Getting Your Shots Accurate?

[Chris Harrison 21]

hi all

 

how do you go about getting your scope accurate? where i bought my gun from he said he had set it all up and was good to go. i fired the gun and the pellet was to high and to the left of the target. so i had a play about until i was hitting atleast the 9 ring but some of that was wind and me pulling the rifle now and again.

 

any tips? im not happy until i can hit the middle but with a spring gun you obviously cant keep sight of the target while reloading so each shot is a fresh start.

 

probably a stupid question but you dont know till u ask

Edited September 26, 2014 by Chris Harrison

[Rez 4,957]

Check out pianomans 'springer shooting guide' mate.

Its quite a read but informative.

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/182473-spring-air-rifle-shooting/

Shooting a spring rifle well is about technique, consistency and a light but balanced hold.

[RemyBolt 420]

LOTS of practice.

 

Get into a routine, each movement the same, and you'll get better accuracy with consistent actions.

 

One of the best things I've found, prop up the front of the gun on a sandbag type thing and pull the stock deep into your shoulder. Of course that's only useful for prone shots.

 

Think of it this way, instead of practicing cool shots and variations (lay on your side, standing, kneeling, seated, from the car, etc), practice 1 shot to perfection. Bruce Lee said he did not fear the man that had practiced 10'000 punches 1 time. He feared the man that practiced 1 punch 10'000 times. The same with shooting.

 

As Rez said, check out Pianoman's guide. That man knows his springers.

 

When shooting, don't take 2 shots then adjust your scope. Take 5 shots at the same target and check the grouping. If the gun and you are making groups, the trick is to simply move the group where you want it. Before you can put pellet on pellet in the centre, work on just getting a group in the first place. Don't touch the scope or anything. Just pop 5 pellets into a group, aiming at the same point on the target. When you have that sorted, then adjust the scope and pop another 5 shots. Keep putting this into play until you have it where you want it.

[Chris Harrison 21]

Cheers guys

 

Got myself abit of land to shoot on now so me and my mate can practice over there on targets. Got my permission paperwork for him to sign.

 

Ill try it doing 5 shots then instead of the couple,makes more sence to do that

[RemyBolt 420]

Cheers guys

 

Got myself abit of land to shoot on now so me and my mate can practice over there on targets. Got my permission paperwork for him to sign.

 

Ill try it doing 5 shots then instead of the couple,makes more sence to do that

If you think about it, with 2 shots, if you pull one, and the other is perfect, how do you know which is which if you're new to springers? So hitting out 5 shots without any changes will be the best way to show grouping. Some people say 3, but I'm overly cautious.

 

Also, go and buy around 5'000 pellets. That'll be your warm-up. Some of the guys on here are easily punching paper with 5 figure's worth of pellets (10'000+).

 

A military friend used to tell me to take a shot, then totally reset. He'd leave the gun in position, then start the process all over again, lay down body pointing at the target, check eye on scope, then go through the process of loading and all that. Once I was able to set into position the same as before, he would work on spot changes, e.g. reloading and the alike from laying prone. I thought he was having me on for a while. Turns out he wasn't winding me up. When most people reload a break action, they shift their bodies off the centre line of the shot. So instead of being alined to your body and through the gun to the target, the alignment was off and shot accuracy was not where it could have been. Because the centre line was key for him, maintaining a set position down his spine, he was teaching me to automatically reposition to the centre. So I'd reload, and I can now feel if I'm out of line for the shot. But that took a long time to get used to.

 

I still have a long way to go, so don't think I'm a super shot. I'm not. I just work on the principle that imperfect practice makes imperfect perfection. However perfect practice makes perfect perfection. So practice with the best technique you can.

 

Are you a member of a shooting club?

[4sight 31]

Hi Chris, welcome.

I joined a local club and picked up loads of help from the guys there. Springer shooting is about technique, something that takes a lot of practice to be good at. You will need to set up your scope for your eyes, so take out some targets to the field and use them to get sorted.

