Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

[CalicoKid]

I recently purchased a Gamo Shadow 1000 pellet rifle for home pest control (residential neighborhood). It is a .177 cal 1000 fps break-barrel action. I have an air rifle scope with a recoil block mounted. It has a somewhat adjustable trigger pull.<br /><br />I've got it sighted in as close as I can but can only make a group of around five inches at a hundred feet. I believe it is due to the violent recoil of the piston jarring the gun before the pellet has left the muzzle. I remember the old pump up guns being extremely accurate, able to put one pellet behind another at a hundred feet. I would attribute this to the lack of recoil due to no moving spring and piston during firing.<br /><br />My question is: are there any muzzle weights or other apperatus out there for pellet gun recoil? My 10/22 has a mini maglight mount on the barrel, I might try that on the Gamo. Anyone here shoot air rifles?<br /><br />I've tried four different types of pellets and have settled on a Beeman coated hollow point and a Gamo match point. I've put around 500 rounds through it so far.

 

[KRS]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

I'm still laughing at your use of the phrase "violent recoil" with your gamo gun... hehehe. I worked security at the Northern Arizonna Machine Gun Shoot in 2003 up by Flagstaff.... now there's recoil!<br /><br />500 rounds, have you cleaned it?<br /><br />An off-the-shelf walmart gamo gun is doing pretty good for 5" at 100 feet. Now you should be getting sub minute groups at 25 feet.<br /><br />Don't think you're gonna get much better than that. But if you must try.... try varying your speed, that means don't pump it to maximum, try a reduced pressure and see what you get.

 

[KRS]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

By the way, neither of your pellet choices is proper for small animals in the yard, IMHO.<br /><br />The match point is for target practice. The hollow point will enter the animal, expand, and stay there... worthless unless you can put it in the heart each time.<br /><br />You need to use plain old flat nosed pellets, they will transfer the most energy to the animal, and hopefully kill it rather than lodge in a hip and wound it.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Yeah, voilent recoil sounds funny when talking about pellet guns <br /><br />Let me clarify, this is not a pump-up gun. It is a spring and piston gun. When the barrel is cocked the piston and spring are moved rearward and latched, a pellet is chambered and the barrel and chamber are closed, like a shotgun. When fired the piston is released, rushing forward building air pressure ahead of it and behind the pellet. Once the piston reaches the end of travel and stops the recoil occurs. The momentum is transferred to the frame of the gun. It is a forward pulling recoil, that is why there is a stop block behind the rear scope ring. Without it the scope rings slide backwards off the grooves. The scope itself is supposedly designed to handle this type of shock but I'm not sure I buy that.<br /><br />I'm all about the head shot. This gun will put pellets right through a squirrel's noggin. That's why accuracy is so important to me, I don't want to wound any of the tree rats. The match pellets I have are the completely flat wadcutter style. I agree about the knockdown energy although I'm not shooting Coyotes with the thing! I have a tin of heavier "hunting" pellets but they are the pointed variety and I've not tried them yet.

 

[cpj]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

you should get way better groups than that IMO.you might try removing the scope and use the sights (if it has them) that way you can eliminate the scope as your problem.I looked at gamos web site and it did not have the accuraccy listed for your model.It did however have it listed for other models as .20 inches at 30 yards (90 feet).I would try to contact them because I can get a better group than 5 inches with my slingshot. At the least I would say you should have no bigger than an inch group at 100 feet if not less.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Ill tell ya why your gun is not accurate. Its because the scope is mounted behind the barrel and the cocking mechanism is not tight enough for accuracy. Not the most Ideal situation. Those spring pellet guns do have a violent shock when the things are fired. Thats why you have to put a special pellet gun scope on them. I had a Benjamin pump 177 air rifle and it was a tack driver.<br /><br />I had a early Remington Nylon "66" 22 when I was a kid for a short time. It was the most inaccurate 22 I ever owned for the same reason. You couldnt jamb it though.

 

[cpj]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

That isnt the problem LD.His scope is loose or he has defective gun.i have seen many accurate pellet guns like his.It might need to be lubed with Amsoil.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

You know I was wary of the break-barrels for a long time for that very reason but that's all that was available for under $300 at the time except for the pump ups which I'm not nuts about just because of the inconvenience (man that's lazy, huh?). I wanted a lever cocking type but they were too pricey for me, now I'm seeing more of them at lower prices.<br /><br />This evening I was messing with the action to see if there was any play and found the stock was very loose. There are three screws holding the stock on, two in the forestock and one through the triggerguard. The rear one was backed out a couple of turns. I took the stock off to make sure everything was intact inside and reassembled it using locktite blue on the three screws. Much better.<br /><br />I plan to take it out after work this week and try again. First with the scope (It's nice and tight, so is the stopper, but it could be defective inside I suppose), then with a weight on the barrel just to see what happens. If no difference I'm pulling off the scope and trying the open sights, they're quite nice actually, fiber-optic type with dial adjustments, and they're mounted on the barrel. If I still can't get closer I'll need to start looking for the reciept maybe... thanks guys, I'll get back with results!

