The FWB 600 10-meter target rifle.
This report covers:
- A problem
- What is Running Target?
- AirForce Airguns
- Sight in at 12 feet
- The test
- RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets
- Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
- RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets
- Excite
- Qiang Yuan Training pellet
- H&N Finale Match Light
- Discussion
- Summary
Today we take out first look at the accuracy of the FWB 600 10-meter target rifle. Today was a unique day. RidgeRunner, I’m advising you not to read today’s blog. Split some wood or do some honeydos, but leave this blog alone.
A problem
When I got the rifle at the Arkansas airgun show I didn’t pay any attention to the sights, beyond noticing they were there. It turns out that the front sight belongs on a running target rifle and is too tall for a 10 meter rifle. There is no riser block. This sight is one piece and high!
This is a front sight for a running target rifle. The regular 10 meter front sight would be down level with the silver muzzle cap.
As a result, with the rear sight adjusted as high as it will go the pellets still impact the target about 5 inches low at 10 meters. Obviously the rear sight needs to come up. I texted Scott Pilkington from whom I got the rifle and he said it must have had a riser on the rear sight. He said he would look for it for me.
What is Running Target?
What is Running Target and why are special sights needed? Well, it started as Running Stag. Then, when that became too un-Bambi-like, it transitioned to Running Boar. After all, who likes pigs? You sighted in to hit the stag on the nose or the pig on the top of the ear and the tall sight caused your pellet to drop and land in the bullseye. At least that was the hope!
This is not an official Running Stag target, but it’s close enough to give you the idea.
This is an official 50-meter right-to-left running boar target for centerfire rifles, I believe.
Finally, in 1992, when the thought of shooting at a paper target that had a drawing of an animal became too politically insensitive, the Olympics changed the name to running target and they changed the targets.
Today Running Target is an airgun sport shot with a scoped rifle. Two side-by-side bullseyes move in both directions along a track and they move both slow and fast. You aim at the front bull and hope to hit the rear bull, with front and rear determined by the direction the target moves.
I went online and looked for a new regulation 10-meter front sight for the FWB 600 without success. I guess it will have to be a used one. Then I tried the front sights I have on my other 10-meter rifles but nothing fit.
AirForce Airguns
I looked online and found that BKL makes a rear dovetail riser for 11mm dovetails. I know that BKL is made by AirForce who is right down the road from me, so I went and got a rear sight extension from them. It fit the 600 sight base perfectly and the FWB rear sight fit it, as well.
The BKL rear sight riser fits the FWB 600.
Sight in at 12 feet
After securing the rear sight to the BKL riser I sighted in at 12 feet. The pellet hit the target a little more than one-half-inch above my aim point. When I back up to 10 meters that will rise higher. I backed up and fiddled with the adjustments and it seems that now the rear sight is too high to hit the bull. Too high is better than too low because I can work with it.
At 12 feet this is where the FWB 600 with the riser hits.
The test
I really wanted to test this rifle so I dialed the rear sight as low as it will go and proceeded to shoot some targets. I shot off a sandbag rest with 5 shots per group. Note to self — the 3.3mm front aperture is perfect for me!
RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets
The first group was shot with RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets. Five went into 0.078-inches at 10 meters. How about that — a gold dollar group right off the bat! It turned out to be the smallest group of the test.
The FWB 600 put five RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets into a 0.078-inch group at 10 meters.
Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
Next to be tested were five of the Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets that Pyramyd AIR no longer carries. They made a 0.09-inch group at 10 meters. Another gold dollar!
Sig Ballistic Alloy pellets made a 0.09-inch five-shot group at 10 meters.
RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets
Next up were five RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets. They made a 0.179-inch group.
Five RWS R10 Match Pistol pellets made a 0.179-inch group at 10 meters.
Excite
One of our readers raved about Excite pellets, so I bought several tins. They are less expensive than RWS Hobbys but let’s see what they can do. The FWB 600 put five of them into 0.18-inches.
Five Excite pellets made a 0.18-inch group. It’s the largest group of the test.
Qiang Yuan Training pellet
Next to be tested was the Qiang Yuan training pellet. Five went into 0.113-inches at 10 meters. Another gold dollar!
