Crazy or what ?!?

[outofstepper]

Greets all.
Granted I'm new to airgunning and all, but I just had the craziest
experience and I'd like to know if whats happening is normal.

I picked up my first air rifle (Gamo Hunter Pro) a few weeks back and
with it, a Gamo pellet sampler pack..  also picked up some tins of
crossman wadcutters and, on a whim, a tin of gamo rockets.

oh. and a pack of gamo targets.

I've only been shooting at the 12-15yrd range with the wadcutters
as they give me the nice clean cut.  My groups started out wild,
but once I got used to the springer, they closed in to about 2" spreads
on average.  sometimes better, sometimes not.

Anyway, today was the first day I had the time, and the weather
cooperated to take the gun outside and set up a 25yard shot.

Sitting position, elbows on my knees.. left hand cupping the stock
just in front of the trigger guard.  

Took some shots with the wadcutters and, as expected, I had
to readjust my scope.  My spread was terrible though and I just
figured the wadcutters aren't any good out past 12yards or so.

I'd been anxious to try the domed head ones-- Hunters, I think.
 
I couldn't even get them on the paper target!  Maybe one in ten shots
would hit the paper.  The spread was too great to write it off as
scope adjustment.

So next I tried the pointed ones -- the Magnums and the Masterpoints.
and same exact thing -- at 25 yards, I'd get one in ten shots on
the paper!

Its been a nice sunny day.. no wind, nothing.  I mean, I'm not a
sharpshooter, but this was crazy.

Just as I was writing it off as a bad day, and I was closing all
my tins, I saw the Gamo Rockets I'd bought.

I cracked that tin and took my first shot... bullseye!  (well, in
the 9 ring anyway).  the next four shots followed suit.. a
great tight group.. all within the 8 and 9.

I got so excited I must've shot off half that can.  All on target and
hitting center with minimum scope adjustment.

Now, I've read that some guns like some pellets better than others,
but this seemed completely ridiculous to me.

I put the other pellets in again, just to check my sanity, and again,
they were all over the place.  Put the rockets in, and dead on
target.

Now, somebody please tell me.. is this normal??
And the Rockets seemed like such a gimmick pellet to boot!

Thanks & sorry so longwinded.
Tony

[speedturtle]

It's normal outofstepper. All air rifle are not the same and some actually favor or prefer a type of pellet from another. If you decide to use the Rockets frequently then better sight-in your air gun using this pellet to make it dead accurate.

Speedturtle

[gamo2hammerli]

Alas...the Rockets for me are only good up to 10 meters in some of my airguns.....not even in others!!!!  Out past 15 meters....they scatter.  They penetrate very well though.  I'll need to retest them.....since my airguns have settled down now......  Different pellets for different guns....even for the same brand and model.

[dnttech]

I think part of the fun of a new air rifle is getting to try so many different pellets with it.  I've got a couple of rifles that absolutely love Rockets, and 2 others who hate em.  Yep, it's normal, so it's just gives you another reason to go out and buy different pellets.  Have fun and practice..By the way, 9.5/9.6 gr. is a little on the heavy side for a steady diet in a medium powered springer...maybe keep looking for something a little lighter.  Just my .2...others may feel differently.

[shadow]

That's the way those shooter's are, finicky at what kind of lead they like to spit out with accuracy and the Rocket's are good for critter hunting too. Ed

[outofstepper]

Thanks guys.  Now I don't feel so crazy.  

When I first read about air guns having a pellet preference.. I thought the difference was going
to be small.. but what happened yesterday scared me.  

Maybe I'll try my hand at some Crossmans, see how they fly.

Thanks again.

[tjk]

Your rifle probably won't shoot anything with consistant accuracy until you've put about 2000 rounds through it. It just needs to have a   break in period, and allow the  barrel to season some. If you haven't already,...get the GRT-III trigger. Talk about a world of difference!!!!! Good Luck, tjk

[longislandhunter]

Tony,,,, like the others have said it's very common.  YOu do really have to test out a variety of pellets to find the one, or more, pellets that the rifle likes.  

As for the rockets..... I have quite a few guns that love them and as Ed said they are a very good hunting pellet.  However, like Bob said they are a bit on the heavy side,,,, I don't know if I'd shoot them as a steady diet, but for hunting and pest removal they do shine.  They hit like a ton of bricks.  

Go to Walmart and pick up some Crosman Hollow Points (CPH's) and give them a try.  They are dirt cheap and I find that they shoot well in most of my guns....  also a very good hunting pellet.

Jeff

[birdmove]

I have three air rifle. A Crosman 1077 CO2, a Beeman model 1024 springer, and my newest one-a Remington Airmaster 77 multi pump. They all have their preferences.The Remington is the least pellet picky.And while it's made by Crosman, it doesn't care for the Crosman Premier wadcutters or Premier hollow point, but seems to like everything else I've tried so far.The 1077 likes the Crosman Premier wadcutters the best. If I could only have one pellet in .177, I might pick the Gamo Match wadcutters, because all three guns like them pretty well.The top pellets for my Airmaster seem to be RWS Hobbys, RWS Diablos, and RWS Super H Points.

