12+ FPE Airgun?

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pewpewfever

pewpewfever

Member
Dec 28, 2018
182
6
TX, United States
It’s tough for me to get a fill right now for my pcp rifles. Lately I’ve mostly been enjoying my red rider and co2 guns in my backyard that shoot dust devil BBs. I don’t want to litter my yard with lead for the sake of my pets, so the dust devils are it. No pellets.

I have some field targets I would like to use, but these 1 fpe guns can’t trigger them. They need 12-20 fpe. Is there an option that would suit? Maybe a pumper? It would have to be able to shoot hunter grain pellets to get up to 12 fpe, I think. Hopefully, I can collect the pellets.
 
Make yourself a rubber mulch or Duct seal pellet trap that would take care of that part of your problem. A decent springer rifle will shoot at the power you require. There are no single stroke pneumatic guns that will shoot 12fpe but I expect the Benjamin 397 pumper will probly exceed that at ten pumps.
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You know I think there’s a springer class for field target. I had forgotten. I’ll check that subforum.
 
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Single stroke guns are usually considered to be the low power & low fps guns used for pure target shooting at 10m. Technically, a break barrel or under/side-lever spring gun is a "single stroke" but including them with guns like the Avanti 753/853/953 and the various BB shooters just muddies the waters. You're right that a gun shooting even lead pellets at less than 550 fps is not a good choice for a resetting target. The idea of a trap is fine for lead pellets, but only when you shoot into the trap. Shooting FT style isn't compatible with mulch or duct seal traps. 

What you want seems to require a combination of: a spring gun shooting 10 fpe or more depending on the distance to the FT target; a pellet trap set behind each FT target to catch pellets that miss the plate completely; and some kind of sheet or tray beneath each target that will catch all (or the majority) of the pellets that hit the FT target and bounce off as deformed or flattened splatters. I mean, if eliminating lead exposure is a high priority in a FT situation you'll have to go to extra (extreme?) measures.
 
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I'd suggest a 177 Nova Freedom and make darn sure you have it oiled as per manufacturers recommendation. I like mine so much which I had neglected to oil that the pump failed so I just bought another one toto swap uppers and will tinker with the broken one later. Half inch groups at 50 yards. 2 selectable power levels high and low 12fpe and 20fpe give or take and hammer spring adjustable as well. Extremely easy to pump to 2900psi shoot a string of 10 them pump it again. No need to go past 2800-2900psi if you want it consistent and you can shoot it as if it's a regulated gun shoot couple then pump couple. Just keep her oiled! Good Luck. Yo!
 
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I haven’t been able to find lead free .177 pellets in more than about 7 or 8 grains. At that weight, I’d need 1000+ FPS to rise above 12 fpe.
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Well, 8gr at 825fps gets you there.

Otherwise that’s a fair point about pellet weight vs energy, but at the same time how do you propose getting a BB up to 12fpe?

Also, are you sure you even need 12fpe? Most of the garden variety knockdown targets I've used will trip at well under that level. For example, I've used a Gamo squirrel target down to 6fpe at 30 yards and it will trip. Granted, 30 yards isn't max field target distances but that was out the window as soon as BB's were brought into the discussion.
 
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I have two thoughts on this. First I went out back and shot 20 pellets@20yds at the Crosman "shoot to reset" squirrel with my 7 FPE springer . Every shot worked well and it had a nice solid lockup on reset. Depending on your targets, 7 FPE should work on similar size Crosman, Gamo and AV targets.

My other thought is that my choice in an "alloy only" gun would always be a .22 shooting GTO 11.7 gr pellets and that comes from shooting for 2 years at an "alloy only" indoor range. For me, the .177 alloy pellets never seem to group as well as the .22 alloys, except at low power. The GTO's in .22 seem to group like a match grade premium pellet and not a lead substitute. I have used those in both springers and PCP's from 12 FPE to 38 FPE and they always work. They can be really loud out of a full powered PCP though.
 
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With a little tuning of a Field Target - Target, you can get it to drop every time with a 6fpe gun. I glued a penny under the tab of the face plate that sits against the floor of the target to set back the kill zone paddle a tad. That's one way....

C'mon man, use your imagination to capture the lead instead of using "dust devils", that's ridiculous????!!!!! 
 
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With a little research, I think the TX200 springer is what I’m looking for. It seems to be the top model for springer category FT, and it can be a backup FT rifle for me when my Thomas is in the shop or if I bring a friend to a FT match.


Rifles like the Nova Freedom are always tempting. Owning a Thomas and a separate hand pump, I can see the appeal of a built in hand pump. But I know myself. I wouldn’t maintain it properly.
 
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Well I believe field targets need to withstand up to 20fpe since some classes can shot up to that energy level but at say 55 yrds a 12ft lb gun can loose something like 60-70% of its pellet energy therefore it needs to trip at a low energy level if the target is properly struck but not trip if any other part of the target is struck.

I asked tom gaylord once about it and if I recall he said something like a properly calibrated target needs to trip at like 3-4fpe.

You can also use alloy pellets instead of lead if that is a real concern, Predator GTO's are quite accurate same for H&N Baracuda Greens. Recently I have been using GTO's and Baracudas to strike a 4-n-1 bell target out to 55yrds and that makes a satisfying ping sound when properly struck. Currently using GTO's in my hw50 and Baracudas in my hw98 and I am surprised at their accuracy at that yardage.




 
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Are you interested in .177 or .22? Its way easier to get higher fpe with lead free pellets in .22.

My stock HW97kt is plenty powerful enough to take squirrels out to at least 50m with leadfree pellets.

for lead free, I prefer Predator GTOs. They're more expensive; however, for hunting and pesting its all I use. I don't want to eat lead and I've bitten into a pellet more than once.
 
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The nature of field target pretty much necessitates .177 for two key reasons. One is that the KZ is unforgiving...if you clip the opening with the pellet, the portion that makes it through is likely to have insufficient energy to trip the mechanism. A larger diameter pellet is more likely to clip the opening on the mere basis of its size. The second reason is the restricted power levels (12fpe or 20fpe) place a practical limit on velocity which means a loopier trajectory for .22 and therefore a greater chance a slight ranging error will result in a miss. Using a lightweight .22 pellet to circumvent it would be counterproductive because its BC would suffer.
 
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The nature of field target pretty much necessitates .177 for two key reasons. One is that the KZ is unforgiving...if you clip the opening with the pellet, the portion that makes it through is likely to have insufficient energy to trip the mechanism. A larger diameter pellet is more likely to clip the opening on the mere basis of its size. The second reason is the restricted power levels (12fpe or 20fpe) place a practical limit on velocity which means a loopier trajectory for .22 and therefore a greater chance a slight ranging error will result in a miss. Using a lightweight .22 pellet to circumvent it would be counterproductive because its BC would suffer.
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Thanks for explaining that.
 
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