Loving my new air rifle!

[BBerguson]

Talking about ”get well” present I bought myself a couple of months ago, an FX Impact M3 in 25 caliber. This thing is fantastic and a pure pleasure to shoot. Took it pigeon “hunting“ yesterday at a farm a couple miles up the road. Never met the farmer before and he was happy to let me shoot the pigeons, even watched me shoot the last two of four. Yardages were from 40 to 65 yards all of them on top of silos. Three were shot on a 60ft silo the other was a 70 footer. One flew about 50 yards and crashed (I hit him a little too low) and the other three were drt. I was using 25.4 gr FX brand domed pellets launching them at 900 fps. I did miss one shot and it was my fault, I was using a tractor fender and it was a bad height, I pushed the shot right. Pigeon sal there and let me try again, I didn’t miss the 2nd time.

I’m getting 140 shots on a tank of air and it’s pretty easy to empty the tank in one shooting session No ear muffs required with the silencer that comes with it. No recoil, 28 shot magazine, super smooth action and a wonderful 2 stage trigger. This gun is truly the cat’s bleep! Hoping I get more pellets for Christmas…

Headed back to the farm next weekend and will be looking for more.

On another good note, I feel 100% recovered from the viral meningitis. I not only feel good but I feel like my vision is as good as before I came down with this. So all is good, looking forward to my boy coming home from college for winter break, which should be Sunday or Monday!

 

[Bret4207]

Sweet! My oldest boy has a thing for pigeons and tries to shoot them whenever he can. I just have to train him to pick up the dead ones. We used to have cats that would take care of them, but those particular ones much have gotten schumcked in road or something. Seems like no matter how many he gets, there are still 45 or 50 of them waiting for me to feed the chickens every day. Kind of like coyotes in that regard- wipe out a mess and even more show up!

 

[Snakeoil]

I keep threatening to buy a PCP air rifle. I bought an RWS spring piston years ago. It was a lever gun, not a barrel cocker. Not cheap. But boy could it shoot. But the process of cocking and loading just did not appeal to me. I let an old guy shoot it at the club one day and he could not cock it. I think I kept it about 2 weeks and sold it to another guy at the club that seem to have caught the same bug I had that made me buy it in the first place.

The PCP guns are more appealing to me. The thing keeping me from doing it is the extra junk you have to have in order to shoot it. I'm specifically talking about high pressure hand pumps or a compressor. I do have a scuba bottle and could probably get away with that. The other rub is I know of no matches being shot with these guns and I know that plinking wears thin in short order for me. I need some friendly competition to get my juices flowing. Maybe someday...

Update: I just looked up that air rifle. That's no toy. You certainly did not hold back when you got that gem. I found a few vids on the web and one shows how to tune it. It is definitely a finely built rifle. The downside, is it pretty much voids all the common excuses for missing.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I have a couple. I really like the Crosman Discovery 22. Mine was tuned by Mac1 in California. Its a awesome shooter. I added a slick "lead dust collector" cause it sounded like a 22 LR before!!! Its got plenty of power but runs on 15k so its pump able. Most 30k are pump able for a 25/30 yr old and 35+K forget it! Being pump able means a 33% savings! But means less power abd less shots per fill. I get "enough" shots for my needs and power hovers @ 1000fps with lighter and 825+ with heaviest. Crazy good accuracy. No fancy scope needed meaning air gun scope. No different recoil on a PCP. Light many are quite heavy and carry able. Many are not.

More light options today as mine is 10+ years old.

I also have a 25 Marauder. Awesome shooter 800+ fos with heavy 25 cal and pin point accuracy but big bulky requires a tank and is HEAVY!!

CW

 

[BBerguson]

I keep threatening to buy a PCP air rifle. I bought an RWS spring piston years ago. It was a lever gun, not a barrel cocker. Not cheap. But boy could it shoot. But the process of cocking and loading just did not appeal to me. I let an old guy shoot it at the club one day and he could not cock it. I think I kept it about 2 weeks and sold it to another guy at the club that seem to have caught the same bug I had that made me buy it in the first place.

The PCP guns are more appealing to me. The thing keeping me from doing it is the extra junk you have to have in order to shoot it. I'm specifically talking about high pressure hand pumps or a compressor. I do have a scuba bottle and could probably get away with that. The other rub is I know of no matches being shot with these guns and I know that plinking wears thin in short order for me. I need some friendly competition to get my juices flowing. Maybe someday...

