Rookie Mistakes?

I will not be the one dissing cheap PCP rifles, CUZ my friend have a few of those ( Snowpeak and Artemis brand )
And if we talk short range out to 50 M, then those damn things shoot as good as my much more expensive stuff, or at least so very close that i get sort of bummed out and change to long range where these will not hang with me.

Yesterday we tested a new target type, where you have to hit a 6 mm hole with a 4.5 mm pellet / slug, i was out of ammo so it was all up to my friend, and when he was dialed in i think his furthest shot from the hole was 1/2" and he soon sendt part of his 10 gr KO slug thru the hole if not most / all of it.

Clearly for the more capable rifles we will have to move that target to 75 M distance, even if we have 2000 of the shooting gallery chalk pieces that indicate when you have hit the hole, and a gravity magazine that hold many of those so we dont have to replace all the time.

Now granted the triggers on these rifles are bad bordering garbage compared to that i am used to on my Cyclone - Maverick and Two rifles.
but apparently my friend still make that work for him.
 
I wouldn't consider it a mistake, so much as a learning experience, but there was a time when a Benjamin Marauder barrel cost $20. After working on my original Marauder barrel, and making a mess of it, I bought 4 more and learned the proper methods of barrel prep, though wrecking another 3 along the way. The 4th went smoothly, and performed well.
 
What are some of your airgun rookie mistakes that you learned from? For example, I learned that you get what you pay for. If you are into quality, then don't get the gun that comes in a box on isle 7 next to the gym shorts at Big Five and put a $20 scope on it expecting it to last. I also learned that stores like Wallymart, Big 5, etc. do not sell a high quality ammo and that my cheap airgun with cheap ammo explains a lot about why I made those lousy groups and missed shots on pests. It would be both fun and educamational to read some of your experiences from when you were a newbie.
I disagree on available cheap store ammo being lousy for pests. If that is your experience, assume crosman premier ... PM me and lets work out a cheap deal. If you really want the best bang for your $, shop the used market as they figured out how to shoot pellets accurately before current day offerings. Some barrels are crap, some picky or running the wrong settings. Finally, get the setup that works best for your style ... heavy bench setups are a waste on me. Regardless, it was kind of a roller coaster for myself with ups and downs with tons of $ spent.
 
I can't agree with you either about, you get what you pay for without saying, sometimes you overpay for what you get. I'm only speaking from a hunter's point of view because I'm just that. I have only 2 pcp's AEA challenger 357 side lever $ 600.00 and Airforce Texan .308 $1,154. both at their price point as hunting pcp and power level they perform as well as $ 2,00.00 pcps. Most of the time when paying more just means you get the power windows and not the crank. This is just my 2 cents. I think a rookie mistake would be more like, not doing your homework before buying.
 
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