This report covers:
- The point of this blog
- Readers
- Beatniks
- Run what ya brung
- Anyone can miss
- Start
- Learn the best hold
- The next step
- Summary
The point of this blog
When I started this blog in March of 2005 I thought it would be a place to talk about how to get into airguns — how to shoot them, how to choose them, etc. Sure, I would do some tests of certain guns, but the principal focus would be on the shooting. It remained like that for a while but then transformed into a test of guns with an occasional foray into the other stuff.
Readers
From time to time you readers make a comment that reminds me I need to get back to the basics. Reader Bob M recently made such a request that brought me back to ground zero. His original comment is too large to show here, but just the other day he said this.
“I’m backing off on my request for some sort of short cut to reach maximum accuracy with a springer. The feedback so far indicates there is none. But there is a lot to do to get there and putting things in some sort of order would help.
“Like spending time plinking and informal target shooting with various ammo using different holds and shooting positions to not only break in the airguns mechanicals but get to know the airguns likes and dislikes.For instance, my first, somewhat powerful, QB25 could not hit anything with consistency. Kind of like the BB guns of my youth. Sometimes I hit what I aimed at sometimes not. Just figured I was not a sharpshooter and only lots of practice would get me there.
“Never considered looking for a grouping to see if the airgun was at fault and there was not a large selection of ammo to choose from to notice any improvement. And who would make a gun that did not shoot straight? Ridiculous, it had to be me.”
Beatniks
Most of you guys are old enough to remember the beatniks of the 1950s and early ’60s. They were “too cool for school.” They always set themselves apart from the mainstream of society. And that leads me to the intro of today’s report. A violinist was supposed to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City but he was from out of town and didn’t know where it was located. So he asked a beatnik how to get there. The beatnik looked at him with his violin case and said, “Practice, man. Practice.”
And that, Bob M, is my short answer to your long question.
My next answer is to start out with an Air Arms TX200 Mark III. You have to work hard to miss with that rifle.
Run what ya brung
But that’s not what you want to hear because you don’t have a TX200 Mark III. And it makes no difference what you do have because it’s what you have! Let’s start there.
I wrote the series about the Crosman Fire breakbarrel air rifle back in 2022 for just this reason. The Fire is the kind of spring-piston rifle I would never advise someone to buy when getting started. It’s too powerful and too lightweight to be a starter rifle. But it’s very much the sort of air rifle first-time airgunners select.
Bob M and anyone else who wants to learn how to shoot a breakbarrel springer — I wrote the series about the Crosman Fire for you. My advice is to read all seven parts and watch me as I progress with the rifle. In fact — look now at what I said in Part 3.
“I’m doing this for a reason. Sometimes this is the only rifle a person can afford. They have to use the scope because there are no open sights and for sure they don’t have any other scopes or rings to use. This is it!
And in all likelihood they have never read this blog. None of the stuff I would normally do is known to them. They are using the rifle exactly as Crosman sent it. And that is how I will test it.
Don’t worry — I have a plan. And it isn’t to say bad things about the Fire, so you can relax. What I’m doing is starting at the beginning and doing what needs to be done to wring out all the goodness the Fire has to offer. And I believe there is a lot.”
Anyone can miss
Bob, you aren’t alone in missing brother. When I had a Chinese TF99 underlever spring rifle from Compasseco, one of the first things I shot with it was my couch! I may have overlooked mentioning that in the accuracy test report, but my wife Edith didn’t overlook it.
Start
So, when you have to (or want to) run what you brung, you have to learn the airgun. And that takes time. But where do you start? Start with an analysis.
What caliber is your airgun and how fast does it shoot? If it’s a .177 that shoots faster than 1,000 f.p.s, you should know that it’s probably going to be very hold sensitive — very twitchy. The same holds true for a .22 or a .25 that shoots above 1,000 f.p.s. So start there.
Many people advise cleaning the barrel at this point. It’s probably the best thing to do, though after shooting several hundred shots the barrel will clean itself.
