Not forgetting the "little guy"...PCP Varmint/ SPA 900W post

[Ribbonstone]

Really must be "fickle", or maybe it's just the "off season" (no real small game hunting for me at this time).

Didn't take me very long to decide on a new "favorite" afternoon hunting rifle for those quick little trips after work.  Discovery had been a favorite for many years, seeing more woods time than any of the more expesnive/fanicer rifles.

But it's been replaced in the non-game (as in shoot-em/eat'em) season.


Today, I got off early (1:30), ran home (wife was out as an extra at a TV shoot), checked sight settings on paper (ahd left about 1/2 a fill in it from last time), refilled the rifle (how much effort does it take to fill 90cc's  from 110bar back up to 200BAR?...not much), cased the rifle and 3 mags (27 shots), and headed out in the Jeep.

RIGHT...27 shots..didn't bother to take along a tank, pump, or other PCP.  Do keep an old Benjamin MSP in the Jeep (it's in there about 24/7).

(OK...nothing I want to shoot is in season, other than "outlaw" birds or any snake dumb enough to slither over my boots...but I still like an hour or two in the woods...give me another 6 months, and I might feel the need for a .22 or .25.)

I've changed my views a bit in the last few months, getting out for quick trips to the woods (same woods as last time...which is actually a plus, as it's kind of nice to see how regrowth grabs hold of the woods in spring).





Yeah...it is a "cheapie", but the previous favoite is also a "cheapie".  This is wet-land, thick swamp-n-woods, which is going to put a hurting on fine blues and 4X walnut, so all my "grab-n-go" rifles tend to be inexpensive (just bothers me a lot less to dent a hardwood stock on a $200 than the same dent on a $1200 rifle's select walnut stock...and dents/scratches are unavoidable).
So I checked the sighting at home (25yards) before filling back up and loading up the Jeep.




Is there really anything wrong with the above?  Yeah, the heavy weights are slow...but that's the rifle's choice more than mine.

Last time (not that long ago) I headed out for a couple of hours, I managed 7 shots  "in anger" and the 8th shot just dumping the shot into the dirt at the side of the Jeep before I cased-up and went home.   This time I managed 9 shots "in anger" and dry-fired one "poof" when I removed the one empty mag.

 Only two critters.  One dumb brown headed cow-bird (one shot) and one really fast snake (6 shots), and two  shots at tempting vertical weeds (wondering if you're going right or left...nice vertical weed at 25 yards should be able to tell you).

As for the snake...just couldn't get the lead on him right (evidently he was faster than I thought, or I was stopping my swing when I shot), two total misses, 3 "port holes" along the side, and once he balled up from that, one "finisher".  As you might guess, a repeater was a big plus on that one.

(OK snake lovers...if the Cotton Mouth goes extinct in the next 10 years, you can blame me.)

RETHINKING:

The above rifle goes 5 pounds 13 ounces as shown. Scope, loaded mag, and all.  If I were hiking long distances, would want a sling.  I'm not.  More like a little sneak-n-peak for 30-50 yards, and a sit....then another seek-n-peek, and a sit.

Really do prefer single shots for bench shooting or just plinking around at home. BUT I have found two things about mag. fed PCPS:
  (1) I've found enough self control that it does NOT make me shoot at a faster pace and (2) there is no better way to carry spare pellets than pre-loaded into a mag.  Do have to say, that moving snake-shoot wasn't going to happen with a single shot.

(Yeah...I hated these mags at first.  The a poster turned me onto a Youtube vid on an easy way to load them...and someplace in recent posts I illustrated that.)

6X is just about perfect fo me (and I do realize not eveyne is in the muddy/grungy/wet/thorny swamp, where trees seldom grow togehter close enough to shut out the light and retard the undergrowth).  Not to worry, if it's a variable, just make sure the varibale has a low end that includes 6X (although a stright 6X would be prefered).


Time will tell, but as it sits right now, the MrodAir/SPA 900W has been a *(&^-of-a-deal for me.  If some major part breaks, I might be screwed...but I can take care of o-rings, gauge leaks, and even a new valve stem seal if I need to.

[anti-squirrel]

Nice bit of insight!

This rifle will eventually make it's way into my cabinet.

[Ribbonstone]

Comparision to a Discovery/Maxi isn't that far off. 

For one, something like 133 to 135cc's at 137-138 BAR.  So that would equate to  18,400 cc's of air at 1BAR.

For the other, have 90-94ccs or air at 200 bar.  So that would equate to about 18,400 cc's of air at 1CC.


So basically, it's an even bet.  One at 1/3 higher pressure other other at 1/3 larger air volume.

[skorec]

 
 

Excellent   accuracy for Monster and  Beast JSB pellets.
My  question are :
       
1.   If MrodAir/SPA900W gun  is the different   as not MrodAir/SPA900W  gun.
2.    if the pellets stay stable up to 100 yards.
3.   Haw gun  will work whit JSB Heavy pellets
 

[Wayne52]

I pondered on buying one but the .22 version isn't available from Mrodair,  I could probably order one from over seas
but I need another gun like I need a hole in my head, I've said that before and more than likely I'll probably say it again

[Bentong]

This varmint sure likes heavy pellets. Got it dialed in on 10.5 cpum and also shoot 16 eun jin just 1 mil dot down from the cpum.

[Smaug2]

Nice post. Wish I was out there with you.

That's a good-looking gun for a "little guy."  I agree on 6X; it's a useful magnification. I have a couple of 6X Bugbusters, and they would be great, if their reticles weren't fat. They're still good for hunting and plinking, but no good for target shooting.

[Ribbonstone]

Really have no reasonable complaints about the little fella.

[skorec]

This varmint sure likes heavy pellets. Got it dialed in on 10.5 cpum and also shoot 16 eun jin just 1 mil dot down from the cpum.

Thanks for answered me a little bit one of my  three questions.

[Ribbonstone]

Still trying to make more sense of your 3 questions....not that I ignored them.

So far as I know, the AirMax version is the same as the SPA version.  HAve found that inexpensive guns are more variable in performance, ad it's likely the tolerances for parts aren't kept up to NASA type standards.  Are places in the world that have power restrictions, and I'm sure the SPA rifles sold in those places stay under whatever that power requirement is.

I've never shoot it on target paper at 100 yards.  Have shot "stuff" at 100 yards, and the holes are nice and round (rather than the keyhole/tipping/partly sideways "rips" made from pellets that are tumbling).  If you mean "accuracy", then I've never tested it.  Evidence is that it's stable, the pellets aren't wandering off.

Used 16.2's in the post shown...are accurate....can dig up some early tests with other pellets at 20 yards, to show it kind of likes MOST pellets (some better than others), but it's real pellet-picky.