i love your setup. i have been messing with the daisy leverguns for a bit and have noticed that we do not give them enough credit for what they are, and that they can be used for informal target shooting EVEN without the 499 tubes on it. i have been "accurizing" older red ryders and some of the other models (namely the 102 model 36, which is the predecessor to the buck) and you are correct on one thing. velocity expected from a healthy gun from the factory is between 250 and 275 fps. deciding to see what they can do, i started to clean them up (shot tube), lubing the triggers and yes, putting red ryder stocks on the shorties. And then i started shooting small targets at distances that i would consider "far...ish" for a "bbgun". started with crackers and went as far as 25 yards , and i was surprised at the level of consistency i got from them. Now a cracker is a bit larger than 1 inch so at 5 yards it was literally an easy victory. i would shoot 5 shots and then count how many hits i got. i can say that the average red ryder from the store should be abale to get 100% hits out to 10 yards (30'). Farther than that the ratio deminishes, but not as drastically as one would think. Then i got to think... "Wow! i can do a mini silhouette range in my back yard and hold competitions with the kids around here and my son! kinda formalize a competition and teach them gun etiquette at the same time (unbeknown to them, hehe)."But for that i had to get some hard averages, to see if the equipment would work. So i found an older red ryder (metal trigger), cleaned the bore, oil the gun and shot it to recondition the seal. I figured that most people would just grab what ever bbgun was around the house, from an older brother maybe, or their dad's ol bbgun, instead of running out to wallyworld to purchase a "dedicated" Racegun for the princely sum of 28$. once i was happy with the velocity (the gun shoots 262 fps, +-2, no matter what) using old crosman copperhead BBs (not its favorite, but the ones i had laying around for ever, to simulate what other people could expect unless they went out to get "target" ammo at wally world (daisy BBs are way better, there, i said it. ) or went online and ordered precision ground avanti ammo.The Day was picked, a table was set up with a shooting bag (we are not messing about here, this is now serious business). Temperature: 66 degrees F. Alt: 993 ft above sea level. Sunny, mild wind from the west at an average 2.7 mph. targets were set up (cardboard planks. they stop the bb completely, and if it passes through, it will fall right behind the target, maybe a yard or 2... Safe). Each target was a round dot, 12 mm across (close to 1/2 inch). Sights to be used are the original sighting system on the gun (remember? gotta keep it simple, and accesible. So any improvements you do can only make the results better).Shots were taken from the bag, 5 shot groups with unpicked BBs from the mason jar. shots taken when wind meter showed less than 1 mph.target distance: (chosen to simulate a silhouette set up)7 yards (21 ft): 14.6 mm group (.57 in)12 yards (36 ft): 38.1 mm group (1.5 in)16 yards (48 ft): 44.9 mm group (1.76 in)20 yards (60 ft): 57.4 mm group (2.26 in)That is how far i could discern the aim point clearly, and also would be a functional distance to shoot silhouettes (on paper of course) for a formalized competition format.But i am not going to lie, i also started to shoot at a small soup can, open sighted with the same gun, just to see how far could i consistenly hit it (more than 50% of the times). I am happy to present that distance as a testament of the capability of those little guns: 34 yards (102 ft). Yup. and average old red ryder can do that with not much TLC. And i am going to go as far as saying that even today's red Ryder (or buck) that is made in China, it will probably get better results than that. I believe that the level of "wiggle room" in the design will make it a more even playing field to the person who shoot the buck, versus the 499, or a red ryder that may have been duly scoped, as i say that the only stipulation to the competition equipment is that it should be a smoothbore BBgun, that shoots 1 bb per cocking of the gun. And that you only get 1 shot per target. 20 shots per shooter (4 distances, 5 targets). hits are any hole touching the silhouette.I hope this info helps me push this through as a new format to be shot, and a new way to expand our little hobby, that will provide with accesibility as also a good way to remember good ole times to some of us, nostalgic types.And i apologize for hijacking your thread, but your experiment inspired me and i hope this is up your alley...