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Cometa Lynx V10 precharged repeating air rifle: Part 4

Posted on October 4, 2012 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 32 Comments

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

The Cometas Lynx V10 is an exciting precharged repeater.

Before I start, here’s a reminder that the Roanoke Airgun Expo will be held on Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20. If you can come, try to arrive on Friday (noon to 7 p.m.), because that’s when the best deals are found — though there can be some good local walk-ins on Saturday. They say the show goes 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, but don’t believe it. By 1:30 the place starts clearing out fast.

The location is in the Roanoke Moose Lodge #284 at 3233 Catawba Valley Drive in Salem, VA, but don’t expect to find it with Map Quest. Just drive up Catawba Valley Drive (which is on Map Quest) several miles until you see the Moose Lodge on a hill on your right.

Mac and I will have a couple tables there. Mac’s bringing a couple 10-meter guns, and I’m bringing that cased FWB 124 I wrote about. Other dealers like Larry Hannusch will be there, and you never know what you will find at this show. Several of our regular blog readers such Fred from the PRoNJ and RidgeRunner will also be there. If you’re a blog reader, please stop by my table and say hi. Okay, let’s get to today’s report.

Today, I’ll show you the results of shooting the Cometa Lynx precharged air rifle at 50 yards. This is the real acid test for any air rifle — precharged or otherwise. They may hold together well out to 35 and even to 40 yards, but I’ve found from long experience that 50 yards separates the good ones from the great ones. And it exposes the ones that can’t keep up.

And here’s an important reminder for newer readers. I shoot 10-shot groups unless there’s a good reason not to. I always tell you if I’m shooting less than 10 shots. Five-shot groups simply do not test a rifle’s accuracy. What they test are the laws of chance, a shooter’s hopes and a bunch of other things that aren’t important, but 10-shot groups prove the real accuracy of the airgun.

My groups will always be larger than those you see elsewhere. Ten shots will group larger than 5 shots in so many cases that it isn’t worth thinking about. Whenever I go back and read these reports to find out the accuracy of an airgun I’ve tested, I’m so glad when I tested it with 10 shots and disappointed if I tested it with less. I hate the additional work it entails, because every one of those shots has to be perfect, but the result is well worth the effort.

News from AirForce
The day before I went to the range last week to test this rifle, I got a call from John McCaslin of AirForce. He told me they’ve been testing all the Lynx rifles and they found that dialing the power back to 20 foot-pounds produced better results for them. You’ll recall from Part 2 that our Lynx is putting out pellets at close to or just over 30 foot-pounds. So, based on that information, I went to the range with the power dialed back to about 20 foot-pounds.

I did that over the chronograph the day before going to the range. There were two pellets that John told me were giving him good results — the 15.9-grain JSB Exact pellet that had not done so well for me at 25 yards and the 18.1-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy that was the best pellet in my 25-yard test.

John told me to adjust the velocity until the 15.9-grain JSB was going about 750 f.p.s., so that’s what I did. It took 2 complete turns of the power adjustment screw to get it to that velocity, where it produces 19.86 foot-pounds, and I nailed that average.

The Allen screw atop the rear of the receiver (in the upper right corner of the photo) is loosened so the power adjustment screw can be turned. I had to remove the scope to loosen the top screw, so I left it loose for adjustments at the range. The position of the Allen wrench leg tells you where the adjustment has been moved relative to where you began.

To adjust the power, loosen the locking screw atop the rear of the receiver, so the power adjustment screw will turn. I had to remove the scope to get at this screw; but if I owned this Lynx, I’d cut the short leg off an Allen wrench for this job. Then the scope could remain in place.

Since I was going to the 50-yard range and the 4.5-14×42 Hawke Tactical Sidewinder scope was available, I installed it at this time. It’s the clearest scope I have, and I wanted to give the Lynx every opportunity to shine.

Beautiful day!
I get to the range very early to avoid the wind that always picks up in this part of the country. Unfortunately, on this perfectly calm day, there was another shooter already there and he was one of those super-gregarious types who likes to tell you his life’s story in 30 minutes or more (per anecdote!), so I had to be a little rude. If I’m not done shooting by 9 a.m., I’m out of time because the breeze almost always kicks up. I also had the Rogue to test on this day, but I tested the Lynx first because the Rogue’s bullets are heavy enough to buck a little breeze.

The first pellet I tested was the 15.9-grain JSB. Unfortunately, the test rifle still did not like it, even at 20 foot pounds, so I stopped the group after just 6 shots. The group was already at 1.871 inches, and I didn’t see any future in it. As I said, I was burning sunlight fast and trying to pull away from Gabby the Gunman on the next bench, so I shifted to the 18.1-grain pellets next. We were the only two shooters at the entire range complex and, with a dozen benches on the 50/100-yard line, he had to sit right next to me and shoot his short-barreled Remington 600 in .308! The blast reminded me of tank gunnery!

Even at 20 foot-pounds, the test Lynx still does not like JSB 15.9-grain pellet. I shot only 6 times at 50 yards.

While it sounds like I’m rushing, I’m actually taking a lot of time with each shot. I’m just moving as fast as possible for everything besides shooting. But with 10-shot groups, it’s vital that no shot can be called a flyer. Because if it can, you have to shoot the group over again.

The 18.1-grain pellet was much better at 50 yards, though the final shot did open the group quite a bit. But it was a perfect shot on my end — that was just where the pellet went. Ten shots went into a group measuring 1.756 inches, but 9 of them went into 1.005 inches. And this was on low power, with this pellet going about 710 f.p.s. The breeze was just beginning to kick up, so I adjusted back to high power and shot another group.

Ten 18.1-grain JSB Exacts made this 1.756-inch group at 50 yards. Nine went into just more than one inch.

You might wonder how I adjusted power at the range. I didn’t have to use a chronograph, because the day before I’d discovered that the Lynx will return to a certain power level based on how far the screw is turned. All you have to do is watch the short end of the Allen wrench and use it as an indicator. I knew that two complete turns of the screw would put me back where I wanted to be, so it was that simple.

On high power, 10 shots went into 1.47 inches, but 9 of them went into 1.108 inches and 8 made a group that measures just 0.928 inches between centers. See what I mean about 10-shot groups? I shot only a couple of them, and yet I got data as good as a handful of 5-shots groups. Because with a 5-shot group, you never know….

The high-power setting was better. Ten 18.1-grain JSB Exacts made this 1.47-inch group at 50 yards. Nine went into 1.108 inches and 8 made a 0.928-inch group.