Update: I just looked up that air rifle. That's no toy. You certainly did not hold back when you got that gem. I found a few vids on the web and one shows how to tune it. It is definitely a finely built rifle. The downside, is it pretty much voids all the common excuses for missing.

I have 2 springers, an FWB 124 in .177 and an RWS 48 in .177 (probably what you have). When someone comes to shoot the new gun, I bring out the springers first, for them and myself. It makes the PCP experience that much better. I’m pretty sure I’m going to sell the RWS, it’s just not doing it for me anymore.

I started out PCP with a Benjamin Marauder (.177) and a manual pump. The gun is laser accurate (inside) but ridiculously bulky and heavy. Pumping it was ok at first but it gets old pretty quick. I knew I didn’t want to pump the new gun by hand so I ordered a GX pump off Amazon. It will pump up the FX in 11 minutes and the Marauder in about 3.5 so I don’t even think about it anymore, I just shoot.

I’d been wanting this gun for 5 or 6 years but didn’t think I’d ever spend that kind of money on an air rifle. Getting sick this summer changed my outlook! Watching the South African guys convinced me that this was the gun I wanted and I’m not disappointed even a little bit. It is the most expensive gun I own, by a lot, but price per shot (compared to the cost of the gun) is peanuts. I’ve already shot it over 500 times which isn’t a lot actually because I’ve been concentrating on shooting cast loads in my powder burners the last month. But, that will change over the winter… I just ordered about 3500 pellets and hopefully they last me the winter but I wouldn’t bet on it!

 

[Snakeoil]

What peaked my interest in these was two things. First, I kept seeing the ads for Air Force rifles in various gun rags. Then, I went to a guy's house to look at a used motorcycle and he had just been shooting his PCP. I asked him about it and he let me fondle it. It was impressive. Do not remember what it was. But it hung like a normal rifle would. I have been oogling them on an off ever since, but never pulled the trigger.

Yes, I had an RWS 48. And that was before I even knew PCP guns existed. I actually had two. First one shot so far to the right that I ran out of scope adjustment. RWS said send it back. I did and they sent me a new one and it was spot on. My guess is they probably just needed to straighten the barrel in the receiver. I probably could have done that myself. But I have this thing about fixing new guns... shouldn't be required.

 

[BBerguson]

I have a couple. I really like the Crosman Discovery 22. Mine was tuned by Mac1 in California. Its a awesome shooter. I added a slick "lead dust collector" cause it sounded like a 22 LR before!!! Its got plenty of power but runs on 15k so its pump able. Most 30k are pump able for a 25/30 yr old and 35+K forget it! Being pump able means a 33% savings! But means less power abd less shots per fill. I get "enough" shots for my needs and power hovers @ 1000fps with lighter and 825+ with heaviest. Crazy good accuracy. No fancy scope needed meaning air gun scope. No different recoil on a PCP. Light many are quite heavy and carry able. Many are not.

More light options today as mine is 10+ years old.

I also have a 25 Marauder. Awesome shooter 800+ fos with heavy 25 cal and pin point accuracy but big bulky requires a tank and is HEAVY!!

CW

My Marauder pumps up to 3000 psi and I’m getting 60-70 full power shots in .177. I think the heavy 10.34 grains pellets are running about 850 fps if I remember correctly. The FX Impact is pumped to 3600 psi and I get 140 full power shots. The 25 grain pellets are moving at 900 fps and the heavy 34 grainers are at 835. From everything I’ve read and watched, pellets should be kept under 930 for best accuracy and I believe this from my experience. I could put a slug liner in it and this makes it a new ball game but you could spend a lot of money getting them to shoot well. I don’t need it right now but I could change my mind

I haven’t tried shooting the Impact faster (it shoots great right now and is a hammer on pigeons) but I’ve shot light, 7 grain pellets in the Marauder and get shotgun patterns from them.

I would compare moving from bb guns to springers as what it was like to switch from slugs in a smooth bore shotgun to a lever action rifle but single shot. It’s better but room for improvement. Switching from springer to PCP is like going from a worn out single shot 22 to my Kimber HS 22. It’s just incredibly better!

My Marauder will be my inside the barn pigeon rifle and the Impact will be an outside gun. The 177 wont punch holes in the roof or walls and doesn’t have the oomph for longer shots or able to buck the wind. With the 25 caliber I would feel very confident out to 100 yards on pigeons if little or no wind and if it was windy I’d want to keep the shots under 60 yards. This is all with laser ranged shots. The pellets really start dropping after 50 yards and known yardages is a must.

