VarmintAir's Airgun Hunting Blog

AA 510 CRBSL - .22 Carbine - Turned The Power Down To 18 FPE - Shooting 14.5 Grain DYNAMIC Tin PCP-2's

VarmintAir — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:02:44 -0700

AA 510 .22 cal Carbine.

If you follow the airgunning scene at all, you are probably aware of the race for ever more power. Guns generating, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, 200+ fpe, and more at the muzzle, are now readily available. Big bore airguns in, 40, 45, and 50 caliber, have taken airgun power levels to amazing new heights. Guys are hunting deer, bear, hogs, elk, and other large critters with airguns these days. More, and more states are making hunting big game with big bore airguns legal.

But, you know what, the thing that originally attracted me to airgunning, was the quiet, low power finesse, that I found challenging and exciting, when hunting with traditional small caliber airguns, and I'm starting to reconnect with what brought me to the party.

My first, really good quality adult airguns, were an FWB 300S, and an FWB 124D. Both were in .177 caliber. They were doing about 7 fpe, and 12 fpe respectively, and I had a blast with those guns. A lot of vermin and small game have fallen to both of those rifles.

Somewhere along the way, I started to become a power junkie, and started chasing higher fpe guns. Nothing wrong with that, they have their place, and I've had a blast acquiring, and hunting with the more powerful rifles, but last year, I got a reminder about the fun, that comes along with hunting guns that put out less than 25/30 fpe at the muzzle.

Long range prairie dog hunting requires some power to reach out in the wind, and bag those guys at 100+ yards. Thirty to fifty fpe can be a good thing for that application. But, a lot of my ground squirrel, and tree squirrel hunting, is done in areas where a 70/80 yard shot is definitely the exception, and most shots are in the 40 to 65 yard range, and high power just isn't needed.

The thing that got me to thinking about all of this, was last spring and summer, when I did all of my ground squirrel hunting with my new Marauder PCP pistol/carbine.

My Marauder pistol/carbine, with factory settings, was doing 13 fpe at the muzzle, shooting the 12.8 grain DYNAMIC Sn-2 tin pellets. It pretty much killed every ground squirrel I got the crosshairs on, all the way out to just past 60 yards, and 99% of all shots were complete pass throughs. Obviously plenty of power.

There were a few areas though, that I hunted, where some of the shots were at 70/75 yards, and because of terrain, I couldn't close the range, and didn't want to chance a shot, at that range, with a 13 fpe gun, so it got me to thinking about having just a bit more power. Not 30 or 40 fpe, more like 18 to 20 fpe. Kind of splitting the difference.

Rather than modify my Marauder pistol for more power, I decided to turn down the power on my PCP carbines. I have two, an AA 410, and a new AA 510, both side levers.

I have already adjusted the power down on the AA 410, but I like to have a backup gun, as well as a loaner, so I decided to do the same to the AA 510 carbine, shooting the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets.

One of the things that I want to see in a shot string, from a non regulated gun, is a very low velocity difference in sequential shots. In other words. I want shot two, to be very close in velocity to shot one, and shot three to be very close to shot two, etc.

The reason has to do with followup shots. My first shot kill ratio is very high, but it isn't perfect, and when taking a shot, I'm very focused on the location of the crosshairs, and the result of the shot.

If the critter drops as intended, all is good, but I if I miss, I want to know where the pellet went, how and why I missed, and what I need to correct on the followup shot, assuming that I get one, to make a second shot kill.

Some times I can actually see the pellet in flight, see exactly where it went, and why I missed. Maybe high left, or low right etc. Other times I can tell from the dust kicked up at pellet impact, where the pellet went compared to where I was holding.

I want to know that the next pellet up, is going to track down, as close as possible, the same trajectory path that the shot I missed with took. That way, I know the correction I make in my hold is good, and the next pellet I fire, is going to track very close to the first shots, trajectory path, and not be high or low, because of a large velocity difference between the two shots. Low sequential shot to shot velocity variation, is key for accurate followup shot placement.

