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Iowa Airgunner

Iowa Airgunner

Member
Jul 8, 2024
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Iowa City, Iowa, United States
This is a separate thread from the original Field target is an arms race thread.
I did not want to jack that thread.

This is a test of four rifles of different price points. They are all completely different in the way they shoot. But all have the same job.

I have been shooting field target for a long time and have been in a national competition. Three of these guns have been used in competition. All have done very well.

The price of the guns and scope range from 250, 500, 1000, 2000.

All of these guns are modified and tuned specifically for field target competition.
  1. Gun one is a Browning Leverage with a 4-12 UTG scope. It is tuned by the spring and trigger work. It shoots 8.4 @850 fps
  2. Gun two is a Diana 48 tuned to 18 ft lb with a 6-16 UTG scope shooting 8.4 @ 900 fps
  3. Gun three is a TX200mk III with a 5.5-25 scope shooting 8.4 @ 800 fps . This is a 12 ft lb gun
  4. Gun four is an HFT-500 that is highly modified by a professional and shot in competition by a professional. It is temporarily fitted with a 10-40x56 scope and is shooting 10.3 @850 FPS

For this test I am going to shoot all the guns with the scope set to 16 x

I’m going to be shooting from a bench at a 5.5x5.5 target card with a 3/8 circle in the center of the card. I will be shooting ten shot groups using the center ring as an aim point.

All the testing cannot be done at one time. Tonight I will shoot the 15 yards test . Then the longer range test when I get to the range over the weekend.

The first test is from a bench mostly indoors.
10 yards inside my shop and 5 yards outside.

I will shoot three cards with each gun. And select the best one. They all have such completely different triggers and require specific shooting requirements. But I know these guns. I’ll do my best.

The next test will be at 25 yards. And then 55 yards . I can say all are capable of hitting a 1 inch spinner at 55 yards so it should be fun to see the group size. The HFT can easily hit a 6mm rod at that distance.

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Ok, here is some info I did last night shooting a lower end gun and a high end gun (which may be for sale).
First gun is a Marauder with a LW barrel and a Hawke Sidewinder SFP Scope. Retail is about $1300 combined.
Second gun is a Daystate RedWolf and a Hawke Sidewinder scope. Retail is about $3700.

Here is the main target sheet. Shot at 50yds since thats what is available to me from a bench. Had some times of very light wind. Some groups I waited while others I didn't.
The marauder is on the lower portion and the RW on the upper portions.
The best groups from the Marauder were Benjamin 10.5gr on a cleaned barrel and measured about 3/4". The RW was also the Benjis and JSB 13RD at 3/4" with JSB 10,3gr about the same. Seems to be about the best I can do with these guns. I have others that are more accurate at times. Surprisingly the cheapest pellets hung closely behind being the Crosman Premiers 10.5gr in the RW and the Marauder. The best group of the session was a 12fpe RW group with QYS at .16" at 50yds. Guess the RW only likes lower power! Now if I can just figure out how to get it to shoot like that on higher power id be happy.
Marauder Benjis (870fps) - .73"
RW Benjis (890fps) - .6" Dirty Barrel and 925fps .46" Clean Barrel - liked pushing them faster but still feel its not tight enough.
RW Crosman Premiers (890ish fps) - .61"
RW 13gr RD (815fps) - .65"
RW 8gr QYS 810fps - .16"

I may test indoors next and can do 55yds for only the RW. For the money, I am NOT happy with this gun. Maybe my expectations are too high?



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Iowa Airgunner said:
This is a separate thread from the original Field target is an arms race thread.
I did not want to jack that thread.

This is a test of four rifles of different price points. They are all completely different in the way they shoot. But all have the same job.

I have been shooting field target for a long time and have been in a national competition. Three of these guns have been used in competition. All have done very well.

The price of the guns and scope range from 250, 500, 1000, 2000.

