Question for the springer fans among us.

[charub]

I have a lovely vmach sleeved hw80 that is a joy to shoot. it will happily pull of 5 shot groups that can be covered by a 5p coin at 45yds (if I do my bit)
My question is regarding the 1st 5 shots after getting it out to play - the POI is always a little erratic. Is this me needing time to relax into the shooting or is it my rifle just settling in?
The shot to shot consistency is +/- 6 fps on average, so I have absolutely no worries there - although I have never tested at the beginning and end of each session.

Anybody else experience this?

[Gareth W-B]

​.
Congrats on having such a wonderful gun. Sometimes with some springers, springs need to flex and warm up a little, and EVERY time (especially if preceded by playing with a poofy PCP puff gun lol), the shooter needs to get 'in tune' with the spring gun, too.

In my experience both these anomolies are put to bed within the first thirty shots (+/-). Hope this helps ? Atb: G.

[Spitzer]

Oxidization of the lead that lines the bore after the gun as been dormant for a period, needs a scrub with a few or more pellets to settle things in again nicely

[Gareth W-B]

Oxidization of the lead that lines the bore after the gun as been dormant for a period, needs a scrub with a few or more pellets to settle things in again nicely

That is VERY interesting, and as a plausible fact, is now added to my 'I now know this' list (for as I've said before, every day is a school day. ).

[Geezer]

And letting the lube settle down and warm up. Many springers do this to some extent.

[Spitzer]

Yeah, it's a possible reason Gareth.

[Weasle]

I have a lovely vmach sleeved hw80 that is a joy to shoot. it will happily pull of 5 shot groups that can be covered by a 5p coin at 45yds (if I do my bit)
My question is regarding the 1st 5 shots after getting it out to play - the POI is always a little erratic. Is this me needing time to relax into the shooting or is it my rifle just settling in?
The shot to shot consistency is +/- 6 fps on average, so I have absolutely no worries there - although I have never tested at the beginning and end of each session.

Anybody else experience this?

Hi Dave...I have exactly the same problem.
I discovered this many years ago and now always fire 6 or so pellets - non aimed, but down range - in rapid succession at the beginning of each session before I start to attempt formal shooting.

During pellet testing, I do the same, but with about 20 pellets.

Cheers Steve

[cooper_dan]

I have the same with my TX200. Usually just 2 or 3 shots needed before it comes back on zero. I'll just fire these off without aiming before getting into position etc.

If I shoot on paper I can track the first 2 or 3 shots as they hit low, getting higher each shot until it reaches my zero. A couple of hours isn't enough to 'reset' this. But leaving it overnight is

[charub]

Thanks Guys, backs up what I had already suspected. Just curious to hear of other people’s experience’s.

Steve, I’m looking forward to the new arrivals, we will then be able to do side by side comparisons of both!
Have you sourced a new tasty stock yet or are you going with the original?

[T 20]

From an old Airgunworld, one of Cardew's top tips was to fire the first few shots from a springer into the ground --- his theory was it settled the lubes back into their working position before use.



All the best Mick

[Vernal]

Yet another with the same problem. It is particularly apparent with my HW 95 in .22, which means it cannot be used for a squirrel destroying the bird feeder, as the first shot cannot be relied upon. Very annoying!

[I. J.]

I consider the spring rifle similar to an engine. You have to give it a while to warm up and settle down. You wouldn't get into your car first thing in the morning and floor it (if you do, please let me know the reg number of your car for future reference. )

HTH
Ian

[Jonjon79]

I have the same with my TX200. Usually just 2 or 3 shots needed before it comes back on zero. I'll just fire these off without aiming before getting into position etc.

If I shoot on paper I can track the first 2 or 3 shots as they hit low, getting higher each shot until it reaches my zero. A couple of hours isn't enough to 'reset' this. But leaving it overnight is

My TX is exactly the same - I find that pumping the lever a couple of times, then putting a few shots down it brings it back.

[Dangerous Brian]

Yet another with the same problem. It is particularly apparent with my HW 95 in .22, which means it cannot be used for a squirrel destroying the bird feeder, as the first shot cannot be relied upon. Very annoying!

I get the same problem. I can work around this if shooting from inside the house by cocking and de-cocking the rifle a few times before loading and sending a pellet down range. Seems to help a lot accuracy wise.

Edit: Just noticed Jonjon79 came up with a similar plan.

[andrewM]

This is a most interesting thread, which has made me think. I have not been aware of this problem before but will monitor it when shooting at targets, to see if the first shot fires lower (or higher). If this observation is correct - and many here have noticed it - then it is a significant weakness in springers. How manufacturers can address this is another matter.

As others have observed, perhaps the problem can be overcome, in part, by pumping the internals a few times before cocking.

It also raises the point of eradicating vermin, if the rifle has not been used for a while. Will the shot be off target? So far, I have not noticed this but it would be possible to address the problem by firing marginally above or below the target - it seems the power improves, with firing, so this suggests firing marginally above the target for the first shot or two.

I do not have a chronograph. The situation could be determined, exactly, by those who do. Could someone kindly see what happens over their chrono between shots one and three, for example, in their rifles which have not been used for a day or two? Perhaps this also varies between rifles and makes. However, the velocity must be markedly changeable to make such a difference to the point of impact between the first shot and, say, shot three.