Expectations and Accuracy

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orangeokie

orangeokie

Member
Dec 11, 2022
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Oklahoma City OK
I feel like I am transitioning into a second stage of PCP shooting. As a relative new PCP shooter, it has taken me about six months to experience the performance and feeling of several different guns. My First rifle was an FX Crown Continuum in .25 and I discovered this is a very easy rifle to shoot accurately. The rifle feels very comfortable in my shoulder, and I am able to fine tune my eye alignment with scope with the adjustable comb. What I have discovered shooting this rifle on paper is that I expect it to hit the exact spot where my crosshairs are located every time I properly squeeze off a shot. The trigger is very predictable and the pneumatic and mechanical sounds and are very quiet and subdued. This makes for a mental expectation that the round is going to hit the desired POI every time, consistently, with no surprises. I think this mental expectation plays a critical role in shooting accurately . . . consistently.

Over the months following I went down the rabbit hole quite quickly and expanded my collection of PCP rifles with a .177/.22 Benjamin Akela, .22 Daystate Air Wolf MCT, .22 Benjamin P-ROD, .177 BSA R10, .25 AirMaks Caiden X, .22 Air Arms S510 Carbine FAC, .30 Evol Paradigm, .20 Daystate Huntsman Regal, .22 BSA Scorpion Multishot, .22 Zbroia Hartitsia, and am awaiting shipment of a .22 BSA Defiant. Yes, I find it difficult to shoot them all regularly, and that is where "expectations" and "accuracy" come into play. I find that the easiest rifles to shoot accurately (the Paradigm, Crown, both Daystates, the Air Arms and the BSA R10) require less range time and practice than the others, yet I have developed an expectation of perfect accuracy when I do break them out and shoot them. All of my rifles are accurate, but I have not had enough range time with the rest of them to develop the same consistent accuracy expectation as the former rifles.

Each rifle has a different feeling trigger, so I have to learn each one, and that comes with practice. (I think if I took the time to learn how to adjust each trigger that would aid my expectations.) Just this evening I switched scopes on my Akela and dialed it in at 25 yds to where it was shooting one hole, easily covered with a dime. I expected it to shoot accurately, and it did. When I switched from punching paper to shooting sparrows at 25 yds distance in a tree top 24 feet high, I could not miss. Each "thwack" as the .22 caliber pellet hit its mark brought a satisfying smile to my face. I now "expect this rifle to shoot where I want it to shoot, shot after shot. That brings on confidence.
Does anyone else have the confident, expectation of accuracy with your rifle(s)? . . . to what do you attribute it?
 
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In the regard of knowing each of my rifles so well that I expect to hit what I am shooting at, I am fortunate to only own 3. All three are very different from one another but I know each well enough that when I pick them up, my form changes slightly to accommodate their differences.
I love my Panthera. I know the gun and what to expect from it. I have to be on my game with the trigger but it does not seem hold sensitive. It is tune sensitive and pretty selective with what it wants to shoot well.
The M3 has been a reliable performer but I have to be more careful with my form. It is not as forgiving as the Panthera but capable of very good accuracy.
Then there is the Maverick Compact. I have both a 22 and 25 cal barrel for it. The 22 Is accurate and performance is repeatable But it sees little use. The 25 barrel is outstanding. Tune it to shoot JSB 25.39’s in the mid 880’s and it will forgive your sins of form and deliver pellets on target all day long. This gun ain’t fussy about form. You cannot be sloppy but it does not require meticulous form to shoot well.
I took all three guns to the feedlot yesterday. Started with the Maverick and the other two guns never came out of their cases.
 
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@orangeokie, my confidence and high expectations for first shot accuracy? And, or shooting groups, pests, etc. Come from lots of pellets down range from 15-64 yards practically. Out to 102 yards for plinking fun. I use to have a larger stable, but find I prefer intimate acquaintance with my primary shooter.
 
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I've been shooting a lot of 30 yard challenge targets to pass the time and learn my PCPs better before it is hunting season again. My best is a couple 199s (out of 200) with my P35-22. I expect to get an X each time I pull the trigger but my highest X count is 18 - a couple missed. A typical target with it is probably more like 12-15 Xs. It has been fun to learn more about what I was doing wrong that results in lower scores than I would like. My latest observation is I need to keep my non-trigger hand (for me my right) off the somewhat flexible shooting bench when I am pulling the trigger. A little pressure on the bench can disturb the aim point of the gun and while I can twist it back with my trigger hand those shots are not my best. But "bad" shots are a 9 or possibly an 8. The 10 ring is only 3mm across, the 9 about 7.5mm and the 8 about 11mm. The X is a dot. So an 8 is still less than 1/2 inch from point of aim at 30 yards. Plenty good enough to smack a squirrel in the head or hit the body of even a small bird.

