I'm so burned out on springers

[Bryan Heimann]

I have two breakbarrels I can depend on, every time- a fully tune XS28M, basically a $350 Chinese breakbarrel, and my Stoeger X3- a 4 fpe air rifle with a lube tune.  It takes so much concentration and practice to get anything else to shoot well, I just don't have fun with them.

To be fair, I used to practice in the back yard every single day.  I also used to have time to tinker and tune.  But these days... i will put it to you like this.  Today was the first time I shot my springers past 6 meters in weeks, probably months.  The best I could do with my remington express was ten shots inside about 2" at 20 meters.  My new daisy 1100- lets just say, according to my current abilities, it is a ten yard gun.  Fun, but only as far as I can drill my 1.5" spinners.  Both guns have new scopes that, while cheap, are good.

I don't see myself buying another breakbarrel, unless it's been tuned by a pro, until I retire.  At least until I find myslef in a 9-5 job and live in an area I can shoot every day.  For comparison, my Crosman 2100 easily hits a 1" target from a rest at the same 20 meters every time with the cheapest pellets- pointed Crosman- about a penny apiece. The XS28M is still hold sensitive, but not as bad, and I am well acquainted with it.  I can expect to hit thumb tacks at 20m at will, just using open sights.  It is also slinging a .25 pellet with authority, so if i nick a thumb tack it's coming out.  Realistically, that doesn't require me to shoot dime sized groups.  Plus I am shooting JSB Kings in it.  If i can use ammo from the store shelf, I will.

Anyway, can anybody relate to this?  I love airguns and I loved tinkering with them when I had time, but I don't anymore.  Now, I just want out of the box performance.  I might just unload my springers in favor of some single shot multi pump and CO2 rifles.  I had so much fun with the 2100 today, and it is so light and handy.  Mine doesn't shoot quite as hard as the 2100 my neighbor had when i was a kid, but I love it.  I have it zeroed on 12 pumps, open sights.  I'll probably grab it first when squirrel season starts.  I can't wait.

[avator]

I go through cycles. I'll eventually narrow them down to one or two favorites in each platform.

[Mikeflys]

I'm the exact opposite. I love my springers. Both of them produce outstanding groupings. I very seldom shoot my pcp. I don't want to keep pumping it up.

[a1rgunz]

I tend to rotate through my airguns. Right now, I'm on a SSP and MSP kick. The 880, 2100, P17, and LGR have been my best friends the last couple weeks. They are all fun and quiet to shoot indoors when it is too hot and the bugs are too bad to want to go outside.

The only springer I like to shoot on a regular basis is my old chinese B3-3. I've got others, but none are as consistent every day out of the safe as that one is.

[Marc In Iowa]

... can anybody relate to this?
Now, I just want out of the box performance.

I own one springer; Walther Terrus 177.

I got it "just for fun." I like the simplicity and minimalism of a springer. I'm shooting it now as a project "Just how well can I shoot this modestly priced ($149) springer?" I shoot it on days when that is what I want.

The easiest, most accurate and quiet shooting I do is the Hammerli 850 177 CO². I can shoot .5" groups all day long at 25 yds; no pumping, no strain, no flyers, just fun to shoot spinners and whatever. For challenge, I just shoot smaller and smaller targets at longer ranges. I get 150-200 shots before I bulk refill; easy, fun, cheap.

The Hammerli truly is "out of the box performance."

For even more challenge I'm beginning to shoot Hunter Field Target. That's a whole 'nuther ballgame. So far, anything like "out of the box performance" has been frustratingly elusive. 🙂

[Tonykarter]

I read your lament and feel your pain.  Misery loves company, and we suffer together, but separately.  Last time I shot my 48 was almost six months ago.  I chased that thing around the bullseye for half a year.  With this gun I excel at failing miserably.  Cussed two wonderful scopes as defective that now, on PCPs, shoot lights out.  One day I'm going to put it tight in that 8-inch vise and see if it will shoot in the same place twice.  Honest to goodness, I shot that 48 with greater precision with the factory spring in three pieces than it does now with the Vortec kit in it.  I do not miss my investment of time and effort, only to have that gun gleefully mock my existence.  I spit in its general direction.

