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Air Shootist's NRL22 Season So Far - A Mid-season Write-up

Quick write-up on my NRL22 season so far:

I am currently ranked 3rd in airgun behind Erik Pilsits and James Brownfield who are both shooting lights out this season - congrats to those two killers. Overall I am sitting in 52nd place out of almost 1300 total shooters in the NRL22. However, now that 6 scores are in (which is what you're ranked from) there are now 6 more matches for record this season and this is where things get interesting...

Personally I've been changing things at every match (probably too much) including 6 or 7 different types of ammo as well as switching my 600mm FX Airguns Panthera to a 700mm so I can launch 34gr H&N slugs at about 1025fps in order to better buck the wind and make longer range impacts with higher frequency. I've made a few changes to my overall gear, as well. I think I have found what works (finally) with that 700mm Panthera and the 34 grainers, having podiumed all 3 times I've used the new gun/ammo combo so far.

However, I have a new rifle I will also be trying out soon.... As a YouTube content creator who is constantly reviewing things and trying different stuff out as an input to my channel and my own experience - I often risk my NRL22 standings a bit to try different products, which is sometimes a hard pill to swallow but I think worth it for my followers in order to really speak on something with true match experience.

In any case, now what you're going to see with the remainder of the season is an opportunity for shooters to improve their scores and it really does become anyone's game at this point. In the screenshot below you'll notice my lowest score is a 78 which is pretty low - this will be replaced by my next higher scoring match and will bump me up (hopefully) around 20 points or so. All of my other scores are 90% or better, including a 100 and a 99.9 (damn you Erik and your speed-demon timed stage!). So I have a solid opportunity to come up around 20 points and then if I win some more matches (or shoot very well) I can easily come up some more - which would put me right up there with some of the best rimfire shooters in the country.

Erik Pilsits will be super hard to beat as he has outright won like 3 or 4 matches this season and has the most absolutely dialed Panthera I've ever seen in my life. James Brownfield is also a very good shooter (he was the first airgun to ever CLEAN an entire COF) but I am only separated by like 6 points from him AND have a lower score to replace right now - so he will have to grind super hard if he wants to stay in 2nd!
😉


Overall, I am outpacing myself from last year with my scores and (most importantly) having a lot of fun and trying new gear! What's better than that?! If there is anything better than that, it's the friends we meet along the way. I am absolutely loving my NRL22 journey over the last 2 years and I plan on doing it forever! Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone and every company that supports me & my efforts to simply be a well-rounded shooter!

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Great write up, and congratulations on your success Warren. 52nd out of 1300 shooters is impressive!

I wish my Panthera was 700mm. I can only “comfortably“ squeeze 980FPS with 30g (or 1010 FPS with 27g) out of my 600mm Panthera.

Good luck in the upcoming events!

-Michael
 
Great write up, and congratulations on your success Warren. 52nd out of 1300 shooters is impressive!

I wish my Panthera was 700mm. I can only “comfortably“ squeeze 980FPS with 30g (or 1010 FPS with 27g) out of my 600mm Panthera.

Good luck in the upcoming events!

-Michael
Try the 40 grain Altaros Kings at 900 fps. They will “buck” the wind much better than the 30 or 34 H&Ns.

I can easily get 900 fps from my .25 cal 600mm Panthera and Altaros 49.5 grain ATP Smooth. Very accurate, as are the .22 caliber 40 grain.
 
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Great write up, and congratulations on your success Warren. 52nd out of 1300 shooters is impressive!

I wish my Panthera was 700mm. I can only “comfortably“ squeeze 980FPS with 30g (or 1010 FPS with 27g) out of my 600mm Panthera.

Good luck in the upcoming events!

-Michael
Thanks for your kind words - but the show is only half over! I will certainly fall under #52 out of 1291 at the end of the season.... unless I shoot lights out!

Your 600 can shoot 34gr at 1010 or so and I'll tell ya how:
1) Huma pin probe
2) Huma transfer port
3) 13.2g (8mm hammer) OR Huma 14.5g hammer
4) 165-170 bar on the reg

The only thing with the 600 and pushing it that hard is that in winter months (midwesterner here) you may find the rifle running out of breath in the cold temps - temps which I still compete in snow/rain or shine. You may struggle to get the 11th and 12th shot off with the 300cc bottle in extreme cold (we're talking sub freezing and down to 10F). This was a big reason I built that Dynamic with the 420cc 300bar rear bottle. Now I puff heavy slugs fast af and I don't care about air consumption! I get like 30-something shots in 80+ degree weather so I will 100% get more than the 12 shots needed for any NRL22 stage... even in the frigid winter!
 
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Great write up, and congratulations on your success Warren. 52nd out of 1300 shooters is impressive!

I wish my Panthera was 700mm. I can only “comfortably“ squeeze 980FPS with 30g (or 1010 FPS with 27g) out of my 600mm Panthera.

Good luck in the upcoming events!

-Michael

Do what Warren mentioned then try the Altaros 32.3gr Smooth. .18 BC but I don't know how fast you can push these and have them shoot well though.

Been getting some 5 shot groups off sticks in the .8" range at 100Y with those slugs out of my Thomas at a sedate 840 fps. They shot just as good at 885 fps.

