My first springer is on the way. Where do I start? Teach a newb.

[PharmD]

I have a XS-25 with a full tune coming from Flying Dragon. I was trying to take care of the collared doves in my yard with a stock Crosman 2240 pistol. I got a few of them, but it just didn't have enough power and doesn't like the cold weather. Any advice for a guy that has never shot with a springer before? How many shots to break in? How long before I put a scope on it? Any accessories that I need? I have a pellet trap on the way.

[TwiceHorn]

The first thing to do is google "artillery hold."  With a springer, you want light and minimal contact with the rifle when shooting: hand flat under forearm, thumb straight up the grip toward the receiver (no encircling "grip"), light cheek weld, light butt contact with shoulder.  If you are shooting off some kind of rest, you want to try to insure that it doesn't "grab" the gun anywhere (nothing curling up around the forearm) and that it can slide easily on the rest (some have mentioned a wadded/folded tshirt or other cloth on the rest to allow sliding fore and aft and left/right).

The reason being two fold.  First, the "lock time" on an airgun is slow compared to a firearm:  the pellet spends a relatively large amount of time in the barrel and is influenced by movements of the rifle.  Second, the mechanism of a spring uncoiling and piston translating forward in the compression tube induces a good bit of movement in the rifle.  The key is to let the rifle respond to that movement naturally, in the way it "wants to."  By doing so, the movement is repeatable.  Trying to restrain the movement is not, so you will get differences in your POI.

Mike is an excellent tuner, so his work probably eliminated a lot of the "break in" you might otherwise have to deal with.  Nevertheless, as the piston and spring "wear in," there may be a change in the POI of your rifle or more irregular results that disappear after a few hundred pellets.  It isn't a bad idea to sort of lower your expectations while you put a few hundred in the pellet trap and learn/practice the artillery hold. That is, don't get twisted up by flyers and expect your groups to tighten with more practice and wear in.

One nice thing, Chinese barrels can be pretty decent, but some are pretty rotten.  Coming from Mike, you don't have to worry if you have gotten a pig.

It really isn't that difficult, you just have to break some of your firearm habits, if you have them.

Good luck.  Let us know how it shoots.

[SteveP-52]

Should only take 100 or so pellets to settle in as Mike will have shot it some to chrony test 5 or 6 pellets and you'll find those listed on the inside of the box with the fps numbers he got. Screws should already be snug but I'd check them anyway, clean the barrel, shoot those 100 and mount whatever scope you decided on, just make sure it's air gun rated and if you don't have one, there are several you can get fairly inexpensive that will work well.
Anything else, by all means ask as I'm sure I left something out in there or you'll have a question or 3 about it...lol

[Roadworthy]

Mark and Steve gave some good advice.  Before you shoot the gun, clean the barrel.  I don't know if Mike does that as part of his tune but it is essential to accuracy.  After the barrel is clean put a couple hundred rounds through it. 

[PharmD]

What's the best way to clean the barrel? Is it different from cleaning a .22 rimfire barrel?

[TwiceHorn]

What's the best way to clean the barrel? Is it different from cleaning a .22 rimfire barrel?

I think Mike does clean barrels.  Air rifle barrels are purportedly softer steel than firearms, for ease of manufacture and because they aren't subjected to the wear levels that a firearm barrel might be.  So you do want to be extra careful with them.  Like all rifles, you want to clean from the breech and not the muzzle if possible, which it is as it is a break barrel.  Rods can do more damage than "soft" cleaning things like boresnakes.

So, either get a boresnake or use a piece of weed-eater line as your rod.  Run a few patches with goo gone or wd40 through the bore until they come out clean.  Be careful not to run the line (or rod) against the muzzle crown as picked up abrasives can damage it.  Avoid brass brushes, although they are not the end of the world.  It shouldn't be necessary to use powder or lead solvents.

[BenjiHunter]

Clean the barrel and shoot.
Let the gun decide what hold to use.
Try different holds and don't get stuck on the artillery hold.
Whatever hold gives you the best accuracy, stick to it.

[Mr. Panther]

+1 Stefan, every gun shoots different.

[grimeszee]

I have 3 of Mikes full tuned guns and they all settle in to a smooth shooting gun within 50 pellets. Mike completely smooth's the guns internals as well as polishing the trigger components and adding the 2nd screw modification to the trigger in the XS-25's. I have not had to do  anything other than shoot the full tuned guns I purchased.

[SteveP-52]

Clean the barrel and shoot.
Let the gun decide what hold to use.
Try different holds and don't get stuck on the artillery hold.
Whatever hold gives you the best accuracy, stick to it.

+1 to this, I have guns that like a firm hold and ones that like artillery so shoot both and find out which works best for you.

What's the best way to clean the barrel? Is it different from cleaning a .22 rimfire barrel?