The breeze was starting to pick up, and I needed to get on with the Rogue test, so there was time for just one more pellet — the big 25.4-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Monster. It had shown promise at 25 yards, so I wondered how it would translate to 50 yards. The gun was still at 30 foot-pounds, so the power should be fine. Even at this level, this heavy pellet only goes 741 f.p.s. But this one did not want to group at 50 yards! The pellets were shooting such a large open group that I didn’t even bother completing it. And I can’t show it to you because several shots were off the target paper (but still visible on the paper backer I always use).

So my test shows that the Lynx seems to group 10 good pellets into just over one inch at 50 yards. That’s good, but it has a lot of competition at the same price or better.

Final observation
The Lynx has a regulator, so it gets more shots than unregulated guns shooting at the same power. When it’s on the reg, those shots are very consistent. It has both a magazine and a single-shot adapter, so you can be satisfied either way.

Although several readers did not like the appearance of the wood stock, I like it. The work seems on par with any other high-end PCP stock. I also liked the standard Foster quick-disconnect fill fitting. And the shroud certainly works well, as the rifle never hints at the power it produces — it sounds like a .22-caliber Diana 27 springer running at 475 f.p.s.

I expect the accuracy will be the biggest sticking point for most people. With the Talon SS, Condor and Marauder on the market — all of which can produce smaller groups at 50 yards under perfect conditions — a fellow would really have to love the Lynx. He might like it because, unlike the AirForce rifles, it has a wood stock, or unlike the Marauder, the stock is slim and trim. Either way, now you know the whole story.

Cometa Lynx V10 precharged repeating air rifle: Part 3

Posted on September 25, 2012 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 30 Comments

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

The Cometas Lynx V10 is an exciting precharged repeater.

Part 1
Part 2

Today, we’ll look at the accuracy of the Cometa Lynx V10 precharged air rifle for the first time. This test will be at 25 yards and will give me the opportunity to adjust the scope and to find one or two accurate pellets for this rifle. I also plan to shoot the Lynx at 50 yards, so today is preparation for that.

I used the single-shot adapter for all shooting in this test. I’ve used the magazine for this rifle and it works fine; but when I’m doing accuracy tests, I like to shoot them one at a time, if possible.

The test was 10 shots, rested, at 25 yards, unless otherwise stated. The first pellet I tried was the 15.9-grain JSB Exact pellet. I’d thought this might be the most accurate pellet in this rifle, as it often is in PCPs of this power. But this time was different, for 10 pellets made a group that measures 0.795 inches between centers! That’s not a good group for a PCP at 25 yards. It’s more of a magnum-springer group.

Ten 15.9-grain JSB Exacts made this group that measures 0.795 inches between centers.

That target surprised me, for I thought this pellet would be a slam-dunk, and it clearly wasn’t. That caused me to slow down and think about the test a little more.

The next pellet I tried was the Beeman Kodiak. I had played with Kodiaks earlier in this rifle, and they seemed to do well. This time, though, they didn’t group at all. I stopped shooting after 5 shots, and that very vertical group measures 0.879 inches between centers. I did notice that the pellets fit very tight in the breech, so that may be the problem.

Just 5 Beeman Kodiak pellets went into this 0.879-inch group at 25 yards. Not a pellet for this rifle!

At this point, there was nothing to lose, so I tried the Predator Polymag pellet. It has never performed well for me in the past, but I thought this time might be different. Alas, that wasn’t the case. I lost the count and shot 6 Predators into a 0.731-inch group. That’s too bad, because if you can hit with this pellet it does perform. But with accuracy like the Lynx is giving, you’re taking too big a risk when shooting at any distance.

Six Predator Polymags made this 0.731-inch group. Another pellet the Lynx doesn’t care for.

I switched to that old-time favorite, the Crosman Premier. These are usually good in PCPs. But in the Lynx, just 5 of them gave a horizontal group that measures 0.781 inches between centers. Another non-starter! And those who like to analyze things might consider how the rifle can string Kodiaks vertically and Premiers horizontally.

Five Crosman Premiers went into this very linear group that measures 0.781 inches between centers.

Finally, the pellets were found!
I was very concerned at this point. The rifle wasn’t liking any of the pellets I usually select for accuracy. But there were a couple good choices remaining. The first of these was the 25.4-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Monster, a new domed pellet that delivers a huge punch in a precharged rifle. This was the first time I think I’ve tried this pellet in a test, though the tin was already open when I started. And they grouped well in the Lynx, too! Ten made a tight group that measures 0.492 inches, and that’s with a single straggler! Nine went into 0.464 inches!

The JSB Exact Jumbo Monster shot well in the Lynx. Ten shots gave a very round group that measures 0.492 inches. This looked promising!

The next pellet I tried was the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy — an 18.1-grain dome that some readers really admire! I haven’t gotten the best results from this pellet in the past, but this time I did. Ten went into a group measuring 0.362 inches. It was the best group of the session, and the one I will shoot first at 50 yards!

The JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy shot best. Ten shots gave a very round group that measures 0.362 inches. This is the pellet of choice for this Lynx.

So far
I learned a lot from this test. First, I learned that accuracy isn’t always a given. You have to try other pellets to find what works. And when you find it, the difference in accuracy can be startling.

Next, I learned that how the pellets feed into the breech may have a lot to do with the ultimate accuracy. I was certainly able to feel when the Kodiaks weren’t working.

Next stop is the 50-yard outdoor range, where the Lynx will be up against the odds. Ten shots at 50 yards is a pretty good acid test of accuracy for any airgun.

Evanix Conquest PCP air rifle: Part 4

Posted on February 27, 2012 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 37 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Evanix Conquest has features that set the bar very high for air rifles.

Today is velocity/power day for the Evanix Conquest PCP air rifle. In a reversal of the norm, I tested the rifle for accuracy first, and this is a follow-on to that. Of course, now we do know which pellet works the best in the test rifle, but I will also test it with a couple others to get the true power potential.

First test: JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes
The rifle was filled to 200 bar before the test began. The first pellet I tested was the one we know to be the most accurate — the JSB Exact 15.9-grain dome. Since this is the pellet I would chose for this rifle every time, the results of this test will give me realistic performance parameters of the rifle as I would use it. I’ll be testing velocity, which translates to power, and also the useful shot count. Velocity comes first.

The first string of 10 shots gave an average 955 f.p.s. The high was 960 and the low was 948, for a total spread of 12 f.p.s. At the average velocity, the rifle produces 32.21 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.

