by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Hammerli model 100 free pistol.
- Start with the best
- CCI long rifle
- Would not chamber!
- Sellier & Bellot
- Sight adjustment
- Feel of the gun
- Targets
- Watch them shoot
- Conclusion
Today we will begin looking at the accuracy of the Hammerli 100 Free Pistol. When I was a kid, I thought these guns were capable of incredible accuracy, and they no doubt are, but today I will tell you some real-life stories of how this exotic handgun works. I bet you will be surprised!
Start with the best
Whenever I test an airgun for accuracy I try to start with the pellets I think will be the most accurate. It shortens the time it takes to test the gun and I am right much more often than not. When I do get surprised, I try to make a big deal of it in the test report. because it seems so out of character for the gun I’m testing.
So, when I went to the range to test the Hammerli Free Pistol, I threw some boxes of ammo that perform well in other .22 firearms into my range box — not giving a lot of thought to exactly which brands they were, because they were the brands I always used first. I knew I would be returning to the range again and again until I learned all the secrets of this strange single shot target pistol. Boy, was THAT ever a prophetic thought!
CCI long rifle
In general, the number one accurate cartridge in any .22 has been CCI Standard Speed ammunition. It outshoots even expensive target ammo like Eley and Wolf with some exceptions. And it is consistently accurate in gun after gun. So I had the easy feeling I was beginning with the best. But there was just one problem.
Would not chamber!
I couldn’t get a round to chamber in the pistol. No matter what I did, the round would just not go in far enough to allow the breech block to close. Remembering that this is a rimfire whose priming compund is in the base of the cartridge, I certainly did not want to use force to chamber the round.
Was the chamber dirty? Was the gun mis-marked and chambered for a different round? Were the CCI cartridges somehow out of spec. for the chamber of the Hammerli? If this was an airgun I would know who to call for advice, but it isn’t. All I’ve got is me. The only thing I could think to do was try a different cartridge.
Sellier & Bellot
Next I tried Sellier & Bellot high-speed hollowpoints. If there is a cartridge that has less potential for accuracy in a target pistol, I can’t think of what it might be. Maybe some of that hyper-velocity stuff? Or perhaps the cartridges that come packed in bulk in large containers?
Naturally, this round chambered fine. Oh, boy! I get to shoot my expensive Olympic target pistol with discount-store ammo! You know — if they would just detune those AA fuel dragsters a little they could probably get better mileage. You think?
Cartridge differences
I studied the cartridges at the range and saw that the bullets in CCI standard speed ammo have a longer bore-sized section that reaches farther forward. This section was impacting the rifling and preventing the cartridge from being fully seated. Once I knew that, it was easy to see which cartridges would work and which would not.
When you look closely at the cartridges you see that the bore-sized section is more forward on the two cartridges on the right. This prevents chambering in the Hammerli’s tight match chamber.
S&B ammo put five into 2.52-inches at 50 yards. I poo-pooed it at the time, not realizing I had just shot the best group of the day. The rounds hit about 7.5 inches below and an inch to the right of the center of the target, so I adjusted the sights up and slightly to the left. Not having a manual for the pistol, I just turned the adjustment knobs pretty far and shot again to see where things went.
The first group of 5 Sellier & Bellot rounds was the best of the day. It measures 2.52-inches between centers (2.754-inches minus 0.223 inches).
Sight adjustment
The first adjustment raised the impact point about 4 inches and brought it to the center of the target. A second adjustment brought it up most of the rest of the way, but I discovered something about the S&B rounds. They seem to avoid the center of the target. They shoot all around it without ever scoring higher than a 9. I used to tell people that was intentional — that I was conserving targets by leaving the centers alone. But that was just a joke. These S&B rounds were doing it on purpose!
Feel of the gun
I have shot other tackdriving .22s and they always surprised me with their accuracy at 50 yards. I expected nothing less from this Hammerli. Instead, it was giving me a group that wouldn’t have done credit to a $100 El Cheapo revolver. I waited all my life to shoot one of these things and it was performing like a Saturday Night Special — that is when I could get the ammo to load. Most of the time it wouldn’t chamber the rounds.
I rested the barrel across a sandbag and took special care to aim precisely. The trigger was set only when I was on target and ready to go. The gun was dead-steady and still I got groups larger than two inches. I think you veteran readers have seen enough of my shooting to know I can do better than this. A free pistol is not easy to shoot this way, but it is possible and I did it without hurting the hold or soiling the aim.