I think Mike does clean barrels.  Air rifle barrels are purportedly softer steel than firearms, for ease of manufacture and because they aren't subjected to the wear levels that a firearm barrel might be.  So you do want to be extra careful with them.  Like all rifles, you want to clean from the breech and not the muzzle if possible, which it is as it is a break barrel.  Rods can do more damage than "soft" cleaning things like boresnakes.

So, either get a boresnake or use a piece of weed-eater line as your rod.  Run a few patches with goo gone or wd40 through the bore until they come out clean.  Be careful not to run the line (or rod) against the muzzle crown as picked up abrasives can damage it.  Avoid brass brushes, although they are not the end of the world.  It shouldn't be necessary to use powder or lead solvents.

He might but it's just habit for me to clean the barrel first on every rifle I get. I use Hoppe's Bore Snakes. Easy to use, get the job done and will not hurt your barrel.
Also here's an easy and inexpensive way to test pellets to see what it likes best. 4 brands, 18 different styles and weights and you don't waste money on full tins that may not shoot well:
http://www.straightshooters.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1

[uglymike]

pyramydair.com. There's an icon on the homepage Instructional Videos. 5-8 minute tutorials on air guns; everything on how to how to clean, shoot, mount a scope, maintain your air gun. Good info for the rookie, you can refer back to them until you become more comfortable.

[SteveP-52]

pyramydair.com. There's an icon on the homepage Instructional Videos. 5-8 minute tutorials on air guns; everything on how to how to clean, shoot, mount a scope, maintain your air gun. Good info for the rookie, you can refer back to them until you become more comfortable.

http://www.airgunweb.com/take-aim-with-airgunweb/

[fv22]

Don't get discouraged! Although getting a fully tuned gun should be better than something stock. When I got my springer, a Benjamin Trail NP it seemed like all the years of shooting reasonably well disappeared. I could barely keep my groups on the paper. Literally 6 inch groups. Springers don't shoot like real guns!!! I was prepared to sell it and get something that could shoot! The only thing that kept me at it was I don't give up easily, I like to think I can do anything well that I put my mind to. A few thousand shots later, learning how this gun likes to be held and finding decent pellets I keep my groups well under half inch at 25 yards most of the time and have even gotten many 1 very small hole 3 shot groups.

[Smaug2]

Next step is to buy a pellet sampler pack, to find out which pellet it likes best for accuracy. If it shoots domes best, you may want to find out which hollow point pellet shoots best too. You don't need a ton of penetration for doves. You want to dump all the energy right into them. If you're close enough for head shots, take those and save the tasty breast meat.

Mike will be able to tell you what those guns usually like.

Are you set up with a good scope and good set of rings? Those are as important as the rifle, if you want to hit your target reliably. Is your gun fitted with a moderator? If not, maybe ask Mike about that. The quieter you shoot, the better your chances of not spooking the others, or not spooking them for as long.

[SteveP-52]

Because I own an XS25 .22 with Mike's full tune, it's not a loud rifle, the pellets make more noise smacking my backstop at 25 yards than the rifle makes shooting them and the way Mike adjusted the trigger, I've never touched it, it was just plain smooth straight from the box.

The rifle comes with a scope stop plate to help with mounting a scope and there are any number of good air gun rated scopes out there in a number of brands that will work well, it's just a matter of how much you want to spend on one and good glass makes for better accuracy. You can a good one anywhere from $65 into the hundreds from Hammers, Hawke, UTG, Centerpoint or Bushnell to name a few, a 1 piece scope mount is usually recommended and some of the above already come with them. If not, you can get a good one any number of places for $15 to $20.

I already posted a link above to a very good pellet sampler pack from Straight Shooters and 3 of the ones in it shoot very well in mine: H&N FTT 14.66, the JSB 15.89 and the Predator Polymags. I have 7 or 8 others in that list that were bought well after I got my rifle and I haven't tried them out yet but so far mine hasn't been very pellet picky so I'd like to think I'll find a few more it shoots well. Just for the heck of it, here's the link again: http://www.straightshooters.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1

Hope this helps and again, I think you're really going to like the rifle

[PharmD]

Because I own an XS25 .22 with Mike's full tune, it's not a loud rifle, the pellets make more noise smacking my backstop at 25 yards than the rifle makes shooting them and the way Mike adjusted the trigger, I've never touched it, it was just plain smooth straight from the box.

The rifle comes with a scope stop plate to help with mounting a scope and there are any number of good air gun rated scopes out there in a number of brands that will work well, it's just a matter of how much you want to spend on one and good glass makes for better accuracy. You can a good one anywhere from $65 into the hundreds from Hammers, Hawke, UTG, Centerpoint or Bushnell to name a few, a 1 piece scope mount is usually recommended and some of the above already come with them. If not, you can get a good one any number of places for $15 to $20.

