My best 5 shot group with an air rifle!

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AmosBurton

AmosBurton

Member
Jul 11, 2022
616
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Staunton, IL, USA
After trying the 30 yd Challenge and realizing I can't actually see the target very well with my 3-9x40 scope I'd given up trying that challenge. But I knew I needed to keep at target shooting somehow so I wouldn't lose my edge come squirrel hunting season. So I looked for similar targets as the 30yd challenge and found one on MyTargets.com that was similar but way more visible for my 53yo eyes. After printing a few I went out after work this afternoon. First I spent some time refining my scope zero and then got down to it, despite the gusty conditions.
Holy cow! (imagine Phil Rizzuto's voice) I had a breakthrough! Suddenly I was shooting like I remember shooting as a kid! I was hitting the circle or close enough if it were a squirrel it would be dead. I even shot my best air rifle group ever!
So the target is 20 circles and I took one shot at each circle(like the 30yd Challenge) until done and then I went back and aimed at one circle for 4 more shots and got my first smaller than a dime group!
Probably not a big deal for lots of you but for me using a cheap hunting bipod and a garbage can as an elbow rest I'm pretty happy with it!

I recently made some changes to my set-up that I think helped. First I cleaned the barrel, second I moved my level from right to left so I could see it when I shoot(I shoot both eyes open), and third I just remembered to relax and not grip the rifle so hard.

What a relief! I was really struggling for a bit for various reasons, but this is a huge boost to my confidence.

5408CBA5-4A95-4862-90FB-0D1C844D19B6_1_105_c.jpeg
 
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AmosBurton said:
After trying the 30 yd Challenge and realizing I can't actually see the target very well with my 3-9x40 scope I'd given up trying that challenge. But I knew I needed to keep at target shooting somehow so I wouldn't lose my edge come squirrel hunting season. So I looked for similar targets as the 30yd challenge and found one on MyTargets.com that was similar but way more visible for my 53yo eyes. After printing a few I went out after work this afternoon. First I spent some time refining my scope zero and then got down to it, despite the gusty conditions.
Holy cow! (imagine Phil Rizzuto's voice) I had a breakthrough! Suddenly I was shooting like I remember shooting as a kid! I was hitting the circle or close enough if it were a squirrel it would be dead. I even shot my best air rifle group ever!
So the target is 20 circles and I took one shot at each circle(like the 30yd Challenge) until done and then I went back and aimed at one circle for 4 more shots and got my first smaller than a dime group!
Probably not a big deal for lots of you but for me using a cheap hunting bipod and a garbage can as an elbow rest I'm pretty happy with it!

I recently made some changes to my set-up that I think helped. First I cleaned the barrel, second I moved my level from right to left so I could see it when I shoot(I shoot both eyes open), and third I just remembered to relax and not grip the rifle so hard.

What a relief! I was really struggling for a bit for various reasons, but this is a huge boost to my confidence.

View attachment 353106
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Nice!
A great day!
 
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Telephonepete said:
Well done. If you shot from a Steady table and got both arms relaxed and rested, gun on a rest, you would probably beat that:)
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Thanks. I'm planning on getting or building a table to shoot from. I also ordered some nice leather shooting bags which should help as well. I do believe my days of close enough zeros are over. I'm officially on the aim small train.
Now I want a scope with higher magnification so I can really stretch out the distance. I know I can reliably hit a squirrel target at 75yds, now I want to drill it dead center....
I think I'm officially hooked on punching paper, at least until hunting season starts.
 
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AmosBurton said:
Thanks. I'm planning on getting or building a table to shoot from. I also ordered some nice leather shooting bags which should help as well. I do believe my days of close enough zeros are over. I'm officially on the aim small train.
Now I want a scope with higher magnification so I can really stretch out the distance. I know I can reliably hit a squirrel target at 75yds, now I want to drill it dead center....
I think I'm officially hooked on punching paper, at least until hunting season starts.
Click to expand...
I'm still not thrilled with shooting paper, but I still have those great days, and occasionally even get them on film. This picture is taken from a video of plinking at .25 cal airsoft pellets at 25-yards, with an HW75 scoped pistol. That was two, one MOA targets, without hitting the pin they were setting on. That was a great day too.
Screenshot_20230425_201344_Gallery.jpg
 
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AmosBurton said:
Jeez man, that's impressive. Shooting with a pistol is not my strong suit, I can hit a human size target reliably enough but that's like shooting flies!
You're giving me a target to shoot for!
And yes I intended the puns, sorry.
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Even a great day has it's battles. Here's that whole shoot. If that link works.

 
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AmosBurton said:
After trying the 30 yd Challenge and realizing I can't actually see the target very well with my 3-9x40 scope I'd given up trying that challenge. But I knew I needed to keep at target shooting somehow so I wouldn't lose my edge come squirrel hunting season. So I looked for similar targets as the 30yd challenge and found one on MyTargets.com that was similar but way more visible for my 53yo eyes. After printing a few I went out after work this afternoon. First I spent some time refining my scope zero and then got down to it, despite the gusty conditions.
Holy cow! (imagine Phil Rizzuto's voice) I had a breakthrough! Suddenly I was shooting like I remember shooting as a kid! I was hitting the circle or close enough if it were a squirrel it would be dead. I even shot my best air rifle group ever!
So the target is 20 circles and I took one shot at each circle(like the 30yd Challenge) until done and then I went back and aimed at one circle for 4 more shots and got my first smaller than a dime group!
Probably not a big deal for lots of you but for me using a cheap hunting bipod and a garbage can as an elbow rest I'm pretty happy with it!

I recently made some changes to my set-up that I think helped. First I cleaned the barrel, second I moved my level from right to left so I could see it when I shoot(I shoot both eyes open), and third I just remembered to relax and not grip the rifle so hard.

What a relief! I was really struggling for a bit for various reasons, but this is a huge boost to my confidence.

View attachment 353106
Click to expand...
Wow that is an amazing shot group!
 
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beerthief said:
what scope is this , i am looking for that kind of eye relief , thanks Stan
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That one is a discontinued Simmons Pro Hunter, pistol scope. 2X6X32. The hardest issue with it is the parallax being set at 50 yards. To correct paralex I would full zoom to 6X which would introduce a small ghost ring to center with.
I wish someone made a good pistol scope for air pistols, with adjustable parallax.
I'm not sure where I saw it but someone has a 2X7 pistol scope that I noticed that the parallax was set at 30 yards, which would be a big help.
Note that Simmons says 20 inches on that eye releif.
 
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