953 at 50 yards

[north country gal]

Okay, yeah, it's a little crazy to shoot a 10 meter gun at 50 yards, but I tend to be a curious sort and we do have a 50 yard range in our back yard, so why not?

First thing I did was switch out the red dot sight I use for 10 meter shooting on my 953 for a Simmons 3-9x 22 Mag series scope. The Simmons is a 22 scope, so at no issues with parallax out there at 50 yards where I was shooting. Besides, the red ring on the scope matches up, nicely, with the stock color of my 953.


Let me also add that this is a stock 953, right as it comes out of the box. The trigger has not been modded, but is now fairly smooth after many, many hours of use. (I shoot the 953 almost daily in the winter, indoors.)

So, why not shoot a 953 at 50 yards? Actually, lots of reasons why not, but mostly a matter of velocity. This is a 500 fps rated gun and given the way air guns are advertised as to velocity, I suspect mine is shooting under that. This means that it takes a truly calm day, as in not even a hint of a breeze to keep that slow pellet stabilized out to 50 yards. When looking though the scope, if I saw even so much as a blade of grass wiggle out near the target or heard a leaf rustle in the trees, overhead, it was almost impossible to get five consecutive shots in the 2" bulls that I was using.

Even when conditions seemed good, I was plagued with unexplained fliers. Every now and then, while watching the pellet makes it way out to the target, it seemed liked an invisible hand would swat the pellet way off target, causing the pellet to land a good six or eight inches off to the side. The holes left in the paper by these fliers suggested that they were hitting the paper sideways.

Tried many pellets, but the heavier I went in size, the more of these fliers I got. Finally settled on the JSB Exact 7.3s. Even just stepping up to the 8.4 Exacts or similar FTTs got me more fliers. 10 plus grain Kodiak Match were impossible to shoot.

At the other end of things, no one ever accused a 953 of being a bench rest gun, of course. I think the trigger pull weight on mine is more than the actual gun weight.

After two weeks of trying to catch a calm day, I managed to get in two decent shooting sessions. Here's my groups.





And, finally, my best


Like I said, it's a little crazy shooting a 953 at 50 yards, but I learned a lot about my 953, pushing the gun like this. I've been shooting a wide variety of air guns at 50 yards this summer and one thing I've learned is that MOST air guns, regardless of type, can shoot well at 50 yards given the right conditions and assuming the shooter has patience and is willing to work with the gun. I can now add the 953 to my list of 50 yard one inch shooters. Even so, my 953 is going back on 10 meter duty where it best belongs, now that the experiment is over.

[Slavia]

Good shooting and good observations.  Crazy?  No.  Maybe a little in the fringe, but that's a good place to be.  It's less crowded "out there."

[K.O.]

I have done .33" at 30 yards but 50 yards well you are my kind of nut... just did not think it was possible what is it about  12"-16" of holdover and watch out for mouse farts...

[north country gal]

That is an amazing 30 yard group, but it doesn't surprise me that the 953 can do it at that range.

[K.O.]

That is my best so far out of about 100 groups... Most on a still day are close to .5" and I shoot side rested not benched... but that .5" is with both 953s... the 1985 U.S. shooting team with the L.W. barrel and the 2004 953 with the Daisy barrel...

The .33 group was outside edge to outside edge not ctc and was with the 1985 with AA 10.3g... but like I said most have been .5" with both...

Since I live in town they are my back yard range rifles... I wish I had more than 30 yards but the 953s are a blast as on a still day at 20 yards a headshot on a green army man or taking out an aspirin is a done deal...

Now throw in a hint of wind and it starts to get more of a challenge...

[north country gal]

The 953 is one my steady basement shooters over our long winters (the other is my beloved HW30S). I'll be shooting the 953 outdoors at a much more sane distance of 25 yards in a bit, maybe even 35 yards since we have a station also at that distance.

My husband was hitting 3" spinner targets at 50 yards, today, but the hits were so wimpy you had to watch the spinner through the scope to see it wiggle. That little rifle has given us more darn fun and all for only $85. Amazing. 

[oconeedan]

That's nice, I like the red stock too.  Good shooting!

We are all crazy, just to different levels. 

[tjcib]

You inspired me. I went out and shot some 30 yard groups with my 953 with a red dot. Was able to cover the groups with a nickel, which puts them about .75". I was using CPHPs.

Lots of fun, thanks for the inspiration.

[north country gal]

You're very welcome. The 953 is definitely the little air gun that could.

[Trim Tab]

That's great shoot'n I was wondering what the 953 could do at 50 I think you've set a standard for us 953 owners. I look forward to giving it a try.

[north country gal]

By all means, give it a try. I have no doubt there's better 953s and 953 shooters out there.

[Trim Tab]

Have you tried the Beeman Pointed 8.53 pellets yet? they are very accurate out of my 953. I separate them by head diameter,
.177, .176, .175  there's about an equal amount of each in a tin of 500. I like to know how they do at 50yds.

[north country gal]

No, that's one I haven't tried, but will, if I can find some.

