s200guy

Shooting a wood pigeon in your garden, in this case, is against the law. All birds are protected under law (unlike rabbits and grey squirrels for example) and you must have a valid reason for shooting them. A valid reason would be crop destruction or spreading disease. A wood pigeon eating seed out of your feeder is not a valid reason. You need to remember that all birds are protected and this includes pest species included in the general licence. Also shooting in your garden without a valid backstop is an issue. Of course I do not know the size of your garden or if you did have a backstop

My S200 was overpowered when I first got it (around 13.5 ft/lb) so I was only getting around 40 shots and the power curve was horrible. I think my gun was particualrly bad because the previous owner had messed around with it, probably fitting a heavier hammer spring. With the regulator I get I shots at 11.5 ft/lb with every shot being nearly the same fps. Darrin at XTXAir is a top bloke to deal with!

If you are going to invest in your S200 heavily I would definitely recommend a regulator fitted by XTXAir. I get around shots per fill and less than 3fps spread. It's expensive but completely transforms the gun into something very very good. I also have an adjustable trigger and ally barrel band from Rowan Engineering. Wouldn't hurt to replace your plastic bolt as well. (I thought only Mk.1s had a plastic bolt?) The combination of the regulator and rowan barrel band gives very consistent results. PS: I also put a Mk.3 stock on mine

Darrin adjusted my trigger when fitting the reg but I had to change all the adjuster screws to fit the Rowan Engineering adjustable brass trigger. I have now set the trigger up as a very hair single stage which I seem to shoot best with.

The silver bit at the back of your cylinder can you enlighten me? It's a tench regulator I got fitted by Darren at XTXAir. £145 so not cheap! Less than 5fps spread and around 60-70 shots in .22. Never have to worry about finding the 'sweet spot'. The reg plus the metal barrel band and adjustable trigger have turned it into a top class rifle. Also using RWS Supefield which after testing, group more consistently than the JSB Exacts I was previously using.

Out again at about 6:30am at the rugby club. Managed to bag a 40yd rabbit, 30yd woody and a 10yd woody. My mate managed a 60yd Magpie. The MTC Viper 10x44 worked well! All kills were heart/lung.

Everyone seems to be ranting on about the HW 97K these days. Never shot one myself but suspect they are as good as people say. Best thing to do is go to your local gun shop and have a good hold of them all. The TX200 is a very good gun but for me it's not very comfortable so it's best to have a look at them in person.

I live in the North East but Jay's are quite rare here can't remember the last time I even saw one! Is there a lot of them where you are? Are they a pest? Apparently they are accountable for 40% of all new Oak trees in the UK!

Well this is just my opinion, I've shot my fair share of different air rifles and out of all the springers I've shot I thought the HW80 had the worst recoil. I have also owned an HW90 which I think is another air rife that suffers at 12ft/lb. I bought it secondhand and it shot beautifully, very short lock time, quick snappy recoil. I chrono'ed later on and discovered it was running at 18 ft/lb!! Took it down to 11.5 and the recoil became much worse, making the rifle more difficult to shoot consistently.

What rifle is that?

How the hell have you come to that conclusion?? If you've only shot one it must've been a very bad example. I've shot 2 different HW80s. Both brand new shop bought guns. They are accurate but the recoil compared to other springers is brutal and unnecessary for a sub 12ft/lb rifle. They are designed as 20-30 ft/lb air rifles and at 12ft/lb they just aren't efficient. I suspect with some work they can shoot a lot better but I would not recommend an HW80 @ 12ft/lb for a new shooter. Maybe "absolutely horrible" is overboard. First choice for a FAC springer.

HW80s are absolutely horrible at 12ft/lb.

I usually do a heart/lung with my sub 12ft/lb .22 air rifle. First headshot I did left the bird flapping for a very long time and another headshot (just behind the eye) left the bird visibly breathing still. I believe this is to do with the 'brain' still being able to function further down the spinal cord which does not happen in rabbits for example. A good heart/lung/spinal shot with a .22 always seems to drop them stone dead for me. Headshots sometime drop them dead and other times cause unwanted flapping.

Out this morning with my S200 and tracked this fella up in the trees. Ended up taking a vertical 15yd shot giving a good heart/lung shot which dropped it like a stone. First squirrel I've shot and quite a big one as well!

I've just started using the MTC Viper 10x44 and love it. The reticle is far better than the standard mil-dot type. Everything feels very solid.