Learn the best hold
Pick a pellet and it almost doesn’t matter which one and shoot to find the best way to hold your rifle. Try the artillery hold with your off hand in different places under the stock. Try resting it on a sandbag. Try a tight “deer hunter” hold. My prediction is the artillery hold will prove to be the best.
Use the sights that came with the rifle. Open sights are best for this because they should be very close to on target. Adding a scope or dot sight at this time just adds confusion.
Shoot five-shot groups at 10 meters or whatever distance you have that’s close to the target. You are learning your airgun — not trying to shoot small groups.
The next step
Now experiment with other pellets if you have them. The best hold that you learned for one pellet will probably also be the best for all pellets. So put that aside, but don’t be afraid to experiment as you go.Select the best pellet and proceed from there.
Summary
Bob M — there is no shortcut to learning to shoot a spring-piston air rifle. Whether it has a coiled steel mainspring or a gas spring, it makes no difference. You have to put in the time. In this series I hope to show you the things that must be done and the order in which to do them.
“You have to put in the time.”
BB,
To me, that is the main thing.
I’ve been playing with a small springer this past week, shooting offhand, seated, and from a bench.
I’m using the artillery hold, and have found the best placement for my left hand under the stock.
I’ve fired hundreds of shots so far.
Once I put in the time to fire a few thousand, I’ll have this old gal shooting her best. 😉
Looking forward to the rest of this series,
Blessings to you,
dave
This looks like it is going to be a great series. I always appreciate it when you cover the basics and dive into the details of technique.
Tom,
This is a good start of a series in general instructions as how a tyro should begin his/her airgun journey. What’s up next? Is there a set of good rules of thumb in selecting pellets? Maybe you can start a new Category named Shooting Basics.
Siraniko
“Maybe you can start a new Category named Shooting Basics.”
I’ll second that idea. 😉
Funny thing, BB, when answering to Bob some days ago, I thought to suggest to pick up the series again, but didn’t dare to.
Thank you for that, I always like to read this kind of report, makes me get my mind around the basics, again.
Not hard in itself, but good to be reminded from time to time.
BB
I will take you back to 2019
“Today I’m writing a special report for a reader named Bill who requested it. I will let you read what he said.
“Trying to make a point in a few words for a big subject doesn’t help me at all. I obviously had also in mind your report on the other side of the spectrum, see Stoeger, and I didn’t make my thoughts clear. I wish you’d make one more series about the basics of shooting. Where terms like relaxing before the shot, sniping, pulling a shot, use of different types of sights etc, every basic information that is, would be brought up AGAIN. General Rules, all together… It just came out when you took the Rolls Royce for test drive. I know, many years now, that you deal with the lowest and the highest gear as well. By the way I for one have enormous respect for the simple feeling of joy for testing such great items like these three. Bill”
That was a 5 part series and I thank you once again for that along with the one you started today. I ‘m certain it’s going to be one more hit.
I’m imagining Maynard G Krebs with an airgun 😉
SSC,
Krebs was the FIRST beatnik to come to my mind! 🙂
BB
Don’t forget the ones on The Beverley Hillbillies.
Bob,
I take 10,000 hours and not a second less.
-Yogi
Yogi,
Shure hope that much time will result in mastering more than one springer. Otherwise, I can multiply that by 10 or so. 🙁
Bob M,
It starts with the trigger pull. If your cheek weld imparts a heatbeat movement, you need to shoot between the heart beats. So you need to know exactly when your rifle will fire. Then it moves to the shoulder position. Do it with your eye closed, wear a tight fitting shirt. Then the check weld, also practice with your eyes closed. Then finally, it moves to where you hold the rifle with your forearm. Big fat stocks really help here. All of the above is just my opinion.
I have been fortunate to shoot with Cameron Kerndt on several occasions. FYI-He was the 2023 WFTF Piston World Champion. He shoots more pellets before breakfast than most of us do in a month. Order your pellets by the case!!!
