It's almost too easy! Vol. 2: A Slightly Larger Target

[UCChris]

Well, my uncle let me know that there was a rabbit infestation on my great grandparent's property down here in southern Utah. I've never taken a rabbit with my airgun, but I was sure that my new 12 fpe tuned XS46 was up to the task, both in accuracy and power out to 40 yards. So, my uncle and I embarked on a journey for the afternoon.

There is a dirt road that turns off of old Highway 91 in Ivins, Utah and it leads to my great grandparent's property (which my aunt lives on) after about a mile. It passes through an old farmyard before running along a grassy wash type area, then ends at my great grandfather's property. We stopped right at the beginning of the dirt road and walked along a wash for a little. Didn't see any rabbits in range. All of them flushed out past 50 yards. We got back in the car and went up to the farmyard. Saw a bunch of rabbits but couldn't get any clean shots. Same story at the grassy wash. We putzed around there for a little while and I blew away a HOSP at 12 yards. Nothing else though.

We finally decided to call it a day since I offered to cook burgers and the dove I shot yesterday for dinner. We passed the through the farmyard once again and there it was. In all its fluffy glory. A cottontail hopped twice and stopped right in the middle of the dirt road. My uncle brought the car to a grinding halt, I cracked the door, grabbed my rifle, and asked my uncle for the range. He lasered it and said, "43 yards." Those of you who don't know, my only miss on birds yesterday was at 43 yards. I braced up against the car, took aim at the heart/lung area (wasn't confident enough to try for a headshot), breathed out slowly, and squeezed the trigger. I heard the sharp thud of the rifle, and a meaty TWHOCK! The rabbit didn't move. It just turned its head towards me. I quickly reloaded and looked through the scope to figure out if I had hit him. I was looking for blood or something. I couldn't see anything, but I just knew I hit him! I braced again, breathed out slowly, and...a twitch. Another twitch. Then the rabbit just fell over on its side, stone dead.

I basically screamed and cried like a little girl. My first rabbit!!! At a ridiculous springer range, for me. I headed towards my fallen prey. About 10 yards from the rabbit, another hopped out to the middle of the road. I heard my uncle yell out, 61 yards. I knew that the first rabbit was 43 yards, and I was 10 yards from it now. Leaving me with a 28 yard shot, and no car to brace against. I raised the rifle, centered the crosshairs just behind the shoulder, and squeezed the trigger. Thud, THWOCK! The rabbit rolled twice and came to a lifeless halt. Another one!

I grabbed both the rabbits, giddy as a child who's just been given his first bike, and probably skipped back to the car. I got the rabbits into plastic bags and stuck them in the trunk. I went to get in the car when my uncle whispered to me, "Quick! Another rabbit!". I looked up the road and, sure enough, another rabbit. I braced up against the car and, with all the confidence in the world, nailed the rabbit with a headshot at 36 yards. I just grinned and loaded again, just in case. Well, the air rifle gods must have been smiling down on me today. Another rabbit, tucked tight against the sagebrush. My uncle whispered to me, "48 yards." The longest shot I've tried with this airgun. The airgun I've only had for twenty four hours.

I braced, looked through the scope, and breathed out. Crosshairs just touching the top of the rabbits head. Exhale, squeeze. Thud. THWOCK!

My longest shot with any springer had nailed the rabbit exactly where I wanted. I had just taken out four rabbits. One offhand, three braced against the car. At ranges I previously had thought impossible with springers. I just can not shoot past 25 yards with any sort of resemblance of accuracy. I had just taken a rabbit at 48 yards!

Mike, you are my hero! This gun is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!



Before the grill; dove and rabbit:



And on the plate!

[454 Big Block Chevy]

Congrats!

Rabbit is a FINE dish fit for a king!  anybody who says a 12 FPE springer is not capable is NUTS! 

You kind of have me wanting one of those XS46U's.

Ed

[UCChris]

Thanks Ed! I can't recommend this rifle, with a 12 fpe tune, enough. It is simply incredible.

[Tater]

Great shooting Chris! I loved the pics and the meal looks tasty.

[Veprjack]

Great shooting and narrative!

Pardon my ignorant question - I know the benefit of detuning a PCP to get more shots, but I don't understand the benefit(s) of detuning a springer. I'm not challenging the wisdom - just trying to understand.

I have a MM tuned .22 that I bought used and it's great. You have me thinking of getting a .177 like yours, so I want to know if I should also ask for the 12fpe version.