So far, in all my 50 yards shooting, this summer (seven or eight guns, now), I've found that domed pellets seem to hold their accuracy, best, past 35 yards and even with the domed pellets, lots of difference in accuracy between the different pellets. Yup, nothing like 50 yard shooting to tell you what a gun likes for pellets. For whatever reason, just haven't found a pointed pellets that works as well at 50, but I sure haven't tried them all. 

[avator]

That's so fun Joanie. With all these guns we have around here and indoor shooting to 25yds and outdoors out to 100 I never know what I'm going to grab off the wall or out of a cabinet and step outside with. I log onto the GTA and read something, next thing you know I'm outside shooting something different at something different. I've forgotten more ideas of things to do with guns then I have actually done. Everyday we do something pellet gun related. I didn't put the first pellet in a gun today but, I ordered parts from PA, put together an order for Crosman (to be placed tomorrow) for an ongoing project and picked up pellets while grocery shopping at Walmart. Two guns very near the top of our must have list are a pair of 853s from the CMP program. That's pretty imppresive grouping for that gun at that range. I picked up a Daisy 35 at the pawn shop for $15. Within about 1 hour of bringing it home I had chopped a rifled barrel down to the end of the forstock and made a really fun little Frankengun out of it. I shot it for a couple hours and it's sat in the corner since.

[north country gal]

Yeah, we're some hardcore AG shooters, Bill (or at least I am; my husband does shoot, but mostly just indulges me and finances my addiction. )

This 50 yard shooting with a wide variety of AGs, this summer, has been a hoot. Started off as being curious as to which air guns would be capable of shooting an inch or less at 50 yards, given reasonable shooting conditions. Like so many of us, I was always pinched for shooting space with air guns in the past, so stepping out to 50 has been new ground for me. At first, I thought that less than inch would be the exclusive domain of the the high dollar expensive stuff, but not so at all, as this 953 proves. In fact, have done under an inch at 50 with ALL of our rifles, now, including this 953, our vintage Sheridans, our 397A, ALL our springers and, of course, our PCPs, including the Disco. Some are legit half inch shooters or less, to boot.

AG shooting is short range stuff out of necessity for a lot of us (I shoot indoors all winter), but it doesn't have to be, nor do you need to spend a ton of money to get a gun that can shoot at 50. Hope everyone gets a chance to shoot at 50, the way I have. For darn sure, I've learned a lot about AG shooting and have had a truckload of fun doing it.

[K.O.]

It is so cool to see what can be done with such low velocity... even at 30 yards watching conditions while being ready to send the round downrange at the right moment of calm is a real challenge(it comes and goes in an instant here and I bet there also)...

In the 1980s I had more than a few people make fun of me for using a Crosman 2200 for hunting small game... they would say just get a .22 rim fire... they would not believe me when I said out to about 50-60 yards the air rifle was just as accurate in decent conditions...

I picked up a Modern 953 barrel to use in my 20+ fpe multi pump but am now considering sleeving it up to .5" for my Gen 2 .25 Mrod...
The 1:15 twist should (crossed fingers) do well with the heavy .177s like the JSB beast and such.

I am pretty sure it will do very well as far as a direct replacement barrel for the Daisy 880 and Crosman 2100 straw barrels because the turned down portion  (that fits in the breech) is 5/16 on all of them... Will fit the MK177, M4177, 66 and 760 also... But the barrel is about $40...

Would love to see what you could do with all the old & new multis at 50 yards... some need a little tuning/blueprinting but I bet you could get .5"-.75" and less with most them...

I love my new Mrod... first 3 shots at 40 yards touching without even trying hard... strait out of the box with no work... but I will always love my single and multi pumps for their versatility (hard to adjust pcp power as much) and accuracy per $... and many of them with a little work make excellent hunters...

And for teaching the youngsters shooting skills I do not think there is a better rifle than the 953...

[DavidS]

I have never attempted to shoot a 953 or any 10 meter rifle past 25 yards.

Nice shooting.   Good to know it is possible to plink at range with a 953.   Keep up the good shoing.  hethe.   KeE

[north country gal]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, as I said, 50 yards with a 953 is borderline stuff, but still very educational, watching that pellet though the scope as the 953 lobbed it out to the target.

K.O., you couldn't be more right about the 953 being a great way to introduce a newbie to shooting, other than needing a little trigger TLC. We actually picked up ours on a whim. It was new in the box, collecting dust in a pawn shop. Got it for $85. Had no idea how the gun could shoot until I started shooting at 10 meters in the basement. Yup, the 953 made me rethink my notion of accuracy for the dollar.

Pump up accuracy? Have managed under an inch at 50 yards with my Sheridans and our 347, closer to half inch when scoped, but still under an inch with a peep sight and even managed to tickle the one inch mark with factory sights on one of the Sheridans. Oh, yeah, another one of those "time to rethink accuracy for the dollar" moments.

[Trim Tab]

Question N.C.G.

How far off was your point of aim?

[north country gal]

Only used the scope for this test, so just a matter of get it sighted in, though I was a bit concerned I might run out of elevation adjustment. Got it done without resorting to higher rings. Oh, yeah, a LOT of drop beyond 25 yards, though.

This is my 10 meter basement gun in the winter and for that shooting I use a red dot, though I am going to get a peep for it.