Air Venturi Avenger Bullpup
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Meopta MeoSport R riflescope
This report covers:
- Scope mounted
- Is it level?
- The test
- Sight in
- The hold
- JSB Exact King Heavy Mark 2
- Predator Polymag
- Benjamin domes
- H&N Baracudas
- End of the test?
- Round groups
- The Meopta scope
- Summary
Today we start the accuracy testing of the .25-caliber Air Venturi Avenger Bullpup. And this will also be my first test of the new Meopta MeoSport R 3-15 RD SFP scope.
Scope mounted
I told you yesterday that I was going to mount the scope and see how well that line on the scope tube and rings aligns the scope for level. Well I learned some things. I said yesterday that I was going to position the line on the front ring at the front of the ring when mounted, but the line on the scope tube is too short for that, If I do that I can’t see the line on the tube. So I had to turn the ring around and make the part with the line face the rear.
The line on the scope tube lines up with the line on the front ring.
Is it level?
To find out if the scope was level I held the rifle to my shoulder and peered through. It seemed to be where I would have put it, so I’m declaring it level. I do think Meopta needs to add 2 centimeters to the length of the lines on both sides of the turret, because you can also level the scope using the rear line.
The test
Today I’m shooting off a sandbag rest at 25 yards. I will shoot 10-shot groups with each pellet tested. And, I am shooting with the single-shot tray today.
Sight in
After filling the rifle I sighted in at 12 feet with the scope set to 10 yards parallax and power setting three. The pellet hit as far below the aim point as the center of the scope is above the center of the bore, plus it was dead on, left and right. So I backed up to 25 yards. I thought I would be a little high on the target but since I wanted to preserve the endpoint, that was OK. However, the shot landed a bit too high. And it took me another six shots to get on target like I wanted.
The hold
Since I had perfected the sandbag hold with the Air Arms S510XS, I did the same thing with this bullup. It is butt-heavy, but pushing my shooting hand forward into the sandbag slows down all movement when shooting.
JSB Exact King Heavy Mark 2
I started with JSB Exact King Heavy Mark 2 pellets, as I thought they might be the most accurate in this rifle. Remember — this is a .25 and there aren’t as many good pellets to choose from in this caliber.
Ten King pellets went into a 0.299-inch group at 25 yards. These groups may look larger because of the larger pellets holes. To get the center-to-center measurement I measure across the widest dimension and subtract one pellet-diameter. In this case, that 0.25-inches. That give me the distance between the two widest centers.
The Avenger Bullpup put 10 JSB Exact King Heavys into 0.299-inches at 25 yards.
Predator Polymag
The next pellet tested was the Predator Polymag. Ten of them went into 0.458-inches at 25 yards It is the second-smallest group of the test.
Ten Predator Polymags went into a 0.458-inch group at 25 yards.
Benjamin domes
The Avenger put 10 Benjamin domes into a 0.998-inch group at 25 yards. It is the largest group of the test and I have to say that the test rifle does not like this pellet.
Ten Benjamin domes made this vertical 0.993-inch group at 25 yards.
After this group I refilled the rifle. We learned in the previous Part that on this setting of the regulator and hammer spring there are 30 good shots on a fill and I didn’t want to push it.
H&N Baracudas
Next I tried 10 H&N Baracuda pellets. Like I said, there aren’t that many good pellets to test in .25 caliber and I wanted to give the rifle a fair test.
Ten Baracudas made a 0.734-inch group at 25 yards. That one stay pellet at the lower right was not a called pull. But if it wasn’t there the other 9 pellets went into 0.539-inches.
Ten Baracuda pellets made a 0.734-inch group at 25 yards.
End of the test?
I had planned to stop after the Baracuda group, but I had seen RWS Superdomes in my cabinet when I pulled the other pellets, so I decided to give them a try. It couldn’t hurt.
Ten Superdomes went into 0.686-inches at 25 yards. The first several shots scattered but by the end of 10 shots the group was fairly round.
Ten RWS Superdomes went into 0.686-inches at 25 yards.
Round groups
Four out of the five pellets tested gave round-ish groups, which I always like to see. It means the pellets are trying to go to the same place, even if the group is larger.
The Meopta scope
The Meopta scope made this test possible. That illuminated red dot hovered over the bullseye dot with consistency, and my hold cemented it. I ran the illumination at the highest setting, which is 11, and I noticed some light flaring inside the scope. However when the scope was aligned with my eye there was no flaring and only the dot in the center of the crosshairs was illuminated.
