Discovery Pellet Tests....

[longislandhunter]

Well, got home from work last night and went straight down to my workshop. Made me a portable target I can keep in the truck and use at the duck farm, or anywhere else. In a few minutes gonna pack up the Discovery, all my .22 pellets and head for the duck farm. Finally gonna get to do the pellet grouping tests and final sight in. There's a little wind right now outside, but I'm hoping it won't be bad at the farm. I'll post my results, and perhaps some pics if I can, of the days shoot. I may even try and get in a short ground hog hunt after the shooting tests are done.....
 

Jeff

[Crzyfrlss1]

Cool...

Looking forward to your results from testing.

[kirby999]

Wish I could go with you Jeff . Sounds like a blast . kirby

[longislandhunter]

Well, I went to the duck farm yesterday and did my chrony and pellet testing on the disco. The FPS levels were very good,, here are the results.

Pellet           Average

FTS             837

JSB EXact         820

Super Dome       852

Crow Magnum      761

Predator          796

CPH             844

RWS SHP         840

GAMO Hunter       813

Crosman Pointed    868

Kodiaks          720

JSB Exact Xpress    841

CPL             860

I was very happy with the chrony results but unfortunately was not satisfied with the overall shooting session. The 3 prior shooting sessions I did with the gun happened to be during cold, windy weather and while I was able to get decent groups out of the gun I never got the really tight dime sized groups I was looking for and wanted for hunting accuracy. However I was happy with the groups I had gotten considering the conditions and I just assumed that given a nice windless, warm day I would be able to sit down at my shooting bench and get the dime sized groups I was looking for and get to sight her in proper for that "special" pellet. Well, that didn't happen.

Since it was windy at the duck farm I did my shooting inside one of the large empty duck barns. I closed the doors and thus eliminated the wind factor. Except for the smell (it was bad !! ) I had the perfect shooting environment. I set up my target at 30 yards, set up my shooting bench, got all set and started shooting.  Well, long story short,,,,,,, I never did get those dime sized groups I was after. I didn't even get the quarter sized groups that would've been fine too. What I got was the same group patterns that I got when I was shooting in the lousy weather, complete with the flyers. A friend of mine, who hunts with me sometimes at the duck farm and who is also an excellent marksman with an air rifle, happened to show up while I was shooting and I asked him to shoot my disco for a while and see what kind of groups he got. Well, he got the same kind of groups as me, almost identical,,, so I knew it wasn't just me.  Don't get me wrong,,,, the groups I got were decent, but I wasn't looking for just "decent' groups, I was looking for that dime sized or ragged hole group that a pcp should be capable of.  To say that I was disappointed would be a major understatement cause I really love this gun. Plenty of power, easy to pump, felt good in my hands,,, I just didn't get the final accuracy I was looking for.

So,,,,,, this morning I packed up the gun and pump and drove over to see Dave at Cobra airguns. We talked it over and even though Dave offered to loan me another Disco to use until his next shipment arrives I decided to just return the gun for a refund. Dave kindly obliged. I guess I must've just got a gun that had some barrel problems cause I"ve read of others, on this forum and elsewhere, who have gotten those dime sized groups right out of the box. I"ve also read of others who had the same problem that I encountered. Guess it's just the luck of the draw sometimes.
 

While I was at Cobra the Crosman representative showed up to visit with Dave, so I got the chance to talk directly with him about my rifle. He apologized and stated they were actively looking into quality control issues regarding the Disco.  He took notes during our discussion and said he would pass the info on to the service technicians for evaluation. He was a very nice man who appeared to genuinely care about the issue.

Anyway, I'm at home now and I have to say I really miss my Disco cause I really did love that rifle and it would've really fit the "niche" I wanted it for which was small game hunting. I told the Crosman rep I would definitely look at the disco again down the line, and I will. In the meantime I talked further with Dave about the Talon and Talon SS and I think I'm gonna go for one of those as soon as I can squirrel away the rest of the money I need.

Jeff

[melloroadman]

Sorry to here the story and I have been following the forms as well and thinking of buying a DISC. Did you my chance look at the crown and clean the barrel well before you tested the rifle. I'm curios as I said I'm on the edge and almost ready to jump. My alterative is in the air arms line but that extra 800 PSI I here is a big work out with a pump and a pump is my only choice. Not to mention its another $300 plus dollars way out of my budget. Also can I ask what the group size was.  Marvin

[longislandhunter]

Hey Marvin,,,,

I had cleaned the barrel very thoroughly and as for the crown,,,,, it looked ok to me but I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert when it comes to crowns. As for the groups size,,,,, It would vary and was inconsistent but for the most part if I did everything just right,,, nice and calm, took a breath, concentrated on the trigger feel,,,,, a 10 shot group would stay inside a 2 - 3 inch circle with occasional flyers. Sometimes I'd get a pretty good group with much closer spacing , but then the pattern would open up again on the next few shots and I'd get flyers. I attributed it to the wind and cold (me shaking) but once I was inside the barn shooting I knew there was something else going on. I just couldn't get the consistency I needed.

I was really tempted by Daves offer to borrow his Disco until his new shipment arrived, but the only way to tell if that, or any replacement gun, was gonna be a "keeper" would be to drag all my gear back down to the duck farm, set it all up again and then go through the entire process all over again. Right now I just don't wanna be bothered having to do that. Maybe I'll feel differently later, but right now I'm just not into it.

I have to say though,, I really do miss the rifle,,, I really did like it. I just wish I had gotten one with a "good" barrel from the get go. Oh well,,, what can you do??? At least I have all my other springers to fiddle with until I take another plunge into the dark side.......

Jeff

[kirby999]

Sorry to hear you had accuracy problems Jeff. Although $240 for (gun only) seems like a good bit of money , in the world of PCP's it's not. I'm not trying to make excuses for Crosman . When you make a product it should shoot good out of the box IMO, no matter what the costs. With that said , my experience with Crosman airguns is a problem in QC . The barrels especially have to be reworked most of the time . It's a hit or miss in the barrel department .We're talking about a barrel that costs less than $15 to replace. Even with a "good" one from the factory, it'll still require a break in period to get better accuracy .These barrels are not choked . Even the Lothar Walther barrels on my Airarms shoot better after a break in period and they are choked . I feel the Discoverys are like their 22XX guns , something to build on. I've had the same kind of luck with QB's I've owned 3 or 4 of them and none have shot up to my expectations, although others have raved about their accuracy. Over all I've had better luck with the Crosmans. The Talons with their OK triggers , and their too high ergonomics for good scope to cheek relationship are sweet shooters with their LW barrels. Better out of the box. Good luck with your next PCP purchase. My .177 Discovery, if I do my part will shoot most shots into a one inch circle with JSB's at 30 yards , I think it'll do better when broken in . kirby

[crazy4salmon]

Sorry to hear the Disco didn't work out for you Jeff. I thought that was a match made in heaven, and you would be lost to the dark side forever. Sure is nice of Dave a Cobra to take her back. Good luck with the Talon.

Dan L