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Ammo RAW HM-1000X precharged air rifle: Part 6

RAW HM-1000X precharged air rifle: Part 6

RAW HM-1000X
The new RAW HM-1000X chassis system.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

This report covers:

  • JSB Exact Jumbo Monster Redesigned
  • Say hello to my little friend
  • The test
  • JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
  • JSB Exact Monsters
  • JSB Exact Monster Redesigned
  • Summary

Well — we got us a real weekend blog today — that’s for sure! Today I shoot the RAW HM-1000X Chassis System precharged air rifle for accuracy at 25 yards for the second time. And today I shoot the pellets the rifle was designed to shoot and for which it was intentionally tuned at the factory.

JSB Exact Jumbo Monster Redesigned

Reader Kevin suggested that I not advance in my testing without trying the JSB Exact Monster Redesigned pellet in the rifle. Two days later I had dinner at John McCaslin’s house and he said the same thing. He said my first set of groups were not bad, but the rifle could do better. Well, maybe the rifle can, but BB Pelletier is pulling the trigger. Let’s consider that, John!

So I went on a search for the Redesigned pellets, pretty much knowing what I’d find. If everybody is hoarding toilet paper it’s not the best time to try to buy some, no matter whatcha gotta do. I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt and wore it out.

But there are good people who read this blog and it was time to call in some favors. I asked Tyler Patner at Pyramyd AIR if he could loan me a few and I also called Ton Jones at AirForce.

Tyler found me a tin and he also sent a tin of the Monsters that had not been redesigned. And Ton also gave me a tin which I promised to return at the end of my tests. Between those two guys, I am able to test the rifle with the pellet it was factory-tuned to shoot. That would be Monster Redesigned at 950 f.p.s.

RAW HM 1000X Monsters
The JSB Monster is on the left, the Monster Redesigned is on the right.

Both pellets weigh an identical 25.39 grains, which means they were both made from the same lead preform. The Redesigned has a long tapered skirt with no pronounced flare at the tail. The head is also more pronounced. Why, it is as if JSB and the engineers at RAW (and other airgun makers besides) got together and decided to make a pellet they knew would work!

Say hello to my little friend

As long time readers know, BB has different coins for group size comparisons. And before you guys in the U.S. and Canada get on your high horse and complain about the ones you don’t recognize, let BB tell you that on Nosy Be and in Magnitogorsk the American dime is no less of a mystery than the Trime or gold dollar.

Last time I tested the RAW HM-1000X, I got two groups that were smaller than one-tenth-inch between centers. I use the gold dollar for groups smaller than 0.15-inches, but it dawned on me that groups that are smaller than 0.10 deserve their own coin. Why not? I’m just having fun with this. And I don’t get groups that small very often.

I had thought to use a Lepton, which is the biblical widow’s mite, but upon investigation I discovered that most of them are not round. They are crudely struck and they have a wide range of sizes, some of which are even larger than the 13 mm gold dollar. I needed a coin that was smaller.

The California gold quarter dollar was possible, but many are counterfeited. A real one costs good money and is encased in a plastic card that, if opened, destroys the value of the coin’s grading. So that was out.

I finally found a small silver coin from India. It’s a silver Chuckram from the province of Travancore. They are nominally 6 to 7 mm in diameter but I asked for the smallest one the vendor had and it measures less than 6 mm. Compared to my other coins, it is wee teeny.

RAW HM 1000X coins
These are my 4 comparison coins. The dime on the left is 17.91 mm. The silver three-cent piece (Trime) next to it is 14 mm in diameter. The gold dollar is 13 mm and the silver Chuckram on the right is 5.34 mm on the short axis and 5.81 mm on the long one.

What do you reckon? If I’m showing you this tiny coin there must be a reason. Let’s see.

The test

I shot off a sandbag rest with the rifle resting directly on the bag. I shot 5-shot groups and I only tested three pellets today.

JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy

The JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy was the pellet I wanted to try last time and just didn’t get to it. This time, at 25 yards the HM-1000X put five of them into a group that measures 0.103-inches between centers.

