After dinner, couple glasses of vino, then grabbed some old cream tin AA Fields 4.51mm, some JSB 7.9 and my LGU for some short game group therapy.
But first, the pellet backstory. In 2012, around time for the US FT Nationals, I made a last minute decision to go, the only rifle I had at that time was an old RWS marked TX200 MK2 with JM full power kit that I installed (JM made it with a steel guide, and that kit put out 14fpe) so it would be Open Piston division for me. That rifle on a calm day put 5 AA Fields in a tiny 3/8" bughole at 50 yards from the seated position. It's all coming back to me: I purchased this rifle directly from old school spring gun tuner and avid FT shooter Ken Reeves, it was his son or son in law's FT gun, and Ken had always tuned and maintained it. It was a pleasure to chat with Ken about that rifle. The rifle had a nice grained OEM walnut stock, as well as an aluminium morgan adj pad, and two thick, robust delrin posts which supported the kneeriser (chunk of wood). I loved that rifle. Took it hunting (precision sniping on CA ground squirrels- I used a Tasco Custom Shop 10-50×60 and would range and click) shot matches with it and punched tiny holes in paper with it.
Back to the pellets- I needed some pellets for the Nats which was like 2 days away and I asked Tim McMurray if he had some AA Fields pellets. He reached out to his SoCal network and ended up handing me 3 cream tins of AA Fields, 4.51mm. Jim Zeigler, if you're reading this: Thank you! On the eve of the competition I mounted an old 10-50×60 Hakko Mil-Dot and got to sighting in, and making notes of my pellet trajectory drop from 10-55yds. Shaky and rusty as I'd been out of the country for over a year without pulling a single trigger. Met with old friends, made new ones, and we shot the match. On Day2, while trying to overcome my point defecit and catch up to the open piston leader my safety button stem snapped. Had to resort to taking apart a pen and using the ink tube to push in the safety for the rest of the match. Did good enough to win my division, but it was such an awesome time because of the camaraderie, food, and shooting of course.
Fast forward to March 2020: I find the other two tins that Tim McMurray handed to me in 2012. Couldn't believe it. Opened up one, and the pellets had that old, frosted look. These pellets are worth gold to me, full of sentimental value. Memories. I give them the full pellet spa treatment: hot water and Dawn washdown, hot water spray rinse, 24 hour air dry followed by a Dupont silicone spray lubing over a saran wrap covered paper plate. The pellets look good now, gleaming with potential.
The LGU: High-speed low-drag Paul Short customized internals (glided compression cylinder, transfer port opened to 3.5mm, glided OEM piston with weight reduced). Rowan trigger, Mercury in the buttstock. Tight bore on this one, so I figure to try the magical cream tin AA 4.51's.
14 yards, 5 shots:
It was dark out, shot at 32x off the bare knee. POA was the fork of the "Y" in Priority. Clicks a bit off, but good enough.
I clicks down a few, and now I held on the "9" using JSB 7.9. 5 shots, not the tightest, but hey.
Back to the cream tin AA 4.51. Now I held on 6 o'clock of the middle red circle. Shot 2 goes through the same hole but loosened the adhesive bond, now the target swung nearly upside down, barely hanging to the masking tape covered box. I held at the top of the hole I created, a bit to the left of center and shot. It fell, so this group would only be 3 shots, darn. 3 in one hole. I'll take it.
I will never see my cherished RWS Marked TX200 MK2 again, but I have this LGU. It's no substitute, and it's not the same. It does however like the magical AA cream tin 4.51 pellets, which I think is pretty cool.
Thanks for reading!
J
But first, the pellet backstory. In 2012, around time for the US FT Nationals, I made a last minute decision to go, the only rifle I had at that time was an old RWS marked TX200 MK2 with JM full power kit that I installed (JM made it with a steel guide, and that kit put out 14fpe) so it would be Open Piston division for me. That rifle on a calm day put 5 AA Fields in a tiny 3/8" bughole at 50 yards from the seated position. It's all coming back to me: I purchased this rifle directly from old school spring gun tuner and avid FT shooter Ken Reeves, it was his son or son in law's FT gun, and Ken had always tuned and maintained it. It was a pleasure to chat with Ken about that rifle. The rifle had a nice grained OEM walnut stock, as well as an aluminium morgan adj pad, and two thick, robust delrin posts which supported the kneeriser (chunk of wood). I loved that rifle. Took it hunting (precision sniping on CA ground squirrels- I used a Tasco Custom Shop 10-50×60 and would range and click) shot matches with it and punched tiny holes in paper with it.
Back to the pellets- I needed some pellets for the Nats which was like 2 days away and I asked Tim McMurray if he had some AA Fields pellets. He reached out to his SoCal network and ended up handing me 3 cream tins of AA Fields, 4.51mm. Jim Zeigler, if you're reading this: Thank you! On the eve of the competition I mounted an old 10-50×60 Hakko Mil-Dot and got to sighting in, and making notes of my pellet trajectory drop from 10-55yds. Shaky and rusty as I'd been out of the country for over a year without pulling a single trigger. Met with old friends, made new ones, and we shot the match. On Day2, while trying to overcome my point defecit and catch up to the open piston leader my safety button stem snapped. Had to resort to taking apart a pen and using the ink tube to push in the safety for the rest of the match. Did good enough to win my division, but it was such an awesome time because of the camaraderie, food, and shooting of course.
Fast forward to March 2020: I find the other two tins that Tim McMurray handed to me in 2012. Couldn't believe it. Opened up one, and the pellets had that old, frosted look. These pellets are worth gold to me, full of sentimental value. Memories. I give them the full pellet spa treatment: hot water and Dawn washdown, hot water spray rinse, 24 hour air dry followed by a Dupont silicone spray lubing over a saran wrap covered paper plate. The pellets look good now, gleaming with potential.
The LGU: High-speed low-drag Paul Short customized internals (glided compression cylinder, transfer port opened to 3.5mm, glided OEM piston with weight reduced). Rowan trigger, Mercury in the buttstock. Tight bore on this one, so I figure to try the magical cream tin AA 4.51's.
14 yards, 5 shots:
It was dark out, shot at 32x off the bare knee. POA was the fork of the "Y" in Priority. Clicks a bit off, but good enough.
I clicks down a few, and now I held on the "9" using JSB 7.9. 5 shots, not the tightest, but hey.
Back to the cream tin AA 4.51. Now I held on 6 o'clock of the middle red circle. Shot 2 goes through the same hole but loosened the adhesive bond, now the target swung nearly upside down, barely hanging to the masking tape covered box. I held at the top of the hole I created, a bit to the left of center and shot. It fell, so this group would only be 3 shots, darn. 3 in one hole. I'll take it.
I will never see my cherished RWS Marked TX200 MK2 again, but I have this LGU. It's no substitute, and it's not the same. It does however like the magical AA cream tin 4.51 pellets, which I think is pretty cool.
Thanks for reading!
J