 

[L Ross]

Talking about ”get well” present I bought myself a couple of months ago, an FX Impact M3 in 25 caliber. This thing is fantastic and a pure pleasure to shoot. Took it pigeon “hunting“ yesterday at a farm a couple miles up the road. Never met the farmer before and he was happy to let me shoot the pigeons, even watched me shoot the last two of four. Yardages were from 40 to 65 yards all of them on top of silos. Three were shot on a 60ft silo the other was a 70 footer. One flew about 50 yards and crashed (I hit him a little too low) and the other three were drt. I was using 25.4 gr FX brand domed pellets launching them at 900 fps. I did miss one shot and it was my fault, I was using a tractor fender and it was a bad height, I pushed the shot right. Pigeon sal there and let me try again, I didn’t miss the 2nd time.

I’m getting 140 shots on a tank of air and it’s pretty easy to empty the tank in one shooting session No ear muffs required with the silencer that comes with it. No recoil, 28 shot magazine, super smooth action and a wonderful 2 stage trigger. This gun is truly the cat’s bleep! Hoping I get more pellets for Christmas…

Headed back to the farm next weekend and will be looking for more.

On another good note, I feel 100% recovered from the viral meningitis. I not only feel good but I feel like my vision is as good as before I came down with this. So all is good, looking forward to my boy coming home from college for winter break, which should be Sunday or Monday!

Barn pigeon makes wonderful deep dish pot pie in a casserole dish lined and topped wiht an English meat pie crust. Just use the breasts.

 

[BBerguson]

What peaked my interest in these was two things. First, I kept seeing the ads for Air Force rifles in various gun rags. Then, I went to a guy's house to look at a used motorcycle and he had just been shooting his PCP. I asked him about it and he let me fondle it. It was impressive. Do not remember what it was. But it hung like a normal rifle would. I have been oogling them on an off ever since, but never pulled the trigger.

Yes, I had an RWS 48. And that was before I even knew PCP guns existed. I actually had two. First one shot so far to the right that I ran out of scope adjustment. RWS said send it back. I did and they sent me a new one and it was spot on. My guess is they probably just needed to straighten the barrel in the receiver. I probably could have done that myself. But I have this thing about fixing new guns... shouldn't be required.

I wanted an Air Force for awhile… Shot count is too low for my liking but I may think differently if I had a large scba tank. It would be cool shooting my own cast bullets out of it. I’ll say it now because I know myself pretty well, I’ll probably have one in the future and I’d guess it to be between .357 and .458 caliber.

I don’t like shooting the RWS 48 anymore, it feels very violent (not smooth) and the trigger is crap. My FWB 124 is very smooth for a springer and has a great 2 stage trigger. I’ve owned it for 39 years and replaced the main seal in it once. I still like shooting it once in a while but enjoy the pcps so much more.

Yeah I agree, shouldn’t have to fix a new gun. I got rid of a Kimber 1911 because it wouldn’t shoot where the sights were pointed and their sights cannot be moved by mortal men and tools. I wasn’t comfortable sending a $1000 gun in the mail for them to push the sight and was po’d they put the sights in so damn tight. It went down the road…

 

[BBerguson]

Barn pigeon makes wonderful deep dish pot pie in a casserole dish lined and topped wiht an English meat pie crust. Just use the breasts.

We ate them once but I didn’t know how to cook anything then so they weren’t that good. I’m a better cook now…

I might have been able to retrieve the ones I shot but one crashed in the uncut weedy field behind the barn (I wasn’t going there) and the other three stayed on the silo roofs or roofs I wasn’t going to walk on. Shooting them in the barn makes retrieval easy but I didn’t have that option on Saturday. I’ll have to go one of these nights with a good spotlight and get some.

 

[CZ93X62]

I have a couple spring-piston RWS rifles--a M-45 in .177 and a M-52 in 25. That 25 is no joke, close to 800 FPS with Beeman Crow Magnums (27.4 gr). It had been re-sprung--i think with a cut-off garage door spring. It is one unholy puppy mother to cock, and the vibrations are distracting.

I have pondered the purchase of a PCP rifle. I don't understand the logistics of filling the air chambers, most of that is in codespeak I can't navigate. If there is a "PCP Rifles For Dummies" out there in some form, that would be right useful. Kalifornistan allows lead pellets for hunting with airguns; I guess consistency is the final refuge of the unimaginative. Whatta place, eh?

 

[dale2242]

I have 2 177 cal air guns that i don`t shoot nearly enough.
One is a high dollar RWS break front target pistol. It1s super accurate.
The other is a Gamo break front that is getting more accurate the more I shoot it.
They say most run of the mill break front air guns take around 500 shots to start to shoot their best.

