Canadian Airgun Forum

G'day.
I'm interested in getting a precision air rifle to punch paper. I have centerfire rifles and thought this would be a challenge also. Looking forward to learning from those with experience.
A smart person learns from their mistakes.
A wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

Cheers.

Welcome aboard old soldier, I hope you find a suitable air rifle to shoot. What you do mean by a "precision" air rifle? Maybe some more details on what/where/when/how you want to shoot will help us offer better suggestions.

>If you don't make mistakes you don't learn nothing! My 2c.

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Iacio ergo sum

LOL welcome!

I think the most important part for getting a new gun is the budget ~ [emoji38] my 2 cents too~

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~Plinkers~
FX-M3-22 Compact#PP700-Carbine#Diana48-177#XS28M-25@26fpe#HW45 Beast#AW-Custom Z-Killer DE
~Competitors~
FWB300SU#Tau-7#IZH-46M#FWB-65#CP88-C
~Target~
HW 30s/35e/97k/40+Extender/P3+Scope/70#CZ200s Laminated@10fpe#AA ProSport-177@12fpe

Thanks.
I have a Crossman nitro and it's not performing as well as I thought it should. I'm leaning towards a 56 TH. I shoot left hand and like the idea of adding a bipod. YouTube videos claim that it's one of the best.
Cheers

Welcome to the CAF. Another lefty eh........depending on your budget I may be persuaded to part with one of my lefties.

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Jonathan

Moderator

Yikes! a 56TH is a rare bird, but there are many alternatives along those lines. Presumably, you are sticking to springers so a HW97 or 98, a AA TX200 or ProSport, Diana 48/54/56 may tickle your interest. But, how much "time" have you invested shooting the Crosman Nitro? It takes some effort to switch from centre-fire to spring gun because the recoil is totally different and many ppl have a learning curve to get a springer to group. Having a bone shaker (and the Nitro may be one) doesn't help. My experience starting paper punching was with a Crosman (Benjamin) Classic that I couldn't get to group tighter than 3/4" at 10 yds. So after a long frustrating start to target shooting I got a HW97K which puts a single clean hole 5/5 24/7 into paper at 10 yards. Long story short, you are on the right track... a quality springer will be much more satisfying to punch paper. BTW, bipod is not the way to go with most springers although some ppl seem to make it work. Rested on open palm works best for me, YMMV. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

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Iacio ergo sum

Welcome,

Retired Princess Louise Fusiliers here.

Hmm~ very true story~

I enjoy my shooting moment with a quality rifle to shoot rested with the gun on my open palm every day all day any time, very satisfying ~

The 56TH is on my list too, although not very top tho~ This big beast will be a very good fit for the shooting style above~

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~Plinkers~
FX-M3-22 Compact#PP700-Carbine#Diana48-177#XS28M-25@26fpe#HW45 Beast#AW-Custom Z-Killer DE
~Competitors~
FWB300SU#Tau-7#IZH-46M#FWB-65#CP88-C
~Target~
HW 30s/35e/97k/40+Extender/P3+Scope/70#CZ200s Laminated@10fpe#AA ProSport-177@12fpe

Thanks for the offer Jonathan. I like those thumb holed guns but I'm going to go the ambidextrous route. I have a nephew and great nephew that just got their pals so something that they can try out too. It won't take much to brainwash them. A morning mist will do.
As for the ' precision ' part. I want something that can go the distance and still be accurate. Max fps 1150 to keep it stable.
I have a scope already. An Element Helix that I bought for a 22lr but it doesn't have the elevation adjustment needed to put those rounds out to 300m. It's good to go on a springer. An RWS 470 TH might be something to marry that scope to with a nice set of rings.

Thanks everyone for the welcome.

For best accuracy, you really want to keep pellets under about 1000 fps (with round nosed pellets).... and with the wadcutters primarily used for punching paper, more like 600-650 fps seems the best.... and some target rifles shoot even slower.... Also, don't believe the velocity claims used to market airguns (particularly springers).... as claims of over 1000 fps are almost always made with light alloy pellets, and those same guns shoot in the 800-900 fps range with lead....

Oh, and welcome to the Forum, and thank you for your service....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

The only thing I can add is that if you learn to shoot a spring gun well offhand (standing), your scores with powder burners shooting offhand will improve (a lot!). Follow through is often forgotten when shooting powder burners. It's critical with a spring gun.

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Theory is when you know how something works, but it doesn't.
Practice is when something works, but you don't know why.
In my shop, Theory and Practice are combined!
Nothing works and I don't know why.

Two lathes and too many projects