by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
BB’s TX200 Mark III.
Yesterday, I shot the TX200 Mark III at 25 yards and discovered that it can shoot accurately when rested directly on a sandbag. Today, I’ll take the rifle to the range and shoot it again at 50 yards.
I decided to continue shooting with the rifle rested directly on the bag because it seems to work well, and also because I haven’t settled down yet. The bag-rested results should be a fair representation of what the rifle can do.
The day was dead calm throughout the test. Conditions were perfect for the rifle to do its best. But the results were most interesting and not what I expected.
H&N Baracuda Match
You will recall that, yesterday, I got the rifle sighted-in with the point of impact hitting about quarter-inch high and a half-inch to the left of the aim point. I left the scope setting where it was, so you could see what happened out at 50 yards. I’m shooting with the same H&N Baracuda Match pellets that were used yesterday.
Ten H&N Baracuda Match pellets didn’t do very well at 50 yards. Yes, there’s the one pellet off to the left, but there are 3 more to the right of the main group. Group measures 2.2 inches between centers, with 9 pellets going into 1.199 inches.
The new point of impact (center of the group) is about 2-1/2 inches low and 1 inch to the left. This pellet dropped 2-3/4 inches, going from 25 yards out to 50 yards. The group is pretty large, measuring 2.2 inches between centers. It was shot 2 that strayed over to the left. The other 9 pellets are in 1.199 inches, or about one inch less. That’s still on the large side.
JSB Exact Heavy
Next up were JSB Exact Heavy pellets. They weigh 10.3 grains and are often the most accurate pellets in premium airguns. They certainly were this day, as the first 10 turned in a group measuring 1.042 inches. It was the best group of the day.
Ten JSB Exact Heavys made this 1.042-inch group.
The other 2 groups I shot with the JSB Exact Heavy pellets were larger. One measured 1.289 inches, and the other measured 1.66 inches. I did adjust the scope between groups, but I was careful never to hit the aim point of the target bull.
The second group of JSB Exacts measures 1.289 inches between centers.
The third group of JSB Exacts measures 1.66 inches between centers.
Crosman Premier Heavy
Seeing that I’d given the JSB Heavys a fair chance, I then shot a group of 10.5-grain Crosman Premier Heavys. They made a 10-shot group measuring 1.365 inches between centers. Since its size is about in the middle of the 3 JSB groups, I think it’s safe to say this pellet is about as accurate as the JSB Exact Heavy. I’m not making any claims, though, because I don’t think I’ve done the TX200 Mark III justice in this test.
Ten Crosman Premier Heavys made this 1.365-inch group at 50 yards. That puts them on par with the JSBs.
The bottom line is that I’m not satisfied with these test results. I’ve seen this rifle do better, and I believe it still can — I just need to change something. I’ve never before shot a spring rifle directly off a sandbag at 50 yards, but I don’t think that’s the problem. I think I was using the wrong pellets.
Some observations
Remember at the beginning that I told you how far the group dropped when I went out to 50 yards with the 25-yard zero? I also shot the TX200 at 100 yards on this day. I didn’t shoot an entire group, just 3 JSB Exact Heavy pellets. I used the 50-yard zero after adjusting the scope at the range. The 3 pellets went into about 6 inches, but what’s really interesting is the fact that they struck the target more than 2 FEET below the aim point. Don’t let anyone kid you that shooting at 100 yards is simply double shooting at 50 yards. The transition out to 100 yards is very dramatic! I did this just as an aside to see what would happen. Well, I saw all right!
I also think by shooting only heavy pellets on this day that I hindered the TX200’s chances to shine. I want to rerun this 50-yard test with some lighter pellets that are known to be accurate. Someone asked me about that already, and I think it needs to be tested.
Finally, blog reader Tunnel Engineer asked me to try resting the TX on the sandbag close to the triggerguard and again out at the cocking slot. He wanted me to compare group sizes and point of impact with the 2 balance points. But the bag I use is very long and runs all the way from the triggerguard to the cocking slot, so I don’t see how I can do that.
B.B.,
I think a one inch ten shot group with a piston gun at fifty yards is very good. Don’t beat yourself up!
I certainly won’t complain if you’re running test this again, springer posts are the best. Maybe try your favorite go-to pellet, the Crosman Premere?