Yet, every long bio-break I sit there, romancing that stainless finish HW97K in the AofA catalog.  In .20.  Krale, raise your prices you enabler!  Some lessons are never learned.  Like a moth to the flame...

[Wolverineshooter]

My basement range is only 17 yards and too short for PCPs, so I shoot break barrels more often for its challenge. I believe the skills can transfer to longer range for PcP, at least I hope

[Yng@hrt]

I had a heck of a time trying to tame something as basic as a late model 880. It’s now one of the most accurate pumpers I have but is far from stock. Just about everything on it has been modified. I found out later it is about as close to having a springer as a guy can get without actually owning one. Never even considered buying a springer after that experience. My go to guns are Dan’s & Benji’s & as long as I do my part they are deadly accurate. So much so that head shots at lizards out to 20 yrds are common place with a scout mount.

[Back_Roads]

 I have a couple hatsan 135s that I plink with when I want more recoil than my wingshot gives me

[lizzie]

I went through a couple of years when I just wasn't interested in any new (to me, since I like vintage) guns. Up until about a year ago, I remained a bit meh.
I am now back to the point that althought I am not actively seeking any particular gun, I am once again interested in buying really good springers.
AND.....am once again interested in finding a good target model to buy!

[dcmeyer]

Ah, I feel your pain. I stumbled in to this whole abyss unknowingly a few years ago when my wife would not let me poison some squirrels invading her garden.

I have been shooting for decades but my last experiences with air guns on a daily basis was a Benjamin .22 pump rifle I bought in the early eighties. Powerful for its time and super accurate, would take a large crow out of the top of the tallest tree. Lost track of it some years ago.

Back to the 2000's and the squirrel problem. No poison, in the city at the time and can't use .22lr, ok, going to Walmart. Ruger Blackhawk Elite .177 with scope for $110, looks intimidating and feels solid, 1200fps. Get it home and I can't hit sh*t with it! First thought is it's a cheap Chinese POS, which it likely is, but that's not the problem. Did some reading and learned the Artillery Hold, blah blah blah and actually got decent with it. It is a love, hate thing. I decided that I hate shooting it but I love what it has taught me about trigger control. Every few months I would pull it out a go a few rounds with it after reading more, taking it apart, tweeking it.

So after all this time and coming to the understanding that there are better break barrel guns that are easier to shoot and all that, I don't want to shoot one anymore. These guns are mainly for enthusiasts and people who don't have a lot of money to get seriously in to air guns. I'm shopping for my first PCP.

One day I'm going to put it tight in that 8-inch vise and see if it will shoot in the same place twice.

I bet if you do this it will shoot its worst group ever. These things hate being held tight!

While shopping for the new rifle I have been reading more and more on springers as well and ended up having a huge revelation. One of the airgun channels on youtube was talking about the screws loosening up every twenty shots or so on a springer. I started checking mine at certain shot counts and sure enough they were doing exactly that, but only one of the side screws and the one Phillips under the trigger. For what ever reason one doesn't come loose. This week after re tightening them every 20-30 shots the gun shot its first dime size group at 25 yds, three shots and I stopped as not to ruin the moment.

Through all this cr*p and all this time, I've conquered ..... and now I'm done, lol.

BTW, the 1200fps is with alloy pellets, of which I can only get 3 or so on paper at 25 yds, going so fast they are highly unstable.

[Ontarget58]

Bryan, I can completely relate to your situation. I have shot Benjamin springers for a few years. They've been driving me nuts. I never figured out whether it was me or the gun that produced frustrating performance on any given day. There were some good days where I had 9/10 in a 1 1/2 inch group at 30 yards. But the next day it was all over the place again. I cleaned, I tuned (best I know), used careful scientific method (one variable at a time) in order to figure out where my problem was. Once I had a chrony it helped me a lot but I still wasn't able to pinpoint the reason for groups that were just too big on many days. Pesting was hit and miss with these rifles except for sub 10 yard shots at rats. Not nice for the prey, and not nice for me either.

iAll changed once I convinced myself that I take my hobby to the next level with a PCP. Now, if things are not as expected, it is almost always me. The gun is so much better than I will ever be. Yes, it was a lot of money, not just the rifle but also the support equipment, but I really enjoy shooting now. The springers are collecting dust. I just use the 177 for the occasional close range rat pesting at the chicken coop. I have no remorse for spending so much. Problem solved.

