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Thread: BB guns and accuracy

  1. #1
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    BB guns and accuracy

    I sometimes smile when people complain about bad grouping at 10-15 yards.

    If they had ever used real handguns, they would realise that, for most people, BB guns will give you better groups than semi-automatic firearms.
    Arthur

    I wish I was in the land of cotton.

  2. #2
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    Really?

    A decent service pistol should, in the right hands, group into 2-4" at 25 metres. A dedicated target pistol can easily be capable of grouping in less than inch at that distance.

  3. #3
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    I got about 4" @ 20 yards from a basic black powder revolver with quite a soft load (still around 400 FP though)

    I have no idea if that's good or bad, but my limitex experience of BB guns is they are worse - and not half as much fun
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shed tuner View Post
    I got about 4" @ 20 yards from a basic black powder revolver with quite a soft load (still around 400 FP though)

    I have no idea if that's good or bad, but my limitex experience of BB guns is they are worse - and not half as much fun
    Some are, some aren't- it depends on the gun, & what brand of BBs you use, as not all BBs are of equal quality.

  5. #5
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    FBI instructor qualification accuracy requirements

    https://chiefweems.files.wordpress.c...eye-course.pdf

    From memory, the 9-ring is 4 or 5 inches, the 10-ring is 3". At 25 yards.

    A colleague of a mate at the Bureau qualified with a Glock 22, and all ten rounds touched at the 25 yard stage. He kept the target on his wall as a trophy.

    From memory, despite what the link says (200) the real passing score for instructor was 260 one handed, 280 two-handed.

  6. #6
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    Bb guns can be capable of very good accuracy, especially over short ranges. The thing is that they're made to a low price point as the majority are bought as starter guns just for shooting cans.
    I'd love to see more spring powered bb rifles in the UK but I guess there's just no market for them.

  7. #7
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    There will always be people who have a special aptitude for an activity.

    Great shooters, like great golfers, painters and concert pianists are born.

    I stand by my view that the majority would have great difficulty getting five shots into a two inch circle at 10-15m with a Glock 19.

    These are defensive/combat pistols, not target guns. They are designed to hit targets the size of a a man's torso - 10-12" across?

    Although I will admit revolvers in 38 special, shot in single action, are much easier to achieve good accuracy with.

    Maybe with practice (ammo is expensive) some could get up to that level of accuracy. If you already can I congratulate you on being an excellent shot.
    Arthur

    I wish I was in the land of cotton.

  8. #8
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    I could never get good groups with my Colt 1911 when we were allowed to own such "dangerous" guns. I later aquired A Smith & Wesson model 66 with 2.5 " barrel, and using home loaded .357 ammo could group well within the black @ 20 yards, and the loads were not all that soft.
    I have tried various BB pistols and found that accuracy in general was not too good, only good enough for tin can shooting up to around 10 metres.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur John Smithsplease View Post
    There will always be people who have a special aptitude for an activity.

    Great shooters, like great golfers, painters and concert pianists are born.

    I stand by my view that the majority would have great difficulty getting five shots into a two inch circle at 10-15m with a Glock 19.

    These are defensive/combat pistols, not target guns. They are designed to hit targets the size of a a man's torso - 10-12" across?

    Although I will admit revolvers in 38 special, shot in single action, are much easier to achieve good accuracy with.

    Maybe with practice (ammo is expensive) some could get up to that level of accuracy. If you already can I congratulate you on being an excellent shot.
    Not bragging here, but back in the day I could get 3" offhand groups from a G23 (in .40") at 25, and shoot better out to 50 feet, in tight groups, with revolvers in .357" and .44" in DA rather than in SA, and win the odd club match doing so. And do better with a G17, let alone my expensive tuned 1911. Last fullbore I shot was a P08 Luger putting 5 into about 1.5" at 10 metres, one-handed, first go. Which slightly disappointed.

    Did I say "not bragging"? Absolutely not, despite the above. Not boasts, just factual examples. I got taught properly, many years ago, by someone who would cut most of those groups in half at twice the speed and made me look like an amateur. Before that, I genuinely could not hit a bloody thing with a pistol.

    Try talking to the 10M match air pistol guys. I sometimes take out my Diana 10 or FWB80 for a plink. I get frustrated when I inevitably start pulling shots into the 8 ring or less. The serious match shooters don't do that. It's technique and practice.

    It's a lot like springer shooting. Once you learn how to do it, you know how to do it. Though you degrade without practice. But it is far better to learn from a real person with skills than from the Internet.

  10. #10
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    harry mac is offline You can't say muntjack without saying mmmmm
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    Back in the day, I used to shoot pistol a lot. I was never a very good pistol shot because, a) I only ever "plinked" with them, b) my reloads at the time were comprised mainly of range pick-up brass, and were assembled on a Lee 1000 progressive press, and c) I'd never been actively taught to use a pistol properly. I made very little effort at precision shooting, so my results showed it.
    Some time after civvies were banned from owning pistols I took up pistol shooting with the army and competed a few times at Pirbright, achieving a place in "The Army 30" on 3 occasions and was placed as Divisional Champion in 1999 in Germany. The thing that transformed my shooting was doing the NRA Target Pistol Courses, basic and advanced; on that I was actually taught to shoot a pistol properly and it transformed my shooting.
    Even the "humble" 9mm Browning can be accurate in the right hands, and I personally saw a bloke from the Royal Irish Regiment (no names for obvs reasons, but he was quite well known in competitive pistol circles) put 10 rounds in the 9 ring at 25m with one, with 8 of those in the 10.
    Shot properly, even the BB pistol can give good results if used at the appropriate range.
    The South of England has 2 good things, the M1 and the A1. Both will take you to Yorkshire.

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