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Need advice for long range shooting/hunting

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Ninjababy

Member
Mar 5, 2019
86
1
Alberta, Canada
Hi guys I would like to know your suggestion as I am fairly new with PCP airguns.



I have FX Impact MKII with Power Plenum in 700 mm barrel and I also have 30 calibre barrel in 700 mm. It is topped with Nightforce NSX 5-22 power scope with Tactacam 5 and side shot mount etc etc

I want to shoot pigeons at 150 yards and over with my pellet gun

I know slugs would be a better choice to shoot at longer distances.


I would like to know should I stay with 30 calibre or 22 calibre and what kind of slugs should I be using?



Thanks 
 
my suggestion is dont maim animals by 'trying' to hit them at long distances .. its really sad .. and i have no problem with blowing fluffy animals away that are a nuisance around my place .. but just going for long shots with airguns .. no .. just no .. it has about zero to do with the gun if its any decent pcp, and its all velocity .. at typical 900-1000fps velocities a pellet falls literally 4-5 'feet' at 100 yards .. so tell me your not guessing lol .. sure if you know the distance but just pot shooting at animals at long distance .. ignorant .. personal opinion .. but yeah .. get a good gun .. a 2000$FX would be nice ... try to keep it real ..
 
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They did read it,you watch vids of guys hitting birds at long distances. How much time and practice did they do? How many misses were not shown? Were they shooting in an environment that has relatively stable and consistent conditions? Do a graph and chart the pellet fall out at longer distances, now add variables like angle, and variable winds. Throw in you have an excellant gun that shoots MOA, now your only starting with a margin of era of 1.5 inches. In a real world scenario I think there are too many people that are abundantly endowed with fecal matter claiming consistent results at excessive ranges.
 
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There are a lot of guys around this place that think they need to be the AGN conscience. Just ignore them, as it is obvious the first one didn't read your post at all. I guess you have to start with, I will learn my rifle and its ballistics before you can say that you want to try and do something. I figured that was a given ....

I think that a .30 shooting slugs is going to fight the wind better then smaller calibers will. Not saying you can't do it with either caliber because you can. Take note that in 68 Whiskey's videos they really seem to prefer the .30. I think Matt would use a higher caliber than .22 but they are limited in SA. 

Most guys buy a bunch of different slugs and try them in their guns. You might start with some NSA. I have shot their 47 and 49 grain with good success. I have not shot as many out of my impact as I just got a .30 barrel recently, but they show some promise. You can also check into a bunch of other brands out there, maybe some guys will chime in.




 
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From the video's I see of these long distance hunter's it looks like a range finder is a must . The other things some of these guys talk about is the amount of practice they put in shooting in the wind so they know where the shot is going to end up . Some of the videos show them taking practice shots at an object to sight in the gun moments before they draw a bead on a living animal . When I have eliminated pests I try to be within 75 yards but that is the range I practice and can anticipate the deviation from the wind but if its blowing much over 8 mph I don't take the shot , I'm just not happy when I mortally wound an animal instead of making a clean kill . 
 
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150 yards and over? Not to sound like a smart you know what and this will definitely sound like just that but being “ fairly new” at PCP guns you really have to become an absolute expert before attempting that type of shooting. For me I’ll shoot starlings at 75 yards and pigeons I limit to 50. Why? Cause I’m not an expert either . To answer your question to pick between a 30 cal and a 22. It’s pretty much a wash. The “in” long range is probably the 25 shooting slugs. How much you gain over a 22 is academic in my estimation. If you can teach yourself what you need to know go for it. If you’re like me you might make an ethical choice to limit your range. Good luck in your journey .
 
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Some time ago we had posts of pigeons being dropped off silos at 300 yards. First the shooter is no doubt world class. BUT he didn’t show his misses and no one will ever convince me that he didn’t miss plenty. If you have the best of everything what’s the best you could possibly hope for as group size at 300? Let’s say three inches. If you are off your range estimate by 10 yards or your wind estimate by a similar small amount you are never going to hold a three inch group at 300 yards. Oh you might once in a while but no one is going convince me that consistent 3inch at 300 is doable. Now if you can’t hold to that is it reasonable to say you are going to miss and wound a bunch of birds. If my logic is unreasonable tell me how you see it differently. Then let’s just say you can accomplish the above. Pigeons are tough. If you can’t place that shot perfectly not good and so that means your accuracy has to be more like 1.5 not 3. 
 
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Some aspects that can frustrate your dreams of become the sniper of the PCP´s who was able to eliminate those public enemies of democracy called pigeons:

1.- Bad meassure of distance.

2.- Almost undetectable wind.

3.- Slight deffect on projectile.

