Groundhog vs Hatsan 95 .25

Probably gutshooting it. Instead take a steady, well placed shot between the ear and eye and it will drop instantly. Otherwise they will run off. 


what are your group sizes at 20 yards?

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Good question and something I was going to make another post about because I'm pretty frustrated with my groupings. I'm coming from powder and have read about how much different and more difficult it can be to shoot springers. It sounds like I should be loosey goosey while holding it compared to what I'm used to so I try not to be too firm with anything. My practice setup has me laying down on cardboard with a stack of 3 2x4's with a towel over it to rest the rifle on just in front of the trigger guard. Left hand on trigger and stock pulling a little into shoulder. Chin/cheek a bit snug on top/right of stock. Right hand is fisted under stock for vertical adjustment and stability. Slow pulling trigger on peak of exhale where sights come to rest on target when I fire. Then when the trigger trips all hell breaks loose

Using the fixed sights I was getting this at 20 yds after about 60 pellets.



Then even more frustrating, I put the scope on and shot this group.



I can't imagine a gun could be that inaccurate at 20yds even without putting too many pellets through it so I'm assuming it is user error, and definitely frustrating.

And while I'm at it... here is my first shot. I should add that I generally aim between the ear and eye.

One more thing to add. I'm pretty sure this gun was used before it was shipped to me. The box was torn with scotch tape over the tears, the scope was definitely mounted and then removed. I contacted the company and they said it was not a refurbished gun but if I wanted to return it I could. They said I could shoot it a bit first so I've been trying. In the back of my mind I'm wondering if the gun was a returned the first time for a reason but I still think everything is likely my fault. I need to tame this thing!

Thanks all. I do think I'll exchange the gun for a new one just to get that out of my head. I've only had the gun for two days so I am sure most if not all of the problem is my lack of consistency. I'll try some of your suggestions and see if I can start to tighten them up. I'm pretty surprised how sensitive it seems even after reading about how touchy they can be. I mean, I can get the same shot group standing at the same range with any one of my Glocks, so this is humbling!



They all showed up this Spring out of nowhere and have sen up to 8 at one time within 20 yds. I hadn't actually planned on trying to shoot one yet but the first two times they literally ran out by the target while I was there already. The little one knocked over the board I had been pinning the paper targets to when I shot him because he was right up against it. I couldn't resist it I crawled a bit closer when I saw them to give myself a closer shot too.

While I'm at it with the questions... Since I'm going to be returning the gun, am I right thinking that the .25 cal @ 650fps is a better choice for groundhogs than a higher fps .177? Obviously both require shot placement but if I have an opportunity to change my choice in guns I thought I'd ask.

Update: I watched a few more videos and decided that while I thought I was holding the gun gently that I'd try to really, really let go and focused on my trigger hand loosening up a bit. I still need to lighten the trigger a little because it is forcing me to squeeze more than I'd like but I instantly saw an improvement. 30 pellets later the groups shrunk to about 1.5" at 20yds with an occasional flyer. Groundhogs started coming out when I was about to wrap it up and I was feeling a lot more confident and relaxed so I gave it a shot. (pun intended)

First one at about 15 yds was standing while leaning against a tree. I thought I missed because I saw the pellet go into the grass behind it and the groundhog didn't really move any besides dropping its head. Since it was still there I was about to load another pellet but then saw it roll over to its side, twitch a few times and then stopped moving. Needless to say the pellet had plenty of heat on it and what I thought was a miss was a pass-through and thing was lights out.

Second one was about 20 yds standing from same tree and I missed completely I believe.

Third one I was more like 10 yds from other said of same tree. Again it looked like I missed with pellet hitting grass behind it. It stood still, then started slowly walking away and I lost sight of it before loading a second pellet. Turns out it only made it 10' and rolled over.

Thanks for all those who responded. As we thought, it was was all user error and while I still have a lot to improve before I'll be satisfied, the groupings are "useable".

Here's the pic, I bet you can guess which one didn't move and which one made it 10'.