Please notice that we already know the rifle is most accurate at this speed. This relates directly back to what we learned in the Pellet velocity versus accuracy test. Now we know that harmonics and not velocity are the most influential forces when it comes to airgun accuracy.

The average velocity of the second string of 10 shots was 948 f.p.s., with a spread from 943 to 954 f.p.s. That’s a spread of 11 f.p.s., which is one foot per second less than the first string. It’s still a good, tight velocity range; and we know from the accuracy test that the rifle is just as accurate on the second string as on the first. The full-auto group that amazed us all was fired on the second string of 10 shots. At this velocity, the rifle generated an average of 31.74 foot-pounds of energy, so not much difference between this and the first string.

The third string of 10 shots averaged 944 f.p.s., which is a small drop from the first 10. The low was 927 f.p.s., and the high was 949 f.p.s. The total spread opened up to 22 f.p.s. That’s still reasonable; but if you lump this string in with the first two, the total spread is now 33 f.p.s. That’s still a good spread for accuracy at 50 yards, yet the third string was where the groups opened up a little and also dropped on the paper a little. On this string, the average muzzle energy was 31.47 foot-pounds, which is still very respectable.

The fourth string of 10 shots averaged 924 f.p.s. and ranged from 915 f.p.s. to 932 f.p.s. This spread spans a total of 17 f.p.s. The average muzzle energy was 30.15 foot-pounds. Again, it’s a fairly tight string; however, if you throw it in with the first three strings, you get a total velocity spread of 45 f.p.s. That’s too much of a spread for a smallbore pellet rifle to be accurate across 40 shots at 50 yards. And it was seeing the results of the fourth string during the accuracy test that made me stop after 3 strings of 10. The point of impact dropped over an inch and the groups all opened up to twice what they were in the first 2 strings.

If you’re shooting the Conquest at 50 yards and going for the ultimate in precision, refill the rifle after 20 shots. But if you’re just shooting casually at 35 yards, you should be good all the way to 40 shots. After that, however, the velocity starts to drop rapidly.

After 43 shots, the onboard pressure gauge reads about 130 bar remaining in the gun. The gauge is too small to be more exact than that. When I refill the gun, the reservoir inlet valve opens at around 2,150 psi on the large gauge on my carbon fiber tank.

Okay, this first pellet has taught us a lot about the Conquest. We now know the power, the velocity and the shot count. But we’re not finished testing the rifle.

Noise
The Conquest has a shrouded barrel, and on the rifle range it is quieter than a .22 rimfire. But it’s not a quiet airgun. I rate the discharge noise at a solid 5 according the scale Pyramyd Air uses on their site. Nothing short of a big bore or an AirForce Condor is as loud — despite the shroud. So, this isn’t an air rifle for the suburban backyard or shooting in the house.

Second test: Eun Jin 28.4-grain domes
The second test was with the 28.4-grain Eun Jin dome. Because the Conquest is a pneumatic rifle it should give the highest power of which it is capable with the heaviest pellet. Being a magazine-fed repeater, also, we have to be careful to choose pellets that actually fit and work in the magazine, but that was already done at the range.

With a drum magazine, the fit we’re concerned with is the length of the pellet. Will it fit the chambers and not protrude on either end, which would tie up the action when the rifle tries to advance the magazine to the next pellet? The 28.4-grain Eun Jin both fits the magazine of the Conquest and works well. The accuracy was only acceptable — in the 1.25-1.5 inch range for 10 shots at 50 yards, so I wouldn’t use it in this rifle unless there was nothing better.

The rifle was again filled to 200 bar for this string. The average muzzle velocity was 697 f.p.s. for 10 shots. The low was 691, and the high was 707 f.p.s. At the average velocity, the rifle generated 30.64 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. That is lower than I expected, as PCPs generally become more powerful with heavier pellets — but that’s what it did.

Third test: Beeman Kodiaks
Next, Beeman Kodiak pellets were tested. In .22 caliber, these weigh 21.1 grains and would be ideal for a rifle of this power. But they don’t group as well as the 15.9-grain JSBs, and that has to be the most important criteria. Out to 50 yards, they’re okay. Beyond that, they can’t keep up.

Kodiaks averaged 819 f.p.s. for 10 on a fresh fill. The low was 813, and the high was 825 f.p.s. At the average velocity, they produced 31.43 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Again, the heavier pellet wasn’t as powerful as the lighter one.

Fourth test: JSB Exact Jumbo 18.1 grains
The last pellet I tested was the 18.1-grain JSB Exact Jumbo heavy pellet. They averaged 895 f.p.s. on a fresh fill, with a low of 891 and a high of 901 f.p.s. At the average velocity the rifle, produced 32.2 foot-pounds of muzzle energy with this pellet. So, it equals the 15.9-grain pellet for power, but not for accuracy, as we have seen.

Trigger-pull
The trigger of the test rifle releases at a very consistent 1 lb., 10 ozs., but the release is different than any other trigger I’ve ever felt. If you squeeze slowly, you’ll feel the solenoid fire an instant before the gun fires. It’s a small click before the boom. The actually firing is felt as a prolonged forward cycling of the bolt to push the pellet into the breech and back again to clear the magazine. The feel through the trigger while the gun fires is long and sloppy, but as you saw in the accuracy test, it works well and doesn’t affect the hold at all.

Bottom line thus far
The Conquest is stacking up to be a fine hunting air rifle. It’s powerful and amazingly accurate in the .22-caliber version I’m testing. And I’d like to mention that all the pellets tested fed through the magazine with no problem. Sometimes a rotary magazine like the one on the Conquest has problems accepting longer pellets, but even the big Eun Jins fit this one.

Without question, the one best pellet for our test rifle is the 15.9-grain JSB Exact dome. It’s not only more accurate than the others, it’s also more efficient, which was a surprise result. Test other pellets just the same, but make this one your primary choice until you find something better.

This was the fourth part of what would normally be a three-part test. I feel compelled to return to the range with a more powerful scope mounted on the gun and have another go at it. Maybe — just maybe, mind you — I’ll also take this rifle out to 100 yards. It will take a perfect day, but as I am planning to test other airguns at that range, I thought this one might be included.

Evanix Conquest PCP air rifle: Part 3

Posted on February 6, 2012 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 75 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

The Evanix Conquest has features that set the bar very high for air rifles.

The cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, because today’s title tells you what my big news is about. And I tied reader Kevin to this report because he owns an Evanix Conquest PCP air rifle that hasn’t given him much joy. Today, I’ll show you the most astounding shooting I’ve ever done, but I’ll also address a mechanical concern and how it was corrected! This will be a report to remember, and here we go.

