Precision Air Rifles

[markT]

Air Arms S410. I’ve got it for sale on another forum. Was this king about going to the Airgun show in oct in Hickory, NC.

 

[SGK]

Old thread. Has much changed? I keep toying with the idea of getting a Daystate Alpha Wolf. My son is becoming more and more interested in shooting as well so something for a suburban backyard would be a good addition.

Are longer barrels (28") worth it?

I get the convenience of a dive-shop-filled SCBA tank but is that better than lugging a portable compressor?

Recommended caliber? 22?

Any suggestions re scope and mount?

 

[Brians356]

Are longer barrels (28") worth it?

I can't imagine that long a tube is required for an air rifle to produce its max velocity. But I have an open mind.
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[dgeesaman]

Unless you're shooting rested and striving for the absolute maximum velocity*, a 28' barrel is not good.
Barrel time in an airgun is significant, slower than a 22LR so you really don't want so much hold sensitivity.

SCBA tanks are wise IMO. Filling directly off of the compressor is slow and depending where you shoot, highly impractical. Plus, with a tank, you can buy an external regulator and shoot tethered sometimes.

Alpha Wolf is a good airgun. Being electronic there is a lot to consider in tuning it, and I personally steer away from complicated externally-adjustable platforms because I send my PCPs to a tuner, get them set up to do one thing well, and leave them alone. The Daystate electronics though are interesting because they are smart enough to help manage all of that.

*Power = air consumption. Big power numbers are attractive on paper but in terms of refill intervals and shot cycle you pay a big penalty. Pellets and slugs will spiral quite a bit at long range until you find the right projectile at the right velocity, which is usually not maximum. Not much point in hammering 100 ft-lb if it spirals at 75y. Better to have reasonable power that always hits the mark.

 

[SGK]

So stay at 23" or even shorter?

I need to check if my local dive shop will fill to 4500 psi.

Any other PCPs I ought to consider? (I'm sort of the view buy-once-cry-once but I'm not going to be doing competition with it I don't think)

 

[dgeesaman]

600mm ish seems like a good all around length for a medium- to medium-high power PCP.

Daystate makes great rifles. Air Arms does too. There are dozens of brands and I'm not well suited to comment on them.

Pellet caliber for short range (<60y) is .177 to .22, for long range (<120y) .22 to .30.

I don't have much good experience with slugs except that they are very fussy about matching slug to barrel and you have to get your tune dialed perfectly for that slug. All the ballistic advantages are nothing if the shots scatter on paper like a shotgun. I have seen some high performing slug guns and it's a sight to behold. Just never owned one that shot slugs well myself.

 

[MikeT49]

Optimum barrel length depends on how much horsepower your gun has. For example, lately I've been playing with Crosman's newer 3622. MV about 700 fps. If you exceed 23", the MV actually decreases. On the high power builds I do, MV increases with barrel length. Max length I have done is 26". With the higher power guns I have seen that MV is still increasing.
Kinda like to try a longer barrel.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I recently purchased a PCP for close range(less than 75 feet)night time rat shooting. Tutt's Garrison, Mn has a bunch of rifles they're selling off. I grabbed a Liberty Nova(plastic stock) .22 cal. Put my Sightmark Wraith NV on it. Have thousands of Gamo rockets I got for a 1.00 a tin. I'm 65, decent shape, a 4500psi 4 stage hand pump is REAL exercise. So far, rifle/pump/pellets I'm at 175$. The rats are going to catch it when it cools off. The springers will ruin scopes, Sightmark doesn't recommend the digital scopes on springers, so the pcp is required.

 

[ZacharyR]

I have a RAW in .22 they are very solid simple accurate PCP rifles. They don't have the easy adjustablity of some except for the hammer spring. But if you just want to find a pellet it likes and shoot they're a very solid accurate gun. Mine will hold its own or outshoot my CZ457 out to 65 yards and on a windstill day even further.

 

[Allen Corneau]

I need to check if my local dive shop will fill to 4500 psi.

SCUBA tanks are only 3,000 or 3,500 PSI. Most likely they can't do 4,500. Paintball shops fill to that pressure but for much smaller tanks, so they may not be up for doing a much larger tank.

There's only one place in the greater Houston area that will fill a 4,500 PSI tank. It's a company that services the emergency SCBA equipment for the petrochemical plants. If you're in a rural area and make friends with the local fire department you may be able to get your tank filled from them.

 

[Mike Montgomery]

I have a RAW in .22 they are very solid simple accurate PCP rifles. They don't have the easy adjustablity of some except for the hammer spring. But if you just want to find a pellet it likes and shoot they're a very solid accurate gun. Mine will hold its own or outshoot my CZ457 out to 65 yards and on a windstill day even further.

ZacharyR,
I also have a RAW in .22 caliber. What pellets does yours like and at what velocity do they shoot the best?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[dgeesaman]

I have two RAWs. A friend of mine has 10 or 11. They're truly great guns.

It's true they're not highly adjustable but they do the thing they're intended to do really really well.

 

[brokeasajoke]

SCUBA tanks are only 3,000 or 3,500 PSI. Most likely they can't do 4,500. Paintball shops fill to that pressure but for much smaller tanks, so they may not be up for doing a much larger tank.

There's only one place in the greater Houston area that will fill a 4,500 PSI tank. It's a company that services the emergency SCBA equipment for the petrochemical plants. If you're in a rural area and make friends with the local fire department you may be able to get your tank filled from them.