Targets
A word about the target is in order. It is huge! The paper measures 21 inches wide by 24 inches tall. The bullseye includes the 7 ring and measures slightly less than 7-7/8-inches across. While that seems large when you read about it, it actually isn’t. The bull on a 10-meter air pistol target (also including the 7-ring) measures 2.25-inches across. If it were moved out to 50 meters, it would measure 11.25-inches across, so this free pistol target is really very small by comparison. No wonder the free pistol shooters score an average of 20 points less per match than the air pistol competitors!
Watch them shoot
Incidentally, if you want to see what a free pistol match looks like, watch this excellent video that was produced by USA Shooting. Those who wondered what Jack was teaching Jill with her pellet pistols will see it in action in this video. I didn’t see anyone locking their elbows in the video, but that may be more of a sport pistol thing.
Conclusion
I went to the range to get acquainted with my free pistol and that did happen, though not in the way I expected. I learned that the pistol has a very tight chamber and I may need to find some real match pistol ammo for it — not ammo that uses that name, but ammo made especially for shooting in free pistols.
I also learned that though this pistol is probably extremely accurate, it’s going to take some doing to get it to that point. I can’t just feed it anything that will fit and hope for the best.
Of course there will be more. I won’t stop until I know how well this free pistol can really shoot.
bb
back in my shooting days i used only the eley tennex ammo and if not available, then the eley match or the rws R50. These guns are like mount Olympus gods, they eat only nectar and ambrosia to perform the best.
Bullseye,
I’m afraid you’re right. I am searching for some Tenex Pistol.
B.B.
Since the free pistol match is shot off hand, and they are precision instruments, you are resting the barrel on a sandbag, doing so you may be applying uneven pressure on the barrel shot to shot, and disturbing the harmonics of the barrel and the shot cycle. (Think artillery hold here.)
As much as it pains me to say it, maybe you should try shooting it with the UTG monopod you like to use, that way the barrel is free to move in the way it wants to, free from the pressure of the sandbag.
45Bravo,
The Monopod is a good suggestion. I hadn’t thought of it.
Thanks,
B.B.
Is it not strange how we are so hung up on speed?
My son-in-law and I have been on a search for the right ammo for his .22 rifle. We first tried a few of the hyper v shells that are readily available, but of that bunch the best were the CCI Mini Mags, which also happened to be the slowest. We then tried a couple of subsonic rounds, Wolf included, and the groups improved dramatically.
Everyone has forgotten that the .22 rifle was invented in the 1800’s and all of the ammo for it for so many years was subsonic. Then back in the 60’s, if my feeble mind serves me correctly, we developed the need for speed and the velocity race with rimfire ammo began. The thing is, they have not changed the rifling twist rate on the rifles.
The same thing with air rifles. The manufacturers are for the most part in the speed race, but using the same rifling. No wonder the uber magnums shoot patterns instead of groups. There are some guys out there who figured it out and are using different twist rates for their long range PCPs and achieving phenomenal results.
Enough rambling for this morning. Time to hit the shower and get off to work.
Ridgerunner,
If he’s got a rifle that shows a preference for subsonic rounds don’t overlook the Eley Subsonic Hollowpoints in 40 gr. They perform surprisingly well in many of my rimfires out to 50 yards.
http://www.selwayarmory.com/eley-subsonic-22-long-rifle-40-gr-lead-hollow-point-box-of-50.html
kevin
Kevin,
I will keep those in mind. So far he has tried Wolf, which did well and Aquilla, which did very well. The worst part right now is finding anything.
B.B.
Back when I was a kid, I used to compete in the NRA junior Bullseye 5o foot small bore competitions. I used to be amazed at the adult competitors who wore strange outfits and had 12 pound rifles with all sorts of things sticking out of them. The 2 things that I remember about the pistol shooters was that they were darn LOUD and that they used a different ammo. I believe it was called .22 short. I stopped competing when my 45/50 prone scores became 32-35 sitting scores.
-Y
Yogi,
I shot on an ROTC team in college . My prone scores were pretty good, but my kneeling and offhand scores were horrible. That, plus the extra stuff you have to wear is what got me into air pistol.
B.B.
Tom, this is my favorite type of article. An exotic gun that promises lots, setup with elements we understand, a mystery that demands an answer, and you string us out waiting for the next episode. My brother (TCups) says the Wolf March (Lapua) is best at reasonable (choke) pricing. Could it be as simple as long vs. short? I do think the answer is in the ammo. Quality imfire rounds are surprisingly difficult to produce, notwithstanding that we all shot boxes of them that cost a quarter way back when.
JerryC,
The barrel of this pistol is marked .22 Long Rifle, so it’s not a short.
I agree that it is the ammo. It’s time for me to spend some real money on real .22 target ammo and feed this gun what it wants.