   But to me, experimenting with various pellets is much of the fun of shooting these guns.

  Jon

[Big_Bill]

Welcome to the GTA Forums Tony ! It's A Great Place To Be !!!!!!!

First, Welcome to the World of Air Gunning, And the first thing you should do, is clean your barrel with Goo Gone, make a length of weed whipper line that will feed through your barrel to thru breech, with room to attach a cleaning patch, and pull it through. Pull a couple of patch coated with Goo Gone through until clean, then run clean patches through until the come out clean.

Then check the bolts and screws on your air gun and scope to make sure they are all tight.

Now the fun part, just shoot a few tins of cheep (inexpensive) pellets through to coat and season your barrel !

Now is the time to experiment with accuracy, you might decide to get a pellet sampler from Straight Shooters, there you receive a selection of many pellets offered in the U.S.. Or you can buy the pellets available around your area, and find out what shoots best for you !

That should get you started, but if after that you still are having trouble, let us know !

Bill

[outofstepper]

Thanks Bill, I'll give it the once-over.

I had another run with the gun this morning and the rockets still get the tightest group at 25yards.  I wasn't just
dreaming it yesterday.

The Hunters (domed) aren't too shabby either, there are some flyers, but not so bad.  Not as good as the rockets,
but not as bad as the pointed ones.

Something else, too:  the hunters are lighter & they're shooting higher than the rockets.  I didn't expect this -- I thought
they'd hit lower.. because they'd fly flatter... which brought up an interesting question:

If the pellet trajectory is a parabola.. and I sight in my scope.. my scope and my pellet meet in two spots.. I've always
heard 20yards & 40 yards.  but anyway.. if I sight my scope in for POI at 20yards, how do I know I haven't set it
for the 2nd (further) crossing point between sight light and pellet's parabola?

This would explain to me why the lighter pellets hit higher, instead of lower, as I'd expected.

We're talking about 3" higher over 25yards.

Let me know if that didnt make sense and I'll dry to rephrase.

-Tony

[birdmove]

I went out shooting this morning myself, in my back yard,where I shoot at 10 yards, and sometimes 50 feet. I shot probably my best group ever with my Remington Airmaster 77.At 10 yards,five pumps, using a Leapers 4x32 AO scope (very nice scope) I put five RWS Diablo Basics into a group that shows two holes touching like a figure eight.The upper hole was a called "flyer". So four went into the lower part of the figure eight, and one a little high. That gun just shoots well with almost anything. Felt lucky so decided to try my Beeman 1024 springer (a hard gun to get a decent group).Tried Gamo Match wadcutters at 10 yards, one dam flyer about an inch off.Tried Beeman Laser Sports=crappy group about 1 1/4".So I brought out the Crosman Premier Super Match wadcutters (this guns favorites), and was able to get a decent group of five maybe 5/16" center to center.Then tried the Crosman Premier hollow points and got another crappy group!! I guess I have to resign myslef to just shoot the Crosman Premier wadcutters in this gun. Anyway, I was just as happy to get a decent group with the springer, than a couple of great groups with the muti pump.That Airmaster just has the consistancy and lack of pickyness that the Beeman lacks.The Beeman is a temperamental SOB. I need to put a better scope on it. I'm using the cheapo Chinese 4x15 (or 20?) that came with it. It's dim and hard to see through.
   Anyway, I 'm feeling better today about the Beeman, and the Airmaster just reinforced what a great little shooter it is.

    Hope everyone else has a great Sunday.

  jon

[Bogey]

As Big Bill said, check all of the fastners on the rifle and the scope rings.  They can come loose and as I discovered on my RS -2 they can even be damaged.  As to the pellets, I thought it was a myth all the talk about air rifles shooting some pellets better than others.  Boy, was I wrong.  Lucky for me, my one rifle in .22 caliber shoots the Benjamin .22 Discovery pellet very well and it is the only .22 pellet that I can find in this area ( except the Daisy brand .22 pellet and  it does not shoot a group for me but a wildly unpredictable pattern if I am lucky).  I also  use a Gamo that will not shoot any Gamo pellets worth a darn,  but it handles the crosman premiers very well.  Keep trying, you will find the right combination eventually and you may also  single-handedly keep the economy going . As well as the rest of us.

[Leadhead]

Tony, As soon as the pellet exits the barrel, gravity takes over. A heavy pellet will drop quicker that a lighter pellet over any given distance. That is why a lighter pellets has a flatter trajectory.
Hope you can find another pellet that your Gamo likes, Rockets aren't the most economical pellets going !!!!

[outofstepper]

Thanks, Leadhead.
I haven't had any luck with other pellets though -- just the Rockets.  Seems odd that the rifle is
this finicky.  But now I wonder, maybe its just pellet weight?  Maybe if I find some dome head pellets
that weigh the same as the rockets then I'll have better luck?

I can see the problem with lighter pellets -- how they don't slow the piston/spring down as much, potentially
doing damage.

But what harm does a heavier pellet do?