Sheridan Blue Streak at 50 yards

[north country gal]

Had the perfect day for 50 yard work - dead calm - but, unfortunately, that's a perfect day for mosquitoes, too, and we do have plenty of those in our north woods. Still, no way I was going to pass up a chance to see what a Blue Streak could do at 50 yards.


This was more than just a test of a Sheridan Blue Streak for me. I'm also an avid shooter with 22 rifles, both Marlins and CZs, and most of those wear peep sights, since shooting with iron sights is still my favorite way to shoot, even though I definitely qualify as a senior in the age department.

With my peep sighted 22 rifles, from a rest, I can consistently do around 3/4" five shot groups at 50 yards, sometimes even down close to half inch. An inch or more for me is having a bad day. So how would a Sheridan Blue Streak with a Williams peep sight do by comparison, same distance, same targets?

The gun in the above pic, the one I used, today, is a 1984 vintage Blue Streak that was factory drilled and tapped for a peep sight, so it is  now wearing a Williams peep, same brand of peep I use on the 22 rifles. Added a touch of bright yellow paint on the front sight for better visibility.




For this distance, I used 6 pumps on the Dan. Pellets were the JSB Exact that I wrote about in my other post on Blue Streak accuracy quest. Gun was shot off sandbags on a bench (same bags I use with the 22s). Target bulls were 3" stick ons (same targets I use with our 22 rifles). 5 shots to a group, same as with the 22s. I wanted this to be as direct a comparison as possible.

Took awhile to get the Williams peep dialed in, but things looked good with this group.


Next group was even better. In fact, my arms were telling me it was time to quit and I was tried of feeding the mosquitoes, anyway. Did leave with a smile on my face, though.


This was a real eye opener for me and truly an important development for our shooting. My husband and I love shooting our peep sighted 22 rifles, but I honestly did not expect a pump up air rifle to perform like this. A high end PCP or expensive springer? Sure. A vintage pump, though? Just proves that even after all these years of shooting Dans, I have learned something new. Loved these guns, before, but now ...

[DanD]

Inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

[WolfyW]

I'd be tickled to get that kind of group from any air rifle, especially without a scope.

[bgmcgee]

That's some fine shootin'.

[aaronmach1]

wow thats great! How high was the hold over and whats your zero at?

[longislandhunter]

That's some mighty fine shooting. 

Jeff

[north country gal]

Thanks, guys.

Aaron, since I was using iron sights, that blade front would have totally obscured seeing the target with the holdover needed, going from 25 to 50 yards, so I re-sighted in at 50 yards with the Williams peep, but recorded the 25 yard setting I had been using, since 25-35 yards is going to be where I will be shooting our Sheridans the most.

[aaronmach1]

Thanks, guys.

Aaron, since I was using iron sights, that blade front would have totally obscured seeing the target with the holdover needed, going from 25 to 50 yards, so I re-sighted in at 50 yards with the Williams peep, but recorded the 25 yard setting I had been using, since 25-35 yards is going to be where I will be shooting our Sheridans the most.

makes sense, very good shooting, thanks for sharing!

[avator]

That's one of the things I like best about the Williams Peep. You can take a pic of the setting and readjust for another distance. Then look at the pic and go right back to original. Thanks Gal, nice looking Dan.

[kelvinator]

Mighty fine shooting right there!

[K.O.]

And only 6 pumps...

I think if the shot meant the difference between eating and not eating : I would be handing the rifle over to you...

[Death_By_Air]

Awesome shooting and your gun stable is just as cool. Iv been looking a lot lately at putting open sights like a Williams on my 1322 carbine but I have never used them on an air gun before.

I pack my 1322 in a bag and bring it with me on outings alot and the big ol 12 inch, 1.3 pound scope is a burden. I really want to try a Williams peep or notch but think I will miss the 4x zoom and mil  dots when I'm pest hunting. I dont do much rested target shooting.

I just can't make up my mind lol.

[north country gal]

I understand. Definitely a place for all types of sights. My favorite, for the sake of fun, is a peep, but that's for target work with an easy to see distinct black bull on a white background. We also have a wide variety of spinner targets on our range, but the background is dense green woods, making those spinners very hard to see, at times, especially way out there. On a dark day, even a small scope is a big plus for this type of shooting. For hunting in our dark woods, at least, a scope would be my choice.

The best solution, of course, is to have a variety of guns setup with different sights and, like all good air gun addicts, we do. I also do a lot of shooting from a standing position, using a 4x scope and, with practice, it's quite doable, so if I had to pick one sight to do it all on an air rifle, it would still be a scope.

[Death_By_Air]

Yeah the scope sure does have "all around" appeal.
I'd like to find one that is maybe a little more compact that isn't crazy expensive/reticles for .223 or other caliber real steel that won't help much with an airgun lol. A red dot I'm not a fan of as I like to have some sort of vertical reference for that lovely .22 pellet drop  not to mention no magnification either

Have you ever used something like a leaf sight? The steel breech on the 1322 has that little wedge notch that looks like it would hold a flip up leaf sight I have seen on some .22LR That might be a cheaper option than springing for a Williams until I see how I like it. Although, the little leaf sights iv come across don't look too adjustable. I think that's what drew me to the Williams with the target knobs.

Can you zero your peep in at say 20 yards and then make a few clicks in elevation right then an there to eliminate hold over shooting something at 35 yards and then just click them back to your original zero? Sorry if that's an obvious question I just wonder how easy that is to do on the fly in the field.

[IguanaHunterReturns]

Yeah the scope sure does have "all around" appeal.
I'd like to find one that is maybe a little more compact that isn't crazy expensive/reticles for .223 or other caliber real steel that won't help much with an airgun lol. A red dot I'm not a fan of as I like to have some sort of vertical reference for that lovely .22 pellet drop  not to mention no magnification either

Have you ever used something like a leaf sight? The steel breech on the 1322 has that little wedge notch that looks like it would hold a flip up leaf sight I have seen on some .22LR That might be a cheaper option than springing for a Williams until I see how I like it. Although, the little leaf sights iv come across don't look too adjustable. I think that's what drew me to the Williams with the target knobs.

Can you zero your peep in at say 20 yards and then make a few clicks in elevation right then an there to eliminate hold over shooting something at 35 yards and then just click them back to your original zero? Sorry if that's an obvious question I just wonder how easy that is to do on the fly in the field.

yes, just move the bar up to the 35 yard zero and when you are done bring it back. you can get a card with the different zeros, from 10 to 50 yards, in 10 yard intervals

[Pellet Slinger]

Nice shooting!
Time to move your target father away! Two more pumps at 75 yards
Glen

[LeadBreakfast]

Great shooting, these simple pumpers really get the job done!

[triggerfest]

Well done ! And your Sheridan looks brand new (which anti-age cream do your give her  )

[north country gal]

Thanks guys.

Yes, this particular Dan really is about new as far as condition. It's a mid 80s gun. I'm almost embarrassed to say I only paid $100 for it at a recent gun show, but just proves that you never know until you go.  

75 yards? Well, why not? Not sure I could handle the pumping, though.

Yes, you can go back and forth on the setting for various distances on the Williams because the elevation bar is indexed with marks. I just scribed a mark at my 35 yard setting on this gun, so I could go back to it after sighting in at 50. Easy enough to do for range work, but not as practical and easy as using a scope with a ballistic style reticle for field work or hunting. Even a scope with a standard reticle and target turrets would be more convenient simply by counting clicks, since the Williams AG does't have click adjustments.

[cwlongshot]

Great shooting!!

LOVE these Rockers!

CW