RAW HM 1000X JSB 18 grain
Five JSB Exact Jumbo pellets went into this 0.103-inch group at 25 yards.

Hunting Guide

JSB Exact Monsters

Now let’s see what the JSB Exact Monsters that are not redesigned can do. The HM-1000X put five of them into a 0.071-inch group. That is worthy of my new teeny-weeny silver Chuckram, but I will keep the gold dollar in the picture so you can compare.

RAW HM 1000X Monster
The HM-1000X put five JSB Monsters into 0.071-inches at 25 yards. It wins the soon-to-be-coveted silver Chuckram award!

JSB Exact Monster Redesigned

Okay, it’s truth time. John McCaslin told me my groups with the Redesigned pellets should be just about one pellet in diameter when I shoot as close as 25 yards.

Are you guys getting this? I am shooting at 25 yards and getting groups that would be praiseworthy for a 10 meter target rifle. But we are about to step over the threshold and go where no BB has ever gone. Five of the JSB Exact Monster Redesigned pellets went into a group that measures 0.037-inches between centers. That is smaller than any 10-meter rifle group I have ever shot. In fact I think we are looking at the smallest 5-shot group that BB Pelletier has ever shot — in his life!

09-RAW HM 1000X Monster Redesigned
Boy howdy! It doesn’t get much better than this. Five JSB Monster Redesigned pellets made a 0.037-inch group at 25 yards.

There is only one way for BB to beat a group like this. Shoot one pellet at the target and the other four somewhere else. Yes, BB has done that to put certain braggarts in their place. But today he shot all five pellets at the same target and the hole never seemed to grow.

Summary

Okay, we got us a RAW HM-1000X that seems to group reasonably well and we got a brand new comparison coin that’s as small as an IRS refund — in cold water! There is always more shrinkage in cold water, don’t you know. As airguns go, we doin’ well.

Poor AirForce! How sad they will be to learn that this rifle fell off the tailgate of my truck, never to be seen again.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

89 thoughts on “RAW HM-1000X precharged air rifle: Part 6”

  1. Wow! This is awesome. I was gonna ask BB if he liked his new 30S more than his old 27, and then I was gonna…. bla bla bla… Who cares? All of a sudden, I cannot care less about springers. No, not anymore. This is a milestone in a reader’s world. Now is the time. Nothing will be the same ever again. What would Robin Hood carry with him if he were around these days?

    I used to be a big fan of the good old cafe racers. I bragged, bragged, and bragged about them all the time, but guess what, never had bought or built one. A rider friend of mine asked me what would those British rockers of the Fifties would ride if they were young men today. Not old Nortons turned into a cafe racers, I assumed in a laugh. They would definately ride Kawasaki Ninjas.

  2. “I had thought to use a Lepton, which is the biblical widow’s mite”
    B.B.,
    That’s one of the things I love about this blog, the extra things you point out of historical significance. I LOVE the story of the widow’s mite! So this info you added about that coin is way cool.
    As to the RAW, the accuracy is impressive. I suppose that one day I shall have to cross over to the Darkside…but it’s hard to go against 42 years of warnings from Yoda about it, LOL! =)~
    Take care & God bless,
    dave

  3. BB
    Ok so let see. Does that mean the RAW 50 yard groups are going to look like other air gun groups at 25 yards and the 100 yard RAW groups look like other air gun groups at 50 yards. 😉

    I’m waiting to see.

  4. BB,

    LOL! The best thing you can do for your savings account is to take this air rifle back to AirForce now! No more shooting! LOL! You bought the Air Arms S510 after you shot it. This is going to put it to shame.

    My HM1000X in .357 will shoot 1″ CTC at 100 yards. Part of me would like to sell it, but it is hard to let go of something that shoots like that. With FX and others finally stepping up to this caliber, my pellet choices will likely start growing, but it is going to be hard to compete with that JSB.