As you will see, the sequential shot to shot variation with this AA 510 carbine, is exceptional. For the most part, very low single digits.

AA 510 side lever carbine, 30 shot string, with the power turned down to 18 fpe, shooting the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets, on a 3000 psi fill.

1 - 748 fps 11 - 747 21 - 736

2 - 748 12 - 746 22 - 736

3 - 750 13 - 745 23 - 739

4 - 750 14 - 747 24 - 740

5 - 746 15 - 744 25 - 736

6 - 749 16 - 743 26 - 733

7 - 748 17 - 742 27 - 736

8 - 746 18 - 740 28 - 731

9 - 749 19 - 738 29 - 733

10- 748 20 - 744 30 - 734

AVG. - 742 fps

ES - 19 fps

FPE - 18

I could flatten the string out a bit more, by using a 3050 psi fill, but I can more than live with the results this 3000 psi fill gives me. Thirty shots with this kind of squential shot to shot consistency, is going to be awesome in the field. I can hardly wait to get her out on a hunt.

Air Arms builds some fantastic PCP's, and the new AA 510 carbine is no exception.

Benjamin Marauder - .25 cal, and Air Arms AA 510 TC .22 - Two Rifles I've Set Up Specifically - For Hunting Prairie Dogs

VarmintAir — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:45:48 -0700

Benjamin Marauder, .25 cal, with CenterPoint Power Class 4-16x56mm scope.

I just looked at the calendar, and realized, that it's only about four weeks until I'll be able to squeeze in a bit of prairie dog hunting before the season ends on March 31st.

Prairie dog season here runs from June 16th through March 31st of the following year, but they are in hibernation mode from around early November, until the third or fourth week of March. Come the tail end of March, as they are emerging from hibernation, I'm always looking to get in a hunt or two before the season ends. The dogs are just starting to come above ground, so there aren't usually a lot of them out yet, but it can be worth a day trip or two.

I've set up two rifles specifically for hunting prairie dogs with. I've learned, that in the windy dog towns around here, I have the best success with a heavy gun. I do all of my shooting from the standing position, with the rifle rested on a telescoping Stoney Point bipod, and the wind will definitely blow a light rifle around, making it very difficult to hold steady on small targets at long range.

Can you say windy? Typical wind in a local dog town.

A heavy gun resting on the bipod, is easier to hold on target in the wind, than a lighter gun is. I've learned this through many windy, and frustrating hunting experiences.

With my Marauder .25 cal, I've added a laminate stock that weighs about 8 ounces more than the factory stock does. I've also selected a large scope, in the CenterPoint, Power Class 4-16x56mm variable. This scope has a 30mm tube with large glass, and adds another 26 ounces to the overall weight. With scope, scope rings, camera mount, and video camera, the total weight of this rig comes to just shy of 12 pounds. Just what I'm looking for in a long range (by airgun standards) prairie dog rig.

The accuracy of this rifle is as good as it gets. It's an 8 shot repeater, and I take a lot of prairie dogs all of the way out to 100+ yards with it. This rig is more than capable of making head shots at that distance.

The targets below, show the final sight-in group, shot at 65 yards, 5 shots with Beeman 30.8 grain Kodiaks, easily covered with a dime. This rifle also shoots the Benjamin 27.8 grain dome head pellets just as well.

The power level of this rifle, when shooting the 27.8 grain Benjamin domes, is 44 fpe, and 46 fpe when shooting the 30.8 grain Beeman Kodiaks. More than enough power to blow clear through prairie dogs at 100+ yards.

Marauder .25, 5 shots at 65 yards, shooting 30.8 grain Kodiaks.

Covered with a dime.

The .25 cal carries some serious energy down range, and this rig is absolute death on prairie dogs at long range.

Air Arms 510 TC .22cal, with Nikko Stirling 4-16x50mm scope.