B.B.
🙂
I was expecting that. I guess you have an exotic pistol, you need exotic ammo. Most of us air gunners have .22’s and I believe there’s a lot more to the nuance of a rimfire round than we (I?) understand.
cheers, J
Tom;
I seem to have a whole closet of firearms of different calibers that routinely seem to avoid hitting the center (bulls-eye) of my target at the range. Shoot too low, make an adjustment and then it either remains low or shoots too high. Make a second adjustment and now it shoots to the left! Adjust again and now it hits north of the center of the target. The target manufacturers must embed some sort of invisible force in the center of the target to magically deflect the bullets away towards the perimeter. By not hitting the bulls-eye, the shooter will buy more paper targets, ammunition, and pay range fees so it helps the economy of all of these suppliers. It must be a conspiracy. I believe we need to have Congress convene an investigative committee to expose this fraud.
Bob
Bob,
Some of those targets you have been sending me recently seem to contradict you. 😉
B.B.
BB
Here is 2 different rounds I shoot in my .22’s. Don’t know how they would do in your pistol. But have real good luck with them in my rifles.
The first is from CCI.
http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/detail.aspx?use=3&loadNo=960
Here is a second one I shoot. And I tryed to find a direct link for the brand but couldn’t.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2506135961/aguila-sss-sniper-subsonic-ammunition-22-long-rifle-60-grain-lead-round-nose
And here is a little article about the 60 grn round. kind of interesting to read for the longer range shooters.
http://www.hickokfamilygenealogy.com/Lethality_of_the_22_LR.html
Oh and I know this doesn’t matter in your pistol. But they do cycle my semi-autos with no problems at all just incase somebody maybe interested in firing them from their semi-auto guns.
GF1,
Thanks for the suggestions. The Aguilas are too heavy to stabilize in a 1:16″ twist barrel. They need a 1:10 twist.
B.B.
BB
I wasn’t sure about the heavier 60 grain round in your pistol.
But what I can say, it is not exactly a quiet round. Of course it doesn’t crack like standard velocity round does when it goes super sonic. But it does shoot the 60 grn bullet at 950 fps. So it does have some speed behind it and sound. It’s at about a 120 fpe. Matter of fact when I shoot my rifle along side my brothers 9mm Beretta they sound almost identical. Oh and the recoil is just a slight push and not a abrupt pump. They are actually a nice round to shoot if you don’t want your gun bumping around and doing funny things.
And the CCI’s. Well they are at 710 fps and 40 grains. And they around 45fpe. So you know what that shot cycle is like. You feel nothing when the gun fires and yes they are quiet. They remind me alot of how my .25 Marauder shoots with the 33.95 grain JSB’s. But my Marauders actually more powerful than the CCI rounds. Well actually alot more powerful and with a bit of bump that transitions into a push shot cycle.
But since we are talking about this. What do you think the 60 grain bullet will do with the twist rate not be what it should be?
Will it be spinning to slow and destabilize?
GF1,
Yes. I would imagine you will see evidence of tipping on a paper target at 50 yards.
B.B.
BB
I don’t mean to be bothering you.
But with 950 fps and only at 50 yards I don’t think the bullet will tip.
People are shooting that round with rifles out to 200 yards and getting just over 2″ groups.
And this is me shooting my bolt action Savage at 50 yards with the 60 grain bullet. And I’m not sure what the twist rate is on the barrel right now. But bench resting I can get right under .600″ groups.
And that maybe you said but I can’t remember. What size groups do you expect to get out of your free pistol at 50 yards?
GF1,
Try it and see.
B.B.
BB
Try what and see? What you expect from your gun? What the 60 grain bullets will do.
You left that answer wide open. And don’t take it as I’m being smart about it. I don’t understand your answer.
GF1,
Shoot a bullet at a target 50 yards away and see whether it tips. That is what we were talking about.
B.B.
BB
Here’s my results in the Savage bolt action rifle. And no tipping. Solid round holes in the paper.
“And this is me shooting my bolt action Savage at 50 yards with the 60 grain bullet. And I’m not sure what the twist rate is on the barrel right now. But bench resting I can get right under .600″ groups.”
GF1,
Your Savage has a 1:16″ twist, unless it is something very special. If you go to Midway, they tell you that cartridge needs a 1:10 twist to stablize.
Maybe I need to test it for the blog?
B.B.
BB
Yes please do test it.
My initial thoughts for that round was shooting steel spinners out at a hundred yards. Which I may add does very well. But I was very surprised how well it does in at closer distances.
Like I said under .600″ at 50 yards. And easy .300″ groups at .25 yards.
