Yahoo, we are in green Valley, Arizona!

Target frames for 25 yard benchrest
The flat tiles are for the silhouettes 

We arrived in Green Valley after driving from Flagstaff, We stopped by the range where folks from Phenix Benchrest, Airgunners of Arizona, the FT club, and AOA were setting things up. In the photos of last year’s match, you will remember that the firing line was covered. This cover was being set up when we got there. I had thought is was a year round feature. The range is is on the property of the Quail Creek development, and operated by the local airgun club.

The range is set on a level piece of ground that looks to be an old corral used for turning out and gathering livestock. Now it is covered by ranks and files of roofing tile that support silhouette targets for the speed shoot. There large target frames that can be moved from 25 to 75 yards for the different benchrest matches.

Shooting benches, the cover will be erected over them.

Tomorrow is registration. A time to see who has come, and for renewing friendship from last year.

Ron

Extreme Benchrest

Tomorrow Dave and I set out for Extreme Benchrest. Driving from Pocatello through UT and AZ (via Flagstaff) it is just over 900 miles.

We are taking three Marauders. Dave’s custom Gen 1 .177 with a Lothar Walther barrel. My Gen 1 with a Steve from NC HDD and a Wicked Airrifles barrel band. Also my box stock Gen 2 .25 with a Wicked Airrifles single shot tray.

Extreme Benchrest features three matches, 75 yard benchrest, speed silhouette and 25 yard benchrest. Also there is a field target course, and pistol matches to round out an airgun shooting festival.

Similar shoots are springing up around the country. The newest was announced by Gateway to Airguns. It will be held in Kentucky in 2015. I think these shoots are useful in 1) expanding airgun shooting opportunities, 2) showcasing new airgun technologies and capabilities, and 3) demonstrating new matches that local clubs could put on.

More to come as the week rolls on.

Ron

Extreme Benchrest speed shoot

Extreme Benchrest speed shoot with my Generation II .25 Marauder, sometimes known as the evil black rifle.

The Match

This course of fire is 16, ⅕ scale silhouette targets set out at 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards. A good workout for a shooter with a hunting rifle powerful enough to hack the program at 60 yards. A 20 FPE .177 will do quite nicely by the way. If you can hit the rams at 60 yards, and your rifle will shoot 20 good shots on one fill you've got the basics for this match. I bought the evil black rifle with the intention of turning it down to 35 FPE, but the rules were changed to allow up to 50 FPE, so I left it in its factory tune. I did buy a Wicked Airrifles single shot tray, because in the speed shoot loading magazines is the quick way to come in last. That still could happen, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

My Marauder

My Gen II Marauder will shoot three magazines (24 shots) before pellets drop off the target . I can only shoot three banks of targets on my home range so I set up 5 each Turkeys, 50, Pigs ,40, and chickens, 30 yards. With a 3 K fill and a 50 yard zero,  I hit em all with 16 shots. My holds were dead on for 50 then belly line on pigs, and foot for chickens. Ending pressure was 2 K. Three more shots conformed all zeros. This gun has the air to go the distance.

My Scope

My scope is a Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5 - 20 power with a dual X reticle.  A throwback to my pre mildot days, it has been on several rifles before landing on my Marauder. Set on 12 X the lower picket is zero at 60 yards, and the cross hairs are 50. I have to hold about ½ inch low at 40 and 1 inch low at 30.

Many Marauder owners, that post on the web, tune and modify their air rifles for performance. I think it is interesting that a stock Marauder has what it takes for this course of fire, and that it would serve most hunters well as it came from Crosman.

Speed Shoot Strategy

I made a hash out of this match in 2013, but came away with some ideas to do better in 2014. First is to use pellets larger than .177 or get a hand transplant with much smaller fingers. Second don’t try to pluck the pellets out of the tin. dump then out on the bench. Third, fire and forget, don’t watch the targets fall, use that time to start reloading the next shot. Lastly shoot the targets from far to near. Groups tend to open up near the end of the shot string. So, use those shots on the closest targets.

Today, I shot a practice run at 16 targets, turkeys, pigs and chickens, All the zeros were good. 16 shots ran the air cylinder down from 3 K to 2 K. Four more shots at 50 were all hits on a swinger so 20 shots give me 16 record shots and 4 for a cushion.

Next I’ll try it with rams.

Ron

Wicked Airrifels Barrel Band

A new Marauder owner wrote to me, “Ron, I just got a gen1 .25 mrod and was wondering what settings to try for benchrest? Will probably be using JSB pellets.   Thanks

 Wicked Airriles barrel band 

I wrote back, “As far as shooting benchrest, The best thing I have done is install a barrel band form Wicked Airrifles.  This is the barrel band with three set screws that bear on the barrel shroud, and hold it steady. That really helped. Before, my rifle shot flyers at 10 and 4 oclock. After the barrel band the groups became more round. That helps me not only from lost points, but to spot hits that are the result in the change in the wind. It did reduce the group size slightly but the elimination of flyers in my gun was a big improvement for benchrest shooting”.

40 shots  at 75 yards

In the photo above the chickens are 1/2 size and the turkeys are 1/5. All shots with gen one Marauder with barrel band and HDD, They were shot left to right then left to right for the next clip. Each target's group were shot 8 shots apart. The rifle was refiled to 2.5 K after the second clip.

