What are your best pellets and slugs for .25 Safari for 100 yard Bench Rest?

[jeffhernandez]

I am in the same boat with the RW Safari results 25 cal. 

At 50 yardas It does amazing groups but at 75 and 100 yards I cannot get better than 2 inch gropus with calm wind. With some wind It Just gets worst. I have much better results with my 30 cal Impact. 

If you have any luck please share the results and the settings you have as I have lost all the energy I had on this beautiful airgun expecting to use It over My 30 cal impact on benchrest shooting.

Cheers.

Jeff. 

 

[tommyb]

Jeff, 

Let me take a stab here at your frustration.

1. What ammo and velocities is your gun shooting at for100 yards? Please specify power level used for each pellet weight. You have seen in my thread what I have tried so far, and the JSB 25g at 900 FPS on low power has been more accurate, but my testing is still in early stages

2. What are your approximate average group sizes with your Impact at 100 yards, just for a comparison? 

3. Have you tried any slugs on high power? To be fair, I have not tried any slugs yet so I haven’t optimized the RW yet in terms of my analysis with regard to how it shoots with slugs.

4. Wind - even the slightest wind can be challenging especially at 100 yards. 

5. Lastly, but most importantly; there is no substitute for very good shooting skills and technique. You can have the best gun in the world but if your technique and skills have some fundamental flaws, getting MOA accuracy is unachievable. As an example. I cannot read the wind well and adjust the way I would like. This is the single most important “lacking” skill in shooting at distance for me!

Look forward to getting some additional information and answers from you to try and assist. 

 

[jeffhernandez]

Hello Tommy.

1. I have tried 25gr kings, mk1 and mk2 all in different speeds. Right now the mk2s have better results for me. On mid mk2s are at 930fps. On high mk2s are at 970fps. I use 25gr on low at 930fps. At 50 yards they do very well but past that all the trouble begins. It seems that past the 50 the pellets get unstable somehow. I inspected the barrel to see if there were any mark inside but looks good.

2. My average group sizes with the impact at 75 yards are 1 inch at a calm day and at 100 1 1/2 inch at a calm day. You can see the difference in lateral movement due to the wind with little vertical displacement. With the RW the groups are all over up and down right and left on a 3 inch target that lets me without a clue of what is happening.

3. I have not tried any slugs with the RW.

4. Yes agree wind is very challenging.

5. My shooting skills are not the very best but I consider myself as a more than average shooter.



Also I have a AGT Uragan in 25 cal that at 75 yards makes better groups with mk2s than the RW.

It seems that I will have to put some more days of testing.



Cheers.

 

[tommyb]

Jeff

Where did you buy your gun? I’m under the impression that “ out of box” the Safari .25 shoots the following velocities:

Mine shoots the MK2s at 950 FPS on high and 870 on medium power. The 25g shoots 900 FPS on low. Your gun is shooting hotter so I would question the dealer who test shot your gun and ask what pellets and velocities they tried, and at what distances. Mine is consistent in power velocities with other .25 RW owners so your results appear high to me. Also, I think Daystate presets the power levels and yours seems high. 

Have you cleaned your barrel? Please describe your process for cleaning. A dirty Poly barrel can adversely affect accuracy. I clean mine after every outing. I think you could always call the Dealer and explain your accuracy issue and see what they recommend. 

If you bought new you have a 3 or 5 year warranty, so not too worry.

 

[jeffhernandez]

Tommy

I bought it new. 

The first thing I did was to clean the barrel. I took out the shroud to gain access to the barrel and I use Balistol with a 25 cal kit from Patchworm.

I ran a semi wet patch over and over until I see no more dirt coming out and the patch is pretty snug to make sure it removes dirt properly, then I use dry patches several times.

This is the first thing I do before using any new airgun.

I had told that poly barrels don't tend to accumulate lead too much and they do not need to be cleaned so often until you see a drop un accuracy. But I do it very often with all my airguns.

 

[tommyb]

Poly Barrels - Not sure I fully agree with what you were told. I had one on my RAW HP .22 and after 75-100 JSB RDs fired, I would run multiple Ballistol patches and always visually inspect for lead specs. I normally would see lead on two or three patches. The high velocity and soft lead with JSB pellets require more frequent cleaning. I haven’t had the RW ART barrel long enough yet to assess cleaning intervals. I confirmed with Martin and a very knowledgeable shooting buddy and they agreed that Poly barrels require more frequent cleaning. May not be your issue, but it’s good to be aware. 

I sent you a PM with my recommendation to call your dealer and describe your accuracy concerns. Honestly, I would not yet change your factory settings based on your friend’s RW settings. If you change too many things all at once when we still haven’t identified the problem, things could get worse not better.

Call your dealer Jeff.

 

[tommyb]

OP here....I am thinking about trying the new FX Hybrid .25 slugs with the .25 cal Safari. It's worth a tin/bag to see how they do. Thanks for all the information on pellets, but I am still not finding RW .25 owners who are using slugs or maybe I'm not seeing their posts. So, maybe 3rd time is the charm.

Q. For those of you that have the Safari in .25 with ART barrel, can you share your experiences with what pellets and/or slugs you have shot at 100 yard BR; and what velocities you shot those targets at? I know I have to experiment with slugs and pellets, but I'm curious as to what others are finding as optimum based on their experience with the .25 caliber.