Finally some trigger time

[mcoulter]

Back on Christmas morning I bent the barrel of my 135.  I've fiddled with it a few times to bend the barrel back again, but never had much time to actually shoot it until this past weekend.  The weather was warm (however, a bit breezy) and Jasper and I had a great time shooting while visiting family.  The best guestimate on distance is 40-50 yards.  Pellets are CPHP.  The grid lines on the target are 1/2 inch.  Shots were taken seated with elbow rested on my knee. 








Yup, it was great to get out shooting again!

[GD Giles]

How much were you able to shoot it before the barrel bent? Does it seem the same?

[mcoulter]

I probably had 2 or 3 tins of pellets through it before I bent the barrel.  I have to say it feels the same.  I still need to shoot from a bench and chrony it to be sure...  I think my POI is still high so I'll keep tweaking the barrel until my scope is optically centered while shooting at 30 yards or so.

[mcoulter]

There is some good news and some bad news regarding how my 135 is performing now.  In short, it seems like the accuracy potential is still there. 

Here is a 30 yard group using CP Domes.  7 out of 10 shots are inside or at least touching the colored circle which is 1.5 inches.  This is about as good of a group as I have shot with this rifle.



The bad news is on the chony.  Velocity is down and the extreme spread is up:

High 966
Low 918
Avg 953 (28.8 FPE)
ES 48
SD 14

This is what had been normal for my rifle:

High 989
Low 976
Avg 981 (30.5 FPE)
ES 13
SD 4

So I will be looking at the easy stuff first.  Since I had let the barrel go and it slammed up hard enough to bend the barrel, I suspect there may be sealing problems at the breech.  I'll try shimming the o-ring there to see if it improves velocity and consistency. 

Oh, and one more thing.  It still HATES JSB 18s!  Compare the group on the right with the JSBs to the left group with CP Domes (two of the shots were not even on paper: 

[Methuselah]

If it doesn't blow a tissue off the breach block, I doubt shimming is the problem but agree it's the best first guess.

Are any of the stock bracket screws "hidden"?  (Thinking out loud)

[mcoulter]

Are any of the stock bracket screws "hidden"?  (Thinking out loud)

I appreciate the advice.  But I am not sure what you mean here...  Can you clarify a bit?

Thanks!

[lefteyeshot]

My first guess was you needed better pellets or the scope's broke.

Make sure the screws holding the gun in the stock are tight.

Lay tissue paper over the breach and see if it blows off. But the recoil on that gun might knock it off anyway. Sometimes with the gun pointed down I put the breach by my cheek and can feel the air if it's leaking.

[Airgun.Sniper]

 Looks good. Surprised it doesnt like JSB 18.1 grain pellets though

 Cheers

 Jay

[Methuselah]

Are any of the stock bracket screws "hidden"?  (Thinking out loud)

I appreciate the advice.  But I am not sure what you mean here...  Can you clarify a bit?

Thanks!

The stock screws on some guns screw into brackets that can come loose, stocks can also crack on the backside where it's mounted - all must be in good order to hold vibrations at bay.

Im certainly no expert, was just guessing vibration was a possibility...