Airguns of Arizona Blog

First impressions of the NPSS Part II

2009-07-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Before we see how the NPSS behaves on the range, pay heed to something that Crosman apparently feels is very important. No less than three times in the owner’s manual, the following statement appears: “There may be up to a 100 shot break-in period. During this period accuracy may be inconsistent and your gun may seem loud. This will improve as the nitro gas piston breaks in.”

Now, back to business: take aim and pull the first stage out of the trigger (This requires about 3 lbs 6 oz of effort). Squeeze some more, and at just a hair over 5 lbs, the sear trips, and the shot goes down range.

An aside – recently I spoke with an airgun enthusiast who is also a military shooter. He offered the observation that a lot of airgunners are (his term, not mine) “trigger Nazis,” meaning that if they don’t get a match trigger that can be adjusted down to ounces, they declare the airgun to be garbage. My informant pointed out that there are an enormous number of military shooters who achieve spectacular accuracy with very heavy triggers, and that shooter discipline is the key to getting the job done. So, while I would prefer a somewhat lighter trigger in the NPSS, I found that the trigger is crisp enough and predictable enough for my tastes, and I enjoyed shooting it.

The NPSS launches 7.9 grain Premier pellets at just over 900 fps, producing around 14.7 foot-pounds of energy. While the NPSS box claims “30% Quieter!” I found the report to be comparable to other spring-piston airguns of similar power.

I started testing the NPSS for accuracy before it was fully broken in, and I quickly discovered that I was woefully out of practice for shooting a recoiling spring-piston air rifle. I found I could put three shots into a half-inch ctc group at 20 yards, after which my technique would go to blazes, and the group would widen. How did I know it was my technique? Easy – I tried the same thing with my tuned R7, which is a known tackdriver, and got very similar results. I surmise that a skilled springer shooter could do substantially better.

One thing that is remarkable about the NPSS is that shot cycle is absolutely vibration-free. There is no buzz or twang, and no apparent torque. Subjectively, the shot cycle appears to be very quick – whack! – and the shot is downrange. The pulse of recoil is fast, strong, and gone in an instant.

Recently, I had a call from a friend who wanted a recommendation for a rifle he could cock, load, safe, and keep behind the kitchen door for dealing with pests in his yard. He didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a PCP or pump-up gun. This where the NPSS shines; it’s the perfect be-ready-in-an-instant air rifle for pest control, hunting, or other applications. In all, I found that I really enjoyed shooting the NPSS, and I think that a lot of springer shooters will enjoy it as well.

A footnote: after I finished this blog, the NPSS called to me again, and I took it into the yard for a 15-minute vacation. From a sitting position at 35 yards, I put three out of five shots within an inch of each other. I think the NPSS is breaking in . . . . or maybe I am.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

First Impressions of the Crosman NPSS Part I

2009-06-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of buzz on the Internet lately about the Crosman NPSS (that stands for Nitro Piston Short Stroke) air rifle. Crosman sent me one in .177 caliber (.22 is also available) for review, and I found it pretty interesting in a lot of ways.

The first thing that sets the NPSS apart from the herd is its looks. It has an ambidextrous composite “thumbhole” stock that has a carbon-fiber-look “soft-touch” covering. A digital camo version is also available. Starting at the rear of the NPSS, you’ll find a ventilated soft black rubber butt pad. Moving forward, a soft rubber cheek piece wraps over the comb of the stock and down both sides. Moving forward again, there is a triangular hole in the buttstock that serves as the thumbhole.

The pistol grip has small bumps on either side (as does the forestock) that provide additional gripping surface. Just ahead of the pistol grip, the trigger guard is made of plastic and has a hole toward the rear edge, through which a screwdriver can be inserted for adjusting the length of the trigger’s second stage. The black trigger is made of metal, as is the Gamo-style safety lever (push forward to fire, pull back to safe the action).

Moving forward again, you’ll find the forestock, which has a screw hole on either side for securing the receiver and a slot down the middle on the underside to provide clearance when cocking the break barrel action.

Ahead of the forestock is the barrel, which swells from the breech block into a 7/8-inch matte-black-finished bull barrel. Moving back on the top of the NPSS, you’ll discover the breech block. Move back again, the shiny black metal receiver is fitted with dovetails for mounting a scope and a hole for engaging an anti-recoil pin from a scope mount. The extreme rear of the receiver is covered by a black plastic cap.

Included in the box with the NPSS is a CenterPoint 3-9 x 40 scope and a one-piece scope mount. To mount the scope, of course you have to take the tops off the scope mounts, and when you do, you need to take the smaller allen wrench included with the mount and use it to run the anti-recoil pin down so that it will engage the hole on the receiver. The NPSS weighs 9 lbs, 7 oz with the scope mounted and stretches 43 7/8 inches from end to end.

To cock the NPSS and open the breech for loading, pull the bull barrel down and back until it latches. Cocking requires about 27 pounds of effort, and this is where you’ll encounter the second thing that sets the NPSS apart from the herd: the gas-piston action (sometimes called a gas spring, and which Crosman calls a Nitro Piston) action. Because of the gas-piston action, there is no spring noise during cocking, and the air rifle can be left cocked for extended periods without worry about spring fatigue. Slide a pellet into the breech, return the barrel to its original position, and you’re good to go.

Next time, we’ll shoot the NPSS.

Til then, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Going Steady – the Steady Aim Harness

2009-06-22T01:13:00.001-07:00

If you want to get rock-solid steady when you are shooting your air rifle or air pistol, here’s a piece of gear that you ought to know about. Called the Steady Aim Harness, the patent-pending device consists of a comfortable shoulder harness with a wide padded back support and a pair of padded non-slip knee straps. The shooter wears the harness over his clothes, and whenever he needs to make a high-precision shot, he simply sits down, slips the knee straps into place, and leans back. The Steady Aim Harness uses the body’s own weight in tension against the legs to create an amazingly stable and comfortable shooting platform that deploys in just seconds in the field.

Tom Price, inventor of the harness, says, “The military has known for a long time that the sitting position is one of the most stable for precision shooting, but it isn’t always consistently comfortable or stable. The Steady Aim Harness is as comfortable to wear as a fanny pack and nearly as stable to shoot from as a benchrest.”

The Steady Aim Harness is assembled from ballistic nylon straps and engineering grade plastic adjusters and quick release buckles that are fully adjustable to fit a wide range of sizes. An optional waterproof seat cushion, which is part of the Steady Aim Harness system, is available to increase comfort for extended sitting. The Steady Aim Harness and small cushion together weigh just two pounds.

This picture shows your humble correspondent wearing the Steady Aim Harness. The knee loops dangle in front of my thighs.

To get ready to shoot, sit down and drop the knee loops over your knees. It’s as comfortable as sitting in an easy chair. Here I am shooting the Diana LP8 two-handed with my elbows resting on my knees.

This shows me shooting a rifle-scoped pistol Crosman 2300S silhouette air pistol rested in the crook of my arm. The Steady Aim Harness is also useful when you need to do long-term observation of a game area from a seated position.

A number of field target shooters that I know use the Steady Aim Harness to help them shoot their rifles in competition more accurately. My brother-in-law and I both use Steady Aim Harnesses in competition whenever the rules allow. Above is a picture of me shooting an FX Typhoon in field target competition using the Steady Aim Harness.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

The UJ Quigley Bucket Challenge

2009-06-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

My wife, in an act of kindness, ruined me. One day she returned from a trip to Walmart and handed me a videocassette of the movie “Quigley Down Under.” “I thought you might like it,” she said. Little did she know.

It’s the story of Matthew Quigley, a Wyoming rifleman who answers a newspaper ad from an Australian rancher for “The World’s Best Long Distance Marksman.” Quigley shows up down under with a Sharps 45-110 with an extra-long barrel and a tang vernier sight. In his first interview with his would-be employer, Quigley hits a bucket repeatedly at a distance of several hundred yards, shooting offhand with iron sights.

When I saw that scene, something inside me responded: “That’s soooo cool; I wish I could do that.” Then another inner voice chimed in: “Maybe you can.” That, in a nutshell, is when I got ruined.

Roger Clouser, writing in Precision Shooting magazine, figured that Quigley was shooting at a 17.5 inch bucket at a distance of 550 yards. Not having a Sharps 45-110 or, in fact, any place where I might shoot one, I decided to duplicate Quigley’s marksmanship on an airgun scale; that is, shooting at a 1.75 inch bucket at 55 yards. Eventually I managed it with a .22 Career. Now it’s your turn.

Here’s what you need to participate in the Uncle Jock (UJ for short) Quigley Bucket Challenge:

· An air rifle or air pistol with NON-glass sights
· Some pellets
· The official UJ Quigley Bucket Challenge target (click to download)
· 55 yards of space

The rest is obvious: set up the target at 55 yards, try to hit it with three consecutive shots with your air rifle or air pistol, and report your results here with full details.

Some notes: First, this is for non-glass sights only. Sure, you can shoot at the target with your scoped rifle, but it won’t count for bragging rights in the UJ Quigley Bucket Challenge. After all, part of the challenge is an optical one; the target is going to look small compared to your front sight.

Second, I realize that some iron-sighted airguns won’t have the necessary accuracy. For example, I tried to hit the bucket at 55 yards with my Sheridan, but couldn’t get it done. If that is the case, try moving the bucket closer in small increments until you can hit it three times in a row. Frankly, I would love to hear from someone the maximum distance they were able to hit the bucket with a Sheridan or a Benji. Or try it with your match rifle, or your springer, or a Daisy Red Ryder. The point is to have fun and make like Matthew Quigley.