Thanks and keep the posts coming!

[dk1677]

Nice haul Chris! Sure looks good!

[Habanero69er]

Good shooting Chris & great story. You can almost feel your excitement & joy.

[UCChris]

Thanks guys! It was one of the funnest pesting trips of my life!

Great shooting and narrative!

Pardon my ignorant question - I know the benefit of detuning a PCP to get more shots, but I don't understand the benefit(s) of detuning a springer. I'm not challenging the wisdom - just trying to understand.

I have a MM tuned .22 that I bought used and it's great. You have me thinking of getting a .177 like yours, so I want to know if I should also ask for the 12fpe version.

Thanks and keep the posts coming!

Basically, there are three different recoils in a springer.

1) The backwards recoil of the pellet leaving the barrel. This is usually the least noticeable of the three recoils.

2) The forward recoil of the piston reaching the end of its travel. This is usually the most noticeable of the recoils.

3) Torque. When the spring is compressed, it naturally twists slightly. When released by the trigger sear, it twists as well as expands. This, in my non-professional opinion, is what makes springers hold sensitive.

We all know that magnum springers (B28 for example) are harder to shoot than docile springers (B12 for example). I personally believe that it is because of the spring torque.

Anyway, the long and short of it adds up to this. The less preload, the less power, in a spring, the less torque it will have. Making it less hold sensitive. That is why many choose to detune their springers. And it doesn't have to be 12 fpe. That is just a number that gets thrown around a lot since it is the limit in a large portion of the world. I think that a tune of 2-3 fpe less than what the gun usually puts out is enough to do the trick. This is because all spring guns have a spring that is matched to the compression chamber length. So, you detune by shortening the spring (usually) or by using a spring that has the same length, but a lower power (more compressy  ). A lower rate spring is ideal, but not often easy to find. So most will just shorten the spring.

Point is, you only need to take off a bit of preload in my opinion. It's not all about 12 fpe. I just knew that this gun did 15-16 fpe stock, so I thought that bringing it down to 12 fpe would be the perfect match of ballistics (in .177) and ease of shooting. And boy was I right!

On a different note, I love this gun. That is pretty clear to everyone. Though, one thing to know about the XS46U guns is that their triggers flat out not so good. If the XS25 that you have is fully tuned, Mike will have done the screw mod to the trigger. That makes the XS25 trigger pretty freaking awesome. The XS46 trigger, with Mike's full tune, is smooth and light, but it's as spongy as your wife's loofah.

[bavaria55n]

Great shooting, that rabbit looks so good I can almost taste it.

Around here rabbits are often active in the evening and after dark.
Check your games laws. If allowed, spotlighting can be a great way to hunt them.

[UCChris]

Great shooting, that rabbit looks so good I can almost taste it.

Around here rabbits are often active in the evening and after dark.
Check your games laws. If allowed, spotlighting can be a great way to hunt them.

Unfortunately, I can only spotlight unprotected species here. Though, the rabbits starting getting more active (more hopping around and less being flushed) right around the time the sun started setting. You may be on to something there.

[stonykill]

 Real nice haul Chris! Rabbit is delicious! I got my 1st one of the year a week or so ago.

 

[UCChris]

Nice shooting, Tom!

[LAalex]

Great hunt Chris.  Along with wood ducks, rabbit is my favorite game at the table.  Nice going.

Scotty

[Gertrude]

good stuff there Chris !
Enjoy the fine eats !

[Veprjack]

Chris,

Thanks for taking the time to explain the detune. It even makes sense to me!   And thanks for the tip about the trigger difference. The 25 is pretty awesome but I was looking to add a .177 and the 46 might just fit the need.

[UCChris]

It's a great gun and, clearly, the trigger doesn't make it unusable. Just gotta remember to pull it slowly and smoothly.

[uglymike]

I had a full tuned MM X-12 and it was an accurate little shooter but sold it because of that single stage trigger......    no can do.

[tracker1955]

Nice hunt, and yes ,last hour before dark is best.

[Veprjack]

It's a great gun and, clearly, the trigger doesn't make it unusable. Just gotta remember to pull it slowly and smoothly.

It didn't slow you down - and you dispatched a bunch on your first full day out! Again, the .177 proves worthy out to decent distances.

I wonder what inexpensive mod(s) could improve the trigger? Would Mike do trigger work as part of a tune?

[shadow]

Great shooting and pics and it looks as the shooter is performing nicely, critters disagree. Ed