The Conquest is a very different air rifle. It took me two separate reports just to get through the general description because there are so many differences and unusual aspects of this airgun. The action is operated by a battery in the same way that an AEG airsoft gun operates, so I had to show you all of that. And, as I predicted, the forums are full of discussions about upgrading the battery pack — discussions among shooters who haven’t even seen the gun, yet. My advice it to see it and shoot it, first. It might just be good enough as is.

The rifle shoots both semiauto, which very few pellet rifles do, and full-auto, which only one other CO2 gun (the Auto Ordnance SMG-22 belt-feed carbine) currently does. Until this test, I had a lot to say about the wisdom of providing a full-auto mode — likening it to a shopping cart with wheels rated to 200 mph. That’s my way of saying, “Who needs it?” Today, I’ll eat those words. Stick around.

Posting backwards?
Also, I am reviewing accuracy out of the usual order. Normally, I look at velocity first and accuracy afterwards. Several readers have commented that they do it the other way, because who cares how fast certain pellets will go if they aren’t accurate?

Believe it or not, I put a lot of thought into doing a review in the order I usually do it. When I review velocity it’s not to correlate it with accuracy, but rather to show the power potential of the powerplant. I do understand the readers’ viewpoint that only accurate pellets are interesting; and like everyone, else I do tend to shoot only the most accurate pellets. But when I do the velocity test, I’m separating the power question from accuracy. I want to know what the gun is capable of doing as far as power is concerned, then in a separate test I want to discover what its accuracy can be.

Yes, I’ll recommend shooting the most accurate pellet, but if it only produces 20 foot-pounds while the most powerful pellet produces 25 foot-pounds, I want to show that the gun is fully capable of producing 25 foot pounds. Who knows if there will be a new pellet in the future that will be able to use all the power the rifle has and be accurate at the same time? So, my test will have demonstrated the peak power potential. If you look back at my discussions of accuracy and power in many past tests, I think you’ll see this has always been my thrust.

Today, we’re looking at accuracy first, because I had the opportunity to get to the rifle range on a dead-calm day. I could not let such an opportunity pass. So, today is accuracy day, and velocity day is still to come for the Conquest.

A couple corrections
During the time I was examining the rifle for this report, Edith wrote the most comprehensive airgun manual I’ve ever seen. She wrote it for both the Conquest rifle and the Speed, and we had to operate the gun extensively to check facts for her manual. Several things I initially told you have been changed as a result of this more detailed look.

1. The batteries need at least an 8-hour initial charge before the first use.

2. The magazines hold only 10 rounds instead of the 12 rounds I told you (with all double-mags holding 20). That holds true in all three calibers (.177, .22 and .25) but not for the 9mm, which is yet to come.

3. There was a problem with the magazine sticking in the action that was corrected by lubrication. Let’s look at that right now.

Magazine sticking problem
When I first examined the gun, I noticed that sometimes the magazine would not come out of the action when it was supposed to. When this rifle fires, the bolt passes through the magazine and pushes the pellet into the breech just before an air blast propels it out the barrel. If the bolt doesn’t retract all the way after the shot, you can’t remove the magazine because the bolt will still be inside.

Now I know what the plastic window on the right side of the receiver is for! Use it to access the bolt, so you can lubricate it properly. Then, it’ll retract and the gun will run perfectly — or at least mine did.

The bolt has two diameters — a large rear section and a narrow front section. Both diameters must be lubricated, because they pass through different passages in the receiver.

Use an oiling needle to get oil onto both diameters of the bolt. The larger black steel portion on the left looks oily in this picture, while the smaller silver portion on the right, to the right of the hook-like part in the middle of the window, looks dry. That’s because the surface is too smooth to see the oil. It’s there. I used bike chain oil, but Pyramyd Air used FP-10, and both products did the trick.

Once I lubricated the bolt with the oiling needle, it worked fine and there were no more sticking magazines. But if you do encounter a sticking mag, the recommended solution is to pull the trigger and hold it back for a few seconds after the rifle fires.

A great day at the range
Well, it was a great day for shooting the Conquest. The morning was foggy, where not a breath of air could be felt. I shot the entire test in the most perfect conditions imaginable. And all shooting you are about to see was done at 50 yards.

Accuracy
The rifle comes without sights, so I mounted a Bushnell Trophy XLT 4-12x40AO scope on low two-piece rings. I then sighted-in the rifle with Beeman Kodiak pellets.

The first four rounds got me on target, and then six more went into a group that measured 0.811 inches between the two widest centers. If I accepted 5-shot groups as standard, my job would already have been done, and the Conquest would be a very accurate air rifle. But that’s not how I roll, as you know, so I reloaded the magazine and shot a full 10-shot group.

Ten Beeman Kodiaks went into 1.241 inches at 50 yards. That’s okay, but not great. Time to try the next pellet.

Ten shots into 1.241 inches isn’t the level of accuracy I’d hoped for, even at 50 yards, so I decided to move on. However I note that the 21.1-grain Kodiaks do feed smoothly through the magazine. Length is not a problem.

The trigger and what it feels like to shoot
Shooting these two groups (6 shots, followed by 10 shots) afforded me the opportunity to get used to the Conquest’s trigger. I remember saying that a rifle at this price has to have a perfect trigger. Well, the Conquest trigger is far from perfect. But then I thought of another semiautomatic air rifle — the FX Revolution, which I’d tested a couple years back. It also has a less-than-desirable trigger that slaps you back through the trigger blade every time the rifle fires. In comparison, the Conquest trigger is less annoying. Instead of breaking like glass, this trigger has a rocket-push feel to the release. It’s difficult to describe, but you feel the movement of the bolt through the trigger blade.

But the magic of shooting a semiauto with almost zero recoil allows every shot to go where you want, and soon you forget the trigger. Knowing the rifle will stay exactly on target — and all you have to do is pull the trigger for another shot — builds your confidence like you wouldn’t believe!

JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
Next, I tried the 18.1-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets. In many rifles of this power, the 18.1-grain Jumbo Heavy JSB is the most accurate pellet, but not this time. In the Conquest, 10 JSB Jumbo Heavys made a group measuring 0.958 inches between centers. That’s not bad, but it’s still not the best the rifle can do.

Now this is more like it! Ten JSB Exact Jumbo pellets in 0.958 inches at 50 yards. This kind of performance is very credible, though not as good as the Conquest can shoot.

JSB Exact 15.9-grain
The next pellet I tested was the JSB Exact 15.9-grain dome. JSB calls this one a Jumbo, but I find that confusing with the Jumbo Heavy, so I make an exception by referring to this one by its weight. Over time, I’ve found this pellet to be the most consistently accurate .22-caliber airgun pellet.