I think you will be surprised if you try them. Well in a rifle. Not sure of the short barrel on a pistol. Or maybe the short barrel on the pistol could help that heavy round?
On an interesting side note…I went to Wally world and got to Sportsman 900 multi pump rifle, a variation off the Black Ops Junior sniper rifle. Yesterday, at the range and with no wind, I was shooting RWS 8.3 superdome’s into an inch and a half at about 50 yards. Seven-Eight shots went into a group of three quarters of an inch. Frankly, I was amazed. If a cheap pumper with a bad trigger could shoot that well, just think of what a quality multi pump with a match-grade trigger could do. Crosman, you just need to offer that 1300 pistol with a wooden stock.
Brent
Nowhere to respond directly to you. So hope you see my response.
That sounds like food results. Was that with a scope?
And everybody always says I’m a persistent one. 🙂
Yes Crosman needs to biuld a nice solid wood stocked 1377 rifle.
I find that the rimfire ammo is not very consistent.
Last year I was wondering why my PCPs could easily out shoot any of the .22 rimfires they went up against so I tested 7 types of .22 shells that are commonly available (not expensive match ammo).
I found that there was a ES of 40 fps in the best shells and a 75 fps variance in the worst. Surprised me, I thought that the numbers would be a lot more consistent than that.
There was a definite relationship between speed and consistency – the hyper-velocity stuff did not fare very well. I shoot the subsonic stuff most of the time and find it works well for me.
For a comparison, the ES for my PCP is under 10 fps with JSBs straight from the tin and around 4 fps with sorted pellets. Wish my shooting was as consistent as my rifle and pellets 🙂
Happy Friday everybody!!
Hank
Hank
Hate to say this. But I have seen small spreads of 4-6 fps from guns when chronying. And to say the least. They did not produce good groups.
And I have seen pellets that have had spreads as much as 20 fps and make touching hole groups at 50 yards.
It’s nice to have the consistent spread. But alot more to it than that as you know.
GF1,
Yeah, know all about the shooting-gremlins that defy physics. 🙂
Smaller ES usually give me better groups.
Hank
All I know is I have been fooled to many times by what I thought and what actually happens.
I pretty much leave my mind wide open when I try something anymore. Especially with air guns.
🙂
Vana2
Do you sort JSBs by head size, weight or something else? I’ve had good luck with 7.33 and 10.34 gr domes what do u like? Thanks
Fido3030
Fido3030
Been sorting “special purpose” pellets by both size and weight. Most of my shooting is off hand and straight from the tin.
.177 – The AR20 and HW100 like the 8.44, the Dominator – 10.43 and the FWB300 the 7.33 (all JSB).
.22 – shooting 18.1 JSBs in the HW100, want to test some lighter pellets as well. Neet to get a .22 pelletgage.
Plan on more bench shooting (and testing/sorting) this summer.
Vana2
Thanks!
Fido3030
BB
We was running out of room above.
You mentioned the barrel on my Savage. It is not a special barrel. It’s the factory barrel. But it is the stainless barrel and action.
I don’t know if they might of went with a different twist rate on the stainless barrels or not. I doubt it but you never know. But something does come to mind. I wonder if a stainless barrel is a more accurate barrel than a regular mild steel barrel. Maybe less harmonics can happen?
And I’m just thinking out loud after you mentioned the barrel on my Savage. But have you ever tested or heard anybody saying if they got different results with stainless barrels. I know alot of questions today. But you got me thinking rimfire again with your free pistol review.
Gunfun,
I was using a cheap NcStar 3 by 9 by 40 scope. The funny thing was is that it was shooting a little higher than my xs46u with the same pellet. I have the sneaking suspicion that if this gun had a match-grade trigger it would give some PCP’s a run for their money but why build a quality multi pump gun when you can make more money selling PCPs and all the paraphernalia that goes with them. I’m still blown out of the water by the results. Never expected that it would shoot as good as it did.
Invention is mother of necessity when you don’t have a lot of cash to throw at a problem 🙂
Brent
Not familiar with that scope. But I got a heck of a good green laser made by them.
Pump guns are nice. And even nicer with good triggers. They are smooth shooters like pcp’s and make adequate power.
I would like to see some higher end pumpers produced. Say a Marauder style breech that accepts the rotary magazine and with the shrouded barrel from the Marauder as well as the trigger assembly.
And I would do back flips if they produced it in .25 caliber. And I can’t do back flips. But I sure would try if Crosman made that kind of pumper. 🙂
GF1,
Got the (full) R.A.I. kit and California Air Tools compressor in hand. Both, VERY nice. Just a quick update. More later this weekend. Chris
Chris USA
Cool. And any word when the .25 Mrod, buddy bottle and Shoebox will be there?
