Well, I finally got a chance to shoot and sight in my new 890 today. I got the rifle a little before Christmas from Cabelas for $129 and it came with a BSA 3x12x50 scope.
The bluing on the gun is very nice as is the stain on the stock. I very much like the feel of the gun when it's shouldered, seems to have a good balance to it.
The gun cocks very smoothly and the barrel lock up is nice and tight. Cocks almost as smooth as my .22 cal Black Shadow, which is one of my favorite guns. The trigger is of course rather "stiff" as one might expect, but I can live with it for now. If the trigger doesn't smooth out over time I will simply have to save up and order one of Charlies (Bobs) triggers, but for now I'll live with it. The scope is very much to my liking, I have the same scope on one of my .177 cal Shadows and it has always worked well for me. The image is bright and clear, the AO and power adjustment rings work well, and The AO range settings seems pretty darn accurate clarity wise. the scope rings that came with the gun seem to be holding firm so far but I guess time will tell. As long as they stay put I'll leave them. If they start to move I'll replace them with an Accushot 1 piece mount. The gun has very little "twang" to it which I'm very happy about.
I had the scope sighted in at 25 yards within 15 or 20 shots using RWS Superdomes then set to the task of trying all the pellets I had in stock. To my amazement the gun shot every pellet I had very well, however 3 pellets quickly emerged as the best performers. Results are listed below in descending order.............
JSB Predators: Best pellet out of the bunch. Solid dime sized groupings every time.
Crow Magnums: A close second to the predators. Groupings just a tiny (and I mean tiny) bit more
open, but not enough to make any difference when aiming at a critter.
Crosman Premier Hollow Point: Nice solid nickel sized grouping dead center.
Crosman Pointed: Quarter sized groupings.
GAMO Rocket: Quarter sized groupings.
GAMO Tomahawk: Quarter sized groupings.
RWS Superdome: Grouping just a little wider than a quarter.
The superdomes came in last with regard to tightness of groupings, which really surprised me because all my othe rifles love them, but the groupings the superdomes gave me are still more than adequate for pidgeons and starlings. I didn't chrony any of the pellets during todays shooting, but I will do that perhaps next session. I know that I could tighten up the accuracy even more if the trigger was a little bit more "user friendly", but I'm thrilled with the accuracy of the gun.
I'm very satisfied with the gun/scope combo, especially for the $129 sale price I got it for. I have a feeling this gun will soon become one of my favorites to shoot at the duck farm. Also, considering how well it shoots the JSB Predators it will make a fine small game rifle.
Jeff