Rifle suggestion for backyard plinking & pests?

[Horatio]

RedFeather, thanks, I think the $150 Cabela's .177 34 deal is gone. I couldn't find it yesterday either.

Interesting point about a scope maybe not really being needed. My current gun doesn't have open sights, so I can't really get a feel for anything but the scope. I will say that, trying shooting off-hand today, standing, with the scope at 9X, was eye-opening, in terms of how much I was moving around And that was only at 10m. You would need to be fairly stable just to keep the scope accurately on something small, 20-30 yards away. Or get better at having a stable form, I guess.

I feel for basic marksmanship a high powered scope is a distraction/hindrance. I have a 2.5x muzzleloader scope on one AG for close range stuff and think it is ideal. The low mag lets in light and is really generous/forgiving with parallax and eye box.

At this point, wait for field supply to have a deal on diana's, save for a krale HW, or I think you would be happy with a 392/7. I think that is the best deal going for a self contained gun. I bet you would have more fun with a Daisy 901 than that B19.

[RedFeather]

And read up on fundamental airgun shooting. Not just how to hold but things like keeping stock screws tight. Loose screws will make the finest springer throw shotgun patterns. There's a ton of good advice here if you search for it. Above all, don't overthink everything. You did say you are looking to do plinking and pest control. Figure out your kill zones, draw some circles and see how close you can come to hitting them. Have some fun. Kill a box of Animal Crackers or a roll of Necco Wafers (if you can still find them). Keep it fun. I'm a so-so shot on my best days but I still enjoy it.

[Horatio]

Seriously,

The only reason I didn’t buy the B26 from SpiralGroove in members classified is because I really like the Remington Express platform and BryanH was selling an Express in .177 and I have 2 known good .22 barrels for the same platform and wanted to tune something myself.

All I’m saying is there was/is(?) a great deal under your nose.

Also, Flying Dragon is great to do business with. The bamboo stock B25 is twice the gun a B19 is for 2/3 of the price.

[19Sheridan57]

They do not need a " bunch of pumps " after each shot. I shoot rifles that are very similar to 392's. 90% of the time, all my shots are done with 3 quick, easy pumps. 5 pumps take care of squirrels & a couple more for long distance shots , or large game. I have owned pumpers for 60 years.

Thank you, that's good to know. Do you have to aim differently at 10-20 yards, based on 3 pumps, 5, etc? Do you have a sense of the fps with the different # of pumps?

   I have a stable full of Sheridans which similar to the 392 , but are no longer made . I think they were some of the best all-around air rifles ever made . They were extremely accurate rifles, right from the factory . My eyesight is not as good as it used to be , but this is how I shot them. I typically set the sights at 10 yards with 3 pumps. I have " killed " a LOT of cardboard, tin cans, etc., with 3 pumps. Then, I set up a new target & move back to 20 yards. I fire a small group to see where it hits. Then, pump 5 times, & try again. It will be mighty close then, or even dead on. REMEMBER, these are super accurate rifles, no special hold is needed & most all pellets shoot quite well . It is no problem for even a 10 year to shoot nice groups.  I, usually fine tune the sights & I like to get the rifle to shoot as accurately as possible at 20 -25 yards. Rarely do I need to shoot farther than that, but if I do, I can pump it up to 8 times . 5 pumps is great for small game , 7-8 for larger game , or longer distances. Adjustable power is a great feature with pumpers. I once had to kill a large rabid dog with it that was roaming the neighborhood. I was about 13 & my neighbors, & animal control were proud of me. I still own my first Sheridan & the FIRST time it was ever worked on was about 6-7 years ago . I am sure it has been shot at least 10,000 times !

[RedAir]

And read up on fundamental airgun shooting. Not just how to hold but things like keeping stock screws tight. Loose screws will make the finest springer throw shotgun patterns. There's a ton of good advice here if you search for it. Above all, don't overthink everything. You did say you are looking to do plinking and pest control. Figure out your kill zones, draw some circles and see how close you can come to hitting them. Have some fun. Kill a box of Animal Crackers or a roll of Necco Wafers (if you can still find them). Keep it fun. I'm a so-so shot on my best days but I still enjoy it.

