Best BB for long distance targets? Please, no AF guns, I had a TT AAA .25 Hated

[JimmyD.]

the plastic feel, the flexible stock, the comb, etc. Way over priced IMHO. I'm leaning towards a RAW in .30 or .357. I hear that .257 and .308 make the best long range hitters for range and less drop. Bigger of course is better for 100 yard and under hunting. Heck even with that TT AAA .25 I could hit clumps of dirt 200 yards away and it wasn't a 3 shot and done gun. So either I go with a RAW and a 500cc tank that can take a safe higher fill (gotta talk to Martin & AZ) or consider other options like a Corsair or this Coyote edge, is it? What else do you guys think?
  Nowadays that JSB makes .22's in 25.4 grain configurations and I believe 31 grain Beasts, then .22 maybe just what I'm after. All I want is another Air Gun that is less than $2000 and can keep 10 shots within 1" @ 100 YRDS. I had a .22 AZ Rapid that could do that on a windless day with CPHP's believe it or not. It shot Premieres better than it did JSB's. I needed $ though. Now that RAW offers everything that AZ did to the old rapids (not everything; but foster fill, gauge, shroud,) I'm wanting a factory rifle that has it all. Only thing I may consider is a bigger turret that I can map all out with and I never owned a regulated rifle. The way things are right now I may only be able to buy 2 LW barrels for my Discoveries, have them machined by a friend and have less pellet picky shooters. They're already pretty dam accurate. I killed a Crow at 110 yards with the .177 and a JSB Exact Monster with the adjuster cranked up on a full fill. Some guy on the yellow asked why I want to turn a 2000PSI gun into a higher fill one. Well, because I safely can and cheaply, it's light weight, accurate, adjustable from Co2 to 3000PSI HPA, I don't cry if I scratch it. The only reason Crosman says it's a 2000PSI fill is because it's a dual fuel gun. Replace those 3 screws with Grade 8 socket heads or Bill Baldygas 12.9 SS ones and your good to go. The valve can be made hotter than an Mrods and it's easy to work on. You know, they do the BB QB78 conversions. I may go that route and build it myself. Wife is a Boss of a Commercial electrical crew; but her Boss just offered her an in office job learning everything he went to college for to be an Electrical Engineer. He knows she'll estimate better than anyone he has now because she's been in the field over 15 years. Started at 16 with her Dad and is now 30. If she gets that job, hello basic small metal machine shop in our huge basement and I'll start turning out parts for myself and any who are interested. I've worked with wood lathes since high school, just never a metal lathe, Dad was a machinist and since all parts will mostly be brass, aluminum, soft Air gun steel I think I'll enjoy it. Basic intro to precision machinery at Community College is $250.00 for safety alone it'll be worth it. So, what say you guys, a hot valved .22 with heavy JSB or Eun Jins or a bigger caliber? AZ just told me he did an Air Wolf in .177 tuned to spit 16 grain EunJins at 32 FTLBS and it can put 10 in a dime at 80 YRDS. If I remember right the point was Polygonal barrels are good but need high speed.

[farmerjoe99]

If I read you right you want as accurate as possible, from the manufacture, for under $2000,
three names come to mind AAA(American Air Arms), RAW, and WAR any of the above in .30
should do quite well at a 100yds, while still offering a good shot count. and all three will be right around the 2k ballpark.

Big bores are better at long distance so if you want to go that route then AAA offers their bullpup in .357 and .308 I believe.
The new Epox badger has some great reviews and is way under your price point may be worth a look as well.
A lot of love out there for the .257 condor builds but from your post I don't think you want to go with that platform again.

[JimmyD.]

  Thank you. I will check out the Epox Badger. Since I've never owned a regulated air gun, I think I will want that. I mentioned the AZ Rapid in .22 that could do 1" at 100 yards on windless days. Amazing that that was with hollow points and they out shot JSB's. I post for advice from those who know more than I. Knowledge is all that matters to me. AZ has told me several times that higer power and longer barrels will never give as accurate groups as less power and shorter barrels due to lock/dwell time and recoil. He said all the serious BR & FT shooters all have barrels that are at most 10" on spring guns and 20" at most on PCP's.
  Being that JSB has 25.4 & 31 grain .22's now, a .22 can buck the wind pretty well. I'm fairly poor as in my toys don't come first so I prefer to have something that shoots Premieres well. Darn I should have kept that AZ .22 Rapid full lefty. Big mistake in selling her. The custom .25 I paid him for, I never should have bought. Yes I nailed a crow at a laser measured 172 yards but scope turret was maxed at 135 yards and I used 4th mil dot on 6x so I gained about 10 yards with every dot. The Bushnell 4200 should have 6 dots, not 4. Anyway, it was a precise and lucky shot. I highly doubt I could ever do it again on first try but I normally shoot as far as 200 yards at dirt clumps in the fields. That rifle was only set at 880FPS with 25.4 JSB Kings for 43.69FTLBS. I have to agree that massive power isn't necessarily needed. The right pellet weight, sized, and ability to know that rifle well can do wonders.
  I don't know what calibers the Badger comes in, but I'll be looking it up next. I'm just posting to get my 30 in because I can log into Yellow but can't post. Don't know what's up there but turns out I'm liking this site more anyway. Thanks all for advice and help.
 

[farmerjoe99]

Small bores definitely can perform at 100yds they are just more susceptible to wind,
so it becomes more and more crucial you know you conditions and ranges.
the trick is finding the balance between power and accuracy, I would agree the higher the power the more
complications to accuracy be it lock time or just recoil etc.
so the key is finding what works for you where I shoot we usually have a changing breeze so wind bucking
is a big factor in a long range rifle(which is why I have been doing a ton of reading on .257, a lot of people are shooting sub MOA
at a 100yds pretty consistently, but that comes at a cost, like ammo and low shot count as well as most are fairly loud.)

The badger is .40 so you would have to use slugs.

[dyotat100]

Yeah what your asking for is a 1% gun with perfect conditions with pellets.

You are asking a lot going past 100 yds with pellets. That's when you need to shoot bullets. Smaller calibers work real good for distance.

But because you say no AF your excluding the gun that probably has more sub 100 yd groups posted then any other gun. Just a easy platform to make shoot slugs and shoot them good.

[Tony Fryery]

As Doug mentioned, AF platform is probably the easiest to modify, but since you stated that wasn't an option, well aaa slayer comes to mind in .357. You're just going to really have to shoot bullets out past 100 yards to help buck the wind better than pellets along with a better ballistic coefficient bullet vrs a pellet. My rifle is no where near what Doug's will do, but its shooting sub MOA for 5 shots per fill in .257