I haven’t told you this yet but the Meopta lens covers have transparent windows so the rifle can be shot without them being removed. This is a thing hunters need to know.
Summary
We are just getting started with the accuracy test. I next want to mount a bipod and see what that does, now that I have a baseline against which to test. I also want to test accuracy with the magazines.
Is the bullpup the rifle for you? That’s a personal thing. I prefer rifles but this bullpup gives up nothing.
B.B.
No test of the Apolo .25 pellets?
-Y
Yogi,
Ooops! I missed an opportunity.
Next time.
BB
I know you have to try different pellets but I have found if I start with JSB pellets the search has ended. all the tests you do over the years show JSB either the best or very close second best. I save a lot of time and lead starting with JSB
Rob,
Well, yeah. But if I did that it would truncate many reports. Gotta please everyone, you know.
BB
Nice group with the JSB’s
The bullpup does give up one thing in my opinion..
It gives up almost a foot in length compared to the rifle.
The difference is 10 inches, and it’s all in the stock.
The rifle is 46 inches over all length, but if you add a Donnyfl 1/2×20 adapter, and a 5 or 6 inch moderator, that’s over 52 inches.
The bullpup is 36 inches, if you put the same parts on the pup, you are still shorter than the rifle without a moderator.
If you don’t use an aftermarket moderator, or you use a short 3D printed one, you only end up at about 39 inches total length.
Can you say easy to use hunting in the woods?
Oh, I have a .22 bullpup on the way.
I found a screaming deal on a used one.
I have a friend that buys, shoots, tinkers, then sells.
I have a few of his projects he has moved on from.
Ian.
“Can you say easy to use hunting in the woods?”
Ian,
Yes, for a hunter, or someone who does a lot of pesting work, this seems like it would be an ideal airgun. Have fun with your .22 bullpup. 🙂
Take care & happy shooting,
dave
BB
That vertical string was kind of weird with the Benjamin pellets.
You did say you refilled after that group. To me it seemed like the gun was coming of the regulator on that group with the how the striker spring pressure is set.
I think I would try the Benjamin pellets one more time with what you have determined your full fill pressure is. I would really like to know.
GF1,
I sort of wondered about that as well. I will try the Benjamins again when I try the bipod.
BB
BB
Ok good. Thanks.
If the Benji pellets still group vertical then you might have a pellet problem.
Weight, head diameter and skirt seal consistency all could cause a problem for the pellets accuracy.
Usually that’s what they will do. They will shoot on aim point then when the pressure starts dropping they will start impacting higher then start dropping as the pressure comes down back to aim point then start dropping more. A pcp kind of acts like a co2 gun that is not affected so my by different temperatures. Makes me wonder why co2 guns have not used a regulator yet. I think they would be more consistent even though the co2 does self regulate. Probably a reason why they don’t. But another thing that would be interesting to try.
Will be waiting to see how this all goes.
BB,
Have you given up on the FX Radar? If you used it when doing the accuracy tests, you might be able to see a lowering of power, as Gunfun1 suggested, in real time, if it was happening in the middle of a string. Mine has been very reliable and I’ve seen many respected reviewers of air guns use it with good result, as well.
Half
Half,
Yep. Given up and sent it back.
BB
Half,
I do not think he is the only one to give up on the FX Radar. I have seen other video reviewers using their Caldwells, etc. again. It made me wonder as soon as I saw that. Maybe it was just too expensive a toy to hang on to when you had something dependable already.
You can shoot for accuracy while clocking with the others.
Half,
I’ve had excellent results with the FX Radar on my rifles that shoot in the 800-1000 fps range but problems when testing my .22 HW44 which is sub 500 fps.
Could be that I didn’t have it setup properly. Plan to look at it again when I have some time.
Hank
Hank,
I haven’t had a problem with mine that wasn’t of my own making. LOL The fact that you have to set the range of velocities that you might encounter while testing the gun, is really the only thing I don’t like about it. I’ve missed a few shots here and there because they flew faster or slower and fell outside the set range by a bit. Or I just forget to set the thing to the right range. I haven’t had a problem with reading any of my BB or pellet pistols and it even worked on my AirJavelin air bow at around 300 fps.The thing that used to cause malfunctions with my unit was the unexpected lose of power from a low battery. I would be unaware and would fiddle with the positioning and the internal set up, only to discover the battery was low. I made a block that is shaped like 3 AAA batteries and attached the + and – wires from an old USB cord to the appropriate locations on the block to turn it into removable power adapter. It will run the RADAR full time for days, using a large power brick that I have. Now it seems very reliable.
