My grandson wants to hunt squirrels, so i am teaching him how to shoot and what is required to actually hunt with an air rifle. He was starting to understand the process, but the .177 youth rifle doesn't have the energy I want for hunting.
I readily admit that I killed a lot of squirrels with a pump .177 that was no more powerful, but i like more these days having learned better.
He would hurt himself trying to cock the Trail, and he can barely handle it. He is 11, so that is to be expected. I read specs till my eyes bled I think, and in the end, I think I found the perfect compromise rifle.
We unboxed it today, and after installing the scope, it was shooting way high. I adjusted the scope till it was acting like the end of the adjustment, and I am still 6 inches high at 20 yards. I am going to reverse the mount and /or shim the scope while he is at school tomorrow.
The scope isn't bad. He can cock it, although barely. It is right at his limit for today, The magazine keeps young fingers out of danger, and it works flawlessly with Pirahnas or Superpoints so far. The trigger is pretty good. I haven't touched the adjustment It is a lot louder on target than it is firing.
The first thing he said was, it is so light! At 20 yards with either pellet, half inch plywood did not stop a single pellet. I would guess it is a touch more powerful than the Trail these days out of the box and that it will settle in about the same power level. I wasn't shooting for groups. i was trying to walk the scope onto target, just getting on the yellow center of the target and shooting five at a time, The accuracy potential is good, but i have not really explored that yet. Sighted in, a squirrel head isn't going to be a challenge at 20 yards.
Light weight hunting power that is not too hard to cock, and the repeater mechanism works as advertised. I don't think I ever heard of a break barrel needing to be reverse shimmed because you can't adjust the point of impact low enough before, but II don't see it as any different than shimming one with the opposite problem.
I am impressed enough that I may have to have one too!
I readily admit that I killed a lot of squirrels with a pump .177 that was no more powerful, but i like more these days having learned better.
He would hurt himself trying to cock the Trail, and he can barely handle it. He is 11, so that is to be expected. I read specs till my eyes bled I think, and in the end, I think I found the perfect compromise rifle.
We unboxed it today, and after installing the scope, it was shooting way high. I adjusted the scope till it was acting like the end of the adjustment, and I am still 6 inches high at 20 yards. I am going to reverse the mount and /or shim the scope while he is at school tomorrow.
The scope isn't bad. He can cock it, although barely. It is right at his limit for today, The magazine keeps young fingers out of danger, and it works flawlessly with Pirahnas or Superpoints so far. The trigger is pretty good. I haven't touched the adjustment It is a lot louder on target than it is firing.
The first thing he said was, it is so light! At 20 yards with either pellet, half inch plywood did not stop a single pellet. I would guess it is a touch more powerful than the Trail these days out of the box and that it will settle in about the same power level. I wasn't shooting for groups. i was trying to walk the scope onto target, just getting on the yellow center of the target and shooting five at a time, The accuracy potential is good, but i have not really explored that yet. Sighted in, a squirrel head isn't going to be a challenge at 20 yards.
Light weight hunting power that is not too hard to cock, and the repeater mechanism works as advertised. I don't think I ever heard of a break barrel needing to be reverse shimmed because you can't adjust the point of impact low enough before, but II don't see it as any different than shimming one with the opposite problem.
I am impressed enough that I may have to have one too!