  5. Wow! Nice shooting, B.B.! What an amazing rifle and shooter combination. This really shows us what “one hole group” means. Do you think you could keep it together for a 10 shot group? I can’t wait to see what you can do with this rifle at 50 and 100 yards. Varmints beware!

  6. Can’t believe you admitted in print that you shot a target once and passed it off as a five shot group. I’m curious as to who you fooled. Couldn’t have been any of your long time followers, they aren’t the bragging type.

  7. BB

    First of all, congratulations!

    Is it time to discard 10 shot groups? Are 5 shot groups not more exciting? It is frustrating to see a really nice group gang aft agley on shot number 8 or 9 or even worse, 10. Competition folks can play by whatever rules they can agree on. They are competing with each other as much as the equipment. Like you I want to know what a gun is capable of in accuracy. The problem is deciding if fliers are being caused by the gun or me? I used a military test for awhile but it requires 25 shots, 5 shots each at 5 targets. Maybe I should go back to it but it sure eats up targets. I do think it is statistically more truthful than shooting 10 shot groups but 25 shots involves more human error than 5.

    Deck

      • Roamin

        Thanks for the excellent piece on statistics that help with accuracy and precision. Long time for me since my last statistics class. Interesting reminder why mean radius gives truer performance vs extreme spread (ES). It doesn’t punish the flier or outlier as much. But mean radius is hard to measure for each shot on targets under 100 yards or so. The military test I mentioned above would seem more statistically correct than a 10 shot group. Both use ES but 2 and 1/2 fliers out of 25 shots are less penal than 1 flier out of 10 shots.

        Deck

    • Deck,

      The more, the better. In this case, the more shots means better statistical information. Ten shots at one target will give you better statistical data than five shots. Now if you use five targets with ten shots each you will help reduce the human error in the equation.

      If you have the time, pellets, air, etc., shooting 100 shots at one target will also be able to narrow the human error factor down and give you the best idea to what the airgun is capable of.

      With this particular air rifle, ten shots will increase the size of the group, but not by much.

  8. Great shooting BB!

    My Impact is fond of the Monsters (at 945 fps).

    Wish JSB would make a Hades style Monster – that would be an awesome hunting pellet for those airguns who don’t care for slugs.

    Hank

    • Hank,

      How are you doing with the Redesigned pellets in your Impact?

      My RAW did better with the H&N .218 caliber slugs in 25 grains at 100 yds. At 50 yards the pellets held up but at 100 yards the slugs were better. I hope B.B. tests slugs at 100 yards.

      /product/h-n-slug-hp-218-cal-25-grains-hollowpoint-200ct?p=1551

      Don

  9. BB,

    I wrote a couple of compliments to the groupings last night, but I don’t see them now. I must’ve deleted them accidentally while editing. Happens using a phone. Anyhow. Your next 25 yards goal should be a grouping smaller than the caliber of the pellets; you might as well do it with this airgun!? Great report!

    Fish

  10. B.B.’s ongoing series about the RAW has struck a loud chord inside of me.

    One of my passions is shooting ACCURATE guns. I shoot airguns a lot more these days because I can shoot them on my property without bothering neighbors, the ammo cost is inconsequential compared to powder burners and airguns have surpassed powder burner accuracy at the distances I shoot.

    Airguns have recently, DRASTICALLY evolved thanks to the dedication of passionate, innovative folks like Martin Rutherford and John McCaslin. Their dedication to a hand built, tuned at the factory airgun like the RAW has propelled accuracy and reliability in a time frame never seen before. B.B. said something in his article today that I think many have glossed over, “today I shoot the pellets the rifle was designed to shoot and for which it was intentionally tuned at the factory.”

    This blog attracts comments from airgunners every day that complain about something in their mass-produced airgun. Don’t think I’ve ever read a complaint about a RAW.

    It’s interesting to follow formal shooting competitions and see what equipment is being used. For years benchrest competitors won or placed high with a RAW. To be clear, the best equipment helps but in the end it’s the shooter that also must be consistent and be able to read the wind.

