Page 4 - Daisy POWERLINE 953 TargetPro Reviews

Awesome price, alot more for your $ than anyone, no one can even come close. Accuracy incredible for 72$ rifle, shoots 1/4" 10 yard groups after its broken in, and accepts the 853 trigger mod. love the auto index clip, wich you cant get on an avanti models.

The sights that come on it are cruel joke, scope it or change the sight to avanti/daisy target sights.

Dont buy light weight pellets, (5" group from ssp) no piont in waisting your money, Use crosman/rws competition wad cutters(1/4" group). Accepts plinkgun 853 trigger mod, If your scared of dissasmbly or drill and tap you can buy the parts already modded from daisy.

The indexing magazine beats crosman manual feed by miles!! So nice in fact it is My "carbine" lol. Kid likes it more than the other air rifle. Nice tight action with good power at 10 yards+.

might have a stock extension like the competitor's "recruit" for larger shooters and hard plastic with even spacing of pellet holes. I use a pellet pen (bought at pyramyd) to load the mags and the pellets stay put. click type setting for sights?

Great starter rifle for the cash.

I like everything, including its size. It is a nice carbine, with good weigh, good accuracy. So far the 5 pellets magazine works fine, no problems at all. I have other rifles with the power in the range of 1,200 fps. This is almost half, 500 fps, and is the kind of power for shooting in my back patio. Very silent, almost no recoil. I love the one pump system.

Maybe, a little more power, in the range of 600 fps.

I was looking for a medium power rifle. You don't have an idea of the countless hours I spend in searching Pyramyd and all the brands available. Daisy never came to my mind. After I saw it, I did plenty of comparisons but the power and the one pump system had a heavy weight on my decision. I was very pleased with the accuracy but I wanted to improve it. A scope or the optional Daisy 5899 receiver sight? I opted for the later, the Daisy receiver sight. I am so happy with this carbine that it is my favorite. By the way, buy plenty of magazines.

The accuracy was bad at first but after around 300 rounds the gun settled and became smooth and actually surprisingly accurate. All the parts (besides the trigger) feel very high quality. At 10 yards on a calm day, this gun can usually do 1/4 in 5 shot groups with the right pellets. The magazine works really well, despite what other people say. Just make sure they have some lube on them. I sprayed mine when I first got the gun, 3 years later still works perfectly. Recommend getting the extra mags, this gun is pretty fun, and reloading every 5 shots is not fun. It's easy to pump the gun, and the pump is pretty strong, I think it's some sort of metal with a plastic/rubber coating. There are chips in coating come off after grinding on my shooting table so much. The gun looks amazing with a proper scope on it. I have a 2-7x 40mm looks completely like a sniper rifle. Just not long enough. There's no recoil on this gun whatsoever, makes it easier to see where I hit on the target. I guess this could be a con, but then again people wanting recoil wouldn't look at pneumatic guns.

Not much. I guess the trigger's a bit long and creepy. Still, its not that unpredictable like people say. Just don't hesitate and hold down the trigger halfway for a long time. The sights are pretty bad, the front one lines up terrible, theres so much space between the red and green fiber optics. I actually think Daisy purposely did this to make people buy better sights/a scope. Not complaining, shot 5 pellets and they were gone. I wish the gun was a little longer. Then it would look more like a sniper and probably have better accuracy. Also, the barrel seems a little thin. It's probably just me though.

This gun loves any pellet made by RWS. Try the pellet sampler, they're really useful in finding your gun's favorite pellet without spending so much money for different kinds of pellets. The gun is a little front-heavy, so filling the buttstock with sand(unscrew 2 screws to remove buttplate) might be a good idea. This can make the gun feel heavier and get rid of some of the hollow feeling in the stock. Overall, this is an amazing gun, for this price and maybe for 3 times this price. Just remember, get RWS pellets, they're amazing in this gun. For some reason JSB Exacts, the pellet the I had the highest expectations, had the worst groups. No matter what I do, at 10 yards 1.5 in. is the best I can do for a 5 group. Don't warroy about the plastic parts on this gun. They are very high quality and I doubt they would ever fail, even after many many years. Also, make sure to buy some sort of air gun oil (I have Gamo air gun oil, its on this site search it). You need to oil the sponge thing on the piston every 500 or so shots to keep it working. Mine was overdue 2000 shots still worked pretty well but probably shortened the life of those o rings a year or so. If you're still thinking about whether you should buy this or something else, GET THIS. Absolutely nothing in this price range can beat this. The only thing I know about that gets anywhere close is the IZH 61. It's $110 this site last time I checked. Even then, the IZH is not quite as accurate. Get this gun, you won't regret it.

