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