Good practice without ammo

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  • John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Well, without firearm ammo anyway. :o

    I decided to make a new thread since this is more about shooting air rifles rather than buying my Gamo.

    The point is, as you will see in the attached photo, even an inexpensive air rifle can make for good practice while you are hoarding your ammunition. And, it is much cheaper these days. ;)

    Aiirguns today are very accurate out of the box vs those of 20 years ago. Hell, even 10 years ago, a GAMO rifle was junk. Not so today. This rifle only costs $130, and if you buy a couple tins of pellets, you can get free shipping. It comes with a scope ( cheap but works) so, if you buy the pellets, when it gets to your house you are ready to shoot.

    https://www.amazon.com/WildCat-Whis...8532&sprefix=gamo+wildcat+whis,aps,151&sr=8-1

    This isn't the original link. Pyramid Air is out of them so I put this link to Amazon.

    Here is the target I shot this morning at 25 yards.

    At this point, the gun has 150 pellets through it, the pellets came right out of the tin and were not weighed or lubed. The difference in the two impact points was that the pellets that had to be pushed forcibly into the breech struck low and those that just dropped in struck high. These probably would have been separated if I weighed out the pellets before shooting.

    I used no rest but leaned over the cover on the back of my truck and shot off my elbows. That shows how accurate even inexpensive air rifles are being made these days. Sure, I could do better with my PCP guns but they cost $300 and up. I have another thread about the rifle if you want to know detail I just wanted to show how little it cost to keep shooting through the ammunition crisis.

    Enjoy,
     

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    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,665
    Not Far Enough from the City
    Nice shooting! Accuracy is indeed impressive!

    Don't guess you've had a chance to run those pellets across a chronograph? Looks like you went the .22 route from your pellet weight. If for real, listed 975 fps is cooking pretty good! Should handle squirrel, though they're tough little suckers.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Nice shooting! Accuracy is indeed impressive!

    Don't guess you've had a chance to run those pellets across a chronograph? Looks like you went the .22 route from your pellet weight. If for real, listed 975 fps is cooking pretty good! Should handle squirrel, though they're tough little suckers.

    This a .22. I also have .25's but they are more expensive to shoot.

    I haven't used the Chrony since the weather is too damn cold for it. When it gets back to the 50's I need to shoot this and tune my Avenger across the screens.

    No problem, this will do it. Hell, my Marauder pistol kills them DRT with 14 gn pellets and only 700 FPS.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,665
    Not Far Enough from the City
    This a .22. I also have .25's but they are more expensive to shoot.

    I haven't used the Chrony since the weather is too damn cold for it. When it gets back to the 50's I need to shoot this and tune my Avenger across the screens.

    No problem, this will do it. Hell, my Marauder pistol kills them DRT with 14 gn pellets and only 700 FPS.

    John, keep us posted if you get that chrono out later this Spring. I'd be curious to know how accurate that velocity claim is. Thanks
     

    mauser58

    My home is a sports store
    Dec 2, 2020
    1,755
    Baltimore County, near the Bay
    John I went to the one Walmart near me today to get some tins of Gamo pellets. They didnt have one tin in the cabinet. Dicks and BPS have them but like double the price. They had tins at Walmart a couple days ago. I will go to several others near me tomorrow. I want to get a few tins of the Piranha 22 pellets. I do need some 25 for another rifle but will order it. I can believe the amount of people buying pellet rifles lately. I have thoughts that people are shooting pellet rifles much more these days to stay sharp and practiced. Also to have in the future if needed for smaller game or rodents. More and more states are banning them and also certain places like towns, cities or counties in some states. I say grab a few rifles while you can. I see them being a really hot item soon and demand will mean shortage. I have a very big collection of nice rifles and pistols. I am now looking at the PCP 45 cal hunting rifles. They are legal to hunt in Maryland. The 50 also shoots arrows or bolts or the 50 cal bullet.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    John I went to the one Walmart near me today to get some tins of Gamo pellets. They didnt have one tin in the cabinet. Dicks and BPS have them but like double the price. They had tins at Walmart a couple days ago. I will go to several others near me tomorrow. I want to get a few tins of the Piranha 22 pellets. I do need some 25 for another rifle but will order it. I can believe the amount of people buying pellet rifles lately. I have thoughts that people are shooting pellet rifles much more these days to stay sharp and practiced. Also to have in the future if needed for smaller game or rodents. More and more states are banning them and also certain places like towns, cities or counties in some states. I say grab a few rifles while you can. I see them being a really hot item soon and demand will mean shortage. I have a very big collection of nice rifles and pistols. I am now looking at the PCP 45 cal hunting rifles. They are legal to hunt in Maryland. The 50 also shoots arrows or bolts or the 50 cal bullet.

    I went to the Pasadena WM this morning and got 2 tins of Crosman .22 pellets. There were about six tins left. They are the only .22 pellets I could find also. I agree, more people are shooting pellet guns. As to the dearth of .22 pellets, I wonder if BP is pulling some shit like some states where they don't allow anything but .177. They had a big selection of .177 and not one .22. :mad54:

    Once I find out for sure what pellets my air guns really like, I make bulk orders from Pyramid Air to save a few bucks. The latest thing I am trying is slugs in my Air Venturi Avenger .25. They really hit hard and I've got the regulator set a 2000. I can't wait till it hit's the 50's for a few days so I can get the Chrony out and tune the .25 properly.
     

    THier

    R.I.P.
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 3, 2010
    4,998
    Muscleville
    I use a piece of leather, (welding apron) hung from a dowel in my target box, pellets hit leather, and drop to bottom of box. I am saving them incase pellets get as bad as ammo. They are pristine as the apron stops them gently and drops into the box!!

