My Condor likes a light hold

[Rickrick]

After many yrs of on/off attempts to find a balance of power/accuracy with my .25 condor it's finally here.

Shout out to Trinity Maker for a ton of help, all the slug makers helping this field and the one I'm going with, Stephen at AVS slugs for making a .253 that's doing great.

Now that I've found the right barrel, psi and the slug I'm getting consistent 1/2" groups at 50yds. Something I never thought would happen, fantastic feeling. This post is on finding the right hold. I was having trouble seeing well at the higher scope magnification in low lighting so I dropped it down to 10X which clears it up and I can still see the target holes. So I wanted to be sure groups were still good, all of a sudden my groups went crazy. It took me a bit to understand what happened, without realizing it I had tightened up on my hold. Originally I was told slugs like a tight hold but in this case my gun prefers a light hold, world of difference. One picture is when I found the right everything. The other is after adjusting the scope and finding out the problem, the lower right group shows when I finally found the problem and got back to the 1/2" groups.

(The one pic at the bottom says "consistent 1/2 groups", that was a note for me, not for that target. And the note at btm right should read 'hold' not 'hole'.)

I'm getting 95 fpe shooting AVS .253 44g at 985 fps. 3000 psi with a 25 acp, 24" polygon barrel that has a 246/250 bore/groove.

 

[MikeVV]

Being fairly new to air guns myself, I started out holding as I would a firearm...snug to tight.

After some experimenting, I've found that all of my air guns (short rifles), prefer a light, or just a more or less, "weight supported" hold for the best accuracy. Interesting concept. I guess it's all of the light duty, bolted together parts vs. a firearm build.

Mike

 

[scoutscope]

I was always taught to build a shooting position that didn't rely on muscle, as muscle fatigues and is inconsistent. I put together something that feels good, close my eyes, inhale, exhale, open my eyes. If my position is good, I'm still on target. There are a lot of positions, and even more variances in them, but if you stack your body well you can take a breath and come right back to target. Of course once your hunting, that pretty much goes out the window and you take the best shot you can. I can't comment on springer hold much. My springer hold is dangling my model 34 over the trash. I don't release my hold only for sentimental reasons. I thought when I was a kid I had bought my first big boy airgun, turns out I was better off with my sheridan. Other than springers then, I shoot with as little muscle as possible. Great thing about pcp's is they don't beat me like my ought six. I should get you a pic of Dad's condor. It's wearing a Donnyfl emperor. It's like eight feet long lol. I think you could fix bayonet and squirrel hunt without air or slugs. You're new tight grouping is awesome, looking forward to seeing them at 100.

 

[crittahitta]

Hey Rickrick would you mind sharing where you got your barrel and any other specifics? Thanks. I have a 25 condor SS and would love to be able to add a barrel for slugs.

 

[theLBC]

you may be referring to "natural point of aim", which is an important fundamental concept whether you are pulling the rifle into your shoulder like you would for recoil management, or if you are using a light hold and more of a free recoil technique. with a firm hold, the shooter may unconsciously steer the rifle away from that natural point of aim.

the main idea i was taught about natural point of aim (when shooting from a supported position prone or from a bench) is that when you are (properly behind the rifle) and ready to take the shot, you should be able to close your eyes, relax...and open your eyes,,,and still see the same point of aim in your scope.if your sight picture has changed, you weren't at the natural point of aim (you were pushing the poa to the target).

i would add that as far as a rifle liking a firm hold vs light, that may be due to ergonomics (how well the rifle fits your body and shooting position). for example, some people naturally hold the rifle at a slight but consistent angle when they pull it into their shoulder pocket. for air rifles that don't have significant recoil, i would think light holds would be potentially more consistent since it removes some variables (you).

 

[Rickrick]

That sounds about righ LBC, and yes it's a light against my shoulder hold I'm refering to. I usually shoot prone with the gun resting on a bag. Otherwise I move to much to be able to get these groups.



Crittahitta, I didn't mention who made the barrel because some may or may not agree with it. Me personally I don't agree with the main stream narrative of what's going on out in the world. So, with that said, A guy named Alex made it in Russia. If anyone's interested private message me and I'll pass on his email to you. Back when I got it Trinity Maker suggested getting a 25 acp polygon barrel (246/250), I gave him all my original condor barrel dimensions in mm and what length I wanted. He usually carbon wraps but maybe he stopped doing it for some reason. With shipping it was $155.

Here's the message I sent for the specs. He takes PayPal, but with everything going on I'm not sure what that status is at the moment.

635mm barrel length

.25 acp

1:14 twist

.246/.250

Unchoked

Cut lead in 2mm deep

Crown the barrel

1/2-20 UNF threaded end



My stock barrel measurements are;

609.6mm total length

16.0mm barrel diameter

7.85mm breech end diameter



The breech end is 7.85 D x 65.8 L

The 16.0mm part of the barrel is 16.0 D x 536.57 L

The shoulder of the barrel near the breach end is 7.23mm

65.8 + 536.57 + 7.23 = total length of 609.6

Then Trinity helped me find the sweet spot for the power wheel setting which gave me the best air usage efficiency. I had missed a couple of squirrels in the morning which surprised me after the 1/4 and 1/2" groups I was getting, which made me readjust the scope and then found out why I had missed, that afternoon I got the two of them that were at that 50yd mark, now I'm waiting on the hog that comes around occasionally to find the corn, shouldn't be much longer.

 

[c_m_shooter]

Yes, the Condor is as hold sensitive as a springer.

 

[Longhunter63]

Yes, the Condor is as hold sensitive as a springer.

Worse. They flex. Exactly why I got rid of mine.