Winter..... Air Guns

[snert]

What air rifle do you guys recommend for backyard plinking?

liked my RWS 48 in a big way. 22 cal

 

[Court178]

With some of the recommendations on this thread I finally took the leap. I went with the Umarex Notos PCP in a .22 caliber. I bought it from Blackhawk Armory for just under $200. I decided to go the PCP route for several reasons. Supposedly it's very quiet, no need to come off target to reload, ease of reloading which will allow my grandaughters to learn how to shoot, and price. This will allow me to dip my toes into the PCP market without spending $1,000 and up. I know it's not a competition grade airgun, but hopefully it will be more than adequate for practice and pest control.
Thanks for all of the info on this subject.

 

[brokeasajoke]

With some of the recommendations on this thread I finally took the leap. I went with the Umarex Notos PCP in a .22 caliber. I bought it from Blackhawk Armory for just under $200. I decided to go the PCP route for several reasons. Supposedly it's very quiet, no need to come off target to reload, ease of reloading which will allow my grandaughters to learn how to shoot, and price. This will allow me to dip my toes into the PCP market without spending $1,000 and up. I know it's not a competition grade airgun, but hopefully it will be more than adequate for practice and pest control.
Thanks for all of the info on this subject.

There are some good threads on the Notos over on airgun nation. A guy named fire walker I believe is one of the main tuning guys and now there is a way to use an FX barrel on them I believe with the kit being sold in eBay as well. Ive almost bought one several times and planned on using a pistol red dot for general fun plinking around the house.

 

[Court178]

There are some good threads on the Notos over on airgun nation. A guy named fire walker I believe is one of the main tuning guys and now there is a way to use an FX barrel on them I believe with the kit being sold in eBay as well. Ive almost bought one several times and planned on using a pistol red dot for general fun plinking around the house.

I was referred to airgun nation and fire walker by another member also. I'm just collecting data which seems to be a lot of out there. Stumbled on a 3d printed magazine for the notos as this seems to be a weak spot. Probably won't try that since I'm just a beginner at 3D printing. But nice to know. Didn't know about the FX barrel. What advantage does that give you?
The red dot idea sounds interesting. I have a green dot that isn't being used right now that would work on it. I also have a couple of scopes that would work also. The picatinny rail was a big plus for me.
Thanks for the info.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I was referred to airgun nation and fire walker by another member also. I'm just collecting data which seems to be a lot of out there. Stumbled on a 3d printed magazine for the notos as this seems to be a weak spot. Probably won't try that since I'm just a beginner at 3D printing. But nice to know. Didn't know about the FX barrel. What advantage does that give you?
The red dot idea sounds interesting. I have a green dot that isn't being used right now that would word on it. I also have a couple of scopes that would work also. The picatinny rail was a big plus for me.
Thanks for the info.

FX gives you a high end barrel. Maple custom products seems to be the go-to Notos magazine.

 

[DGP4]

Buying my FWB 300S was the best thing I ever did with respect to an airgun! Amazing accuracy without the need for pumps, compressors, scuba tanks etc.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Ok accuracy. I have a TX200, 2 Diana 75s, a FWB 300S all in .177. I have a Diana 54 in .22. I shoot most at 20 meters or 25 yards, doesn't really make a difference. They all regularly shoot 5 shot groups in the zeros and ones at that distance. So excellent accuracy is there in all of them. I always reference as, they are just like shooting a good bench gun at 100 yds without the reloading and cleaning. The difference is the learning curve with the TX being the longest. It took me about 4 months to figure it out to some degree, still learning 3 years later. Easiest to learn to some degree, the 300s. The others fall in between. So if you buy a quality underlever or side lever it's up to you to learn. Break barrels can be very accurate, again a little tougher to learn but some master them. As DGP4 above said, the 300s is a great rifle but not easy to find.

 

[natdscott]

Why not year round. I shot over 20,000 pellets each of the last 2 years. Most off the bench at 20m or at 25 yds depending on the target. I do shoot a bit offhand yet just because I have done it most of my life. Lots of fun in airguns. If you want to learn bench manners a Springer airgun will show you just how poor your bench manners might be.No reloading and extremely minimal cleaning. Its not easy, most run from the challenge, but very rewarding when you learn the skill.The OP as 2 nice rifles. The wife and I both shoot Dianna 75s. I just found a FWB 300S like the OPs and waiting for it to arrive. When it comes to tuning these rifles all the same principles apply as they do in centerfires. Velocity, pellet quality, barrel harmonics etc.

