Tomorrow my new gun arrives. Dealer mounted the scope and sighted it in at 22 yards. Where do you begin with a new gun? I was thinking of cleaning the barrel before the first shot. Then, getting used to the gun at 22 yards. Ultimately, I’ll need to resight to 40 yards. Any suggestions on how to proceed?
Where Do I Begin???
- Thread starter BurneyCA Dennis
- Start date
Good idea to clean barrel. PatchWorm and Ballistol are popular for airguns. Steve, at AEAC, has a great YouTube how-to video on the PatchWorm/Ballistol system. After reading Owner's Manual, barrel cleaning and mounting optics usually top off with air and load magazines to be ready for target work. Best of Luck, WM
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Nice guns. I can't shoot a springer for crap, but I have thought about giving one of these a try. I'd probably get the blue laminate and just stare at it.
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I like the idea of sitting on my deck, looking out to the forest, crawling with soon to be dead diggers and knocking them off at 50 yards. I just like the challenge of a top notch springer.
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They are very nice rifles that's for sure. The underlever design helps with accuracy too.
Best I ever did with a break barrel was with a cheap Ruger Airhawk. Killed lots of squirrels with it. Every other I've tried have been cheap and I couldn't get the hold right. I even had a BSA Lightning magnum and I just couldn't get it right.
Coming from co2 and pcp guns, I'm spoiled with their ease of accuracy.
Best I ever did with a break barrel was with a cheap Ruger Airhawk. Killed lots of squirrels with it. Every other I've tried have been cheap and I couldn't get the hold right. I even had a BSA Lightning magnum and I just couldn't get it right.
Coming from co2 and pcp guns, I'm spoiled with their ease of accuracy.
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Excellent rifle! Hard to beat a 97. I would shoot a tin of pellets through the rifle before you do any target / group shooting.
Biggest thing that will affect a springer's accuracy is loose screws. There are four main screws. Two on the front of the stock and two in the trigger. Remove the screws and clean the grease off of them first then use blue loctite to keep them from loosening. Let dry over night.
I suggest H&N Field target Trophy's to start with. Try the 452 177's or the 553 22's first. All my HW's like big pellet head sizes.
Use seed or peanuts to keep pests anchored for a good head shot.
Biggest thing that will affect a springer's accuracy is loose screws. There are four main screws. Two on the front of the stock and two in the trigger. Remove the screws and clean the grease off of them first then use blue loctite to keep them from loosening. Let dry over night.
I suggest H&N Field target Trophy's to start with. Try the 452 177's or the 553 22's first. All my HW's like big pellet head sizes.
Use seed or peanuts to keep pests anchored for a good head shot.
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Hello and Welcome to the best AGN . yes patch worm is the best and safest way to clean a barrel . DIY would be 1 inch patches of old T shirt and fishing line.
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I like the 17 cal bore snake for may airguns but do occasionally use a patch worm. Made one with string trimmer refill.
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Read up on trigger adjustment. There is a lot more you can do than just adjusting the tension screw. Some of the UK channels have in depth vids on it. Good choice on your purchase.
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Congratulations, I'm really liking mine. I primarily shoot 75 yards from the bench at plinking targets.
I doubt your barrel would need a cleaning after a sight in has been done, but if you pull a patch you'll be sure.
Please add pic's and feedback.
I doubt your barrel would need a cleaning after a sight in has been done, but if you pull a patch you'll be sure.
Please add pic's and feedback.
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Where to begin with a new gun? Just shoot it as-is for a few days. Get to know it. Learn the feel. Then once you have that baseline, start to tinker on things you now know may benefit from tinkering.
Big mistake I often see people make, especially newbies, is taking tools to a brand new gun before they have even shot it. The mods can wait.
Big mistake I often see people make, especially newbies, is taking tools to a brand new gun before they have even shot it. The mods can wait.
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The scope is as important as the rifle. The way it's mounted is important too. Scopes and mounts are the weakest link with a springer.
Try different weight pellets first. Depending on your altitude and power your gun will prefer pellets in a certain weight range. Then try different brands in that weight range.
My 97 shoots pellets between 14-16 grains. Some are a little more accurate than others but everything I've tried shoots pretty good. The HN 14.66 and JSB 14.6 and 15.8 shoot best.
Remember you won't have much power out past 50 yards and you need to pick your shot. Headshots aren't going to happen often. You need to learn to kill with the rifle and that's a learning curve in itself.
My 97 has had a couple issues. The pivot pin in the cocking arm wears rapidly and puts slack in the cocking stroke. This causes slack in the compression tube/breech fit and also with trigger/safety engagement. Oil that pin and keep an eye on it. If you shoot a lot it will wear out. It's easy to replace but don't let the wear go too far. It will ruin a cocking arm/lever and you will have to replace them too.