One thing I have noticed is that my unit seems to read only to the nearest two fps. I seldom see one shot at 500 and the next go off at 501 or 499. It will usually be 500 again or 498 or 502, but that’s close enough for me, especially with the ease of using it in total darkness or bright sunlight. That’s what sold me on it.
Half
Half,
Never looked, could be the batteries.
I was in a rush – didn’t know what pellet the HW44 was calibrated with so I was doing a quick check with a couple of pellets to be sure that I was below the 500 fps Canadian legal limit. All is good even with 13 gr pellets 🙂
Thinking about it, the target box was very close to the radar so wierd reflections and feedback could have been causing the problems. The unit works perfectly when I’m shooting off the bench outside.
I made a bipod adapter for the radar so I don’t have to hang it on the barrel. That way I can test or shoot and keep track of the velocities at the same time. Find that to be much more convenient than messing around with the Chrony trying to keep the sensors aligned with the barrel and target. Bonus that it is easy to upload the data to a computer!
I just went down and checked my notes, I’m seeing consecutive numbers in the strings.
I like the convenience of the FX Radar… small enough to keep in the shooting box and quick to setup.
Hank
Hank,
These units are battery hogs, so you must check frequently or make an adapter. I too have a bipod adapter for use with pistols, mostly. My bench is long enough to just set the unit on the table under the barrel of long guns. The closest I ever shoot is in my basement and that’s around around 12 yards from the barrel for a long gun. It also requires shooting through a fairly narrow canyon of all sorts of outdoor gear and tools to eventually reach the target. LOL I’m not proud of it, but round-to-its are hard to find these days and the canyon walls just get taller. My point is that there are many things to reflect off of and if you’re shooting at a target as distant as 12 yards, that shouldn’t cause a problem for you. I’m betting it is a battery issue. The batteries will recover after being off for a while, then shortly konk out on you .
Just read your guest blog and nice job. Best wishes to your truckers up there.
Half
So it seems that the line on the scope was helpful 🙂 I mean it matched the level you would have also without it. That is good information.
Nice groups. However it would be very interesting to see 50 or 75 meters accuracy 🙂 I believe there is a big potential for the accuracy on long distance there. Any chance to try it?
tomek ,
You guys! I am so far behind on 50-yard tests. We shall see.
BB
Goes against the grain but perhaps after 10m/other shorter distance testing, skip directly to 50 yard testing? Those that pass won’t need 25 yard testing potentially saving time and effort. And these days we ought to be expecting more guns to be more accurate.
AO,
I have 25 yards inside my house. Fifty yards means a trip to the range that’s 15 miles away, and the weather dictates that.
BB
Oh, well that’s that then 🙂
BB
You need a good shooting buddy that could do those 50 yard and out tests for you to fee up your time. 😉 😉
tomek,
Us old geezers over on this side of “the pond” do not think in metric. You have to pay extra for a metric measurer over here. I work with metric measurements every day, but I do not “think” in metrics. I never will. Fortunately, I know how to convert.
I do not see us going metric over here unless the Commie party gets full control of the House, Senate and POTUS and try to make everybody think that way. I am really looking forward to when they change the speed limit signs. 🙂
RidgeRunner – sorry! I always forget it. With you guys I will get used to ftlbs, feet, miles and yards 🙂
You have to pay extra?… most of the measurement stuff here in Europe has also your units to chose. Really, it should be a standard already that you can switch from one to another…
BTW – I get better and better recalculation tables in my head installed since I’m activ on this blog 🙂
Yea, and put on a pot of Borscht, and the little potato dumplings, gnochi. The fascists like those. The western commies love beet soup. This is the Chicom gun that cant be made in a liberal democracy, dont forget. We have your right flank.
The .25 really hits allot harder than the .22, but it does cost more to shoot.
Rob
Rob – I’m not sure I understood all right until the “.25 hits harder than .22.” I don’t like fascists at all so I don’t know any personally. :/ The mentioned Borscht is not popular in Germany, which was strongly fascist-affected some years ago. It is still very popular in many Slavic countries, which some years ago hit the G-nazis hard. Really hard. Wish my Grandpa could tell me more about it… I was too young to ask when I could.
Anyway, I just bought a laser distance meter – or rangefinder (is it called like this?) which goes up to 50meters or almost 165feet. So it has both units already programmed inside. Some popular stuff for 25EUR which has tousends of good user reviews. To program some recalculation in device like this is nowadays really no problem, to take more money for this is just a bad thing to do.
