Pellet rifle "rediscovered", any air rifle folks ? caution, TMI

[CT10ring]

I ran across this fine shooter while shuffling thru the safe, looking for, what; I can't remember.
I keep all rifles in socks, with tags, so they all look alike, sorta.

This is a Beeman RX-1, .20 cal pellet rifle. It is a single shot air driven ( vs springs) piston.
Bought it in 1991(?).

I ordered some .20 cal pellets last week and went to it.

It's been fun shooting off bags at 10 meters- it has a recoil like a 22-250, oddly.
Great trigger, made in Germany. Easy to clean .

I'm using open sights - and I have a scope mount on the way.
The limiting factor in accuracy is me, for sure.

May 27 2021 / rifle + target pix.

June 7 Edit: Canned the scope - too much recoil...horrible groups.
A pellet rifle shows poor technique - on the target, for sure.

 

[Fast14riot]

I have always enjoyed airguns. My entire air pistol collection was liberated from me a few years back after a break in, but I still have my Gamo .177 break barrel rifle. 20 is an excellent balance between speed and accuracy. My next one will be a Xisico break barrel in .25 most likely.

 

[SSL]

I "rediscovered" air rifles about 10 years ago. We had a huge mulberry tree about 35 yards from our house that attracted hundreds of starlings (grackles) for the berrys. You haven't lived until you have seen how much berry-laden bird crap ends up on your cars, lawn furniture and deck. I didn't want to use my .22s for safety concerns, so I ended up buying an RWS Diana 34P .177 caliber. Topped with a Hawke 3-9 mildot scope with a trigger that adjusts from 3 pounds down to OOOPS!, I could sit in my gun room in air conditioned comfort and plenty of ice tea next to me to pick them off. That little gun is remarkably accurate and sails a pellet clear through them at that range. Just plain fun to shoot.
I was happy to see you compared the recoil of yours with a 22-250. I thought I was imagining that!

 

[CT10ring]

nice rig! The Hawke scopes seem to be recommended for airguns - "reverse" recoil.
Ice tea - check.
fun -check.
A/C - you are definitely in the south.
recoil- yup.

 

[snert]

Fine rifle. Balls of fun. I still shoot a 1967 Winchester 450/Diana 45 underlever 177. Still fun

 

[gambleone]

I ran across this fine shooter while shuffling thru the safe, looking for, what; I can't remember.
I keep all rifles in socks, with tags, so they all look alike, sorta.

This is a Beeman RX-1, .20 cal pellet rifle. It is a single shot air driven ( vs springs) piston.
Bought it in 1991(?).

I ordered some .20 cal pellets last week and went to it.

It's been fun shooting off bags at 10 meters- it has a recoil like a 22-250, oddly.
Great trigger, made in Germany. Easy to clean .

I'm using open sights - and I have a scope mount on the way.
The limiting factor in accuracy is me, for sure.

Fun fact - when I had a photo studio in NYC ( imagine a wide open space 50' X 200' - a loft with no neighbors, really ), we had shooting contests here, after hours (w / 22 bullet trap) using the RX-1 with / vs a couple employees.

We shot for beers and I bought my employee, from Paris TX -- many beers. I never won .
The office manager gal did shoot some holes in the wall ( 3 layers bricks behind, fyi ) and we used some plaster on a putty knife to repair.

May 27 2021 / rifle + target pix.

Nice lookin rifle. I have a RWS .22 cal. Air rifles are a blast to shoot.

 

[SSL]

nice rig! The Hawke scopes seem to be recommended for airguns - "reverse" recoil.
Ice tea - check.
fun -check.
A/C - you are definitely in the south.
recoil- yup.

Actually in northern Illinois, but I am a wimp when it comes to heat! I can work in it just fine, but just sitting and waiting...not so much.

 

[CT10ring]

Actually in northern Illinois, but I am a wimp when it comes to heat! I can work in it just fine, but just sitting and waiting...not so much.

Well, another time I've shot wide. Illinois-land of Lincoln! Maybe steer clear of the deep south ( my birthplace). It's rumored that a 5.56mm @ 3200 fps is 1650 fps in tha deep south.
Can't confirm - but the tea is dam fine with a 5 mil holdover.

 

[GotRDid]

Earned my NRA Distinguished Expert Badge in HS (late 70s) with an FWB 300, and went on to International Expert level before graduating. I have an FWB 300 Running Boar rifle now, as well as an HW-97 in .20 cal for hunting. Both rifles are scoped with Simmons Air Rifle scopes with powerful internal springs to secure the forward objective in place due the dual recoil upon firing either gas-ram or spring powered guns.
I shoot a Hy-Score 816M Air Pistol, and finally acquired an FWB 65 for more serious practice.
Love this stuff!
GotRDid.

 

[jpmimproved]

In high schools I competed in silhouette air gun competition and from those days still have two IZH-46 pistols and a FWB P70. I have probably fired more rounds out of those than all other guns combined. Recently they have found a resurgence in their use for pest control since rabbits have been destroying the plants around the house. They have always been good for positional shooting, as the cost is so low, and the accuracy is phenomenal. I don’t think I will ever go without a PCP air rifle.

 

[butchlambert]

I have a Winchester-German made break barrel and my wife has an Airforce Talon.

 

[divingin]

It's been fun shooting off bags at 10 meters- it has a recoil like a 22-250, oddly.