 

[BBerguson]

I have a couple spring-piston RWS rifles--a M-45 in .177 and a M-52 in 25. That 25 is no joke, close to 800 FPS with Beeman Crow Magnums (27.4 gr). It had been re-sprung--i think with a cut-off garage door spring. It is one unholy puppy mother to cock, and the vibrations are distracting.

I have pondered the purchase of a PCP rifle. I don't understand the logistics of filling the air chambers, most of that is in codespeak I can't navigate. If there is a "PCP Rifles For Dummies" out there in some form, that would be right useful. Kalifornistan allows lead pellets for hunting with airguns; I guess consistency is the final refuge of the unimaginative. Whatta place, eh?

My RWS - 48 isn’t terrible to cock for 10 - 20 shots. I shot my new PCP 140 times in one sitting and my Marauder 70 times in the same session and I wasn’t tired one little bit! The Marauder is much harder to cock than the Impact but nothing compared to either of my springers.

Go to Youtube and watch Ted’s Holdover. Some other good channels that shoot only pcps are Airarmshuntngsa, Air Tac Hunting and Air-Hunter Gerard. Last three are all from South Africa. They shoot mostly with air rifles but use some powder burners too.

 

[BBerguson]

I have 2 177 cal air guns that i don`t shoot nearly enough.
One is a high dollar RWS break front target pistol. It1s super accurate.
The other is a Gamo break front that is getting more accurate the more I shoot it.
They say most run of the mill break front air guns take around 500 shots to start to shoot their best.

JSB Heavy 10.34 grains shoot the best in my two .177s. They are heavy enough to keep the velocity down (below 930 fps) in the accurate range. Shooting those light pellets 1000 or more fps is pretty worthless when the target can’t be hit. My FWB 124 shoots light 7-8 gr pellets very well at around 800 fps. Put those light pellets in my Marauder and I get shotgun patterns.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a RWS 34 in .22 caliber It is one of models that the barrel is used to cock the gun and therefore not the best setup. I wanted the side lever model 48 but didn't want to spend the extra money at the time. Wished I had. Oh well.

I put a peep sight on the model 34 and purchased a 1" disk with a tiny aperture. I filed the front sight to a finer point and the resulting combination is outstanding. I tried several different brands/styles of pellets and found the German ones worked best (not surprising).
Despite the limitations of that low cost, break barrel model – it has proven to be an excellent air rifle. Wished I had purchased the 48 but the 34 is working out well.

The PCP air rifles are clearly in a different league. I don’t see myself moving to the PCP air rifle. No criticism of that technology, just reality for me.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

The 34 was my first "Adult" air gun. I still remember the first squirrel it took. It was on a steel garbage can and that pellet put a deep dent in the can behind AFTER going thru that squirrel! Years ago, as a kit I learned how tough a squirrel hide was. Even my 38 spl cased blunt arrows didnt enter there skin!!

Mine developed barrel droop and I added a fancy (expensive) mount to compensate it wears a scope and still shoots really well!

One I always wanted and as yet haven't owned is a Beeman R1. I discovered they made them in 20cal I almost bought one! The lines and beauty of the wood stocks and bluing won me over as soon as I saw one.
I have cone close with a English Webly Long bowl 177 caliber. It has a very pretty Turkish Walmart stock finally finished.



Here it is next to the RWS34

 

[BBerguson]

Nice looking guns CW! I have that same muzzle brake on the end of my FWB 124.

 

[Missionary]

Only .177 we have owned is a Blue Streak. Bought it about 1978 in Chattanooga. Still very accurate.

 

[Bret4207]

My Marauder will be my inside the barn pigeon rifle and the Impact will be an outside gun. The 177 wont punch holes in the roof or walls and doesn’t have the oomph for longer shots or able to buck the wind. With the 25 caliber I would feel very confident out to 100 yards on pigeons if little or no wind and if it was windy I’d want to keep the shots under 60 yards. This is all with laser ranged shots. The pellets really start dropping after 50 yards and known yardages is a must.

So you basically have a 22 LR. That's a whole nuther ball of wax compared to what I think of as an air gun!

 

[Bret4207]

Barn pigeon makes wonderful deep dish pot pie in a casserole dish lined and topped wiht an English meat pie crust. Just use the breasts.

IIRC "Barn Pigeons" are actually "Rock Doves". Maybe that will make them taste better?!!