 

[ED21]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

When shooting try not to hold the rifle tight, let it recoil naturally & never rest the barrel on a hard surface. Hand held is best usually. This is often called the artillery hold.<br /> <br />The rifle may also be dieseling from oil in the chamber. This usually works itself out in new rifles as the oil burns off. It will be pretty loud if it is doing that.<br /> <br />Try using heavier pellets. 1000 fps is getting close to supersonic & pellets aren't designed for that.<br /><br />Springer air rifles can be tough on scopes & mounts. It took me a few tries to get my scope & mount to hold tight on an RWS rifle. It can hold about 7/8" at 40 yards on a good day.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Some air rifles as well as regular rifles are just not accurate no matter what you do. I had a H & R 22 Mag semi auto that was the worst rifle I ever had. I used it for small prairie rats and it would eisily shoot out past 100 yards, heck, 100 yars? You couldnt do that in 50 yards. but you couldnt get a 5" group out that far for nothing. I sold it and have never replaced it. Those new 17 cals are looking good to me now though.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

OK, I shot the rifle 200 times yesterday after work. I started out at 75 ft. as I was indoors and that was as far as I could shoot. I was shooting from a bench, supporting the forestock with my left hand. I was able to get a 3-4" group after adjusting the scope some. I then added a weight to the barrel, I taped on a couple pieces of 4/0 copper wire, and got some really wild shots. Turned out the weight was causing the action to drop open slightly upon recoil, so I quickly abandoned that plan. I tried supporting the barrel on the bench, standing upright with no support, sitting elbow on knee. The best I got was a long series of shots within about 2" of each other and on center. But then I got tired or changed my position or something and things went to hell again. I didn't get to try it with the open sights as I ran out of pellets. It seems I did best with a tight grip, white knuckles, on the rifle and a stationary support.<br /><br />I've read that it is best to use the heaviest pellets you can with a high velocity do to the distubances of even approaching the 1100 fps sound barrier and that competitive shooters usually shoot around 600-900 fps. My next course is to seek out some heavier pellets as Ed suggested I think. This should reduce the velocity a bit and hopefully improve my accuracy.<br /><br />Where is a good source of pellets? Any favorite brands/designs?<br /><br />And I CAN hit a dumpster at a hundred yards...

 

[treedancer]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

get rid of the scope .

 

[ED21]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

You might try airgunexpress. Beeman makes some heavier pellets.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Thanks I'll check it out. I picked up some pellets at Gander Mtn. today, Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum, 10.5 grain. The pellets I was using were 7.6 and 8.4 grain, so the new ones are quite a bit heavier.<br /><br />Unfortunately I have to leave tomorrow morning for a weekend long fishing trip and probably won't be able to try it out till Monday, poor me!

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

I've had a few of those Gamo airguns, still have one...not sure of the exact model #. I've found that they have a tendency to rattle themselves apart after a lot of shooting, as it appears you've already discovered after finding loose screws, etc. I could never get a real tight group outta them either...but I use them with a reasonable amount of accuracy to slaughter house sparrows that are trying to commandeer my bluebird houses (I eventually learned that pellets do a LOT less damage to the little wooden houses than shotgun spray ) You're shooting a cheap airgun that rattles apart and comes loose with use, shooting pellets of inconsistent shapes and sizes that are flying faster than they are designed to track straight. Net result, they're just not that accurate. You're doing pretty good with your current grouping, IMO. Just get closer to the varmints, THEN shoot!

 

[Grant S]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

I think treedancer is right, have a look at where the open sights are mounted. On the barrel,Right?<br />the scope is mounted on the stock .Even the smallest amount of movement in that barrel hinge joint will turn into a large area at 100yards. I think you are doing quite well with the grouping you are getting.<br />Good luck, and good shooting.

 

[marcmccain]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Try shooting between heartbeats to tighten the pattern. It you put pressure on the trigger at the moment your heart beats it will minutely alter the position of the barrel.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Originally posted by Warhorse:<br /> Try shooting between heartbeats to tighten the pattern. It you put pressure on the trigger at the moment your heart beats it will minutely alter the position of the barrel.

Uh oh. Sounds like a trained sniper!

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Allright, I got a chance to dial everything in this afternoon and am quite pleased!<br /><br />First off checked the stock and scope mounts to be sure nothing loosened, everything OK. I started shooting at 75' again with the new heavier pellets and had to make a bit of adjustment to the scope to get it centered and was able to consistently put in a group of under two inches, nice. Then my brother came along and challenged me to a contest shooting quarters, pennies and dimes taped to the target at 75', first hit wins. Well nobody missed until the 7th shot! We continued for a while longer and I missed once and he missed twice out of 12 shots. Not bad, I can live with that. I adjusted the trigger pull to be a bit lighter as well although it still feels rough compared with the nicer rifles I've fired but it's OK. I believe the heavier pellets made all the difference once I got the bugs worked out of the rifle itself.<br /><br />Out of curiosity I shot into a piece of 1/2" OSB sheathing, a 2x6 pine stud, and a phone book, all at 75'. The pellets passed through the OSB cleanly and lodged into the pine stud behind it. Shooting at just the stud the pellets burrowed half way in and deformed into a uniform ball shape. The phone book surprised me. I shot into it ten times and all pellets made it all the way past page 300 and there was still a lot of torn and crushed paper at page 400 and page 500 was dented pretty good. I did not expect that much damage at 75'!<br /><br />I do have a meditative routine before firing as does my brother, funny after so long how we shoot the same, same teacher I suppose. But I have an advantage which I shared with him today: Stick your belly out... it works! Someone told me that a long time ago and it sounds silly but I think relaxing the belly and diaphragm muscles reduces tension and blood pressure.<br /><br />Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm happy to know I won't be missing and wounding around the yard. Tell any starlings, house-sparrows, or squirrels you know to stay clear of my place!<br /><br />

 

[cpj]

Re: Air Rifle, balance and accuracy (Update: Dialed In!)

Glad to hear it worked out! You say that you had 2 inch groups,but were able to hit pennnies and dimes at the same distance.That sounds like me.I cant keep a decent group on paper, but I can hit an object(can ,criitter etc.) all day long.Dont understand it but thats how it is with me.