    I’m in Colorado and there’s another airgunner in Colorado to watch. Mike Niksch. Mike is a passionate, innovative airgunner like Martin Rutherford and John McCaslin. I think he shares their DNA. Mike designed and built the Thomas airgun and continues to refine this design. The Thomas airgun was inspired by the USFT rifle that Tim McMurray designed and built with help from that guy in CA.

    The Thomas is taking FT by storm and just solidified its place in benchrest earlier this month just like RAW has done in the past.

    The National 50 Benchrest League (N50) is a growing organization that now has 16 clubs around the Country that hosts competitions for airguns and rimfire shooters. One of their clubs is in Pearland, Texas. Their primary, sanctioned events shoot targets at 50 yards and the “bullseye” is the size of a pencil eraser. N50 created and added a Professional Class for their annual nationwide event that was held in New Mexico earlier this month.

    The Professional Class was open to airguns and rimfire shooters. Shooters came from Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, California, Washington, Nevada, New Mexico, etc. to compete. Mike Niksch won this event with a newly designed Thomas airgun using his 22 caliber homemade slugs. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME AN AIRGUN WON A NATIONAL COMPETITION WITH AN AIRGUN SHOOTING AGAINST DEDICATED, HIGH END, BENCHRESTED RIMFIRES!

    http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2021/09/sunday-gunday-n50-nationals-and-the-modern-precision-airgun/?fbclid=IwAR23HLbMBYi5-f1iDxDA1NsxPbsnxAx0p9jic_o1X0qxqJUBVGtETxq8Wa0#mikegun

    As airgunners, we’re lucky to be living in a time when you can buy and shoot incredibly accurate airguns like the Thomas and RAW.

  11. Off Subject, How did I not know about this super cool “flint lock” bb pistol (C02 power)? I like the idea. Wish it were a trapper version with open sights though. Available at PA
    https://hardairmagazine.com/news/yes-its-true-theres-a-new-flintlock-bb-pistol/

    /product/18th-century-pirate-flintlock-co2-bb-pistol?m=5489&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_medium=affiliate_program&utm_campaign=PyramydAir&utm_term=Archer+Airguns+Inc.&cjevent=926784681d5611ec80dd98fe0a1c0e12#10979

    Doc

    • Ah yes Doc Holiday, that is indeed an unusual BB gun.

      You may also be interested in this 200 years old air rifle (.32″ calibre) in, what I think is amazingly good condition. It’s for sale and described thus:

      “…Whilst this antique butt reservoir rifle has no markings or makers name on it we are pretty sure it is of Austrian manufacture… The hammer mechanism is unusual with moving striking piece which strikes a just off centre located hammer. The butt reservoir itself appears to have been recovered in leather some time after its manufacture, a really nice job has been done… Fitted with a ramrod which may well be later, probably not original… We have seen repeating versions of this made by Girandoni but this one is a single shot and not made by Girandoni (sometimes referred to as Girardoni)…”

      If only the adults in the country I’m in would not have forbidden me to buy it… 🙂

      Hopefully a picture of it will appear here:

      • Hi,

        That’s a beaut. It will probably go for a lot.

        Girardoni is the proper spelling of the name. Dt. Beeman met with the family in Austria several years ago.

        BB

      • hihihi,

        That brass receiver looks very much like the castings that Grant the Kiwi cast some years ago and an unscrupulous investor absconded with them. They have shown up in various “antique” airguns. It is interesting that you found the condition of this example to be good enough to make it remarkable!!!

        shootski

        • Hmm shootski, I’ve bought from these sellers in the past – small gunshop on the south coast of England – and really trust them.

          But now with this information about Grant the Kiwi’s castings…
          I don’t know what to think.

          Thanks for the interesting information.

    • Doc
      I found the flintlock CO2 ‘BB’ pistol a while back on an airsoft site and commented to BB that I was sort of getting good at resisting getting everything I wanted and did not get it. I need to go to Airguns Anonymous ;(
      Anyway this airsoft company that begins with an ‘E’ has regular airguns as a side line and they have come out with some outstanding airguns, talking about looks for the most part, that never make it to the regular airgun companies.
      Like all those custom Race Gun BB pistols I have, extended barrel M92 Barretta and a revolver rifle. The airguns are short lived because of that, I believe.