Springers are similar to ARs in that regard. ANY change in the overall vibration of the two, and shots will move. Not may. WILL.

 

[JEFFPPC]

So now I have the FWB300s. I have shot it several times. It's the easiest of my air rifles to sit down and shoot well. Shooting our match silhouette targets you have to really mess up not to get inside the animal hits every time. But for making a small dark hole at 20 meters it is behind both the Diana 75 and the TX200. Obvious reason at this point, I have not figured out yet how it wants to be handled so I am in the learning curve. It's fun and easy to shoot well with but not my gun of choice at this point.

 

[longbow]

Jeff. I have two different 3" wide plates that will slide on the 300S. Helps immensely in riding the bag.
1/2"x3x6 aluminum plate i made, the old Sinclair 3" plate...very nicely made with built in rails.No longer made,to bad they were worth the $35.00 . Pete

The small side holes on the aluminum were for delrin rails I made to experiment with ...

 

[JEFFPPC]

Jeff. I have two different 3" wide plates that will slide on the 300S. Helps immensely in riding the bag.
1/2"x3x6 aluminum plate i made, the old Sinclair 3" plate...very nicely made with built in rails.No longer made,to bad they were worth the $35.00 . Pete

The small side holes on the aluminum were for delrin rails I made to experiment with ...

Pete, the one downside in my mind was the width of the stock. I was thinking a plate would be the answer. However I had s custom made tall front eared bag made for a sporter .22 project that did not work out but is perfect for the 300s. So now I don't need a plate. Still looking for another like the one I have. I would say it's 95% or better. Blueing looks like new. Stock has a rub mark on the left rear from contact with the rear sight.

 

[longbow]

I use the Randolph rest with the adjustable side plates can do 2" up to four. they also detach quickly for a dedicated 3" or 2 1/2", or ? One of the best investments made! But whatever works for us !

 

[justinp61]

I made 3" teflon plates (bag riders) that I used on my rimfires and air guns.

 

[longbow]

My wife shooting the 300s with 4-12 Burris compact...indoors @ 50'. We do a Match almost everyday after work...she's becoming quite the shot too ! LOL

 

[450BM]

Its that time...Shooting my FWB 300S tyro in the basement. I try to shoot 10-20 shots a day. A back operation coming up, so will be slow for awhile in shooting.
The 300s and HW80...both classics !

Just sold my old P70 Field rifle...thanks Ed. Will be building an offhand stock for my Thomas,install the 10 meter screw and play with that in the future. ......

What kind of back operation? Have you had it yet? I have one the end of January, hopefully the last…

One part of our basement is 90ft long and I was going to have a nice air rifle range. Until of course we put some walls up. I still have about 60ft but everything is finished and my wife is “skeptical” of me shooting there. So, shoot out of my shop window but not the same as indoors with zero wind and the entire range being heated!

 

[longbow]

I can shoot 60' but tight so stay at 50'. Plywood over window ! ( made sure even my strongest pellet gun would not go thru plywood ) Pellet trap is 2x2' as mentioned earlier with pic. Am building another 2x2' x6" deep.this will have the heavy sheet metal at A 6" angle top to bottom. So the pellets angle down and collect.I might put the 1/2" rubber back on,I'll try it first to see how loud it is. The rubber mat makes it totally quiet. Just change out the cardboard to hold your targets and your set. As safe as possible Show your wife my wife shooting...betcha my Wife can outshoot your Wife ..LOL...that'll get her into it ! But if not... While she's watching wheel of Fortune...you get to shoot A 1/2 hour every night ! cant beat it.......

