New to the sport

[Egan255]

So I've got a crossman nitro venom, and man an I hooked. Divorce is on the cards lol.
I've put through 500 h and n field pellets but my consistency is well off. Any tips guys?

[Gertrude]

welcome to the GTA
I'd suggest learning more on Artillery Hold, and possibly trying different types/weights of pellets.
shoot from a bench using a bipod and/or sandbags to verify your rifle's consistency.
 find the pellet that your particular gun is most "Happy" with.
 Then it's practice,  practice, practice.

[Kailua]

Inaccuracy could be a dirty barrel,  bad barrel crown,  loose barrel pivot or gun stock screws, bad piston seal or piston (usually will cause vertical string from inconsistent fps), bad scope,  Crossman is also know for a lousy trigger which can affect accuracy.  Most change out trigger with a CDT after market trigger.
Gas springs or spring air rifles can be hold sensitive and require practice to shoot accurately.  Which require an artillery hold.

[gandalfretlaw]

My working theory is that barrels are a bit unique. Perhaps the first ones made in the morning are tighter or looser. Perhaps the equipment slowly wears down as it makes barrels. In any event there seems to be a variation in barrel tolerances. This is not a horrible thing, but it means that a certain gun will like a certain size pellet. My testing indicates that a gun will love the loosest pellet that grips the rifling well. My gamo whisper likes head sizes in the 4.47-4.49 range. RWS Superdomes and RWS Basic meet this nicely with RWS Hobby's being a bit tighter, probably 4.50-4.52 or so. Most of the JSB pellets seem to be more in the 5.52 area. My Gamo Big Cat also likes the Superdomes, but seems to like a little tighter than the Basics.

In any event one of the very first things to find out is which pellet your gun likes. You can buy pellet samplers online for about $30 or you can collect various ones or just make educated guesses.

[amb5500c]

Welcome to the GTA.
Richard

[Kenj]

I was in the same boat you're in.  New to airguns, and with a Nitro Venom that I couldn't hit anything with.  I got a new  CDT trigger and practiced with the artillery hold.  I also got a better scope.  To me, the Center Point that it came with was just this side of worthless.  I am now  feared by every squirrel, crow, and chipmunk for MILES around!  Rabbits now eat from my neighbors garden.

[02stampede]

Welcome to the club!

Experiment with different pellets and holds. Maybe try a sampler pack to find that perfect pellet.

http://www.straightshooters.com/straight-shooters-full-pellet-sampler-.177.html

[PaperPunch1]

YEA!-- (what they all said)
I have tuned a rifle like yours for a friend, and his shoots the crosman domes pretty well, but my NP hardwood won't. Experiment with different pellets, but be cautious, as you must clean the barrel after one pellet type, befor trying the next, because the barrel seems to hold a bit of the other pellet inside for maybe 25 shots after.
Good shootin'
PaperPunch1