I re-checked the scope screws, thanks for the reminder. The mount to the dovetail was still tight, but 3 of the 4 rings screws on one side were somewhat loose. Despite my cleaning the threads with alcohol, and using blue Loctite last week while mounting it. I re-tightened them, shot a few more groups, they didn't seem better. But I removed & cleaned those screws again, and re-Loctited them.

I don't think I'd be reliably keeping pellets inside a useful circle for something like a squirrel at the moment, even at 10m/11yd.

Horatio, sorry, which gun is the B19? Is my Prowler a B19 variant, you mean?

I'm leaning towards the $230 RWS 34, but the Flying Dragon guns seem to get a lot of good reports. It's good to have options, but sometimes that just makes things tougher, especially if you're prone to over-thinking stuff...   

[Bryan Heimann]

Prowler is a B18/B19 variant.  Basically same gun as a Titan, Crosman Phantom or Optimus, etc. with a different stock.

[RedAir]

I emailed Mike at Flying Dragon on Monday, to learn more about tuning options, and see if he had rifle suggestions.

I almost ordered the $230 wood R34 from Cabela's on Tuesday evening, but wanted to see what Mike said first.

On Wednesday Cabela's sold out of the $230 34, and they told me it was discontinued. Bummer! Missed the deal, my fault.

But last night a member here posted a fully-tuned XS25 in the classifieds, about $145 after shipping. I'm buying that, I hope it will be more accurate than my Prowler.

It should be smooth, etc, based on everything I've read about Mike's tuning. Accuracy is more of the open question, I guess. Hopefully it will work out well!

[RedFeather]

That'll do you. Like I suggested, read up on old posts about shooting springers. The main culprits when it comes to loose screws are those in the stock, particularly the forend. Lots of threads on those. Hope you enjoy your "new" gun. Mike does good work, so you are ahead of the game.

[SteveP-52]

Mike does excellent work. I have the same fully tuned rifle and in .22 and it's not very pellet picky or hold sensitive and it's crazy accurate when I do my part. That rifle should fit your wants and needs very well.

[Bryan Heimann]

Mike's trigger tune on the RWS clones is awesome.  About as good as you can expect in a breakbarrel.  XS25 should keep you fully satisfied.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Outstanding!
 If you are lucky enough to get the original box, Mike usually writes the chrono numbers with various pellets on the inside.
 Also if you ever need to contact him, you are best to call in the morning after say, 9:00. Serious, he prefers the phone to talk to you one on one, He is the first one to tell you that.
 Congrats!

[Beeman22]

I emailed Mike at Flying Dragon on Monday, to learn more about tuning options, and see if he had rifle suggestions.

I almost ordered the $230 wood R34 from Cabela's on Tuesday evening, but wanted to see what Mike said first.

On Wednesday Cabela's sold out of the $230 34, and they told me it was discontinued. Bummer! Missed the deal, my fault.

But last night a member here posted a fully-tuned XS25 in the classifieds, about $145 after shipping. I'm buying that, I hope it will be more accurate than my Prowler.

It should be smooth, etc, based on everything I've read about Mike's tuning. Accuracy is more of the open question, I guess. Hopefully it will work out well!

OP: I don't think you'll go wrong with either that XS25 or one of the RWS 34's.
And for anyone who was mad they missed the amazing Cabelas' deals on the Diana (RWS) 34: They are BACK- both the wood-stocked .22 for $230 and the synthetic .177 for $149!  I've got a nice stable of tuned Weihrauchs but couldn't help myself for $149 and it just arrived.

The good: the trigger isn't quite a rekord, but it's still a very, very nice trigger, and unbeatable at this price.  And I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy the gun is to shoot accurately, even with the open sights (haven't bothered to put the scope on yet). I was able to shoot a 1 inch, 10-shot group at 10 meters but 7 of the 10 were in .45" and that was offhand with open sights!!   When shooting, there is some spring twang, but it's at least as good, if not better, than what I would expect from any quality, untuned, German air rifle.