Now, that’s a group! Ten JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes made this 0.547-inch group at 50 yards. This is fantastic performance. It is accuracy rivaling some of the finest semiautomatic rimfire rifles — after they’ve been accurized.

The 15.9-grain JSB Exact shot many groups between 0.50 and 0.75 inches, time after time. It was so dead-reliable on this perfect day that I would have picked it over all other PCPs for a benchrest match. But there’s one dynamic you do need to watch.

Other pellets tested
I also shot the .22-caliber Crosman Premier and the heavy 28.4-grain Eun Jin dome. Both groups were about the same as the Kodiaks, and I did not pursue them beyond a single group.

Shot count
The Conquest holds a lot of air, so the tendency is to keep right on shooting for magazine after magazine. If you are shooting spinners at 35 yards you’ll get away with it, but out at 50 yards things start to look different. That’s why I test at that distance with super-accurate PCPs like the Conquest.

I noticed that the first three 10-shot groups were all very tight. The group of JSBs going into 0.547 inches, shown above, was the first group fired on a fresh fill of air and also the best group of the test, but let’s take a look at the fourth group fired on the same fill with the same pellet.

This group of JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes was the fourth group on the same fill. It measures 1.267 inches between centers. Three 10-shot groups are the limit at 50 yards when the best accuracy is required.

That fourth group is approximately the same size as the group of Beeman Kodiaks I showed you first. While it’s a good group, it’s not representative of this rifle’s true capability at 50 yards. What this means is the total shot count you’ll get on a fill with this rifle depends on what you’re shooting and how far it is. If you want the absolute best the rifle can do, refill the gun after 30 shots. But if you’re hunting squirrels at 35 yards you can go to at least 40 shots, if not more.

This 10-shot group of JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes measures 0.760 inches between centers. There were many groups like this, and I would say this is representative of what the rifle will do all the time under good conditions with this pellet.

Full-auto
Of course, semiautomatic is only half of the game with the Conquest. I had to fire the rifle on full-auto, even though I was scoffing at the thought. Why would anybody even do that, I wondered. Well, the first group I shot answered my question.

The big surprise!
When I looked through the scope after the burst was finished I couldn’t tell if all the pellets were in the group or not, so I checked it with my new super-sharp spotting scope. What I saw caused me to jump up and down and pretty much stop the shooting on that range.

I am fortunate that my shooting buddy, Otho Henderson, was there to witness what happened. I had told him the Conquest was a full-auto gun; but until you hear it rattle the shots off, it doesn’t sink in. Seeing me this hyper after looking through the spotting scope, he knew something was up because I don’t even crack a smile unless a group is really astounding.

We both walked down to the target to examine what was a single ragged hole at my exact point of aim. I had used a 12-inch by 12-inch paper target, stapled to a 24-inch by 48-inch cardboard backer that had no other holes in it close to this target. The other target on which I’d been shooting semiautomatic groups was 12 inches above this one, so it was clear that all 10 shots went into the same tight group.

The first full-auto group from the Conquest measures 0.568 inches between centers! Never in my wildest imagination did I think this rifle could ever do something like this on full-auto!

Now I know what many of you are thinking. This was a fluke. You’ll never do it again. I thought the same thing, so I shot a second full-auto group for you.

Ten JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes went into this group measuring 1.001 inches between centers. I would expect this to be more representative of a full-auto group at 50 yards. Even so, it’s fantastic!

I’m guessing that this second group is closer to what the Conquest will do on full-auto at 50 yards most of the time on a perfect day. But since 90 percent of all the air rifles in the world can’t do as well shooting their pellets one at a time, it’s still pretty amazing.

In fairness to Mac, he did predict exactly such a thing when we were still in Las Vegas. He once owned a .22 rimfire semiauto that would occasionally dump its whole magazine; and he noted that when that happened, the group was always smaller than what he could shoot pulling the trigger each time. Apparently the gun takes care of business before the shooter can screw it up. I didn’t believe him until this happened.

All the good was used up!
Following the Conquest test, I went over to the 100-yard range and proceeded to shoot my old Ballard with the new bullets and loading techniques. Nothing worked, and the best I could do was shoot 4-inch groups! Then, I tried a 30-30 that had shot a half-inch at 50 yards the time before and it, too, shot four-inch groups. So, all the accuracy for the day was used up by the Conquest.

One last thing
Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, but I thought it would be a nice surprise here at the end of the report. I had mounted a 4-12x Bushnell scope on the Conquest for this test, but in doing so I failed to notice exactly which Bushnell it was. When I got to the range and tried to adjust the power ring, it wouldn’t budge. I had mounted a broken scope on the rifle, so the entire test had to be shot at 4x!

I doubt that mounting a 32-power scope would improve the groups all that much, simply because these groups can’t be improved much more than they are right now. But please feel free to imagine what might have happened if the scope had been better.

We look at velocity and power potential next, but at this point in the test my mind is already made up. The Evanix Conquest is a most worthy precharged pneumatic air rifle. It has a number of interesting deviations, some of which, like the battery, will turn off some shooters. But other features, like the full-auto capability, are surprisingly more effective than you might imagine.

As I look at these results, I’m reminded of two weeks ago at Las Vegas, when I pounded a 200-yard metal silhouette with the 9mm Conquest that’s still in development. Who knew these guns could be this accurate?

It was a very good day for the Evanix Conquest!

Are CB caps as good and accurate as pellets? Part 6

Posted on September 30, 2011 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 105 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Announcement: Kit Palencar is this week’s winner of Pyramyd Air’s Big Shot of the Week on their facebook page. He’ll receive a $50 Pyramyd Air gift card.

Kit Palencar is this week’s Big Shot of the Week.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Today, we’ll complete the test of CB caps against an air rifle to show which is the better gun to use for close-in shooting. There will be a surprise in today’s report, plus I’ll summarize the entire test.

Today’s shooting is all at 10 yards. This is probably where the test should have started rather than finished. Once again, here are the players.

Air rifle — A Talon SS with 24-inch optional .22-caliber barrel and a bloop tube silencer. The rifle is scoped with a Leapers 3-12×44 SWAT scope. It’s shooting the .22-caliber JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet.

The rimfire rifles are:

1. A Remington 521T target rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle
2. A Stevens Armory 414 target rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle
3. A Winchester Winder musket chambered in .22 Short

They’re shooting:

Long cases
CCI CB Longs
Aguila Super Colibris

Short cases
CCI CB Shorts
RWS BB caps
RWS CB caps

Left to right we have the RWS BB cap, RWS CB cap, CCI CB Short, Aguila Super Colibri and CCI CB Long.

