MPL 2019 Spring/Summer Postal Competition.

[PhatMan]

Paul,

Welcome to the MPL

For a real, and very enjoyable challenge, try shooting a recoiling springer pistol (e.g. Diana/Original Model 5) in the MPL

I will be using both my 1948 Original Model 5 and my Diana 5G in the Spring/Summer 2019 pistol rounds.

For the rifle rounds, I will be using my Weihrauch HW95 SuperMatch & HW30S, with the odd use of my TX200.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

[zooma]

Paul,

Welcome to the MPL

For a real, and very enjoyable challenge, try shooting a recoiling springer pistol (e.g. Diana/Original Model 5) in the MPL

I will be using both my 1948 Original Model 5 and my Diana 5G in the Spring/Summer 2019 pistol rounds.

For the rifle rounds, I will be using my Weihrauch HW95 SuperMatch & HW30S, with the odd use of my TX200.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

It comes as quite a shock to the system to start shooting with a spring powered air pistol after enjoying the silky smooth action of a match pistol - but guess what?....after a surprisingly short time you will be amazed at just how close you can get to your PCP scores with a basic kicker!

When we ran competitions for PCM pistols in the MPL both George and myself could not believe that we both out-scored ourselves with our SSP pistols against our regular PCP match pistols!!

I had a similar experience with an under-lever Centre air pistol too !

We get used to having everything so easy with our PCP match airguns, but we can also adapt to working with more basic airguns surprisingly quickly!

[Paul SE]

Paul,

Welcome to the MPL

For a real, and very enjoyable challenge, try shooting a recoiling springer pistol (e.g. Diana/Original Model 5) in the MPL

I will be using both my 1948 Original Model 5 and my Diana 5G in the Spring/Summer 2019 pistol rounds.

For the rifle rounds, I will be using my Weihrauch HW95 SuperMatch & HW30S, with the odd use of my TX200.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

I did have a quick practice down the club last night both with my HW75 and HW45.

On 'low-power' mode the HW45 shot some decent groups and weren't much smaller than the groups I shot with the HW75

I tend to use the HW45 on 'full power' for plinking using a 'two-handed' grip at 10M and when I used the 'one handed target stance' last night, the groups moved over to the right by about 2" or so - not surprising really

I'll keep an eye out for a 'target' style recoiling pistol to use in the MPL, but I think, for my introduction for this series I'll start softly with my HW75

[PhatMan]

Paul,



The HW45 in 'full-power' mode is certainly challenging and fun to shoot

I have an HW45 Silver Star (0.177") - I might try some cards with it.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

[Paul SE]

I have an HW45 Silver Star (0.177") - I might try some cards with it.

Hi Russ,

That's the same as what I've got and was using go on, have a go at some cards

It's a fine pistol and most shots are accompanied with a whiff of smoke - a characteristic of this gun

It reminds me of years gone by when we used to shoot my mates .22" Webley Tempest at 20yds up the back garden at .22LR pistol targets (PL12s maybe ) - although the trigger on the HW45 is far better !!

Good Shooting

[zooma]

I had a Silver Star and couldn't hit a barn door with it - even if I was stood on it!

I was gutted as I really liked the pistol and it had a super smooth trigger too, so I could find no good reason to explain why I was unable to score anything better than "laughably low" even after working with it for several months.

A previous member of our club was one of the original live "shoulder to shoulder" MPL competition's top scorer's at 10 meters - and he used a Silver Star to achieve his good scores using "Low Power" mode.

It was his impressive performance that caused a couple of us to buy ourselves a Silver Star each - but neither of us could hit a damm thing with them.

The other club member who bought one with me was quite a good shot so it made me feel a little better when he was rubbish with his too! We both tried Low Power and High Power modes, but it made very little difference although we did find the Low Power mode was a little better.

When we asked our top Silver Star shooter what he had done to his example, he said "nothing at all" so we let him have a go with ours - and he shot them both OK too!

This led us to agree that the Silver Star (and Black Star) does seem to work well enough for some shooters, but it can also fail to perform - even in the hands of those that can usually shoot a .177 air pistol with a reasonable degree of competence!

I call the Silver Star and Black Star air pistols the Marmite pistols. They do suite some shooters really well - but can also fail to perform at all well - even in the hands of good experienced target air pistol shooters and I have never known any other air pistol to divide opinions (and performances) so much!

Even now I am tempted to buy another one as I still can't believe how badly I shot with my own new and super-smooth example and I would like to find one that would work for me in the current 6 yard MPL competition.!

Arthritis in my hands makes shooting any air pistol painful and hard to shoot consistently with - but I failed to shoot my Silver Star well when I was able to shoot well enough and was not having problems with my hands - so maybe (reverse physcology in action here) I could shoot one now ?

[PhatMan]

Bob,

For me, the HW45 is incredibly hold sensitive.

Only the loosest & most gentle of grips brings repeatable grouping (for me).

I have built up the front strap with blutak to give a flat for fingers - essntially the pistol sits in/on the hand, but not gripped by it.

The innards of my HW45 are run totally dry - a mix of tungsten disulphide & graphite powders (75:25) provide the slip.

I have also fitted a full TinBum kit (guides both ends of the spring).

Found wisdom from the Interweb, suggests adding about 10 - 15 grams to the piston weight to make the pistol more efficient - I will be giving that a try.

Currently, the HW45 is making 4.6 ft.lb with RWS R10 Pistol (6.99 gr.).

By contrast, the Diana/Original Model 5s are a doddle to shoot well; and more importantly, for me, shoot much more accurately than the '45.

From rest, the Model 5s groups are approximately 1/3 of the size of the '45s, at both 6 yards & 10 meters.

Have fun & a good weekend

Best regards

Russ

[robthedog]

Had 3 45's & one silver star, they were ok but nothing to write home about, even had a 25 barrel for them, don't have one at the moment, but might get one if a herd of zombie beer cans attack the house