GF1,
In route. I have a Honda EU2000i generator that the salesman started up in the store and 3 people could hold a normal conversation standing right over it. It is rated at 59 db.,… just looked it up. The compressor is rated at 60 db. So that should be good. Real busy tomorrow so Sunday will be the first opp. to “play”.
R.A.I. kit is tight and flawless. Even the folder. The only slop is about 1/16″ in the 6 position stock (front to rear), but that is UTG, not Dave. You know me, I will figure out a way to eliminate that too. Once shouldered, that would go away anyway.
Chris USA
Nice! And the slop Is easy to get rid of.
I don’t know if you remember. I mentioned in the past that you can drill and tap a small hole in the outer part of the stock that slides. Then put a long enough set screw in the outer part. Then you can easily adjust the legnth of pull if needed. Just loosen the set screw so it comes off the tube that’s on the inside. Adjust the stock legnth of then tighten the set screw down and no wiggle.
That’s what I did to the ones I had on my guns.
GF1,
Yup,…. I remember that. Got the air hose(s) and filter (5 micron, full sized) today. Lowes and TSC combo. The air hose is a 60′ coil with those press in fittings like you see on machinery. A “kit”. It does have some normal quick disconnect fittings as well. Gave the compressor a “real good” going over too. Very nice. From the parts diagram, it has a centrally located horizontal motor with a crank shaft off both ends. The pistons (2) go up and down, 1 on each end. That is obvious from the exposed design, but it was good to see the manual,…. of which,… is written pretty darn well.
Long day,… Mom and Dad help and shopping. Chill time now and play tomorrow,.. and shoot the springers some too.
Chris USA
Cool. And sounds maybe like the hose I have. What color is it?
GF1,
Blue. 1/4″ ID. Hard plastic. Threaded fittings are all 1/4″ NPT. Trying to maintain 1/4″ all the way to the Shoebox. I do not know the name of that type of press in fitting, the box does not say. Like I said though, it is the type used on machinery, but does have quick disconnects included as well, that adapt to that type of fitting.
With 60′, I figure to do 50′ to filter and 10′ after, to the Shoebox. The 50′ would be for the cooler, ice pack, water idea.
Chris USA
Seems like small inside diameter.
Pretty sure mine is close to a half inch inside diameter.
BB,
Hang on, I am going off subject.
Gamo is advertising a new trigger assembly, the CAT (Custom Action Trigger). They are claiming it is much better than the SAT. I was wondering if you would be up to trying to have PA send you one of these and give it a serious once over for us.
/product/gamo-hornet-maxxim-igt-cat-air-rifle?m=3998
If this thing is half a doodly squat, I might be tempted to get one.
RR,
I may test it. If it comes in a spring rifle, that is.
B.B.
BB,
It comes in a gas spring. That is what I linked to.
RR,
Okay, I see that. But there are a LOT of other things in front of it. You may need to remind me in a couple months.
B.B.
BB,
I will. 😉
The pottery beer pots in Zimbabwae and South Africa have been made without handles, for thousands of years. . Except for one tribe that is supposed to be the laziest in the region. They invented the handle so that they could drink their beer with one hand! Laziness is the mother of invention. Alas, all has changed with the introduction of beer in pop top cans. Progress and civilization march on! Ed
Z,
It’s plausibly said, the invention of written language is solely based on the need to know just what heck is in that there amphora.
David
Almost every one of our local bench rest .22 competitors use Wolf Match Target Extra or Lapua Match. Both are really the same ammo sold and loaded by different companies. Many use CCI Standard Velocity for practice but have told me they get the occasional flyer with it. One sleeper I have found is Winchester 42 gr MAX HP’s. My Rem Nylon 66 shoots a ragged hole at 25 yards with them. It does the same with Federal Bulk Pack HP’s. These shouldn’t shoot that well but they do. You just never know what will work the best in a .22 LR.
Mike
Hi BB, Let’s get back to 50 Meter pistols; you made an erroneous assumption; that is, that CCI standard velocity is the best 22lr in any .22. CCI is far
from the best 22lr ammunition for any .22. There is no 22LR round that is best in any 22. Eley Sport ammunition
performs far better than CCI SV in my HI Standard Trophy and in my Morini 22CM-RF Rapid fire pistol. Too bad
Eley Sport has been discontinued for about 2 1/2 years. It was Manufactured by Aquila in Mexico.
My Morini 84E( electronic trigger) Free pistol shoots into the 50M inner 10 ring at 50 meters using Eley Target ammunition(yellow box).
