N/A Low powered guns

My favorite yard rifle is a sub 12 fpe HW100, .177. I bought it as an FAC level rifle, but soon decided that it's true place in the market is at the lower power levels, as was its design. I turned down the reg set point, and lowered the hammer tension for a balanced tune at around 11.5 fpe, and I have no regrets. At 80+ shots per fill I have far more than adequate capacity. We shooters in the US seem to consistently screw up thoughtful designs by demanding more power, kind of stupid.
 
So I have a question for you guys in this thread. Do those of you that shoot lower powered guns think that you've developed better range estimation skills because of it? If so, that could be an additional benefit of shooting lower powered airguns.
You know now that you got me thinking about it.. I started this hobby over 20 years ago, shooting springers. That's all I could afford and had to develop the skills to shoot it accurately. I used it for popping starlings to small game hunting. Then I moved to CO2 rifles. QB built by Tim McMurray. I thought it was a huge step, accuracy was amazing. It still is as I still own it. But when I made the jump to pcp it was a lot easier and I do believe shooting the lower powered rifles did help in all that you mentioned. I do believe a guy can be more accurate shooting any well tuned rifle no matter the flavor. Smooth and mild mannered is the key
 
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I love my low powered guns. I find that there is nothing lacking with a 12 ftlb rifle. They are great fun, sip air, and have little to no recoil. I do find that I use more ammo though
Tell me about it, a day at the range with my grandson is 1000-1500 pellet

Bb
 
I can see the appeal of high powered airguns and they are very tempting indeed especially seeing all those seemingly amazing long distance shots on YouTube... However, when I bought my gun 4 years ago, I had a very specific use case for it; suburban backyard pest control. When I first got my .22 Taipan Veteran, I had to down tune it quite a bit because it came from the factory set at 40 fpe.

There's obviously a place for high powered airguns, but for my use case, any place I'd be comfortable in using a 50 fpe or so gun, I'd rather just use a firearm. In other words, I'm not comfortable shooting 50 fpe in the backyard.

I actually bought some slugs a few years back but haven't shot a single one yet because the pellets are doing what I need to for now and pellets (JSB Hades in particular) is what I tuned the gun to.
 
Dairyboy, you're spot on.

It's not a PCP of course, but I have a wonderful little Beeman R7 that the previous owner tuned. It shoots a 7.33g pellet at around 700fps. Occasionally--on a good day--once in a while--I can shoot 1/2" groups at 40 yards--and I'm not a particularly good shot.

INCHES 1.JPG
 
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I've had to reduce my range quite a bit due to new neighbors and wanted to reduce power as well. My DreamTac has a 6.25 fpe tune with 7.8gr pellets. I haven't shot all the way down, but I'd estimate at least 120 shots per fill. Super quiet, stupid accurate and effective on small rodents and birds out to 25 yards. I haven't switched ammo all winter.
 
Dairyboy, you're spot on.

It's not a PCP of course, but I have a wonderful little Beeman R7 that the previous owner tuned. It shoots a 7.33g pellet at around 700fps. Occasionally--on a good day--once in a while--I can shoot 1/2" groups at 40 yards--and I'm not a particularly good shot.

View attachment 452758
I have one springer, and it's the HW30S in .177. Not tuned but such a sweet shooter and only iron sights for me. I pull it out to get back to basics every once in awhile. Will teach my kids to shoot when they get old enough on it.
 
Dairyboy, you're spot on.

It's not a PCP of course, but I have a wonderful little Beeman R7 that the previous owner tuned. It shoots a 7.33g pellet at around 700fps. Occasionally--on a good day--once in a while--I can shoot 1/2" groups at 40 yards--and I'm not a particularly good shot.

View attachment 452758
Nice shooting.

I had an airarms tx200 in .177, it was probably the most consistent gun over the chrono I have ever tested, it was insanely accurate but it does require better shooting skills than I have to get the most out of it.


If I were to be stuck on a desert island, that would be the one gun I would take with me.

Bb
 
I have one springer, and it's the HW30S in .177. Not tuned but such a sweet shooter and only iron sights for me. I pull it out to get back to basics every once in awhile. Will teach my kids to shoot when they get old enough on it.

I have .177 a hw30 w open sights also . It goes with on camping trips because it's accurate and fun to shoot . I've had a Prod for many years and it's one that puts its 12fpe on the pests . A slower pellet that transfers its energy onto pest and it's safer and more efficient.
 
This is one thread I can comment on with some experience. Living in the uk we are limited (without a firearms license) to keep our guns under 12fpe, this is roughly (depending on pellet weight) 800fps in .177, 600fps in .20, 570fps in .22 and 475fps in .25. Obviously the heavier pellets are more loopy and hold over is more critical but the benefits are more retained energy and better ability to buck the wind.

As already mentioned, shot count is high, cocking effort is minimal, block noise and vibration are tame while muzzle report with a quality moderator is mouse fart quiet. While lower power may have some disadvantages, accuracy is not one of them, shooting flies off my target board at 50 yards in not difficult and consistently hitting golf balls at 100yards is achievable at 100yards (wind permitting)

My preferred calibre for target shooting is .177 but for hunting I go with my .20, this gun has accounted for thousands of rabbits and over 10,000 pigeons. Because of the low noise it is not unusual to shoot 4 or 5 rabbits before the other realise something is wrong. The most pigeons I have shot in an afternoon was 208, all on one fill.

Here is a typical 10 shot group at 25 yards

View attachment 452335
Did I miss something? Why no pic of the airgun used in this post?
 
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