Same my 80EUR chrono – both units inside. Hmmm…
Tomek
Find a 400 yard range finder like the people use for playing golf. That’s what I use to back up my guns hold. Not that I shoot at that distance but I think (maybe) the longer distance ones are more accurate for typical air gun distances.
Gunfun1 – it was a compromise to measure accurate at home and have the potential outside. Usually I shoot 30 yards, 50 yards and 100 yards so I can measure twice in case of 100yards or similar distance, general more then 50 yards.
The device I bought has also some usefull features regarding room measurement and calculation so it is all in one very accurate device which allows me to use it for airgunning also 🙂 And thank you for the answer – so it is a range finder 😀
tomek
Yep a range finder.
RR
We done went metric over here a long time ago. They just ain’t telling nobody. 😉
I heard a tale years ago about the highway department switching to metric measurements for construction because the Engineer’s Scale that we use for civil work is a platypus system of feet divided into hundredths (decimal feet). Halfway to metric, if you will. So the story goes, it was a bazillion dollar failure. Contruction workers understood the platypus but couldn’t and wouldn’t convert.
PST
Interesting story.
GF1,
Yeah, I know. Metric wrenches drive me nuts. My head is not metric. When I have to work on one of my vehicles, I am constantly trying to guess which wrench I need. Except for the Harley. It is still SAE.
RR
There is only one standard machine at work. Everything else is metric. The last muscle car I had that was standard of course which was about 10 years ago. All metric everywhere now it seems. I hardly use my standard wrenches anymore.
I don’t know.
GF1,
I rarely use my SAE stuff either, but I usually fumble through my metric stuff to find the right wrench. “Is that a 9mm, 10mm or 11mm?”
RR
The machines we have at the machine shop are Swiss made. All metric. Even if we add anything to them it’s metric. Been working on them for going on 39 years. Guess I’m use to it. But it was nice back in the standard days. Only a few wrenches you needed to carry in the glove box and pretty well work on what you needed back in the old days. Oh and all our blue prints at work have been metric for years. Times are a changing and flying right on by and we don’t even realize it
GF1,
Oh I know. I have to use metric all the time at work. It is a good thing I know how to convert back and forth.
What I am looking forward to is when they put up new speed limit signs. 😉
RR
I would probably be speeding all the time if they did that. By time I figured it out I would done be pulled over. 🙂
And reminds me of a story my wife’s dad told me once. If I’m remembering correctly the road signs for the highway they was on was shaped like the state you were in. And also the speed limit signs. They was just labeled different. He said he got pulled over for doing 101 miles per hour. He told the police officer that’s what the sign back there said. My wife’s dad knew it was the highway sign. He said the officer laughed and shook his head. He goes you made my day. I’m going to let you go with a warning.
I guess after that was probably happening all the time they decided to change the highway and speed limit signs. I say wise decision. 🙂
Like I said, i am looking forward to them changing the signs.
RR
I wonder if the Canadian cars still show kilometers per hor. You know I haven’t even paid attention. But do the new cars still show kph and mph like the 80’s cars.
Sometimes metric to English or vice versa conversions just don’t work.
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/light-machine-guns/us-t24-machine-gun-mg42/
FM
Made me remember the Saginaw steering box’s and slush box’s (the basic 3 speed manual transmissions) on the old muscle cars as some called them. 4 speed manuals was the king back then.
And to say those 3 speed manuals matched to the right engine and rear end gears was a heck of a combination.
But then again I remember people calling the automatic transmissions slush boxes too until they started installing shift kits and stall converters in them. Maybe not the road racing cars. But the automatic trans cars started kicking butt drag racing back then.
Yeah, slush boxes were a far cry from manual gearshifting, especially crash boxes with their straight-cut gears and obligatory double-clutching. But FM still likes to exercise his gearshift hand and maintain his technique.
FM
That makes me remember something.
Everybody wanted the Muncie M21 4speed trsnsmisions over the M22’s back in the old muscle car days. The M21 got named the rock crusher. It was a stronger trans with straight cut gears. They whined when you drove. The M22 had round cut gears. It was quiet when you drove and they say it wasn’t as strong as the M21. I had no problems with either and I could still speed shift the rock crusher even with the straight gears and a 3500 pound pressure plate. Gunfun1 definitely likes the manual transmissions cars.
Another late start for the Blog, ugh.
-Y