Let’s see those 25 yd groups!

[Pale_Rider]

I haven’t gotten any blisters yet lol but I did get a tiny cut from hitting the rear sight blade repeatedly when pumping it. I’ve had the pistol for 3 weeks now, shooting it almost everyday. I got lucky with a really accurate barrel. 
Nice groups with the pistols! That custom Steyr is beautiful and the hw44 is on on my list of guns to get next. Good taste in guns you have Dave

 

[Pale_Rider]

Not feeling that accurate today but still had a blast! 3/4” ctc 5 shot group

 

[AirNGasman]

So with yesterday's forecast calling for temps in the high 90s and light winds, I brought some of my favorite vintage Co2 pistols out of the mothballs. The highlight of the long, HOT afternoon of Co2 fun came virtue of the first dedicated field-target pistol I built from a 1950's vintage Crosman 180 rifle. While I often shoot three-shot groups with Co2 guns when accuracy testing, thought I'd confirm Frankenpistol's unbelievable accuracy by shooting three consecutive five-shot groups (this time).

As usual, the first group (center bull) was not only the largest at .53" center-to-center, but not perfectly on zero. Well-guessed scope adjustments, improving shooting form, concentration, and confidence shrank the second group (on right) to .49"... on perfect zero. 

Having deprived myself of all excuses to not approach Frankenpistol's accuracy potentials more closely, the first four shots in the last group looked like just two shots... touching! As I settled in for my last shot of the session with all confidence in keeping that shot inside the incredible last group, a little hornet landed next to the group and proceeded to stick his head into the hole dead-centering the bullseye. BIG MISTAKE! The shot broke perfectly; dead-centering the hole made by (then) four pellets of the five-shot group... that hole occupied by the unsuspecting hornet at that very moment. Talk about "the wrong place at the wrong time"; see splatter-matter emanating from aforementioned four-pellet hole in the center of the bullseye! What a fine way to end the accuracy test of this historic field-target/hunting pistol, home-made from a 1950's vintage Crosman classic Co2 rifle.

The last, .24" c-t-c five-shot group well balanced the first .53" group to bring the average group-size to a satisfying (in more ways than one) .42" c-t-c.

 

And though that doesn't equal Frankenpistol's best three-shot group average, it not only reinforces the best three-shot group average of .33" c-t-c no fluke, but made for another excellent and long-overdue notation in my airgun testing journal-

7/14/2007- Six consecutive 5 shot groups at 50 yards with Express averaged .74” c-t-c in still winds.

7/4/2015- Five consecutive three-shot groups at 25 yards averaged .33” c-t-c with JSB Express.

5/19/2020- Three consecutive five-shot groups at 25 yards averaged .42” c-t-c w/14.3 JSB Express.

You might be wondering how successful Frankenpistol was for the intended purpose of his not-so-immaculate conception. Besides winning the first pistol field target event in Texas State FT Championship history, Frankenpistol is in fact responsible for the very existence of pistol field target competition.

 

[AirNGasman]

Having been concentrating most of my air pistol accuracy testing on 35 and/or 50 yards for some time, this forum thread motivated me to do a little more sane 25 yard testing. And with warmer temperatures, some of that has been with Co2 pistols. But today I shot myself in the foot; figuratively, thankfully! 

 

Decided to put a long-winded Smith & Wesson 78G customizing project through its paces today. After discovering the barrel had no rifling shortly after I bought the early model, adjustable-trigger 78, I turned a brass Filipino barrel to fit, bought a set of Vernon Austin walnut grips on Ebay, and (a couple days ago) drilled and tapped the top-strap to accept a scope base to scope the gorgeous thing.

Six consecutive five-shot groups at 25 yards today averaged a respectable 1.30" center-to-center with 15.9 grain JSBs at about 450 FPS. I felt okay with that; but for some inexplicable reason then decided to shoot another favorite as a control comparison. That's the "shot myself in the foot" part.

My Walther-barreled (by Will Piatt) DUK IL "Hunting Master" .22 PCP revolver has proven as impressively accurate as it is beautiful and powerful. So much so (powerful and accurate) that I've always accuracy-tested it at 35 and 50 yards.

As expected, Beautiful Beast printed proportionately impressive groups at 25 yards. Since it's a six-shooter, all groups are six-shot (full cylinder) groups. Six consecutive six-shot groups averaged .63" c-t-c with 18.1 grain .22 JSBs at 700 FPS, 20 foot-pounds. 

My protocol for both guns was to shoot a group at a bullseye, mark the group in red, shoot another group at the same bull, mark that group in blue, move to another bullseye, and repeat. That protocol gives better insight into how much point-of-impact shifts from one group to the next (or doesn't). 

Lastly, after all that, and with over-inflated confidence in the Beautiful Beast, I set up a target at 50 yards and shot seven consecutive six-shot groups that averaged 1.43" center-to-center. In other words, almost as tight six-shot groups at 50 yards as the 78G posted five-shot groups at 25. Nevertheless, the custom-classic Smith & Wesson 78G is an experience in pistol-shooting aesthetics, par excellence!