Did some Pellet Testing at 28 yards with my R1

[pme166]

I will let the pictures do the talking.


All were shot with the R1 shown. 18 power setting, AO adjusted, reasonably firm platform rest shot sitting. 28 yrds (measured) slight wind right to left, 10 shots after each pellet change to "scrub" the barrel and then 10 shots for record. All shooting was done with a light hold, somewhat like the artillery style hold using my support fingertips to index off the scope rings.

No sight adjustments during the shooting.



Here is my R1 and the scope setup.





On the middle target, the tin to the side is the correct one. No pellet holes were covered.

I normally shoot Barracuda's out of the gun. They work well and I like how they load. Silver points are good also but I am inconsistent loading them. Crow magnum are good. Barracuda Hunters are excellent while sports scatter.

Match rifles did poorly while barracuda Hunter extreme and field target trophy did well.

Rabbit magnums stink. Actually only the 2 pellets shown even hit the paper. One other pellet banged up my target box pretty good. The other 7 pellets? Who knows. Spitzkugel did really poorly.

My last three where some old beeman pellets and RWS target pellets from the 80's as compared to modern match rifle pellets. Interesting to see how the older target pellets did better then the modern ones.

So next order?
More other pellets to try as this was kind of fun.
Field target Trophy's
Barracuda Hunter Extreme
Baracuda Hunters
Baracuda's
Maybe some Silver Points and Crow Magnums.

Just out of curiosity any thoughts on my 28 yrds range? I was thinking I should go out to 50 instead as 28 is just too close to really separate out the quality of the pellets.

Next time I will do this with my Beeman 400 then with my HW30 from the 80's. It will be interesting to see how they do with modern pellets.

[palonej]

Welcome Peter!!
First off.......gorgeous looking rifle!!
Second......no JSB?

[bReTt]

Nice rifle and some nice results there!  Try some JSB's in that order for more pellets.  Generally they do well.  I love the old tins of pellets.  I have thought about collecting the lids and maybe making a coffee table or end table with the tins under some glass or pour acrylic on top to encase them. 

[EMrider]

Always interesting to see evidence of how much pellet selection can effect accuracy from the same gun.

Hope you are enjoying your R1.  I have shot mine a lot recently and it is fast becomming one of my favorites.

IMHO, 28 yards is plenty of distance for good accuracy testing.

R

[uglymike]

What head size on the FTTs?

[Springrrrr]

Caught your post on The High Road.  The response is from me (Mousegun).

Welcome to the best air gun site on the web.

[BmaS]

What scope are you using?

[DanD]

Some promising pellets there. It would be interesting to compare accuracy with the different head sizes available in FTTs and Cudas. If you have a Tractor Supply nearby, they carry Winchester domes, which would be a good weight for the R1.
Have fun! I bet those groups will keep getting tighter the more you shoot.

[MikieG]

I have R1s. Some complain about harsh shot cycles and hard cocking. Others cant accept the weight. Me? Its my all time fav!

If you cant get er done with an R1, then you shoulda chosen a rimfire!

[hoffy43]

Welcome to the forum Peter. Beautiful rifle and nice post with pics.

[Petey]

Great looking Shooter. Enjoy!

Welcome To The GTA!


Happy Shootin!
Petey

[pme166]

Lots of questions.

First thanks for the interest.

1) Why no JSB's?  Well, I used to rely on H&N's back when I competed in the 80's so i just naturally bought from them.  I placed the order when I got the Rifle earlier this year and just figured why not?  RWS was some pellets I had that worked well in the HW30 so I had them around.  JSB's will be added next order.  Thanks for the tip.

2) What scope?  Leupold VX3 AO EFR 6.5x20x40mm.  Yeah it is an expensive scope but I really like my other Leupold's so my wife got it for my birthday.  I may downgrade to a Leupold VX2 AO EFR 3x9x33 but I have not.  I figure the scope on it works well and has nice positive stops.  It is a bit heavy though.

3) What is the size of the FTTs?  I assume you mean the field target trophy for FTT.  Where should I measure it?  (It will be a while since the gun is at the ranch and I am not but I will get it done).

4) I have sort of decided that I will redo my targets next time at around 75 yrds.  That is the next convenient spot for the target stand and I really need to bench the gun instead of shooting it from a sitting position.  Prone is too messy right now and I expect hard on the elbows which is why I shot sitting.