“Target” is reasonable in cost and chambers easily in the Morini 84E and my son’s Pardini PGM 75 free pistol.
You do not have to buy expensive Eley or Lapua match ammunition for the kind of shooting you are doing. I haven’t
tried Norma Tac 22, but many USA international pistol shooters have reported that it is capable of inner ten ring
accuracy at 50 meters. Go ahead and try a few boxes of Norma Tac22 and Eely yellow box ammunition. The
Norma Tac-22lr is made by RWS. Best of luck;
Tony
Tony
Have you tryed the low velocity CCI’s that I mentioned above? 710fps and 40 grain. Or the heavy Aguilla 950fps 60 grain rounds. Just wondering. I don’t know if they will even load in your pistols or BB’s free pistol.
B.B.,
Keep in mind that I do not shoot powder burners, so if I write something really stupid, please forgive me.
The thing I will remember from this installment of this report is that the CCI Standard Speed .22 might be accurate precisely because it has such a long segment of the bullet fat enough to engage the rifling. Might it be that bullets with longer raised segments are more accurate than an identical bullet with a shorter raised segment?
I remember that when I was a young boy i had a few different youth sized footballs. The one that I could get the tightest spirals with happened to be one that had an unusually long midsection. Perhaps I simply was able to get more of my palm and fingers on that one.
Michael
Michael
That would be something to test for sure. I’m guessing it has to make some difference.
B.B.
Just did some research and apparently CCI still offers the .22 long as well as Aguila and other manufacturers! The lower velocity should be of benefit as well as chambering better and maybe you could squeeze a tad more accuracy as well!
Surely with your connections YOU should be able to track some down!?
Worth a shot! 🙂
BB–The mag that came with my Gletcher 1944 chronographs 424 fps. close to the tech data (427 fps). The co2 cylinder,s seal has a dimple with a tiny hole or crack. The 2nd mag chronographs 542 fps and the seal has a large round hole in it. Does the size of the hole in the seal determine velocity? Ed
Ed,
The piercing hole determines gas flow which does determine velocity.
B.B.
Well I just did some .22 rimfire round verifying on my Savage bolt action. It’s a stainless and synthetic stock 93r with a 10 round clip. And very smooth action I should say too.
Shot the low velocity CCI’s first. Then the heavy grain Anguilla’s. Neither was grouping worth a darn. And it’s dead calm out. I’m thinking to myself what the heck. This what I shoot because they always work.
Well another lesson learned.
Shoot more than 5 shots at a time before switching to the next brand of ammo. Yep barrel seasoning wins out again. Just like my pellet guns. And I mean just like my pellet guns.
I started over. Low velocity CCI’s first. I shot about a half box of them before the gun started grouping. And yes good groups. Going from a shot gun blast to touching holes at 50 yards.
Then came the heavy Anguilla rounds. All over the place again. Took a little more to get them to work. But after about 40 shots. Again the holes were touching in the group.
What I will ask anybody from now on if they are having trouble getting groups. Is… How many shots did you give us n that gun with that ammo before you went to the next. Switching ammo is not a good thing when testing. I know. If somebody has had different or same results I would like to know.
How else do we learn. Say what you will. I’m willing to learn. Remeber me saying I try to keep a open mind. Well again true.
Oh forgot.
Bench resting at 50 yards.
GF1
I knew that . Nobody likes to hear it though . Takes time and ammo . Not neat, quick and easy enough .
twotalon
TT
Thanks for commenting.
And I know the seasoned veteran shooters know it too. Accuracy doesn’t come cheap.
I will just say this quietly and we can get back to guns. The guys and gals that were going fast in the street car drag racing world at the dragstrip was making it look so easy to make it from point A to point B quicker than others. But … and I know this. It took a lot of work to get those astonishing results. Well and money.
Nothing is free. Again nothing is free.
GF1
And Brittany Force #1 Top Fuel Dragster .
twotalon
TT
I can’t even say how much her dad John is my idle.
There is alot of knowledge floating around in them veins is what I will say.
Hmm. Never would of thought that his daughter would be Number 1 in top fuel. And back in the day when he was blasting down the Quarter mile in that ragedy old Ford funny car he had. That always seem to to amaze me how many times he could peddle that funny car in a short, short 1/4 mile.
And but why shouldn’t I know that. My oldest daughter that just turned 18 can put most boys to shame in whatever she does. How about that. 🙂
GF1
Courtney is no slouch with the funnies either .
Pretty girls with a heavy foot .
twotalon
TT
Amen there.
Wonder if she got in a fight with here crew chief or team mate yet.
🙂
GF1
Plinking toy last time shooting .