I already posted a link above to a very good pellet sampler pack from Straight Shooters and 3 of the ones in it shoot very well in mine: H&N FTT 14.66, the JSB 15.89 and the Predator Polymags. I have 7 or 8 others in that list that were bought well after I got my rifle and I haven't tried them out yet but so far mine hasn't been very pellet picky so I'd like to think I'll find a few more it shoots well. Just for the heck of it, here's the link again:

Hope this helps and again, I think you're really going to like the rifle

Thanks for all of your help - It's a Christmas present, so I'll have to wait until Christmas day to shoot it. I'm looking forward to it! I plan on getting a scope after getting a tin or so of pellets through it.

[grimeszee]

Because I own an XS25 .22 with Mike's full tune, it's not a loud rifle, the pellets make more noise smacking my backstop at 25 yards than the rifle makes shooting them and the way Mike adjusted the trigger, I've never touched it, it was just plain smooth straight from the box.

The rifle comes with a scope stop plate to help with mounting a scope and there are any number of good air gun rated scopes out there in a number of brands that will work well, it's just a matter of how much you want to spend on one and good glass makes for better accuracy. You can a good one anywhere from $65 into the hundreds from Hammers, Hawke, UTG, Centerpoint or Bushnell to name a few, a 1 piece scope mount is usually recommended and some of the above already come with them. If not, you can get a good one any number of places for $15 to $20.

I already posted a link above to a very good pellet sampler pack from Straight Shooters and 3 of the ones in it shoot very well in mine: H&N FTT 14.66, the JSB 15.89 and the Predator Polymags. I have 7 or 8 others in that list that were bought well after I got my rifle and I haven't tried them out yet but so far mine hasn't been very pellet picky so I'd like to think I'll find a few more it shoots well. Just for the heck of it, here's the link again:

Hope this helps and again, I think you're really going to like the rifle

Thanks for all of your help - It's a Christmas present, so I'll have to wait until Christmas day to shoot it. I'm looking forward to it! I plan on getting a scope after getting a tin or so of pellets through it.

Mike Melicks full tune guns do not require break-in before mounting a scope. That is part of the purpose of smoothing out the complete gun so it does not ever have a harsh firing cycle that needs to calm down. Now if you just want to get used to the gun with open sites I understand, but if you are worried about breaking the scope before a tin of pellets, you need not.

[anti-squirrel]

Okay, let me save you a lot of headache.  You can spend all kinds of time with learning the artillery hold, barrel cleaning, and all that jazz, but if you never find a good-grouping pellet, you're wasting money and time.

Do exactly what scp52 said and go to Straightshooters.com and order up a pellet sampler.  18 different pellet types, 25 of each, to figure out what it will group. 

Do this after shooting a tin of whatever pellets you can find at Wal-Mart to season the barrel.  This way your new airgun is well on it's way to being broken in and you're not spending a few hundred dollars in pellets to find what it shoots well.  It only takes about 5 shots to see what actually groups.  If they don't, move to the next pellet.  If you have 2 clusters, say 3 in one group and 2 in another, move on to the next pellet.  If you get 4 tight and one flier, try a 6th pellet and see where it goes. This should get you in the ballpark, and one heck of a lot less expensively than ordering tin after tin of different pellets.

Ask me how I know.  Yeah, I have spent way too much money on pellets before learning about the samplers.

[SteveP-52]

Okay, let me save you a lot of headache.  You can spend all kinds of time with learning the artillery hold, barrel cleaning, and all that jazz, but if you never find a good-grouping pellet, you're wasting money and time.

Do exactly what scp52 said and go to Straightshooters.com and order up a pellet sampler.  18 different pellet types, 25 of each, to figure out what it will group. 

Do this after shooting a tin of whatever pellets you can find at Wal-Mart to season the barrel.  This way your new airgun is well on it's way to being broken in and you're not spending a few hundred dollars in pellets to find what it shoots well.  It only takes about 5 shots to see what actually groups.  If they don't, move to the next pellet.  If you have 2 clusters, say 3 in one group and 2 in another, move on to the next pellet.  If you get 4 tight and one flier, try a 6th pellet and see where it goes. This should get you in the ballpark, and one heck of a lot less expensively than ordering tin after tin of different pellets.

Ask me how I know.  Yeah, I have spent way too much money on pellets before learning about the samplers.

He won't need to shoot it very much at all to either settle it in or season it between Mike's tune and Mike shooting it prior to shipping. I'm just one of the guys that learned the hard way about getting  pellet samplers first vs. buying full tins as evidenced by the close to 33,000 pellets in 3 calibers I have sitting here 
It's why I try and save people a bunch by recommending the samplers from Straight Shooters

[PharmD]

Are some of those pellets in the sampler unusable in the xs25? Looks like some of them are pretty heavy.