-Y
Yogi,
I hear you. Trigger pull was very inconsistent on the last two springers I shot, or I simply did not concentrate enough and I was getting ticked off. Second stage eluded me, and I pulled right threw it often. I had a hard time aiming and keeping it on target also. Getting to old, really need more shooting time to settle in and relax.
My concentrator ‘aint what it used to be’, or I’m easily distracted by too many things. Like a cold breeze.
Thanks for this series BB. I personally have already gotten a lot out of several of your earlier series. One was titled something like “teach me to shoot” and another was about how to shoot a 10-meter pistol. And it helps to sometimes review those series to refresh my memory and hopefully improve my shooting abilities. I agree that practice is needed. However, I believe that practicing incorrectly does not help, and might even be counter-productive. It does take a while to get the “feel” for relaxing and doing the “fine details” things well. But I am beginning to make definite improvements that can be seen in smaller groups (beware wabbits). Looking forward to this series. Thanks again!
“…I believe that practicing incorrectly does not help, and might even be counter-productive.”
Elmer, that reminds me of my friend, Steve, who told me many times:
“Practice does NOT make perfect…perfect practice makes perfect.”
When you do something right, that’s the data you want to add to your muscle memory.
The flubbed shots…those are the ones you don’t. 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
Yes, and sometimes the differences can be subtle (between doing it correctly and not). So, it can be difficult to know when you are practicing correctly. I hope this discussion can help to clarify some things so that we can know how to practice correctly. I think this might be a key to Bob’s quest to find the best way to become better.
Amen! 🙂
BB,
Boy you do get right to it. I’ll be reading this more than once.
Yes, I do have a TX200 MKIII. Only put a few pellets through it, was waiting for better weather to get into it.
Thought about shooting it just to see if I was able to shoot straight in the first place, with a springer that would do the same, but figured that was not a problem. I can hit just about anything I aim at with my FX Independance and really depended on it. But then again, it’s not a springer. A top-of-the-line PCP is a completely different animal.
I will shoot the TX200 and perhaps the Diana 350 Magnum as air guns to compare to.
Any thoughts about adding weight to a light powerful rifle for better control? Read something like putting cement or something similar, metal weights, inside the stock once.
Actually, I have two heavy weight rifles I should work with also, just to see if weight really helps or maters in some way. A Valken Infiltrator and Black Ops Sniper. And, that may present another challenge, Springers with pistol grips.
It must, just noticed Luth AR just came out with a steel weight to install in their custom stock for the AR10 for better control.
Thanks for this information. What to do will help for sure but it looks like the exactly how to do it, when appropriate, sparks interest as well.
Almost gave up on springers as nothing but plinkers, well the powerful ones anyway. PCP spoiled, I guess.
I would like to turn them into ”Go to rifles” if they are able and was trying to save time. Live and learn.
BB,
One more thing, does a bipod work well with a springer? Does it depend on its ability to let the rifle recoil as it would with an artillery hold?
Looking to cut back on that 10,000-hour thing and not waste time. Some of mine will take one.
Bob M,
The jury is still out on that bipod thing. There are those who promote such, but I am of the opinion that it will matter where that bipod is mounted and whether the bipod will allow the sproinger to move as it wishes to. I do not have a bipod on any of my sproingers and would hesitate to use such on one.
You have a TX200 MKIII?! What are you doing bothering with the others?
One more little thing. Weight reduction can be a boon with a PCP, but as you seem to have surmised, it is usually the death knell for accuracy with a sproinger. If you add weight inside those hollow synthetic stocks, it will likely help. It will likely reduce vibration and help you hold more steady. You will not likely find any of the older sproingers as being lightweight.
Bob,
Actually there are target air rifles that have places in the forearms of their stocks for lead weights to be installed. So, yes, adding weight is an important consideration.