Made up a wind flag to stick out at the target holder . You know those thin wire flags they use for markers ?
Stripped off the flag and bent the wire 90 deg and put a loop on the end . Tied a ft long piece of cord on it for a flag . Thin hot pink cord comes in a roll . A bit thinner than half the width of a .177 pellet .
After shooting up some targets, I went after the flag . When it held still, I shot at it . First three hit , then two misses , then two hits , miss, hit …….
Got bored with that and shot the wire . Made that thing really whip .
That new Hawke has crosshairs that leave the thin cord showing on both sides of the crosshairs . They just cover the thin wire .
Most work was unwrapping the cord from the wire every time I hit it . 25 yds down, 25 yds back for each shot . I need to hire a trained monkey to do the extra leg work .
twotalon
TT
Yep and I learned a valuable lesson as far as yard work goes.
I now shoot the stems of the dandilons. What was I thinking.
🙂
GF1
Trouble is, the dandelions get smart . They don’t grow high enough to expose the stem .
Then the stem blends in with the grass too .
twotalon
TT
Oh and how right you are again.
Everything is adapting and getting smarter.
Scary.
GF1
They get too smart , I got some “weed-be-dead” for their butts !!!!
I am wicked with a sprayer .
twotalon
TT
You know that grub worms eat dandelion roots. And moles like grub worms.
All out war on dandilons the way I see it.
GF1
Got a mole last year . Ended up buying two different kinds of traps . had to fine tune one of them . Did you know that the trigger on some traps goes from very hard to nearly impossibly light with a bit of moly ?
That bugger did not sleaze his way by that hair triggered thing the second time .
twotalon
TT
Haha.
And you know only us air gunners would know that.
GF
I had an awful time getting that thing to set once I had the moly on it .
But it worked, and crushed it’s wittle head . Ha ha, ha, ha .
twotalon
TT
That’s called the end in all the little Humpty Dumpty stories I ever read.
Twotalon,
Better hurry,…. P.A. just got a “limited” supply of trained Monkeys in. $249.99 each. Only 2 left in stock. PY-A-MNKY is the #. 10% discount (or) free shipping. Can not be combined with other discounts. The customer reviews is indicating that they can be trained to fetch brews as well, which is good,….. bad thing is they seem to have developed a taste for them as well. 🙁
I was doing the 70 yd. “trot” that the other day,….. I can relate.
Chris
Chris
It’s supposed to be fun, not exercise . At least a FEW shots before you have to get up and start walking .
twotalon
Twotalon,
That is why I went for a Shoebox instead of a hand pump,…. for that very reason. I work hard enough all week. Chris
One nice thing about the FWB …a lot of shooting after not too much pumping .
And there are also the springers . But they can be a bit of work after a while . Don’t want to get too tired to hold the barrel and end up getting a slam .
twotalon
Chris USA
Monkey this Monkey that.
Eventually somebody learns.
😉
More info.
Standers velocity Fedral bulk pack hollow points.
They took only 7 shots to start grouping. So now what. Does velocity and weight of the bullet make the difference for the barrel to seson??? If that is what causes the groups to come back in quicker. It kind of seems that way.
GF1,
Interesting on the “seasoning”. I agree, it should help. Another factor though, the barrel gets dirtier and dirtier with firearms, and pellets too for that matter, but not to the same degree.
On the ID topic (from above),… I would bet that all of the male fittings at work are 1/4″. Depending on what they are fit up with, the ID of the hose may be bigger, but the minimum ID in the link, is 1/4″. Fitted with 1/4″ ID males, the increase in size of hose would only add storage volume. At least I think that is the way it would work.
Chris USA
Yes storage volume.
And about the dirty stuff in a barrel. That’s what rifling is for too. To clean the barrel.
GF1,
Rifling cleans the barrel? Where did you hear that!
Rifling is something that causes the barrel to get dirty faster. In the 1400s it was put in to clean the barrel, but people quickly discovered that it didn’t work that way.
B.B.
BB
Never heard it from anywhere.
Air guns seem to do pretty good with out having to clean the barrel. Maybe when the skirt gets blown out and it engages the rifling it push’s anything out left by the head of the pellet.
You did see that link I posted the other day about what the pellets looked like after they left the barrel.
And firearms that’s a different story there with the powder. And I bet the bullet doesn’t engage the rifling the same as pellet does.
But that’s what I think could be going on with air guns. And I’m sure the hardness of the pellet makes a difference also. To hard or to soft. Depends on the power the air gun makes in how well the skirt seals in the rifling.
Interested in what you think. Let me know.
Forgot.