    Yes I am a cheap bastard.
     

    shootnfishndorf

    Active Member
    Mar 17, 2016
    338
    Waldorf
    I hit the Prince Frederick Walmart yesterday...picked up the last tin of .22 crossman hollow points, 500ct. There were some Ruger, 200ct tins, but everything else was .177. I ordered a couple of tins from airgun depot. Did some researching to see if I'd want a .177 rifle, since the pellets are more available, for now. I have a Stoeger break barrel and the Air Avenger PCP, both in .22. I have enough to keep the trigger finger smart for now...but was wondering if I shouldn't add a .177 pellet/BB platform. Multipump or breakbarrel , or PCP ( have the yong heng compressor). More researching I guess. Any reccommedations from ya'lls wealth of knowledge would be helpful. Accuracy is more important to me than velocity/power. Pistol or Rifle.
     

    ironpony

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    7,190
    Davidsonville
    John I'm still working on the shooting tips you gave me and and starting to think when barrel is closed into battery(?) there may be slight variation given my enthusiasm/adrenaline/etc, thanks for your help. The squirrels say I need a heavier round, black shit birds say lighter round, neighbors say to shoot a different direction and the cops that show up say "can I try it?" I say I should just buy a new truck, whoops .. truck, haha did I say truck again? I meant truck. I'm going to clean the barrel, swap out to different glass and start over with a fresh again feeling.


    Careful, you may soon become the MDS airarm guru. :)
     

    cobra

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 26, 2009
    2,058
    White Marsh
    If your having a tough time finding 22 opposed to 177 cal pellets order of pyramid air. Plus they have better selection compared to wall art , basspro shops on brands,styles, and weights of pellets.
    Can also order an assortment tin where you get several different brands and weights to see what your gun likes best.IMO
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Update on the Gamo. I now have 550 pellets through it and my arms feel like it. Unlike a spring, the gas strut does not change. I find it easier to lean the butt on a stool to cock it as I am old. As I said before, the junk scope crapped out so I put a cheap Winchester 2-7x32 that I had on it. This scope is about $40 from Midway and I have used it on a number of guns including my 300BO pistol and it is still going strong.

    Most of my shooting has been offhand at 45 feet. I am now using weighed, sorted, and lubed Crosman Premier pellets. I consider these the best cheap .22 pellet you can get as long as you sort them. Using 3 power, I have bee able to keep these in a 1 inch group with 3/4 of them going into 1/2 inch group. Outside, I shoot it at 25 yards and the POI is only maybe a half inch higher. I decided to see what this would do to a 2x4 at 25 yards and I got 5/8 inch penetration. That is pretty amazing. I shot through some 11/2 inch saplings at 30 yards and the pellet went right through.

    This rifle is surprising me more each time I shoot it. The biggest obstacle is the trigger as the trigger adjusting screw is too short. I bought a longer screw at Ace hardware and adjusted it until it fired, then backed off and adjusted it to where it was almost crisp but would not fire when the barrel was closed. This gave me a true two stage trigger and tightened up my groups considerably.

    My Charlie Da Tuna trigger is on its way and that will do away with the adjusting screw since it has one of it's own. I'll update this once I get the trigger and do some shooting with it.
     

    MDShooter20850

    Active Member
    May 3, 2017
    182
    Rockville, MD
    Thank you for the update. I believe I have the same scope on my Maxxim. With only 100 pellets shot to-date on mine, the scope is still working “well-enough”. It has been slightly blurry since Day 1 (it does not have an AO), but is workable for my needs. But it’s only a matter of time before it experiences the same fate as yours.

    I’ve been looking at a Hawke Air Max (on Amazon and Pyramyd), but at $200+ it may be more than I need.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Thank you for the update. I believe I have the same scope on my Maxxim. With only 100 pellets shot to-date on mine, the scope is still working “well-enough”. It has been slightly blurry since Day 1 (it does not have an AO), but is workable for my needs. But it’s only a matter of time before it experiences the same fate as yours.

    I’ve been looking at a Hawke Air Max (on Amazon and Pyramyd), but at $200+ it may be more than I need.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

    In my opinion, unless you are shooting postal matches or something, you don't need a high power scope on a springer. What you do need is a good set of rings and the ones I recommend always are BKL's. I have never seen them slip on anything I have used them on. The UTG Bug Buster is nice and light, has a good reputation but won't fit on some guns due to it's short size and eye relief. At a little over 13 oz it is nice and light.

    I also use TRS 25 red dots for short range work. Unfortunately I don't have any rimfire rings on hand and they are out of stock at Pyramid (which has the best price).
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I got my Charlie Da Tuna trigger installed and now have a two stage trigger with definite let off. I have also passed the 500 pellet mark and the Gamo Wildcat is still performing fantastically for the money. I I currently have it zeroed to 25 yards and, since it is nice out today :party29:, I thought I would see how it does at 35 yards.

    The pellets are Crosman Premier and I am leaning on the tonneau cover of my truck. Here is a picture of a 10 shot group. The pellets penetrated from 3/8 to 1/2 inch into a pine 2 x 6 so I would not hesitate to take squirrels at that distance. As the weather warms, I will try some heavier hunting pellets ( I don't own anything lighter than Premiers) and see if it likes any.
     

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    MDShooter20850

    Active Member
    May 3, 2017
    182
    Rockville, MD
    Very nice. I should receive my UTG Bug Blaster tomorrow, and I’ve been waiting for that before pushing too far out. With the stock scope, I was getting decent grouping at 25yds, but they could have been better. Shooting Crosman Premiers as well. Only difference is .22 cal versus .177. My count is now at 300, and I swear the rifle is dialing in...
     

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