Give it to me straight, how bad (or good) is this?

[Trashyshoots]

First session shooting my first pellet pistol. With ammo such a pain to find, I needed something else to shoot, or I was going to go nuts. I love shooting groups, and might even consider getting a nicer air pistol and competing.

So, in the world of air pistols, how did I do? This was my best 10 shot group. 10 meters, 1 handed.

Crosman 2300s custom shop if anyones curious.

 

[cslinger]

I will say the 2300s is mechanically capable of better.

I will also say.....I’ve seen my fair share of similar groups.

Don’t over control it. Turn your firearm brain off.

 

[JohnKSa]

It's all relative.

The gun will do a lot better than that, if that's what you're asking.

Olympic level competitors with high-end target guns and match pellets could likely keep all their shots in the 10 ring.

It's not at all bad though. It's good practice on using your sights and on trigger control.

 

[bikerdoc]

For the first time, you did good!

 

[Big Bore 44]

I see your problem,,,,,rest the pistol on the air tube, not the barrel. An airgun's barrel is too thin to rest it on anything. Otherwise not to shabby.

 

[Trashyshoots]

I see your problem,,,,,rest the pistol on the air tube, not the barrel. An airgun's barrel is too thin to rest it on anything. Otherwise not to shabby.

The rest was only to get the sights bang on. The 10 shot was 1 handed.

 

[ms6852]

Once you have everything dialed in would not hurt you to do free hand shooting. Good training for your conceal carry. I do the same at home with a pellet or BB gun. Your group good be better, I believe it has to do with your follow through when you squeeze the trigger. Might be a little jerking. Try placing a dime on the barrel and slowly squeeze the trigger and remember your follow through. If you did not jerk the trigger the dime will stay on top of the barrel.

 

[LoonWulf]

Not great but not bad either. Usually it takes some work to get the triggers on a 22xx to be decent, and the factory sights leave something to be desired.

My 22xx had contender style sights, trigger work, trigger shoe, and a 10" barrel shrouded to 14".....i actually built it to practice with as a substitute for the contender.
Mechanically that gun is capable if sub 1" groups at 25yds with jsb exacts. With me shooting opens, and u supported, I was happy with 2" groups.

 

[ford8nr]

I shoot a SSP IZH 46M and can usually hold the 7-8 ring. My errent shots are when I see the gun recoil, as little as that might be. Follow through is extremely critical with air guns.

 

[Big Bore 44]

For off hand,,,not bad for a new to you gun.

 

[KevininPa]

Try different pellets as well. Airguns can be as finicky as rimfires.

 

[Sistema1927]

One handed, unsupported, at 10 meters? It might be interesting to see what some of the critics here could do.

In other words, don't let them get you down. Good job.

 

[cslinger]

One handed, unsupported, at 10 meters? It might be interesting to see what some of the critics here could do.

In other words, don't let them get you down. Good job.

-As has been said try different pellets. It’s amazing how different 2 different pellets can shoot especially in a pellet pistol. Even when both are quality pellets.

-When shooting air pistols use a light touch and learn to press the trigger EXACTLY the same way each time. It’s difficult but rewarding.

-That shooting truly isn’t bad for learning and getting a feel for it. It’s VERY easy to sling a pellet way the hell off course.

-What I find with C02 guns is a desire to over control them because the sound is fairly loud and my brain immediately thinks .22LR and goes to that muscle memory which doesn’t generally work for air pistols.


Admittedly this is a little shy of 10m. I can’t find any of the 10m shooting pics but I seem to shoot a little shy of 10m or a little further around 12 yards or so. (It’s how my shooting lanes sort of play out.). On this particular pistol the trigger breaks way back and it took some time to get that press down but you should be able to tighten up with that 2300s. It’s a good gun, it’s just that this discipline is hard and as I said rewarding when you get it right and always willing to show you when you get it wrong. Think driving a manual transmission. This gun is a single stroke pneumatic so similar recoil characteristics to your CO2.

 

[Trashyshoots]

Nice shooting. I tried other pettets but they were not wad cutters, so they made a mess of the paper. The trigger isnt nearly as light as I wished it was, either. And I'm kinda regretting having such a long barrel. I hoped it would be really light even with a 14 incher, but that's not the case here.

 

[JohnKSa]

More weight out front helps steady the gun a bit. It does make it harder to hold up which will result in fatiguing faster though.

I'll get one of my air pistols out and shoot a target at 10 meters either Tuesday or Wednesday. Kind of interested to see how I do, it's been awhile since I've done any of that kind of shooting and I know my glasses prescription has changed some. My 1377 is down--it wasn't holding air the last time I tried it, so that narrows the selection a bit.

 

[chicharrones]

Nice shooting. I tried other pettets but they were not wad cutters, so they made a mess of the paper. The trigger isnt nearly as light as I wished it was, either. And I'm kinda regretting having such a long barrel. I hoped it would be really light even with a 14 incher, but that's not the case here.

