Recently purchased a Hatsan Flashpup QE as my first gun of any type (second if you count my red ryder). After spending a little bit of time with it and trying about 5 different pellets of varying weight and design I'm frustrated that I am at best getting groupings of about 2-3 inches at only 20 yards. I'm trying to figure out if the problem is me, my cheap scope, or the Flashpup. I'm using the gun with a bipod on the ground to maximize stability and the scope is a Winchester by Daisy Outdoor Products 4 x 32 AO. I purchased the flashpup from Midway usa on sale for $337.49 and am reluctant to return it considering the price I got it for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am totally new to this.
Getting terrible results with my first airgun, is it the gun or me?
- Thread starter timothybobw
- Start date
Hello The gun should shoot a lot better than that. Try cleaning the barrel, check to see if the scope screws are tight, and if you can use a bench or table with a front rest and a rear bag. Hope this helps and its just something simple and the gun shoots good. Good luck Eric
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Clean the barrel , make sure scope is mounted correctly and tight, next would be put a better scope on her, if no luck call midway as Bander suggested, they will change it out for ya.
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I don’t think it’s the gun. The first red flag i see is the scope. Gun deserves at least a UTG/Leapers with good mounts. Don’t over tighten. Snug is good. PCP’s don’t recoil. Ammo. No mention of what caliber, brand or type.
Crosman premiers from the big box stores will work in a pinch but the barrel is going to prefer a quality brand like JSB if you can find them.
In .177 the 10.34’s, in .22 the 15.89 are well suited too. Back order if you have to, they will ship soon.
Crosman premiers from the big box stores will work in a pinch but the barrel is going to prefer a quality brand like JSB if you can find them.
In .177 the 10.34’s, in .22 the 15.89 are well suited too. Back order if you have to, they will ship soon.
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Yeah before you pitch that one set your power settings to the middle of the range and put a middle weight pellet in the thing. CLEAN THE BARREL when they machine these things they just wash them out with a degreaser and pour in the cosmoline or whatever it is they are using. Start with a clean barrel and check your stock screws and scope mounts to make sure they are snug. This isn't a spring rifle. It is not likely that the scope is damaged. Don't quit till you've given the thing a chance. Pellets generally won't fly really well above 900 fps or so. Much higher than that, a dirty barrel, and you are going to have pretty bad groups. The good news is once that barrel is clean most any PCP will shoot on a dime all day at 25 yards with pretty much any functioning optic. Give it a chance it will probably grow on you.
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It's the .22 version. I've tried the following pellets: Best results have been the H&N Crow Magnum's.
H&N Baracuda Match Air Gun Pellets 22 Caliber 21.14 Grain 5.52mm
H&N Crow Magnum Air Gun Pellets 22 Caliber 18.21 Grain
H&N Field Target Trophy Air Gun Pellets 22 Caliber 14.66 Grain 5.55mm
H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme Air Gun Pellets 22 Caliber 18.52
Crosman Premier Air Gun Pellets 22 Caliber 14.3
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That gun should shoot better than 2" to 3", even offhand shooting.
1. Clean the barrel
2. Remount the scope - Even the best scopes can be messed up by poor mounting. Look into Youtube..."how to mount a scope". DO NOT over tighten the rings or the rail mount. Go slowly, do things carefully. When tightening the rings, go lightly, go back and forth between the rings AND the screws...lightly, until the screws are a little more than snug.
3. Squeeze the trigger slowly, don't jerk it back. Adjust it as required for a comfortable feel.
You'll get it, don't give up and return a good gun.
Mike
1. Clean the barrel
2. Remount the scope - Even the best scopes can be messed up by poor mounting. Look into Youtube..."how to mount a scope". DO NOT over tighten the rings or the rail mount. Go slowly, do things carefully. When tightening the rings, go lightly, go back and forth between the rings AND the screws...lightly, until the screws are a little more than snug.
3. Squeeze the trigger slowly, don't jerk it back. Adjust it as required for a comfortable feel.
You'll get it, don't give up and return a good gun.
Mike
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I guess it's time to order a cleaning kit. Hopefully I can get things dialed in as MidwayUSA doesn't have any more Flashpup's in stock for exchange.