And if it turns out that hitting the bucket is just way too easy for you at 55 yards, feel free to move it back and amaze all of us with your skill.

Third, I will accept any shooter-supported position. True, in the movie, Quigley shot the bucket offhand, but later he shot from other positions, so I will allow prone, sitting and offhand. No benchrests, though.

Give it a try, and report back here. I look forward to your results. When you give an account of your efforts, I’d like to know: gun, ammo, distance, and position.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

The RWS LP8 – A Classic in the Making

2009-06-08T01:26:00.001-07:00

For the past several weeks, I’ve been shooting a new air pistol that I believe is a classic in the making. The RWS LP8, also known as the Diana LP8, is a break-barrel, spring-piston, single-shot air pistol that will replace the 5G pistol. Available only in .177, the LP8 stretches nearly 18 inches from end to end, weighs 3.2 lbs, and has an integrated top rail for mounting a scope or red dot.

The LP8 is set up a bit like the old powder burning Fireball pistol, which had a fair amount of the receiver rearward of the pistol grip and overhanging the shooter’s hand. The LP8 is designed to be ambidextrous. Both sides of the action are enclosed by a handsome matte finish black metal casting, and the pistol grip is enclosed by molded ambidextrous plastic grips. Further, on either side of the receiver, just above the grips, is a flip-lever safety. Truly, the ergonomics of this pistol will keep both lefties and righties happy.

At the very stern of the LP8 is a metal name plate that says “RWS.” Just above that, on top of the receiver, is a micro-adjustable rear notch sight with a fiber optic green dot on either side of the notch. Moving forward, you’ll find the rail for mounting a scope or red dot. (In the picture, you’ll notice that I used a Leapers 3/8-to-weaver adaptor to mount the red dot on my LP8, but I did that only because the only unused red dot that was available had weaver mounts.) The receiver measures nearly 11 inches from the front edge to the back of the pistol. Moving forward again, you’ll find the barrel and a muzzle weight with the front sight which has a red fiber optic dot.

Moving underneath the receiver, the trigger guard is an integral part of the castings that surround either side of the action. Inside the trigger guard is a metal trigger which has a grooved front surface. Underneath the trigger guard in a small hole for a screw that prevents trigger overtravel and should not be adjusted.

Loading the LP8 is dead easy: grab the muzzle weight from underneath (otherwise the front sight will poke you in the palm) and pull down and back until the barrel latches. This cocks the action and activates the automatic safety. Insert a .177 pellet into the exposed breech and return the barrel to its original position.

Now you’re good to go. Flip off the safety lever, ease the first stage out of the trigger and squeeze just a bit more. According to my Lyman digital trigger gage, out of the box, the first stage takes 2 lb 13 oz, and the shot goes off at 3 lb 11 oz, and I had no difficulties achieving satisfying accuracy with that weight of trigger.

The shot cycle is very smooth, and makes kind of a “doink” sound that is very neighbor friendly. You can hear some vibration, but you don’t feel it in your hands. On my Oehler chronograph, the LP8 was sending 7.9 gr. Crosman Premier Light pellets downrange at 558 fps average. That’s within kissing distance of an untuned Beeman R7 rifle. By contrast, my RWS 5G pistol launches the same pellets at 530 fps average. In an email, the folks at UmarexUSA told me they got the following results: RWS Hypermax 645 fps, RWS Hobby 560 fps, RWS Super H-Point 550 fps, and RWS Super Dome 500 fps.

Fooling around in my side yard, from a sitting position, and using a red dot (which is not the best choice for ultimate accuracy), I put five shots into a group that measured 11/16 inch edge to edge. Three of the shots were in a cloverleaf group where all the holes touched each other.

The bottom line is that I think the LP8 is one heck of an air pistol. It has power, accuracy, and it’s fun to shoot. My prediction is that a lot of airgunners will think the same thing and vote with their wallets.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Asking the right question

2009-06-01T01:40:00.001-07:00

Attending the NRA Show in Phoenix was an interesting and educational experience.

I didn’t spend a huge amount of time hanging around the Airguns of Arizona booth, but when I did, one of the more enlightening aspects was the kind of questions that visitors to the booth asked.

Frequently I would hear a comment like: “I bet this will take care of rabbits in the garden, yeah?” And sometimes someone would eye a beautiful airgun and inquire about the cost.

Curiously, no one within my hearing ever asked about accuracy. Most visitors to the booth (except those who were already high precision airgun enthusiasts) were unaware that high quality precharged pneumatics will easily product sub-one-inch groups at 50 yards and sometimes at much longer ranges.

The one question that I did hear most often was: “How many feet per second?”

Since that particular question was asked so many times, it told me a couple of things. First, it told me that the average non-airgunner is woefully ignorant when it comes to the real questions to ask about airguns. Second, it showed me that the companies that are marketing on the basis of feet-per-second claims are winning the marketing battle, for now, at least.

It wasn’t until I had returned from the show, was sitting in the comfort of my office and meditating on the experience, that the correct response to the “How many feet per second?” question came to me.

The proper response is another question: “Do you want to be fast or do you want to be accurate?” Tony Belas, Director of Daystate, hit the nail on the head: “You can take the analogy of the WWII Spitfires. When they broke the sound barrier, they used to fall out of the sky. We can shoot a pellet out of an 80 foot-pound Air Ranger and it will go 1380 fps. And at 20 yards, it will go through the same hole, day in and day out. But at 40 yards, you won’t find the hole, because the pellet goes from supersonic to subsonic and goes its merry way. The problem is that if you crack the sound barrier, the pellet is going to be out of the sound barrier long before you hit the target.”

I saw this demonstrated in spades when I tested the Gamo Hunter Extreme in .177. “Hunter Extreme, 1600 fps!” the box read, adding, “The fastest spring airgun on earth.” This claim was made based on shooting Gamo’s new Raptor Performance Ballistic Alloy which are very light (under 5 gr., if I remember correctly)

So I tested the Hunter Extreme at 50 yards with the Raptor pellets. Velocities – which were loudly supersonic -- ranged from 1477 to 1525, averaging 1491 (this isn’t the 1600 fps that Gamo promised, perhaps because we were keeping the chronograph a couple of feet from the muzzle), but the accuracy simply wasn’t there. Group size at 50 yards was 3.5 to 5 inches, depending upon whether you called one shot a shooter-produced "flyer" or not.

But if you slowed the velocities down by shooting a much heavier pellet, the accuracy improved substantially. The Hunter Extreme “liked” Crosman Premier 10.5 gr. Heavies (CPHs, for short). After dieseling for a couple of shots, it settled down, launching them at around 1021 fps, average (high was 1026, low was 1015). That’s over 24 foot-pounds of energy. Our first 5-shot group measured just 1.25 inches edge to edge.

So I have a modest proposal for the good folks at Airguns of Arizona. The next time they go to a show, they should put up a BIG poster with two targets, both shot at 50 yards with the same gun and the same pellets. The first would show a tiny little group with the velocity prominently displayed below: 960 fps. The next target would show a much bigger raggedy group with the velocity: 1500 fps.

Then the poster would ask the right question: Do you want to be fast, or do you want to be accurate?

Til next time, aim true, stay subsonic, and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Impressions from the NRA show

2009-05-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 15, Airguns of Arizona flew me to Phoenix, Arizona, to meet with them and cover the NRA Show there. I will be covering in detail in future blogs what’s new at Airguns of Arizona, so this blog will be a quick blitz of what some of the other airgun organizations were exhibiting at their booths.

First, though I want to mention that Airguns of Arizona is manned by and excellent crew of folks who are business people of course, but also passionate airgunners. They are even nicer than they sound on the phone, and they are great fun to spend time with. Tony Belas, director of Daystate, was also at the AoA booth. I spent a great deal of time with him, and you’ll be hearing more about our conversations in future blogs.

So what else was happening at the show?

John McCaslin, president of AirForce Airguns, was there showing off his air rifles and the complete line of BKL mounts and rails that AirForce will now be manufacturing in the USA.

Mike Ezell, Walther airgunsmith for Champion’s Choice, showed me the Walther LG 300 Anatomic which is a compromise halfway between a conventional wood stock match rifle and a full aluminum stock. There is more adjustment on the cheek piece than a conventional wood stock and a different butt plate. The pistol grip is on a ball and socket and offers a bunch of adjustments. There is a new accessory rail as well. Ezell says you can generally count on 100-125 quality shots, plenty to get a shooter through a match in any temperature, any weather.

The thing that caught my eye at the Crosman booth is a new line of GameFace “marking” airsoft ammunition. These mini-paintballs put an end to the argument: “I got you!” “No you didn’t.”

Joe Murfin had a ton of commemorative Red Ryders at the Daisy booth, and they appeared to be selling like hot cakes. While I was there, one gentleman bought three two-gun sets for his grand kids.

Norvin Hornberger of Gamo demonstrated the Extreme CO2 air rifle. Powered by an 88 gram CO2 cylinder, it’s a pump-action, .22 cal. repeater that will send ten shots down range from the rotary magazine very rapidly. It has a synthetic stock, rubber recoil pad, and comes with a 3-9 x 40 scope.

Stacey Greene of Pyramyd Air took time to show me the new Evanix Blizzard S10. Available in both .177 and .22 cal. and right and lefthand versions, this PCP rifle has a 10-shot rotary magazine, sidelever action and shrouded barrel for a neighbor-friendly report.

