This is a topic discussed quite often within the shooting sport whether it be air rifle, rimfire, centerfire, including shotguns etc. Here are some thoughts:
(disclaimer: I, by no means, claim to be an expert or do I think I know or have all the answers).
With that said, I have learned a few things. I offer the following to hopefully help my fellow shooters.
A little background. I actually started shooting at the age of four As did many other kids from my day. That would be 53 years ago at the time of this post.
It has been a lifelong passion after God and family.There’s nothing I enjoy more. I like all of the disciplines not just air rifles. I have participated in many competitions That being air rifle, rimfire, centerfire, shotgun, as well as pool haha (it’s still shooting !!
)
I have been fortunate enough to win at least some in all of the above and a lot in a few of them.
I don’t mean for that to sound braggadocious but over the years I have researched, experimented, tested, and tried just about everything you can imagine. I’ve also had opportunity’s to visit with top shooters, world champions and Olympians from all over the world in the above mentioned disciplines.
Unexplained flyers is a topic that has came up many times.
Here some things I have learned.
There are times when you just cannot explain what happened !!
With that said, there are many times that you can figure it out if you try hard enough.
Here is one key.
More often than not it will be a combination of factors. (Failing to realize that is a mistake).
Now, focusing on air rifles
Here’s a few examples:
Wind
Consistent Grip
Consistent eye alignment
Consistent cheek weld
Consistent breathing technique
Consistent Trigger pull technique
Consistent wind read
Humidity
Heat
Cold
Solid platform
Solid rest
Scope movement (loose screws,rings,rails,etc)
Scope parallax
Scope alignment
Scope clarity
Solid action to stock fit, attachment, and torque
Barrel harmonic interference
Barrel cleanliness
Barrel to projectile match (twist rate)
Barrel to projectile match (head size,design,etc)
Some barrels and pellets just don’t like each other.
Consistent Projectile weight
Consistent Projectile head size
Consistent Projectile concentric’s
Consistent Projectile lubrication
Consistent Projectile cleanliness Consistent Projectile speed
Projectile damage or imperfections
I’m sure there’s some I’m forgetting and I’m sure there’s many I have not discovered. Since this is primarily a air rifle forum, I have also left out unrelated potential centerfire problems which would add close to that many more issues.
More often than not shooters blame the wind for misses and it very well can be.
But the truth is often that’s a cop out because we shooters either don’t realize, or don’t want to take the time and effort that it takes to figure out what else it may be.
That said with all of the above mentioned . It can often be a combination of one or many of these and failing to realize that is a mistake. Because it can result in a false positive or a false negative. Unchecked or unaddressed these can result in a person going around and around in circles.
What to do?
First of all you’ve got to decide what your goal is.
What do you want to accomplish?
What kind of shooting are you going to do?
How accurate do you need your gun to be?
If you’re going hunt, you don’t have to worry about many of the above mentioned possibilities.
Figure out the average target size and distance.
Tweak your gun and projectile combination accordingly.
Practice and call it good. A 1 inch group at 100 yards is only one half inch at 50 yards and one quarter inch at 25 yards.
That’s good enough for most hunting applications and overkill for many.
Competition is another story.
If you want to shoot as good as your natural ability allows, then one by one you have to eliminate all of the above mentioned possibilities. Start with the more simple ones and then advance to the more complex.
There are ways to figure out every thing mentioned. Many are simple. Others can be complex. But it can be done.
Wind conditions can be a double edged sword. You have to shoot in a windless condition (which is possible) to eliminate many of the above possibilities. But after that, if you don’t learn to read and practice in the wind, once everything else is eliminated. You will still not hit your target consistently.
Once you’ve Eliminated all the possibilities, you’ve got to practice, practice, practice. The fact is there is no substitute for it.
The other advice I would offer is to enjoy!!
You can go overboard until your ready to pull your hair out. When it quits being fun, back off and give it a rest for a while, until it’s fun again.
Here are a few center fire, and air rifle target pics I thought worth sharing
8 shot group last week @ 100 yards using the FX I mpact 700 mm barrel
17 Hornet @ 3475 FPS 3&5 shot 100 yard groups.
65/284 @ 2980 FPS 3 shot groups from 200 yards to 722 in 100 yard increments in consecutive order as fast as I could reasonably shoot them
200 yard group
300 yard group the 3 on the right
400 yard group
500 yard group
600 yard group
722 yard group
65/284 1204 yards 10 shot group in 10 to 15 mph wind on a 9x12 inch plate. (at this distance a 5mph missed wind call will miss the target 4 feet.
My 2017 EBR day 2 target shot with my 30 cal. FX boss @ 75 yards with a score of 242.
I know I haven’t thought of everything, please feel free to share your thoughts. I always want to learn more as well.