All of these guns are modified and tuned specifically for field target competition.
  1. Gun one is a Browning Leverage with a 4-12 UTG scope. It is tuned by the spring and trigger work. It shoots 8.4 @850 fps
  2. Gun two is a Diana 48 tuned to 18 ft lb with a 6-16 UTG scope shooting 8.4 @ 900 fps
  3. Gun three is a TX200mk III with a 5.5-25 scope shooting 8.4 @ 800 fps . This is a 12 ft lb gun
  4. Gun four is an HFT-500 that is highly modified by a professional and shot in competition by a professional. It is temporarily fitted with a 10-40x56 scope and is shooting 10.3 @850 FPS

For this test I am going to shoot all the guns with the scope set to 16 x

I’m going to be shooting from a bench at a 5.5x5.5 target card with a 3/8 circle in the center of the card. I will be shooting ten shot groups using the center ring as an aim point.

All the testing cannot be done at one time. Tonight I will shoot the 15 yards test . Then the longer range test when I get to the range over the weekend.

The first test is from a bench mostly indoors.
10 yards inside my shop and 5 yards outside.

I will shoot three cards with each gun. And select the best one. They all have such completely different triggers and require specific shooting requirements. But I know these guns. I’ll do my best.

The next test will be at 25 yards. And then 55 yards . I can say all are capable of hitting a 1 inch spinner at 55 yards so it should be fun to see the group size. The HFT can easily hit a 6mm rod at that distance.

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@Iowa Airgunner For this particular test we only need "one" card shot at 55 yards with "each" gun.
This test is about how well the various guns we use will group at our maximum field target range.
Many many guns will do okay out to 30 yards. Of course if your just shooting for your own info that is cool too. But it will be easier to wade through and collate data from a single card/target at one distance rather than multiple.
 
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I'll help out using my Air Arms TX200. Average cost is $850. I spent $650 at an auction and have a custom stock I'm working on for it. The scope is a Sightron S8, which retails for $2899 when I received it, but is now $3229.99. It doesn't need that much scope but it works very well.

Moving on, I'm sighting it in after work for new clicks. I'm shooting off the knee and will take ten shot groups at 10yds, 30yds and 55yds.
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Bramezy said:
Ok, here is some info I did last night shooting a lower end gun and a high end gun (which may be for sale).
First gun is a Marauder with a LW barrel and a Hawke Sidewinder SFP Scope. Retail is about $1300 combined.
Second gun is a Daystate RedWolf and a Hawke Sidewinder scope. Retail is about $3700.

Here is the main target sheet. Shot at 50yds since thats what is available to me from a bench. Had some times of very light wind. Some groups I waited while others I didn't.
The marauder is on the lower portion and the RW on the upper portions.
The best groups from the Marauder were Benjamin 10.5gr on a cleaned barrel and measured about 3/4". The RW was also the Benjis and JSB 13RD at 3/4" with JSB 10,3gr about the same. Seems to be about the best I can do with these guns. I have others that are more accurate at times. Surprisingly the cheapest pellets hung closely behind being the Crosman Premiers 10.5gr in the RW and the Marauder. The best group of the session was a 12fpe RW group with QYS at .16" at 50yds. Guess the RW only likes lower power! Now if I can just figure out how to get it to shoot like that on higher power id be happy.
Marauder Benjis (870fps) - .73"
RW Benjis (890fps) - .6" Dirty Barrel and 925fps .46" Clean Barrel - liked pushing them faster but still feel its not tight enough.
RW Crosman Premiers (890ish fps) - .61"
RW 13gr RD (815fps) - .65"
RW 8gr QYS 810fps - .16"

I may test indoors next and can do 55yds for only the RW. For the money, I am NOT happy with this gun. Maybe my expectations are too high?



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Perfect.... it was super helpful the way you listed the essential info up front at the top as i'm terrible at wading through targets.
 
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cavedweller said:
@Iowa Airgunner For this particular test we only need "one" card shot at 55 yards with "each" gun.
This test is about how well the various guns we use will group at our maximum field target range.
Many many guns will do okay out to 30 yards. Of course if your just shooting for your own info that is cool too. But it will be easier to wade through and collate data from a single card/target at one distance rather than multiple.
Click to expand...
I understand that. The problem is the cheapest gun has a LOOONG single stage trigger and it is a springer . The HFT has an 8oz trigger and zero recoil. I have difficulty going from one gun to the next. I ll only show the last card or the best card from each gun.
 
