Mk3 accuracy - seems to vary wildly

[Geezer]

Update.

So after supper and possibly a glass or two of wine, I descended again to the cellar range (wife is out tonight, don’t bank on too many repeats!).

This time tried the other 1950s Series 3 MkIII. In .177” with Hobbys.

I do not know if Hobbys suit it. I just have a lot of Hobbys at hand.

It has the big advantage of a PH16 aperture rear. The disadvantages being that it’s really really twangy (like Diana to Sterling HR81 levels of twangy) and a much heavier, though still crisp, trigger than my other MKIII. I would say 6-7 pounds versus 4-5.

And the usual issues. I do particularly hate the stock fit. Everything is wrong, for me at least.

Again, maybe I have fired shot ten shots from it in the last year or more.

20 shots, all (just) covered edge-to-edge by a 5p piece in a fairly round group, slightly wider than it was high. So that’s 13.5mm centre to centre. Except two called fliers (I called both as off to the side, but both were actually about 3 mm straight below the group, about 2-3mm apart).

I am conscious that I refined/changed aspects of my hold during the group. Especially with a (for me) too short stock, I tend to hold the butt much too firmly in my shoulder (I am a former full bore shooter, old habits die hard). I also shifted mid-group to placing my right thumb alongside the right side of the grip, having started with it lightly wrapped over the top. The latter felt much better - much like target shooting with a Lee-Enfield or Springfield 1903.

Irrelevant to this discussion, but this was also a reminder of how Webley fitting the tap on the “wrong” (right-hand) side is not an issue in reality. You hold the small of the stock in the right hand, cock and return the lever with the left, sweep the left back to the fore end, sweep the tap lever up with your left hand fingers, load with the right (and in my case then seat the pellet in the tap with an old Q-Tip from the cleaning kit), close with the right and then assume position and shoot. Not an issue.

Anyway, key thing here for me is that albeit in poor conditions and with a rather random selection of ammo, I have at least documented my experience of MkIII accuracy in the circumstances immediately available to me.

Any other takers?