This is just part of Stoeger’s large display of their new line of break barrel springers. I believe they are made in Turkey.

At the Umarex USA booth, Justin Biddle showed me the new RWS/Diana LP8 pistol. This new break barrel spring-piston pistol is ambidextrous, easy to cock, and extremely easy to mount a scope or a red dot. I predict it will become very popular.

That’s it for now.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Marauder - Part II

2009-05-18T01:36:00.004-07:00

So what’s it like to shoot the Marauder? A whole lot of fun, that’s what.

You insert the magazine into the Marauder by pulling back the bolt then sliding the magazine into the slot in the breech from the right. About three-quarters of the way into the slot the magazine reaches a detent. Push a little harder and the magazine snaps into place. Push the bolt forward, and the bolt probe pushes the first pellet out of the magazine and into the barrel. (When you work the bolt after each shot, the magazine auto-indexes, and the number on the magazine “window” changes, so you always know what shot you are on.)

To disengage the safety, push it forward, toward the muzzle. (To activate the safety, pull it back, toward the trigger.) Ease the first stage out of the trigger. On the Marauder that was sent to me, only 1 lb 3 oz was necessary to take up the first stage. Squeeze a bit more, and the shot is triggered at 1 lb 10.9 oz. Even better, the Marauder trigger has adjustment screws for trigger weight, trigger position, and first and second stages. I loved the trigger just as it came out the box. It was crisp, predictable and light enough for me, so I made no attempt to adjust it. But it is my understanding that it is possible to adjust the Marauder trigger to as low as a 3-ounce single-stage trigger or a 6-ounce two-stage trigger.

When the shot is triggered, the Marauder seems very still with no noticeable muzzle flip or recoil. In addition, the barrel shroud works marvelously well. Shooting off a rest at a target 35 yards away, the two loudest things I heard behind the scope were the “ting” of the hammer spring and the “thwack” of the pellet hitting the target. I’m sure there must be some muzzle blast, but it is very, very muted – and this was from an air rifle that is launching Crosman Premier 10.5 grain pellets at over 900 fps.

The accuracy of the Marauder is top of the line. Shooting from a field target position at 13 yards, I was able to consistently blow the center out of a tiny circle that measures just a teensy bit over .177. From a casual rest, I put five shots into a group that measured half an inch from edge to edge. That’s about one-third of an inch center to center.

Now, at this point, the sharp-eyed reader will have noticed that I haven’t mentioned charging pressures, and that’s where the story of the Marauder gets really, really interesting. My Marauder is set up for a 3,000 psi fill, and it will deliver 40 shots at over 900 fps (high, 986; low, 913) with Crosman Premier Heavies or 30 shots (high, 1067; low, 1021) with Crosman Premier Lights.

But the Marauder is also a very “tunable” air rifle, with adjustments for velocity as well as hammer spring preload and hammer stroke, which determine what fill pressure should be used. Using these three adjustments, the Marauder can be tuned for various fill pressures and velocities. As the chart below shows, with a 2,000 psi fill, the Marauder can be set up to deliver 50 shots between 612 and 644 fps or 30 shots between 828 and 887 fps or 20 shots between 898 and 960 fps, all with 7.9 grain pellets. Further, with all three of these “tunes,” the Marauder uses no more than 500 psi of air, making it very easy for the shooter to pump back up to 2,000 psi. And at a 2,500 psi fill, the Marauder can be tuned to deliver 40 shots between 863 and 900 fps as an example of another tuning option.

To me, the Marauder combines everything I admire in an air rifle: excellent accuracy, excellent trigger, and extremely quiet report. It’s a gun that can be set up for hunting, field target competition, or virtually inaudible minisniping in the back yard. With all that going for it, I think a lot of airgunners will find it irresistible.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Marauder Part I

2009-05-11T01:53:00.002-07:00

With the introduction of the Benjamin Marauder this year, Crosman Corporation has defined a new sweet spot in the price/performance curve for PCP air rifles. As I stated in my last blog, it has everything I would want in a trip to Santa’s lap – it’s astonishingly quiet, wickedly accurate, has an excellent trigger, and it’s a repeater . . . all for about $500.

We’ll get to all the neat stuff pretty soon, but first let’s take a tour of the Marauder. The Marauder measures 43 inches end to end and weighs 7.5 lbs, according to the factory specs. Available in .177 and .22, it’s a precharged 10-shot bolt-action air rifle that can launch .177 pellets up to 1100 fps and .22 pellets as fast as 1000 fps.

At the extreme aft end of the Marauder is a ventilated tan rubber recoil pad, separated from the ambidextrous hardwood stock by a white plastic spacer. Just forward of that, underneath the buttstock is a stud for mounting a rifle sling. Moving forward again, there is a laser-checkered pistol grip with a palm swell on each side and a black plastic cap on the end.

Moving forward again, you’ll find a plastic trigger guard that houses a fully adjustable metal trigger and a metal safety lever. Just ahead of the trigger guard is a bolt that holds the action in the stock. Forward of that is the air pressure gauge. Moving toward the muzzle again, you’ll find the word “Benjamin” laser carved into the stock and, beyond that, another stud for mounting a rifle sling. Each side of the forestock is laser-checkered, and the end of the forestock slants backwards (somewhat similar to the RWS 54 spring-piston rifle).

Beyond the end of the forestock is the air reservoir. At the end of the reservoir are a barrel band (which connects the reservoir to the barrel shroud) and a cap which unscrews to reveal a male Foster fitting for charging the reservoir from a SCUBA tank or hand pump. Beyond the end of the reservoir is the barrel shroud inside which is a choked steel barrel.

Moving back along the barrel shroud, you’ll find the aluminum receiver which is dovetailed for fitting a scope and has a prominent slot for the ten-shot magazine. At the aft end of the receiver is a large steel bolt handle. To me, the fit and finish of the Marauder are entirely appropriate for an air rifle in this price range.

The only other significant part of the Marauder is the magazine, which holds 10 pellets and is self-indexing. That means it contains a small spring inside that rotates the next shot into position when the shooter works the bolt.

Loading the magazine is a little tricky the first time, and there is an excellent video that can be found at http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/pcp. Nevertheless, here’s Uncle Jock’s quick tutorial on how to load the magazine.

First, look at the picture of the magazine below. Notice the white spot near the lower left corner of the clear plastic cover. That’s where a bump on the black plastic main body of the magazine engages a small recess on the clear cover.

Now push the clear plastic cover up slightly and forward so that it rotates clockwise and disengages from the bump on the body of the magazine. The picture below shows the cover rotated off the bump.

Next, rotate the cover clockwise as far as it will go, until the forward edge of the cover encounters the bump again like the picture below.

Now, push the cover clockwise a little more so that it rides up over the bump and a hole in the base of the magazine appears through the slot in the cover as the picture below shows. (In case you’re wondering, the clockwise rotation of the magazine ‘winds up’ the spring in the magazine so that it will self-index each time you work the bolt.)

Put your finger under the hole and drop a pellet in nose first. Now rotate the cover counterclockwise off the bump. The spring pressure of the magazine will now hold the pellet in place, and you can remove your finger.

Next, as you rotate the cover counterclockwise, additional pellet bays will appear under the hole in the plastic cover. Drop pellets in nose first until the cover is rotated back to its original position.

The magazine is now loaded. In Part II, we’ll see how the Marauder shoots!

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Another Home Run – The Crosman Challenger 2009

2009-05-04T01:11:00.002-07:00

If airguns were baseball, the Crosman Corporation would be on a thermonuclear hot streak. Last year, they introduced the Discovery, an entry level PCP rifle that shattered the price floor.

This year, they introduced the Marauder, an absolutely spectacular PCP sporter rifle that has everything I would want in a trip to Santa’s lap -- astonishingly quiet, wickedly accurate, excellent trigger, and a repeater -- to define a new sweet spot in the price/performance curve.

If that were not enough, this year they are also introducing the Crosman Challenger 2009 (CH2009), a three-position sporter PCP air rifle that appears to be positioned to take the world by storm.

I was given a chance to shoot a near-production prototype of the CH2009, and I must say it grieves that I have to send it back.

Let’s take a walk around the CH2009 and kick the tires. At the very aft end of the fully adjustable ambidextrous sporter stock is a butt pad that is adjustable for length of pull (adjustable from 12.5 inches to 16 inches), vertical position, and tilt. Forward of that is a cheek piece that is adjustable for height. The pistol grip is nearly vertical and has a nice palm swell on each side.

Moving forward again, the fully adjustable metal trigger and metal safety are partially enclosed by a metal trigger guard. About an inch and a half forward of that is a single screw that secures the action in the composite stock. Moving ahead again, you’ll find an accessory rail that extends to the far end of the forestock.

Above the end of the forestock is the air tube. At the end of it is a plastic cap that snaps off to reveal a male Foster fitting for pressurizing the action. Above that is the muzzle brake, which has a dovetail for fitting the front globe sight with interchangeable inserts. Moving aft, you find the .177 caliber choked and crowned Lothar Walther barrel which is free floated even though it appears to be held by a barrel band.

At the rear extremity of the barrel is an extended aluminum receiver with dovetails in front of and behind the breech that can be used for mounting a scope or the rear aperture sight. The rear sight, which is micro adjustable for elevation and windage, clamps to the dovetail with a thumbscrew. At the extreme aft end of the receiver is a patented ambidextrous T-handle for moving the bolt. Under that is a knurled knob for adjusting hammer spring tension, and there is another adjustment for adjusting hammer stroke. The only other item of note is an air pressure gauge located on the right side near the front of the receiver. The CH2009 sample I was sent weighs 7 lbs 4 oz with the sights mounted.