I hope you find this helpful.
DL
(disclaimer: I, by no means, claim to be an expert or do I think I know or have all the answers).
With that said, I have learned a few things. I offer the following to hopefully help my fellow shooters.
A little background. I actually started shooting at the age of four As did many other kids from my day. That would be 53 years ago at the time of this post.
It has been a lifelong passion after God and family.There’s nothing I enjoy more. I like all of the disciplines not just air rifles. I have participated in many competitions That being air rifle, rimfire, centerfire, shotgun, as well as pool haha (it’s still shooting !!
) I have been fortunate enough to win at least some in all of the above and a lot in a few of them.
I don’t mean for that to sound braggadocious but over the years I have researched, experimented, tested, and tried just about everything you can imagine. I’ve also had opportunity’s to visit with top shooters, world champions and Olympians from all over the world in the above mentioned disciplines.
Unexplained flyers is a topic that has came up many times.
Here some things I have learned.
There are times when you just cannot explain what happened !!
With that said, there are many times that you can figure it out if you try hard enough.
Here is one key.
More often than not it will be a combination of factors. (Failing to realize that is a mistake).
Now, focusing on air rifles
Here’s a few examples:
Wind
Consistent Grip
Consistent eye alignment
Consistent cheek weld
Consistent breathing technique
Consistent Trigger pull technique
Consistent wind read
Humidity
Heat
Cold
Solid platform
Solid rest
Scope movement (loose screws,rings,rails,etc)
Scope parallax
Scope alignment
Scope clarity
Solid action to stock fit, attachment, and torque
Barrel harmonic interference
Barrel cleanliness
Barrel to projectile match (twist rate)
Barrel to projectile match (head size,design,etc)
Some barrels and pellets just don’t like each other.
Consistent Projectile weight
Consistent Projectile head size
Consistent Projectile concentric’s
Consistent Projectile lubrication
Consistent Projectile cleanliness Consistent Projectile speed
Projectile damage or imperfections
I’m sure there’s some I’m forgetting and I’m sure there’s many I have not discovered. Since this is primarily a air rifle forum, I have also left out unrelated potential centerfire problems which would add close to that many more issues.
More often than not shooters blame the wind for misses and it very well can be.
But the truth is often that’s a cop out because we shooters either don’t realize, or don’t want to take the time and effort that it takes to figure out what else it may be.
That said with all of the above mentioned . It can often be a combination of one or many of these and failing to realize that is a mistake. Because it can result in a false positive or a false negative. Unchecked or unaddressed these can result in a person going around and around in circles.
What to do?
First of all you’ve got to decide what your goal is.
What do you want to accomplish?
What kind of shooting are you going to do?
How accurate do you need your gun to be?
If you’re going hunt, you don’t have to worry about many of the above mentioned possibilities.
Figure out the average target size and distance.
Tweak your gun and projectile combination accordingly.
Practice and call it good. A 1 inch group at 100 yards is only one half inch at 50 yards and one quarter inch at 25 yards.
That’s good enough for most hunting applications and overkill for many.
Competition is another story.
If you want to shoot as good as your natural ability allows, then one by one you have to eliminate all of the above mentioned possibilities. Start with the more simple ones and then advance to the more complex.
There are ways to figure out every thing mentioned. Many are simple. Others can be complex. But it can be done.
Wind conditions can be a double edged sword. You have to shoot in a windless condition (which is possible) to eliminate many of the above possibilities. But after that, if you don’t learn to read and practice in the wind, once everything else is eliminated. You will still not hit your target consistently.
Once you’ve Eliminated all the possibilities, you’ve got to practice, practice, practice. The fact is there is no substitute for it.
The other advice I would offer is to enjoy!!
You can go overboard until your ready to pull your hair out. When it quits being fun, back off and give it a rest for a while, until it’s fun again.
Here are a few center fire, and air rifle target pics I thought worth sharing
8 shot group last week @ 100 yards using the FX I mpact 700 mm barrel
17 Hornet @ 3475 FPS 3&5 shot 100 yard groups.
65/284 @ 2980 FPS 3 shot groups from 200 yards to 722 in 100 yard increments in consecutive order as fast as I could reasonably shoot them
200 yard group
300 yard group the 3 on the right
400 yard group
500 yard group
600 yard group
722 yard group
65/284 1204 yards 10 shot group in 10 to 15 mph wind on a 9x12 inch plate. (at this distance a 5mph missed wind call will miss the target 4 feet.
My 2017 EBR day 2 target shot with my 30 cal. FX boss @ 75 yards with a score of 242.
I know I haven’t thought of everything, please feel free to share your thoughts. I always want to learn more as well.
I hope you find this helpful.
DL