My TX has a fondness for H&N FTT, and with a bit more weight may do you proud at this distance. 100 yards is anyone’s guess.
Word around the campfire is the current, newest batch of JSB 8.4’s shoot nicely in many guns.
-h
I have a tx200 HC and the JSB 8.4’s turned out to be the best for it too.
Not all bags are created equal when it comes to springers in my experience.
A bag that completely envelopes a springer has never performed well for me. Taking the rifle out of the deep valley designed to embrace a firearm, turning the bag 90 degrees and allowing the springer to rest securely, but with minimal contact (usually on the airguns balance point) is what has worked the best most of the time.
Parallax in a scope becomes more apparent at longer ranges and was a gremlin when I started shooting airguns at 100 yards. Can’t is also more pronounced.
B.B. said it best long ago….shooting an airgun at 100 yards is akin to shooting firearms at 1,000 yards. Whole different game.
Kevin
Kevin,
Okay, I will try that. Then I can try TE’s suggestions.
Maybe I need to try at least the JSB Heavys again?
B.B.
B.B.,
As for the jsb heavies, your instincts are better than mine when it comes to matching pellets to power plants.
I just shuffle along eventually testing every pellet I have.
When was the last time the barrel was cleaned in that powerful springer that you’ve recently shot crosmans premiers with?
kevin
Kevin,
I don’t think it has ever been cleaned.
B.B.
Hm, I would have thought that narrowing the fulcrum of support rather than extending it would make the rifle less stable and less accurate. But springers behave in strange way, and experience is what it comes down to.
Matt61
Matt61,
I think the reason that springers shoot better with less contact on a rest is there is less friction which in turn allows a more consistent torque/twisting movement during the firing cycle. I think this also explains why I’ve never done well resting a springer in a rest that climbs both sides of the gun. Resting a springer on top of the bag/rest has always worked best for me with springers that tolerate a direct rest. Not all springers tolerate a direct rest. Seems that those with a sedate firing cycle (tuned guns or those that act tuned out of the box) do well directly rested.
I do think you can get too short of a rest. Mine is about 5″ long which is sufficient for my springers. I don’t shoot magnum springers though.
kevin
“I’m not making any claims, though, because I don’t think I’ve done the TX200 Mark II justice in this test.”
Should be Mark III
Fixed. Thanks!
BB
Do you know you just plotted the trajectory of this gun in a sense.
You have listed where the poi is for 25, 50 and even 100 yards. So now you know your holdovers for the 50 yard and 100 yard shots taken at each distance by the amount of drop the poi was on each target you shot at.
And like you said the gun shot high at 25 yards which would require that much hold under if you shot at 25 yards.
If you get a good pellet for the gun and get it grouping then repeat what you stated above and you had a mil dot reticle you could place your shot pretty good by the info you collected.
Well I re-read at the bottom of the report that you re-zeroed the gun at 50 yrds. That would throw off the gun at the 25 yard shot.
Can you when you try a different pellet. Leave the gun zeroed at 50 yards and shoot a group of 3 shots again at 25 yards and 100 yards just to see what the pellet poi is to see mainly where the pellet now lands at 25 yards. But also to see what the 50 yards and 100 yard poi is.
B.B.
I support Gunfun1. Keep the gun zeroed at 25 or 50 yards and give us the exact POI on 25, 50 and 100 yards. It is fun plot them into the air gun ballistic program ChairGun Pro and see the ballistics 🙂
Eddie
GH
I like the Chair Gun Pro.
I enter my information into the program and have it on the setting that will show me the hold points for my Hawke scope at different yards.
I print that out then take it out with me and shoot the gun and compare to the actual results. Works out to be pretty true to the program. But you got to be accurate with the info you enter into the program.
GF1,
Yes, I did understand that. That’s why I reported it — so the folks who have never shot a pellet gun at 100 yards would see what a challenge it is.
And the Hawke scope I’m shooting does have a mil dot, so holdover is possible. In fact, that was how I had to sight at 100 yards.
B.B.
BB
I just noticed that with some of the reports you have done. You listed the poi difference from one distance to the next in the past and just thought I would bring it up.
I knew you had a reason. 🙂
Yes, the mind boggles at the field target shooters who plot the zeros for every single yard in their shooting range. No wonder they have gigantic scopes.
