Bench Rest Accuracy with tuner (Heliboard)

[MDRICH2]

Hi. I am fairly new to Airguns and have recently became a member of the Airgun Nation website. I am really learning a lot about my PCP and shooting in general. I am recently retired and thought bench rest would be a great and expensive hobby to take up some of my down-time.

I have attached a couple of paper targets (1”) I shot at an indoor range at both 25/50 yards with my .22 Redwolf standard. I am wondering if it would be worth it to buy a tuner to hopefully tighten up the groups or maybe I just continue to work on my shooting techniques which will hopefully improve my accuracy. I understand wind will be an additional element I will need to deal with, but just would like your thoughts in general regarding the tuning aspect. Thank you.

 

[igolfat8]

I would suggest tuning your gun to shoot heavier pellets if you plan to eventually shoot outdoors in the wind. The 25.4 MRD’s have a higher BC than the 18 grain pellets Some shooters are having good success withn the 28 grain Grands and 22 grain JTS pellets too.

What is your bench set up? Shooting fundamentals including trigger control, follow through, breathing and mental focus should all be considered equally important as your equipment is.

 

[Ricochet]

That second card is very nice. Great shooting.

 

[Ricochet]

I just noticed, one is at 50, #2 at 25. Still a thumbs up from me.

 

[MDRICH2]

Thanks for your reply “igolfat8”: I tried shooting JSB redesign (shallow and deep) 25.39 and FX 25.4 on high power. Shallows seem the best, but not as accurate as I need them to be. I will also try the 22 grain JTS as recommended. I have a .22 Red Wolf HP coming in the mail and will give the 28 and a larger grain a try with this set-up when received. Sounds like I will go ahead and order the Heli-board and get the most I can out of my standard. I paid for the Art tune on the .22 HP, so hope it’s a little more accurate. We will see!

I use an Accu tac for my bipod and a squishy Armageddon rear bag. I also have a Leofoto tripod with MH-60 ball and will also give that a try, but I like the solidness of the bipod on the front. Thanks again for the info. A lot of pellets to try in the mean time. I definitely need to work on my shooting fundamentals, especially trigger control and breathing.

 

[MDRICH2]

Thank Ricochet. Yeah, 25 yards is a lot easier

 

[igolfat8]

You have some vertical deviation in your 50Y card and I suspect that could be technique? It’s easy to relax the bag squeeze too quickly after breaking the shot and that can cause vertical. Your bag position can also cause that to so some experimentation may be in order.

18s are inexpensive to shoot but if your plan to shoot outdoors at 50Y then they will likely be frustrating in any amount of wind. Heavier pellets will generally have higher BC and perform more predictably in the true outdoor elements which is a whole new can of worms to learn.

I never learned to shoot the red wolfs well that I owned so I can’t give you any tuning specs. Perhaps AOA or someone here can guide you as to the best speeds for the heavier pellets? Other rifles I own and have owned have shot the MRDs well from 945 -980. Grands do well (for me) around 920-930.

 

[MDRICH2]

You have some vertical deviation in your 50Y card and I suspect that could be technique? It’s easy to relax the bag squeeze too quickly after breaking the shot and that can cause vertical. Your bag position can also cause that to so some experimentation may be in order.

18s are inexpensive to shoot but if your plan to shoot outdoors at 50Y then they will likely be frustrating in any amount of wind. Heavier pellets will generally have higher BC and perform more predictably in the true outdoor elements which is a whole new can of worms to learn.

I never learned to shoot the red wolfs well that I owned so I can’t give you any tuning specs. Perhaps AOA or someone here can guide you as to the best speeds for the heavier pellets? Other rifles I own and have owned have shot the MRDs well from 945 -980. Grands do well (for me) around 920-930.

You hit the nail on the head. My rear bag definitely needs some work...it is rarely comfortable in the hold. I just need to find the right one that works for me. Great info! I will increase my fps with the tune, it is about 50 fps low for the 25.4gr. I would suspect this will tighten up things a bit. Good info regarding the speed for the grands. You have been a great help. I will get in the wind work when it warms up a bit, should be fun and irritating learning this aspect of shooting. Thanks so much for your sage advice!

 

[igolfat8]

AOA used to include a pamphlet with their rifles stating something to the effect that I am paraphrasing “any projectile shot above 900 FPS should be lubricated”. Therefore that is another factor to consider in your chase for accuracy.

Many of us shooting ARA and N50 have gone away from rear bags and gone to rear mechanical rests. Windage and elevation can be easily adjusted and it removes the human “squeeze” element from the equation.

Here is one that I use.

 

[MDRICH2]

AOA used to include a pamphlet with their rifles stating something to the effect that I am paraphrasing “any projectile shot above 900 FPS should be lubricated”. Therefore that is another factor to consider in your chase for accuracy.

Many of us shooting ARA and N50 have gone away from rear bags and gone to rear mechanical rests. Windage and elevation can be easily adjusted and it removes the human “squeeze” element from the equation.

Good to know…What do you use to lube a pellet…silicone? Is the rear mechanical rest a separate unit from the front rest or is it a one piece? I did see some lab jacks and was also looking at the Cheney rear bag with a pump. What do you use? It would be nice not to have the squeeze factor. Thank you!

 

[MDRICH2]

AOA used to include a pamphlet with their rifles stating something to the effect that I am paraphrasing “any projectile shot above 900 FPS should be lubricated”. Therefore that is another factor to consider in your chase for accuracy.

Many of us shooting ARA and N50 have gone away from rear bags and gone to rear mechanical rests. Windage and elevation can be easily adjusted and it removes the human “squeeze” element from the equation.

