Peter M. Eick
Member
I was out at the ranch and took along a couple precision air rifles. I will post pictures once I download the iphone of it, but I had forgotten the fun of a precision rifle.
First off I had not extensively shot my Beeman 400 target rifle since the rebuild a few years back. I think I fired maybe ten shots and called it quits in the last say 30 years.
So the first step was sighting it back in. Surprisingly the 400 was off in elevation and just a tad of right sight adjustment. I was not expecting it to hit high but I guess the new spring is causing it to go faster. Anyway it took some target time at 50 ft to get it right on. I was shooting from a sitting position (back issues) so I had it locked in pretty soon. Once I got going though I burned through a tin of pellets in just a few days. They were H&N target pellets I bought in 82 from the sticker inside them and on the bottom of the tin. No oxidation which is good.
I found that it was fun to nail acorns on the gravel and lawn out to about 75 ft which is where I could not get a good bead with open sights on them. I then started trimming the suckers off the trees which was surprisingly easy. I finally started plinking on the support structure for my deer feeder about 200 ft out. It is a steel tripod structure of about 3" tubes that could be routinely hit if I did my part. Very satisfying to get that "tink" sound come back.
The Beeman 400 is absolutely recoiless. It uses the giss system of opposing pistons so you just get a thunk when the gun fires. The 1.5 onz trigger was hard to not blunder into. That took the most amount of time to get used to again. You take up the first stage (half an onz) and once you hit the second stage when you think fire it goes.
I did pull out the hw30 and cut loose with it for a bit. I got worried that the seals were weak so I will order new ones tomorrow. They are original to the gun and it also has not been shot since around 87.
I will have to set up a real range at the ranch and get a bit more organized. I need a target runner or a bigger target board and a spotter scope. I should also get some reactionary targets for the family. Shooting paper is great for me but the family will want something to happen on a hit.
Fun, just plain fun!
First off I had not extensively shot my Beeman 400 target rifle since the rebuild a few years back. I think I fired maybe ten shots and called it quits in the last say 30 years.
So the first step was sighting it back in. Surprisingly the 400 was off in elevation and just a tad of right sight adjustment. I was not expecting it to hit high but I guess the new spring is causing it to go faster. Anyway it took some target time at 50 ft to get it right on. I was shooting from a sitting position (back issues) so I had it locked in pretty soon. Once I got going though I burned through a tin of pellets in just a few days. They were H&N target pellets I bought in 82 from the sticker inside them and on the bottom of the tin. No oxidation which is good.
I found that it was fun to nail acorns on the gravel and lawn out to about 75 ft which is where I could not get a good bead with open sights on them. I then started trimming the suckers off the trees which was surprisingly easy. I finally started plinking on the support structure for my deer feeder about 200 ft out. It is a steel tripod structure of about 3" tubes that could be routinely hit if I did my part. Very satisfying to get that "tink" sound come back.
The Beeman 400 is absolutely recoiless. It uses the giss system of opposing pistons so you just get a thunk when the gun fires. The 1.5 onz trigger was hard to not blunder into. That took the most amount of time to get used to again. You take up the first stage (half an onz) and once you hit the second stage when you think fire it goes.
I did pull out the hw30 and cut loose with it for a bit. I got worried that the seals were weak so I will order new ones tomorrow. They are original to the gun and it also has not been shot since around 87.
I will have to set up a real range at the ranch and get a bit more organized. I need a target runner or a bigger target board and a spotter scope. I should also get some reactionary targets for the family. Shooting paper is great for me but the family will want something to happen on a hit.
Fun, just plain fun!