Very accurate after a brief break in. Easy to work on. Very quiet. Very well balanced. Essentially recoilless. Nice offhand stock design, and good apparent finish and quality of all components. Not too picky on pellets. 5 shot magazine is awesome, and has worked flawlessly without affecting the skirt on a single pellet that I've checked. Esay to pump. And again, it meets it's intended purpose of being very accurate and having plenty of power to punch paper at 10m.

The pistol grip is not quite long enough to fit my pinky, so I grip it like a single action revolver, with my pinky wrapped under the butt to control recoilo...bt there's no recoil here. The trigger should be a little nicer considering it is the same one used on all Daisy single pump target guns. Of course, I did change the trigger using the pilkguns mod, and it made an impressive improvement. It can be set for almost no pre-travel or overtravel, and is quite safe at around 1.5 lbs of pull. Also, Daisy does not include any buttstock extensions for the gun, and it comes with a 12" or so length of pull. Great for children, but not for me. I am 6'2" and found that I needed to get it to around a 13.75" lop for optimal balance and comfortable shooting. I went kind of custom in stretching the stock, as I filled the stock with sand and made a custom buttpad to hold in the sand, then I used steel sleeves and longer sheetrock screws to make two pillars. I then mounted the factory buttpad to the extension pillars. I had the stuff laying around to do the mod, but you could just use a slip on pad. If it fit well it would probably contain the ~2 lbs of sand that the stock will hold.

My complaints are small and the most important thing about this rifle is that it shoots very well. I mounted a 3-9x32 AO scope that I had laying around on some cheap tip off rigs. After shimming the rear scope ring so that I would have enough elevation to shoot out past 50 yards (and to help keep the scope near the middle of it's adjustment range..which is crucial in maintaining zero...especially with cheaper scopes) I was having good groups with some flyers. After 500 pellets, however, the flyers are just about gone. I am averaging 3/8" 5-shot center to center groups at 15 meters, and have had a lot of 1/4" groups as well. At 10 meters, I average about 1/4", but have shot some groups slightly smaller than that. The best group I ever got from a full sandbag rest was about .18" ctc at 10 meters. I think that this may represent the best accuracy my rifle is capable of. It is definitely capable of very good accuracy at a wonderful value. A Crosman Premier domed hollow point of 7.9 grains was chronoing around 480 fps after testing 10 shots. This was before I had done any significant break in. I disassembled the gun, and found that the piston is dished inwards (like those on a boosted engine that wants lower natural compression). I had read about filling the dish to raise compression (like a flat-top piston). So, I cleaned the piston cup out very well and scuffed it, then added enough jb weld to slightly over fill it. It now shoots the same pellets at ~550 fps.

Accuracy! I wasn't expecting much when I got it, but the gun has proven me wrong. This is the best value-for-price gun I've ever seen.

SIGHTS! The sights that come with the gun suck! A rifle that shoots this good deserves good sights. Of course, if Daisy offered an upgrade kit that included a decent set of target sights and maybe a better trigger, they would have to price it above the 853 or it would undercut the sales of their "real" target rifle.

With the right pellet (my best so far is the JSB Exact Match Heavy, .452mm head diameter) this rifle will shoot in the 9-ring on the AR-5 bull. For an entry-level rifle that doesn't sport a fancy German barrel, that's phenomenal! It does almost as good with Crosman Premier Lights. As for the trigger, let's just say that it's a good way to learn self-control! It'll never be great, but it can be manageable. Mine seems to have improved with (lots of) use, but that may just be that I've gotten better at shooting it.

repeater system with clips works great, easy to cock, and very accurate

the fiber optic sights on the rifle are actually very nice, but the rear sight is so close to your eye that the set up is barely usable

this is way to small for an adult.. the size and weight make it look and feel like a toy in your hands

The Price! , the accuracy! , the fact that its a single stroke pneumatic.

mag is lame, you have to seat the pellets in the mag with another pellet or they fall out and sometimes its hard to get it lined up for the first shot, but there are so many good things about it that i can live with that.

mines getting around 515 fps with gamo match pellets. it wears a 4x32AO scope and in my basement range (almost 10 yards) my 10 shot groups make one ragged hole about the size of 2 or 3 pellets. if you are undecided on this purchace i say go for it!!! i have ALOT more expensive airguns, but this one seem to get the most use. its just plain fun and accurite.

Accuracy out of the box was amazing. Great rifle for teaching basic skills, while the accuracy is so good that it is really encouraging to new shooters. Highly recommended.

Nothing.

