Springer shooting at 70 yards

[Davey K]

Hi Mike! If I'd had my two bags of weedkiller to rest on at Popham, I'm sure I would have got a few more

Are you going to be trying out this long range lark? I'll bet you and your 77 could get some pretty impressive results

[Herx77]

Davey,
Have had some interesting 25mmish groups at 55yds lately,but gun doing my head in at comps.The Redfearns/Emley shoot was crap for me but the gun was doing nice tight groups at 45 and 55 yds;even spent some time with Tony Belas and the new Daystate on the Emley zero range.Both knocking the bird down at 55yds and resetting it,not bad for a HW77 against a pcp,but you have to work harder.
Coming over for the 'Gathering'.
HERX77 .

[remorem2jh@supanet.com]

I had another go with the Longbow today at shooting over 68yds distance last time i used a pellet tin as a target and hit it 4 out of 8 with crossman VP's (walking to and from to stick up the tin)

This time i used plasterboard as a target and Webley Mosquito Express pellets shooting on 4x mag and aiming 4 dots high.

That group went 41mm ctc across .

I shot a second group and they were not as nice but still only 44mm ctc.
I cant belive how accurate this gun is for a springer.

Shots taken from the front seat of my van , gun rested in my palm with forearm against my leg (propped up on dash)

[Davey K]

Very nice springer shooting mate Gets quite addictive when you can see some good results

[Davey K]

Davey,
Have had some interesting 25mmish groups at 55yds lately,but gun doing my head in at comps.The Redfearns/Emley shoot was crap for me but the gun was doing nice tight groups at 45 and 55 yds;even spent some time with Tony Belas and the new Daystate on the Emley zero range.Both knocking the bird down at 55yds and resetting it,not bad for a HW77 against a pcp,but you have to work harder.
Coming over for the 'Gathering'.
HERX77 .

Springers eh! Just like mysterious and beautiful spanish women (the nice ones not the ones with beards), the moment you think you've got em worked out they bite you on the ass! It's why we love it! Good to hear you're still fighting the good fight Mike, Southern Hunters will be the next trip out for me, not sure what rounds yet but I'll hope to see you soon at one of those. All the best!

[remorem2jh@supanet.com]

Its a pity there is not a club for this discipline of shooting OR maybe a blog hmm i just started a blog , Good to see some other results.Well done lads keep it up.
OH BTW i cant hit s**t with the lightning.

[Shed tuner]

OH BTW i cant hit s**t with the lightning.

Had to get rid of mine, no pellets struck in the same place twice...

[flims]

since you where determined to hit that black spot how did you compensate for drop? dialed in or hold over? with holding over its harder to group well, the aiming point is covered by the usually thicker reticle. when i zero for a particular distance i only place a dot, i dont bother about Drop or drift, i just want to see group capability.

Next i measure the drop and record the drift after having checked the wind with my wind meter. (if i dont have a wind meter with me i will right down surrounding conditions, leaves, trees swaying etc..). I then see what the drop translates to in MOA and i dial it in.

when i want to practice hitting a mark like you did, i will draw the Dot, dial in the Elevation and wind according to current conditions. i will try to come as close with that first shot. if i miss i will record by how much. This has worked out to 170 yards with my 0.25 FAC unless a strong gust blows it off target in the last 50 yards.

If you do try further distances you might have to correct windage prior to 1st shot as the wind maybe blowing it off target completely as happend in the last picture with Shot 1&2. i like to use 2ft cardboard or a 12x16" metal plate washed in white.

good shooting and keep it coming. it is difficult to find people interested in forming such a discipline for long range requires alot of dedication and many are not interested in all that. i have been trying to get more people into it but not much luck yet.

heres a record i kept this weekend while having a play with Fullmetaljacket's daystate. Not dialing in the shot was the limiting factor. im sure if i could dial it in and use of fine reticle, dat rig can do better.
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290266276.jpg
the target
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290268205.jpg

heres another one of my rifle in summer. i would never remember all that if i wouldnt write it.
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290266275.jpg

[Davey K]

since you where determined to hit that black spot how did you compensate for drop? dialed in or hold over? with holding over its harder to group well, the aiming point is covered by the usually thicker reticle. when i zero for a particular distance i only place a dot, i dont bother about Drop or drift, i just want to see group capability.