To get the CH2009 ready for shooting, pop the cap off the Foster fitting, connect a SCUBA tank or pump, and charge it to 2,000 psi. Pull the bolt back with the T-handle, drop a pellet into the breech, and push the T-handle forward to close the breech. Push the safety lever forward toward the muzzle. One pound four ounces of pressure will ease the first stage out of the trigger. At one pound 9.5 ounces, the shot is trigger with a surprisingly mild “pop.” (The trigger is fully adjustable and can be made much lighter, if desired.) With a 2,000 psi fill, the CH2009 will deliver 100 shots between 549 and 585 fps. The first 50 shots range between 561 and 585, and the last 50 shots vary from 549-579 fps.

In my view, the Challenger 2009 delivers everything you would want in an entry level match rifle (and then some) for a very wallet-friendly suggested retail price of $529 for the rifle without match sights and $629 for the rifle with match sights.

Since the CH2009 can be scoped so easily and it’s so accurate, it would make an excellent rifle for mini-sniping, and given that, with a minor part change, the power can be adjusted up to 900 fps, it’s an excellent candidate for air rifle field target.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Crosman 600 – File this under “Classic”

2009-04-27T01:51:00.001-07:00

For years I had been hearing about the Crosman 600 pistol, how neat it is, how it is a classic. I had seen pictures of the 600, and I had read rave reviews of them in the online forums, but I had never shot one until just the other day.

The good folks at Airguns of Arizona had picked up a 600 as part of a massive buy of vintage airguns. This particular 600 had some seal problems that needed to be sorted out. When the repair was completed, AoA asked me if I’d like to give it a try before it went on to its rightful owner.

Sure, I said, and a few days later Brown Santa delivered a box containing the Crosman 600. The 600 stretches about 9.l75 inches from muzzle to the end of the receiver and 5.5 inches from the top of the receiver to the bottom of the pistol grip. The sample I played with weighed 2 lbs 10 oz unloaded. The entire 600 is amazingly solidly constructed out of metal. The only plastic that I could detect are the target-style grips.

The 600 was introduced in 1960, and, according to DT Fletcher’s book, 75 Years of Crosman Airguns, was produced until 1970. A flyer or advertisement from 1960 reproduced in his book calls the 600 “the world’s most advanced pellet pistol. . . Revolutionary! . . . 10 shots in less than 3 seconds . . . with match target accuracy.”

It goes on to say: “Patented, fast, boltless Swing-Feed loading . . . Gun holds on target; no lag, no sticking, no jump . . . Top target accuracy.”

Having now shot the Crosman 600, I can only say that it lives up to the marketing material. To get it ready for shooting. Unscrew the cap on the end of the air tube under the muzzle. Insert a CO2 powerlet with the neck facing outward. Screw in the cap which has a piercing pin. Next, push the slide on the built in magazine all the way back and lock it in place. Carefully feed in 10 .22 caliber flat nose pellets (I used Beeman .22 H&N match wadcutter pellets) so that the head of pellet faces toward the muzzle. Release the magazine slide and pull back the cocking slide just below it until it latches.

Now you’re good to go. Ease the first stage out of the trigger. Squeeze a bit more, and at 2 lbs 3 oz, the shot goes down range with a solid “Pop!” In the same instant, the action cycles, readying the next shot and cocking the action. Squeeze the trigger as fast as you like, and the pellets go effortlessly down range. This is quite simply the fastest, easiest rapid-fire air pistol I’ve ever shot. (Although, of the modern crop of repeater air pistols, the Beretta PX4 Storm acquits itself very well. I’ll be writing about it in another blog.)

The Crosman 600 truly is a classic. If you are luck enough to own one, take good care of it and enjoy it often, because it is absolutely a pleasure to shoot.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Uncle Jock’s Recipe for Fun

2009-04-20T01:30:00.001-07:00

First of all, you need to know my wife thinks I’m sick. If there’s any kind of disaster movie on TV or an account of how someone survived in the wilds after a plane crash or other misadventure, I’m all over it, drinking in the details. I’m not entirely sure what drives this curiosity, but over the years, I’ve amassed a fair amount of material about survival skills, and there is a great deal of it on the world wide web.

A couple of years ago, I ran across the U.S. Rescue & Special Operations Group. In their own words, “This site was created specifically for military personnel that could easily find themselves in a foreign country, without the vast assets of the United States military’s tactical or logistical support. In places where not only the people are a threat but maybe the weather and terrain conditions are as well. Those places that are referred to as the “Wild Places” of the world that a human being is moved down a few notches on the food chain (some times literally). . .” And: “Although this site was put together with SOCOM units in mind, any one can utilize this site and gain some type of information that may save their lives or their buddy’s life in a moment of life threatening chaos. . .”

One of the things that USRSOG offers is a terrific training manual called “Six Ways in and Twelve Ways Out.” Anyone can buy it for just $13, and I recommend it as an excellent resource. One of the recommendations made in the manual is for a survival firearm: a .22 target pistol equipped with a red dot because it is small, light, easily transportable, and “Every mammal on this planet has been taken with a .22 caliber bullet at one time or another. Not to mention the reptiles and some aquatic species as well. A.K.A "ED" rendered a deer to possession with his 5 inch heavy barreled S&W, at 65 yards.”

The folks at USRSOG recommend practicing on golf ball-sized balloons or balloons blown up no bigger than a tennis ball. Now, my neighbors are going to get cranky, cranky, cranky if I start shooting a .22LR pistol in my yard. So I thought: why not get in some inexpensive practice time with an air pistol?

So here’s Uncle Jock’s recipe for a whole lot of fun and good practice at a very reasonable price:

- an air pistol
- a red dot
- some suitable pellets
- a bag of wiffle golf balls

Sprinkle the golf balls around the yard and have at it! I tried it, and all I can say is, don’t blame me if you’re still out there popping wiffle golf balls while someone is yelling that you’re late for dinner. And if you don’t think this is fun, see a doctor; your fun gland needs some help.

Below is my Gamo Compact single-stroke pneumatic pistol equipped with a CenterPoint red dot (I had to change the rings to clamp the red dot to the pistol), but if you want to trick out your Beeman P1 or Crosman Silhouette pistol with a red dot, they will work just fine.

Another option is the Beretta PX4 Storm. It’s a full blowback semiautomatic that shoots pellets or BBs. Fire eight shots, eject the clip, and fire eight more. With a weapon like this in your hands, those golf balls better watch out!

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

The HW45 STL – A looker and a shooter

2009-04-13T01:58:00.001-07:00

Let’s suppose, just for fun, that in a moment of high spiritedness you decided you’d like to really turn some heads the next time you visit the range or go out slinging lead with your airgunning pals.

Let me humbly suggest that an HW45 STL might just be the item you need to do the trick. The STL is the two-tone version of the HW45/Beeman P1 pistol, and – to my eye, anyway – with its black upper, stainless-look lower, and black grips, is one gorgeous piece of goods. In addition, the STL has those micro-adjustable fiber optic sights that I found so useful on the .20 cal P1 pistol.

The STL is available only in .177 caliber and is functionally identical to the Beeman P1 and P11 in .177. That means you can probably expect an STL to launch Crosman Premier 7.9 gr. pellets at around 520 fps. With Beeman Laser 6.5 gr. pellets, you might see velocities around 550 fps and with Dynamic SN1 7.95 gr. non-lead pellets, about 490 fps.

I was chatting with classic airgun collector Mike Driskill, and he pointed out some things about the HW45/P1 and its variants that I hadn’t really thought about before.

“If you look at the HW45,” he says, “the piston works backwards. A pistol like the RWS P5 is like a scaled down breakbarrel rifle. You crank the barrel down to cock the gun, and you’re driving the piston and spring back, toward the palm of your shooting hand. When you trigger the shot, the spring and piston rocket forward, just like a break barrel rifle.”

Driskill added, “But cocking the HW45 or P1 is totally different. You pull back the ‘hammer’ to release the rear of the upper, and then you pull the rear part of the upper up and forward to cock the pistol. While you’re doing that, you’re actually dragging the spring and piston toward the muzzle of the pistol until they latch.”

“Now, here comes the really interesting part,” Driskill says. “When you trigger the shot, the spring and piston leap toward your hand . . . and you remember what Newton said about equal and opposite reactions . . . that means this will tend to push the nose of the HW45 forward. Since the action sits above your gripping hand, this in turn rotates the muzzle downward. When the piston comes to a stop, the nose of the gun pops up, which is all you really notice when firing since it all happens so quickly. But the pellet already left the muzzle when it was being shoved down.”

He adds, “If you view the HW45 from the side, you’ll notice that the rear sight is higher than the front sight. That’s to compensate for the pistol’s tendency to shove the nose down. And if you happen to have one of the Beeman P1s with the two cocking slots for dual power levels, you’ll notice that it shoots higher . . . a lot higher . . . if you use the lower power cocking position. That’s because, at lower power, the nose of the pistol isn’t being pushed down so much. So be careful, very careful, if you decide to experiment with lower power.”

