Canadian Airgun Forum

Hi guys,

I've spent a few weeks, countless pellets of various types and weights, different positions and holds and I think I've finally figured out the right setup.



First, I had to manage my expectations starting from 1 inch groups at 100 meters, to "just hitting" a 10 inch plate at 50 meters.



The real issue is or was the trigger. It's long vague and heavy. I watched some online vids about the bearing. All removed the little spring in the trigger. I tried removing the spring and the pull immediately became lighter and shorter. But it still wasn't optimal.

The trigger mod made my groups smaller but I would still get these strays and I would still be inconsistent.

I thought it was the pellets, or the scope. I experimented to no avail. It ended up being a very frustrating experience and even thought of selling the rifle.

I decided to give it one last shot. I "emulated" the bearing trick with similar sized washers. Now that changed everything. The pull isn't "hair trigger" light, but it's miles ahead of stock. Total game changer.

With the trigger as good as I could make it, I focused on scope centering from 15 meters seated. My groups definitely improved so my shots were within an inch width but still about 5 inches vertically. Not perfect but I felt that I was getting close.

At the end of my session, I decided to just have fun. I got an old 9v battery and taped it to my backstop. Walked back to 10 meters and tried shooting while standing. I only had domed 13.45 grain diablos (my least accurate pellet).

The rifle is heavy so I set my feet a bit wider apart, rested my elbow on my hip bone - so my hand was almost touching the trigger guard. I found this to be surprisingly stable!

I checked online and my position looks similar to this (except the left hand hold):



I was shocked at my results!



True point and shoot! So I backed up to 15 meters and kept shooting with the same position:



The battery is toast! I'd miss but they were near misses. Unlike before where the miss can be anywhere.

Again, the only thing I did was enhance the trigger. I haven't even cleaned the or lubed the rifle even after almost 2000 rounds.

I haven't tried shooting from a farther distance like 20-30 meters or more but I'm pretty happy with the results at 15 meters. For field hunting, I'm confident that I could get good results.

As a standing rifle, this has good balance and leads me to believe that this really is a hunting rifle first and foremost.

I needed to enhance the trigger and try a bunch of holds/positions/pellets to get the optimum setup.

I recommend the trigger mod to everybody but everybody has to experiment on pellets/holds/positions on their own. Our bodies are different so the rifle will work differently for each of us.

The trick is to be methodical about your experiments. Only try one change at a time. Aiming for consistent grouping every time.

The "getting to know you" phase of this rifle is long and arduous because it takes a lot of experimentation to see what works for you.

Patience is a virtue and you will be rewarded.

But it's also important to manage your expectations. I'm no longer expecting to hit a 1 inch target at 50 meters. But I'm confident I can hit something the size of a 9v battery at 15-20 meters or less. With practice I may hit it at 30-40.

Not bad for a hard kicking Nitro Piston in my book.

Thanks for reading!

8

To make a long story short, all that power isn't any good if you can't hit anything with it. Thats the challenge with springers, balancing the power with shootability. I don't have any experience with gas springers but if possible you might want to slow it down a bit especially for a .177. I was checking prices for that rifle and correct me if I'm wrong but $349.00 is approximately what they are going for these days so you should expect to be hitting that battery at 30-40yds regularly. Sorry if I sound like a downer. In my case it took thousands of pellets and many months before I could shoot my springers with consistent accuracy so I could even tell if it was the pellet or me. I don't know if I am being too harsh but for the same money the Diana34 non nitro piston would give you a proven performer made in Germany, totally tunable with a great trigger out of the box.

Call me Crusty

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When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

I got mine about that price here. I need more practice to be able to hit the target at 40 meters but slowly but surely.



Unfortunately, we have a very limited selection of brands in my country (Philippines) and Diana is not available.

That's the correct position for a springer when shooting in the "Standing" position as per ISO rules. Daryl and I shoot like that, and others on here may too. I learned that when I was 11 to use your ribcage as a rest for your left elbow if right handed. I also sometimes make a fist and sit the guns forearm on my knuckles if the rifle has no belly, "hamster" or riser.

Lots of good books out there about three position shooting, posture and breathing. I have fired more then 5,000,000 projectiles in my life and I still practice! Just make sure you do it correctly otherwise you'll waste your time.

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-Rick

Brocock Concept .22
3 Crosman MK 1 pistol .22

5 Million! Holy Cow!

Yes I see a lot resting the rifle on their knuckles. Haven't tried it myself tho. It doesn't seem comfortable.

Hey guys,

It's been a while! Hope everyone is doing ok.

Anyway, just thought I'd do a quick update on my Trail NP.

I put on an optical sight because I found that I use this for shorter distances and didn't need a scope.

I think it works better this way. I see new Trail models with an actual sight so I guess others feel as I do with this gun.

I also think I've gotten used to this gun well enough. I can shoot from a variety of positions and holds but I notice I shoot best standing, with my elbow resting on my hip.

I also use this more often because I'm too lazy to pump up my Discovery (which itself is due for some seal maintenance).

The Trail has been trouble free. I'm amazed by the durability.

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I bought a Beeman 500 series for $87 just to shoot in house on my archery range. Had fliers and could not shoot it very well. Got sick of the erratic shooting. Went out and got a Hatsan 35S and was hitting boweyes with in a few hours. After 3 or 4 days I decided to try Beeman for a joke, changed the scope and Bingo, I was shooting it better than ever. Guess the Beeman picked up its game knowing their is competition for my time. 70% of my time now I shoot the cheap Beeman now. Can not knock the centre out with my expensive gun, grab the Beeman and centre dot gone. Go figure! Now I am trying to get my MK-177 to shoot. It is horrible for fliers. Going to remove expensive scope today and put on a simple 4X32 scope when my new Ruger Airhawk arrives today. Ruger airhawk is going to stay as my open site gun for range. Five air rifles and five air pistols in a little more than a month. This airgun sport is expensive! LOL

Yeah the type of scope or sight is a huge deal, for me apparently.

When I got mine, it had that stock scope and I've never shot with a scope before so it has all that stuff going on along with getting used to the gun itself.

I did mount the scope on my pcp with excellent results tho. But then again you can't compare pcp to piston.

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To see a battery just out in the wild like that was amazing to me. Good shootin!

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eastcoastairgunner.com

Hahaha! Yeah man. We're going bananas with batteries over here

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