30-Yard Challenge

I will definitely try the Athlon 10-40X the next time I shoot at 100 yards. I agree a high contrast pellet hole on a white background will give the best chance to see the holes. But I will probably bring some splatter targets too.

There is a GTA friendly competition something like "Nothin under 100". At least there used to be. I managed to make the lowest level of their scoring. You need to shoot 5 shots at 100 or more yards on their target (which you can download and print out).

Working on updating Leaderboards...

Forgot to submit my best 40-Masters with .177 Crown to date - using 10.3g instead of 13.4g. The best 13.4g 40-Masters I had with the .17 Crown had more Xs (10) but scored slightly lower at 189.

Leaderboard submission:
Date: May 8th
Target: 40-Masters
Score: 191 9X
Rifle: .177 FX Crown Mk2 (380mm)
Pellet: JSB 10.3g @ 900fps
Scope: Sightron SII 36x fixed power

I'll try to get a Leaderboard Update post done by tomorrow.

-Ed

JimD said:

I will definitely try the Athlon 10-40X the next time I shoot at 100 yards. I agree a high contrast pellet hole on a white background will give the best chance to see the holes. But I will probably bring some splatter targets too.

There is a GTA friendly competition something like "Nothin under 100". At least there used to be. I managed to make the lowest level of their scoring. You need to shoot 5 shots at 100 or more yards on their target (which you can download and print out).

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Jim

Before I submitted my first 30Y Challenge card in February 2022, I was actively engaged in the monthly NUAH matches. I loved the challenge and reading the posts.

At the time I used the .25 cal RW Safari shooting MRDs at 970 FPS on Medium power. Also used my RAW HM1000x .22. Always pellets, slugs were just getting popular. This was in 2020-2022.

Best I ever shot was 4 in the center ring and sub MOA. A guy from Finland finally shot ‘5’ in the center ring in 2023 I think. To my knowledge, nobody has done it since. It’s not that it can’t be done, we just had the regular shooters loose interest.

I have the new Athlon scope also, waiting for 30mm Dovetail Rings from Sportsmatch.

EPG said:

Working on updating Leaderboards...

Forgot to submit my best 40-Masters with .177 Crown to date - using 10.3g instead of 13.4g. The best 13.4g 40-Masters I had with the .17 Crown had more Xs (10) but scored slightly lower at 189.

Leaderboard submission:
Date: May 8th
Target: 40-Masters
Score: 191 9X
Rifle: .177 FX Crown Mk2 (380mm)
Pellet: JSB 10.3g @ 900fps
Scope: Sightron SII 36x fixed power

I'll try to get a Leaderboard Update post done by tomorrow.

-Ed

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Ed

Those darn Crowns. You and Greg are killing me with these stupidly high scores.

Now you’re going to make me work with the TM1000x .177

Ok… this is one of those cards that starts out really good, you feel confident you think to yourself this could be a 195 or better.
Then… it starts to fade away “way away”
Now I shoot bottom up, right to left, next row left to right so you can see what I’m thinking!

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Challenge Shooters, this is our 4th leaderboard update of 2025...

Apologies for 5 weeks since last update, I will try to get them out at 3-4 weeks as we are now in “shooting weather” – perhaps even more often if submission rates are high during a specific time period.

Notables:

30-Challenge:
Interestingly, just EPG (.177 Crown and Regal), NAProf (DRS Classic) and JimD (.177 P-35) submitted 30-Challenge cards this period. EPG’s .177 Crown submission was actually a Masters Card that he submitted for 30-Challenge leaderboard.

It seems that the Masters leaderboards are getting all the interest lately… are you shooters getting that good that you don’t need the mulligan pairs!?!

30-Masters:
Congratulations to Rickie the Airgunnero for his 200 18X with his Panthera – using a slug liner.

Nomojo65 (TM1000) TommyB (TM1000 and Taipan Vet2) shot fantastic 199s. EPG shot a 198 with his .177 Crown using NAProf’s barrel.

40-Challenge:
Congratulations to mreynolds on his awesome 200 16X at 40 yards with his .177 Thomas.

TommyB, Greg (NAProf) and Ed (EPG) posted excellent scores this period – advancing their rifles up the leaderboard. TommyB broke the “195 Barrier” at 40 yards with his 196 with his .22 RAW shooting the JTS 22.07g at a smokin’ 985fps.

40-Masters:
The 40-Masters board seems to be getting a lot of attention from shooters this year. When I originally stretched out our challenges to 40 yards a couple years ago, I didn’t realize how popular they would become. 40 yards at our tiny target definitely requires some good scope magnification… but you guys are more than up to the “Challenge”!

Another Congratulations to mreynolds on his awesome 199 12X 40-Masters with his .177 Thomas – it shows that incredible consistent accuracy can be achieved with lightweight .177 pellets at 40 yards distance. It’s our highest 40-Masters score this year.