 

[MikeT49]

Winter still sucks, here's some ideas for pellet traps/backstop for indoor air gun shooting:


This is the trap I use for most of my indoor shooting:



It's a Do-All-Outdoors .22/.17 rimfire trap. The backstop behind the trap is about 24" W x 30" H x 6" thick of closed cell foam in front of a 3/4" piece of plywood. I Use a piece of cardboard and painters tape to seal the opening. Contains lead dust and the cardboard provides backing for your target. You can use up the back side of those sheets of paper you printed stuff on for no good reason. Use a little tape in addition to the clamp. Shows pellet holes great. Save the 60# stuff for specialty work. I've run this trap for at least ten years, it will outlast me. The original Do-All version is available from Amazon for ~ $64. Amazon also has a clone available (the Highwild) for ~ $48.
Nice bonus is the metallic "Doing" when the pellet hits.

Here's a DIY trap:

Fill a cardboard box with rubber mulch. Box should be 12" x 12" or so. Tape a clip on to the box to hold your target. It helps to tape target corners down to see pellet holes easier. When you shoot out a side, tape on a new piece of cardboard to cover holes. Shoot same side or rotate, etc The box should be free. The mulch is ~ $8 for 0.8 cu ft. Available at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. When the box totally wears out, recycle the mulch and get rid of the spent pellets by running it through a 1/2" or so hardware cloth DIY strainer.

Shooting bench.

DIY using a Workmate type work bench:



Top is made from scraps. 3/4" plywood. 2 x 10 and piece of carpet. A Workmate clone is available @ Amazon. A Powertec ~ $37. Very portable.
Used that one for a while then about five years ago the Boss in his "Deals of the Week" (This should be subtitled "Shit You Didn't Know You Needed") I saw the Caldwell Stable Table bench and had to have it.



I shoot down the hall. If you got a wifey, she might notice, so hopefully, you have a basement, etc. Target is @ 10 meters. If it's good enough for International competition, good enough for me. Besides, I'm not gonna cut a hole in the wall so I can shoot further. For those of you that think 10 meters isn't didly squat try putting 10 pellets in the same hole. Not "one hole", "same hole".
Another challenge Use the target with the flys as seen on the DIY target trap. Due to my lack of nerdness, I gave up on posting a link, but it is easy to find with a search. The challenge is to shoot all 16 flys and all shots must be dead center on the head. I've made it to 9. AAaaaarrrgggghhhH!

Mike

 

[longbow]

Some nice looking tables and traps! I redid my flat rubber backed trap and used some tempered sheet metal i had.Kept a sharp slope to see if the pellets would angle down enough and works well.Only 6" deep. Put a rubber sheet on bottom. Use small earth magnet to hold targets onto backer with inset sheet metal screws...

Also did a mod on my Seb 250 I picked up used and modified to except the adjustable Randolph rest top,works great . I do need to put A cross bar say 10" c/c onto fron ,the rest wants to tilt alitlle whrn using the side cocking 300s.

 

[dgeesaman]

I shoot down the hall. If you got a wifey, she might notice, so hopefully, you have a basement, etc. Target is @ 10 meters. If it's good enough for International competition, good enough for me. Besides, I'm not gonna cut a hole in the wall so I can shoot further. For those of you that think 10 meters isn't didly squat try putting 10 pellets in the same hole. Not "one hole", "same hole".
Another challenge Use the target with the flys as seen on the DIY target trap. Due to my lack of nerdness, I gave up on posting a link, but it is easy to find with a search. The challenge is to shoot all 16 flys and all shots must be dead center on the head. I've made it to 9. AAaaaarrrgggghhhH!

Mike

Not only is it a challenge to shoot shots in the exact same hole at 10m, it's also a tremendous challenge to shoot well offhand. So that's an excellent winter airgunning activity.

And if shooting off a rest is your style, try a 'flyspeck' target which is a bunch of small bullseyes where the 10 ring is not much bigger than the pellet, so every shot needs to be perfectly centered to score a 10. It's so much harder to move from bullseye to bullseye and center-punch them consistently.

 

[justinp61]

When I was shooting indoors, we shot 10m with aperture sights, bench and off hand using a different target for each. The bench target had 12 bulls, 2 for sighters and 10 for score, the offhand had four bulls, all for score. We shot 1 pellet into each bull from the bench and 5 into each target offhand.

Bench target on top, the second photo is just one bull of the offhand target, I don't have an image of a full target. The last image is the pellet trap I built.