      This one managed to make it through. Wonderful collectable. Not a good time to stop collecting.
      Bob M

  12. B.B.,

    Great shooting.
    Congratulations!

    I knew you had it in you:

    “Summary
    Let’s see, what can I say? How about WOW? I’m 71 years old and well past my prime, yet today I shot the smallest 5-shot group of my life with an air rifle at 25 yards. Bully for me, but don’tcha think the rifle had something to do with it? I do.”

    (Five shots using an artillery hold with the forward part of the forearm resting on my off hand went into a group measuring 0.072-inches between centers at 25 yards. I believe that is the smallest group I have ever shot with any airgun at 25 yards.)

    The ASP20 continues to amaze me. The trigger is a peach. The rifle doesn’t vibrate. The scope is clear and sharp. And the accuracy… well — you know.”

    Now two years latter you do another SCREAMER but with a very fine PCP:

    Five of the JSB Exact Monster Redesigned pellets went into a group that measures 0.037-inches between centers. That is smaller than any 10-meter rifle group I have ever shot. In fact I think we are looking at the smallest 5-shot group that BB Pelletier has ever shot — in his life!

    I believe you are going to have another great group in your future soon.

    shootski

    • Shootski

      Your group is amazing by any standard. Must have gotten quite a thrill measuring it. My ASP20 is a keeper too and is everything it was advertised to be. What pellet did you use?

      Deck

      • Deck,

        That wasn’t my group!
        That was a quote from B.B.’s Blog and Tom’s SCREAMER group with his ASP20: /blog/2019/01/sig-asp20-rifle-with-whiskey3-asp-4-12×44-scope-part-6/
        The pellet he used was the Air Arms Domes.

        I haven’t gotten my .22 ASP20 to print a group that small thus far…my Air Arms Pellets are still on backorder. I have gotten near that ballpark with other pellets on a number of occasions; i do love my coffee NAVY strong.
        The point has been reached that I need to get my Cataracts fixed to up my game once more; just can’t depend on experience to overcome the degraded vision any longer. I have also started to notice it hampering my night vision a bit out on the water.
        NOT GOOD!

        Just need to decide on what options to select; I think I’m going with distant and use glasses to correct for near vision and especially shooting. Fortunately my regular correction value is very small in both eyes.

        shootski

  13. RidgeRunner, B.B., and blogmates: I was doing a shakedown of the R9 that I intend as a gift to my father-in-law, and I was comparing the stock front sight to the HW fiber optic sight. The stock sight has a much thicker hood (it has interchangeable front sight inserts) so I like the thinner hood on the new sight better. However, the post on the fiber optic sight is so thick, it looks like a tree trunk against the 10 meter bull at 10 yards. Can’t imagine being able to aim precisely on a squirrel’s eye at 25 yards. So I decided, since my father in law is pretty new to airguns, and I don’t want to make it harder for him, I’ll put the front sight on my R7 instead and shoot with it for a while. More to come on that….

    I also tried to put the Air Venturi peep sight (curiously, it came in an Air Arms box) on the R9, but it walked back on me with every shot. It only has a single dovetail clamp. I remembered what Gunfun1(?) said recently about reducing vibration to reduce this from happening, and since the R9 was slightly buzzing anyway, I took off the stock and applied a very modest amount of TIAT to the mainspring in addition to the black (moly?) grease that was in there). While I was at it, I put a bit of blue loctite on the stock screws. The buzz disappeared, but the peep sight was still walking back. I’m wondering, should I add a bit more TIAT, just wait for the AirForce peep to come in, or if anyone ever drilled and tapped an Air Venturi peep sight for a scope stop pin. The R9 receiver has 3 holes to accept such pins.