Here is one that I use.
View attachment 538934View attachment 538933

Oh wow. That is nice. I take it that it is a one-off rear rest. It looks like I have some research to do for my set-up. I hope I can find something similar to help. Thanks for the pic!

 

[igolfat8]

Heavy SS Bipod in the front and Rube Goldberg rear rest assembled from parts bought from Ali Express.

 

[TheAirgunnero]

RW’s are finicky when shooting benchrest using a bipod as front rest. I had a BR stock made for mine and the accuracy has increased significantly. Harmonics is way way better than the stock laminate and less prone to cant. The BR stock is perfect for mechanical front/rear rests as well as sandbags.

My RW was originally a .22 HP (2019) and I converted it to .177 and has a Heliboard and a Huma reg for WRABF BR25 HV meter purposes.

 

[rsfrid]

I just saw this thread and can offer a small bit of advice. For best luck with high fps speeds at 50 yards, I recommend sorting your heavy pellets by weight (tenth grain batches) then lubing. I use Old English furniture spray wax. I spray batches in paper towel, roll them around, then let dry over night. The small amount of wax left on pellet is all the lube needed. I shoot 25 grainers at 950fps at 50 yards with success (under minute angle).

 

[igolfat8]

I just saw this thread and can offer a small bit of advice. For best luck with high fps speeds at 50 yards, I recommend sorting your heavy pellets by weight (tenth grain batches) then lubing. I use Old English furniture spray wax. I spray batches in paper towel, roll them around, then let dry over night. The small amount of wax left on pellet is all the lube needed. I shoot 25 grainers at 950fps at 50 yards with success (under minute angle).

View attachment 538984

WOW, Nicely done Ross! That RAW is a shooter.

 

[MDRICH2]

Heavy SS Bipod in the front and Rube Goldberg rear rest assembled from parts bought from Ali Express.

View attachment 538977View attachment 538979View attachment 538978View attachment 538976

Looks like a solid set-up. Gives me some great ideas. Is that the original stock?

 

[MDRICH2]

RW’s are finicky when shooting benchrest using a bipod as front rest. I had a BR stock made for mine and the accuracy has increased significantly. Harmonics is way way better than the stock laminate and less prone to cant. The BR stock is perfect for mechanical front/rear rests as well as sandbags.

My RW was originally a .22 HP (2019) and I converted it to .177 and has a Heliboard and a Huma reg for WRABF BR25 HV meter purposes. View attachment 538983View attachment 538982

Nice stock. I was thinking about buying the GP Stock from Daystate and converting it over so I would have a flatter surface for bench.

 

[igolfat8]

Here are the two parts you need to assemble a rear rest like I pictured above, if interested?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804443050166.html?ug_edm_item_id=3256804443050166&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21%2431.40%21%2418.84%21%21%21%21%21%402141290c17390475941516245d6e14%2112000029896707080%21edm%21%21%21&edm_click_module=alg_products&tracelog=rowan&rowan_id1=aeug_edm_56671_1_en_US_2025-02-08&rowan_msg_id=7549biz_pay_after_purchase%3A0%3A0_577175780%2442314db8840b47b4bbb7518ce917d31a&ck=in_edm_other&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804148727322.html?ug_edm_item_id=3256804148727322&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21%2413.23%21%2412.44%21%21%21%21%21%402141290c17390475941516245d6e14%2112000028802301407%21edm%21%21%21&edm_click_module=alg_products&tracelog=rowan&rowan_id1=aeug_edm_56671_1_en_US_2025-02-08&rowan_msg_id=7549biz_pay_after_purchase%3A0%3A0_577175780%2442314db8840b47b4bbb7518ce917d31a&ck=in_edm_other&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

 

[MDRICH2]

I just saw this thread and can offer a small bit of advice. For best luck with high fps speeds at 50 yards, I recommend sorting your heavy pellets by weight (tenth grain batches) then lubing. I use Old English furniture spray wax. I spray batches in paper towel, roll them around, then let dry over night. The small amount of wax left on pellet is all the lube needed. I shoot 25 grainers at 950fps at 50 yards with success (under minute angle).

View attachment 538984

Thank you for the info. I have some pellets drying right now and will lube with Baristol and give it a go tomorrow. I was also thinking 950-960 fps might be better. It’ll take a while to get a heli-board so shooting 18gr will have to work for now.

 

[MDRICH2]

Here are the two parts you need to assemble a rear rest like I pictured above, if interested?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804443050166.html?ug_edm_item_id=3256804443050166&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21%2431.40%21%2418.84%21%21%21%21%21%402141290c17390475941516245d6e14%2112000029896707080%21edm%21%21%21&edm_click_module=alg_products&tracelog=rowan&rowan_id1=aeug_edm_56671_1_en_US_2025-02-08&rowan_msg_id=7549biz_pay_after_purchase%3A0%3A0_577175780%2442314db8840b47b4bbb7518ce917d31a&ck=in_edm_other&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804148727322.html?ug_edm_item_id=3256804148727322&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21%2413.23%21%2412.44%21%21%21%21%21%402141290c17390475941516245d6e14%2112000028802301407%21edm%21%21%21&edm_click_module=alg_products&tracelog=rowan&rowan_id1=aeug_edm_56671_1_en_US_2025-02-08&rowan_msg_id=7549biz_pay_after_purchase%3A0%3A0_577175780%2442314db8840b47b4bbb7518ce917d31a&ck=in_edm_other&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

Thank you for the links. I will look at them in more detail soon. How much does your rear rest weigh? My bipod has a cant and pan feature so just and elevation feature may work.