
Athlon Midas Tac FFP 6x24 @ 24x
40-Masters: 192 10X (3/29/25)
Taipan Veteran 2 .22 (550mm CZ barrel and Huma Reg @ 150bar)
JSB 20.83 @ 914-898fps (dropping as rifle cooled to outside temp)
Athlon Argos 10-40 SFP @ 40X (awesome scope for 40-Challenge)
Wind conditions are usually not great at this time of year, so I watch my wind flags out the window and shoot a couple cards when conditions are not too rough.
As you may have noticed, I'm mostly shooting my "tuned down" .22s and my .177s this time of year... as I don't have the constant cover of lawn mowers and other neighborhood noise. My two neighbors on either side are fine with my shooting, but I don't want to draw too much attention. I seen posts on AGN where other members have had neighbors that reported them.... I don't want to have that happen to me. One of the primary draws to this hobby for me is that I can do it right in my yard - without having to drive anywhere.
Hope that you guys are getting some lead downrange - Spring is almost here.
-Ed
30-Challenge: 194 9X (3/19/25)
Weihrauch HW110 .22
FX 15.89 @ 657 (yep - tuned for 17 ft/lbs currently - almost silent)
Arken EPL-4 6x24 FFP @ 24X
40-Masters: 196 12X (3/19/25)
FX Crown Mk2 .22 (700mm Superlight Barrel with carbon sleeve)
JSB 20.83 @ 880-885fps
Sightron SII 36x (fixed power)
30-Masters: 196 12X (3/22/25)
FX Crown Mk2 .22 (700mm Superlight Barrel with carbon sleeve)
JSB 20.83 @ 889fps
Sightron SII 36x (fixed power)
30-Masters: 196 14X (3/28/25)
Daystate Huntsman Regal .22 (Huma Reg, Custom hammerspring, No barrel band)
FX 15.89 @ 780-785fps
Athlon Midas Tac FFP 6x24 @ 24x
40-Masters: 192 10X (3/29/25)
Taipan Veteran 2 .22 (550mm CZ barrel and Huma Reg @ 150bar)
JSB 20.83 @ 914-898fps (dropping as rifle cooled to outside temp)
Athlon Argos 10-40 SFP @ 40X (awesome scope for 40-Challenge)
Wind conditions are usually not great at this time of year, so I watch my wind flags out the window and shoot a couple cards when conditions are not too rough.
As you may have noticed, I'm mostly shooting my "tuned down" .22s and my .177s this time of year... as I don't have the constant cover of lawn mowers and other neighborhood noise. My two neighbors on either side are fine with my shooting, but I don't want to draw too much attention. I seen posts on AGN where other members have had neighbors that reported them.... I don't want to have that happen to me. One of the primary draws to this hobby for me is that I can do it right in my yard - without having to drive anywhere.
Hope that you guys are getting some lead downrange - Spring is almost here.
-Ed
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Surprised to see the Vet in last place. Tomorrow the results might flip flop? It’s all about the wind at that range. None the less that is some fine shooting with several different guns.
Upvote 0
Its just wind conditions….
Shot this 40-Masters today with Vet 2.
It could be 195 - can’t tell if 9 or 10 on that close shot - so scored it as 9 resulting in 194.
Will submit for leaderboard. My two sighters before starting card were same hole.
I think I can shoot a 195+ 40-Masters with my Vet 2 and the 20.83s… just need to be patient with wind.
-Ed
Upvote 0
That’s more like it Ed. I’d score #5 as a 9. When in doubt, take a picture with your phone, then enlarge it and you will more easily be able to see the gap between the plug and the 10 ring.
Upvote 0
The use of the iPhone with scoring plug (and zooming in) really does capture if there is any white space between a black ring line and the hole. It has ruined many “almost 10’s” for me.
Fantastic 40y Masters with the Vet 2. I think I’ll need a whole punch to get a higher score.
Upvote 0
Thanks Tommy.
