New air rifle settling down

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earlmck
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New air rifle settling down

Post by earlmck »

A few months ago gamekeeper reported on his good results with an inexpensive Norica air rifle. I looked for the same model here but at that time they didn't import that one. But there were some good looking ones for not a lot of money and I bought one with enough more poop than my present Crossman to give me a better chance at popping sage rats out to 30 yards: the Norica Dragon Evolution for just over a hundred bucks off Amazon.
Norica9595.jpg
Noricalabel9596.jpg
Right out of the box the trigger was horrible and accuracy disappointing. A dab of grease at the trigger release point made a huge difference in that aspect: now about a 4 to 5 lb trigger with a little creep.

And putting about three hundred rounds down range has made a major improvement in the accuracy department.
NoricaTarget9597.jpg
I shot this 20 rounds at 10 m. using a chair back as a forearm rest which is a vast improvement over the 2" vertical string we started out with initially. My "bargain basement" Gamo pellets give me the occasional flyer with any of the air guns but this is good enough to whack the wily sage rat.

Advertised as 1000 fps with lead pellets. My Chrono absolutely refused to give a reading with the little pellets on a bright blue-sky day so I can't tell you what it does in real life but the sage rats do go down as though hit with some authority.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by 3leggedturtle »

Earl I was heavy into spring airguns in the 70’s to 90’s and found it always took 500-600 pellets in them before they really smoothed out and gave best accuracy and velocity. Todd
30/30 Winchester: Not accurate enough fer varmints, barely adequate for small deer; BUT In a 10" to 14" barrelled pistol; is good for moose/elk to 200 yards; ground squirrels to 300 metres

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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Earl, that's promising for an inexpensive springer. I'd be real tempted to feed it some H&Ns and JSBs just to see if it likes them.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by gamekeeper »

Earl, that looks like a promising start, I'm still impressed with my little junior sized Thor but maybe the extra power of the Dragon may just tempt me to part with some cash..... :?
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Nath »

Bill in Oregon wrote: Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:32 pm Earl, that's promising for an inexpensive springer. I'd be real tempted to feed it some H&Ns and JSBs just to see if it likes them.
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earlmck
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Re: New air rifle settling down

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Bill in Oregon wrote: Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:32 pm Earl, that's promising for an inexpensive springer. I'd be real tempted to feed it some H&Ns and JSBs just to see if it likes them.
I have a few other types pellets hanging around and get similar results: I think the rifle is objecting more to my "bench rest" technique than to the type of pellet I feed it. I notice that when I shoot off-hand I get virtually the same size group (and I am not that great an off-hand shot) and I call nearly all the misses. Here is last night's off-hand target (same 10m distance)
NoricaOffhand9600.jpg
This baby prefers to go hunting!
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by 765x53 »

3leggedturtle wrote: Sat Sep 01, 2018 10:54 am Earl I was heavy into spring airguns in the 70’s to 90’s and found it always took 500-600 pellets in them before they really smoothed out and gave best accuracy and velocity. Todd
+1. You are breaking in a piston and main spring, as well as a barrel.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Pitchy »

Looks like a pretty good group and getting better, whats it do at 20 yards?
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by earlmck »

Pitchy wrote: Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:32 pm Looks like a pretty good group and getting better, whats it do at 20 yards?
I thought the 20 yard shoot was a good idea so I tried it with my Gamo pellets and a couple other nicer-appearing pellets by RWS. Here was the result:
Norica20yds9602.jpg
I couldn't tell much difference between pellets at 10 yards but at 20 yards it looks like the RWS Meisterkugeln pellet might be worth while for better consistency at longer ranges.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Pitchy »

Looks like about the same groups i get with my Gamo bone collector at 20 yards, if i really try hard and get the hold just right i have got groups i can cover with a quarter but its hard to do.
The brand of pellet doesn`t seem to matter except for Daisy they don`t group very well. Gammo Tomahawk .177 Cal 7.8 Grains Pointed Pellets work well.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by stretch »

My guns seem to prefer RWS and Beeman pellets,
Superpoint and Crow Magnum respectively. They also
seem to prefer heavier pellets. I'm not a fan of Crosman
pellets. Some Gamo pellets shoot better than others, but
I like the RWS and Beeman better.

Airgun pellets are not stable at transsonic speeds - they start
to tumble, which does nothing for accuracy. That's one reason
why I tend to like the heavier pellets - they stay subsonic. (And
I'm just a heavy, slow projectile kinda guy..... :lol:) A lot of
manufacturers are advertising 1000+ fps, but anything much over
that is kinda useless.

Your groups are showing promise! :D

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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by AmBraCol »

Looking good. The reason benchresting your rifle doesn't net you very good results is that spring powered air rifles seldom shoot well from a solid bench rest. The best technique for shooting them is called "the artillery hold" where you find a grip position on the stock where the rifle can rest and recoil freely. Use as little shoulder and trigger hand contact as possible, often I"ll pinch the trigger and trigger guard to fire the rifle. The idea is to allow the rifle to recoil like an old artillery piece.