4.- Slight variation on fps.

Please be sure where your projectiles will land..... A .30 Cal at 220 yards can be very harmful for anyone passing by.


 
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Quit watching videos and get to the range with a truckload of slugs. There are no shortcuts to even shooting consistent animal killing accuracy at 100yrds. Like others have said, the glory videos don’t show misses. If they did, FX Impact sales would easily be cut in half. Don’t be nieve. Be realistic. I remember your last topic and you were struggling at 100. Take baby steps or you will get frustrated.
 
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To make 150 yard pigeon shots the .22 is really good choice because of the wide slug choices, go as heavy as you can but you will need to buy the superior heavy slug barrel. I would try 31.2 grain NSA in .217 but again need superior heavy, in the superior liner the 23 grain nsa works really well but the wind drift is a little bigger but plenty of knock down power at 150 yards still and plenty accurate. Keep in mind that pellets won’t work as well out of the superior heavy liner. 


Of course you have to have all the ballistic tools the YouTuber’s don’t really show you except for Matt dubber. Once you have your system dialed in and validated with lots of random distance target practices you should be fine. Once I got my system dialed in(thanks to Matt Dubber) it’s straight up cheating especially at well over 100 yards. Lots of work and research but not really that hard either. 
 
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For long range shooting with an airgun, first you get a really good rangefinder. I ended up with a Leica Rangemaster 2400-R. Not cheap at $550, but nothing else out there for the price that matches it. Previous versions cost $800, so it's considered a real bargain and lots of 5 star reviews.

Next, get a powerful airgun and check out which pellets work best in it. Then get a suitable scope.

It took me a while to realize that I should have gotten the required rangefinder first.
 
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For long range shooting with an airgun, first you get a really good rangefinder. I ended up with a Leica Rangemaster 2400-R. Not cheap at $550, but nothing else out there for the price that matches it. Previous versions cost $800, so it's considered a real bargain and lots of 5 star reviews.

Next, get a powerful airgun and check out which pellets work best in it. Then get a suitable scope.

It took me a while to realize that I should have gotten the required rangefinder first.
Click to expand...

I just change my old Range Finder based on your advice on other topic of this forum.

The new one that I was able to buy is a Leupod RX950..... The cristals are more clear than the Nikon Prostaff that I had.

The meassures I have made with the Leupold seem to be accurate.

As when bowhunting with sights, when shooting with PCP´s the correct meassure of distance is a must to be on target.


 
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At long ranges — and with shooting heavy projectiles with pellet-BC's — accurate range finding becomes pretty important. Just enter your data into any ballistic calculator and see how much the projectile of your choice drops 8n say 2 yards at 100y range....

At 150y? Wow, so much more!

Slugs really help (bec. of their high BC).



🔴 I wonder if an airgunner has done any precision tests for range finders....? 🔴

Because for powder burners (with their comparatively super-BC's) a few yards off isn't going to make a difference when hitting the comparatively huge killzonenof a deer at 300y....

But for us airgunners this is a game changer at long ranges.



🔶 Maybe we could start collecting range finder precision data of users? 🔶

I surely don't have the $$ to waste on a high end range finder that does an excellent job out to 800y — if my cheap second-hand Bushnell is ±1 yard accurate at 100y. 😊



Matthias


 
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If you do some range shooting at 150 yards and over, I believe you will come to one of two conclusions: the folks reporting such success are incredibly good (or lucky), or, they are not accurately reporting the distances. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but to do so consistently would require some sophisticated support, with precise range and wind determining capability. 
 
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Thanks for the link, Will. 👍🏼

Here are the rangefinder test results:

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/04/28/pocket-rangefinder-field-test/





As hinted in my previous post we'd need to adapt range finder testing and review to airgunning...: 😊

▪Testing at ranges 50—200y, rather than Cal Zant's 800—2,500 yards...! 😄

▪Testing on real world targets, like pigeons on wires and PD's in the grass (Cal used PB-typical 42 inch steel targets).

▪Testing for 1-yard precision, appropriate for AG (Cal measures precision in 5-yard steps).

▪Include lower priced models (Cal took "high-end rangefinders (all have a street price over $1000)".) 



Cal Zant has researched and published incredibly useful information for his field. I would love to see more data-driven info for us airgunners. 😊

Matthias
 
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Thanks a lot guys fir your input. I took notes on all the advices and concerns. So far this is my progress



Just received new reloading block d

from dealer with stronger pins today 4000

Recieved 4000JSB Knockouts

Received 2000 FX Hybrid

I have Gunworks G7 BR2 rangefinder

I will double check it’s reading/drop with Ballistic AE app

Put a Nightforce 5-22x56 scope on FX Impact




 
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