D
Dan Hankins
Guest
A friend of mine and I went to the range yesterday with spring piston rilfes to practice and experiment.
The spring piston rifles present were my TX-200, an FWB 300 an Paul Watts tuned R-9 and a Watts tuned HW-77. So, we had two under lever rifles, the TX and the HW-77, one side lever, the FWB 300 and a break barrel the R-9.
Practice included, attempts to improve shooters skill and some additional pellet testing. And trying to read the wind. We had two quality flags set up. The wind was fairly light but with a front comming in it was very shifty. Temp about 65 degrees.
The rifles we were using have been tested for accuracy and performance, so this was not as much a rifle test as it was an attempt to perfect skills on the part of the shooters. We both shoot rimfire bench rest off one piece rests with rifles specifically made for that purpose.
One problem that remains kinda up in the air (as I see it) is the type of rest set up to use for matches with spring piston rifles. As ya'll know you have 20 minutes to shoot 25 shots for score and any sighters you think you can get in in the allotted time. Before I go any further I want to make it clear that This is NOT an attempt to change the rules. I believe that we need the year or so to get things going and rule changes just confuse and take up time that could be well spent on promotion of the sport. We clear on that?
I have been shooting TX-200 pellet rifles for a number of years. I made a front rest out of Sunbrella, a tightly woven acrilic heavy fabric often seen on boats as biminis or covers. Water resistant and sun resistant. And I could sew it on a machine that I have. So, I built this owl ear bag a little higher than the store bought ones, filled it with sand and put a piece of leather on the center of the bottom of the part that holds the rifle. It is a little wide for the fore arm but sits solid on the bench and is maliable enough to settle the rifle in to a point of aim. Used some pillow type bags for the rear.
As a general rule on spring piston rifles you find the sweet spot on the fore arm and shoot as much free recoil as you can. Consistancy is the key here. Because you cannot eliminate the effects of the firing cycle, unless you have one of the 10 m rifles that have some method of recoil reduction such as the FWB-300, the RWS 75 and the Anschultz 380.
OK, the challenge is to fet the rifle out of the rest, cockie and loaded and back in the rest and on target with as much speed as you can so that you have time to work the condition and maybe even shoot a sighter once in a while.
We tried an adjustable top front rest, with custom top and of very fine quality, One of them Orange Hoppe's rest with a nice bag on top, and an adjustable rear rest, and my bag set up as described above. My friend liked the Hoppe rest with a good bag and a piece of sheep skin with the hair up lying on top of the bag, and the rear adjustable rest. Pretty good and consistant set up. Don't know how much he actually used the rear adjustable rest for the purpose of adjustment, but it is there if you need or want it.
The front rest with windage top and a similar bag set up and using my rimfire bunny eared rear bag made a tall rest. Need the adjsutable drummers throne, but left it at home. You seldom had time to use the front windage adjustment and or the speed screw in the rear leg of the rest. Now, for relaxed shooting, this set up is nice. Works very well, and I was able to shoot Xs more often than just 10s with this set up, when I took my time.
OK, you may be asking what is the point of all this rambeling. We'll, the point is that springerss are fun to shoot off a rest, been doing it for years informally. They can be very accurate. They are a challenge to shoot in our competition but a challenge that is not insurmountable. I encourage all spring piston rifle owners to give this a try. It's sooo fine a feeling when you shoot a doughnut. Don't come often enough to get used to it, so it is always a thrill.
What are ya'll finding as far as rests that work well on springers.
I remain,
Respectfully,
Dan Hankins
Southwest Missouri
The spring piston rifles present were my TX-200, an FWB 300 an Paul Watts tuned R-9 and a Watts tuned HW-77. So, we had two under lever rifles, the TX and the HW-77, one side lever, the FWB 300 and a break barrel the R-9.
Practice included, attempts to improve shooters skill and some additional pellet testing. And trying to read the wind. We had two quality flags set up. The wind was fairly light but with a front comming in it was very shifty. Temp about 65 degrees.
The rifles we were using have been tested for accuracy and performance, so this was not as much a rifle test as it was an attempt to perfect skills on the part of the shooters. We both shoot rimfire bench rest off one piece rests with rifles specifically made for that purpose.
One problem that remains kinda up in the air (as I see it) is the type of rest set up to use for matches with spring piston rifles. As ya'll know you have 20 minutes to shoot 25 shots for score and any sighters you think you can get in in the allotted time. Before I go any further I want to make it clear that This is NOT an attempt to change the rules. I believe that we need the year or so to get things going and rule changes just confuse and take up time that could be well spent on promotion of the sport. We clear on that?
I have been shooting TX-200 pellet rifles for a number of years. I made a front rest out of Sunbrella, a tightly woven acrilic heavy fabric often seen on boats as biminis or covers. Water resistant and sun resistant. And I could sew it on a machine that I have. So, I built this owl ear bag a little higher than the store bought ones, filled it with sand and put a piece of leather on the center of the bottom of the part that holds the rifle. It is a little wide for the fore arm but sits solid on the bench and is maliable enough to settle the rifle in to a point of aim. Used some pillow type bags for the rear.
As a general rule on spring piston rifles you find the sweet spot on the fore arm and shoot as much free recoil as you can. Consistancy is the key here. Because you cannot eliminate the effects of the firing cycle, unless you have one of the 10 m rifles that have some method of recoil reduction such as the FWB-300, the RWS 75 and the Anschultz 380.
OK, the challenge is to fet the rifle out of the rest, cockie and loaded and back in the rest and on target with as much speed as you can so that you have time to work the condition and maybe even shoot a sighter once in a while.
We tried an adjustable top front rest, with custom top and of very fine quality, One of them Orange Hoppe's rest with a nice bag on top, and an adjustable rear rest, and my bag set up as described above. My friend liked the Hoppe rest with a good bag and a piece of sheep skin with the hair up lying on top of the bag, and the rear adjustable rest. Pretty good and consistant set up. Don't know how much he actually used the rear adjustable rest for the purpose of adjustment, but it is there if you need or want it.
The front rest with windage top and a similar bag set up and using my rimfire bunny eared rear bag made a tall rest. Need the adjsutable drummers throne, but left it at home. You seldom had time to use the front windage adjustment and or the speed screw in the rear leg of the rest. Now, for relaxed shooting, this set up is nice. Works very well, and I was able to shoot Xs more often than just 10s with this set up, when I took my time.
OK, you may be asking what is the point of all this rambeling. We'll, the point is that springerss are fun to shoot off a rest, been doing it for years informally. They can be very accurate. They are a challenge to shoot in our competition but a challenge that is not insurmountable. I encourage all spring piston rifle owners to give this a try. It's sooo fine a feeling when you shoot a doughnut. Don't come often enough to get used to it, so it is always a thrill.
What are ya'll finding as far as rests that work well on springers.
I remain,
Respectfully,
Dan Hankins
Southwest Missouri