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My First Forray Into Hunter FT (My New Rig)

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DRAGON64

DRAGON64

Member
Aug 13, 2017
142
14
Alabama, United States
I am pulling together the support I need to start shooting Hunter FT. The rig I am starting out with is a Benjamin Akela with a fixed 16X SWFA scope. Being stuck inside the house during the cold winter months, this Akela set up seems quite comfortable to handle, but getting used to a shorter configuration is going to be key. Once I can get outside and can start the tuning and zeroing process, then I can beging to get a feel as to whther or not I can deploy this rig for the season properly.

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Dragon64, I'm not stalking you but at times just like to follow what's happening. Please don't let me discourage you from trying your new rig in HFT but you might find out that a regular type pcp might work better for you. I really don't know anyone that has reached any recognized status shooting a bull pup in Field target. I never really like the looks of them and it took me 10 years to warm up to them. I have owned a couple AGT Vulcans and that is about it. I tried my Vulcan 2 .22 in one competition a couple years ago and most likely shot one of the lowest scores I have ever shot. It shot great on paper at home but I had a very bad day on the first field target course I tried. My remaining Vulcan 2 is in .25 and the only reason I'm holding on to it is the fact that it shoots a very tight SD and just before the CV19 entrance in the fall of 2019 I shot a couple of sub 1" groups with it at 100 yards. Hopefully this year maybe I can get to someplace that has a ERB event. I honestly don't know of any fact reason why they couldn't be used successfully in FT and maybe you will have better luck than I had. Best of Luck with it. P.S That is a beautiful Pup! 
 
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You should be fine. I got into the game last year with my Impact + Athlon scope at 15x shooting JSB Monster 13.4's around 19 fpe and it does quite well even out to 75 yards.

I have an Air Arms HFT 500 shooting the lighter JSB diabolos that is more accurate, tradeoff is more drop and wind sensitivity. 

With both guns I am the limiting factor. Dialing in your holdovers, reading the wind and working your sticks, offhand & kneeling practice is the ticket. When you outshoot the gun ask your sponsor for an upgrade.
 
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Thanks all, this is turning out to be more fun than I thought, and I am in the hunter/gather stages at the moment. Hunting for info, and gathering my gear etc. My plan is to initially tune the rifle with Crosman 10.5 to 17fpe, for no other reason than to establish a starting point. So, I ordered a couple boxes of the Crosman Premiers this morning from Pyramyd Air. In the meantime I have a tin of 10.5 domed Crosmans that I can start dialing in the fps with. There is not much on the dial to adjust on the Akela, and my understanding it is only an adjuster to change the size of the transfer port. Worst case, I run a Huma regulator and leave the port wide open, but only time on the crony will tell.

I watched a couple Akela based videos from a channel called Sub 12 Airgunners, and there are some nice tune options I could try out. The channel also shows detailed procdures for Akela tear down, and basic barrel polishing etc.

Worst case, I put out a plea for another Gen1 Marauder in .177, and go with what I know...
 
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I had an Akela for a while dialing it in for a friend. One bit of advice-get good solid data for holdovers from 10-20 yards in 1-yard increments. The necessary height the scope is set above the bore makes for a lot of holdover on the close shots with a 30 yard zero. Usually the close shots have tiny KZs and a small error results in a miss (ask me how I learned this, LOL!)

Have fun!
 
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Researching being just that, research, I have come to realise that I may not want to pursue an Akela course of action. Lots of potential for heartache I am finding scattered about the net.

That being said, I put out some feelers for a rifle I have always wanted to own; a RAW TM1000 in .177. This morning I found one at a North Carolina Gun shop at a reasonable price, so I pulled the trigger and bought it... Buy Once Cry Once.

I will pull the Falcon X50 scope from my WFTF rig, and mount it to this new rifle, as the Falcon scope has a 16X mark. Also, I live close enough to old RAW facility in Tennessee, that I may be able to get Martin to go through the rifle and make sure it is competion ready. Here are the pics from the firearms store that I found this morning.



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Check and see what barrel it has. If it has the polygon rifled barrel, you should definitely check out the old style JSB monsters. They tend to shoot very accuratly out of those barrels. Of course, with that heavy pellet, it's going to be falling out of the sky at 50-55 yards, and you're shooting hunter, so the range finding at that distance is going to be tricky. Worth a try though. 

Chas
 
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