[EMrider]

I shoot my springers far more often than my PCPs, and every time I do they put a big smile on my face. Accuracy at 25 yards or less with my hw97k and pro sport consistently matches that of my PCPs. 

I can’t imagine ever getting burned out on shooting springers.

R

[SteveP-52]

Ah, I feel your pain. I stumbled in to this whole abyss unknowingly a few years ago when my wife would not let me poison some squirrels invading her garden.

I have been shooting for decades but my last experiences with air guns on a daily basis was a Benjamin .22 pump rifle I bought in the early eighties. Powerful for its time and super accurate, would take a large crow out of the top of the tallest tree. Lost track of it some years ago.

Back to the 2000's and the squirrel problem. No poison, in the city at the time and can't use .22lr, ok, going to Walmart. Ruger Blackhawk Elite .177 with scope for $110, looks intimidating and feels solid, 1200fps. Get it home and I can't hit sh*t with it! First thought is it's a cheap Chinese POS, which it likely is, but that's not the problem. Did some reading and learned the Artillery Hold, blah blah blah and actually got decent with it. It is a love, hate thing. I decided that I hate shooting it but I love what it has taught me about trigger control. Every few months I would pull it out a go a few rounds with it after reading more, taking it apart, tweeking it.

So after all this time and coming to the understanding that there are better break barrel guns that are easier to shoot and all that, I don't want to shoot one anymore. These guns are mainly for enthusiasts and people who don't have a lot of money to get seriously in to air guns. I'm shopping for my first PCP.

One day I'm going to put it tight in that 8-inch vise and see if it will shoot in the same place twice.

I bet if you do this it will shoot its worst group ever. These things hate being held tight!

While shopping for the new rifle I have been reading more and more on springers as well and ended up having a huge revelation. One of the airgun channels on youtube was talking about the screws loosening up every twenty shots or so on a springer. I started checking mine at certain shot counts and sure enough they were doing exactly that, but only one of the side screws and the one Phillips under the trigger. For what ever reason one doesn't come loose. This week after re tightening them every 20-30 shots the gun shot its first dime size group at 25 yds, three shots and I stopped as not to ruin the moment.

Through all this cr*p and all this time, I've conquered ..... and now I'm done, lol.

BTW, the 1200fps is with alloy pellets, of which I can only get 3 or so on paper at 25 yds, going so fast they are highly unstable.

Vibra-Tite VC-3 will cure those loose screws and still let you snug them later if they really need to be.

[dcmeyer]

Vibra-Tite VC-3 will cure those loose screws and still let you snug them later if they really need to be.

Interesting stuff. Working in Automotive 40 years and seen all types of thredlocker but nothing like that, thanks.

[19Sheridan57]

 I am not a fan of " TWANGERS," either. I have owned only a few & it seems like each one is so different to shoot. I should put a label on each one describing how to shoot it. i.e. Artillery hold, hold tightly, rest on bags , etc. I despise buying anything brand new that needs to be worked on, & many of these rifles need work right out of the box !
    I do have a couple that are somewhat fun to shoot & pretty accurate. Not a single one of them can compare with my Sheridans, when it comes to consistent accuracy. Every Sheridan I own, [ & I own a lot ]  is accurate & a pleasure to shoot.

[uglymike]

Bryan, I have to be brutally honest here. This is just my humble opinion, nothing more. Every rifle you mentioned comes from one country. Have you ever shot a well tuned Weihrauch, Walter, Air Arms, or FWB springer?
If the only vehicle you ever drove was a Yugo, how would you feel about driving? It's kinda like that. Get in the seat of a Mercedes or Jaguar and take a long drive. You'll discover that no matter how well cared for that Yugo was......it's still just a Yugo. I'll give you another real world, recent example. At this years GTA Fun Shoot, lots of people tried the 2 rifles I brought; my Walther LGV and HW98. I personally watched them hit the target with my rifles over, and over, and over, and over again. Then I watched these same people shoot their rifles with MUCH different results. Same shooters, same targets, same ranges, just minutes apart. You can't make a silk purse with a sows ear.

