In October I received a new .22 Impact Mk11. Since then I've been working (when the weather allows) testing slugs for long range accuracy. I decided to go with the Griffin 24g 0.218" dish based slugs shooting at 935fps.
Wednesday night I replaced the SWFA 3-15x scope with an Athlon Midas TAC 4-16x scope and switched to a knock-off of the Aero Precision lite scope mount. It was snowing yesterday when I got off work so I set my bench up in the garage, zero'd the Impact for 40 yards, set the zero stop, put on some tape around the elevation knob and range tested/marked the dial for 10 yard increments up to 90 yards using a work light to illuminate the targets.
Last night a buddy that owns a nearby cattle ranch invited me to pigeon hunt today so I took the Impact, bipod, range finder, cold weather gear to work. He got held up but said I could go out by myself if I wanted. By the time I got there it was about 4:00 and daylight was fading fast. I pulled up in the car and ranged an invasive Eurasian collard dove at 55 yards. I dialed the elevation and WHOP, down it went. Not even a quiver.
I then pulled up to the stock yards and saw a cluster of starlings perched in a dead locust tree at 68 yards. I dialed and ditto, WHOP, down it went. I drove around in the muck for a while and notice a flock of those doves in a bare tree at 90 yards. This made me a little nervous because I'd range tested in snowing, near dark conditions the night before. I dialed the distance, rested on a pile of hay bales (which were VERY solid) and WHOP, down it went. Not a twitch. I thought they all flew away but no, there was one left. WHOP, down it went, same thing. All super solid hits.
I drove around a bit more and spotted another dove on the powerlines across the road at 62 yards. Hay bales again for a rest (and concealment). WHOP. I then drove across the road to where the birds are usually active in the day and walked around the mucky corrals for a while as the daylight faded. No birds so I got back in the car and drove down the road until I spotted another dove on a powerline over a field. 68 yards. WHOP!
It really is amazing the performance difference between pellets and slugs. 6 shots, 6 solid kills. I know these ranges weren't extreme but the slugs make shooting feel more like a powder burner rifle.
Here's my Impact with the Athlon scope.
![jWmS6aI.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/jWmS6aI.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/jWmS6aI.jpg)
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Here's the reticle, a pretty good one in my opinion. I plan to dial elevation when possible but use holdovers if a shot has to be taken very quickly.
![9L6TSpF.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/9L6TSpF.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/9L6TSpF.jpg)
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Wednesday night I replaced the SWFA 3-15x scope with an Athlon Midas TAC 4-16x scope and switched to a knock-off of the Aero Precision lite scope mount. It was snowing yesterday when I got off work so I set my bench up in the garage, zero'd the Impact for 40 yards, set the zero stop, put on some tape around the elevation knob and range tested/marked the dial for 10 yard increments up to 90 yards using a work light to illuminate the targets.
Last night a buddy that owns a nearby cattle ranch invited me to pigeon hunt today so I took the Impact, bipod, range finder, cold weather gear to work. He got held up but said I could go out by myself if I wanted. By the time I got there it was about 4:00 and daylight was fading fast. I pulled up in the car and ranged an invasive Eurasian collard dove at 55 yards. I dialed the elevation and WHOP, down it went. Not even a quiver.
I then pulled up to the stock yards and saw a cluster of starlings perched in a dead locust tree at 68 yards. I dialed and ditto, WHOP, down it went. I drove around in the muck for a while and notice a flock of those doves in a bare tree at 90 yards. This made me a little nervous because I'd range tested in snowing, near dark conditions the night before. I dialed the distance, rested on a pile of hay bales (which were VERY solid) and WHOP, down it went. Not a twitch. I thought they all flew away but no, there was one left. WHOP, down it went, same thing. All super solid hits.
I drove around a bit more and spotted another dove on the powerlines across the road at 62 yards. Hay bales again for a rest (and concealment). WHOP. I then drove across the road to where the birds are usually active in the day and walked around the mucky corrals for a while as the daylight faded. No birds so I got back in the car and drove down the road until I spotted another dove on a powerline over a field. 68 yards. WHOP!
It really is amazing the performance difference between pellets and slugs. 6 shots, 6 solid kills. I know these ranges weren't extreme but the slugs make shooting feel more like a powder burner rifle.
Here's my Impact with the Athlon scope.
Here's the reticle, a pretty good one in my opinion. I plan to dial elevation when possible but use holdovers if a shot has to be taken very quickly.