BB
BB,
This shooting couch made me sentimental. Remember when started shooting springer as a kid… I had many accidents shooting stuff. Couch, of course, some boxes without knowing what is inside… was expensive. I shot dead my binoculars that way. Once i miss and hit my wifes coat. My wife was not inside the coat 🙂 Shot was not so loud, but what came up after my wife discovered the hole – this was PAAAF!!!
Guys, what kind of “funny things” did you shot that way? 🙂
Ha, Tomek, you had some explaining to do. So far, the worst for me was a $40 chronograph that Ian McKee reviewed (“No excuses”) it was titled, I think. It had a tiny bulb that stuck up from the bottom, and I shot it right to oblivion the first time I used it.
Notice the words, “so far” ….
Tomek,
The funniest thing was my garden hose.
I shot a Grackle (a pest bird) in the backyard and didn’t see the green hose in the grass behind it… the spray of water was unexpected and it took me a few seconds to realize what had happened 🙂
The hose was easy to fix, the Grackle was beyond repair.
Hank
…beyond repair, hahahahaa.
tomek,
Many things have an affinity for Lead (Pb) and not just Target Cards; have you given any thought to using alloy projectiles? Alloy pellets especially have a reputation for not hitting where aimed which can be a good thing and BAD thing.
I bought and used a LabRadar since they first were sold since it was far cheaper than the three chronographs sent to the parts bin while trying to collect down range data.
With Big Bores no amount of shielding (practical) could be depended on to save them from prompt termination.
LabRadar has proven fr cheaper since it says safely out of the line of fire with a modicum of care and as a bonus collects significantly more data with minimal attention/distraction. Hank (Vana2) calls his The Stenographer! Mine is more judgmental so it is my Court Reporter ;^)
shootski
Shootski,
Never tried this alloy light pellets due to bad BC.
For one thing, the screen framing around the patio in Casa FM – shhh, don’t mention it to Mrs. FM; her Worse Half failed to account for the possibility of “pass through” when dealing with reptilian intruders.
Bob M
Adding weight can calm twitching. Every shooter shakes to some degree.
Then there is shooting cycle vibration and barrel harmonics. They also can benefit from adding weight. Walther back in the day made various weighted barrel sleeves that fit over the barrel secured by a single bolt that screws on near the muzzle. I have 2 sleeves one heavier than the other. The weight difference in shooting offhand and even cocking is quite noticeable. Bottom line: My LG55 and LGV Olympia are accurate rifles. With weighted sleeves attached they are more accurate. The heaviest sleeve wins. This is not speculation on my part as I have proven it over and over, at least with these rifles. Should this apply to all airguns? I don’t know. I have not been able to improve accuracy when adding sand bag weights on other rifles. I keep thinking a heavier scope should dampen vibration but the difference, if any, is not obvious like it is with the vintage Walthers above.
Deck
BB,
Thanks. It is good to remind even an old salt like me of the best way to get the best results from some of these “old gals”. With much “Practice, man. Practice.” I may become half as good as you.
Great stuff BB!
The best thing about teaching newbies how to shoot is that it forces you back to basics.
I really enjoy practicing, it’s an opportunity to refine each part of an action so that the sum all the parts is fluid and consistent. Don’t know why many people equate practicing to taking foul tasting medicine.
Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Cheers!
Hank
BB,
The funny thing is that a few days ago your added comments in my Part Seven report made me do a little thinking.
I have been thinking about a Part Eight to the Diana 34 series where I would take the “old gal” and using the best grouping pellet, try various “holds” with her and see what she would do. Today’s blog cemented that idea into a reality. Hopefully, I and others will learn something from such.
Now where did I put that round tuit?
“Hopefully, I and others will learn something from such.”
RidgeRunner, I think that’s a great idea; I’ll be happy to see that data! 🙂
Dave,
Sharing with others makes this thing the best. I will see what I can pull off.
