Hunting Accuracy

[JimD]

I've been switching between my two newer P35s in 177 and 22 on squirrels. I intended to get to 10 kills with the 177 but missed about 3 times with it and switched to the 22 after taking 9. I hit 4 in a row with the 22 before Wednesday when I missed an easy 13.5 yard shot. I used the range finder on it after the fact. I knew it was close but not that close. I should have aimed 6 MOA high and didn't so I shot under it. Not a problem with the gun. But that got me started thinking about a little test of my 3 P35s. For three days now I have shot them at 30 yards at a 30 yard challenge target with the scopes set at 14X (the highest the PA 4-14 on the 25 goes). I used the 22 on the left most targets, first shot in the one at the top, second on the next lower and third on the third one down. The 25 is on the second from the left and the 177 on the third from the left. There are only two days first shots on the 22 because of the missed shot on a squirrel on Wednesday. I adjusted the scope on the 22 and 25 after Wednesday so the next two shots are with a different scope setting. That didn't change the 25 significantly but you can see a definite change in the 22 poi. Yesterday and today are touching. But the POI is a bit different for the first, second and third shot. The 25 is wild enough it's hard to say if the order makes a difference but the more accurate 22 and 177 seem to move around a bit, like maybe 1/4 inch, shot to shot.

I've decided no further scope adjustments are needed and the 177 is shooting fine, misses were presumably just me. It's still possible it acts up a bit if it isn't shot for a week or something. I will need to check that if I leave it alone that long. But with daily shooting at least 3 shots it is performing fine. No surprise the 22 is shooting the most consistently but it is a bit of a surprise to see the POI move shot to shot for the first 3 shots. Not terribly significant but a little surprising. Also not a surprise unfortunately that the 25 wanders more than a little. I have ordered another barrel for it. But it's taken 18 squirrels. My shots are normally shorter than 30 yards.

I think this was a useful exercise, at least for me. That first shot or two or three are the ones that really count from a hunting perspective.

 

[tompetersonhaircut]

Interesting results. Thanks for sharing this information. All us hunters can use any edge we can get!

 

[Vetmx]

Check your velocity’s on those first three shots.

 

[nervoustrig]

That first shot or two or three are the ones that really count from a hunting perspective.

Amen. Together with the basic accuracy of a gun, that is the characteristic I consider to be most important.

Well done, conducting a test to assess your pest control guns.

 

[JimD]

I was not using a chronograph as I shot this target but I have checked my guns. My first shot on all three is within 10 fps of the rest of a string, sometimes within 5 fps. For 10 shots my ES is typically less than 10 fps. So I don't think the poi change is due to velocity. But I had to balance my hammer spring to the regulator setting to get these results. My P35s seem to be very sensitive to the hammer spring setting, particularly for the first shot. If the hammer spring is less than the setting which maximizes velocity the first shot velocity is low.

Thanks for the comments guys. Still waiting for another squirrel to get brave after my miss. I had two each of the prior weeks but got skunked this week. It was not the first time the high scope position of my P35s helped me miss. I do better if the target is at least 20 yards away. But I need to learn to take my time on the short shots, get the distance from at least the parallax, and then get my hold over. I have little stickers in the objective lens caps of my scopes so if I know the distance I can rapidly get a pretty good estimate of hold over. I just have to use the tools I have instead of worrying the squirrel will run off.

 

[dizzums]

lots of things going on there! cheaper pcps especially tend to be real picky on ideal fill pressure - forget about shot count if your pesting, generally one full mag is plenty, find that ideal fill .. couple things at work there on cheaper guns including how the valve is reacting to the pressure as well as fill tube actually flexing the entire gun under various pressure .. a few fps spread has an insignificant effect at nominal pesting distances under 50y ... so id say that would be your main focus is fill pressure and staying in a narrow spot with one mag ... second consideration is zero range, forget long distance, thats generally for paper punchers, and focus on an ideal zero, its usually under 20yds, say 18, which 'usually' covers you from ~13-45 or so dead on hold, a ballistics app helps .. if the squim is real close wait for a shot where its gonna hit something even if its an inch low, in other words its sitting up, you aim for the head but the vitals are an inch plus straight down, cant lose ..