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Which .30 Cal Rifle for 75-100yds.

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M

mikes

Member
Apr 2, 2015
143
26
Arkansas, United States
I really like my Cricket but I am wanting a .30 cal as well, mostly for 75+ yd shooting. While I may do some hunting with it, I primarily want to bench rest/target. I am considering attending the Extreme Bench Rest this fall in Arizona. Looks like a bunch of fun.
I have three rifles on my potential list of .30 cals: FX Bobcat, FX Boss or the yet unknown FX Impact. 
I'd like others thoughts, especially those who have competed. Seems like the Boss is a top contender, yet the Bobcat can hold it's own. I noted that Ted shot a FX Boss last year and a Bobcat the year before @ Ted, I am wondering why the change?
Should wait on the Impact? (I sure like the size)
PS I can;t afford all three ;-) 
 
The BOSS and the Bobcat are the exact same action, wrapped in different clothes. For shooting off a bench, I actually prefer the longer BOSS as compared to the Bobcat - but I am not such a fan of the BC stock, so that also counts in the negative column in this regard... I do have an FX500 in .25 (same size as a BOSS), and the .30 Bobcat. The Impact is so far an unknown as they are not available yet, so would just be speculation.... I have no doubt the gun will perform the way it is intended to do, and should offer at least an efficiency increase over the two older actions... Accuracy, well, my .30 Bobcat impresses me every time i pull the trigger. I would expect no less from the Impact.
 
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I posted this under a different thread but thought you might find useful. My .30 Bobcat was able to shoot 5 shot groups as follows:
  • 25 yards – single hole
  • 50 yards – 1/4″-1/2″ groups
  • 75 yards – 1/2″-3/4′ groups
  • 100 yards – 3/4″-1″ groups
As DaveG mentioned above, the Boss and Bobcat share the same action so aside from the length of the barrel and air reservoirs, they are pretty much the same rifle. The Boss shoots at 80 ft/lbs compared to 75 ft/lbs for the .30 Bobcat. My 30 was shooting up to 78 ft/lbs so results will vary.Scott
 
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"mikes"Thanks Dan. The RAW rifles look awfully nice as well. Thanks everyone for the input.
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I use the bobcat for shooting at 102 yards. The groups are about an inch depending on the wind. The cat is a superb rifle for long range shooting. The JSB shoot extremely well out of the ST barrel. The boss is another good one.....though as everyone's already mentioned, it's the same as the cat. The wolverine is another good option but it's a heavy rifle. Much heavier than the cat but it churns out a 100 fpe which to be honest is a better level of power for the 30 Cal. I sometimes feel the cat is a teenie weenie bit underpowered at 78 fpe. But never had a challenge with it in terms of accuracy. So the real tradeoff is power for weight. Since you are shooting benchrest the weight shouldn't matter. But if you plan to lug the rifle around in the woods for a long walk, go for the cat. 
 
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"FearnLoading"
"mikes"Thanks Dan. The RAW rifles look awfully nice as well. Thanks everyone for the input.
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I use the bobcat for shooting at 102 yards. The groups are about an inch depending on the wind. The cat is a superb rifle for long range shooting. The JSB shoot extremely well out of the ST barrel. The boss is another good one.....though as everyone's already mentioned, it's the same as the cat. The wolverine is another good option but it's a heavy rifle. Much heavier than the cat but it churns out a 100 fpe which to be honest is a better level of power for the 30 Cal. I sometimes feel the cat is a teenie weenie bit underpowered at 78 fpe. But never had a challenge with it in terms of accuracy. So the real tradeoff is power for weight. Since you are shooting benchrest the weight shouldn't matter. But if you plan to lug the rifle around in the woods for a long walk, go for the cat. 


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Just one more .30 Bobcat observation: At 75 yards or more, the pellet trajectory is like a rainbow. When zoomed in at 32x, I could clearly see the pellets dropping onto the target from above. Mind you, the rainbow trajectory had no bearing on accuracy as I was still getting MOA or better groups at 100 yards. It just feels as if you are launching mortars instead of pellets.
 
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Just one more .30 Bobcat observation: At 75 yards or more, the pellet trajectory is like a rainbow. When zoomed in at 32x, I could clearly see the pellets dropping onto the target from above. Mind you, the rainbow trajectory had no bearing on accuracy as I was still getting MOA or better groups at 100 yards. It just feels as if you are launching mortars instead of pellets.
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Took my cat out shooting today at 100 yards. The rainbow trajectory is so true. Was holding over about 5 mil dots since my scope was set at 50 yards. But the accuracy on the cat today blew my mind. Even with a 8 mile wind, the gun punched sub 1 inch groups again and again and again. 

Stretched it it out to 113 yards. Held 6.5 mil dots holdover the accuracy didn't change a bit. Very satisfying day today. Will post pics of the group soon. 
 
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;The winner mac 1 had a full bebch vise gun locked in etci think the boss is the gun for extreme it comes with a reg already too
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Turbo that was Timmy Mac, and his air rifle was not locked in a vice. He used a mechanical front rest, which is commonly used in benchrest competition. The rules state that you need to be able to lift the rifle from the rest - it's not clamped in. The rest is used to stabilize and position the front of the rifle.

 
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My experience is that a .30 cal needs to be pushing 90 foot pounds or better with the 44 grain pellet or it just doesn't perform that well past 100 yards. Between 80-90 foot pounds the .30 caliber has a much flatter trajectory. Choose a .30 caliber that was designed from the ground up to be a .30. Guns like the Daystate and EDgun are different than their smaller siblings. I shot a Daystate 303 and it really shot well. 
 