While we were on the phone, Driskill told me an anecdote that underscores the need to respect the power of the HW45. A friend of Mike’s one day discovered he had a possum in his attic that was in urgent need of removal. He figured he would use his HW45 to stun the possum, thereby making the eviction process easier. He took careful aim at the shoulder, triggered the shot, and killed the possum instantly.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not recommending the HW45 STL for routine possum hunting, but it’s worth remembering it can pack quite a wallop.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Minisniping – A Great Game to Play with Airguns

2009-04-06T01:32:00.001-07:00

I wish I could tell you that I had to crawl with great stealth to my shooting position, but it simply isn’t true. The insertion point was unguarded, and I was able walk to where I would put my quarry in my sights. I rested my weapon and looked through the twelve power scope. The targets were there – five of them – standing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Little did they know that someone stalked them at a distance.

Centering the crosshairs on the sentry on the right, I took note of the movement of the wind in the grass, the rustle in the leaves, so I held a little to the left. The first stage of the trigger disappeared under my finger. Then, just a little more pressure, the shot was gone. The round knocked the sentry down, but his companions remained unaware of his fate.

I slid the scope over to the next target and repeated the process, but the shot missed. I tried three more times and bagged three out of five targets, but two escaped. Nevermind, I thought: I’ll be back, and next time I won’t miss.

Now, before you conclude that I was engaged in perpetrating some sort of crime, let me that I was engaged in minisniping, a shooting sport that will drive you nuts in a delightful, I-can’t-wait-to-try-this-again sort of way.

The world found out about minisniping when Peter Capstick published an article in the October, 1984, issue of Guns & Ammo magazine. In it, he laid out the rules for a competition that had seduced Capstick and his shooting buddies: get some used 9mm casings, stick them primer end down on a bit of modeling clay, back off 35 yards, and shoot at them off a rest with a scoped 10 meter match air rifle.

The thing that makes the game so much fun and so frustrating at the same time is the combination of the small target, the distance, and the nature of the match air rifles. Olympic match air rifles are wickedly accurate at 10 meters, the distance at which Olympians compete. But match rifles are also slow – generally launching pellets at around 550-600 feet per second. When the pellet gets 105 feet down range (35 yards), the wind has had (relatively speaking) a lot of time to play with the projectile, taking your carefully aimed shot and knocking it into a cocked hat.

If you want to minisnipe well, you better learn to read the wind. It’s easy to create wind flags by sticking some wooden dowels in the ground and taping some toilet paper to the top of each. Put some backing paper behind your 9mm targets so you can see where your shots landed, and maybe you’ll be able to compensate for your misses. Of course, if you want to be a purist, forget the wind flags and dope the wind by reading the environmental clues such as the movement of leaves and grass.

When it comes to airguns to use for minisniping, Capstick and his friends used the classic match rifles of the day like the FWB 300. My minisniper of choice is an FWB 150 in an FWB 300 stock. Any of the modern match rifles will make a superb (but expensive) minisniper so long as it can be easily scoped.

If you don’t already own a match air rifle, the Beeman R7 is a relatively low cost alternative that launches pellets in the 550-600 fps range (you’ll need a scope). The Daisy Avanti series entry level match rifles can be easily scoped and work well, although they shoot slower at around 500 fps. If you want to try minisniping with an air pistol, the Crosman 2300S or 2300T both are very accurate and can be easily fitted with a scope. A bipod is a useful addition to the Crosman pistols as well.

For additional information about minisniping, including downloadable targets, visit www.minisniping.org. You’ll also find two articles about minisniping in my book Elliott on Airguns.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Part II – Shooting the IZH-46M

2009-03-30T01:14:00.003-07:00

To ready the 46M for shooting, grasp the grip in your right hand and grab the end of the cocking handles with your left. Pull the cocking handle away from the grip until it extends well in front of the muzzle. When the cocking handle reaches the limit of its travel, the bolt will pop open. Next, return the cocking handle to its original position. This pressurizes the action.

Slide a pellet into the rear of the barrel and press the bolt down until it snaps into place. The 46M is now ready to fire. Raise the pistol, alight the sights, take the first stage out of the trigger, and squeeze. With a pop, the pellet goes downrange. Velocities with light pellets are nearly 500 fps. An earlier model, the IZH 46 (no M), had a shorter pump tube and typically produced velocities 50 fps slower with pellets of the same weight.

The best part of the Izzy is the trigger. It is crisp, clean, and adjustable to below a pound. For the price, I know of no other air pistol that delivers a trigger as good, and I believe you’d have to spend much more to do better.

To get ready for the next shot, pump the action again and go through the same routine. I shot a season of 10-meter air pistol competition with a 46M and never had a mechanical problem or failure of any sort.

But as I indicated in Part I, there is a lot more you can do with an IZH-46M beyond 10-meter air pistol. Steve Ware has twice won the IHMSA Unlimited International Championship with an IZH-46M, and once he won the Pan American Unlimited Standing Championship with an IZH. He likes it because it is economical, accurate, not dependent on SCUBA tanks or CO2 caplets, and can be adjusted to a sub-one-pound match trigger with just a screwdriver.

Charles Cammack uses his IZH-46 for air pistol benchrest competition in the New Mexico Senior Olympics Dona Anna County. For the last four years, he as qualified to shoot in the state summer games and has won several gold and silver medals in both the county and state games.

Larry Bowne uses his IZH-46M for both air pistol silhouette and field target competition. It’s quite a treat to seen him dropping field targets at the Easter Field Target Competitors Club in Wappingers Falls, NY, with the same model pistol that I used for 10-meter competition.

Bowne uses a custom scope mount made by Fenton Sandlin, an experienced silhouette shooter. Sandlin’s custom intermounts for the IZH have built-in droop that compensates for the height of the scope and the trajectory of a low velocity pistol. (Another way to mount a scope or red dot on the Izzy is to use the B-Square #17900 IZH-46 Weaver Adaptor Rail.)

After trying a lower power scope, Bowne mounted a Bushnell Trophy 6-18 scope with a scope knob that is calibrated out to 55 yards. His IZH-46M shoots JSB 8.4 grain exacts at 440-450 fps. He experimented with lighter JSB Express pellets, but found the heavier 8.4 grain pellets more stable for shooting groups at longer distances. Using this setup, Bowne has knocked down field targets with a 1.5 inch kill zone at 40 yards, which is impressive indeed. (This is not hearsay, either; I have personally seen him do it.)

If it seems like I am very keen on the IZH-46M, you’re right – I am. It is darned-near a do-it-all air pistol. The trigger is excellent. The accuracy is superb. You don’t have to worry about recharging it with air or CO2. It’s extremely easy to shoot well. You can compete in multiple disciplines with it and even control small pests at close range. It’s very difficult to think of any other pistol that offers so much at such a reasonable price.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

The IZH-46M – Darned Near Perfect

2009-03-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

I had to grin the other day. Somebody had posted on the Yellow Forum, asking the denizens of the forum their opinion on three single-stroke pneumatic target pistols. One of them was the Baikal IZH-46M. The chorus of response to the posting was almost unanimous: Buy the Izzy!

When I mentioned this to Greg at Airguns of Arizona, he wasn’t surprised in the least; the IZH-46M is the most popular air pistol AoA sells, by a wide margin. So what is it about this Russian-built air pistol that makes it so popular?

It certainly doesn’t have the swoopy good looks of some of the high-buck
European match pistols . . . so what is it? I think it is simply that the Izzy hits a very sweet spot in the price/performance curve.

For less than $400, you get a wickedly accurate, self-contained match pistol that does a lot of things well, including 10-meter air pistol competition (that’s what it was designed for), pistol field target, air pistol silhouette, and I even heard of one fellow who shoots bench rest with one. In addition, if the forums are any indication, a number of Izzy shooters use them to control small pest animals at close range in the back yard.

The first thing you notice about the Izzy is that it has a very purpose-built air about it. If a part doesn’t need to be polished to function well, then it isn’t. Every part is designed with just one purpose in mind: to launch pellets down range as accurately as possible.

At stern of the 46M is a wooden ergonomic right hand grip that I found quite comfortable in my hand. (If you are a lefty, or you simply want dress up your 46M, custom laminate right or left hand grips and cocking handle are available from Airguns of Arizona.) At the bottom of the grip is an adjustable palm shelf. On top of the grip is the rear sight, which can bed micro-adjusted for windage and elevation. If you want a different width notch on the rear sight, the back plate of the sight can be unscrewed and flipped to give you a choice of notch widths.

In front of the rear sight is the bolt, which flips up to allow you to load a pellet into the rear of the barrel. There is a sliding assembly on top of the barrel that allows the bolt to be unlatched without cocking the gun and pressurizing the action. The barrel extends forward to a clamp that connects the barrel with the pump tube beneath. At the muzzle there is an assembly that holds the removable front sight blade and protects the barrel crown.

The pump tube is underneath the barrel. Beneath it, the cocking handle extends toward the trigger then angles away to the bottom of the palm shelf. At the end of the cocking handle is a small wooden block that cushions the hand while pumping the action. Together with a small metal shelf, the cocking handle encloses the two-stage adjustable trigger.

That’s all there is to the IZH-46M – a simple, unassuming, but highly functional air pistol.

Next time we’ll look at shooting it.

Til then, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Mounting a Scope

2009-03-16T01:24:00.001-07:00

If you buy an airgun, scope and mounts from Airguns of Arizona, they will put the combination together for you and sight it in before it is shipped to you. Most of the time, AoA’s Kip Perow gets the job of mounting the scope and making sure that everything is as it should be, so I asked Kip to walk me through the process.