B.B. is quite right about the trajectory of the pellet. A linear increase in group size would only take place with no air resistance and would correspond to a perfectly symmetrical trajectory that looks exactly the same going up as coming down. There are a lot of things going on with air resistance, especially for drag-stabilized projectiles like pellets, but none of them good for helping their movement. Once the air resistance starts to kick in, I believe there is kind of a cascade effect and your pellet will really lose steam rapidly. The back end of your trajectory will look flattened and crushed in as indicated by the radical drop at 100 yards.
Matt61
I wish my newest aquisition could reach that far…
I bought a Daisy 188 BB repeater over the week-end at a garage sale, it was in a box of crap and I paid 1$ for it. But it shoots like one of those Hollywood silenced guns, it just goes “pfffft”. The piston doesn’t seem to be hitting the compression tube too hard so I don’t think the seal is guilty here but the BB’s don’t make it to the end of my yard without me holding the gun like a mortar. I oiled it and waited a day for the oil to penetrate and no change.
So the question is this: is it normal for this thing to not be able to reach 10m? Is it worth the effort?
I tought it was a toy at first because it was all plastic and I noticed the “Daisy” on it and looked more carefully and saw the 4.5mm so I picked it up, it could make a nice handgun to teach the kids to shoot… if it can reach the target!
J-F
J-F,
The Daisy 188 was a notoriously underpowered pistol — despite being very large. I think the model name is indicative of the velocity when new.
Think of it as a quirky Marksman 1010.
B.B.
So you think I can reach 188 fps! LOL
I think I’ll chrony it just for fun.
At least it’s quiet, you can barely hear the thing.
J-F
Well I just went out and chronied the thing… the highest fps I was able to get was 100fps with an average of 92fps.
I took the thing apart and everything seems fine.
J-F
Pick up a Daisy 179 if you really want to see a BB in slow motion.
I already bought one! The BB’s barely make it out the barrel. I can throw BB’s farther than these two gun.
I knew the 179 was like that, I bought it because it looks pretty 😉 I’m shallow like that.
J-F
I bet if you entered the data into the Chair Gun program.The trajectory path would take up the whole screen of the computer. 🙂
I got mine when I was about 10 years old, I was disappointed in it.
But yes, it was cool looking. Hard to believe they sell for over $100 now.
The reason I ask about point of rest on sandbag is because resting my TX200 near the trigger guard did not give good results, or at least not as good as resting it further on the forearm.
I wanted to see if it worked the same way for you. Also, I rest the rifle across the sandbag with something softer in between, such as pillow or loosely folded clothing.
I only shoot CP lights as the heavier ones do not work well.
TE
TE,
I was thinking about Premier Lites, too.
I guess I have a LOT more to do with the TX 200 at 50 yards.
B.B.
BB,
Thank you for a very interesting series! I’m pretty new to this sport (having owned my RWS 34 only a little over a year) and I actually count this as a benefit. I guess that am too new to know the stuff most people know better than to try (such as shooting off sand bags and shooting longer distances).
My experience with the 34 in .177 is similar to yours. I saw a drop of 24″ between 50 and 100 yards when shooting JSB Heavy pellets.
I’ve tried to document the 100 yard shooting here > http://bit.ly/19kFxcm.
And here > http://bit.ly/1beQldk.
– Matt
Matt,
Welcome to the blog!
As for being new — we all are new in one way or another. I have a lot of experience shooting this particular rifle, but this is the first time I shot at at 50 yards rested directly on a bag.
What I’m saying is this is a learning experience for most of us. So don’t think you are at a disadvantage, just because this is new to you. And congratulations of getting a Diana 34. It’s a wonderful air rifle.
B.B.
matt c.
I checked out your links about the 100 yard shooting.
I like!
BB, I realize each rifle is an individual with it’s own particular preferences for certain pellets. However in my experience my TX 200Mk111 has always clearly shown a definite preference for 7.9 gr boxed Premiers. When I bought the rifle five years ago I tested all the popular available pellets for accuracy and fpe performance. The rifle shot the CPL’s so well that it would have been easy to conclude that the design engineers somehow magically foreordained this rifle to shoot CPL’s. I’ve also never had a problem shooting this bone stock TX from a small bag rested snuggled up to the trigger guard. With a 30 yard zero, 50 yard groups should be approximately 1/2 inch edge to edge on a good day.Even though I’ve shot maybe 10,000 pellets through this rifle on the original spring and seal the fpe and velocity has shown no signs of fatigue even at 16fpe.So please let’s see what your rifle will do with boxed CPL’s. Thanks for all you do BB.