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Thank you all for your suggestions, I will experiment more with the scope and try cleaning. I might also try finding someone with a little more shooting experience to test it for me.
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How many shots through it? Follow what others have said about CLEANING that Hatsan barrel. They're filthy from the factory. Took my Hatsans 2 or 3 hundred pellets through it to "season" the barrel. Hope patience pays off for you!
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Get yourself a couple of feet of string trimmer line. Cut one end to a point. Heat the other end to create ball melted on the end. Now cut up an old cotton T-shirt into pieces about 1 inch square and stick one on the string. Wet them with some barrel cleaning solvent IF YOU CAN KEEP IT OUT OF THE ACTION, if you can't stick with some sort of silicon based light lubricant. Runs swabs through that barrel till they come out clean. You'll probably get that done with about ten swabs. Run the first couple till they come out black. Pull them through from the chamber to the muzzle.
Works a treat! See what happens and remember if there is a power adjuster on that thing set it down pretty low and work your way back up after it's shooting groups so you know where to stop.
EDIT: Actually just stick with the silicon based light lube as your cleaning agent... Airguns in general don't like solvents.
Good luck, friend.
Works a treat! See what happens and remember if there is a power adjuster on that thing set it down pretty low and work your way back up after it's shooting groups so you know where to stop.
EDIT: Actually just stick with the silicon based light lube as your cleaning agent... Airguns in general don't like solvents.
Good luck, friend.
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I have never shot a Hatsan, but I have heard that are someway accurate.
Try JSB pellets and buy a scope that foresure will work:
https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/scopes/athlon-optics-talos-4-16x40-mil-dot-scope/
And rings that will work: UTG rings are not expensive and work perfectly well. You can find them at Pyramydair.
You have to shoot dully rested, you need to confirm that the scope and rings are fastened.
When a rifle and the scope are working well is very easy to zero the rifle.
A PCP that works well ought to be able to hit a fly at 50 yards 7 out of 10 times.
And once you get tired of your Hatsan, buy a Uragan and become a happy PCP owner/shooter.
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I had one in .25. Light gun, out of the box the trigger was not great, need adjustment. It shot H&N Hunter extreme the best, JSB second. That scope you have is not great, make sure it’s mounted correctly and clean the barrel.
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No familiar with the Flashpup specifically but yes, Hatsans can be very accurate. I'd say first make sure you don't have any VISIBLE misalignments, magazine burs or indexing issues, or anything else that could be seen with a good visual inspection. Then, clean the barrel. That's free and pretty easy and should be done anyway. Weedeater line as noted pointed on one end and melted to a ball or flat spot on the other, any soft cotton fabric to use for patches. Dry will help a lot if really dirty and you don't have any liquid cleaner but Goo Gone can be used and Ballistol works well also. If necessary, use a straw inserted into muzzle end to "guide" the weedeater line through any baffles that may be present and just thread it through and pull the patches through until visibly clean. If relatively clean it should shoot much better than you note. After a cleaning, I'd say look at the scope. Try a better quality scope if you have one and if not and you are going to keep shooting just buy a better scope. UTG was recommended and they are generally pretty good scopes used by many people. I have several and have not been disappointed in them, though the glass sometimes isn't as clear as it could be. If those two things don't dramatically improve the results then a return might be the best course to follow.
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I have the .22 wooden Flashpup for almost 2 years. Follow the barrel cleaning advice, mount the scope well, make it of a minimum quality, a Hawke Vantage with 4 to 12x magnification for example, and you should buy a chronograph. Mine does well for Hades pellets and JSB heavy, staying grouping 5 shots within an inch up to 65/70 yards. With 800/850 fps according to pellet. Working pressure normally between 190-140bar and 25/30 good shots. I use a front bipod, I use a rear bag and I throw myself on the ground to make groups. I have it zeroed at 40 yards.
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Make sure the scope turrets are not run out too far (if you had to keep running them out when sighting in). If moderator equipped, insure there is no pellet clipping there. You should be getting dime or nickle groups at 20 yards.
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I have one .22 shoot JSB 15.89 HN 18.52 Barracuda hunter extreme . The trigger pull out of the box is a bit heavy I had trouble at first that would throw of my aim . Let us know how you make out.
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