“The first thing you need to do is to determine where your eye relief is,” he said. To do that, you mount the rings loosely on the gun – firm enough to stay on but not so loose as to fall off. Put the scope on, set it on the highest power (because that’s where eye relief is most critical), and gently position it for your eye relief when you are in correct shooting position.

Perow says, “When I set a gun up for a customer who has come into the store, I have them mount the gun with their eyes closed. I tell them to relax their head and neck, then open their eyes. If they move their head forward, the scope needs to come back. If they move their head back, the scope needs to go forward.”

Once you get the eye relief properly set, tighten down the bolts that hold the scope rings to the scope rail on the rifle. At that point, it’s time to get the crosshairs aligned straight up and down.

“Don’t try to do this by pulling the gun to your shoulder,” Perow says. “Right handed shooters will tend to cant the rifle to the left, and lefthanders will tend to cant to the right. Instead, set the gun in a solid rest, make sure the gun is level, and sight on a plumb bob or the corner of a wall to get the crosshairs vertical.”

When the crosshairs are squared away, it’s time to tighten the scope in the rings. Tighten all the top strap screws until they are just barely snug, with an even gap on the left and the right side of the scope. Then tighten each screw in an X pattern, one-eighth of a turn at a time. Do four cycles of tightening on the front mount, then four cycles on the rear mount, then repeat as needed. Make sure you are maintaining an even gap from side to side as you complete your tightening cycles. “You want to get them as tight as you can on a spring gun,” Perow says.

If you find you don’t have enough vertical adjustment to get the scope sighted in, you can place a shim under the scope on the rear mount to compensate. “You can use brass sheeting from a hardware store or plastic cut out of standard water bottles,” he says.

He adds, “Most of the time, when we need to shim a scope, it will be on an RWS springer, and it might take a couple of shims. Occasionally we have to shim a scope on a precharged air rifle if the scope is one that has only one-eight inch adjustment.”

If you want to avoid the shimming issue altogether, Perow recommends the Beeman 5039 mount. “It is fully adjustable for windage and elevation and is the best adjustable mount on the market,” he says. “It’s expensive, but it maintains its setting.”

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Installing the Crosman 17xx/22xx Adjustable Trigger Sear

2009-03-09T01:49:00.002-07:00

I cocked the unloaded, uncharged Crosman 2240 and handed it to my testing partner. “Give the trigger a squeeze and tell me what you think,” I said.

A few seconds later, the action clicked, and he said, “It’s kind of crummy.” I tried it and agreed. With a trigger gauge, we measured the weight of the trigger pull at four-and-one-quarter pounds.

To improve the trigger, we decided to install the Adjustable Trigger Sear for the Crosman 17xx and 22xx. Along the way, we learned a bunch of things that will help you install one on your own airgun. (Note that the Adjustable Trigger Sear [ATS] is not a factory authorized part.)

To get ready for installation, Make sure the gun is not cocked or loaded. Lay the 2240 on its left side with the pistol grip pointed toward you, and the muzzle pointed to the right. Next, remove the grip by removing the screw that holds it in place.

With the grip removed, you’ll see a view like the picture below.

With a pair of needle nose pliers or the blade of a screwdriver, slide the coiled spring off the post. When the spring is off the post, tug gently on the spring, and you will be able to remove it completely from the pistol. Additional note: you can defer removing the coiled spring until after you have removed the trigger side plate, but having the side plate still in place reduces the chances of parts being launched into the air (see note about cranky uncles below).

Before you do anything else, make sure the safety is in the FIRE position – protruding fully from the left side of the pistol with the red stripe show. Prop the pistol’s air tube up on a pad of paper or a paperback book – something that will elevate the air tube about one-half inch. This will prevent the safety from being pushed into the SAFE position. If the safety is pushed into the SAFE position when the side plate is off the trigger assembly, a tiny silver ball bearing and teensy spring will fall (or worse – FLY!) out, and YOU WILL HAVE THE DEVIL’S OWN TIME TRYING TO GET THEM BACK INTO POSITION! (Please believe Uncle Jock on this. It happened to me, and it made me very cranky).

Next, remove the two screws that hold the trigger side plate, and gently remove the side plate. In the picture below, you’ll see the original sear that sits on a pivot pin just to the rear of the trigger (in this picture, the original sear is overlaid on the ATS.) Remove the original sear but leave the pin in position. (Just to the right of the sear, you’ll see that teeny spring that I told you about.)

Put the ATS in position as shown below. Notice that it wraps below the pin that the original sear pivoted around, but unlike the original, the ATS doesn’t have a hole that the pin can be inserted into. This is true despite the fact that some ATSs have holes that might appear to fit over the pin. They don’t.

Put the trigger side plate back in position. Slide the end of the coiled spring over the end of the sear, and then slide the other end over the bottom post. You’re done, except for adjusting the trigger and replacing the grip. (Note: you can attach the coiled spring to the ATS and the post with the side plate removed, but I think it is easier with the side plate holding the sear and post in place.)

To adjust the trigger, follow the instructions that came with the sear.

In the end, the ATS tranformed the trigger in my 2240 from a creepy 4-1/4 lb affair into a very crisp trigger that sends the shot down range at just 1 lb 15 oz.

What to do if the little ball bearing and spring fall out. Make sure the safety and trigger are in proper position. Replace the trigger side plate. Remove the two screws that hold the trigger assembly to the air tube. As you look down on the trigger assembly from the top, you’ll see a small hole just above the safety. Drop the small ball bearing in the hole, then place the small spring on top of it. Now reattach the trigger assembly to the air tube. This will compress the small spring and hold it in place.

Note about Screw Starting Point Adjustments

The final, optimum adjustment of the 1st and 2nd stage screws will be determined by experimentation and a combination of the shooter’s personal taste with the particular manufacturing tolerances of the specific gun. Still it’s sometimes useful to have a starting point for the fine tuning process – kind of a home base – that represents average reasonable settings that the sear can be easily set to in order to begin the process in an orderly way, and reset to if the process goes awry.

Starting Point settings are defined so…

1. Turn the screw being set so that the tip is exactly flush with the surface of the sear.

2. Turn the screw clockwise by the number of turns (and fractions of a turn) indicated in the figure.

Here are Starting Point settings for the three styles of Crosman sears. To identify which style you have, check for:

1. Presence of the two fabrication alignment holes present in styles A and C but not B.

2. The square “heel” of style A that B and C lack.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Installing the Benjamin Supersear

2009-03-02T01:43:00.001-07:00

If there is one complaint that can be made about the modern crop of Benjamin and Sheridan multi-stroke pneumatic rifles (such as the Benjamin 392 and 397 and the Sheridan CB9 and C9), it’s that the trigger in these air rifles is mediocre. The pull is heavy, and there is a lot of creep to the trigger.

For example, my Sheridan C9 measured right around 6 to 6-1/4 lbs of pull, and there is a lot of movement between where the second stage of the trigger engages and the shot is finally triggered.

If you want a better trigger quickly and easily, buy a Benjamin SuperSear and install it yourself. What follows is an account of how I installed the SuperSear in my C9.

First, look underneath the forestock just ahead of the trigger guard. You’ll see a Philips head screw recessed into the forestock. Using a Philips screwdriver of appropriate size, remove this screw by turning it counterclockwise. With this screw removed, you can now slide off the buttstock. (Two notes: [1] You might want to open the pumping arm slightly to make it easier. [2] Every time you remove a screw or small part, put it in a safe place like a small plastic dish so it won’t wander away.)

You will now have an assembly that looks like the picture below.

Next, remove the two Philips screws that are on either side of the air tube just above the trigger assembly. This will allow you to remove the trigger assembly, resulting in an assembly that looks like the one below. (Note the spring and black steel spring guide that sticks out of the air tube; you can put these in a safe place with the other small parts.)

Next, remove the two screws that hold the cover on the trigger assembly, remove the cover, and you’ll be able to see what’s inside:

Notice the arrangement of the components inside the trigger assembly: the trigger (with a coiled spring to the left of it), the sear (at the top right of the assembly, with the wire spring hooked into it), and the safety (sticking through a hole in the trigger guard, with the wire spring pressing against it). Notice that there is a pin that goes through a hole in the trigger and goes into sockets on each side of the trigger case. The sear also rides on a pin that fits into sockets on each side of the trigger case. Also notice that there is a tab on the trigger that presses on the “tongue” of the trigger sear when the trigger is pulled.

Finally, notice the trigger case post which is just below the tab on the trigger. Because the SuperSear has a longer “tongue,” you will need to grind, file, or drill the trigger case post so that the SuperSear can operate without interference. The picture below shows the trigger case with everything removed, clamped in a vice, ready for grinding down the trigger case post.

The next picture shows the post ground down (I used a Dremel mototool and a small grinding wheel – don’t forget your eye protection) so that it is level with the trigger pin socket. A vital step in the process that follows the metalwork on the post is cleanup of the abrasive debris that will have been produced (e.g., metal chips and grinding wheel grit) before reassembly. Forgetting to do this will do no good for either the feel or longevity of your new trigger. A blast of compressed air (if available) can be used to blow the muck out, or a quick rinse with soapy water works too. Then dry and relubricate.

The next picture shows the trigger, SuperSear, wire spring, and safety reinstalled. All that remains is to reinstall the coil spring between the trigger and the two cast tabs and put the cover back on the trigger case. The trigger assembly slides back into the air tube (don’t forget to reinstall the spring assembly in the correct orientation) and put the two screws back in place. Finally, slip the buttstock on and put the screw back in place. You’re done!