Progun,
Yep — I have a lot more testing to do with this TX.
B.B.
My .22 cal mk iii does best with the boxed premiers.
B.B.
I would have liked this test to have turned out better, but you have shown that the laws of physics do work. Progressive group size (nonlinear) and pellet drop (nonlinear) do really happen with increased distance.
twotalon
Absolutely agree. Plus, everyone needs to keep in mind that the first distance was a change of “only” 25 yards (25 to 50). But then, you doubled again by adding 50 MORE yards – not another 25. That’s 150 feet and gravity is still acting on the pellet to the tune of 32 feet drop per second. No wonder the pellets’ POI dropped so dramatically!
Fred DPRoNJ
Fred
To be more precise, that’s 32 feet per second per second . It’s a progressively increasing rate of fall.
twotalon
I can totally believe your comment on the 50yd vs 100yd dramatic falloff.
I found the same thing with my Slavia 630.
If of course is 500fps so 100yd is out of the question.
At 10m it is as accurate as my Avanti 853c…it will put 5 shots in 1/4 inch.
At 25m it dropped about 4″, and 5 shots would go in under 3/4″
But when I tried taking it out to 50m I was completely surprised. I expected maybe 8″ or so of drop and I was hoping for maybe 1.5-2″ groups.
Instead the first shots weren’t even on the paper. I then held a foot over the bull and the pellets started hitting at the bottom of the target…on a windless day a nice 5″ group 🙁
All I could come up with was that once those little 7.3gr Exacts dropped below a certain velocity there just wasn’t enough oomph for any kind of consistency.
CBSD
I shoot my T200 at about 600 fps with RS. I can see them heading for the ground very fast beyond 25 yds. This makes shooting beyond 25 without some very close range estimation impractical.
twotalon
I second Kevin’s idea of minimally resting the rifle if you can. I have had good luck with a cheap plastic rest that makes very little contact with the forearm. If I use a sandbag I flip it over rather than using the V. At that distance you may even need to sort pellets if you want to show case the rifles abilities. I like your idea of trying CPL’s also.
My little R7 will do very well out to just about 44 yards, after that things go south quickly. I would guess with double the power 50 yards is still in the TX 200’s realm.
Another thought, 10 shot groups with a PCP or powder burner are one thing, but with the effort needed for a powerful springer I think 5 would be plenty. Not a meant to be a disparaging remark, anyone’s heart rate, etc will go up and add to the difficulty.
I agree 100% — BB is a better man than I doing the 10 shot groups. I know it is me getting tired/bored when my groups open up, anyway :)! At 100 yards with a springer, I think he could go to 5, and we won’t taunt him for taking the easy way out!
BB
Since we have been talking about the 50 and 100 yard shot with this gun.
You haven’t done the 50 or 100 yard test on the .25 cal. Marauder yet have you?
Maybe when you get the TX figured out with the right pellet you could do a blog about the 2 guns concerning ballistics.
I think the 2 guns would show how the fps verses weight of the pellet and caliber will bring different results.
GF1,
Funny thing about the Marauder. I had it at the range on the same day as the TX 200. But I missed the 2-foot by 4-foot backer paper at 50 yards!
Stay tuned to learn why.
B.B.
BB
Great cant wait.
Yes, the results are a surprise. I thought that the TX200 would go under an inch at 50 yards. Or was that with five shots and not 10? So, is the problem the pellets? (I thought the best pellet was a JSB.) Or is it the bag resting as opposed to the artillery hold.
Slinging Lead, if the Scots had cruel humor I missed it. But I can understand about the cruel humor directed at them. There was at least one battle against the English where only one Scotsman returned! That could definitely lead to resentment and the enthusiasm for the Braveheart movie that I saw there. But notwithstanding disasters like this, it seemed that the main problem for the Scots was that they were fighting each other as much as the British. Incidentally, I’ll admit that the Scottish girls were quite hot. Must get back there.
