I've been shooting in the NRL22 airgun class this season, and recently started using my custom FX Maverick .30 with 44gr JSBs (as of late) with a the NightForce 4-32 (MIL-C reticle). I sometimes use one of my custom .22cal Taipan Veterans built for shooting big slugs at just under supersonic velocity, but the rear cocking action is not great for NRL22. I've made new parts for my Mav as needed, beefing up things that have broken and just making it an all-around better platform. This rifle configuration has some advantages and disadvantages that I can try and briefly describe from my experiences thus far.
First, the Mav isn't as maneuverable as the .22cal Vet that I use, especially on courses with short openings (like some of the courses shooting off of ladder step or wooden fixtures with port holes). It just doesn't squeeze into small openings very well. However, I'm running the Sniper size Kraford & Lypt Maverick chassis though with a 480cc bottle with my "Compact" 500mm slow twist (1:37") Superior liner. The chassis serves as an excellent rest though, and I don't have any concerns with banging up my bottle. The KLS-2 stock also makes this rifle extremely ergonomic for PRS shooting.
Now the FX barrel liner is this rifle has been dead nuts accurate with the 44gr JSBs, ever since I bought the Mav new from Utah Airguns! I had originally just slapped on a custom carbon fiber sleeve to the liner, but I have since then added some prototype parts and materials to the liner, barrel kit, and shroud that stiffen it up and completely eliminate harmonic issues. I also made a dual threaded "shroud extension" from Delrin & metal - primarily so my muzzle wasn't situated behind the bottle (an aesthetic thing), but this component also works in conjunction with the other mods for harmonic tuning.
The other big challenge and disadvantage with this Maverick setup compared to my Vet has been the differences in velocity & BC. With the Vet, I shoot 40gr RBTs at 1100fps (BC 0.163 @1100fps with the boat tails vs. ~910FPS with 44gr JSBs with a BC of ~0.042). So, the Maverick requires some elevation dialing strategy on each of the courses.
What I mean by "elevation dialing strategy" is choosing a dialed elevation for sets of targets at longer ranges. For example, we had one course that had targets around 80y, 100y, and the far target somewhere around 170y. So what I'll do on a course like this is adjust my zero elevation to 100y for the middle target, and then I'll work out my hold under MILs for the closer target and hold over MILs for the far target. I also want to make sure that my maximum hold point is that which I can see easily under magnification in my optic. The MIL-C reticle is awesome, but it can be hard to read the numbers at lower magnification against a darker backdrop.
So WHY do I choose to shoot with .30cal pellets and not slugs? Well first, the NRL22 airgun class rules do not allow for slugs of any weight in .30cal - only domed-shaped pellets (you can only use mass produced slugs more more than 45gr up to .25). Since the majority of the targets are inside 100y, I gain some advantages in using a .30 over .22 & .25 (i.e., the bigger projectile increases POA error). That translates to more forgiveness at those closer distances and more target impacts! I can still hit targets pretty consistently out to 200y - aka the max target distance, but there's generally not many shots taken out that far in the NRL22 matches (NRL22X is a different league that shoots longer range).
Here's a quick video of my Maverick in action at this month's NRL22 match in Renton, WA. I scored a 466 with bonus courses and a 296 official that day (I got screwed on one of the courses badly). The targets in this video were set to 176y and I had opted to use my Accu-Tac SR5-G2 folded backwards for this particular course.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlsSBlEH5k
First, the Mav isn't as maneuverable as the .22cal Vet that I use, especially on courses with short openings (like some of the courses shooting off of ladder step or wooden fixtures with port holes). It just doesn't squeeze into small openings very well. However, I'm running the Sniper size Kraford & Lypt Maverick chassis though with a 480cc bottle with my "Compact" 500mm slow twist (1:37") Superior liner. The chassis serves as an excellent rest though, and I don't have any concerns with banging up my bottle. The KLS-2 stock also makes this rifle extremely ergonomic for PRS shooting.
Now the FX barrel liner is this rifle has been dead nuts accurate with the 44gr JSBs, ever since I bought the Mav new from Utah Airguns! I had originally just slapped on a custom carbon fiber sleeve to the liner, but I have since then added some prototype parts and materials to the liner, barrel kit, and shroud that stiffen it up and completely eliminate harmonic issues. I also made a dual threaded "shroud extension" from Delrin & metal - primarily so my muzzle wasn't situated behind the bottle (an aesthetic thing), but this component also works in conjunction with the other mods for harmonic tuning.
The other big challenge and disadvantage with this Maverick setup compared to my Vet has been the differences in velocity & BC. With the Vet, I shoot 40gr RBTs at 1100fps (BC 0.163 @1100fps with the boat tails vs. ~910FPS with 44gr JSBs with a BC of ~0.042). So, the Maverick requires some elevation dialing strategy on each of the courses.
What I mean by "elevation dialing strategy" is choosing a dialed elevation for sets of targets at longer ranges. For example, we had one course that had targets around 80y, 100y, and the far target somewhere around 170y. So what I'll do on a course like this is adjust my zero elevation to 100y for the middle target, and then I'll work out my hold under MILs for the closer target and hold over MILs for the far target. I also want to make sure that my maximum hold point is that which I can see easily under magnification in my optic. The MIL-C reticle is awesome, but it can be hard to read the numbers at lower magnification against a darker backdrop.
So WHY do I choose to shoot with .30cal pellets and not slugs? Well first, the NRL22 airgun class rules do not allow for slugs of any weight in .30cal - only domed-shaped pellets (you can only use mass produced slugs more more than 45gr up to .25). Since the majority of the targets are inside 100y, I gain some advantages in using a .30 over .22 & .25 (i.e., the bigger projectile increases POA error). That translates to more forgiveness at those closer distances and more target impacts! I can still hit targets pretty consistently out to 200y - aka the max target distance, but there's generally not many shots taken out that far in the NRL22 matches (NRL22X is a different league that shoots longer range).
Here's a quick video of my Maverick in action at this month's NRL22 match in Renton, WA. I scored a 466 with bonus courses and a 296 official that day (I got screwed on one of the courses badly). The targets in this video were set to 176y and I had opted to use my Accu-Tac SR5-G2 folded backwards for this particular course.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlsSBlEH5k