    • Roamin,

      This may work for you. Put a short hex screw (from a scope mount) in the rear hole of the rifle, so it sticks up about the hole a little, and back the target sight against it. That should keep it from walking back. It just gets tighter and tighter as you shoot.

      Of course that may put the peeohole too far from the eye, so you’ll have to be the judge.

      BB

      • Sorry for my ignorance, but does that screw just sit in the hole? I can’t see that the scope stop holes are threaded. If not, than any short, steel machine screw (like a set screw) or pin that fits in that hole and doesn’t stick up too far might work?

        • Roamin,

          Yes, it just sits in the hole. It is loose — not threaded in. When the sight tries to slide back it hits the screw and jams against it, stopping all movement. And yes, any short screw or even a short piece of an Allen wrench will work.

          BB

        • Roamin,

          You got it. Since the scope stop (in this case a target sight stop) hole is not threaded almost anything metal could work as long as it closely fits the hole and doesn’t stick up too far that it interferes with your target sight sitting flush

          • Kevin and B.B., in my cache of random fasteners, I found some pins that hold up glass shelves. The diameter is slightly less than the stop pin hole. However, the way the Air Venturi peep sight is constructed, the little box where all the adjustment controls and the aperature are has to hang off the back of the spring tube, so that covers all the holes. So unless I want to have the peep sight drilled and tapped for a scope stop pin, which I am pretty sure would prevent me from returning it to P.A. in 60 days if it doesn’t work out (I have already returned one because the aperature started wiggling around on every shot), I guess I will just have to wait until the AirForce peep sight eventually gets delivered and try that out. OR…buy a scope and rings and mounts.

    • Roamin
      Not only the vibration but the easier shot cycle. That’s the trick. And yep it was me.

      Also yep the screw is in the back scope ring. And when you tighten the set screw down in the hole back it off about a half turn. And this is a good place to use blue loctite. The reason I say to back the screw off is that the screw on some guns contacts the rear plug or end cap on the spring tube. So if for some reason you want to take the spring out the end cap won’t come out because that set screw will contact it. Then you have to take your scope off to get that end cap off.

      Just a note if you ever want to tune your springer with a scope stop set screw in the hole and not have to remove the scope.

      • Thanks GunFun. I was shooting the R9 earlier today with open sights at 20 yards and not only did I have to crank the rear sight down a few notches, but I realized that I REALLY need a new eyeglass prescription! OR a scope! But I eventually settled into about 1-1/2″ groups with HN Field Target Trophies. That’s how I started last year at 10 yards, so there is hope for my Olympic Dreams. Ha, ha! Oh well, at least I can keep those feral pop cans at bay. With practice, who knows. I’ll be happy if I can earn the dime (until I do).

  14. B.B.

    Please ask Mr. McCaslin how they tune a barrel for a particular pellet.
    I once asked a guy at the range who seems to know everything FX, how they did it.
    He said they make a thousand barrels all slightly different and then shoot them to find the best one. I am very skeptical of this “hit or miss” approach.

    Enjoy the weekend.

    -Yogi

    • Yogi,

      AirForce doesn’t tune the barrel. They tune the powerplant by adjusting it until the pellet groups the tightest. Tuning involves a combination of adjusting the regulator and the striker spring tension.

      What the guy told you about FX barrels is not true. No company could remain in business by doing that. In the past that approach has been used for special things like national match guns, but the entire gun was tested — not just the barrel.

      BB

  15. OK BB,
    Since when does a single hole become a group?
    Now when they come up with a pellet that cuts through a target and the vacuum sucks the paper back together leaving only a pin hole to measure ….

