M-Rod Surprise Today

[longislandhunter]

This morning I decided to check the accuracy of my .22 Marauder so she'd be all set for the small game season on November 1st.  I've had the rifle sighted in for Kodiaks for quite some time and she'll shoot ragged hole groups all day long if I do my part so I headed out to the backyard range and got to it.  The rifle performed as expected and stacked kodiak on top of kodiak.  The rifle was definitely ready for hunting and I was going to put her back in the gun safe but I was having so much fun shooting her I decided to keep shooting.  I didn't want to waste any more kodiaks so I decided to try some other pellets, specifically CPH's and 18.1 gr JSB's.  The rifle has always shot the CPH's well and today was no different.  It gave me great groups.  I put the CPH's away and got out the 18 gr JSB's.  My rifle has never liked them and has never shot them well but I have always wanted the rifle to like them so I decided to try them "just one more time".  When I swapped out the original baffles for the newer wider baffles I had tried the JSB's again hoping the new baffles would make them fly better but they never did and gave me the same poor results as before.  Now here comes my surprise..  I fired the first JSB and it hit dead center bullseye.  I looked at the hole and smiled but figured it was just a fluke.  I fired the second JSB and it went into the first hole.  The 3rd, 4th and 5th JSB followed suit and flew right into the same hole.  I was astonished.  Thinking it had to be a fluke I spent the next hour shooting the JSB's, airing the gun back up and shooting more JSB's.  Long story short..... all of a sudden my M-rod absolutely loves these pellets and just keeps shooting them into the same darn hole.  

I'm certainly not complaining as I really like the JSB's for hunting, but I simply can't figure out why all of a sudden the rifle now loves these pellets.   Anybody got any ideas ??

Jeff

[jonnnyboy]

Jeff, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!! LOL  Sounds like you love your mrod like I do mine.  Its just one of those things that make you smile!  Of course, you need to come on down to Tennessee to really dial her in.  We might let you draw some bullseyes on some squirrels and that would really make you smile!

joe

[Pete]

JSBs come in diffrent head sizes...5.51/5.52/5.53
yer may have got a size it likes..

[gene_sc]

You can't beat them M-Rods Jeff.. Mine is a .177 and shoots the JSB and CPL's great also. I recently had her tuned by Roald for shot count and accuracy. Asked him to set her up with CHP heavies 10.5.. Just as you described. One hole after another. These are fabulous PCP shooters for the price.

Thanks for sharing

[longislandhunter]

Joe, I do love my M-rod, it's just an amazing rifle and a Tennessee squirrel hunt would be like a dream come true for me, maybe I'll get to do it some day. 

Pete, the head size issue makes sense but I'm still shooting the same order of JSB's that I originally bought, matter of fact I'm at the bottom of the first of the 5 large tins that I bought so the head size should be consistent. 

I don't know, this just has me stumped, but I'm still a happy camper 

Jeff

[Pete]

[quote author=longislandhunter

Pete, the head size issue makes sense but I'm still shooting the same order of JSB's that I originally bought, matter of fact I'm at the bottom of the first of the 5 large tins that I bought so the head size should be consistent. 

Jeff


[/quote]

O well there goes that theory out the back door...

[daveshoot]

I wonder if you have leaded up that barrel to the point where JSBs are a better fit? No real insight, but I can't see what else has changed?

[ICEMAN]

Your delightful story has inspired me to pull that tin of JSB 18.1 grain pellets out of the dud section of my locker in the morning, and give them another try.

Maybe they will surprise me as well!

Larry

[longislandhunter]

Dave, I didn't think of that, you may be right.  That would make sense. 

I've been running this through my head quite a bit trying to figure it out and  last night I thought of something else besides the barrel getting leaded up that might explain this.  I'm not sure, because it was a long time ago that I was trying the 18.1 grainers, but I'm pretty sure all the other times I tried them I was using the 10 shot magazine to shoot them.  Yesterday I used the single shot snap in tray for all my shooting.  Now I know the JSB's have a very soft skirt so I'm wondering if the skirt was getting deformed during the loading process.  It wouldn't take much deformation to make a noticeable difference in pellet flight.  As soon as the weather cooperates I'm going to have to get back out there and do some more shooting and compare results using the magazine and the single shot tray.  What do you guys think ?  Does the magazine theory have any merit ?

JEff

[ICEMAN]

An excellent point. When I first tried the 18.1 grain JSB'S I was using the clip. They didn't group at all, and the shots hit all over the target. Now I have the single shot tray, and I will certainly try it first thing in the morning. I didn't get to shoot today as planned, because of unexpected tasks.

Again, perhaps a surprise is in the making!

Larry

[longislandhunter]

Let us know how you make out Larry.  I'm really interested in your results as it could confirm my theory.   

Jeff

[only1harry]

I was just going to ask you Jeff if you used a different magazine, or if anything had changed.  The single-shot mag could certainly have made the difference in accuracy over the 10-shot clip. 

Another thing I wanted to share was that my 350 shot the 15.8gr JSB's very well for about 600-700 shots.  Then all of a sudden the groups started opening up.  So I tried some CP's and SD's which it never shot too well, or as well as the JSB Jumbos, and I was getting ragged hole groups - much better than 700 shots before when I tried them.  So then I cleaned the 350's barrel really well, and what do you know?  The JSB's were giving me nice clover leaf groups again, and the CP's were "off" again.  So in my case the only thing I can think of, is that it had to do with the leading in the barrel. 
I have also experienced POI shifts with "leading" but not accuracy issues, meaning the pellets grouped well but 1/4 to 1/3" over..  Once I cleaned the bore, the POI went back to where it used to be.  Not just with Springers but with my .22 Condor as well, which I did not clean for about 800-900 pellets last year. 
It's like many always say.. if you have a gun that shoots over 800fps, you have to clean the barrel every 500 or so pellets or 2 tins or so.  If it's <800fps less frequently, and if it's <700fps, almost never.  But in your case it might just be the magazine/tray swap. 
Hek, I have 3 magazines for my 850, and I have always believed that 1 of those 3 gives me "poor" groups - actually not bad, but not as good.  The pellets feel slightly different going in when I load them.  One of these days I will isolate that 1 mag. and set it aside and mark it, and prove it once and for all..

[ICEMAN]

Tried the single shot tray and clip using JSB 18.1 grain pellets. Alas, accuracy did not change for me using either of the loading methods. Random holes all over the target was the best I could do. I even checked my guns accuracy with Beeman Kodiak's. Got ragged hole groups twice back to back.

Perhaps you have a leaded or seasoned barrel that may explain your accuracy. Sure would like to know what it is.

Larry

[CitySniper]

Same thing happened to my .22 Marauder....and I have never ever cleaned my barrel, just around 2000-3000 pellets through the barrel. It didn't like them and now it does...

Sooo just keep shooting those marauders, and keep checking back with different pellets.

[longislandhunter]

Okay, glad to hear I'm not the only one to experience this.  All I know is I'm as happy as the proverbial pig    I really like the 18 gr JSB's for hunting and now that my M-rod likes them all in right with the universe 

Jeff