I went on to write about settings, “I have an HDD in my gen 1, so my settings are different from most of what you find on the forums. They are something like 7 CW on the hammer spring, 5 CW on the hammer throw and 4.5 out on the velocity screw. The HDD radically altered the way my Marauder handles air flow. Bottom line is I get 30 shots from a 2.5 K fill at 38 FPE. Above 2.5 I get valve lock and a lot of low shots. It is as though I over filled a stock Marauder to 3.5 K, which I did at Extreme Benchrest last year, and my first sighter was 8 or 9 inches low. I had to shoot it down to zero before firing my first record shot”.

The AirgunGearShow

Giles Barry with a Daystate Wolverine

If you haven’t watched the AirgunGearShow on Youtube you have missed a treat. Following a format of airguns and entertainment, the larger than life (he’s a big guy, folks) Giles Barry from the United Kingdom has created an airgun show is neither stogy or self important. Best of all, Giles is coming to the USA for his second Extreme Benchrest which is coming up in November.

Giles and several others from the UK were at last year’s Extreme Benchrest and he put up a series of videos about the tournament that I recommend anyone with an interest in airguns watch. His website is http://www.airgungear.co.uk/ where you will find links to his vidieos. If you watch his Extreme Benchrest videos, He interviewed me. Thank you Giles. The interview is about half way thru the one on 75 Yard shooting.

I hope you will take a look at the AirgunGearShow videos about the 2013 Extreme Benchrest, and that you will keep an eye out for Giles coverage of the upcoming 2014 event. It is going to be great.

Ron

Shoebox Odyssey 2

“My Momma told me, ‘Son, you’d better shop around’”.

This is called the 15 inch  Tank by Crosman

My 3K dive tank failed visual inspection, so I was up a creek. I wanted to go to a 4.5 K tank but they are expensive and there is nowhere local I can get a 4.5 K fill. I shopped around and found a rental on a large steel 4.5 K tank, bun rent, refills  and other charges would cost me over $1400 for two years. Other folks would sell me a Freedom 8 compressor and a carbon fiber tank from $1600 to $1800.All the Freedom 8 and Shoebox compressors require you have a shop compressor.

Other options like larger tanks, driving to Salt Lake City (155 miles) for fills, larger compressors are all significantly more money. 3K tanks are not an option since some guns require 3 K fills, and that means one fill with those tanks.  

Best deal I found was a Shoebox from the manufacture @ $650 (700 delivered). A Crosman 90 cubic inch carbon fiber tank @ $400 from Airgun Depot (free shipping). A shop compressor from Harbor Freight @130 (local store). For $1180 plus the odd house and connectors, I would be in business.

I guess that fate has caught up with me for all the free fills I got on my $75 tank from H&H Dive.

I laid this out to George in Idaho and George wrote back.

“Looking forward to seeing your system in action.  Do not understand 90 cubic inch tank   (Is it) from Crosman ?   Was this tank made by Crosman or purchased on the forum? Can you fill the little bottle to 4500 psi ?”

The 90 cubic inch bottle is a Crosman product which I bought from Airgun Depot. It looks like Crosman outsources the tank and filling system. An unexpected benefit is that the fill system is from AirTanksForSale (Joe B) and that’s a good thing. This bottle can be filled to 4500 psi.

George continues, “By comparison, I purchased the 80 cubic ft (3000) bottle for $225.00   To fill my 48 cubic inch bottle (that has a 2200 reg.  I then need only to carry the little bottle to the range on shoot day.  The little bottle will fill all my guns because  I dropped the operating pressure of my  AS gun to 1250”.

George with his AS (Air Source) gun

You have to understand that George works with PCP guns he builds from Crosman CO2 guns. He has worked to get the most shots he can from them, and that he is working with pressured lower than a Marauder. Operating pressure aside his comments are to the point, “If you were to go away from your compressor to the range, how many shots would you get?”

More on that to come.

Ron

Shoebox Odyssey

These .25 Marauders use a lot of air between then but there are others, and they are all hungry!

Over 15 years ago I bought a used SCUBA tank at the one and only dive shop in Pocatello Idaho. They had to be convinced that I was Ok, but I had been doing that by filling my Airforce bottle for a couple of years so by now I was a valued customer. It helped that I had sent a couple of others to the shop. A dive shop in SE Idaho needs all the business it can get. At the time I had two PPC airguns.

It had now become clear that one 3000 psi tank was not enough. With five PPC guns I was always running out. I spent more time planning which guns to fill and in what order as the pressure in my gun and the tank’s pressure dropped. New guns all seemed to want 3K air.

I thought I had it figured out. I would get a small 4500 psi tank and keep the dive tank. I would cascade my fill and use the little tank to get up to 3000. It would work and the cost would be budget friendly. I could not get a 4.5K fill locally, but I travel from time to time. Sadly, fate intervened.

“It has been a good run for 37 years,”

“But, it’s come to an end,” said the guy at my local dive shop. My faithful tank, veteran of Extreme Benchrest, two FT Nationals and a host of local and regional shoots, failed a visual inspection. Failed as in dead, dead dead. The cracks were there one was across two threads and the other across one thread in the neck where the valve screws in. They marked the DOT number out with a cold chisel, and returned the tank so I could recycle it ($0.75/pound). I unceremoniously dumped my tank into the back of my pickup, and thought, “Now what?”