    You know for many years all I really wanted was a reasonably powerful select fire AR type pellet rifle to replace the real thing for plinking.
    Enter the PCP.
    Been there done that with full auto and am happy to settle for my SAM in an RAI Chassis as well as my modified Hatsan Invader (Removed thumbhole stock connection)
    But NOW I am confronted with these outstanding, highly accurate bottle guns, with an AR chassis. OK … perhaps just one ! But which one ? This one looks really good. Move over Armada.
    Not too many pests around with this drought going on in CA, need to get into target shooting more.
    Glad to see manufactures helping us out with the best pellet for their airgun.
    Bob M

      • GF1
        Why am I not surprised you want just a little more information. You are into everything airgun.
        Look I am not a dedicated target shooter, more a collector and as I have said many times before if I really want to hit something I use my FX Independence. I generally go for JSB Match Diabolo Jumbo Heavy pellets. I have too many airguns to narrow down the best pellet for each and rely on the manufacturers and BB’s reputation, not to mention the internet for the best pellet.
        So far JSB has not let me down. “Better luck next time” is easily acceptable to me.
        I am overjoyed with the simple fact that I have the opportunity to own and shoot just about anything I want, any time, after being denied that privilege all of my youth.
        If I place a beer can way out in the field and sight an airgun to hit it, I’m OK with that. I’m not too worried going through the same hole.
        It may be a carry over from shooting real steel for many years where you just shoot the best priced ammo and rely on your aiming ability and the gun.

        I never determined which pellet works best in the SAM or documented its performance but I can do it any time I want. And that is the important thing to me.
        For now, dealing with life’s hard balls and playing catchup on postponed desires has priority.
        You are a big part of this blog. 🙂
        Bob M

    • You know BB,
      When I noticed I totally misspelled the name Beretta in an entry above I thought, “So what, everyone gets the point and it’s not worth the trouble to fix it”.
      It may be the fact that I know our brains are totally capable of understanding a bunch of misplaced letters as a word, probably why I did it anyway … in reverse 🙂 But I think its just a symptom of old age and not getting too worried about it.
      Glad I don’t write for a living. You, on the other hand, have lots of spell checkers out there reading this Blog to help you kind of stay on top of it. It’s still an important item for them there youngsters and they enjoy helping I’m sure. Life is good!

  16. How to make ‘any’ airgun a one hole wonder!
    Just checked out Kevin’s link to that button controlled electric trigger target rifle and remembered that blog about how many accessories you can add to an airgun before the shooters talent becomes irrelevant.
    Well here is a way to save lots of money. Lay the airgun, any airgun, on a table, any table, pull the trigger and shoot it at a blank piece of paper. When you are done shooting at it draw a bullseye around each hole. For real precision you can cut out all the bullseyes and stack them for a one hole wonder. Now the airgun becomes irrelevant too !

    • Bob M,

      Why spend all that money to buy pellets/bullets(slugs) and an airgun? They sell hole punches that make holes in various diameters; come to think of it they make multi hole punches that are adjustable for faster hole punching. Use them on printed bullseyes to make impressive groups to share with others! Much cheaper! Same bragging at better “BANG” for the buck to boot!

      End of cynical RANT!

      Shoot what ya got…more!

      Hope your Fall is beautiful,

      shootski

      • Shootski ,
        Great point !
        In hind sight, I plead guilty to BUI. Blogging Under the Influence. It was a fine day, but not for an old shipmate of mine.
        He is getting kicked out of the Navy Marina on the Silver Strand in Coronado. He can’t maintain his 32′ sail boat or himself for that mater due to Dementia. He is 73. We never plan for stuff like this.
        Bob M

        • Bob M,

          You are sentenced to have a Great Day ASAP!
          Any 32′ boat is a big commitment and when a sailboats it just compounds the work needed to keep them shipshape. I hope he got great joy at sea with her and hope he doesn’t have this transition cause him to much pain. SUCKS!
          Even the best laid plans go to hell more than not!

          Shoot more!

          shootski

  17. RidgeRunner, I worked on the fiber optic front sight last evening. I replaced the stock globe front sight with the HW fiber optic (F.O.) front sight on my Beeman R7 (aka HW30S). First, I removed the stock sight. That come off easily by loosening the one screw on the side and gently tapping the sight with the back of the screwdriver along the section of dovetail cut into the end of the barrel. So far, so good. I lined up the new F.O. sight on the dovetail and tapped it on. The screw on the new F.O. sight was a bit narrower, but the slot seemed a bit wider, so as I carefully tightened the screw, the bit slipped a bit, scraping off the black coating (paint?) on the screw and exposing some of the bright metal beneath.

