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PCP BB’s Goldie: Part Three

BB’s Goldie: Part Three

BBs Goldie
BB’s Goldie is a golden Cerakoted Avenger. The reservoir, receiver, muzzle cap, forward Picatinney rail and cocking handle were colored differently to set off the gold.

Part 1
Labradar chronograph
Part 2

This report covers:

  • The test
  • The test target
  • Meopta scope
  • First 10 shots
  • Second group
  • JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
  • H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme
  • More to do
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of BB’s .22-caliber Goldie that was also testing velocity for Part 2, thanks to BB’s new Labradar chronograph. While this test does look at three pellets, for reasons I will explain as we go, this was more of a sight-in and confirmation test than a real accuracy test. If you want to make up a Cerakoted Avenger of your own or you’re just considering buying a plain Air Venturi Avenger, don’t wait. This rifle is accurate.

The test

I was set up on a shooting bench 10 meters from the targets. The rifle rested on a sandbag with the muzzle about 3-4 inches from the Labradar airgun trigger, which is a microphone.

The test target

There was a 5-shot test target inside the box with the owner’s manual. It was from Pyramyd AIR who apparently tests all the Build Your Own Airgun guns. Let’s look at that first.

Goldie target
My Goldie came with a 5-shot test target at 25 yards. That group measures 0.269-inches between centers. Of course it is only 5 shots and not 10. So by adding 40 percent for group growth (no science — just BB’s own experience) we get a group size of 0.377-inches.

Meopta scope

Do you notice how low on the target this group is? What does that tell us? It tells us that, like most rifles, BB’s Goldie shoots low. Something has to be done about that when you mount a scope. I scoped the rifle with the Meopta MeoSport R 3-15X50RD second focal plane scope that was already shimmed in its rings. But even with the shim I still had to adjust the reticle up a lot — maybe a turn and a half of the elevation knob.

This scope is crystal clear, and it has an illuminated reticle (just the dot where the reticle lines intersect) that I can put on top of the 10-dot on a 10-meter rifle target. That gives me the best aiming solution there is. I know that the Avenger is accurate, and a scope of this quality helps bring out everything it has to offer.

One last comment on scoping the Avenger is the scope base on the rifle’s receiver will fit both Picatinny and 11mm dovetail rings. That saved the day because the scope rings on the Meopta scope had 11mm bases. I did have to loosen the front ring and slide it forward to fit the rifle better, but it was a breeze for me to scope my Goldie.

First 10 shots

As I explained in Part 2, the first 12 shots were to zero the rifle. I shot what was an accurate pellet for the previous .22-caliber Avenger — the Air Arms 16-grain dome. Shot number 3 hit inside the bull I was aiming at, so I started a 10-shot group with it. But I was concentrating on the Labradar so much that I wasn’t concentrating on my shooting. The first 10-shot group measures 0.426-inches at 10 meters. That’s not a very good group for an accurate air rifle at 10 meters, but like I said — I was distracted by learning the chronograph.

Goldie AA 16 group 1
Ten Air Arms 16-grain domes made a 0.426-inch group at 10 meters.

Build a Custom Airgun

Second group

Okay, forget the chronograph. It works fine without intervention. Just shoot the target. This time 10 of the same Air Arms 16-grain domes went into 0.182-inches at 10 meters. That’s more like it!

Goldie AA 16 group 2
This is more like it! The Avenger put 10 Air Arms 16-grain domes into a 0.182-inch group at 10 meters.

I didn’t adjust the scope after this group because I know that different pellets will move the point of impact. As long as the target’s center 10-dot is maintained as my aim point the Meopta scope I’m using will keep me on target. When I find a great pellet at 25 yards I will adjust the scope, but even then I want to preserve the aim point.

JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy

The next pellet I tried was the one that Pyramyd AIR used for the test target shown above. The JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet is pretty good in the Avenger, as I learned in my previous tests of the rifle. This time 10 went into a 0.346-inch group at 10 meters. I think we will see more from this pellet at 25 yards.

Goldie JSB Jumbo group
Ten JSB Exact Jumbos made this 0.346-inch group at 10 meters.

H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme

I normally don’t shoot hollowpoint pellets in accuracy tests because in my experience they aren’t as accurate as domes. There are exceptions like the Predator Polymag that is surprisingly accurate except when one of the plastic points is askew. The H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme is another notable exception that I have recently discovered. BB’s Goldie Avenger put 10 of them into a 0.228-inch group between centers at 10 meters. That’s very good.

Goldie Baracuda Hunter Extreme 16 group 1
BB’s Goldie Avenger put 10 H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme pellets into a 0.228-inch group at 10 meters.

More to do

We still need to know the trigger pull and the muzzle report, but as I am tuning my Goldie down in power in the next report I decided to put both of those tests there as well.

These Avengers give the shooter a wide range of choices for power. I don’t need the highest power, which my rifle is close to at present, so in the next report I will detune it. That way I won’t have to fill it to 300 bar — a pressure that taxes all my fill devices.