My EPG-Style of “no sighters after the card begins, so every shot counts” really cost me a fantastic score on that card…
… I noticed a slight wind shift (I thought slight) as I came down from the row above and shot 8B first. Dang. I said “no way that was wind, must have been the pellet”, made a slight adjustment on 8A just in case…. and learned it was the wind, lol. Lost 3 points on target pair 8 because I refused to take a sighter and tried to rely on my wind reading “ability”…. or I should call it disability.
I wound up holding on the left side of the bull and higher the rest of the card - up through Target pair #7 I was holding on the right edge of the bull.
I just didn’t think what seemed a mild wind shift would move 21g pellets that much… but 40 yards is a lot different than 30 yards when it comes to wind moving pellets…
Learning all the time.
Upvote 0
The harsh reality - One of the most difficult things for me, is to know ‘when’ to take a sighter with a wind shift. Why -because sometimes I use my prior shot to find the new hold and find out subsequently that I should have used a sighter.
The Good news: 190 Masters for 40Y is a great card. But, ….194 is off the charts nuts!
Upvote 0
Leaderboard Submission:
30-Challenge: 196 12X (3/30/25)
Daystate Huntsman Regal .22 (Huma Reg, Custom AliExpress 1.5mm wire diameter hammerspring, No barrel band)
FX 15.89 @ 780-785fps
Athlon Midas Tac FFP 6x24 @ 24x
This Regal submission not quite as good as the 30-Masters I shot earlier this month with Regal, but its shooting well with the mild, regulated tune (21.5 ft/lbs). It will be interesting to see the shot count on the reg. Reg is set lower than factory reg setting and my plenum is much larger than factory plenum. I asked Huma if they would sell me the factory plenum without the entire reg and they said they don't stock the factory plenum - weird. My gut tells me the large plenum is not needed to make the medium power level (21.5 ft/lbs currently) of this rifle - so all the big plenum is doing is taking up precious space in the small Regal air cylinder.
I'm also experimenting with shooting the Regal without the factory barrel band. I always feel that a free floated barrel is best for target work. I could feel the barrel band put the barrel under some tension when I slide it on - so I decided to leave it off - at least for now.
-Ed
30-Challenge: 196 12X (3/30/25)
Daystate Huntsman Regal .22 (Huma Reg, Custom AliExpress 1.5mm wire diameter hammerspring, No barrel band)
FX 15.89 @ 780-785fps
Athlon Midas Tac FFP 6x24 @ 24x
This Regal submission not quite as good as the 30-Masters I shot earlier this month with Regal, but its shooting well with the mild, regulated tune (21.5 ft/lbs). It will be interesting to see the shot count on the reg. Reg is set lower than factory reg setting and my plenum is much larger than factory plenum. I asked Huma if they would sell me the factory plenum without the entire reg and they said they don't stock the factory plenum - weird. My gut tells me the large plenum is not needed to make the medium power level (21.5 ft/lbs currently) of this rifle - so all the big plenum is doing is taking up precious space in the small Regal air cylinder.
I'm also experimenting with shooting the Regal without the factory barrel band. I always feel that a free floated barrel is best for target work. I could feel the barrel band put the barrel under some tension when I slide it on - so I decided to leave it off - at least for now.
-Ed
Upvote 0
Moderator Meyhem
Had an interesting experience yesterday with moderators...
Shot a 40-Masters with the FX Crown .22 and scored 182 6X in good wind conditions. Something felt off. In decent conditions I've never shot that low for a 40-Masters with the Crown and FX 18.13g. Then I noticed that I had a hollow "FX Basic" Moderator on the Crown .22. I've always used the same DonnyFL/FX Moderator on this Crown - with all three barrels it came with (380mm, 500mm and 700mm).
I had been messing with moderators lately, and accidently installed a different one on this Crown. I put the normal moderator back on - didn't even take the rifle off the shooting table, sat back down and shot an excellent 195 13X 40-Masters - which I'm submitting for the leaderboard. I then shot another 40-Masters and it was 190 9X. So the Crown was back to "normal".
Have you guys ever experienced such a drastic accuracy difference between two different moderators? The two moderators I used were actually both branded FX - although they are quite different internally. The DonnyFL/FX has typical DonnyFL internals while the other is simply hollow.