The springs in these guns wear out/break fast and often. I'm on my third. They will loose velocity and need a new spring. It usually won't affect accuracy at all but it will affect velocity and power. For a hunting gun you will need all you can get. So keep an eye on velocity and tailor your shots to the power you have.
Sitting on the porch is great fun. And you will get some shots that way. But learning to hunt with a springer is all about getting close. If you intend to shoot, kill and recover your targets you will need to do more than sit on the porch and shoot.
You are going to wound animals and get bad shots. Prepare to deal with that before you pull the trigger. Expect to have to chase, locate and dispatch an animal that is wounded. You aren't going to be able to do that efficiently with a scope mounted pellet rifle when a varmint is dying under a bush at 10 feet. Take rubber gloves, a shovel and a burlap sack. Remember the ones you don't recover will rot and stink and draw scavengers. Your dog will find the mess and roll in it. There will be dead and disfigured animals running around your property and dying in your neighbors yard. So do it right and take it seriously.
Porches are great for target practice. Get some toy dinosaurs or stuffed animals and set them out there. When you can hit your target every time then re-evaluate your hunting strategy to include events that happen when things don't go perfectly.
I guarantee you that most shots will require much more effort than a porch party. And very few shots will the animal fall over dead. A gut shot stuffed toy is a lot easier to deal with than a gut shot raccoon. So figure it out first on something that does not bleed and scream and fight and then run under the barn and start stinking.
Try different weight pellets first. Depending on your altitude and power your gun will prefer pellets in a certain weight range. Then try different brands in that weight range.
My 97 shoots pellets between 14-16 grains. Some are a little more accurate than others but everything I've tried shoots pretty good. The HN 14.66 and JSB 14.6 and 15.8 shoot best.
Remember you won't have much power out past 50 yards and you need to pick your shot. Headshots aren't going to happen often. You need to learn to kill with the rifle and that's a learning curve in itself.
My 97 has had a couple issues. The pivot pin in the cocking arm wears rapidly and puts slack in the cocking stroke. This causes slack in the compression tube/breech fit and also with trigger/safety engagement. Oil that pin and keep an eye on it. If you shoot a lot it will wear out. It's easy to replace but don't let the wear go too far. It will ruin a cocking arm/lever and you will have to replace them too.
The springs in these guns wear out/break fast and often. I'm on my third. They will loose velocity and need a new spring. It usually won't affect accuracy at all but it will affect velocity and power. For a hunting gun you will need all you can get. So keep an eye on velocity and tailor your shots to the power you have.
Sitting on the porch is great fun. And you will get some shots that way. But learning to hunt with a springer is all about getting close. If you intend to shoot, kill and recover your targets you will need to do more than sit on the porch and shoot.
You are going to wound animals and get bad shots. Prepare to deal with that before you pull the trigger. Expect to have to chase, locate and dispatch an animal that is wounded. You aren't going to be able to do that efficiently with a scope mounted pellet rifle when a varmint is dying under a bush at 10 feet. Take rubber gloves, a shovel and a burlap sack. Remember the ones you don't recover will rot and stink and draw scavengers. Your dog will find the mess and roll in it. There will be dead and disfigured animals running around your property and dying in your neighbors yard. So do it right and take it seriously.
Porches are great for target practice. Get some toy dinosaurs or stuffed animals and set them out there. When you can hit your target every time then re-evaluate your hunting strategy to include events that happen when things don't go perfectly.
I guarantee you that most shots will require much more effort than a porch party. And very few shots will the animal fall over dead. A gut shot stuffed toy is a lot easier to deal with than a gut shot raccoon. So figure it out first on something that does not bleed and scream and fight and then run under the barn and start stinking.
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Don't put a tuning kit in it and all that stuff. Get a few tins of pellets through it and see where it ends up. You might like it. Let the gun come to you.
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22 yards is prob a good starting zero for your scope on a springer, depending of course, on the weight and speed of the pellet your shooting.
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The peak of my trajectory is about 26-27 yards using a 40mm scope mounted low shooting 14.66 pellets at 640 fps. and sighted at 25. So 22 yards seems just about perfect. It would shoot pretty flat from 20-28 and barely noticeable drop at 30.
I sight mine in at 25 because I never shoot any closer than that. But a couple yards closer zero would be perfect for garden pests from 12-30 yards. You could (almost) hit behind the crosshair and never worry about trajectory until you got past 30.
Knowing that optimum zero point is critical to a good hunting shot. If you are dialing in elevation for each range that's an easy concept to overlook. Shooting at varied ranges and using holdover it becomes really important.
Shooting a scope mounted high really changes things too. Your peak trajectory is farther out. So a big scope mounted high really messes with your close shots and puts your "flat spot" farther out.. If that works then its groovy. But you will need more correction for close shots.
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