Yes, my California range is stuck at 100 yards, a mere nothing for my full-power battle rifles which are on their lowest elevation setting. But I don’t think that’s a problem with California so much as shooting ranges generally. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that there is an airfield next door with a skydiving business. In the afternoon, it gets ramped up and you have these people swooping right over the shooting ranges. Crazy. I guess I can pretend I’m being invaded. Otherwise, I’ll say for the range, the California laws against assault rifles seemingly do not exist judging by the hardware that you see. There are about as many ARs and AKs as Hawaii where they have no such laws. These people must all be using the magazine lock, a rule that legislators have talked about repealing but have not so far. Incidentally, on my last visit, I saw a guy with a nice modern looking AK at a shooting bench, and he had his son who looked to be about 6 or 7, perched on his lap, shooting the gun with him. It must have been the 5.45 caliber.
As it turns out, it is Hawaii, one of the other most restrictive gun law states, where I can take the military rifles to their potential. They have steel silhouettes as far out as 600 yards (although you have to show up pretty early in the morning to get the benches for this). I read that the Russian snipers were expected to make hits out to at least 600 yards with their Mosin Nagants, but if I even get on target at that range, I will be plenty happy. The only thing that Hawaii cannot provide is a snowscape for the Mosin. Other than this, the only other environment I would like is to have you around to shoot the guns with. You would love them. And if there were any of my usual range screw-ups, I could hold you responsible.
I had quite a Navy Seal training event last night. It started with the evening swim in 50 degree temperatures with the blowing wind. It was excruciating for the few seconds it took to go from my swim parka into the 83 degree water, and then the same thing on my way out. And then it was off to the cozy indoor airgun range at 5 yards. Neverthless, there was high drama at that short range. I was at near perfection with my IZH 61 and doing much better with the Daisy 747 than ever before. Other than luck, I attribute my success to an extra focus on technique and recovery of my sneering indifference to results. I like my sneering, detached self. Anyway, it’s like they say in Hawaii. Once you ride a big wave, nothing can go wrong with your day.
Matt61
CowBoyStar Dad, people will get you to pay astronomical amounts by making them seem relative. I’d heard that the .416 is the flagship caliber for which the CheyTac 200 system works best. So, the .375 would seem like a bargain by comparison. And I saw one show where a guy wanted to build an avalanche gun. It was in Colorado. The gun was to be in 20mm and designed to trigger avalanches so that they would not pose a danger to unsuspecting people. The guy wanted a quick change barrel so that he could save money by zeroing the gun with .50 caliber ammo…
Matt61
Hello Matt61
I’m glad you liked my explanation for the clout shoot. As I mentioned, I found this tournament a real ball to shoot. Depending on what the wind was doing, I would line my bow up with my little finger seemingly to touch the horizon. A common sighting error was to use a cloud as reference. This worked pretty well for one end, then when you came back, the cloud would have moved, or disappeared altogether. Another interesting fact about the clout, is they were always held in conjunction with a major tournament. Tourneys such as the Pacific Northwest, or the Canadian Nationals, are two that come to mind. Another interesting tournament was held each spring in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the campus of WSU (Washington State University) in Seattle. This shoot was a full 2 FITA’s shot on Saturday, and Sunday. Yes, I did say it was held in the Pavilion. 90 meters would put you almost touching the wall, while 50 meters was right on centre court, where the Washington State Huskies played basketball. Because this shoot was held indoors, and in the month of March, it was quite popular, as it aloud you to sort your equipment out without fussing over the wind, or some other problem you get shooting outdoors.
O.K, I’ll cut out the reminiscing now, and get back on track with airguns. Oh, just one more thing. I have never heard of anyone shooting a 170 # longbow. Mine is 50#, and it really starts stacking badly the last inch of my draw length, which was 29 1/2 inches. Maybe it was a court midget drawing 15 inches. I enjoy watching midget wrestling, and those guys are as tough as nails, and super acrobatic.