Spring piston guns work by locking a piston back in a cylinder against a strong spring. Tripping the trigger allows the piston to slam forward in the cylinder, driving the air inside through an orifice that propels the pellet down and out of the barrel. The recoil is the "equal and opposite" reaction to the mass of the piston going forward (and the spring pushing back, I suppose), hence the recoil. Feinwerkbau had a kind of neat system where the "action" of the gun was on a short rail, and was released upon firing, allowing the action to slip back by about a quarter inch and eat up a lot of the recoil. It worked well enough to win more than a few Olympic Gold Medals.

[One note: Spring piston guns are prone to "dieseling", where the air compressed by the piston heats up enough to ignite any hydrocarbons that may be in the cylinder, which can damage the mechanism. Be careful about what you use to lube the cylinder and piston.]

Air rifles can be insanely accurate - match air guns will put 10 pellets through a hole that is barely measurably larger than the pellet diameter at their proscribed distance.

Have fun; I suspect a lot of us started out with a cheap air gun when we were kids (or I may be delusional; dunno.) I know I did.

 

[mensajd]

I have a gas ram powered .177 beeman air rifle that chrono'ed at 11xx fps. Nice sharp crack when fired! It broke the first three scopes that I mounted to it but fortunately, Bushnell stood behind their guarantee and fixed or replaced them all. Finally settled on $400 bushnell scope that was able to tolerate the odd airgun recoil.

Anyway, the gun is very accurate. I zeroed it at 25 yards and it is lethal on birds and small game at that range. Then I found the chairgun airgun ballistic app - and wow! That coupled with a laser rangefinder and I managed to pop a pest bird at 75 yds, first shot out of a cold bore. You need this app (I think there are versions for android too): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chairgun/id452678680

 

[yotehater]

Great fun indeed. I ordered a Benjamin Trail in .22 factory direct from Crosman and the squirrels have taken notice.
Their customer service is still good.
https://www.crosman.com/product/benjamin-trail-xl-magnum-22

 

[CharlieNC]

Yea I got my first one earlier this year for cheap, available "ammo". The Diana/RWS 54 also rides on an internal recoil rail mechanism in order to desensitize the effect of recoil on shooting stability. Also, the side cocking lever provides for a fixed barrel so as not to worry about wear affecting accuracy. Fun to shoot and very accurate out to 50yd.

 

[Brians356]

Earned my NRA Distinguished Expert Badge in HS (late 70s) with an FWB 300, and went on to International Expert level before graduating. I have an FWB 300

I bought an FWB 300S in mint condition at my local pawn shop, cheap, before they could research values on the Interweb. As you know it has a "recoilless" action. They were popular at one time for Olympic competition. Amazing precision, but only about 600 fps as I recall. I also have a scoped Beeman R7, made in Germany, which runs 700 fps in .177 and has killed hundreds of Starlings in a mulberry tree.
-

 

[PigButtons]

My favorite is my PCP Theoben Mk I (Rebranded as Beeman Super 12), .20 cal, with a Baush & Lomb 6-24x40AO. Easily takes chipmunks out to 50 yards. Target shooting at 25 yards I really have to pay attention because it will put pellets through the same hole over and over. I do have a RAW 1000x in .22 as well, (modern version of the Theoben), and it will shoot 1/2 MOA out to 75 yards, and will shoot slugs as well as diabolo pellets. It'll rip a chipmunk nearly in half at 35 yards.

 

[kzin]

I've got a daisy 887 single pump pneumatic now to conserve 22 ammo.

Shooting at 25y is kinda do-able but the wind effect is incredible. In moa it's like shooting 22 at over 300 yards.

I mostly shoot the 10m target at 10 meters and it seems more than any other target it's fairly easy to get 9s but that ten-dot is tough!

 

[divingin]

I bought an FWB 300S in mint condition at my local pawn shop, cheap, before they could research values on the Interweb. As you know it has a "recoilless" action. They were popular at one time for Olympic competition. Amazing precision, but only about 600 fps as I recall.

I have a FWB 65 (purchased onsite from Beeman in Mountain View, CA in the 80's.) It's a little more challenging to shoot than my Morini, but if you do things right, pretty much just as accurate. Runs about 460 fps, I think.

Watch the seals/buffers on your 300; they tend to break apart, allowing the piston to slam the front of the chamber (or so they say.)

 

[1911cwp]

Spring piston guns work by locking a piston back in a cylinder against a strong spring. Tripping the trigger allows the piston to slam forward in the cylinder, driving the air inside through an orifice that propels the pellet down and out of the barrel. The recoil is the "equal and opposite" reaction to the mass of the piston going forward (and the spring pushing back, I suppose), hence the recoil. Feinwerkbau had a kind of neat system where the "action" of the gun was on a short rail, and was released upon firing, allowing the action to slip back by about a quarter inch and eat up a lot of the recoil. It worked well enough to win more than a few Olympic Gold Medals.

[One note: Spring piston guns are prone to "dieseling", where the air compressed by the piston heats up enough to ignite any hydrocarbons that may be in the cylinder, which can damage the mechanism. Be careful about what you use to lube the cylinder and piston.]

Air rifles can be insanely accurate - match air guns will put 10 pellets through a hole that is barely measurably larger than the pellet diameter at their proscribed distance.

Have fun; I suspect a lot of us started out with a cheap air gun when we were kids (or I may be delusional; dunno.)