Didn't BallisticBoy say the best velocity window for least wind drift was 950 or so fps??
 
We’ve all heard that the Altaros are best slower, like 900 fps, but you’ve had great success much faster. Do they maintain their stability and accuracy out past 100 yards at that speed? Thanks!

I was wondering the same thing, so I tried it. And at least for me, yes. I wanted a flatter trajectory. I'm at about the limit for my 600, 955 at about ~170 bar. When I was trueing this rifle, these were my groups at 300 and 400 (1 inch squares).

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Better accuracy may be possible closer to 900 but I can live with the compromise.
 
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I was wondering the same thing, so I tried it. And at least for me, yes. I wanted a flatter trajectory. I'm at about the limit for my 600, 955 at about ~170 bar. When I was trueing this rifle, these were my groups at 300 and 400 (1 inch squares).

View attachment 507447

View attachment 507448

Better accuracy may be possible closer to 900 but I can live with the compromise.
Nice. Yeah, I think if you shot N50 or 100Y BR that little extra at 900 might be worth slowing down, but you’re doing great at that higher speed.
I shoot the .25 cal 49.5 Altaros in my Panthera 600 at 890 fps and they are very accurate out to 300 yards. My reg is at about 132 bar.
 
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Nice. Yeah, I think if you shot N50 or 100Y BR that little extra at 900 might be worth slowing down, but you’re doing great at that higher speed.
I shoot the .25 cal 49.5 Altaros in my Panthera 600 at 890 fps and they are very accurate out to 300 yards. My reg is at about 132 bar.
Agreed. I would say my groups at 100 are slightly not as good as at a slower speed. But for my shooting it works.
 
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Took another W yesterday in Beloit with a near perfect match! My best showing ever - 53 out of 54 total impacts. One day I'll catch that unicorn, but for now I'll take the 100% and keep looking for more!

Once scores are updated I'll have like a 578 out of a possible 600 (they take your top 6 scores) so I've beaten my 2023 total now, which is great since I only really compete against myself and try to show improvement. If we are talking about comparing myself to others, in that case I'll be in 2nd after scores get updated. Erik is going to prove hard to surpass, but there are 5 more COFs this season so like I said before; it's anyone's game!

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Took another W yesterday in Beloit with a near perfect match! My best showing ever - 53 out of 54 total impacts. One day I'll catch that unicorn, but for now I'll take the 100% and keep looking for more!

Once scores are updated I'll have like a 578 out of a possible 600 (they take your top 6 scores) so I've beaten my 2023 total now, which is great since I only really compete against myself and try to show improvement. If we are talking about comparing myself to others, in that case I'll be in 2nd after scores get updated. Erik is going to prove hard to surpass, but there are 5 more COFs this season so like I said before; it's anyone's game!

View attachment 509874
Great shooting by both you and Erik. Tell us a little about the gun you're using this year compared to the one you shot last year. Gun/Scope/Ammo, etc... I hope to see you and him competing at RMAC next year against the big boys...
 
Here is a recent video I made on the new gun, it is pretty detailed:


I am using the 34gr H&N .218 slugs at 1025ish FPS

Erik is still using his Pcat 600 but he has made some changes. I gave him a 360cc tank and he is using it as a backbottle double regulated system. Maybe he will drop by and share some pics/details...
 
I don't want to hijack Warren's thread.. but briefly, the guts of my rifle are the same as last year. I did swap to a Dynamic back end, 360 cc 300 bar bottle, and Huma 1st stage reg. I also swapped to the undertaker front rail. It extends a bit further and the internal weights bring the center of gravity lower and overall is less bulky.

That's about it... more matches and practice this year, plus the PRS experience, that's the real difference.

This is it, except it has the different bottle now.

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Great shooting by both you and Erik. Tell us a little about the gun you're using this year compared to the one you shot last year. Gun/Scope/Ammo, etc... I hope to see you and him competing at RMAC next year against the big boys...
This year they had the NRL championship the same weekend as RMAC, which is unfortunate. The top NRL air rifle shooters had to decide between competing for the NRL championship that they have been working towards all year or competing at RMAC for pretty legit prize money.
 
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This year they had the NRL championship the same weekend as RMAC, which is unfortunate. The top NRL air rifle shooters had to decide between competing for the NRL championship that they have been working towards all year or competing at RMAC for pretty legit prize money.
Yes, they both already explained that. I was talking about 2025 in case that wasn’t obvious. PS., the top Airgun NRL-22/PRS shooters were at RMAC this year.
 
Yes, they both already explained that. I was talking about 2025 in case that wasn’t obvious. PS., the top Airgun NRL-22/PRS shooters were at RMAC this year.
What Scotton said was factually correct. The top NRL22 air rifle shooters were not in attendance at RMAC this year. Erik and I were the top ranked NRL22 air rifle division leaders and we were not there. :cool:

However, Dylan was there and he was a top ranked NRL22 shooter at the time plus a heck of a nice guy & good shooter. Here were the standings from last season going into RMAC (or in our case, NRL22 nationals), top 3:

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Next year the "big boys", as you called them, will have to face us. And we are a rather nasty pair. :devilish:

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See you at RMAC 2025.
 
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