Don't be fooled by the price - this is a very accurate rifle for target shooting. This is not a hunting gun.

this is just generally a great rifle. accurate, pretty fair trigger and well balanced for the price i have no idea how anyone could rate this less than 5 stars.

i think they could have re thought the magazine feature. it mostly works but it does fail to advance on occasion. i like the magazine and i'm not really complaining, but it seems like a lot of companies, daisy included, have a very good working rotary magazine system why not just use that system on such a nice gun. additionally they could change the sight, i know the commercial appeal for fiber optics are high but its a bit laughable on this rifle. it is a target rifle so don't pretend you can hunt with it.

do not try to hunt or eliminate pests with this rifle. i find it really irresponsible for daisy to even insinuate that anyone should try and kill anything with this rifle.

Well after a few shots and no sight adjustment I put three shots all touching and one slightly high from the group. Still had all four in a group smaller than a dime at 10m. Not bad for a guy that doesn't shoot airguns and it was from the standing position to boot. Can't wait for the sight upgrade to get here. The stock sight pretty much covers the entire bull plus a little extra on the 10m targets I was using. This is going to be great for getting a little practice in for Garand and highpower matches.

Could use some adjustment to stock length.

It's a well balanced gun, and extremely accurate.

I wish it had a little more power. The clip doesn't work well - pellets will fall right out of it.

I like the rather compact size and it is very accurate and nice handling. I like the single pump pneumatic system and it is very quiet for backyard shooting. The stock is well made and has a nice feel. This rifle should hold up to a lot of use.

The trigger is too heavy and does not break cleanly. It lacks power and I would be surprised if it shoots standard lead pellets much faster than 400 feet per second. I don't think it is anywhere close to the 560 fps shown on this web site. I can watch the pellet travel to the target. I expect that from a BB gun but not a pellet gun. It is very difficult to load single pellets using the single shot adapter.

I liked the 5 shot clip , it feeds well and is convenient. I also like the fact that the gun is mostly plastic as it seems to be fairly tolerant to a bit of dirt and water. Lets face it our little Davy Crockets have a lot of terrain to cover and they don't come home clean! The gun is also accurate enough to be a good target rifle for the beginner and enough fun to shoot if youv'e been shooting for years. So go out and have a little fun with your beginner and remember someday they may be better than you if "YOU" teach them right !!

For 70 bucks . Nothing, Daisy did well here the gun is good on all fields of play and if they bring it home broken . Oh well we'll buy another one.

I actually bought this one for my wife to shoot and she loves it . It's light weight and a simple 4X scope makes it easy to hit the target. I've been shooting for 36 years and own several high dollar air rifles and I still enjoy shooting this one with my wife . Yes I like my more expensive guns better and some of the reveiws I've read have been pretty critical of this gun and my final word is this. If you want more gun spend more money!!

Sights, are very accurate. The gun itself is great. Not too heavy not to light. the pump at First is a bit hard.

Nothing

Pump is a bit stubborn at first, but you will get use to it. I suggest buying the extra 5 5shot clips.

not too loud, magazine is great for 5 shot groups, sorta accurate, relatively easy to cock (my 9 year old bro can't do it but hes kinda weak), I can keep shooting maybe 80 shots before my arm starts to get too sore to shoot. The only thing that turned out to be a whole lot better than I expected was the trigger. Everyone says its bad with creep and stiffness. Mine is a little heavy but is not incredibly unpredictable. The feel of the trigger is horrible (its plastic with a huge seam that runs down the middle) but it does not affect accuracy. It is better than all the triggers in the gamo spring rifles that I shot at my friend's house. (but then again, everyone hates the gamo triggers) looks really cool with a scope on it. The stock is rubberish plastic and is matte black. This gun looks better than any wood gun I've ever seen

Make it slightly heavier. I heard how everyone can get dime sized groups at 10 meters but mine can barely fit inside a 1.5 inch circle c-t-c, maybe its because i only shot 400-500 round through it. RWS hobbys and meisters that can get under .5 inch every magazine. I have rws hobbys, meisters, beeman HN Match, JSB Exacts (really bad), crosman premere super match, avanti champion things, beeman silver bears. I haven't really tried the HN Match, but they are ok, i shot 10 shots before I had to stop. also, the sights are pretty bad, but I think its just me, i hate sights. Get a good scope, I have a Centerpoint AR22 4x32 scope(which can hardly be considered good but I'm still happy with it)

Spray the magazines wit silicone spray or really can kind of lubricant. JUST DO IT! The magazines don't move at all without it; you have to move them by hand. When shooting, don't hold it super tight, groups are much better in a relaxed grip. When buying pellets, get hobbys and meisters, and maybe the R10 and HN Match if you want to do serious shooting. Last thing, don't worry about the plastic parts on the gun, its perfectly fine and has a good feel to it(besides the trigger)

Sweet target rifle. Well balanced and comfortable. Easy to shoot. Five shot clip is handy. Power fluctuates a lot from shot to shot - but at 10-meters the effect does not show up. Have only owned it for a month and have only put a few hundred shots through it so far - so these are just first impressions.