To optimize my SuperSear Installation, I polished the engagement surface of the sear (indicated by the arrow in the picture below) with Arkansas stones that I use for sharpening knives and chisels. I started with a fairly rough stone, moved to a medium stone, and then a smooth stone. I finished the polishing with some emery cloth. Finally, I sprayed a drop of silicone lubricant on my fingertip and wiped it on the working edge of the sear.

So how does it work? Quite well, thank you. What once had been a creepy 6+ lb. trigger has been transformed into a crisp two-stage trigger that lets off at an average of 3 lb 11 oz. That's significant improvement and results in an air rifle that is a lot more predictable and more fun to shoot.

Shooting a Rare Bird – The HW 75

2009-02-23T01:37:00.001-07:00

Ever since I saw my first Beeman catalog some years ago, there has been one pistol that has tickled my curiosity: the HW75 (formerly called the Beeman P2).

Stretching 11 inches from end to end and weighing about two-and-one-third pounds, the HW75 looks very much like the HW45/Beeman P1. Both these pistols resemble a 1911 Colt automatic on steroids. I have shot the HW45/P1 many times, and it has the peculiar recoil of a spring-piston pistol. If you are accustomed to shooting single-stroke pneumatic pistols, the action of the HW45/P1 may drive you nuts. (Or like me, you may find that after a while it is an acquired taste and a whole lot of fun.)

But the HW75, which (according to Beeman literature) was originally designed as a prototype when the P1 was being developed, has a single-stroke pneumatic powerplant in a frame that is as robust as that of the P1. What would that be like to shoot? I didn’t know, but I really wanted to find out. I tried a couple of times to get my hands on one, but no luck. As the years rolled by, I had opportunities to shoot lots of different pistols: the Daisy 747, the Gamo Compact (both single-stroke pneumatics), several different variations on the P1, several different CO2 pistols, but no HW75.

HW75s apparently were rare birds. They didn’t hang around long. As soon as dealers got them in stock, they would sell out, and a waiting list would build up for the next shipment. If a writer (namely me) wanted to borrow one, there didn’t seem to be an extra one available for a field trip to El Rancho Elliott.

Recently, though, the good folks at Airguns of Arizona sent me an HW75. Finally, I would get a chance to play with one! But (wouldn’t you know it) there was a catch: AoA had already sold my test gun, so it was up to me to do my thing and return the aforementioned HW75 with All Due Haste.

My first impression of the HW75 is that it is amazingly well built. All the parts except the grips are made of metal and nicely finished in matte black. The wrap-around wooden grips are ambidextrous, are stippled on the lower half, and have a slight palm shelf on either side. The overall effect is that the HW75 is both solid and refined.

Getting ready to shoot the HW75 is straightforward. At the left of the hammer at the rear of the pistol is a thumb tab. Press it in fully and at the same time grasp the grooves on either side of the receiver just forward of the rear sight and lift upward. The top half of the receiver (including the rear sight but not the hammer) will now rotate all the way forward. Load a pellet in the rear of the barrel and return the top half of the receiver to its original position. As you do so, you will be compressing air in the single-stroke pneumatic powerplant.

The final step (besides flicking off the safety) is to cock the hammer by pulling it back. Next, ease the first stage out of the trigger, squeeze lightly, and POP! a pellet goes downrange. Velocities will likely be around 400 fps, depending upon the weight of the pellet. The adjustable trigger is really, really nice (light and crisp) and fairly begs the shooter to see how accurate he or she can be with the HW75.

The HW75 is equipped with a black metal blade front sight and black metal notch rear sight. For those who want to mount a scope or a red dot, there are grooves on front half of the HW75’s receiver that can accommodate airgun scope rings.

The bottom line is that the HW75 is an incredibly well built single-stroke pneumatic pistol that shoots like a house afire and looks like it should last a very long time. No wonder they are sold out so often.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

The Beeman P1 in 20 Caliber

2009-02-16T01:14:00.003-07:00

I’ve had the grumps lately. Evil Queen Winter has seized Upstate New York in her cruel grip. The other morning, it was minus six degrees. One of the guys who checks into the Commuter Assistance Network I run workday mornings on Ham radio reported that it was -28F at his house 40 miles north. Criminy!

Icicles are hanging from the gutters. The oil furnace has been beavering away ceaselessly in the basement, and whenever I notice its labors (which is often), I picture an OPEC prince smiling blissfully as he cruises in the new Rolls Royce that I personally helped to purchase for him. A week ago, I took a spectacular pratfall while blowing snow. Fortunately, I was able to use my secret Aikido shout: Awwwwwwwwwww, nuts! (Hey, I don’t go to the dojo twice a week for nothing.)

Even worse, there has been very little airgun shooting going on here at El Rancho Elliott. I’ve thought about putting on every piece of clothing I own, strapping on my field target harness and going out to shoot some groups, but my Better Half, who is very supportive of my airgunning, has indicated in no uncertain terms that she does not want to find me “froze to a tree.” Just to get to the spot where I usually hang my pellet trap would probably take a dogsled and team, and I’m pretty sure our two dachshunds aren’t up to it.

So I’ve been cranky, at least, until a couple of days ago. A package showed up from Airguns of Arizona, and in it was a Beeman P1 pistol in .20 caliber. Now, for some time I owned a P1 in .177, and I have shot the P11 in .22, but I had never tried a P1 in .20. Over the years I’ve been messing with airguns, I’ve learned that a change in caliber can make a substantial difference in how an airgun feels when it is fired, so my curiosity was definitely piqued.

The Beeman P1 looks like a Colt 45 automatic on steroids. A spring-piston air pistol, it measures 11 inches from end to end and weighs 2.5 pounds. Except for the grips and the sights (we’ll get to them in just a bit), the whole thing is solidly built of metal. It’s like plastic was some sort of dirty word when it came to designing the P1. The grips are made of wood and are checkered to provide a very secure grip, and it’s my understanding that the grip frame on the P1 is designed so that any after market grips designed for the Colt 45 auto will also fit the P1.

One major change to the P1 in the sample Airguns of Arizona sent me – small in dimensions but big in impact – is the redesign of the sights. Previously, the P1 had a black metal blade front sight and a black metal notch rear sight, and sometimes they were difficult to see. But now the front sight has been enhanced with a red fiber optic dot and the rear sight has been improved with two yellow fiber optic dots – one on either side of the rear notch. In my view, this is a Big Deal. The sight picture has been greatly improved; just put the red dot between the two yellow dots, put the combo on the target, and you’re good to go. This is an excellent improvement, and I give it a big Thumbs Up.

Finally, one day when the temperatures darted above 32F, I dashed outside with the .20 cal. P1 and put a few shots down range. I didn’t attempt to do critical accuracy testing, but I simply wanted to see how the shot cycle felt. Bottom line: it feels really good. My sense is that the shot cycle of the .20 P1 is very similar to the .22 P11, which is the younger brother of the P1. It feels smoother and less harsh than the .177 P1, and I really enjoyed shooting it. The .20 cal P1 launches 14.3 gr. Crosman Premiers at 396 fps average and Dynamic SPC5 12.0 gr pellets at 449 fps average.

One thing is for sure – the P1 in .20 will cure the wintertime grumps, and I think that any P1 shooter will agree that the new sights are a big improvement.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

At Last – Something Good on Television

2009-02-09T01:33:00.001-07:00

My Dad called television “an optimist’s dream” – because “you keep hoping something good will come on.” That was back in the day when programs were in black-and-white; there were only three channels, and if you wanted to change the station, you had to get up, cross the room, and turn the channel selector.

Now, my local cable provider offers literally hundreds of channels, and people still complain that “there’s nothing on.”

Well, if you are an airgunner with even a passing interest in hunting and long range accuracy, I have good news: you really owe it to yourself to check out a copy of Cliff Tharp’s Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel.

This DVD provides exactly what the title implies: over 70 minutes of footage of hunting California ground squirrels with air rifles. Tharp shot, narrated and edited the entire production and did an entirely creditable job that is both entertaining and informative.

I give full points to Tharp for starting the video with a section on “Know the Law,” which includes cautions to know the laws in your area that apply to hunting with airguns, know which species may be legally hunted with airguns in your area, have the appropriate license(s), and to remember that you are responsible for the lawful use of your airgun. The introduction also contains a warning that California ground squirrels are vermin that may carry diseases that can be harmful or fatal to humans, so handling them may be hazardous to your health. This is essential information that anyone who views the video and who might be inspired to go and do likewise needs to have.

What happens next, though is pure magic. Tharp stands in front of the camera and introduces us to the fun of hunting ground squirrels with air rifles. Most of the footage is devoted to shots of pellets taking down ground squirrels, followed by a slow motion repeat of the same shot. Tharp provides a voice-over commentary about the shot in question, often including the yardage and any difficulties (such as high wind) in making the shot. As Tharp puts it: “There are about 260 or so squirrels on the DVD that can attest to the effectiveness of air rifles all the way out to just about 100 yards.”

At irregular intervals, Tharp drops into the video for an on-camera discussion of guns, tanks, equipment and so forth. Tharp’s folksy, friendly style is both fun and educational. By the time he is done, it makes me want to try ground squirrel hunting too!

Tharp tells me that all of the shots on the video were taken with PCP air rifles with a video camera mounted on top of the scope. (Apparently, he couldn’t get good shots mounting the camera in a similar fashion on a spring-piston airgun, although it mentions springers as suitable for hunting ground squireels.) The result is that the footage has a kind of “you are there” immediacy that draws me, at least, right into the action.