To finish up the day, I pulled out the Reximex Daystar .177. It always puts up great scores. I took a few sighters - I was using 40X on the scope. I thought they were going in the same hole - then realized that they were spraying all over - out of my field of view!
As I was walking outside with the Daystar, I thought the scope was loose, so I checked it but it seemed tight... that's weird I thought...
I knew something was wrong after those 4 wild sighters.... I touched the moderator and realized that it was barely on the gun - maybe just one thread on! I'm an idiot - that's what seemed loose when I was walking. I had taken the Weihrauch moderator off the Daystar and never screwed it back on when it was standing in the rifle rack !!
I shot a 30-Challenge - I was a bit rattled hoping I didn't damage the moderator internals (the cap does now have two clipping marks inside) as I shot the first row - which I had to discard because the scope wasn't really zeroed. But the remaining rows turned in a 196 13X - which I'll submit for the leaderboard. The Daystar is so accurate with 10.3g currently shooting about 835fps. It always knocks out the middle of the 10-ring on at least a few targets on every card - satisfying.
Included are a picture of the Crown .22 - currently crazy long with 700mm barrel - the barrel still looks crazy long despite me adding the longer 580cc bottle recently. The cool thing about the 700mm barrel is that I can shoot 18.13g, 20.83g and 25.4g JSBs very accurately simply by turning the hammer spring wheel from 12 to 15 to 21. Both moderators are in the picture (DonnyFL/FX is on the rifle).
Also included below is a picture of the Daystar with the moderator actually screwed on.
Moral of the story... - if you keep messing with your airguns by taking them apart, eventually you are not gonna put it back together the way you intended, lol.
-Ed
Upvote 0
ED,
I am absolutely convinced that the moderator you choose can make a big difference in accuracy. I have read a lot on the external ballistics of pellets this past winter and realize that the accuracy of the pellet can be greatly affected by the whoosh of air coming out of the barrel behind it. I shot a lot of 18.1 gr JSB pellets over the Lab Radar this winter to investigate BC. One of the sort of side things I noted was that the pellets generally fell into one of three flight paths. One was a very consistent velocity vs time flight path which fit a cubic equation almost perfectly. These gave G1 BC's that pretty closely matched what was expected. The second was a set which started out like the first, but out about 30-40 yds (based on the aforementioned cubic equation profile) the velocity started to dramatically slow from the profile. After some investigation I concluded these were pellets that started to spiral (nutate), probably from wind. The last group had more velocity loss in the first bit of time that was expected, but then the velocity settled into a cubic path but at lower velocities than the first group. There were not very many of these.
It is the last group I concluded had some initial disturbance, which caused the pellet to yaw slowing it down, but stabilized and proceeded on. My conclusion is that the disturbed air behind the pellet coming out of the barrel initially kick the pellet about before the gyroscopic effect of the spin stabilized the pellet. I was shooting with a Huma Avalanche 40-4 moderator which contains a baffling system. I am sure if I hadn't been using that moderator I would have seen more of the third group. *** In fact, that is a good idea. I will shoot some more using that moderator with the baffles removed and see what happens. (Thanks for the inspiration, Ed).
Cheers,
Greg
Upvote 0
First 30y cards with new Taipan .22 Long 700mm today. Way too windy to form a first mpression, but I read the winds pretty well. Target stand kept blowing over. Had one flag out at ten yards.
First Leaderboard submission for new Taipan Vet 2.
196-13 X 30 Y Masters
Please use verbiage on my 195
30y Masters for my submission. Thought I was shooting a challenge card and ‘accidentally’ crooked out #8 and #12 bulls. Those scores were counted.
First Leaderboard submission for new Taipan Vet 2.
196-13 X 30 Y Masters
Please use verbiage on my 195
30y Masters for my submission. Thought I was shooting a challenge card and ‘accidentally’ crooked out #8 and #12 bulls. Those scores were counted.
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I've found not only do different moderators make a difference, but the same moderator with a different exit bore. Which kind of reinforces what Greg is saying about the whoosh of air having an effect on the pellet flight path.
