my raw tm500 is the most accurate .177 I've ever used... its groups are running 10 shots 1.2 mm ctc at 25 meters..... and those are out door groups......and this is laying prone on the ground and no fancy rest.......so after this all that matters is getting a stock to fit the different field positions and balance...... and then there the art of wind temp ect....... once u got a super accurate gun its done to the shooter..... i hope that's a fair statement.
I'm taking us back to why i started this thread - i had a large airgun budget and i wanted to buy different Field Target rifles so i could try them out (as many as possible) to see which air rifle was a fit for me during an HFT match. The idea (silly one) was that i could save myself some time and money if i got some real hard data before i started buying and experimenting with lots of different rifles and scopes (silly me) - quoting myself from the opening thread:
"I wonder if anyone has compiled the stats to determine the most successful FT rifles and pistols?
For example how often does an FX M3 win an FT match, or a Steyr or a walther? I’m not interested in popularity or “feelings” of greatness or reputations, but rather, factual stats!
Compiled findings from matches all over the world.
Certainly some airhead follows this like some people follow baseball stats?"
Emotionally speaking we all have our favorite gun "the shooter" and we are damn proud of our toys, but when you combine the right gun with the right shooter on the right day and preparations and training meet challenge, something amazing happens (and its not guess work) someone wins.
My goal with this thread was "a wish" in that i was hoping those wins were being compiled somewhere and thus becoming statistically relevant. Every field target match / shoot i have been to thus far has asked for your name, your gun, your pellet and lastly your scope. Several contributors to this thread touched on some of those statistics. I had really hoped that a body like AAFTA or WFTF might of had a computer / stats nerd crunching such data.
To date i have tried just about every Field Target Platform and scope that was within my grasp... some came, some went, but typically they were all shooters (damn accurate) and yet most have been sold or traded away - primarily because of ergonomic reasons; meaning how well did I as the shooter, interface with the equipment or was it the right fit for me, the right weight distribution etc.. strangely the single biggest #1 problem i ran into was how a pellet loaded = right angle breech loading is very hard with little pellets as we get older and it gets colder. This is why i sold my TM's and Steyr's and other breech loaders. Second was weight distribution, because too much weight at the nose was difficult for me to hold point of aim. Third was how high and forward a scope sat on the gun because too far up and forward and the gun got tippy - flip floppy.
In the end, for me, a great field target rifle is not only accurate with 10.34 and 13.4 pellets at 55 yards, it has to scope well for a good cheek weld and it must sit ergonomically correct at my shoulder! Lastly, for me, it comes down to how easy i can get a pellet to load - it gets really old really fast dropping more pellets on the ground than you insert in the breech; in this regard CARM, Rowan Engineering SSL flip out loaders and PRS SSL's are a dream to work with!!!
As for finding the correct scope for the field target shooter... we will save that for another thread.