I've killed the most squirrels with my P35-25 and I don't think I've even shot a 150 30 yard challenge target with it. It will shoot to point of aim if I take it out of the coffee table it is in and fairly regularly shoots 1/4 inch 3 shot groups at 25 yards but it just isn't precise enough for the 30 yard challenge. I'm hoping a new barrel helps that but we'll see. But it killed all 18 squirrels I pointed it at and nearly all were one shot kills. I don't consider it an inaccurate rifle, just not a good target shooting rifle. If I shoot it at a 30 yard challenge target I am a bit pleasantly surprised when it gives me an X.

I may decide to spend more than $500 on a PCP one of these days. I am a bit curious what I would gain. I am pretty sure it would include more consistent trigger pull weight. I have my 3 P35s turned down to under 1 lb pull but it can vary by several ounces from shot to shot. When it decides to get a bit heavier that also can throw me off on that shot. I've been able to get the pull weight pretty light on all my PCPs but I think the design of the trigger has a lot to do with the pull weight consistency. One turn off of the higher priced PCPs is they are all what I consider heavy. 6.5 lbs or more. For shooting from a bench that doesn't matter but I'd rather carry a 5 lb gun.
 
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@orangeokie in my case expectations comes with familiarity, practice, and keeping up with my DOPE. In doing so I get a feel for the rifle’s/barrels consistency. If I haven’t shot a rifle in a while, I either need to add to my DOPE or consult with it as the conditions likely will be different from the last time I shot it. My Brocock Bantam Sniper HR has been very reliable over time. When I pick it up it doesn’t usually take long to get myself on track. Even after swapping scopes, once I’m zeroed in, she’s good to go. My Evol has been reliable in this sense as well. I also have an unregulated .357 Benjamin Bulldog that has been pretty reliable.

Once I got the feel for shooting these guns, their performances have pleasantly consistent. This makes shooting more enjoyable for me. Having more guns than one can shoot regularly can cause one to cycle through various guns for a time and giving others a break, which makes it a little more difficult to become very familiar with all of them IMO.
 
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I have just 1 air rifle. I expect at least this from it and me.

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Rob_in_NC said:
10mm wrenches and sockets always have a way of disappearing. I thought it was just me.
Click to expand...
Twas the curse of the first blacksmith. Forging hammers for nails. Now wrenches?! For Bolts?!
A genie appeared and the blacksmith demanded a sacrifice instead of a wish. Genie said how many then...ten? Blacksmith said 10? Mmmm....
Genie said: gotcha! 10mm wrenches and sockets for the sacrifice it will be!🤣
***I just made that up 🥴🙃
 
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iAMzehTOASTY1 said:
Twas the curse of the first blacksmith. Forging hammers for nails. Now wrenches?! For Bolts?!
A genie appeared and the blacksmith demanded a sacrifice instead of a wish. Genie said how many then...ten? Blacksmith said 10? Mmmm....
Genie said: gotcha! 10mm wrenches and sockets for the sacrifice it will be!🤣
***I just made that up 🥴🙃
Click to expand...
that's actually pretty good and as I was reading I was wondering why TF hadnt I heard that before. Guess no had until now. Kudos
 
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That's because your a spoiled bugger orangeokie"lol with all them guns.😁
On a serious note Ezana4ce you have clearly gained alot of knowledge from shooting all these different guns and found maybe each has its own little querk.
Also different handling and weight to factor in.
I think if you shoot a particular gun long enough you get muscle memory the same as typing on a keyboard and you get to know it pretty well.
So as soon as you pick it up a pre set in your brain knows what is coming.
You know when you've found the right gun" it's like and old jacket that fits well.
Being human we all try and find the next best thing" but sometimes you've already got it under your nose and sometimes less is often more.
Sounds like you're brocock is your old jacket Ezana4ce😁
 
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aroundlocks said:
That's because your a spoiled bugger orangeokie"lol with all them guns.😁
On a serious note Ezana4ce you have clearly gained alot of knowledge from shooting all these different guns and found maybe each has its own little querk.
Also different handling and weight to factor in.
I think if you shoot a particular gun long enough you get muscle memory the same as typing on a keyboard and you get to know it pretty well.
So as soon as you pick it up a pre set in your brain knows what is coming.
You know when you've found the right gun" it's like and old jacket that fits well.
Being human we all try and find the next best thing" but sometimes you've already got it under your nose and sometimes less is often more.
Sounds like you're brocock is your old jacket Ezana4ce😁
Click to expand...
@aroundlocks Thats old faithful. I’ve had to learn to work on it , gotten great help from members and threads on the forums, started learning to tune it, all the while the barrel remained true. It’s performed beautifully and I’ve taken time to figure how some of the “hows?” and “whys?” and that information makes me more confident with the gun. So much that when I miss, I can examine photos, videos, and memory and often find where I erred causing a miss. I would think this is the type of relationship one would want to have with a gun when investing the type of time and money that we do with our airguns.
 
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