Other Gentle Shot Cycle

[cavedweller]

Having owned darn near every brand and price point of airguns available.... i find the most enjoyable thing about a really fine airgun, is a gentle shot cycle.
to me this means
smooth loading - easy access to the loading port
easy seating - getting the pellet into the breech the same depth every time
smooth cocking - for the bolt and hammer spring - or activation of the electronic firing system
predictable trigger release
minimal report (at my ear) from the action
minimal report (in immediate area) from the muzzle end
and lastly - no jolts or minimal muzzle flip

To date, no Airgun has beaten a properly tuned Redwolf. The gentle shot cycle of a Redwolf is my standard of excellence.

How about you? What airgun have you shot that has a truly gently shot cycle?

 

[zx10wall]

Great points!

 

[nervoustrig]

Agreed, there is something very enjoyable shooting an easy-to-cock rifle with a sedate shot cycle. One of my favorites is a very modest QB78 bottle conversion with a PEEK poppet and super light MDS nylon hammer. In .22 cal shooting 18.1gr at 30fpe, it’s similarly quiet and recoilless as my detuned 6fpe CO2 plinking rifle.

 

[Kgphotos]

For me a Walther LG400 fits that description. Every aspect of that rifle is just so “smooth”. She is only putting out about 6 fpe but that is enough for some fun ten meter target work or you can slap on a scope and quietly knock down little silhouettes out to 45 plus yards. She just sips the air and it feels like I never have to re-fill that tank.
Kenny

 

[Ranchibi]

My RAW and my Taipan are like that to me as I never lose sight of POI but I am sure not as smooth as your Redwolf with it's electronic trigger and valve!

 

[Arzrover]

The Red Wolf is pretty difficult to beat and my personal favorite out of a pretty huge inventory over the years. The Veteran definitely deserves honorable mention in the 30 ft lb and under class and @Franklink's USFT is likely right there as well. My USFT is quite a bit more violent than his at the same power.
One that very few will ever experience is the Sharp Target and it's predecessors. Has a very light LET-OFF style of valve and has zero vibration with very little pulse when fired. It's a lot of work to get real power though. Three pumps is easy enough and 6ish ft lb so 10 meter shooting isn't bad at all.
Bob

 

[6gun]

They didn't come that way, it took work and tuning, sometimes custom parts. My impact is very relaxed because of a heavy hammer and very low spring tension and intertial changes on minimum settings (still 50 fpe). A little benjamin disco in 177 I've been tuning on is pretty relaxed too. Probably the lightest of my 45 trigger collection(mrod with the lightest springs. Maybe 1 ounce) , so quiet you only hear the poppet valve thru the gun body and no hammer bounce.

Hammer/valve relation sequence and intertial changes and valve timing are hangups for me which equal low noise. I have a lathe and mill too which makes it worse for tuning hammer weights in grain incriments. I'd be lying if I didn't say it takes dozens of hours to work these out the way I want.

 

[Franklink]

For me, the same three that @Arzrover mentioned are tops for shot cycle.
Red Wolf, Veteran, USFT.

A subdued shot cycle makes the whole shooting experience more enjoyable. For me it starts with smooth and minimal-effort while cocking, and a light crisp trigger, but all that culminates in what happens when the trigger breaks. When the gun is just dead, ie no herky jerky, bucking around crap, and when the cross hairs just stay right where they were before it broke.....and I also abhor hearing crap rattling and bouncing around in the hammer and/or hammer/spring area. So, yep Red Wolf, Veteran, and USFT set a high bar.

 

[Cam Armstrong]

Agree. The whole shooting experience with a redwolf is very smooth. It takes very little effort to operate one.

 

[Vana2]

The most gentle shot cycle? You'd be talking about my 10 meter airguns.

One of my favorite things is to have one of my powder burner friends shoot my FWB 603, - the look of disbelief is priceless - that SSP is absolutely dead calm to fire.

 

[Hobbyman2007]

My vote might surprise some the. It might not. HW100 in .177 at 15 fpe. Set reg at 90 bar. I’ve got a fine collection and the trigger and let off on this one is very very good. Even the loading of the pellet is noiseless, the cock on closing and a shortened hammer striker is more than likely the reason .

 

[greg1978]

Ah, I do miss my HW100 for that reason. If it had only been in 22 I'd still have it. Although my DW is going to be very hard to beat.

 

[Trucker3573]

I think many things can contribute. Power is a good example. Of course a low power gun is going to be easier to shoot consistently. However when you get to equal power levels some guns do seem just easier to shoot consistently. I don’t really know why. That aspect may not even be true for everyone. Someone else might find a different gun easier to shoot. My example would be my wildcat BT and delta wolf in 30 cal set to same power level 80 ft/lbs or so. The DW will shoot moa at 50, entirely capable but I find I must do my part diligently. The FX just seems more forgiving. I pull fewer shots with the FX than I do with the daystate. No idea why? The FX fits me better . I kind of have a crazy theory that doesn’t make sense but I also swear wind effects pellets out of the daystate barrels more. I know . Just what it seems to me.

 

[mubhaur]

I think many things can contribute. Power is a good example. Of course a low power gun is going to be easier to shoot consistently. However when you get to equal power levels some guns do seem just easier to shoot consistently. I don’t really know why. That aspect may not even be true for everyone. Someone else might find a different gun easier to shoot. My example would be my wildcat BT and delta wolf in 30 cal set to same power level 80 ft/lbs or so. The DW will shoot moa at 50, entirely capable but I find I must do my part diligently. The FX just seems more forgiving. I pull fewer shots with the FX than I do with the daystate. No idea why? The FX fits me better . I kind of have a crazy theory that doesn’t make sense but I also swear wind effects pellets out of the daystate barrels more. I know . Just what it seems to me.

It may be due to barrel internal profile

 

[Motorhead]

My very custom .20 cal RAW TM-1000 .... is dead solid with no vibration upon firing, sublime trigger, low noise too being O'so accurate.
While the electronic guns are snappier to a small degree, a mechanical trigger such as the RAW utilizes simply can't be bested by a micro switch feel and slight sponginess.

 

[L.Leon]

Gentle shot cycle… After reading the post by @cavedweller I decided to pull my Atomic XR out of the safe and have a shooting session after work. She simply is a gentle beastie to send with. The targeted pest don’t see her as gentle, more like murderous… At 17 fpe she quite polite, I can see in most instances, the pellets on the way to my POA/POI. In good conditions I can make repeatable hits on objects the size of a chipmunks head from 15 to 50 yards, consistently. I have found my nirvana with my sub 25 fpe PCPs.

 

[igolfat8]

A Crosman Challenger comes to mind as the smoothest shot cycle I have experienced. Granted it’s only a .177 ten meter gun.

 

[daddypaddy]

Gentle shot cycle… After reading the post by @cavedweller I decided to pull my Atomic XR out of the safe and have a shooting session after work. She simply is a gentle beastie to send with. The targeted pest don’t see her as gentle, more like murderous… At 17 fpe she quite polite, I can see in most instances, the pellets on the way to my POA/POI. In good conditions I can make repeatable hits on objects the size of a chipmunks head from 15 to 50 yards, consistently. I have found my nirvana with my sub 25 fpe PCPs.
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i feel the same about my 24.55 fpe notos. just poppet being smacked and short “chutt” at the muzzle. like you, i very much enjoy my sub 25 fpe pcp. akela included. notos more so because i actually worked on it to get it where it is. gentle shot cycle should be standard for tuners