Shooting indoors and the sound
I shot this final round indoors, so the relative discharge sounds could be closely monitored. There wasn’t much difference between the air rifle and any of the rimfire rounds except for the two RWS cartridges. Both of them were shot in the Winder musket’s 28-inch barrel and were slightly louder than all the others, with the BB caps being the loudest of all.

Performance
At 10 yards, the Talon SS shot all its pellets into a single hole that, until the tenth shot, was just 0.145 inches between centers. Shot 10, however, opened the group to 0.343 inches. You can see it when you look at the group. No excuses, though. I watched the last pellet drop and open the group, yet the hold on that shot was perfect, as it was for all the others.

The last shot dropped lower, opening what was a fine 10-yard group from the Talon SS.

The Winder musket has proven to be the rimfire star of this test; and at 10 yards, it did what I thought was impossible. It beat the air rifle! Ten CCI CB Shorts tore into a group that measures just 0.258 inches between centers. So, the CB caps beat the air rifle. I wouldn’t have believed this was possible if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes; but, clearly, the fact that the rimfires were shooting with peep sights against the air rifle’s scope did not sway the test that much.

The Winder musket, shooting CCI CB caps, beat the Talon SS at 10 yards.

The Winder was a star at 10 yards. It grouped 10 CCI CB Shorts in 0.258 inches, 10 RWS CB caps in 0.409 inches and 10 RWS BB caps in 1.033 inches.

Even RWS CB caps did well in the Winder at 10 yards.

All of the rimfire rifles shot good groups with CB caps and BB caps at 10 yards. The Remington 521T grouped 10 CCI CB Longs in 0.666 inches and 10 Aguila Super Colibris in 1.119 inches. The Stevens Armory 414 grouped 10 CCI CB Longs in 0.778 inches and 10 Aguila Super Colibris in 1.083 inches.

There was another small surprise during this test. The Stevens Armory 414 out-shot the Remington 521T with Aguila Super Colibris and was nearly as good as the Remington with CCI CB Longs. That tells me that the Stevens is a good-shooting rifle, after all, but maybe it doesn’t stabilize the slow-moving CB bullets well enough for accuracy at longer distances. I’ll come back to that thought in a moment.

Something I didn’t mention before
Blog reader Mike (I think) reminded me that CB caps have a pinch of gunpowder in the case, where BB caps are powered by the primer, alone. In this report, I’ve made it sound like the CB cap is also primer-powered with no powder, but that’s not the case. I took apart a CCI Long cartridge to show you the powder, and I’ve put it next to a CCI Green Tag .22 Long Rifle for comparison.

This goes in the “Don’t try this at home” instructions. At the top is a CCI CB Long pulled apart. Below is a CCI Green Tag Long Rifle cartridge pulled apart.

What I didn’t do in this test
I didn’t bust my tail trying CB caps in every .22 I have. If I had, no doubt the results might have been a little different; but I doubt there would have been anything earth-shattering. Any reader who has access to a fine .22 rimfire target rifle is welcome to try his or her hand at this test and report the results. I would really love to hear what a Remington 40X or an Anschütz free rifle could do. Until I hear different, I’m thinking these results are fairly representative of what you will see from a .22.

The results
I have formed the following conclusions from the test results.

First, a CB cap in almost any .22 rimfire rifle in good condition can be accurate enough to dispatch pests at 10 yards or less. If you have a squirrel in the attic, a CB cap might be your best solution — especially if you don’t have an air rifle ready to go.

The rifle does have to be sighted-in for CB caps. Though they will be off by only an inch or so at 10 yards, the targets are often small enough that it does matter. Having a scope that has mil-dots so you can easily shift aim points is the best way to compensate for this.

Beyond 10 yards, the CB cap accuracy starts falling off rapidly. The rifle and exact round you choose start mattering. This is not true for air rifles, because one air rifle can be good from 10 yards to 50 yards with just slight changes in the aim point.

At 25 yards, the CB caps become very chancy, and it really matters which rifle and which rounds are selected. In this test, I found that no CB cap/rifle combination was good enough to go all the way to 50 yards. Yet, the air rifle did so with ease and could go even farther.

I’m going to say the CB caps are not stabilized out to 50 yards, because that’s what it looks like from the results. I just don’t think those bullets have enough spin to keep them on track that far out.

CB caps are quiet, but not more than a quiet PCP. When you’re in close confines, they’ll sound louder than you think.

Some rifles are simply not suited to the use of CB caps. I eliminated the Ruger 10/22 from the test after experiencing difficulty loading the caps.

Stuffing those tiny CB caps into the Ruger 10/22’s deep breech is no picnic. I don’t recommend it.

CB caps are expensive; but if you don’t plan to shoot a lot of them, they’re much cheaper than buying an entire air rifle. CB caps are ideal for older .22 rifles that may not have the strength needed for today’s more powerful cartridges.

On the other hand, if you own a quality air rifle like the Talon SS I’ve used in this test, I wouldn’t think of using CB caps in its place. The air rifle is so clearly ahead of the CB caps at all ranges — the results of the 10-yard test notwithstanding — that it simply makes no sense.

Was it worth the effort?
It absolutely was worth all the time spent gathering the data in this test, because now we have some solid performance data as a gauge. No, this may not be the last test anyone ever does, but it’s the first of its type of which I am aware. From now on, when somebody gives you the CB cap excuse for not shooting an airgun, you have something to help you argue your point.

Are CB caps as good and accurate as pellets? Part 5

Posted on September 23, 2011 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 74 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Announcement: John “J.” Stoll is this week’s winner of Pyramyd Air’s Big Shot of the Week on their facebook page. He’ll receive a $50 Pyramyd Air gift card.

John “J.” Stoll holds his Marauder pistol and 42mm BSA red dot.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Today I will show you what CB caps did at 25 yards. Please remember the thrust of this investigation is to see whether a CB cap can be substituted for a good (read that as a PCP) air rifle. The four things I am interested in are the cost of ammo, accuracy, power and the noise at discharge.

Thus far we have learned that the air rifle is more accurate than the best CB cap at 50 yards. The pellets for that rifle are considerably less expensive than a similar quantity of CB caps and the dischange sound of my Talon SS with its 24-inch optional .22-caliber barrel the way I have it set up (with a bloop tube silencer installed) is as quiet as the quietest CB cap tested. And when I say CB cap, know that I’m also including the RWS BB cap in the list of ammo being tested.