Additional fantastic 40-Masters submissions with Rickie (FX Panthera) and Ed (FX PowerPup) with 198s. TommyB (.22 RAW) with a 197 and Joe Chapman (.177 RAW) with a 196. I see a 195+ in TommyB’s future with his Taipan Vet2 as he is shooting consistently in the 190s with it at 40 yards.

As always, I have just one request from you guys…
…Keep getting that lead downrange!!

-Ed

EPG said:

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Leaderboard Update: Submissions through May 21, 2025​

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Challenge Shooters, this is our 4th leaderboard update of 2025...

Apologies for 5 weeks since last update, I will try to get them out at 3-4 weeks as we are now in “shooting weather” – perhaps even more often if submission rates are high during a specific time period.

Notables:

30-Challenge:
Interestingly, just EPG (.177 Crown and Regal), NAProf (DRS Classic) and JimD (.177 P-35) submitted 30-Challenge cards this period. EPG’s .177 Crown submission was actually a Masters Card that he submitted for 30-Challenge leaderboard.

It seems that the Masters leaderboards are getting all the interest lately… are you shooters getting that good that you don’t need the mulligan pairs!?!

30-Masters:
Congratulations to Rickie the Airgunnero for his 200 18X with his Panthera – using a slug liner.

Nomojo65 (TM1000) TommyB (TM1000 and Taipan Vet2) shot fantastic 199s. EPG shot a 198 with his .177 Crown using NAProf’s barrel.

40-Challenge:
Congratulations to mreynolds on his awesome 200 16X at 40 yards with his .177 Thomas.

TommyB, Greg (NAProf) and Ed (EPG) posted excellent scores this period – advancing their rifles up the leaderboard. TommyB broke the “195 Barrier” at 40 yards with his 196 with his .22 RAW shooting the JTS 22.07g at a smokin’ 985fps.

40-Masters:
The 40-Masters board seems to be getting a lot of attention from shooters this year. When I originally stretched out our challenges to 40 yards a couple years ago, I didn’t realize how popular they would become. 40 yards at our tiny target definitely requires some good scope magnification… but you guys are more than up to the “Challenge”!

Another Congratulations to mreynolds on his awesome 199 12X 40-Masters with his .177 Thomas – it shows that incredible consistent accuracy can be achieved with lightweight .177 pellets at 40 yards distance. It’s our highest 40-Masters score this year.

Additional fantastic 40-Masters submissions with Rickie (FX Panthera) and Ed (FX PowerPup) with 198s. TommyB (.22 RAW) with a 197 and Joe Chapman (.177 RAW) with a 196. I see a 195+ in TommyB’s future with his Taipan Vet2 as he is shooting consistently in the 190s with it at 40 yards.

As always, I have just one request from you guys…
…Keep getting that lead downrange!!

-Ed
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Thanks Ed for the monthly updates!!

I still need the mulligan pairs, just like in golf; “ one mulligan for each 9!”

The Masters cards are winning favor with everyone. It’s particularly nice because you have to make every shot count!

nomojo65 said:

Ok… this is one of those cards that starts out really good, you feel confident you think to yourself this could be a 195 or better.
Then… it starts to fade away “way away”
Now I shoot bottom up, right to left, next row left to right so you can see what I’m thinking!View attachment 564483

Click to expand...

I hear ya Joe.

I had a card earlier this week that definitely would have made the leaderboard, but the wind changed near the end of the card.

I tried to adjust on the fly and shot a few 8s on that row.

The maddening thing is the wind shifted back and I finished the last row with 4 Xs…

… if I had just sat there and waited a few minutes for the wind to get friendly again.

Patience is a big factor in shooting high scores. Very underrated aspect of good shooters IMHO. I need to work on mine.

-Ed

EPG said:

I hear ya Joe.

I had a card earlier this week that definitely would have made the leaderboard, but the wind changed near the end of the card.

I tried to adjust on the fly and shot a few 8s on that row.

The maddening thing is the wind shifted back and I finished the last row with 4 Xs…

… if I had just sat there and waited a few minutes for the wind to get friendly again.

Patience is a big factor in shooting high scores. Very underrated aspect of good shooters IMHO. I need to work on mine.

-Ed

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Ok….trying to learn patience

After several years, I FINALLY figured out to WAIT WAIT WAIT…….until the wind either calms down or it changes to a very favorable wind call.

I have this mentality to shoot at least 5-8 cards to get the maximum value of my 2.5 hour range session. The truth is if I wait, I normally can get a lower wind speed.

Lots of learning in this challenge.

Went to the range today..Hardly ever go on a Sunday.

I brought the FX Royale 400 .22 caliber shooting JSB 20.83g lights. Wind was 2-5 mph, with lots of tail winds. Not too much cross wind and some head winds at times.