Summary

BB’s Goldie is quite accurate, as we have learned today. I still need to test at 25 yards and perhaps farther, but the next thing is to get this rifle shooting with less power. I see by reading my test in 2020 that somewhere around 26-28 foot-pounds is where I want to be. I had thought it was lower than that, but I was wrong.

Are Avengers accurate? Yes, they are and you have read my tests of many of them.

20 thoughts on “BB’s Goldie: Part Three”

  1. Tom,

    I believe as your mastery in the use of the Labradar increases we’ll be seeing more 10 shot groups as the norm since it allows you to do velocity and accuracy at the same time.

    Good to know that the accuracy observed in the first rifle has not deteriorated as production goes along.

    Siraniko

  2. BB,

    Nova Vista has done a remarkable job in keeping the quality of these air rifles at such a high level. Some Chinese manufacturers have learned that a certain level of quality is required to become a member of the world’s market and survive.

  3. BB,

    I like the Avenger, it ticks off all the features that I think are required in a PCP plus a few extras that are nice to have.

    The Avenger looks to be an ideal all round airgun. The adjustability is great for those who like to tinker and bonus for those who want/need to have their airgun tuned to a specific pellet or power level.

    Close to being “enabled” on a .22 Avenger but unfortunately (fortunately??) there is no more room at VARACC ( Vana’s Airgun Resort and County Club ). 😉

    Hank

  4. Good Morning BB , An off topic question if you don’t mind. I found a Walther LP 53 this weekend and have been reading all I can find about them. I read part 1 of your blog and it mentions a part 2, but I can’t find it. Can you direct me to it ? Thanks, Fishoot

  5. I hope it’s not too late in the day for y’all to respond here.

    My son-in-law was given a somewhat abused Chinese made “Beeman”. Brought it over on Thanksgiving. Seems to work well enough with the exception that the barrel slides out of the breach block! I’d like to fix it to see if it will help him gain an interest in my air gun hobby. So the question is how?

    I could try to heat the breach block up with a torch and silver solder or braze it. That would probably leave it being cosmetically ugly. Or, I could drill and tap a hole or two in it and secure it with set screws. That sound hokey.

    So, how about it all you talented repair people?? How would you try to fix this?

    Motorman
    Eastern MO

    • Motorman
      Sounds like a good challenge for some JB Weld epoxy. They evidently have a variety of offerings and one that claims to be the strongest bond in the world.
      I used this stuff to repair a hole in the exhaust port of an engine head that was letting coolant spray into it. Talk about a steam cloud.
      Make sure everything is super clean and a little scuffing with some very fine sandpaper will go a long way. Good luck.
      Adding a set screw is another obvious with a slight flat spot or filed dent on the barrel to hold it in place with a dab of Lock tight but that is a challenge to accomplish unless you have everything at hand.

  6. Motorman-

    I wouldn’t braze the barrel at the block. You would be gambling with creating a weak spot at the barrel/breech connection. I see a bent barrel in that future. Plus, you would need to disassemble the barrel and block from the gun, and remove the breech seal before heating. And likely have to replace the breech seal.
    Drill and tap a single set screw on the top of the breech. 15 min job. If it isn’t a rousing success you know what to get him for Xmas.

  7. BB,

    I translated the FWB300S repair instructions ages ago, but that wasn’t really a review.

    Is there anything I should know that isn’t covered here (and in part 2)?

    /blog/2020/08/writing-a-guest-blog/

    Stephan

  8. Well, I was going to empty the CO2 in the M3 magazine with some sort of simple accuracy test, but I can’t even see my garage, or the end of my property.
    Living at 2,700 ft altitude sometimes puts me in the clouds. That or like in the Twilight Zone, my town has been isolated in space by some aliens? Just too early in the day.

    • Bob M,

      You need a beeping target or three for those WOXOF days.
      WOXOF pronounced ‘Woks-Off’ meaning: FAA/Aviation weather report terminology for ‘visibility zero, ceiling zero, sky obscured by fog’.

      shootski

      • Shootski,

        Funny how everything has its own lingo that you need to know to (correctly) interpret what is being said. I call these the “blue words” in reference to Wikipedia’s style of highlighting lingo to linked explanations.

        Used to work with a PCB design program (Scicards) that used “EOS” (End Of Subfile) as the command to exit a module. Wasn’t long the us program users started incorporating our conversations and EOS became the replacement for goodbye.

        I’m brushing up on my GRBL G-Code language for CNC machines so… until later, M30 (end of file/pause; go to home position) eh!

        Hank

      • Shootski
        There is no scope mount on the M3 so I could not install my Cat III A scope to capture the targets signal.
        Even if “I believe I have the target in sight” I can’t use a peep sight very effectively because on my vision. It creates a fuzz ball inside the peep hole. Best I can do is walk the ‘impact with the ground’ to the target.

  9. B.B,

    The Web Page was REALLY SLOW to load today! I tried to reply to Bob’s post but the Blog kept timing out.
    Have a feeling IT is in holiday OVERLOAD or perhaps showing typical incompetence in a new way.
    Probably cost you a large number of Hits!

    shootski.

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