Re: Entry level BR Airgun...
Brian,
I recently made the move to AGBR shooting myself and asked the same questions. Now that I've been at it about 6 months, what I have learned is a lot! First of all, what would make a good entry level benchrest airgun depends a lot on where you shoot and what type of matches are run in your area. Before investing in a gun, go to a match, talk to the people, and see what the format is and what equipment is being used is the best way to decide...
I say this as I'm in the New England area and most matches around here are run as AGBR unlimited class matches and the guns used are predominantly unlimited class PCP guns. There is also some activity with match class guns and a few people shoot springer class guns and most of the match directors will add that class to a match as needed and people with match and springer type guns shoot along with the PCP gun shooters and only the scoring differentiates the class they shoot in. Typically this is only one or two shooters that show for each match with something other than an unlimited class PCP gun and including them mixed in with the rest of the shooters is simple enough to do as they shoot the same targets at the same distance of 25 Yards...
For my own experience in getting started, my first gun purchased before I attended any match was an AR2078 Chinese made Co2 target rifle and while I learned a lot with it, the main thing I learned was that to be competitive in our local matches, I definitely needed a gun capable of higher accuracy and quality.
Once I attended a match I immediately started looking for an "out of the box" gun with suitable accuracy to be capable of entry level competitive shooting and after talking to a lot of shooters and learning how the local matches worked, I purchased an Air Arms S400MPR-FT .177 caliber from Precision Airguns in Michigan and this gun is very satisfactory for an entry level gun to my way of thinking as you can be competitive without having to rebuild the gun or purchase a whole lot of the top gun accessories to get started.
One factor for me in choosing this Air Arms S400MPR-FT is the stock it comes with. It is a match style stock meaning it comes with the accessory rail under the forearm and a 3" wide front rest adapter plate is available from Jeff at MwerksLLC.com meaning this gun can be used with most of the popular shooting rests available today. By adding this adapter plate to the gun, I am able to use it with both a Pappas style rest and a Von Ahrens one piece rest as well as with a Caldwell Rock BR competiton rest with a Fudd windage top and it is very stable.
The end result is that this gun, some means to fill it, (I quickly found out that an HPA tank is best), the front rest adapter plate and a Sightron 6X-24X target scope (borrowed from my rimfire gun) and I have a very satisfactory starter outfit that produces 242-248 scores right out of the box. After five matches, my lowest match score is a 242 and best official score with this gun so far is a 248. In practice sessions I have shot several 250 scores so I know the gun is capable of it, Its just up to me to overcome that nemesis of being the new guy still learning the ropes and what his new equipment is capable of when shooting with the top shooters around...
I'm also presently building up an Air Arms S400SL-FAC gun in .22 caliber to use at the outdoor matches which have just started back up for this season. This gun will be in a Don Stith benchrest stock and have a Weaver T-36 scope. At present, I'm finishing the stock however I've had a chance to assemble it for testing before starting finishing the stock, and initial tests are very promising, the marriage of the AA S400SL-FAC and a Stith stock will be a very stable gun and Air Arms guns have phenomenal stock triggers, fully adjustable to very light pull pressures, as they come from the factory so I'm very optimistic about this gun and hope to shoot it in the May 17th match...
As to pellets, a lot depends on what the gun you choose shoots best with and this is something you'll have to learn by trial and error. Again, what I have learned over the past 6 months of AGBR shooting is that Field Target type domed pellets work best, my gun shoots most accurately with "JSB Exact Diablo Heavy" 10.2 grain and second best with "Beeman Kodiak Match" 10.6 grain and also shoots well with "Crosman Premier Heavy" at 10.5 grain...
My advise is to stay away from the wadcutter type match pellets as they do not seem to be stable enough to achieve good accuracy at 25 yards. I suspect they were developed to work best at 10 meter match ranges but not much beyond the 10 meter (11 yard) distance. I've never found any that would shoot as accurately as the FT type domed pellets.
You asked about velocity, I can only report that factory specifications of my gun rates it at 800-975 fps with the pellets I'm shooting, and its my experience that the faster the better up to about 1000 fps is the norm for the top PCP guns. Unfortunately I do not have my own chronograph so I have not been able to measure exactly what my guns are producing for velocities, I can only go by the manufacture rated specifications. Adding a chronograph to my collection of gear is in process as I write this however, at this time, I do not have the capability...
Hope this brief history of my getting started in airgun benchrest shooting helps, its a blast, I was bored with rimfire shooting and looking for something more challenging and this is definitely it... I'm finding AGBR shooting to be quite mentally intoxicating, and now that I'm actively shooting AGBR, I'm also back into shooting rimfire again, AGBR and PCP guns have rekindled my interest in rimfire shooting...
You can find more info on AGBR shooting here:
http://www.airgunbenchrest.com/
Good Luck with it...
Mitch & Shadow...
(Shadow = 80lbs of hyper 4wd muscle disguised as a Black Labrador!)