    Then I added the Air Venturi peep sight into the receiver dovetail. Unfortunately, the peep sight is made so that the rear portion containing the adjustment knobs has to hang over the back of the spring tube, and there is no where to put a stop pin. Anyway, I made sure the “jaws” of the the peep signed lined up with the dovetail and screwed the single thumb screw down, then tightened it some more by inserting a small key in the slot of the thumb screw for added leverage. I’m sure that a coin would also work for that purpose.

    One thing that worked out was sighting in the peep. The rear sight was almost perfectly co-witnessing in the view through the peep sight. Since the open sights were already sighted in, all I had to do was balance the gun on the sandbag, look through the peep at a blank spot on the target paper, and turn the adjustment knobs until the front sight lined up in the notch of the rear sight and level with the top of the rear sight. Then, just to open up my field of view, I lowered the rear iron sights by a few turns and out of the way.

    My basement range is set up for target shooting with strong work lights on the targets. The light over the shooting table wasn’t really strong enough to make the F.O. sight really stand out through the peep. However, the dim peep did not distract from the fact that the overall shape of the post is square, although much wider than the post from the original front sight. I was able to shoot a decent group right away with my current favorite plinking and practice pellet, an HN Excite Econ II. However by the 10th shot, I was straining my eyes to discern the bottom of the bullseye and the top of the front sight. The dimly lit F.O. was interfering with the sight picture. In the meantime, the peep sight was walking backwards with every shot. I thought perhaps I can reduce the brightness of the targets and increase the brightness of the peep, so I unplugged first one worklight and then the other, and I set up a box and a flashlight to beam concentrated light on the F.O. front sight. Well that F.O. filament lit up like a bulb on a Christmas tree. But I was still having a lot of trouble focusing to shoot. That’s when things went haywire. First I noticed as I was cocking, the front sight was moving slightly forward, so I loosened the screw, tapped the front sight as far back as I reasonably could and then went to tighten the screw down, but this time, when my screw driver bit slipped, it really gouged up the head of the screw. Then, the peep sight suddenly just fell off the gun.

    Luckily, I caught the peep before it hit the concrete floor. It looked to me as if the portion of the peep sight that slips under the edge of the dove tail was too thick and couldn’t get a good bite. So it was back to iron sights. I realized that the rear sight notch was too narrow. The front F.O. sight practically filled up the entire width of the rear sight. The “u” shaped notch was not better. However, the wide, square notch seemed about right. Fortunately, the Beeman rear sight has a spring-loaded selector that you can use to change the shape of the rear notch. But I was still fighting my eyes to stay on target. Finally, I scrapped the effort to shoot the tiniest group possible. I was too tired and getting frustrated. I replaced the official 10 meter bullseye target with a free, printable target that shows the shape of that cute, little, fuzzy, dirt-dwelling, hole digging, wire-chewing, ornamental tree root nibbling, relative of the rat–the chipmunk. Ten shots with JSB Exact RS domes went into a pleasing pattern and I packed it up for the night.

    More later.

    • Roamin Greco,

      Good shooting despite the walking peep sight. If there are holes already in the receiver but the Air Venturi peep needs to go further to the rear, would it possible for you to put a hole through the base of the rear sight that can align with one of the holes and drop a screw through that?

      Siraniko

    • I realized that I wrote JSB RS pellets above and note that in the picture, I recorded Air Arms Diabolo Express. I switched to the Air Arms when I realized I was running low on my last tin of the RS pellets, and forgot that when I wrote up my narrative.

      P.S. at 10 yards, the glowing F.O. red dot covered the chippie’s entire head, and I used his ears as a “six o’clock hold” reference point. :o)

  18. Siraniko, thanks for the encouraging words. I was thinking that, and was hoping to find out if anyone else of the thousands of other readers might have already gone and done that.

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