Next i measure the drop and record the drift after having checked the wind with my wind meter. (if i dont have a wind meter with me i will right down surrounding conditions, leaves, trees swaying etc..). I then see what the drop translates to in MOA and i dial it in.

when i want to practice hitting a mark like you did, i will draw the Dot, dial in the Elevation and wind according to current conditions. i will try to come as close with that first shot. if i miss i will record by how much. This has worked out to 170 yards with my 0.25 FAC unless a strong gust blows it off target in the last 50 yards.

If you do try further distances you might have to correct windage prior to 1st shot as the wind maybe blowing it off target completely as happend in the last picture with Shot 1&2. i like to use 2ft cardboard or a 12x16" metal plate washed in white.

good shooting and keep it coming. it is difficult to find people interested in forming such a discipline for long range requires alot of dedication and many are not interested in all that. i have been trying to get more people into it but not much luck yet.

heres a record i kept this weekend while having a play with Fullmetaljacket's daystate. Not dialing in the shot was the limiting factor. im sure if i could dial it in and use of fine reticle, dat rig can do better.
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290266276.jpg
the target
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290268205.jpg

heres another one of my rifle in summer. i would never remember all that if i wouldnt write it.
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888.../290266275.jpg

Nice to hear from you Films - I've been following your shooting progress on this section - very impressive! I've also been very intersted in the detailed analysis and preparation that you put into your shooting. I have to say that you are very much further down the road of long range shooting than I have yet travelled but I think your methodology and approach do hold the key to understanding long range air rifle shooting as a discipline.

To date, I've used mildots to 'aim-off', this has been fine as, with a 35yrd zero, I've got enough mildots to shoot out to 80yrds. With a 10X mag scope, 70 yards has been about as far as my eyes work to shoot accurately at small targets, hence this being the distance I've shot to so far.

If I'm going to improve on my results thus far and get better groups at 70 yards and beyond, I know I need more magnification and I also need to update my methodology. I totally agree with you that measuring the wind effect and then dialing that into your scope is the best way to achieve top quality results.

I'm going to be getting a bit of new kit soon and hopefully I'll be able to let you know if the changes I make produce some good results. Keep posting yours - they make great reading for any other enthusiasts out there - hopefully this section will become more popular as the idea catches on a bit.

The great thing about long distance air rifle shooting is that it does not matter what kit you have - good groups at 60 yards with a .22 12 ft lb HW80 and a 3-9x40 scope are equally as impressive as good groups at 90 yards with a .177 Steyr and an FT mega scope - it's skill that is being demonstrated not kit quality.

All the best fella!

[remorem2jh@supanet.com]

Had to get rid of mine, no pellets struck in the same place twice...

Hi guys
I have had a go at tuning the Lightning and it has improved it a bit.
Put a Venom st1 kit but the seal was a loose fit in the oversize cylinder so have now bought an unsized one from S.Pope and fitted that instead,gun feels much less Jumpy now.Not had chance to do any longrange work with it as yet as work has got in the way.
Keep it up lads

Tried the gun side by side with my s410 (it was dark so shot by lamp light) 43yds

[remorem2jh@supanet.com]

Hi Guys
This was my 68yd group With the Longbow . Shot with not much wind on 3x mag Aimed 3 dots high.I shoot on 12ft power level and seem to get worse groups with more mag. Some laterall stringing not sure if thats me or wind

[chriscp1991]

for accurate long range springer shooting id recommend a lubed hw97k.
I say lubed as it makes the cocking cycle silky smooth, unlike straight out the box.

A hw springer, if set up correctly, can compete accuracy wise against good pcp's.

chriscp1991

[walrus1#]

I found that shooting at 40mm circles was good but still had a tendency to spread the group by not aiming at exactly the same spot each time.To aid in this I now print out targets with a cross in the circle and aim at the cross.This of course means dialing the wind in,and that can get a bit annoying when the wind is swirling or varying in speed.But still I get better clusters just by having a reference point to aim at each time.In the new year I am intending to try the LGV Challenger out at long range side by side with my venom Prosport.I need to make a new bench as the old one was a bit too low for perfect comfort during the longer sessions.And I am refilling the bean bags with pieces of high density foam so I can use the same bags for PCP and springer.The Sand is too Hard even with a hand in the way and I got better consistency using cushions.so I shall fill the bench rest set with the foam ans see how I get on.I just bought an MTC fixed mag for the LGV and the Prosport wears a Besonder Opstich Mildot.So I shall get a good indication of which reticle is better for the long range targets,as the MTC is half mildot scb.
I can tell you I have had good results with Defiant pellets and despite them being on the light side they buck the wind quite well.