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Maybe i can offer some insight as 100 meter benchrest is quite popular where i live . Also please excuse my crappy english . 



The FX boss is known to perform well at that range. Match results always have some FX bosses in there. 
The RAW .30 is also performing good @ 100 meters. It's still kind of "new" , at least here, but they are slowly getting more popular. I think about the same accuracy as the boss can be expected, but i've never shot one personally . But definately worth googling. The groups i saw are promising. 
The bobcat .30, not so much strangely. Nobody shoots it competitively . (more on that in a bit as i've owned one briefly myself)
The bobcat .25 (you wanted .30 though)
Daystate Wolverine .30 

I've personally owned the Boss, (still do), the bobcat .25 (still do) and the bobcat .30 

Each have their advantages and disadvantages in my noob experience. 

The boss , i find, needs to be held a little firmly. You (or i maybe :d) can't just lay it on the sack while barely touching it and shoot. The rifle moves too much for that during the shot . I personally use the fill plug against the shooting sack the same way as you would "load" a bipod. (of course this only works if you shoot tethered). 
Because the boss is fairly light, and the stock is kind of narrow, it is in my experience pretty hold sensitive. I also often shoot 2 groups if you know what i mean. Shifting POI is common, at least when i am shooting it :D . Maybe i'm just a crap shot who knows. That's my experiecne though. Out of the 3 100 meter guns i owned, it is potentially the most accurate though. But i personally don't find it that easy to shoot. 

The bobcat .30, MUCH more stable on the shooting sack. Because heavier, wider, and bulkier. When i put it on the sack my initial thought was "ok this is going to be easy", that's how stable it was . However, for the whole day, i could not get a single decent 5 group shot out of it. Granted, it was the first time i shot it, it was brand new and i hadn't cleaned the barrel . So maybe the barrel was dirty, or maybe the stars weren't alligned, but i had a lot of shots that felt perfect, untill i saw where the pellet hit and i really couldn't fathom how the hell that just happened. 
Others reportedly can shoot good groups with the bobcat .30 @ 100 meters, however, you never see it used in matches so maybe the slight pellet speed reduction does have an impact on accuracy compared to the FX boss. I personally think the Boss is more accurate, altough trickier to shoot . 

The bobcat .25. Very easy to shoot, barely moves when you fire a shot so you don't have to grip the stock . Groups are a little wider than the FX boss though, and there's the odd flyer here and there. I guess that just comes with the smaller calibre. Also have only shot it for one day so maybe i just still suck with it. 

A lot also has to do with the JSB pellets. So everything i have said maybe nonsense in the end :D
Especially the .30's lately have been ALL OVER THE G^DDAMNED place. No two tins are the same. I don't know what they are doing down there but it isn't good. 

I have no personal experience with either the RAW or the Daystate. 

p.s: Indoor shooting only , front rest only . Can't tell you anything about shooting outside. But i'm guessing the .25 would take a severe beating vs the .30 if a little wind gets involved. 

 
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Mikes,
I just got a new RAW 30 and it is stacking pellets at 50 yards. I haven't done a writeup on the gun yet, but below was my response to a members PM here.
==========================================
I’ve only had it for a day so only got to shoot it a little yesterday. It is a RAW 30 in the walnut flavor; I got one with really nice grain and color.
http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah25/B_Scott_Harroff/IMG_3116_zps6uhkcfdg.jpg
http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah25/B_Scott_Harroff/IMG_3117_zpskcikb1hh.jpg
I went with the thumb hole stock and love it! The contour of the cheek rest is perfect and I’ve got it set exactly where it’s right fit for me. Still playing with the butt plate adjustment. i am really impressed with the knurled area for the right hand and fingers. No slipping around on a hot sweaty day with this gun! Also opted for the accessory rail which is machined in so nicely you can barely see it in this picture.
http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah25/B_Scott_Harroff/IMG_3115_zpsgeqwm1lc.jpg
The two stage trigger came right from Martin perfectly set on 2nd stage pull. He had alot of stage 1 travel which I’m going to dial out. The loading stroke is very smooth and easy. I’m a big fan of how when it is not loaded you can feel the resistance, but when loaded and you aren’t sure if you put a pellet into the barrel or not there is 0 effort on the loading stroke if there is one loaded already.

The only thing I’m not sure I like is the carbon fiber wrap for the barrel and moderator. It is top quality from a material and fit perspective but I’m just not sure I’m a fan. I’ll keep it this way for now, but might pull the barrel and have the whole thing powder coated to match the receiver.The same scope that would not work on the Impact went right straight onto the gun and is setup perfectly. I have one full turn counter clockwise past the top of the trajectory (where I zero, as seen in my avatar: turret for my Wolf MCT). I then have full three turns clockwise go go from top of trajectory down or up in yardage. Should be able to mark the top turret for out to 150 yards easily.Accuracy on this blows my Impact out of the water. Jim from PA was testing guns for accuracy at 50 yards before sending them out and it looks like he was shooting a .22 into about an inch with light winds/gusts and switching. My 2 ten shot proof groups from the RAW was one rough hole not alot bigger than a 30 cal pellet! When I get a gun, I start at 10 yards and mark my turret in 1 yard increments. I’m only at 19 yards still. Really looking forward to 50 this weekend.
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I have since shot 7 9 shot groups at 50 yards in this thread: 
http://www.airgunnation.com/topic/do-you-ever-wonder-why-jsb-states-pellet-weight-to-the-hundredth/

And a few 5 shot groups at 50 in this thread:
http://www.airgunnation.com/topic/30-predator-polymag-pellets/

 
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