Exploring Air Gun Benchrest

Hi my name is Chris too

Daystate wolverine B .22

Look into RAW airguns. The TM, and BM models are used by many top competitors. They will also build the rifle to your specs just call them and ask to speak with Martin. Also the prices are very reasonable and should come in under your budget.

I second the RAW's (Rapid Air Weapons) Here is their web site. There are many options and combinations that are not shown on their web site. Those are just the basic models. Bench rest accuracy requires very consistent power output and a regulated gun is the way to go. RAW's are about the most consistent guns out there. Here is their site; https://www.rapidairweapons.com/xcart/home.php?cat=262

I think most PCP's are perfectly capable of a 0.5 inch group at 50 yards. 

So, it may be wiser to look at which rifles are capable of doing that @ 100 yards if you are looking for good accuracy. 


If you are only looking for 50 yards, then there's much cheaper alternatives. (BSA, Air Arms) . Some of these are even decent 100 meter rifles. 

I think most any respectable mid to high end pcp will get you half inch at 50 yards. My favorite has always been the FX Royale. Awesome gun straight out of the box, never had any issues, most consistently accurate gun I've had. I had a RAW once but didn't have such a great experience with it. I seem to be in the minority however as you're going to be pretty hard pressed to find anything negative about them. I will say that even though I couldn't get my particular RAW to get a good group at 50 yards, it had the absolute best trigger I've used. I'm posting some pics of a few guns I've had and their capabilities at 50 yards. 

FX Royale, 50 yards. Each hole is a ten round group, each group shot consecutively which means 40 shots in a row under a dime at 50 yards without a single flyer and this was without sorting ammo. The slight shift in POI between groups is a scope adjustment I made while shooting. Pellets were pulled straight from the tin. To be fair the gun does have the occasional flyer but I don't know of any guns that won't. 







BSA R10 MKII .22 Great all around gun. It's quite difficult to find a competitor that can list off the specs and features this gun has for the price. It's gorgeous, regulated, quiet, deadly accurate. Groups at 50 yards again.







AA S510 .22. Another really popular gun, used to be a better value in my opinion, it went up in price $200 about a year ago or so but if you can get a deal on a used one they are definitely worth owning. It's highly regarded, also gorgeous, excellent trigger, and quite accurate. It is however, not regulated and I think more people consider this to be a nice, light, really accurate hunting gun more than a bench gun.







RAW HM1000X. I'm a little remiss to post my groups with this gun because I don't think they're typical results from RAW. I'm pretty sure mine had some kind of issue with clipping the shroud that I was never able to figure out. They are very heavy guns, especially after scoping but that's often looked at as a good thing for bench rest I think. Expect to easily be over 10 pounds when done but also expect to be amazed by how awesome the trigger is. Again, best I've ever pulled. Also, the HM1000 in .25 isn't the quietest gun, but there are things that can be done to help that and the other models I think might be quieter. To be fair about these groups, I'm including pics of the burrs I was getting in my shroud on this particular unit and want to restate that I don't believe my results are typical. Most people you talk to with experience will likely tell you they can get clover leaf groups at 50 yards with their RAW.







Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with whatever you choose!

Regards,
Cliff

Regarding bench rest accuracy. I learned this the hard way and was frustrated until I did. There are lots of excellent very accurate guns out there. However for bench rest especially longer range bench rest, consistency of power output is of major importance. Unlike powder burners the airgun itself generates the power. Guns without regulators can be just as accurate as ones with regs but they have a curve to the power output. They use the valve to try and balance the ever declining pressure in the tank. The first few shots tend to be slower (due to the hammer trying to overcome the high pressure in the tank) then becoming gradually faster then level off for a few more shots. This level area is called the sweet spot. Then the speed begins dropping again as the pressure gets lower until the velocity drops lower than the first shot, then its time to refill the gun. As you might rightly assume this does affect point of impact. Low, gradually getting higher only to start dropping again. You either have to learn to compensate with your hold over or shoot only in the sweet spot or get a regulated gun. In other words you can have two identical guns, one regulated one not, they are both equally "accurate" but the regulated one will be more consistent in hitting the same spot without you having to compensate. A pressure regulator maintains even power output until the pressure in the tank drops below the set pressure of the regulator then its time to refill. This is why high quality airguns are so expensive. They have to be very precisly designed, built and tuned. That and the fact that they are produced in much smaller numbers than powder burners. I hope this helps clarify some things for you.

goto the airgun benchrest sites and read the results of the different groups and see what guns are winning the matches
http://www.network54.com/Forum/673067
and
http://benchrest.com/forumdisplay.php?19-Airgun-Benchrest

Cliff,
mighty fine shooting! Very nice collection of groups! That many groups and there is no debate. Great point too that alot of rifles shoot well at 50 yards. It's after 75 yards that the choices thin out a bit. It would be nice if you could show us what these rifles would do at 75 or 100 yards.
Nice post
Doc

I agree with Cliff on the FX Royale 500. It's the only one I currently have so it gets shot a lot. Never any issues and it's now regulated with helps it out even more. Extremely accurate. My next rifle will be a mid bore, probably a .257.

If you plan on shooting the 25 meter bench rest that is known around the world, you should check out their website for the rules. The only calibers allowed is the .177 and .22 caliber.