Different weights of pellets will perform differently in your barrel. Be prepared to try out several makes to find the one that works best. A good start point is domed pellets Air Arms Field or JSB Diabolo,

The only thing I would add is that you need to be able to group your pellets inside a ten pence piece at ALL of your hunting ranges before you start shooting at any quarry you might have permission to shoot, learn to walk before you run.

Good luck for the future.

Edited September 26, 2014 by 4sight

[Chris Harrison 21]

Cheers for the advice guys.

 

There's a couple of gun clubs by me I'm going to go have a look at. I have been hitting targets well in my mates garden but that's why I wanted a field so we can practice at distances. What's the furthest roughly a .22 spring gun could be fired at and take a rabbit out cleanly? Last place I went they were stupid and you were more or less standing on them so it was easy.

 

Just out of interest cuz I'm looking to eat the rabbits I kill, is there a thread on here about what to look for on the rabbits to decide wether they are good enough to eat?

[Skot Ruthless Teale 1,701]

Cheers for the advice guys.There's a couple of gun clubs by me I'm going to go have a look at. I have been hitting targets well in my mates garden but that's why I wanted a field so we can practice at distances. What's the furthest roughly a .22 spring gun could be fired at and take a rabbit out cleanly? Last place I went they were stupid and you were more or less standing on them so it was easy.Just out of interest cuz I'm looking to eat the rabbits I kill, is there a thread on here about what to look for on the rabbits to decide wether they are good enough to eat?

however far YLU can make the gun shoot 10 pellets within the 10p EVERYTIME...

[Chris Harrison 21]

Chris, seriously you need to get a load of practice at estimating ranges, especially with a sub 12 .22.

I'll guess your optimum zero at about 28 yards which means the pellet will drop rapidly after that, a PBR of maybe 18 -30 yards if you're lucky.

Any full power sub 12 has enough oomph to kill a rabbit at 50+ yards but actually hitting it in the kill zone is the problem. The ideal spot between eye and ear is about the size of a 10p piece at most, you need to hit that consistently to be effective and humane. It sounds easy, it is if you know the exact distance and how much holdover to apply but in the field under real conditions it's very difficult. Have you thought about a rangefinder?

More accurate than guesswork but you can also use them to train yourself by simply walking out and guessing distances to trees, posts etc then checking with the LRF.

As for rabbit health, generally a rabbit that looks healthy, is healthy but there are a few things to watch for internally such as tapeworm cysts or growths. As long as it's cooked properly t won't hurt you, even myxi rabbits are edible but I've never braved it myself!

Keep practicing and range estimating and it will all come together, you'll know when you're ready to hunt.

Regards

Tim

I can hunt mate just not done it for a long long time and confidence is abit low and never done it with a spring gun. Ill get my target practice in now I have a big field to shoot over. I've never done it solo, my mates dad always set his gun up and we shot from where he told us etc.

[Chris Harrison 21]

 

Cheers for the advice guys.There's a couple of gun clubs by me I'm going to go have a look at. I have been hitting targets well in my mates garden but that's why I wanted a field so we can practice at distances. What's the furthest roughly a .22 spring gun could be fired at and take a rabbit out cleanly? Last place I went they were stupid and you were more or less standing on them so it was easy.Just out of interest cuz I'm looking to eat the rabbits I kill, is there a thread on here about what to look for on the rabbits to decide wether they are good enough to eat?

however far YLU can make the gun shoot 10 pellets within the 10p EVERYTIME...

Ok mate ill keep hitting that. Ill even shoot a 10p to make sure

[RemyBolt 420]

I disagree with Timmy...but only the tiniest bit.

 

Although you can eat a mixi rabbit, you wouldn't want to. When they have mixi they stop eating and start going very skinny. Unless you shoot a mixi rabbit very early on, you'll be eating a bag of bones with no real meat. So, although you technically can eat a mixi rabbit (mixi does not effect people), you wouldn't want to. It's not a case of braving it, it's just a case of 'there is better meat available than a scraggly meatless rabbit'.

 

As for the 10p piece...spot on. Pellet between the eye and base of the ear.