underlever or break barrel

[nced]

Hi again, sorry for all the questions but is there any advantage to a underlever air rifle to a break barrel or is it just a personal preferance, thanks, Waggy,,

My personal opinion is that while I don't believe my .177 HW77k is INHERENTLY more accurate than my .177 Beeman R9 (basically a HW95 with different trim), I have found that it IS easier for me to shoot accurately. Still....I prefer the convenience of the breakbarrel as opposed to reaching into the HW77 "bear trap while fishing pellets into the loading tap". Even though the "77" is easier to shoot accurately I still use my R9 breakbarrel MUCH more often than the heavier fixed barrel.

One potential disadvantage for the R9 is the fact that changes in the barrel pivot bolt tension will result in point of impact shifts. Also, overly tight pivot bolt tension (or poor lubrication) will cause the barrel shims to wear prematurely and provide an inconsistent lockup which can affect the poi. I do have to mention though that such "tension changes" occur wery slowly and probably won't be noticed as the changes are accomodated with normal sight adjustments. After saying this I do have to mention that the fixed barrel underlever HW77 requires no such pivot tension adjustment so this removes another variable from the mix.

Here are a few (exceptional for me) 50 yard groups that I've shot with various .177 R9s, some of which I've owned, tuned and sold over the years......
All targets shot US hunter class field target style like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...RainyDIFTA.jpg

15 out of 20 CPLs through a 3/4" killzone......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...arget17_20.jpg

A five shot 50 yard group shot in a variable breeze it's roughly 1" wide x 1/2" high..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...Y1_29_2013.jpg
The next five shots at a paper target group rougly 1" wide x 3/8" high.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...up12_20_12.jpg

A few groups shot when comparing the accuracy of Beeman FTS pellets with Crosman Premier lights from the 1250 count die lot marked box........
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7..._FTSgroups.jpg

A 10 shot group upstairs in the house with a R9 I called "Franken9" because it was a conglomeration of R9, R10 and home made parts.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...ken9target.jpg

Another 50 yard target when comparing different pellets. Notice the CPL group in the upper left corner..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...6_5_2011-1.jpg

My point of all this is that while my accuracy with a break barrel R9 isn't exactly "PCP class accuracy", I can't shoot any tighter groups with my heavier and more awkward HW77, it's just that the "77" group sizes are a bit more consistent!

[Blackrider]

I have a very simple view point concerning spring driven air rifles ;
Hunting....... Break Barrel in .22 cal.
Targets........Underlever in .177 cal.

PCP ?. well I dont do it but its another storey !

brider.

[nced]

"Hunting....... Break Barrel in .22 cal."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interesting point of view than many knowledgeable airgun hunters on my side of the big pond also share, but I haven't found that to be true for my R9 (rebadged HW95) springers. I started out shooting a .177 R10 and it served me well for all shooting, then I bought a .20 cal R9 and used it for a year for general pest control and tree squirrel hunting and found it a bit disappointing when comparing the "hit to retrieve ratio" conpared to the .177 bored R10. Then I bought a used .22 cal R1 barrel, sent it off for a chop and choke, then mounted it to the R9 and again was disappointed when comparing the results to the .177 R10. I ended up selling both the .20 and .22 barrels reverting back to .177 cal and haven't looked back.

My issue with the larger calibers vs .177 for tree squirrels was that the squirrels didn't drop any quicker when hit with "fat lead" than they did when hit with "skinny lead"! When dressing out the squirrels for the pan the squirrels that were double lunged with .20/22 pellets were indeed "busted up" more, but they traveled just as far after the hit as they did with a .177 double lung hit. I guess this didn't surprise me much since I've seen multiple squirrels double lunged with a 100+ fpe .22 rimfire still truck it quite a few feet before dropping, so I really don't put much stock on a piddly 14fpe hit!

I believe that the issue for ME and "fat pellets" is that the much steeper trajectory of the .20/.22 pellet from my 14fpe R9 made range/holdover estimation too critical past 30 yards for my skill lever, therefor I got too many "off the mark" hits with fat pellets. With my .177 R9 I can pretty reliably brain a squirrel in a tree at 40 yards so I don't see the point of hobbling myself with .20/.22 and 30 yard shots.

Two tree squirrels, one head shot, one double lunged with a single .177 dome....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...oSquirrels.jpg

What those squirrels were turned into.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...dSquirrels.jpg

Some bigger stuff also taken with a .177 dome include ground hogs (dome at base of skull severing spine)..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../groundhog.jpg

And a raccoon with .177 dome behind the head as it was in a tree after wrecking a bird feeder.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...acoon_R9_1.jpg

Anywhoo.........my PERSONAL opinion is that penetration THROUGH the vitals trumps a bigger hole that doesn't hit the vitals and at R9 power levels the .177 penetrated better. Please don't take this reply as a rebuttal to your fine post.........take it only as a different point of view based on my PERSONAL shooting skills!

[berkshire bred]

after having owned several of both I would say that you can not beat an underlever for accuracy the only complaint is that they are always heavy guns.

[landymick]

after having owned several of both I would say that you can not beat an underlever for accuracy the only complaint is that they are always heavy guns.

hi,but have you tried a Walther l.g.v ultra?

[portisaacboy]

Hi I shot a borrowed Tuned Weihrauch 97k and found it very accurate at 50yds, far better than my own BSA Supersport break barrel, but I did find it a bit
heavy..