Nothing comes to mind. The gun as sold fits the targeted objective - entry level target gun. Thank you for putting this rifle out for such a modest price.

Included iron sights are just OK. Serious target shooters will want to upgrade to sights that cost as much or more than the gun. Gun shoots about 120fps below published speed. Trigger is better than most low priced airguns - but far from target grade 2-stage. There are modifications you can do to help it.

Very accurate! - 5 shots in a dime size group (a ragged hole actually) at 50 feet. Easy to opperate. Not too loud. Plenty of power to knock over weighted tin cans. The 5 shot clip is fast and fun to use. I've shot over 2000 rounds and not a single problem.

The trigger is stiff and rear sight is terrible - it wobbles left and right. A scope solves the sight problem and with practice, a good shooter can overcome the hard creep in the trigger.

I tested several weights and brands of pellets with the rifle on sand bags. The 8.3 grain Beeman Pointed Pellets (250/tin) were the best. The others tested were the Crosman Pointed 7.9 gr., the Gamo Match 7.7 gr., and the RWS Superdome 8.3 gr.

I really liked the fact that so many of the reviews were 5/5 stars. Great gun for my backyard shooting range. I actually like the synthetic stock. It has a nice texture and heft. Doesn't feel cheap at all. I filled the stock with sand to eliminate any sensation of hollowness. I like the balance point to be fairly close to the action, so the heavier stock works great in conjunction with the stock barrel weight. I haven't weighed it, but I suspect the weight is up around seven pounds now ( the stock doesn't hold that much sand), which I like. I'm sure this trick would work well with the 853CM considering it comes with dual barrel weights, and I've heard reports that is too much weight forward. I also love the fact that the cocking lever is aluminum at this price point. I guess that's a fluke of using the 853's "engine".

Really, I wouldn't change anything. This rifle is a great value at this price.

I bought this rifle because I was tired of waiting for Daisy to run another batch of 499B's. Right after I took delivery of the 953, Pyramyd informed me via e-mail that the 499B was now available. I went ahead and ordered one, but I fully intend to keep my 953. Frankly, it's probably a better all around value than the 499B, but the 499 is just too cool. I'm kinda jonesing for an 853CM now. Jeez, where does it end?

I have an retired friend (and amateur gunsmith) who persuaded me to go shooting last summer. He mounted a scope on a vintage Springfield .22 I own, and we had great fun. Cold weather brought an end to our outdoor shooting, so I dragged out my OLD Daisy 888 muli-pump pneumatic and set up a 10m range in the basement. Soon found myself wanting a more accurate rifle, and after a lot of research, settled on the Daisy 953. After a backorder delay, it arrived several days ago and I've put about 200 rounds through. The steel barrel with its 1:15 twist allowed me to get five rounds within 1/4" center-to-center. I'm confident that after getting accustomed to the 953 and making the requisite trigger mods, I'll be getting one-hole groups consistently on the 10m range. The composite stock has a solid feel, something like the Ruger 10/22 my friend has. The 3/8 dovetail rail is solid and provides a good base for whatever sighting system you want to use. The five-shot magazine and one-pump action make it easy to shoot-and-return to the target. Thruthfully, I hadn't given Daisy much thought during my research (I've always thought of Daisy as a maker of low-end BB and pellet rifles), but I'm glad I kept researching. Daisy has a real winner in the 953!

The sights were the first to go. After shooting two pellets. With my old eyes, the fiber optic sights were useless. I removed the rear sights and mounted a Busnell 3-9x40 scope on the 3/8 rail, and 953 quickly settled in to shoot a really tight group. The trigger is a bit stiff and a L-O-N-G pull from what I'm used to, so I will make the mods you can readily find on the Internet. The muzzle break on the front is more ornamental than functional, in my opinion.

1. As with all new weapons, clean it well before you use it. There was a bit of grease or whatever left over from manufacturing. 2. Lube the little pellet magazines and they work well. Make SURE you buy extras when you purchase the gun. They only send one with the rifle. You will certainly want more. 3. When you pump the gun, wait until you hear the slight wheeze at the top of the stoke. I read this somewhere else but it needs repeating. If you hurry the "pump" the 953 will not suck enough air into the cylinder to make full power. 4. I haven't shot a large variety of pellets through the 953, but it seems to like the Gamo Match Diablos really well. 5. The 953's low velocity will not lend itself to an effective or humane varmint erradicator. 6. If you are looking for a basement or outdoor plinker with superb accuracy at a modest price, this is THE rifle of choice!