GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : DougT May 02, 2010, 10:05:45 AM
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This past week I coordinated for a bird hunt at one of our local feedlots. Terry, a coworker and avid air rifler, brought his howitzer (.22 RWS 54) and I had my just modified .22 Hammerli 850. Last night I had changed the regulator pressure and custom built a 2-speed power adjuster and reassembled it right before dark. I pumped it to about 2500# and it suffered hammer lock. Apparently the regulator wasn't working correctly. It was only shooting about 700-750fps. I got up this morning at 05:30 and ran down to the shop, disassembled the whole gun and took out some regulator shims. I also added about 1/8" preload spacer to the hammer spring. I then gassedit back up with the shop compressor feeding 30# into the Benji pump. That works great. About 150 pumps from 0# to 2500#. Much faster than pumping from atmospheric pressure.
Since the velocity wasn't very stable, I hadn't practiced much with this setup and it was breezy/windy my confidence wasn't soaring. I kept overshooting birds by either overestimating the range or assuming the pellet drop was more than it is. Once the bugs are worked out of this setup, I'll shoot the daylights out of it and be proficient to 75 yards or so.
We got out to the cattle yards about 09:00 and I quickly zeroed my gun at 25 yards. Terry and I were camo'd up and started the day by hiding behind some 4'x4'x8' hay bales about 20-30 yards away from some tall grain silos. We shot a few pigeons and starlings off the bins, ladders, wires, cables and walkways. At that range you could easily hear the WHOP sound. Terry's 54 is very accurate, has good power and Terry is a great shot. Very deadly combo.
We then walked across the gravel county road, about 100 yards away to the cattle yards. There were hundreds of pigeons and just about as many starlings walking around in the pens. The fences are made out of RR ties with 2"x12" planks. People are around there a lot, sometimes on horses so the pigeons weren't scared of people. We had on camo and walked hunched over and slowly. That would allow you to sneak up behind these solid fences, sometimes 15 yards away. We always tried to pick one backed by an manure pile or one away from the livestock incase you missed and the pellet would just ricochet into the distant fields. We did that for a couple hours and smoked dozens of pigeons. About 1/2 would fall DRT and the other 1/2 would puff feathers and either fall in the distant corrals or glide to the nearby fields to die.
Terry left early so I stayed for another hour and got about 8-9 more. One lone pigeon was 2 pens over. I guessed at the range, held 3 mil-dots high and the pellet still landed short. 4 mil dots was the right height but the wind drifted it about 3"-4" to the left. The pigeon stayed there. 4 mil-dots high and 1/2 mil-dot right and WHOP. It fluttered a few times before it quit moving. I went to retrieve it and it was right at 70 yards.
Today is the only shooting day I forgot my camera. I collected my quarry and brought them home for a pic. 21 pigeons, 1 starling and 3 other birds. There were at least 10-12 pigeons that got hit hard but limped off, which I'm not counting. We're thinking of heading back before dark for another shooting session. I'll get some more pics then and add them.
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Nice shooting man
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Very nice haul there!
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21 pigeons is a great day! Nice shooting! So how fast is the 850 shooting now after you re-modified it?
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The regulator doesn't seem to be operating correctly. When I filled it to 2300-2400# this morning it was shooting a 14.3g pellet at 845 fps. As I shot it a little, each shot got faster and faster. I quit chrono testing after about 10-12 shots and it was 892 fps at about 2000# pressure.
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Now that's a harvest of feather there Doug :) great shooting and pic's bro. 8) Ed
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Now that is a great day of pigeon whacking :)
Jeff
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Doug that's quite a pile man. Great shooting with the 850, what kind of FPS are you getting after the mod? I have that gun on my short list, but the stock fps doesn't thrill me.
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Now that is a pile of pigeons! Good shooting and good pics. looks like a great time.
Good idea on the hand pump as well. Does the pump have a breather hole or inlet there already, or did you have to drill and tap for the pre-charge?
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I'm guessing it was shooting CPHP between 850-900 fps today. The regulator wasn't working right and I didn't have confidence in the velocity.
The hole was already there that houses the small particulate filter. I just unscrewed that and bought a few fitting and a bolt. I cut the bolt head off, drilled out the center and cleaned up the threads. It screws right in and I can hook my compressor hose to it.
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As always, more good shooting Doug. You guys realy know how to stack up birds out there !!!!
Paul.
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Doug, we need to come up with some agreement that prohibits you from shooting critters while I am at work. Great shooting anyway!
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Banker's hours BABY!!!
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WadeS and I went back to the local feedlots tonight and stayed until dark. We were both having gun "issues" and weren't hitting much. Anyway, here are some pics. One is of the hay bale blind we use for shooting pigeons and starlings off the silos, barn and wires. Another is "downrange". Another is the central area of the feedlot. Another is a larger view of about 1/4 of the feedlot area.
In the mornings, when the cattle are fed, the birds are thick. Tonight there were slim pickins. I hit one pigeon but it flapped away and missed another 7-8 shots that normally would have been gimme's. Oh well. Going to discuss my problem with Roald at the 850 Resource.
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very veryyyy veryyyyyy nice dude
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Oh man....my whole year`s kills don`t even reach the number you get in a few hours shooting. Excellent shooting.
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great shooting! and good idea on the pump.
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thats some good shooting