The disappointing: the cocking stroke. It sounds as though the cocking shoe is rubbing on the spring, especially after cocking when I go to close the barrel. Initially, it took considerable effort even when closing the barrel, but I loosened the pivot bolt a tiny bit and now it's better, but I think the spring is canted and I can hear and feel something lightly "bumping" up and down the spring coils while cocked. The spring doesn't appear to be broken. I wasn't expecting the butter-smooth, silent cocking of a tuned gun, but I was expecting better. I'm pretty sure this is NOT typical and I just got a bad example. I have already confirmed that I can return the gun (at my local store or ship it back). I am going to return mine, but I am going to order another one - it's just too good of a deal!

[RedAir]

The used & fully-tuned XS25 arrived yesterday, it's in nice shape. It seems to operate smoothly, which is good. It's definitely a better trigger than my Prowler. Crisp, though I wouldn't mind a slightly lighter pull.

At 10m, it actually is hitting maybe 1-1.5" high, even with the open sights adjusted all the way down, which seems odd. Then I put my 3-12x44 scope on. Interestingly, at 10m, with the scope zero'd  (not using a drooper mount), it's still hitting around 0.5" high. So either there's presumably not much barrel droop, or perhaps the barrel was previously bent up slightly? If it's just a lack of barrel droop, that's good. I haven't gotten to try longer distances.

I've tried the 3 pellets I have currently, Crosman Hollowpoints (14.3), Crosman Domed Ultra Magnums (14.3), and Ruger Superpoints (17.0). The Crosman groups haven't been great, biggest group of 5 at 10m was 2". Some Crosman pellets are quite loose in the breech. I opened the barrel once to check if the pellet skirt was bent, and the pellet fell out of the breech.

This is all sitting, with the gun resting on my open palm on my knee, leg propped up on another chair. I don't have a proper rest setup, this is the most stable I've managed so far. 

I'm doing better with the Ruger Superpoints. My best 10m group of 5 has been 0.7". I hope I'm holding it "properly", I've tried my best artillery attempt, with some variations. I will try to use some other pellets, to see how they do.

I've now replaced the scope, and the rifle. So I hope it's the pellets choice causing the large groups, 'cause otherwise that means it's me

[Hoosier Daddy]

Try a tin of JSB 18.3g heavies.

[avator]

Scott said it before I could.... try a heavier pellet.

[RedAir]

Interesting, thanks! Can I ask why heavier may be better for accuracy? The chrono numbers Mike Melick wrote on the box range from 715fps (RWS Hobby) to 552 (JSB 18gr). So at 18, it's getting to the point where I may be able to throw them faster than shoot them

The 17.0 Ruger Superpoints seem to fit a little tighter in the breech. That was my assumption for why they were shooting better, being more snug in the barrel. I didn't consider whether their weight was also a factor. But like I've said, I've still got a lot to learn.

[Hoosier Daddy]

The weight increase was for it shooting high more than group size. But the JSB pellet quality will help shrink the group. 

[avator]

Slower speed don't mean less effectiveness if it comes with more weight.
Would you rather get hit 10 times from Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini or just once from Mike Tyson?
Hint: You might remember getting hit by Boom Boom.

[Bryan Heimann]

Those ruger superpoints have never delivered results worth posting about for me.  However, 550 fps with 18 grain JSB domes will literally knock the life right out of a squirrel, inside 30 yards.  If your gun can group well with them, they are worth it.  To be real honest, I have probably killed more squirrels with 18 grain JSB under 600 fps muzzle velocity, than anything else including rimfire.  They hit very hard, stiffen up like they been shocked, and fall off the tree.

You got to see what works in practice.  Don't make assumptions!

[Hoosier Daddy]

Some of the most accurate match airrifles are in the 500fps speeds