When I was living in Calgary, Alberta, we would often make the 140 km. (80mile) trip, to swim in the hot pool in Banff in winter time. The entrance to the pool was indoors, so we didn’t have to deal with a cold outside walk. Outside however, the steam was so intense, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. After 10 minutes of 102 deg sulfur water, we would jump into a snow bank that was put there for that very purpose. The sulfur pools around Banff, attracted the elite of Hollywood and Europe, for their healing properties. For the longest time, rail was the only way of reaching the town of Banff, and Canadian National Rail built their own 5 star hotel just on the outskirts of town called the Banff Springs Hotel.
Ariel. Thanks for the offer to shoot your new, full power TX200 when it gets to you. Trouble is, I live a few thousand clicks from you, in Kelowna, B.C. Maybe you could provide me with airfare, and room and board, and I may never leave. That reminds me of a saying my Grandmother used to use. “Fish and visitors start to smell after 3 days”. She was a wonderful lady, who was responsible for my life long interest in gardening.
J-F. I am close to ordering the sub 500fps TX200. I wonder if the seller knows how they de-tuned it. Shorter piston stroke, or a weaker spring, ie Weihrauch. I consider myself beyond reproach concerning the truth, and would honestly let you know how it shoots.
And so, I had better keep going on with yard cleanup. We only have a few weeks of free organic waste disposal left. It gives one a feeling of melancholy to clean up the dead plants that provided us with so much enjoyment over the summer. To everything, there is a season.
Ciao- Titus
Titus Groan
My dad had the farm and garden but also made wonderful flower gardens for my mom.
Those super heated pools are great in the winter. It’s even better when it’s snowing and the colder it is outside the thicker the fog becomes.
I totally trust you with the TX200, what interest would you have in lying to me if it’s not a great rifle? It’s not like you’re gonna make money out of me.
J-F
Finally got the second biggest gun build I have ever done for myself finished. It’s been an interesting one since I collected every last pin spring and piece one at a time. But mt AR15 is finally finished. I found that with the thousands of rounds I had put through an M-16/M-4 that my custon “infidel gun” goes right up into firing position with a proper sight picture perfectly. I’m also proud that the entire thing is cutting edge tech. No more aluminum lower. Mine is a polymer and kevlar lower. Very strong. This thing might be worthy of a review at some point.
John
For some reason it sounds like your happy. Did you fire it yet?
Unfortunately I can’t test fire it quite yet. It’d deer season and I want venison more than I want to fire “The Infidel”. I don’t want to frighten the deer where I hunt which is also my range. I’ll need to wait until I got some good weather after deer season. Likely I’ll put it to use in spring.
Yeah, a new gun is always exciting here.
Oh that would just drive me crazy. If I spent time putting it together I would have to fire it.
Reminds me of when we put a engine in a race car. When we got the engine in and it was ready to start we started that son of a gun even if it was 2:00 am in the morning and with open headers.
Just had to hear it run.
But I understand eat’n is more important than other things sometimes.
Oh, I’d love to hear it fire. But considering that I depend on that deer for my winter meat I have to wait. But the main thing is I got it built and everything is working. I can wait to test fire it. I have to get ammo anyway. That has to wait until next month so no point in getting a head of steam up about firing it.
John
Do you go for the buck for the trophy or do you get the doe for the meat?
Always for the meat, never for the trophy.
That’s the way I hunt too.
BB,
Good shooting in my opinion. 50 yards for an air rifle, esp. a springer, is a long shot. Your (10 shot!) groups are hovering around or just over an inch, so probably “just the right” pellet can get you below that. 1MOA (~1/2″) would be remarkable with a springer, but everything would have to be perfect and you might have to settle for 5 shot groups!
If you find the magic pellet at 50, I’d like to see it at 100 (pending good conditions) also. I haven’t shot air rifles for group at 100 any (more than maybe trying it a couple of times), but I’d be surprised if the best 100 yard groups aren’t almost 4x the size of 50 yard ones. That often happens with rimfires which have a much better BC than pellets. Your observed drops are just what I expect — many pellets drop like a stone past 40 yards.
I like the test TE suggested. Contrary to your experience (if I understood correctly the other day), I have experienced both differences in group size and changes in point of impact when changing where the rifle was rested. This is most obvious on long rifles, where there is often literally 3 feet of locations to choose from! I have found that there is (almost?) always a place where a rifle can be rested where it will shoot to same POA as offhand. The effects on POI tend to be most drastic with (relatively) thin barrels. For example, my 7/8″ .50 cal. is more finicky than my 11/8″ .40 cal.