4) Regarding the old pellet tins.  I was thinking I should do something with my 70's and 80's vintage stash of old pellets and tins.  When I stopped competing, I had a lot of supplies and so I am now slowly burning them up.  I have a few tins saved so far but the rest have just gotten trash canned.  I should probably start saving them.

[DanD]

I believe FTT are available in 5.53, 5.54, and 5.55 head sizes. The size is listed on a sticker on the bottom of the tin. Baracuda match and some JSB pellets are also available in different head sizes. Since the FTTs work well in your rifle, you might want to try the other sizes and see if they work better yet.
Have fun!

[triggerfest]

Great shooting and nice review...

Looks like your R1 isn't to hold sensitive though ??

[nced]

What head size on the FTTs?

I don't think that it matters if all H&N FTTs are like the one tin of 4.50mm and four tins of 4.52mm. The pellet head sizes varied by as much as .005 INCH (a lot) and some of the pellets in the tins labelled 4.52mm were smaller than those from the tins labelled 4.50mm, and visa versa.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
What started the "pellet measuring session" was the fact that the fit of the FTTs was extremely variable in the leade of my R9.

The pellets from the tin marked 4.50mm were considerably more consistent than those from tins marked 4.52mm but even the "4.50mm pellets" varied .002 INCH.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

I do have to admit that once the FTTs were sorted into different lots the consistency of fit in the R9 leade of each lot was much more consistent and the accuracy was good, however simply too much work sorting pellets by measuring heads.

As a side note.....
The FTTs were sorted simply by the readings on the digital calliper so I don't put much faith in the accuracy of the "4th decimal" (or even the 3rd due to "digital round-up"), however the sorting was indeed accurate enough to give a consistent fit in the leade for the individual lots.

[pme166]

Thank you for the education on sorting pellet sizes.  I will have to bring out my mic and sort the pellets when I get back to the gun.  Its out of the ranch and well I am not so that is why I can't look things up and sort them now.

Regarding the comment about my R1 not being hold sensative.  I think it is pretty sensitive overall.  I have had to play around with how I hold it and figure out what i was doing.  These barrel cocking springers are so different from my Beeman 400.  There I could grab the gun anyway I wanted in 3 position shooting and it would drop the pellet in the same spot every time. 

Here are some targets I shot trying to figure out how to hold the gun and aim it properly.  They were all shot at 28 yrds.




Toward the end I was starting to figure out the way to do it.  For me, what I do is rest the gun on my left hand, using my fingertips to lightly touch or index off the scope adjustment tower and index my left palm off the front of the trigger guard.  The rifle is not held tightly at all.  Right hand is resting with the weight of the hand being held by the thumb and a loose grip on the palm swell. 



This is my Beeman 400 that I was used to before (and still).  I shot it for years competing and so I got used to the zero-recoil gliss system and the 2 onz trigger.  Somewhere in the moves since the early 80's I lost my palm rest and sling stop but I still have fun with it after the last rebuild.  When you are used to a precision target air rifle like this, switching to the R1 is like going from a centerfire rifle to a shotgun.  Yes they are both long guns, but boy are they sure different beasts to master.

Thank you again to everyone for their comments.  I know I have a lot to learn about modern air rifles and I am sure enjoying learning about them!

[triggerfest]

Interesting to see the impact of the hold - but still the overall accuracy looks great for a breakbarrel springer with this level of energy.

The impact of the hold is a bit the same compared with my .22 T06 D34 as far as I can judge from the pics.

Btw... Gorgeous looking Beeman 400 ypu have there !

[NTSOG]

G'day Peter,

You wrote: "Rabbit magnums stink. Actually only the 2 pellets shown even hit the paper. One other pellet banged up my target box pretty good. The other 7 pellets?"

After reading your very useful post I have just been out trying to learn to hold my Diana 350 Magnum [.177] - it does jump around a bit, but gradually is becoming smoother and I am learning to relax and not try so hard.  I happened to have bought some Rabbit Magnums recently as I am wanting to hunt rabbits so I tried some.  I know where 5 pellets landed - about 6 inches or so low and right from my aiming point and with a 'group" size of about 5+".  I do not know where the other 4 went at about 15 yards range!

I might have to melt them down for fishing sinkers.  They are a total waste of money.

Jim