But if your goal is hunting and not punching paper, shooting it off hand is good practice for using it in the field. Again, try to find a consistent place to hold it and place your hand there each time. Groups should shrink a bit that way. When you learn to have a repeatable grip on the stock you'll probably start to see a difference between pellets it likes and those it doesn't.

Shooting a spring powered air rifle is an art even more than it is a science. And it's fun to learn how to do well.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by 3leggedturtle »

Also you can try some heavier pellets too. They sometimes shoot more accurately. Todd
PS, I’m glad you bought that mold over at cast boolits!
30/30 Winchester: Not accurate enough fer varmints, barely adequate for small deer; BUT In a 10" to 14" barrelled pistol; is good for moose/elk to 200 yards; ground squirrels to 300 metres

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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by JB »

stretch wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 8:17 am A lot of
manufacturers are advertising 1000+ fps, but anything much over
that is kinda useless.
Most of those super high velocities are achieved with lighter than lead pellets as well. I too prefer the heaver pellets generally with the higher powered air guns. Better accuracy and it's easier on your mainspring.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Old Ironsights »

is that a .177 or .22? I'm seriously interested in a .38 if I can ever find the right mix of features and performance...
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by AmBraCol »

Old Ironsights wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:54 pm is that a .177 or .22? I'm seriously interested in a .38 if I can ever find the right mix of features and performance...
A friend has the Hatsan Carnivore in 9mm/357 caliber. He's tickled pink with it. Only shoots the Hatsan brand waisted pellets, but gets excellent accuracy and plenty of power for an air rifle.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by GunnyMack »

+1 on RWS and Beeman. Both my RWS model 45 and my RWS 350 prefer heavier stuff.
I recently tried a tin of H&N Sport, a good 3rd of the tin is gone and so far I'm happy. They thump chipskunks and tree rats just fine. I haven't put them on paper but if I do my part they will ring my little gong at 35 yds.
Years ago I got a wild idea that I'd make a heavy pellet, I made a mould with a .177 drill, they weighed in about 20 grains, and my model 45 proceeded to detonate the spring! I called RWS to get a new spring. They said send it in- lifetime warranty. Stupidly I said to ship the spring and I would do the repair. Boy was that a dumb idea! The spring is about 3 times longer than the receiver!
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Re: New air rifle settling down

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Old Ironsights wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:54 pm is that a .177 or .22? I'm seriously interested in a .38 if I can ever find the right mix of features and performance...
This is a .177. Primary target will be (besides the paper with blue bullseye) the wily "sage rat" (Belding ground squirrel) at mostly 5 to 20 yards with the occasional one out to 30 yards. Those critters seem to be down for the season around these parts. By next Spring when they pop out again I should have this springer well broke-in and ready to give 'em a taste of that RWS pellet!

A previous attempt at a sage rat gun resulted in a Crossman "Fury" which still gives a scattered pattern even after at least 1000 pellets through it. I was beginning to wonder if the cheap scope was the problem but apparently the scope is just fine, as that is what I put on the Norica.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Rusty »

I think Paul nailed it with the suggestion of the artillery hold. In my experience with a springer the hold is everything. They don't like benches and they need a scope rated for air rifles if you're going to use a scope. A springer will trash even the most expensive scope if it's not rated as an air rifle scope in very short order. IMHO there's nothing more relaxing that an evening on the porch with a nice air rifle.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by Bill in Oregon »

I agree on the RWS pellets, Earl. Stretching the distance will tell when it comes to choosing a pellet your rifle likes. Be interesting to see what speeds you are getting if and when your chrono wants to cooperate.
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Re: New air rifle settling down

Post by earlmck »

Along in the spring and early summer I like to visit friend Butch who has a little pasture for grazing his roping steers. Most years he produces a nice crop of sage rats who are a perfect air-rifle distance from the shade of a big old juniper tree. Lawn chairs, beer cooler, bag of peanuts -- mighty fine. Lots of the world's problems would have been solved under that tree if our leaders ever solicited our advice.

So looks like I might purchase one tin of the nice RWS pellets for sage rat use, and that would last me for a decade or so. I have about 25 tins of the Gamo pellets I got at the "right price" a couple years ago and those are going to have to do for the 10 meter target I use for keeping my off-hand shooting from deteriorating too badly. I have a little Crossman pump-up that is considerably more accurate than I am at the 10 meter range but it has a trigger so unlike anything else I shoot that I wanted something with a more "normal" trigger and the Norica seems like it should work for that. Lately I've been using them both when I shoot the target -- really keeps my trigger finger from getting too picky!
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