So at 50 yards, you’ll want to choose an accurate precharged air rifle over a CB cap in any .22 rifle. But what about closer? What if the pests you want to shoot are no farther than 25 yards away? Today we will see how CB caps do at that distance, and of course as always, I will shoot the air rifle right with them, so we can keep track of things.

Airgun first
It was so easy to test the air rifle first, because if it is sighted-in at 50 yards, it’s also very close at 25 yards. In fact, my rifle is sighted-in for 25 yards and I have simply tolerated it at 50 yards because the group was close enough to the aim point. The same .22-caliber JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet was used as at 50 yards.

The Talon SS set the bar pretty high for the rest of the rifles. Ten JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets went into this group measuring 0.436-inches between centers.

CCI CB Longs
Now it was the turn of the CCI CB Long CB caps. The first rifle to fire them was the Remington 521T that proved fairly accurate (for a CB cap) at 50 yards.

Ten CCI CB Longs went into this group measuring 1.83-inches at 25 yards. The Remington 521T did it.

After that, the Stevens 414 Armory stepped up to the plate. As you may recall, it did so poorly with both brands of CB caps at 50 yards that I fired a group of 9 Wolf Match Target rounds, which are regular .22 long rifle target rounds, just to see if the rifle was accurate at all. It was with that ammo, but not with the CB caps.

At 25 yards the 414 was a little better. Ten shots went into a group measuring 2.787 inches across. While that’s not tack-driving accuracy, at least they were all on the paper this time.

Not a killer group, but much better than the performance at 50 yards. Stevens 414 Armory shooting CCI CB Longs in this 2.787-inch group.

Aguila Super Colibri
The next round to be tested was the Super Colibri from Aguila. You may remember that we discovered that the Colibri rounds shoot way too slow for rifles and had to be eliminated from this test, so the Super Colibri is the only Aguila round being tested.

In the Remington 521T they performed adequately. Ten shots went into a group measuring 3.476 inches at 25 yards. While that might be good enough for plinking, no one would ever confuse it as an accurate round for pest elimination.

Not a stellar performance, but the best we did with Aguila Super Colibris at 25 yards. These ten shots made a 3.476-inch group.

Next up was the Stevens Armory 414, and while all ten shots did land on the target paper at 25 yards, they were spread out over 5-7/8-inches. Clearly the Stevens rifle does not like CB caps one bit. I won’t even show the group, because there is nothing to see.

RWS BB and CB caps
At this point the RWS BB caps and CB caps were up, and only one rifle is shooting them — my Winchester Winder musket. I did that because it is chambered for .22 Shorts, so the shorter RWS cases won’t cause as much trouble as they might in a rifle chambered for the .22 Long Rifle round.

The BB cap target I won’t show because the group is too large, and one round landed off the target. It measured about seven inches in all, which makes this round infeasible for use at 25 yards in this rifle. After the test is completed I may go back and try the round in the Remington, just to see if I’m right about the chamber being too long, but right now I’m finished with it at 25 yards.

The RWS CB cap, on the other hand, turned in a 10-shot group that measured 1.792-inches across, making it the best CB cap group at this range thus far. This tells be that the performance of the BB cap in this rifle is probably better than I would see in the Remington, because this rifle just out-shot the Remington’s best 25-yard group. So it is clear that the RWS CB cap is a cartridge to contend with, and also the Winder musket is no slouch in the accuracy department.

Best CB cap target at 25 yards to this point! The Winder musket can shoot and the RWS CB cap is not bad, either. Group measures 1.792-inchs across.

CCI CB Short
Only one cartridge remains — the CCI CB Short. We learned in the velocity test that it is equally powerful as the CB Long and has an identical bullet, so the only significant difference is the Short has a shorter case. It is ideal for rifles chambered for the .22 Short round.

You would think that would make this cartridge very similar to the CB Long, but that’s not how it turned out! When I was done with the string and looked at the target for the first time, I was amazed! The Winder musket has iron target sights, so I couldn’t see the group as it formed, and that was probably a good thing, because look at what it did.

Does this group look a lot like the tight air rifle group at the beginning of the report? It does to me. Ten rounds went into 0.981 inches, with nine of them cutting a group that measures 0.604-inches! That’s pretty amazing.

Obviously I have found a winner with the Winder musket and CCI CB Shorts. They are equally accurate as the air rifle and might be used to pick squirrels off the bird feeder, as long as it isn’t too far away, and the rifle is sighted-in for the cartridge.

Sum up for 25 yards
At 25 yards, some CB caps will work, while others won’t. It seems to rely a lot on the individual rifle at this range. Since I have only tried a couple rifles, I would think the possibilities are wide open for anyone who owns a .22 rimfire.

Let’s remember that these bullets are being powered by priming compound, alone. And it is the priming step that is both the most critical in the production of rimfire ammunition, and also the one most prone to failures. I did have several failures to fire with the Stevens Armory 414, but when I shot .22 Long Rifles there was only a single failure and that one didn’t work after three tries. Perhaps the Armory could use a tuneup, and maybe that is what is behind its poor showings.

The last group shown was the one that really stunned me. I would have bet big money before conducting this test that no CB cap in any rifle would every turn in that kind of performance. Well, that’s why I’m doing this. Now we all know a lot more about what CB caps can and cannot do.

There is one more test to conduct at 10 meters. That’s for those who just want to shoot squirrels in their attic. Then I will sum up all the important lessons this report has revealed.

Till then!

Are CB caps as good and accurate as pellets? Part 4

Posted on September 16, 2011 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 53 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Announcement: Andrew Rhee is this week’s winner of Pyramyd Air’s Big Shot of the Week on their facebook page. He’ll receive a $50 Pyramyd Air gift card.

Andrew is hidden among the ferns with his KWA KM4 RIS airsoft rifle.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Today, I’ll finish the accuracy test at 50 yards.

This report is about how .22-caliber CB caps stand up to an air rifle in four areas: cost of ammunition, power, accuracy and sound. To-date, we’ve learned that the air rifle I’m using is just about as powerful as the most powerful CB cap and that it’s as quiet as the quietest CB cap that might be used. One specialty CB cap (the Aguila Colibri) is quieter, but so low powered that it wasn’t used in this test. It’s strictly for .22 handguns.

First, I tested the accuracy of the AirForce Talon SS, which is my control air rifle. It has to endure the same wind and lighting as the CB caps, so the results should not be skewed.