Cool 🙂
RR
I for one am glad you are starting with the best pellet and testing for best hold. I do it both ways. Would like to know if the best hold may be different when using a 10.3 grain vs a lighter 7.87 or 8.44 grain pellet in .177. Just for example, suppose someone has determined their Diana break barrel performs best using the artillery hold placing the left palm under the cocking hinge. This may be true when using 7.9 grain Premiers in the brown boxes. But when using 10.3 grain pellets the best hold may be balanced directly on a narrow shooting bag plus outperforming the lighter pellet.
Ah, the variables!
Deck
Deck,
Are you kidding me? I only have so much time to live before I am called home! Now that I am retired I will try to share more with you guys, but sheesh, I can only do so much!
RR
No more than what you said you planned to. You already have the favorite pellet as stated below:
“and using the best grouping pellet, try various “holds” with her and see what she would do“
Will be interesting to see if the winning hold is the one you originally believed best.
Deck
Deck,
What I had hoped was so bad I did not even show you folks. What I had shown you in Part Seven was so much better than what I had tried before. What I have already learned from this “old gal” is I have so much more to learn. Or maybe I have forgotten so much in my old age.
RR
Looking forward to your findings when you round tuit.
Deck
Yes, practicing should be a big part of “fun with air-tillery.” One could even hold – no pun intended – a competition against oneself, taking on different personalities and adapting each to a particular mode of shooting. So you could have “FM The Artillery (hold)” guy, “FM The Deerslayer,” “Focused FM” – but only if using a scope – and finally, “Breaking Bad Barrel FM.” Apologies to Bryan Cranston.
Try practicing with amusing targets as well – the kind that go poing, clink, clank, poof, bang, fly thru the air when hit and so on. The possibilities are limited only by the size of your junkpile/trash contents.
“….a short cut to reach maximum accuracy with a springer.” Reading this made me smile!
I think this series and these comments are off to a great start towards this elusive goal. Make no mistake, it’s easier to shoot a heavy springer accurately. As has been said, back in the day when springers were used in 10 meter competition heavy barrel sleeves and HUGE lead ingots in the forestock were common. Front heavy guns helped with accuracy especially offhand accuracy.
Weight also translates to benchrest guns. Now that extreme distance benchrest shooting has become so popular airguns are being designed specifically for that discipline.
The Karma Red Panda weighs almost 14 pounds. H.A.W.G., part of the Skout Airguns group, has designed 4 pound weights that attach to an airguns arca rail and comes with bubble levels.
No question equipment plays an important role in accuracy but we seem to be overlooking the weak link in maximum accuracy. Ourselves!
Yes, perfect practice makes perfect and bad practice ingrains bad habits but where do we begin this journey? I will start by linking one of my favorite articles that B.B. wrote about offhand shooting and form. This is only a starting point but without a proper foundation/stance for shooting accurately everything else is secondary.
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2007/08/shooting-a-rifle-offhand/
kevin, yes; I’m realizing that the weak link is…me! 🙂
so, I’ve been doing a lot of offhand rifle shooting lately…it is a most humbling experience. 😉
B.B.,
Immediate BZ (BRAVO ZULU hoist) for this work of Love by the Godfather of Airguns®
Standing by for more Blogs and resulting comments on this vital springer airgun topic!
Have air popped some Orville Redenbacher pop corn, melted some sweet butter, and have my salt shaker at the ready…now to decide what to drink with it to celebrate the launch.
shootski
My experience with springers is quite limited. I owned one when I was about 12 and used it until about 16. Figured out during that stretch that oiling was a good idea. Not sure why I stopped using it,, probably something inside broke I simply put it aside. No telling where it ended up, little brothers and sisters being who they are.
I didn’t pick it up again until after I was injured (at 58) and decided I wanted to participate in the VA Wheelchair Games. I liked to shoot so it seemed like a good choice of events.
When I was young, I just picked up the rifle and a tube of BBs and headed for the woods. But when I started up again, I was lucky enough to have met a guy that coached local high school teams. He was also a member of a shooting club with an indoor range.
His teaching me the fundamentals (and watching 12 year olds shooting all tens) both helped me and encouraged me to do well. I used club rifles for a while but decided I wanted to have my own. Ended up with a Crosman Challenger 2009, which was about the cheapest PCP I could find that was already set up for three position competition.