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cavedweller said:
this temp shift affects ranging not POI
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Available light has a greater effect on ranging than temp shift. Temp shift is there too, but more likely to move your poi as it's affecting the internal metals bits more than the lenses. At 16x you shouldn't see the same same amount of shift than at 50x. I've been using a sightron S8 and have noticed that temp has less influence than available light versus the S3. I am using it at 35x, and it's a chonker of a scope, which likely helps mitigate temp shift issues.

Also, why would you leave your gun in direct sunlight Dan? Don't you cover it with a towel/reflective wrap or keep it in a gun bag? I do everything I can to keep my rig at ambient temperature. This means using a thick bag and covering it with an umbrella if there is no shade available.
 
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humbled.ag said:
Available light has a greater effect on ranging than temp shift. Temp shift is there too, but more likely to move your poi as it's affecting the internal metals bits more than the lenses. At 16x you shouldn't see the same same amount of shift than at 50x. I've been using a sightron S8 and have noticed that temp has less influence than available light versus the S3. I am using it at 35x, and it's a chonker of a scope, which likely helps mitigate temp shift issues.

Also, why would you leave your gun in direct sunlight Dan? Don't you cover it with a towel/reflective wrap or keep it in a gun bag? I do everything I can to keep my rig at ambient temperature. This means using a thick bag and covering it with an umbrella if there is no shade available.
Click to expand...
the only reason someone would let their scope bake in the direct sunlight is because they don't understand temp shift.
 
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Iowa Airgunner said:
I mark my parallax wheel with numbers. And I use a silver sharpie to pinpoint the distance. I plan to shoot deep into winter. We get -10 . I’m gonna use a gold sharpie at below 32 deg and silver sharpie up to 100 deg.
I have a thermometer on my shooting tote.
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At Mass Rifle FT we shoot year round. Three is good attendendan ce for a winter shoot. Sometimes it five or six. Temps in the single digits aren't uncommon for three of those matches. It sucks. It's also fun as hell trying to figure out what not only your scope, but your rig is doing.

Our last winter match of the season there was a foot of snow on the ground. I was running lines and stomping down shooters boxes with my snow shoes.
Temps started around 8f at sight in. The thermostat slowly rose to 29 by the end of the match.
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The last picture is a pellet frozen to my bum bag. Fun stuff.
 
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Ok this was just a first test . Four guns at 20 yards indoors/ outdoors no wind.
Problem is it is very humid. I was dripping with sweat by the time I was done. And shooting from a roll cart . The Diana was not stable so I will shoot the whole thing over on Saturday or Sunday. Depends on the weather.

But I predict this will be the end result also.
20 yards. 2000 dollars is just over 1/4 inch tight group.
For 1000 dollars it’s a 1/2 inch group. I was sweating and the rifle bounced causing the flyer.
The 500 and 200 guns are about the same. Most are under an inch . Aside from the flyers. They will do better at the range with the proper bench.

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Airgunoregon said:
Are you comparing Piston guns against PCPs?
If so, how should that be computed in the data of accuracy and competitiveness?
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I think cavedweller proposed categories for PCP and springer and then further into sub12 and up to 20.

Iowa Airgunner said:
.

But I predict this will be the end result also.
20 yards. 2000 dollars is just over 1/4 inch tight group.
For 1000 dollars it’s a 1/2 inch group. I was sweating and the rifle bounced causing the flyer.
The 500 and 200 guns are about the same. Most are under an inch . Aside from the flyers. They will do better at the range with the proper bench.
Click to expand...
Can't wait to see how it all goes out. The .3 at 20 should be .75 at 50, which is similar to bramezy's marauder that's half the cost of the hft500.
 
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Airgunoregon said:
Are you comparing Piston guns against PCPs?
If so, how should that be computed in the data of accuracy and competitiveness?
Click to expand...
I’m actually campaigning three springers to each other and a PCP to see how it does.. Obviously the PCP will do better. But when I shoot a 250 dollar PCP it is going to be fun.
 
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