Five Qiang Yuan Training pellets made a 0.113-inch group at 10 meters.
H&N Finale Match Light
The last pellet I tested was the H&N Finale Match Light. The FWB 600 put six into 0.102-inches at 10 meters. That’s the fourth gold dollar!
Five H&N Finale Match Light pellets made a 0.102-inch group at 10 meters.
Discussion
This test is a first. It’s the first time I have tested a 10-meter rifle and not used the dime for group size comparison on any target. All the groups are smaller than two tenths of an inch between centers and four of them are smaller than 0.15-inches. Even though I can’t center the groups, the rifle is shooting more accurately than any 10-meter rifle I have ever tested. It’s a keeper!
Summary
I’m coming back to this one as soon as I get either a correct 10-meter front sight or a lower riser for the rear. I want to see these groups in the center of the bull!
B.B.,
Splendid groups!
We needed you on an AA Mount this day at Pearl Harbor many years ago with that kind of shooting.
Remember the sailors, marines, soldiers, civilians, and Hawaiians who lost their lives on a day that lives on in infamy!
shootski
Been catching up on your many blog posts. I have a special interest in 10m pistol and rifle shooting and am glad you occasionally drift in that direction.
I have a FWB 602, purchased new, and appreciate your newly acquired 600. I’m not too sure about the high front sight used in a running target application. I thought running target was scope only, from the start. The high sight may be designed for a more heads up shooting style, or for a longer neck, in conjunction with a rear sight on a riser.
I did a little internet research and located a suitable new front sight for your 600 at one of my favorite sellers, nikkonos, of canada. I have used them several times in the past and they have been prompt with their delivery.
The sight in question is FWB 1746.120.2, 22mm dia., 11mm dovetail. They have one for sale at about $75 US, and $9 shipping.
If you go to the FWB website (in Germany) you can locate the exact part number for the 600 (and almost all other FWB airguns) on their support webpages; They could probably sell you one, but who knows for how much, and whether you’d get it before Easter. The one nikkonos is selling is not the precise one for your 600, but will probably work well. They indicate it will work…. “Will fit most Feinwerkbau rifle – 600, 601, 602, 603, P70, P75, 500, 700, 800, 2600, 2602…”
Nikkonos has posted a photograph of the sight along with a micrometer measurement of the C/L of the sight from the bottom of the dovetail so you can make your own determination if it will suit you.
Good luck on this adventure.
JE
JE,
Running target is scope only. But if I said running boar or running stag how many people would know what it was?
BB
BB
Well as you say alot of people read the blog.
So if you would of explained how many do you think would of known then?
Guess they know now. Better late then never as the saying goes.
I echo both sentiments, Shootski.
BB, in part 2 you said, “I bought this from Scott Pilkington at the 2021 Arkansas airgun show. And Scott had resealed it after acquiring it from its former owner, Robert Mitchell, the USA Shooting Team coach and former Army Marksmanship Unit shooter.” With such a pedigree, am I wrong to wonder why it was sold to you with the wrong sights? I think someone may have pulled a switcheroo on ‘ya.
Roamin,
AS switcheroo? Please explain.
BB
So without making any accusations, I ambtrying to imagine why you received a gun with sights that could not be adjusted to hit a 10 meter target, and I could see someone who was selling the rifle keeping the sights used for competition and switching them with other sights that were on hand that perhaps were a different height?
Roamin,
Here is what happened. Scott got the rifle from its owner. He chronographed it, saw that it was slow so he resealed it. He never shot it for accuracy. He deals with dozens of airguns each month and doesn’t have the time to test them for accuracy. Accuracy is assumed.
So perhaps the original owner sold the gun to Scott with the wrong sights on it. Or an extension was removed during the rebuild. Scott doesn’t know. But he has robbed a real 10-meter sight from one of the FWBs in his museum and we are trading.
BB
Now that is awesome. My dealings with Scott have always been such. He goes the extra mile.
Hello, its me again. I did a check of my back issues of Beeman’s catalogs. Their offerings from the earliest I have, Edition 18, 1993, describes the FWB 601 and the running target version of the same. Differences include a high check position stock for heads up shooting; a longer barrel extension 34″ vs 25″, keeping in mind the actual barrel is inside the tube and is only ~17″ long, and specifically, built only for scope use, no sights are provided.