I did some experimenting with my STO Sarissa and tried the different cores just to see which one would be most quiet. That in and of itself was interesting for sound suppression, but I found a few things out pertaining to accuracy, which I'm guessing has to do with the cores construction and how the air is pushed through the diode.
Something that was an afterthought was the using the end caps, which turned out to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of the particular moderator I was using. With the smaller exit bore, accuracy improvement was noticeable. As an added bonus, suppression was slightly better as well.
I did some experimenting with my STO Sarissa and tried the different cores just to see which one would be most quiet. That in and of itself was interesting for sound suppression, but I found a few things out pertaining to accuracy, which I'm guessing has to do with the cores construction and how the air is pushed through the diode.
Something that was an afterthought was the using the end caps, which turned out to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of the particular moderator I was using. With the smaller exit bore, accuracy improvement was noticeable. As an added bonus, suppression was slightly better as well.
Upvote 0
I traced a period of lower accuracy than expected in my most dependable gun, my P35-22, to loose bolts holding the action to the stock. I was a bit surprised that made a difference.
The moderator I use in my P35s go inside the shroud and are 3D printed. But I have some with different sized openings for the 177. I tried them for sound and like one with a little larger opening best. But I should try them for accuracy too. Good excuse to shoot some with the 177. It frustrated me with too many lower scores recently and I went back to the 22. If I cannot get over 190 with the 22 in light wind I know it's me (although it's a good idea to check the screws).
The moderator I use in my P35s go inside the shroud and are 3D printed. But I have some with different sized openings for the 177. I tried them for sound and like one with a little larger opening best. But I should try them for accuracy too. Good excuse to shoot some with the 177. It frustrated me with too many lower scores recently and I went back to the 22. If I cannot get over 190 with the 22 in light wind I know it's me (although it's a good idea to check the screws).
Upvote 0
Well I did test different moderators but I don't think I see a difference. But I did get a couple more Xs so I am submitting this 191 9X for the leader board. I was using my P35-177 with my Vector Sentinel 8-32 set at 32X shooting H&N Baracuda Match pellets at about 880fps. Officially the wind speed was 10 mph when I shot this but I was waiting for the wind to ebb. Helped but wind still got some of these. But I shot a 179 with exactly the same gun setup and a 187 before that with the other moderator I have for it. I know I can do better but I haven't so far this year.
Upvote 0
Another tiny one more X improvement so I'm submitting it. This is another 191 but with 10Xs. I used my P35-177 with a Vector Sentinel scope set at 32X and shot H&N Baracuda FT pellets at about 915 fps. Same exact tune as sends the slightly heavier Match at 880 fps. This suggests to me that it is more a gun likes a tune than a pellet likes a speed. I've repeatedly tried faster and slower with both pellets and come back here. Wind speed was 7 mph today and I pretty much ignored it. I will also attach my two sight in shots - wish they were my square 1 shots.
Upvote 0
Well this time I got a couple more points. A 193 11X still with my P35-177 with vector 32X scope shooting H&N Baracuda FTs at 905 fps (measured today, estimated previously). Please use this one in the spreadsheet unless my slow climb continues. I took more warmup shots, 5, but may still need to take more with this gun and pellet. The early shots seem to have more fliers. The last 11 shots on this one were 10s.
Upvote 0
It's been too windy for any precision shooting (with my skills). I did get a new-to-me rifle that I was dying to shoot. A beautiful FX 500 Royale. Took awhile to sort out high enough scope rings to clear the mag. Despite wind gusts to 20+, sighted it in and shot a couple cards with my only two choices. Unfortunately it is a .25, so nothing counts ;-). Scored with a .22 plug, which actually fit pretty snug. Cheers!
Upvote 0
Rick,
I put .25 cal on the leaderboards - as you stated, it scores fine with our .22 scoring plug.
Congrats on the Royale - its kinda like the Crown’s father… or Grandfather.
I put .25 cal on the leaderboards - as you stated, it scores fine with our .22 scoring plug.
Congrats on the Royale - its kinda like the Crown’s father… or Grandfather.
Upvote 0