If you’ve been following this report, you know that I’ve been having trouble loading CB caps into the chamber of my Ruger 10/22 — one of three rifles I selected to test the accuracy of CB caps. I chose a 10/22 because I had one (always a good reason) and because I thought it represented what the average guy might use if he wanted to shoot a CB cap. However, that was before I discovered what a royal pain it is to load CB caps into a 10/22! Yes, it can be done and I actually did it many times, but it’s so frustrating that I finally gave up and removed the 10/22 from this test.

Before making that decision, though, I even went to the bother of converting my rifle to the custom configuration with the custom stock and bull barrel from Butler Creek. Then, I rediscovered this nasty fact. So, I bounced that rifle as well before firing the first shot. But that left me with no scoped rifles in .22 rimfire. My Remington 521T has target aperture sights, as does the Winchester Winder musket. I wanted to keep things as even as possible between the firearms and the air rifle that wears a Leapers 3-12x44AO SWAT scope, but it was not to be.

The Winder musket
Another rifle whose accuracy I haven’t yet reported in this test is the Winchester Winder musket. This is a Winchester Low Wall action chambered for .22 Short, and I selected it for two reasons. First, it was made as a target rifle, and as such should be pretty accurate. Second, because it’s chambered for the .22 Short round, it’s perfect for the CCI CB Short cartridge, as well as being better for the ultra-short RWS CB caps and BB caps. Shooting these rounds in a rifle chambered for long rifle ammunition is putting them at a decided disadvantage, because they have to traverse the length of the chamber before encountering the rifling. When doing that, it’s possible the bullets could tip slightly before they engage the rifling.

Though the Winder musket dates from before 1920, it’s still a highly accurate target rifle, as this test showed.

The Winder’s performance was pretty surprising. It out-shot both the Remington 521T target rifle AND the scoped Ruger 10/22. Not by just a little. With CCI CB Shorts, the Winder posted a 2.714-inch 10-shot group! While not in the same class as the air rifle, that’s not bad. It was the tightest group made by any of the CB cap and BB cap ammunition in any rifle at 50 yards.

Not bad for just priming compound at 50 yards! This group of 10 CCI CB Short rounds from the Winder musket measures 2.714 inches across centers.

With RWS CB caps, the Winder put 10 into a group measuring about 3.577 inches. I have to say “about” because one round strayed off the target paper and I wrote a note on the target that it was an inch to the right. The Winder has no lock on the windage adjustment, and I guess I’d rubbed it against the rifle case when pulling it out at the range. That rolled the windage adjustment too far to the right, which put the group in the upper right corner of the target. When I started shooting, the shots were close enough and far enough on the paper that I thought I could get them all on. Since it takes me up to 15 minutes to complete one group, while waiting for the perfect time to shoot, I decided to go with this group as is.

Nine of 10 RWS CB caps made it through this target from the Winder musket. Shot No. 9 just nicked the right edge of the paper. The tenth shot was about an inch to the right of the target paper. Actual group size was about 3.577 inches.

The RWS BB caps performed much differently than the CB caps in the Winder. Only 8 of 10 made it onto the paper, even though this group is well-centered on the target. Again, I have no idea how large the total group is, but the 8 shots I do have are spread out about 7.25 inches.

Adding the Stevens Armory 414 target rifle
I did add a third rifle to the firearm side since the 10/22 was removed. It’s a Stevens Armory 414 target rifle that was popular before World War II. It’s a single-shot lever-action that’s based on the popular Stevens No. 44 action. Mine has an adjustable target tang sight and a very odd front aperture that looks like it should be lethal.

The four rifles used in this test (top to bottom): AirForce Talon SS, Winchester Winder musket, Stevens Armory 414 and Remington 521T.

The front aperture on the Stevens Armory rifle is one of the smallest I’ve ever seen.

Now, it was time to shoot the new rifle at 50 yards with both the Aguila Super Colibri CB caps and the CCI CB Longs. This was done a week ago, and I saved the results for today’s report.

The results
The results are really horrible! The Aguila Super Colibis managed to hit the 10.5″x12″ target paper 3 out of 10 times. For those on the metric system, the target paper measures 268mm by about 350mm! I have no way of knowing for certain what the group size actually is, but let’s conservatively call it a 15-inch group! I’m not going to bother showing you the target paper with three holes.

Next, I tried CCI CB Longs and got somewhat better results, though they’re still nothing spectacular. Ten shots made a group that measures just over 9 inches at 50 yards. At least all the shots were on the paper!

This got me wondering whether this particular rifle is accurate with anything, so I shot a group of 9 Wolf Match Target .22 long rifle cartridges. It would have been 10, but one cartridge failed to fire in three attempts. Rimfires! Naturally, that was the last of that brand of cartridge on hand. The group is small enough (0.978 inches) to indicate that the rifle can shoot, and I still have no idea what the best round for this rifle might be.

Nine Wolf Match Target rounds went into this group, which is under an inch; so, the rifle can shoot with the right ammunition.

Summary for CB caps against air rifles at 50 yards
The Talon SS air rifle with an optional 24-inch, .22-caliber barrel and bloop tube shot groups in the three-quarters to one-and-a-quarter-inch range at 50 yards. This rifle is a proven entity, and this level of performance is not unusual. Since it was shot on the same day as the CB caps, both were shot under the same conditions; so, we can cancel the wind and lighting as factors.

The best performance from the firearms was realized by the CCI CB Shorts shot in the Winder musket, and they made a 10-shot group that was just over 2.70 inches. The Ruger 10/22 that I eliminated because of loading difficulties turned in the second-best group, and the RWS CB caps in the Winder musket were close behind. After that, the group sizes increased very quickly. Most of the rest of the groups were too large to measure because several shots were off the paper and lost.

The bottom line for 50-yard shooting with CB caps is that they cannot keep pace with a good PCP air rifle. There’s something else you have to consider. If you grab a .22 rimfire to shoot just one CB cap, the rifle will not be sighted-in for that round. I spent a lot of time getting my shots on target at 50 yards. When I switched back to standard .22 long rifle ammunition with the Stevens Armory 414, the sights had to be adjusted a lot in both directions.

With an air rifle, you’ll always be on target, provided the rifle is sighted-in. So, just grab the gun, load it and take the shot. At distances as far as 50 yards, this makes all the difference in the world, because Mr. Rat is not going to sit still while you adjust your sights.

I must say that I was surprised by the tightest CB cap groups shot with both the Winder musket and the Remington 521T. I couldn’t have predicted that level of accuracy for them at 50 yards.

Next time, we’ll move in to 25 yards — and I already know the results are going to amaze you.