This. As chief of my department I cycle the compressor occasionally anyway whether I fill a tank or not. Our whole system is in a enclosed trailer with choice of diesel Gen or shore power. This is how I fill mine and out of date tanks are free. They do need to be hydro tested in order to be filled by most places

 

[Mike Montgomery]

ZacharyR,
My RAW HM1000X seems to like FX 25.4 grain pellets at 930 fps. I tried a lot of different pellets and velocities and settled on these. But only after shooting about 2,500 pellets of other brands and weights.
Mike

 

[JEFFPPC]

I am a Springer guy but read a lot about pcps on the forums and look at their match results. Outside of the Thomas guns that start around 6000.00 the RAW HM10000X is what I see winning the most. My old archery buddy had one but told it, it was boringly accurate he said. Now the Thomas guns shoot like the rim fire benchrest crowd wish their rifles did, lol.

 

[ZacharyR]

ZacharyR,
I also have a RAW in .22 caliber. What pellets does yours like and at what velocity do they shoot the best?
Thanks,
Mike

I have been shooting JTS pellets in 22 grain at right around 994-1000 fps and it seems to really like them.
I shot the 25 grain fx and jsb pellets for a long time but the quality control seems to have gone down. So far the JTS pellets have been really nice and consistent

 

[Mark W]

SCUBA tanks are only 3,000 or 3,500 PSI. Most likely they can't do 4,500. Paintball shops fill to that pressure but for much smaller tanks, so they may not be up for doing a much larger tank.

There's only one place in the greater Houston area that will fill a 4,500 PSI tank. It's a company that services the emergency SCBA equipment for the petrochemical plants. If you're in a rural area and make friends with the local fire department you may be able to get your tank filled from them.

You’re right about the scuba tanks, but I’ve. It has any issue getting dive shops to fill my scba tank to 4500 in central Ohio.

 

[Mike Montgomery]

I have been shooting JTS pellets in 22 grain at right around 994-1000 fps and it seems to really like them.
I shot the 25 grain fx and jsb pellets for a long time but the quality control seems to have gone down. So far the JTS pellets have been really nice and consistent

ZacharyR,
Thank you for the information on the JTS pellets. I'll give them a try.

Mike

 

[MikeT49]

For those interested in a accurate custom budget PCP (yes, kinda an oxymoron), I have 10 or so I would like to get to people that will actually shoot them. I build airguns for a hobby. I build a new gun, tweak it until it shoots one hole out to 25 yards, then they go into a safe. Then I would build a new one. Most guns I have about $800 to $1.2K in them for parts including scope and mounts. Most are in Boyds stocks. If you want one, they come with a no BS guarantee. I will sell them for half of my parts cost plus shipping. Labor is free. I will only sell to members who actually contribute to the discussions here. No internet bargain dweebs.

They are .22 cal with fpe from 20 to 60 ft-lbs. They are all Benjamin/Crosman hybrids. All have modified power valves. They have power adjusters, custom hammers, custom hammer springs, pressure regulators. Triggers have been tuned to get a crisp trigger break at 8 oz to ~ 2.5#. Barrels are lapped, crown redone, and the leade is polished. Barrel bands are modified to minimize POI wander, etc, etc, etc.

The way I roll is, I send you the gun, you do an op test. When/if you are satisfied you pay me. If not, I'll pay for the return shipping. Let me repeat, this offer is only good for members who actually contribute to the discussions here.

Yeah, I know this should be in the classifieds, but that would expose the offer to internet dweeb merchants.

PM me if interested. Mike

 

[snert]

For those interested in a accurate custom budget PCP (yes, kinda an oxymoron), I have 10 or so I would like to get to people that will actually shoot them. I build airguns for a hobby. I build a new gun, tweak it until it shoots one hole out to 25 yards, then they go into a safe. Then I would build a new one. Most guns I have about $800 to $1.2K in them for parts including scope and mounts. Most are in Boyds stocks. If you want one, they come with a no BS guarantee. I will sell them for half of my parts cost plus shipping. Labor is free. I will only sell to members who actually contribute to the discussions here. No internet bargain dweebs.

They are .22 cal with fpe from 20 to 60 ft-lbs. They are all Benjamin/Crosman hybrids. All have modified power valves. They have power adjusters, custom hammers, custom hammer springs, pressure regulators. Triggers have been tuned to get a crisp trigger break at 8 oz to ~ 2.5#. Barrels are lapped, crown redone, and the leade is polished. Barrel bands are modified to minimize POI wander, etc, etc, etc.

The way I roll is, I send you the gun, you do an op test. When/if you are satisfied you pay me. If not, I'll pay for the return shipping. Let me repeat, this offer is only good for members who actually contribute to the discussions here.

Yeah, I know this should be in the classifieds, but that would expose the offer to internet dweeb merchants.

PM me if interested.

I can attest to the truthfulness of this and quality of these rifles. I have one and my son has one. Mike approached me a year ago and made an offer I could not refuse. My Marauder had pooped out and he offered one of these rifles to replace it.
I have been shooting 55 yards to my garden all summer with it. I hung a steel plate and am holding nickle sized groups off a tripod. The vermin that were once eating my garden are now feeding worms. I like the circle of life in that...
I put a T10 on it and at 33 feet I am shooting the head off of fly targets with impunity. Mine came with a host of tools, adjustment directions and Mike's assistance in changing things should I ever need or want to...

I stuck with the setting and the pellets that he suggested and it has been a pain free and darned fun experience. Where can you get a tuned and ready to go rifle for that price, anywhere? I plan to use mine for tree squirrel season this fall. I feed it off a SCBA tank and the local VFD fills it for me.