That's a thin and light barrel that you ought to get used to rather quick. My ubiquitous Crosman 1377 pumper has the entire pump action and fore grip hanging under the barrel.

I'm hoping your 2300 has a better than standard trigger. Seems like all Crosmans made in the last 20 years have much heavier triggers than back in the 1980s. I took the sear/trigger spring out of my worn out 1980s Crosman Backpacker and installed it in my 1377 (made this century). The 1377's original spring has thicker wire and is noticeably heavier.

 

[cslinger]

Nice shooting. I tried other pettets but they were not wad cutters, so they made a mess of the paper. The trigger isnt nearly as light as I wished it was, either. And I'm kinda regretting having such a long barrel. I hoped it would be really light even with a 14 incher, but that's not the case here.

Print your own targets on heavy card stock or use heavy index cards. Also the GAMO targets I show above are heavy stock that work well with a variety of pellet types and are easy to find and fairly inexpensive.

Give these Meisterkulgeln’s a try. I have found them to be the most consistent across the widest number of my pistols.
https://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/RWS_Meisterkugeln_Pistol_177_Cal_7_0_Grains_Wadcutter_500ct/219

Another thing that I personally find that helps, although it might be “cheating” but I have crappy vision so.....anyway use targets with more contrast like heavy black outer white inner rings or color of some kind. This lets you more clearly see the front sight which is difficult in that sea of black target area. You could also dab a little super bright paint/nail polish on your front sight. Hence the bright orange dots.

I can’t help you with the trigger other than to say when shooting air guns that trigger press is a fickle mistress and she will jIlt you for the smallest of offensives. .

Don’t get frustrated you are doing far better then most at the start. It’s hard for us powder burners to accept that we can literally throw a shot completely off target at such a comparatively short range but when you factor in just how long that slow moving pellet lives in that barrel and just how light that pellet is you will start to understand how much even small negative inputs by you have a large impact on the shot.

Go back to your firearm basics when you were told or taught somebody to start at a really close range and then work back. Try bringing your target in to 5 yards, get good there and then work your way out. Like I said it’s a difficult pastime but very rewarding. REAL 10m pistol and rifle shooters are some of it not the most talented and incredible shooters I have ever seen. They have to be robots. Even with very high end equipment the level of precision required of them makes some of the best shooters look like jittery fools. It’s not an easy thing to group those little SOB’s into one hole. It’s one thing to aspire to shoot like them but don’t judge your shooting by them,

 

[Meeks36]

Gotta hold it side ways. Joking, keep practicing and those groups will shrink. Competition shooter's spend alooot of time practicing. You will get better. Give it time.

 

[JohnKSa]

Ok, here are my results, such as they are. Shot a couple of groups to warm up and here are groups 3 & 4.

Couldn't find any pistol targets, so I shot using 10 meter rifle targets. The aiming point was large enough to see clearly so I don't think that it had any effect on the results.

All shots fired standing, one-handed.

I guess I can't count to 10 reliably because after I finished shooting, I realized that I only shot 9 shots on target #3.

I felt shot #9 on target #4 get away from me, but that's how it goes. If I hadn't let shot #9 slip, the group would have been about 1.6".



Just so it's clear, this is not awesome shooting. The gun is certainly capable of much better accuracy than this and with practice, I should be able to bring those group sizes down. I haven't done any bullseye type (one-handed) shooting for several years and it shows.

 

[Trashyshoots]

Nice work! When I first saw the 10m air rifle targets I immediately knew air gun folks are on a whole other level.

 

[ford8nr]

Good shooting. Yes practice and familiarity with the gun will lead to better and more consistent targets.
For perspective the black of the 10m pistol target (7 ring) is 2-3/8" and the 8 ring is 1-3/4".
We always tell new shooters first goal is keep them all in the black. Looks like you are well on your way!

 

[cslinger]

Nice work! When I first saw the 10m air rifle targets I immediately knew air gun folks are on a whole other level.

The first time I saw some REAL competition 10m rifle and pistol shooters and they were upset about HOLES that were too big I knew those folks were playing a whole nother game. Let me reiterate the HOLES were too big not GROUPS.....HOLES. On my BEST day I might as well be shooting 12 gauge buck in comparison.

Like I said some of those folks are friggin robots.

 

[Trashyshoots]

Agree'd I'm a pretty good pistol shot with powder burners, and can wreck some unofficial friendly steel challenges, but air folks and free pistol shooters make me look like a filthy casual.

 

[ford8nr]

When I first saw the 10m air rifle targets I immediately knew air gun folks are on a whole other level.

I shoot 10m rifle and pistol. Has made me a much better powder burner shooter. The 10m rifle targets are a bear. Basically the same target 50ft Rimfire shooters use, which I also shoot. The 10 ring is actually the dot about the size of this period. .

 

[HoploDad]

2 Guru Questions:

1) Will time between his shots with a CO2 pistol influence pellet flight, is there an optimum dwell/recharge time?

2) Since it's back yard shooting, what about ambient temperature's effect?