Shot (4) 30Y Masters Cards: I numbered them and shot them in sequential order.

199-15X (** scoring rules decision needed**)

195-13X
193-7X
192-8X

I need some help here on a ‘scoring rules’ decision on the 199-15X ‘potential leaderboard submission.’

I shoot right to left starting at bottom row beginning with 10B. My very first cold shot was intended to be a sighter. It landed high and clipped the outer most ring. I adjusted my elevation and shot 2nd sighter which hit the sighter ring.

Next, I proceeded to shoot the card with first bull ( 10B ) and hit an ‘X.’ This was marked 3rd shot and I proceeded to shoot the remaining 19 bulls. This was my best 30Y Masters with the Royale to date.

I reread Tom Carlson’s scoring rules in his 1st post just to see if there was anything written about an accidental sighter hitting a bull or ring. Nothing mentioned.

However, this is an informal semi competitive target challenge and I am in a gray area. I would like the score and card to count, but I will abide by Ed’s or a consensus decision.

To be clear, in formal Competition 100Y Benchrest or N50 Competition Benchrest as an example only, there are scoring penalties for accidentally shooting a bull that already has a hole in it. This was not the case here and this is essentialy ‘honor system’ scoring. I did not knowingly intend to shoot two shots in bull # 10.

My first shot was aimed at bottom right sighter, and it landed high. So again, I would like a decision. I respect the decision either way.

@tommyb You are too hard on yourself. Your 199 15X definitely counts! I'm sure that Ed and the others will agree....And that's some great shooting.
I finally had some less than 95 degree time before dark. Unfortunately the temp dropped because a storm was threatening so the wind picked up a bit. And I shot 4 cards quicker than I wanted...and that's all the excuses I have ;-). Tried 4 different pellets, the JSB 16.2 and the JSB 13.4 RD were the best. The standard 13.4's had some crazy flyers, didn't even score that card...First cards for the .177 Black Wolf! Plenty of room for improvement, but promising.

tommyb said:

Went to the range today..Hardly ever go on a Sunday.

I brought the FX Royale 400 .22 caliber shooting JSB 20.83g lights. Wind was 2-5 mph, with lots of tail winds. Not too much cross wind and some head winds at times.

Shot (4) 30Y Masters Cards: I numbered them and shot them in sequential order.

199-15X (** scoring rules decision needed**)

195-13X
193-7X
192-8X

I need some help here on a ‘scoring rules’ decision on the 199-15X ‘potential leaderboard submission.’

I shoot right to left starting at bottom row beginning with 10B. My very first cold shot was intended to be a sighter. It landed high and clipped the outer most ring. I adjusted my elevation and shot 2nd sighter which hit the sighter ring.

Next, I proceeded to shoot the card with first bull ( 10B ) and hit an ‘X.’ This was marked 3rd shot and I proceeded to shoot the remaining 19 bulls. This was my best 30Y Masters with the Royale to date.

I reread Tom Carlson’s scoring rules in his 1st post just to see if there was anything written about an accidental sighter hitting a bull or ring. Nothing mentioned.

However, this is an informal semi competitive target challenge and I am in a gray area. I would like the score and card to count, but I will abide by Ed’s or a consensus decision.

To be clear, in formal Competition 100Y Benchrest or N50 Competition Benchrest as an example only, there are scoring penalties for accidentally shooting a bull that already has a hole in it. This was not the case here and this is essentialy ‘honor system’ scoring. I did not knowingly intend to shoot two shots in bull # 10.

My first shot was aimed at bottom right sighter, and it landed high. So again, I would like a decision. I respect the decision either way.

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Hi Tommy,

It is the honor system. Because the shot in question was taken BEFORE you started shooting the card, I’m in favor of scoring this card as a 199.

If the sighter that landed in the scoring area happened AFTER you had shot targets that counted for score, then that would be a different circumstance.

Unless we have other shooters who oppose, I’m in favor of letting your 199 stand as scored .

-Ed

RCope said:

@tommyb You are too hard on yourself. Your 199 15X definitely counts! I'm sure that Ed and the others will agree....And that's some great shooting.
I finally had some less than 95 degree time before dark. Unfortunately the temp dropped because a storm was threatening so the wind picked up a bit. And I shot 4 cards quicker than I wanted...and that's all the excuses I have ;-). Tried 4 different pellets, the JSB 16.2 and the JSB 13.4 RD were the best. The standard 13.4's had some crazy flyers, didn't even score that card...First cards for the .177 Black Wolf! Plenty of room for improvement, but promising.
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Hi Rick,

Your 195 with the .177 16g “Beasts” is one of the top scores we’ve seen with that pellet! Not many rifles shoot that pellet really well.