[nced]

LOL.....same here! I have a .1

I'm the exact opposite. I love my springers. Both of them produce outstanding groupings. I very seldom shoot my pcp. I don't want to keep pumping it up.

Same here! I have a "tuned by me" .177 Beeman R9 and a .177 HW95 and they "scratch the itch" perfectly!

[chuckinohio]

  Usually, I have to be in the proper mood to go out back with a Springer. I usually also forget the fact that shooting a Springer well is a perishable skill.
  Not so much with the sprung 10 meter stuff, but even  though all my other spring guns are kitted, tweaked and massaged, they will quickly bring my lack of follow through to light..........

 I guess that I avoid the frustration  and downward spiral of second guessing myself, by always keeping the idea in the back of my mind that it is ME 99.9% of the time and not the rifle.

 Another thing that has helped me greatly was abandoning the search for blistering blinding speed and power in a spring gun. 12 to 15 FT. lbs. is so much more enjoyable to shoot and the results on the target usually reflect this, at least for me.

[Bryan Heimann]

I do have the tuned XS28M, and it is hold sensitive but still very shootable.  But still, i could use a benji 392 or sheridan streak and lean or rest it on anything and it will hit where I aim.  Can you rest a HW95, Walther LGU, or HW97 right on the hood of your truck or edge of the bed and expect the same POI?  How about resting it directly against a tree?  I would bet not.  With a proper tune I am sure they are vastly improved, but nothing like a pneumatic.

Finally, what about the R7?  I have seen plenty of posts about them being a little twitchy, also plenty that claim zero hold sensitivity.  You can exceed the power of the R7 with 3 pumps in a benji 392!  4 pumps and it can hang with or maybe surpass a soft tuned HW50 in power, and still hits the same POI when you rest it on a boulder or a stump.

I have experienced the satisfaction of making a breakbarrel shoot.  Maybe with a fine rifle like an HW, I would probably just enjoy the feel and craftsmanship so much that I would be able to overlook the twitchiness.  But these are not the guns I am talking about here. 

This rant came from my first day shooting my .177 breakbarrels, scoped, past 6 meters pretty much ever.  Maybe they just don't lock up well or maybe I just not so good at shooting springers.  But I am wore out.  I started the day with these guns I had scoped up with loctite on every screw, that I have been waitimg for a chance to shoot for literally months.  It was not a very satisfying experience.  I had to pull out the 2100 just to make sure I can still shoot.

For comparison of apples to apples, the last time I shot the XS28M, the groups at over 40 meters rested right on the bags were better than the groups i shot with these mid powered guns today, even with a scope that vibrated loose and fell off! 

I just expected a lot better from these rifles.  I can put 12 pumps in my 2100 and fire off a shot, and hit an inch target, faster than I can settle in and try to hit it with these breakbarrels.

I have been around on GTA for awhile.  A lot of yall should know, I am not new to springers and have gotten many cheap rifles to shoot very, very well.  That takes time and practice, every day.  No time for that anymore.  I have to go somewhere to shoot.  If I worked 9-5, or at least could shoot in the back yard, it would be different.

I will get my hands on a fine german rifle for comparison ine day, but I doubt it will meet my expectations without a good tune.  I'd rather spend it on a pneumatic, you could get a vintage streak for far less money and expect excellent accuracy without learning the perfect hold and repeating it. 

Also, for comparison, i was drilling 5 hr energy bottles with just the open sights and my cheap daisy 1100 from this same distance, pretty much at will, last time I had it out.  Yesterday, with the same rifle scoped, I couldn't even hold a group inside the 3" black circle of a gamo target.  Similar story with the remington express, except it was the white 1" circle.

And finally, you might have missed it in my original post, but I would readily give a tuned rifle a shot.  Untuned, forget about it.  Not now.  I knew that some of you would post about your fine springers, looking down your nose at my chinese guns.  But as of late, I have seen a lot of posts about issues with some of those fine rifles as well.  I'd likely end up tuning it anyway, no time for that.  Would have to send it straight to a tuner or forget about it.