I shot that thing twice a day, no less than 100 shots per session for about four months leading up to the Games. Did well with a 580/600 and won gold. ( the high school kids had to shoot that high to qualify for their teams, so I didn’t get a big head about my score)
Now that is with a PCP. I imagine that sproingers might take more effort. The real question is,, are you willing to work that hard,, or will you be satisfied with knocking over tin cans at 25 yards.
Either way,, having a firm understanding of the basics will be of great benefit. BB has been an exceptional teacher and I expect that however he chooses to explain them,, these basics will help all of us no matter our level of experience.
Ed
I hate to say this, but in hind sight things took a left turn here someplace.
My intent when I asked BB about a springer’s accuracy was actually about finding a quick way to determine the ability of the airgun itself to shoot accurately. Not what I would need to do to shoot it accurately.
How to determine if it came from the factory capable of one hole accuracy consistently, without human handling or input. I did not want to waste weeks trying to shoot accurately if the airgun was incapable of it.
I have quite a few to dance with.
I could deal with “Sighting one in”, but what’s the point, when there is nothing but a three-inch group to sight in on … which may be my fault?, and any shot that went through a hole twice was by luck or accident and not repeatable.
I am basically looking to sort out my springers for target shooters or plinkers. Without spending 10,000 hours on each. 😉
I purchased the table and rest in hope of finding out but realized you can’t put the rifle back in the exact spot after you remove it from the rest to cock and load it. At least not easily, but I guess now if I put a good scope on it and aim it at the same place and don’t touch anything but the trigger I may find out. But no, they jump around too much. Strapping it down in a vice like grip to prevent any movement may be the only answer. Or …receiving a target that it shot when factory tested under ideal conditions !
Nothing lost here. We may have turned left but it looks like the right road to travel for now 🙂
Appreciate all the replies.
Bob M
Bob M,
WELL aren’t you the hard one to please! Lol!
Remember what I wrote about reviewing the airguns Tom has reviewed that you own or are thinking about buying. He sneakingly lets us know which ones are plinkers and which might be MORE.
Remember i’m the guy that only owns 2 (two) GAS Spring rifles that he called the Break Barrel of the Millennium. I would never have bought those without that G. of A.® endorsement and even then waited untill the bitter end of production and almost missed out on buying my SIG SSG ASP20s and WHISKEY3 ASP Scopes.
Shoot your TX 200; that one is another example of Tom’s guidance for you.
Okay Shipmate, you can’t expect most airgun barrels (and the parts that make the barrel do its thing) to give their best accuracy unless you have the barrel hand lapped or shoot it a bunch. No way to do anything else to speed that up that i know of beyond what Tom and other readers have already told you.
Use your feel for mechanical things…it will work most often.
Wishing you lots of fun and good shooters!
shootski
Bob M,
I think I understand why you would want to know an airgun’s potential, however, wasn’t the Daisy Red Ryder, without sights even, a favourite for point- or instinctive shooting? Of course, that’s a rather unique style, just like clamping an airgun action in a vice and setting it off remotely. There are of course further distinctive disciplines…
Here’s what I’m trying to say:
I submit that, unless intending to use an airgun in just such a way, they’re kinda pointless tests. 🙂
Without a doubt,
The quickest way to find out if a springer is a candidate for target shooting or plinking is to read BB’s Blog reviewing it. A no brainer, I know.
Hard Air Magazine is another big help there and of course the internet. The more reviews the better.
I have not researched every air rifle I own yet, but of the 18 springers I own he has only reviewed 8 of them. And at least three of them I have purchased because of his review and at least one or two from HAM.
In the end, I guess price is also a good indicator. You get what you pay for. One way or another. Cash or Professional Craftsman and there are probably exceptions on the high end and low end as well.
Shoot it long enough, follow the rules, and time will tell. Just thought I could save some time separating the rifles accuracy from mine.