TommyB had a RAW tuned for that 16.2g pellet and it didn’t do so well - he had his RAW retuned for 13.4g and it’s been a laser.

If you are going to shoot the 13.4g, try shooting them in the 800-820fps range. Above 830fps, the 13.4g seem to destabilize and throw fliers.

holy.. those are some tiny bullseyes. this will be interesting.

RCope said:

@tommyb You are too hard on yourself. Your 199 15X definitely counts! I'm sure that Ed and the others will agree....And that's some great shooting.
I finally had some less than 95 degree time before dark. Unfortunately the temp dropped because a storm was threatening so the wind picked up a bit. And I shot 4 cards quicker than I wanted...and that's all the excuses I have ;-). Tried 4 different pellets, the JSB 16.2 and the JSB 13.4 RD were the best. The standard 13.4's had some crazy flyers, didn't even score that card...First cards for the .177 Black Wolf! Plenty of room for improvement, but promising.
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Rick, thanks.

I had the RW Safari .22 HP. Does the Black wolf use the Programmer or Heliboard for tuning velocities? I haven’t even looked at the specs and features.

If so, I would imagine it would really do well at 810-820 FPS range with 13.4g as Ed suggests.

Edit: just checked and saw that it is a mechanical gun with a 20 set power wheel. So, you can get the 13.4g down to 810-820 range easily I suppose. Try the FX 13.4g trash cans.

daddypaddy said:

holy.. those are some tiny bullseyes. this will be interesting.

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Daddy

You need to try this, you’ll get hooked quickly. We need some new shooters.

Tip: get some 80 or 110lb cardstock from Amazon for your printer. The thickness makes nice holes for your future 190- 200 scores!

EPG said:

Hi Tommy,

It is the honor system. Because the shot in question was taken BEFORE you started shooting the card, I’m in favor of scoring this card as a 199.

If the sighter that landed in the scoring area happened AFTER you had shot targets that counted for score, then that would be a different circumstance.

Unless we have other shooters who oppose, I’m in favor of letting your 199 stand as scored .

-Ed

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Lesson learned here too for me.

When we are switching rifles and calibers frequently, it’s easy to forget if you were using a 30 or 40Y precise zero on a particular rifle. I normally zero for the distance I intend to shoot, and jumped the gun here.

It takes seconds to shoot a couple ‘cardboard sighters’ and take one more on the challenge card.

tommyb said:

Edit: just checked and saw that it is a mechanical gun with a 20 set power wheel. So, you can get the 13.4g down to 810-820 range easily I suppose. Try the FX 13.4g trash cans.

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You would think with all that adjustment it would be easy. But this rifle has more power than necessary, even with the lightest spring. I had to degas the rifle and adjust the reg to 85 just to get the velocities less than 1000 with standard (13.4ish) pellets. So right now it's on "minimum" and the fps is greater than the ideal range for that pellet. The 16.2's seem to work well. Ed suggested I get a port restrictor in another thread. I may have to look into that. I'll probably adjust the reg even lower and see if the lighter pellets are more accurate, I did test the 13.4 trash cans but at 881 fps I got some crazy flyers...On the plus side I get at least a million shots on one fill ;-)

RCope said:

You would think with all that adjustment it would be easy. But this rifle has more power than necessary, even with the lightest spring. I had to degas the rifle and adjust the reg to 85 just to get the velocities less than 1000 with standard (13.4ish) pellets. So right now it's on "minimum" and the fps is greater than the ideal range for that pellet. The 16.2's seem to work well. Ed suggested I get a port restrictor in another thread. I may have to look into that. I'll probably adjust the reg even lower and see if the lighter pellets are more accurate, I did test the 13.4 trash cans but at 881 fps I got some crazy flyers...On the plus side I get at least a million shots on one fill ;-)

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Wow - you would think with 20 power levels (on a .177 high end rifle) that Daystate would have one power level that would fit one of the best shooting pellets at 13.4g at around 800-820 FPS. This seems like a design engineering miss to me, in that they know many .177 rifles use the 10.3 and 13.4g to shoot competitively. I hate that you have to mess with the reg or look at a port restrictor to achieve a very popular velocity.

In any case, the Black Wolf looks to be superb and it will be interesting to follow your pursuits testing pellets. That 195 was a great card!

tommyb said:

Wow - you would think with 20 power levels (on a .177 high end rifle) that Daystate would have one power level that would fit one of the best shooting pellets at 13.4g at around 800-820 FPS. This seems like a design engineering miss to me, in that they know many .177 rifles use the 10.3 and 13.4g to shoot competitively. I hate that you have to mess with the reg or look at a port restrictor to achieve a very popular velocity.

In any case, the Black Wolf looks to be superb and it will be interesting to follow your pursuits testing pellets. That 195 was a great card!

Click to expand...

My thoughts, exactly!