I have aspirations of a nice PCP, maybe someday I'll be able to come up with the $$$. Might look at that HW30 in the interim, although I'm kind of partial to .22.Maybe it's time to upgrade. I'm looking at your groups so far... if it was me, $300ish for a HW30/Beeman R7.
Life's too short NOT to experience the joys of a quality springer.
Accurate backyard plinking on the O of a coke can all day long vs chasing POI shift/fliers
Then again maybe that Walther Talon Magnum is part of your journey of 1000 steps.
Umarex Notos : 250 for the gun and 50 for a hand pump and you’ll be in 7th heaven (and the PCP rabbit hole!I have aspirations of a nice PCP, maybe someday I'll be able to come up with the $$$. Might look at that HW30 in the interim, although I'm kind of partial to .22.
If you got your heart set on that Walther. Maybe shoot open sight...It's been a fun and educational day thanks to all the great advice I got from y'all. I was stunned when I ran that first patch through my rifle and it came out loaded with black crud. Looked like the kind of stuff I get out of my BP rifles after I've been using Holy Black in them. Doesn't take long for accuracy to deteriorate when that BP fouling builds up, so apparently the black crud in my Walther was having the same effect. I scrubbed the bore with Patch Out, which I highly recommend, and patch after patch came out dirty. But after I got the bore clean, well, you can see how my groups pulled together. Next step will be polishing the bore.
And I learned that a big part of my accuracy problem was the Walther beating the bejeezus out of the scopes and red dot I was using. I had tried a Gamo scope, but it's obviously not designed for magnum springers. Neither were the Bushnell and some others I tried. Same-same with the red dot - it would probably do OK on a CO2 rifle or a Ruger 10/22, but the kind of abuse that it was getting on my rifle was just addling its little innards.
I have a spare scope for my State Arms .50 BMG, a CVLife 6-24x50 AO, that would handle the Walther's double whammy. .50's have the same double recoil as do magnum springers - first the recoil from firing the weapon, then the second, reverse recoil when the compensator (which you HAVE to have) does its thing (NEVER stand to the side of someone shooting a .50!). I may put it on my Walther temporarily just for G 'n' G's, and to check out the rifle's true accuracy. The scope is a Hubble, but I can dial the parallax down to 30 yards which will work just fine. Later I'll spring for a nice UTG.
It's really great to discover that I don't have a dud rifle, just that it needed some TLC and the right pellets. It loves the JSB 18.13 gr. Diabolo pellets, and fortunately I have a 500 round tin of them.
Thanks again, all! I'll post more after I put the CVLife scope on the rifle and shoot some groups.
Thanks for the suggestion on the laser. I ordered a Solofish SL-1107. I'm pretty decent with open sights, but my 72 year old eyes need help nowadays!If you got your heart set on that Walther. Maybe shoot open sight...
or get a cheap green laser and combine it with one of your scopes. Even if the scope is not springer rated...you can still use the scope to see the laser. Depending on the power of your scope, that combination should get you beyond 30 yards (using the laser as the primary aiming point. Make sure you loctite the laser mount screws. ).
The other option if you are handy is to modify a cheap China zero recoil scope mount.
That's a real temptation!!Umarex Notos : 250 for the gun and 50 for a hand pump and you’ll be in 7th heaven (and the PCP rabbit hole!
Sometimes them "lesser" guns you try to make it or get the best out of aint as boring as a near perfect upscale guns. Tune, tinker ,adjust , troubleshoot can give more satisfaction then more perfect.. especially when you get it right in the end.Every rifle, even refurbs, takes time to break in and settle down. Same with scrubbing out a barrel. Takes some pellets to lead it back in.
Just keep shooting, have fun and enjoy the rifle
p.s. - I won't argue better quality rifles, I own a few, but I also have just as much fun with the ones I also own that were half or less the price. It was my money, I spent it the way I wanted, not because someone else said I should...lol
You're correct. Getting an apparent beater and working on it until you have a tack driver is immensely satisfying. I've got a beautiful little M1916 Spanish Mauser Carbine in 7x57 that was keyholing and scattering shots all over creation when I first got it. I've dinked around with it a lot, slugged the bore and found that the grooves are .287" instead of the proper .284", schmutzed the barrel and action over an oil flame and worked on the bedding until I can slide a dollar bill under the barrel all the way down. I handloaded some rounds with .287" bullets and that stopped the keyholing, but the bedding work is ongoing. That's been one of my most fun projects.Sometimes them "lesser" guns you try to make it or get the best out of aint as boring as a near perfect upscale guns. Tune, tinker ,adjust , troubleshoot can give more satisfaction then more perfect.. especially when you get it right in the end.
Like make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
Assuming that you already found the "ideal" pellet (looks like the JSB jumbo heavy Diablo, prior to you polishing the barrel...hmm) and all the screws are tight, vertical stringing in springers in my experience is generally how you are holding the gun and your trigger pull. This is my theory on vertical stringing (yet to be proven with super slow motion) imagine the gun double recoiling and your shoulder and trigger finger moves back in reaction and/or anticipation to the 2nd backward recoil...this translates into up and down movement at the tip of your barrel... hence vertical POI stringing on your paper.You're correct. Getting an apparent beater and working on it until you have a tack driver is immensely satisfying. I've got a beautiful little M1916 Spanish Mauser Carbine in 7x57 that was keyholing and scattering shots all over creation when I first got it. I've dinked around with it a lot, slugged the bore and found that the grooves are .287" instead of the proper .284", schmutzed the barrel and action over an oil flame and worked on the bedding until I can slide a dollar bill under the barrel all the way down. I handloaded some rounds with .287" bullets and that stopped the keyholing, but the bedding work is ongoing. That's been one of my most fun projects.
Yep, those are one inch squares. That's a template I downloaded from MyTargets.com.Assuming that you already found the "ideal" pellet and all the screws are tight, vertical stringing in springers in my experience is generally how you are holding the gun and your trigger pull. This is my theory on vertical stringing (yet to be proven with super slow motion) imagine the gun double recoiling and your shoulder and trigger finger moves back in reaction and/or anticipation to the 2nd backward recoil...this translates into up and down movement at the tip of your barrel... hence vertical POI stringing on your paper.
In general, try resting the gun on your hand. In my experience (for me), resting the gun on a bean bag, sand bag, pillow, towels, memory foam does not get rid of these vertical stringing.
One way to diagnose or rule that in or out, you need to chrono the gun. If the gun is inconsistent (there is a velocity spread of 30 to 100 + fps) that might be the reason for the vertical stringing. If you don't have a chrono, try the tissue test. Not ideal but might point to a inconsistent seal problem.
Or it's a combination of both.
BTW are those an inch square on your target paper?