I communicated with Tharp via email and telephone, and one of the interesting things he said was, “I don't make a big deal of it in the video, but 99% of the shots you see in it were made with the DYNAMIC PCP 2 pellets. They work especially well in my FX built guns. The ranch that I do most of my hunting on has a complete ban on lead ammo, including airgun pellets.” That’s good to know.

The bottom line is that if you enjoy hunting videos, I can highly recommend Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel. And if you have a shooting buddy who sneers at airguns, give him a copy of this video. It might just prove to be a real eye-opener for him.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Field Target – Part II

2009-02-02T01:30:00.001-07:00

So what do you need to participate in the fascinating sport of field target?

First, an air rifle. There are two main classes of field target air rifles: piston class, which includes all spring-piston or gas-ram powered air rifle (which is characterized by the whiplash recoil generated by the powerplant), and open class, which includes all other powerplants, but generally means pre-charged pneumatic air rifles. A typical piston class rifle would be the HW97, while a representative open class FT rifle is the FWB P70FT. Some field target clubs also shoot hunter class, in which you can shoot either springers or PCPs, but are generally limited to 12X scopes. By all means, check with your local club regarding their rules.

Most field target competitors use scopes on their rifles. Serious piston and open class shooters generally go for high power scopes (sometimes as much as 50X). They focus the scope to determine the range to the target and then either (A) adjust the elevation knob on their scope to compensate for the pellet drop at that range or (B) use a mil-dot reticle and select the appropriate dot on the reticle for that range. Hunter class competitors are usually not allowed to adjust the elevation turret on their scopes but they are allowed to use mil-dot reticles. Occasionally some nut (like me) will shoot field target with non-magnifying target sights, but that is extremely rare.

You’ll also need a supply of the pellets that produce the best accuracy in your air rifle, enough for warm-up on the sight-in range and for shooting the match. You can keep the pellets in the tin they came in, but some shooters use a special pellet pouch.

Since most of the shots in field target are usually taken from a sitting position, another useful thing to have is something to sit on. Most competitors use a bum bag, but you can use an old pillow or boat cushion to keep you off the ground and more comfortable.

To shoot field target, you don’t have to go out and buy a brand new rig. Instead, you can participate with whatever airgun you have. The key thing is to go out, try it, and have some fun. My rule of thumb is that whatever range you can consistently shoot 1-inch groups is the range (and closer) at which you’ll be able to knock down at least some targets. (For match winning accuracy, Larry Durham estimated some years ago that you need to be able to keep all your shots within a 7/8” circle at 50 yards in the PCP class and within 1-1/16 inch at 50 yards for the springer class.)

If you don’t have a suitable air rifle, some field target clubs even have loaner air rifles that they may let you use during a match.

There’s nothing like shooting in a real field target match (because of the camaraderie of shooting on a squad with other field target shooters), but if you would like to get a preview of what this sport is like, buy yourself a field target or two, put them up in your backyard, and experience the thrill of knocking some targets down.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

Field Target – Part I

2009-01-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

As a rule, I don’t recommend airguns for hunting bats, but in this case, I was willing to make an exception. The darn thing was on the ground about 50 yards away, and I was on a mission to ruin his day. To make a clean shot, I’d have to deliver the pellet inside a one-inch circle in the middle of his chest.

Because I was shooting a low-powered match rifle (an FWB150 action fitted in an FWB300 stock; I call it “the red-headed stepchild”), I figured there would be a ton of drop in the pellet’s trajectory all the way out there at 50 yards. So I held one mil-dot down from the crosshairs. In addition, leaves were skittering from left to right in front of the target. To compensate for the breeze, I held to the left of my intended kill zone.

When I pulled the trigger, there was a brief pause, the pellet connected, and the bat dropped with a clang. At this point, you need to understand that I wasn’t out assassinating bats just out of sheer cussed meanness. Instead, I was participating in the fine and noble sport of field target.

Field target is a game for airgunners that involves shooting at metallic silhouette targets – usually bunnies, squirrels, skunks, and the like, but sometimes snakes armadillos, bats, even cartoon characters. Each silhouette has a hole in it, and behind the hold is a paddle. Put a pellet cleanly through the hole (the kill zone), hit the paddle, and the target falls down. If you hit the face plate of the target or split a pellet on the edge of the kill zone, the target locks in the upright position. You get a point for knocking the target down and zilch for anything else (although in some field target matches, you get a point for a face plate hit and two points for a knock down, but that is the exception.)

Now, here’s where it gets interesting: the range to the target can vary from 10 to 55 yards, and the size of the kill zone can vary from 3/8 of an inch to 1 7/8 inches. Further, there is no correlation between the distance to the target and the size of the kill zone. So, for example, a one-inch kill zone at 10 yards is pretty easy, but that same target at 40 yards can be extremely challenging. Likewise, many shooters can drop a target with a half-inch kill zone at 15 yards, but stick that same target up in a tree at 30 yards, and you’ll hear them muttering darkly under their breath about the sanity of the match director.

Field target is usually shot from a sitting position, but some matches require shooting some lanes from a standing or kneeling position, which makes shooting more difficult. Field target matches are often set up with two or three targets per lane, with two shots at each target. So, if you drop a target on the first shot, you pull the target upright with the reset string, and try again. If you miss, you can try to make a correction on your second shot.

I really enjoy field target, and I recommend it heartily to anyone who wants to have fun with their airgun. In part II, we’ll look at what you need to participate in field target.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott

RWS 54 - A Recoilless Springer

2009-01-19T01:11:00.000-07:00

The thing about springers is that they can be downright exasperating to shoot. On one hand, they are self contained and require only one cocking stroke per shot. That makes them darned near perfect for a day afield. No tanks, no CO2 cartridges, just you, your rifle and a tin of pellets.

On the other hand, there’s the whole matter of how a springer’s powerplant behaves. When you cock a springer, you drive a spring and piston back until the assembly latches. When you trigger the shot, the spring and piston (sometimes amounting to half a pound of metal) go rocketing forward compressing air in front of the piston. This creates backward recoil. As the spring and piston assembly near the far end of the compression chamber, the piston rebounds in the opposite direction off the mass of compressed air in front of it. This creates recoil in the opposite direction and blasts compressed air through the transfer port, propelling the pellet out of breech and down the barrel.

The real “gotcha” is this: all this movement of the spring and piston and the accompanying recoil and reverse recoil happen before the pellet leaves the barrel. With a consistent loose hold and practice, springers can be shot with superb accuracy. But if you get it wrong, well . . . it can mess up your accuracy to a fare-thee-well. As a result, sometimes I can shoot a springer with sublime precision, but other times the exact same spring-piston airgun simply drives me nuts.

So that’s why I thought the RWS 54 sounded like a really good idea. Available in .177 and .22 cal, it stretches 44 inches from muzzle to buttplate and weighs nine pounds. What sets this air rifle apart from all other spring-piston air rifles that are available new today is that the Model 54 is designed to be recoilless.

Here’s how it works: The entire receiver of the RWS 54 rides on rails within the stock. When you cock the Model 54, you grab the end of the side cocking lever and pull it back until it latches (it takes around 40 pounds of effort). This moves the receiver and barrel assembly forward, locks it there, and slides the breech open for loading.

When you pull the trigger, the entire receiver slides backwards about a half an inch in the stock. This has the effect of “absorbing” all the recoil effects of the springer and turning it from a Wild Thing into a docile pussycat. From the shooter’s perspective, you don’t feel recoil and, you don’t lose the sight picture. Suddenly you can shoot extremely well without a whole lot of effort. As my brother-in-law put it: the RWS 54 is a springer that behaves like a precharged rifle.

I tested both versions of the RWS 54, and I liked them both. I mounted a CenterPoint Optics 3-12 x 44mm compact scope on the .177 version. At 35 yards, the RWS 54 delivered a 5-shot group that measured just .38 inch ctc. At 50 yards, 5 shots fell into a group that measured .95 inch ctc. That’s excellent accuracy in any springer.

The best accuracy came from Crosman Premier Heavies (10.5 grain, nominal) pellets. The RWS 54 launched them downrange at an average of 845 fps, producing 16.6 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.

I equipped the .22 version of the RWS 54 with an RWS 4-12x50CI scope with the RWS one-piece mount. At 50 yards, with JSB Jumbo Express pellets, the air rifle produced a five-shot group of 1.16 inch ctc. Velocity with those pellets averaged 779 fps, generating 21.4 fp of energy.

James Brinkley, shooting a “Rich from Mich” tuned .22 RWS 54 on a sunny day with no wind, was able to produce a 5-shot group at eighty yards that was scarcely bigger than a quarter. He was shooting RWS Super Dome pellets using a bipod and a rear rest.

Unlike the other, “conventional” springers that are in my gun closet, the RWS 54 seems not to care what position you shoot it from. You can shoot it off a rest, off your knee, or offhand without the point of impact changing with your shooting arrangement. There is one minor complication: the center of balance is significantly forward of the spot – just ahead of the trigger guard – where the RWS 54 produced the best accuracy results for me. As a result, when shooting off the kind of rests that centerfire benchrest shooters use, I had to hold the buttstock down to keep it in place on the rear rest. This was a bit of a nuisance, but I also got excellent results resting the length of the forearm on an old boat cushion. It sounds like Brinkley might be on the right track with his bipod/rear rest combo.

I think there is a whole lot to recommend the RWS 54: it’s self-contained, easy to shoot well, and accurate enough for varminting or long-range plinking.

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

- Jock Elliott