PS. — Here’s a Nelson Lewis you might like:
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=28187.0
BGF
I have seen some change in elevation by holding in different locations. But not by much. Way more change in poi if you are at a different elevation than the target.
BG_Farmer,
Thanks for that link. Later on I think I will contact that guy and talk to him.
B.B.
Hi BB, thanks for this great blog! I’ve been reading it for a couple of years since returning to pellet gun shooting at 60 after a 40 year hiatus. Thanks to Pyramyd Air!! Popping targets or plinking after work is the perfect way to release the frustration of dealing with the excessive paperwork of practicing medicine these days!
I recently got a new TX200 MkIII in. 22cal (from Pyramyd of course) and find it isn’t very picky about pellet types or brands.
Question for Feinwork or anyone: the head size of the CP’s in the box are such that they fit in the breach fairly tightly but the JSB Jumbo Express 14.3 and JSB Jumbo 15.8 slide in smoothly and seem to be a bit more accurate. In theory or practice, should the pellet fit easily or should some force be required to insert the pellet for the best accuracy and/or fps?
I haven’t checked them over the chrony yet.
Also BB, any thoughts about comparing accuracy over distance between the TX200 in. 177 vs. 22? My gun does like to rest over a short sand bag near the trigger guard for what that is worth.
Thank you to all for your contributions to this fun past time and blog !!!!
SuperTenere1
ST1,
Welcome to the blog.
I think the TX 200 in .22 is probably the accuracy equivalent of the .177 in the same gun.
Thanks for the sandbag info, too. I hope to get back to the 50-yard range with mine soon.
B.B.
ST1,
I also own a TX200 MKIII in .22 and I have found that my gun vacillates between the JSB Match Exact 14.3 and the JSB Match Exact Jumbo 15.89. My preferred range is 50 yards and when I’m on, I get close to 3 inch groups with 5 pellets. I’ve played around with different sized heads offered by H&N Fields and I only shoot round heads but with no improvement. Also shooting at this distance I use a rest but I place my hand between the rest and the gun toward the mid section.
Bear
Hi BB-
Enjoyed your blogs on other than air guns. Did not know that accuracy was also in big part the gun being used. I’ve written an air gun book for Kindle that I would like to send you. It’s called “Selecting, Setting Up and Shooting a Springer Air Gun.” It’s about the experience my wife and I had learning to shoot accurately with a Springer. I’ve quoted you quite a bit in the book. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download it to your PC with the Kindle PC software. Please email me your email address if you would like the book. It was fun learning about our Springer and getting good with it.
Wayne,
Thanks for your offer, but I don’t do Kindle. We are all Mac here.
B.B.
Hi guys
My TX 200 mk3 is shooting at 11.4fpe in the UK that’s how it is unfortunately, 12lb max.
At 50 yards, weather permitting, my groups of 5 should always be 3/4 inch max. We aim for 10mm.
The TX is a pellet fussy rifle, let’s face it, you don’t take a classy gal to McDonalds now do you?
I use Rangemaster Sovereign 8.44gr and to be honest 3/4 inch grouping is a disappointment these days. She’s zeroed in at 25. Most hunting is at 35/40 yds. On the range however, 35 yards is my preferred distance for consistent 5 mm groups, with the occasional stray. A good springer will outshoot us all. We have to adapt to the rifle, not the rifle to us. Happy hunting
Ray,
Welcome to the blog.
Thanks for your comments. We Americans are just now discovering that the 12 foot-pound TXs are better than the unrestricted ones.
B.B.
Thanks…
Yes,I think so too. My brother has put his W 80 up to 18lb well within its range, he couldn’t hit a melon at 50yds!! Lol…I think due to our restrictions we depend much more on shot placement, especially when hunting. The Tx is a lovely springer, FAC over here is 16 lb,not too much. Have no idea how it performs at 16lb, at 12 she is sweet though, and competing well with PCP in field target.
PCP has no soul, you can’t beet a good springer I recon. Big bore PCP, now I do enjoy watching you guys hunt with them, excellent. I agree though, too much spring is just not good, shot one at 23lb thought my teeth had fallen out!! Lol. Keep up the good work.