The 20 cal pellet gun has been popularized in the 80s by Robert Beeman and many attribute the continued existence of it to him. As far as I know, it was first introduced with the creation of the Sheridan A Model in 1945. From what I can remember, the designer chose the 20 so that no inferior ammo would be used as was common with the 177 and 22 of that era. He was striving for the best air rifle of that time. All Sheridans models have used the 20 cal since.
Fast forward quite a bit... I purchased 5, 5mm LW barrels that were left over from the Sterling springer rifle project when it was moved to the USA, then quietly faded... I seem to remember it being in the late 90s. A couple of years ago, I fitted one to @Franklink's Vet Short and he has been quite happy with it and has documented it well.
Sooo... I decided to use one to try on my Delta Wolf /Ghost. I fitted it so that the 22 bolt and magazine would be used. To say it is amazing is a bit of understatement.
So on Saturday , a friend came over to plink and we had a great time with a number of air rifles, including this 20 in the DW. At the end of the fun, I put 5 standard clay pigeons out at 208 yards on a sand dune in my range. We shot at them a LOT with several 22s with MRD's, my 30 cal Safari w 51 gn, and this 20. Now the wind on my range is QUITE tricky because of the tree spacing and wind direction but I'm sure we lobbed well more than a hundred rounds at those 5 pigeons. Both the 22s and the 30 would group around them but randomly have 1 that was FEET away. It was somewhat frustrating actually, but we were determined. The little 20 w 15.89s was the only one that kept them tight around the pigeons and the final was 4 for the 20 and 1 for the 30.
Now I've related some impressive long range shooting with Wally, my RW, but on this day, even Wally was throwing them out feet away on frequent occasions. Keep in mind that ALL of these were quite good on that day at 100.
I'm definitely not trying to convince anyone of the need for a 20 or that it should be a long range consideration... just relating an IMPRESSIVE display of predictability and consistency.
It was a fun day
Bob
Fast forward quite a bit... I purchased 5, 5mm LW barrels that were left over from the Sterling springer rifle project when it was moved to the USA, then quietly faded... I seem to remember it being in the late 90s. A couple of years ago, I fitted one to @Franklink's Vet Short and he has been quite happy with it and has documented it well.
Sooo... I decided to use one to try on my Delta Wolf /Ghost. I fitted it so that the 22 bolt and magazine would be used. To say it is amazing is a bit of understatement.
So on Saturday , a friend came over to plink and we had a great time with a number of air rifles, including this 20 in the DW. At the end of the fun, I put 5 standard clay pigeons out at 208 yards on a sand dune in my range. We shot at them a LOT with several 22s with MRD's, my 30 cal Safari w 51 gn, and this 20. Now the wind on my range is QUITE tricky because of the tree spacing and wind direction but I'm sure we lobbed well more than a hundred rounds at those 5 pigeons. Both the 22s and the 30 would group around them but randomly have 1 that was FEET away. It was somewhat frustrating actually, but we were determined. The little 20 w 15.89s was the only one that kept them tight around the pigeons and the final was 4 for the 20 and 1 for the 30.
Now I've related some impressive long range shooting with Wally, my RW, but on this day, even Wally was throwing them out feet away on frequent occasions. Keep in mind that ALL of these were quite good on that day at 100.
I'm definitely not trying to convince anyone of the need for a 20 or that it should be a long range consideration... just relating an IMPRESSIVE display of predictability and consistency.
It was a fun day
Bob
