OK...someone explain this to me...seriously

jaxworks · Jan 13, 2015

I have a .22 cal BSA Lightning XL SE GRT with a red dot scope. I also have a .22 cal Crosman Nitro Venom also with a red dot. (both have the gas spring) I have been target shooting both at 60 feet and have both guns shooting 5 shot groups you can cover with a dime. Today I moved the target out to the end of my back yard, approx. 120 feet. The BSA which only shoots 730 fps DID NOT DROP AT ALL in that distance. The Crosman which shoots at close to 900 fps dropped 2 inches, which I expected. What gives? This makes no sense to me.

orygun · Jan 13, 2015

Shoot targets at 30 and 90 feet. That will give you an idea of trajectory. It's possible that the BSA is still climbing at 60 and dropping at 120, while peaking at 90 or so. The slower pellet will have more of an arch to make hits at a distance the faster travelling pellet wouldn't need.
I'd sight the Crossman in to hit at the longer distance, too, then make tests at 30, 60, 90 and 120 feet. Then you will show yourself what's going on.
I'd be interested in knowing what you find.

jaxworks · Jan 13, 2015

orygun said:
Shoot targets at 30 and 90 feet. That will give you an idea of trajectory. It's possible that the BSA is still climbing at 60 and dropping at 120, while peaking at 90 or so. The slower pellet will have more of an arch to make hits at a distance the faster travelling pellet wouldn't need.
I'd sight the Crossman in to hit at the longer distance, too, then make tests at 30, 60, 90 and 120 feet. Then you will show yourself what's going on.
I'd be interested in knowing what you find.

Thanx...having shot only firearms and not air rifles I am still getting used to what a difference a pellet makes. I have a great time shooting in the back yard. Both guns are silenced and I shoot out the back door of the garage into a target in the yard so there is only the sound of the pellet cutting the paper and going into the thick wood backstop. I really like both guns and want to know what makes them tick. I will set up targets at intervals like you said and report back.

1990Turbo · Jan 19, 2015

Could just be the BSA is actually closer to the advertised fps. Find somewhere that has one of those thingys (sorry brainfart cant remember the actual name) that measures fps and test both of them. Call the Oregon airsoft arena and see if they can test for you I know they have one there. I had a BSA long ago and it had a much better quality to it than most crossmans.

orygun · Jan 19, 2015

What 1990Turbo is referring to is a chronograph.
He may be onto something, too.

1990Turbo · Jan 20, 2015

Crap thats the thingy!

jaxworks · Jan 23, 2015

Ok...I bow to the superior experience in this forum. The BSA pellet was rising at the first target and falling at the second. Thanks again.

Now for another question...I have read where air rifle shooters talk about 'breaking in' a rifle barrel. Is this for real or are they just getting used to the rifle? I would think the longer you shoot any rifle, as long as you keep it clean the more wear there would be and the less accurate. I have a BSA GRT Lightning with a 10 inch barrel that was a tack driver right out of the box. My Crosman Nitro Venom was the same way. I recently bought a BSA GRT Supersport with a 18 inch barrel. Both BSA rifles are identical except for barrel length.
Regardless of which pellet the best group I can get is 3 inches. Is this a break in issue?

oknow · Jan 23, 2015

jaxworks said:
Ok...I bow to the superior experience in this forum. The BSA pellet was rising at the first target and falling at the second. Thanks again.

Now for another question...I have read where air rifle shooters talk about 'breaking in' a rifle barrel. Is this for real or are they just getting used to the rifle? I would think the longer you shoot any rifle, as long as you keep it clean the more wear there would be and the less accurate. I have a BSA GRT Lightning with a 10 inch barrel that was a tack driver right out of the box. My Crosman Nitro Venom was the same way. I recently bought a BSA GRT Supersport with a 18 inch barrel. Regardless of which pellet the best group I can get is 3 inches. Is this a break in issue?

I don't think you will live long enough to wear out a barrel.but breaking a barrel in is shooting it a few times clean it shoot it Clean it shoot it Clean it. what you are doing is smoothing the little birs out on the rifling.

jaxworks · Jan 23, 2015

Ok...speaking of cleaning. I assume a pellet rifle does not need cleaned as often as a firearm as there is no 'fire' to deposit material in the barrel. What is the recommended interval? Every 100 shots or so? Or is there one?
As a side note the only sad thing about all this shooting is that I have cleaned out all the squirrels so it paper targets only. (sniff)

oknow · Jan 23, 2015

The cleaning is running a bore brush and patch through the barrel. Not positive on the air rifles but I know with regular rifles it's Running a bore brush through every 4 or 5 shots for about 20 shots Like I said earlier it's for smoothing out the burs in the rifling.

jaxworks · Jan 23, 2015

oknow said:
The cleaning is running a bore brush and patch through the barrel. Not positive on the air rifles but I know with regular rifles it's Running a bore brush through every 4 or 5 shots for about 20 shots Like I said earlier it's for smoothing out the burs in the rifling.

Ok...thanks again.

Qjay · Feb 18, 2015

Breaking in an air rifle, especially a break barrel, can take a few hundred shots. What it does is allow the mechanisms of the gun to "wear in" and "settle into place" for their long-term performance.

Most people want to clean the barrel before shooting, and I prefer to do it again after a few hundred pellets, but overall, the goal of cleaning first is to make sure there is no factory grease/paint/burrs/flash/materials of any kind left in the barrel. Then you put some pellets downrange, listen to and smell the gun (you want to prevent detonations as much as possible, they can really harm your airgun) and when you do your next cleaning, make sure to oil with SILCONE chamber oil, NOT REGULAR PELLGUN OIL. The silicone lube has a higher flash point, making it less likely to cause detonations.

On another note, build a silent pellet trap for your backyard, it uses Duct Seal Putty to stop the pellets without that "thunk" of hitting the wood in your backstop!

tac · Feb 2, 2016

Most airgun dealerships sell little compressed felt pellets in the usual calibres. I use one or two BEFORE a shooting session to ensure that I have a clean bore to start out.

This is what I shoot -

and

and this is what my 1956 Walther LP53 does most of the time, if I'm careful...

tac

Fishnutz · Mar 1, 2016

This might help you out... http://www.hawkeoptics.com/chairgun.html
Chairgun pro free in Apple Store. It'll take a little to get used to but it's worth it's wheight in gold

Just an example...

Fishnutz · Mar 1, 2016

jaxworks said:
I have a .22 cal BSA Lightning XL SE GRT with a red dot scope. I also have a .22 cal Crosman Nitro Venom also with a red dot. (both have the gas spring) I have been target shooting both at 60 feet and have both guns shooting 5 shot groups you can cover with a dime. Today I moved the target out to the end of my back yard, approx. 120 feet. The BSA which only shoots 730 fps DID NOT DROP AT ALL in that distance. The Crosman which shoots at close to 900 fps dropped 2 inches, which I expected. What gives? This makes no sense to me.

AMT · Mar 1, 2016

I have an old Slavia 631 (i think that's what it is off the top of my head) and a buddy has a Beeman of some sort.

His is picky on pellets where mine does good with just about anything. He ended up giving me 3 tins of pellets because his Beeman "didn't like" them. (hard to explain - they were inconsistent in his but were fine through mine.)

Different pellets in different rifles make a huge difference. I'd suggest buying different flavors and see which one each of your rifles like the best. You might find that each one likes a different flavor.

FWIW