Plus there is always powder left in a firearm barrel after the shot. A firearm doesn’t have a clean blast of pressure like a airgun.
GF1,
Ran the compressor. Very quiet. Put it up on the kitchen counter and it just sat there humming away. TV was on and I could hear it fine. 2 min. and 15 sec. to fill. Did a quick drain of air and back on at 90 psi. and off at 120 psi. Did a quick mock up with that press-in tubing kit with the filter in line and end fitting that will hook to Shoebox. Everything is holding air just fine. The heads got only slightly warm,… still very easy to touch.
Out for a quick Morel mushroom hunt and shooting. Later,… Chris
Chris USA
Sounds like the compressor is nice.
And Morels. I love them. We had them growing in the woods right in our back yard at the other house. Have kind of looked here at this house when were out 4 wheel’n but not seriously. I need to do that.
Let me know if you find any.
GF1,
ZIP on the ‘shrooms. 🙁 Looks as if I will have to resort to my own gourmet cooking.
The LGU will do (both) sides of a tin can at 70 yds.. Sat a fresh one out. That is 590 fps with 15.89 JSB’s for anyone interested. Did a target. 2 1/2″ at 70yds.. Even 70 is getting old with a 90% hit rate. Even got a 2 for 1. The bigger can spun off and knocked the 6 oz. can off too.
At the end, I got dialed in on a 15 oz. can at 50 yds. and said I would quit when I missed. Shot 30,…. I missed. Never thought I would live to see when 50 yds. started getting boring, on a can.
Oh yea,…. remembered the hand on scope trick to improve steady. Worked like a charm.
Chris USA
Bummer on the Morels. Man I love them mushrooms.
And ain’t it funny how that works with shooting out at farther distances and then shooting in closer. I think I remember somebody saying to try that in the past. 🙂
Oh and sent you a e-mail about pellets. So check it out and let me know what you think.
GF1,
Will do. I was not bragging by any means. If anything, I consider myself to be an average shooter, (at best). The point was,.. that others should try and “stretch it out”,….. you just might surprise yourself. Play with hold overs, write down what works,…. and have fun.
😉 ,….. Chris
Chris USA
Totally agree. To me that’s when shooting starts getting fun.
Wait and see what it feels like when you hit your first can out at a hundred yards with the .25 Mrod. You see the can bump then hear the thump.
Steel spinners are real fun out at a hundred yards. I have one that has two paddles that are attached to each other. One paddle is on top and one is on the bottom. The top paddle is 2-1/4″ and the bottom is 2-1/2″. All I can say is there ain’t nothing like ringing the chime on steel out at a hundred yards and plus. Way cool.
Chris USA,
How do you do this hand on scope trick?
Siraniko,
Just place your off hand on the front scope bell and apply some down pressure. It works.
Trying to imagine how it is done. I suppose this is only for a PCP/CO2/Pneumatic on a rest?
Siraniko
I mentioned a while back for Chris to try it.
It works with springers , on a rest or even a bi-pod. Also for firearm rifles.
Try it. It keeps the gun very steady.
Siraniko,
Yes it works. 2 springers, LGU and TX 200. Hard rest with 1/4″ gasket on top. The LGU and TX are not known to be that hold sensitive, so that may be a factor in allowing the scope pressure to work. Try it is all I can say.
All around interesting. I thought Wolf match ammo was cheap ammo at least as target ammo goes. And I can’t ask for better performance in my Anschutz. On the other hand, I have trouble chambering CCI in the Anschutz and my Single Six. I’m just glad that 22 ammo is available once again.
I haven’t gotten around to shooting pistols at 50 yards, but two inches rested sounds pretty good to me.
Matt61
Hi Matt61, rested 2″ groups at 50 yards is unacceptable for a Bullseye rimfire pistol,
and is totally wrong for a 50 meter Free pistol. Competitive pistols should print
ten shot groups at 50yds that range from 3/4″ to 1.5″ ctc. a competitive Free pistol
will print ten shot 50 meter groups that are .4″-.75″ ctc. Because of scoring ring
size at 50yds or 50 meters, ammunition used is extremely important; while the
25yd stages (Timed and Rapid fire), lesser accuracy doesn’t hurt the score much
at all. This why precision accuracy must be done at 50yds. – Tony
B. B.,
Found an article in Guns Magazine’s archives for 1964. It’s about an Anschutz pistol that looks similar to your Haemmerli. Is in this issue:
http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1964issues/G0964.pdf
If you haven’t read it, hope you’ll find it interesting. Loving my new Benjamin Discovery!
Regards,
Nathan
Nathan,
Thanks for that link. This is a free pistol I wasn’t aware of.
B.B.