It is extremely cold and windy this weekend. Had to create something to do to keep my sanity, so I came up with the RX Target Blizzard Challenge.
I know I have posted pictures of my 18 yard (54 ft) indoor range and RX Targets before, but for those that may not have seen it, the RX targets set in a backstop that has a 1/4" steel plate angled into 8" of rubber mulch. In front of the steel plate sit three RX Target systems as found below. The right plate features one 40 mm hole, two 25mm holes, and two 15 mm holes in front of the 1/4" paddles. The middle plate features three 15mm holes and two 10mm holes. The left plate features two 10mm holes and three 8 mm holes.
The "challenge" rules required the rifle to come out of the vault, with no sight adjustments, and attempt to knock all fifteen paddles down without a single miss. This is much harder than most would think, even at 18 yards, considering that one must get a 4.52, 5.52, or 6.35 pellet through three 8 mm holes, if the rest get cleared.
In all, I attempted this with 28 air rifles over the past two days. I never put a rifle away in the vault without it shooting dead center to the scope setting. Particularly with the springers, even though I keep the vault heated to a constant 68 degrees, there is often some early shot POI variance to the POI that was encountered in the previous session.
Sadly (and surprisingly given the quality and tuning of the pcps), none of the .177 caliber rifles (which is odd as the 4.52 mm .177 is so much smaller than the 5.52 mm .22 or the 6.35 mm .25) or springers made it through without at least one miss. Several would have made honorable mention with only one or two fringe misses, including a few of the springers which typically group at +/- 3/8" at this distance.
The rifle and pellet combinations that did make it without a miss included:
- .25 Cricket shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
-.25 FX Wildcat MK1 shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.22 Air Arms S410 shooting the AA Diablo Field Heavy 18.0 Gr
-.22 Daystate Wolverine B HiLite shooting the AA Diablo Field 16.0 Gr
-.25 FX Dreamline shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
-.22 RAW HM1000X - Chassis shooting the NSA 20.2 Gr slug
-.25 FX Royale 500 - shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.22 Daystate Red Wolf HP - shooting the JSB Jumbo Monster Redesigned 25.39 Gr
-.25 Daystate Wolverine R HP Forester - shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.25 RAW HM1000X-LRT - shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
So - 10 out of the 28 made it through without a miss. This was a very fun exercise with temps below zero and wind conditions of +30MPH.
I know I have posted pictures of my 18 yard (54 ft) indoor range and RX Targets before, but for those that may not have seen it, the RX targets set in a backstop that has a 1/4" steel plate angled into 8" of rubber mulch. In front of the steel plate sit three RX Target systems as found below. The right plate features one 40 mm hole, two 25mm holes, and two 15 mm holes in front of the 1/4" paddles. The middle plate features three 15mm holes and two 10mm holes. The left plate features two 10mm holes and three 8 mm holes.
The "challenge" rules required the rifle to come out of the vault, with no sight adjustments, and attempt to knock all fifteen paddles down without a single miss. This is much harder than most would think, even at 18 yards, considering that one must get a 4.52, 5.52, or 6.35 pellet through three 8 mm holes, if the rest get cleared.
In all, I attempted this with 28 air rifles over the past two days. I never put a rifle away in the vault without it shooting dead center to the scope setting. Particularly with the springers, even though I keep the vault heated to a constant 68 degrees, there is often some early shot POI variance to the POI that was encountered in the previous session.
Sadly (and surprisingly given the quality and tuning of the pcps), none of the .177 caliber rifles (which is odd as the 4.52 mm .177 is so much smaller than the 5.52 mm .22 or the 6.35 mm .25) or springers made it through without at least one miss. Several would have made honorable mention with only one or two fringe misses, including a few of the springers which typically group at +/- 3/8" at this distance.
The rifle and pellet combinations that did make it without a miss included:
- .25 Cricket shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
-.25 FX Wildcat MK1 shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.22 Air Arms S410 shooting the AA Diablo Field Heavy 18.0 Gr
-.22 Daystate Wolverine B HiLite shooting the AA Diablo Field 16.0 Gr
-.25 FX Dreamline shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
-.22 RAW HM1000X - Chassis shooting the NSA 20.2 Gr slug
-.25 FX Royale 500 - shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.22 Daystate Red Wolf HP - shooting the JSB Jumbo Monster Redesigned 25.39 Gr
-.25 Daystate Wolverine R HP Forester - shooting the AA Diablo Field 25.4 Gr
-.25 RAW HM1000X-LRT - shooting the JSB King Heavy MK1 33.95 Gr
So - 10 out of the 28 made it through without a miss. This was a very fun exercise with temps below zero and wind conditions of +30MPH.