I’m kind of fixated on this because at the time I bought the FWB 602, I debated over it and the running target version. I had no good reason to buy either, so chose the one least difficult to justify. 25 years later, I have no regrets.
JE
BB,
That’s some great shooting! Reminds me I need to dust off my FWB 300s and punch some paper.
“All the groups are smaller than two one-hundredths of an inch between centers”. Shouldn’t that be two tenths of an inch?
Bob,
Right you are! I fixed it.
BB
BB,
What do you mean, don’t read this? Yeah, right.
Contact Neal Stepp. He is who I bought my 601 from. He also sold me the short loading gate for it and the R10 pellets I used in it and my Izzy. He is right there in Fort Worth.
http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com/
P.S. My FWB 601 liked the R10 Heavy also. Izzy’s favorite is the R10 Light. When I bought those pellets, Neal asked me what I was going to do with them. I told him I was going to use them for plinking. He said there were much cheaper pellets I could use for plinking. I told him I was very serious about my plinking.
LOL! Serious about your plinking you are!!!!
Motorman
St. Louis, MO
Motorman,
Of course. When a new gal moves into RRHFWA, I will spend a good bit of time seeing which pellet she likes the best. Then I will add that pellet to the menu just for her.
Personally, I have never understood why someone would practice with substandard pellets.
Hi everybody,
I *really* like this rifle. The laminate stock just looks great.
Great shooting from BB, too. These groups approach the “pellet sized hole” quality control groups that FWB put in the box when the rifles were new.
The Excite Econ II pellets don’t disappoint either. More than accurate enough for somebody like me when shooting offhand 🙂
Stephan
B.B.
Great shooting! One holers all the way around….
-Y
B.B.,
Thanks very much for the explanation of Running Target. That helps, especially the detailed description of distances and aiminmg techniques. The only thing I had seen before was the boar target, so it was quite educational for me.
Michael
B.B.
Good shooter there.
Hope you can find the right sights for it.
tt
My 601 and C60 have similar accuracy and are not very pellet sensitive. The R10s seems just a whisker better than the others. The ten meter front sight sits very close to the barrel weight so that sight is significantly higher.
I just reread this post and I am in awe of those groups. Wonderful shooting. I aspire to shoot groups like these. And so, I must keep practicing!
I am also amazed the rifle is not pellet picky. And the Excite Econ II did as well as the R10! Would the Econ IIs make a good practice pellet, or would a competitive shooter demand more precision from a practice pellet?
Roamin Greco,
You will find that B.B. and others have answered your
question in various blogs and replies. I’ll give my take below your question.
“Would the Econ IIs make a good practice pellet, or would a competitive shooter demand more precision from a practice pellet?”
Serious competitors have a supplier for their pellets. They get samples of pellets by Lot# and try them. When they have decided they call (text) the supplier (who is holding the Lot# case[s]) and order thousands of pellets of that Lot# by the case(s) to shoot for practice and in competition.
The mindset must be that each shot taken is the same regardless of during training or in competition.
They also frequently are sponsored and don’t pay for rifles, pellets or any other shooting related implements.
Hope that helps explain why they probably don’t practice with different (cheaper?) pellets or learner rifles.
shootski
Thanks, Shootski. That makes a lot of sense to me. I was wondering about the Qiang Yuan Training Pellets versus the Olympic pellets and wondered if some folks used different pellets for practice and competition. Not everyone has a sponsor….But thanks for clarifying that.
RG,
I know of people who will train with one pellet and compete with another. I really do not understand. As you can see above, by changing pellets BB changed the POI. I would have to operating on an extremely low budget to do that.
As for Diana, I have not had time to see what she likes.
WAKE UP!
I wonder if they heard me.
This gun is amazing! Nobody needs a PCP with a single stroke pneumatic like this. Reminds me of the Baikal single stroke competition pistol. IS this gun legal to use in international 10m precision competitions?
Vasco,
Yes, this gun is legal and the model 603 is being used at this time. But PCPs don’t require the pumping and are just as accurate.
BB