The second rifle that I have set up, specifically for prairie dog hunting, is my AA 510 TC .22. It's a 10 shot repeater. This gun is a little different from most PCP's, in that it has twin air cylinders mounted side by side, like the barrels on a shotgun. As shown below.

The obvious advantage of that is, more air equals a much higher shot count. In this rifle, I shoot the 18 grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets, which generate 29.4 fpe at the muzzle. For hunting purposes, this rig gives me 60 shots on one air fill, where my .25 Marauder gives me 16.

The reality though is, I rarely get enough shots in our local dog towns, on a morning hunt, to use even the 16 shots I have with the Marauder. The exception to that general rule is, from about mid June, to early July, when the years new crop of pasture poodles come above ground.

They are young and dumb, and haven't quite figured out, that coyotes, badgers, hawks, and a dude with an airgun, can be hazardous to their health. During that time period, the shooting can pick up substantially.

Again, for long range shooting in these dog towns, I need guns that are accurate in the extreme. The AA 510 TC more than qualifies in that respect. The below targets show the final sight in target shot at 50 yards.

The three pellet holes in the bullseye, were made during scope adjustments, with the final shot of the three, taking out the small orange dot in the middle of the 10 ring. That group near the eye, is the final five shots, that essentially went through the same exact hole easily covered with an Advil tablet. I would call this rifle a tack driver, but it's way better than that.

The rifle, with Nikko Stirling, 4-16x50mm scope, with 30mm tube and big glass, scope mounts, camera mount, and camera, weighs just a tad over 11 pounds. Again, this beauty also holds nice and steady in a windy dog town.

AA 510 TC .22, 5 shots at 50 yards, with 18 grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy's.

Covered with an Advil tablet.

Next up, I'm going to clean their barrels, clean the lenses on a my binos, and range finder, make sure the scope lenses are clean, check my day bag for appropriate magazines and ammo, and we're ready to kick off the 2012 prairie dog games.

If you would like to see some video clips of these two rifles in action, go to the side bar on the left of this page, scroll down to the "Hunting Video Library" category, click on that, and then scroll through the videos, clicking on the ones you want to view. They start, with some AA 510 TC hunting videos, with a lot of .25 cal Marauder clips in there as well.

AA 510 CRBSL - .22 Carbine - Has Adjustable Power - What Exactly Does That Mean?

VarmintAir — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:26:16 -0700

Power control knob on right side of receiver.

One of the features on the Air Arms 410, and 510 models of PCP's, that until recently, I have never used, or given much thought to, is the adjustable power capability.

Because most of the shooting that I do is considered "long range" as far as air gun ranges are concerned, I normally run my guns wide open for max power.

However, I now have a hunting situation where I don't need or want max power, so I decided to use the power control on my AA 510 side lever carbine, and turn the power down to around 18 to 20 fpe.

Since I would need to use my chronograph to accomplish this, I figured what the heck, lets take some time and see just what "adjustable power" really means, and find out the range of power the controller would let me choose.

Some other PCP's have adjustable power also. Some have the power control located where you need to remove the gun from the stock to reach the control, and others have the control located on the receiver, where it is readily available.

The AA 410, and 510 series of PCP's, have the power control located on the right side of the receiver, as seen in the picture above.

As seen in the picture below, on the opposite side of the receiver, there is a power scale with five index marks, with + (plus) on the right, and - (minus) on the left, and three in-between. On the end of the power control shaft, is a groove, that's used as a pointer (looks like a screwdriver slot) that shows where the power is currently set at.

It would be nice if there were a detent, click stop, at each of the index marks, but there aren't. The only two settings that are easily repeatable, are + High power, or - Low power. There are stops at both of those settings, everything in-between, is continuously variable.

I decided to shoot a string at each index mark, and see what the power and shot count would be at each of those settings. My pellet of choice is the 16 grain JSB Exact Jumbo. Starting with + HIGH, and working down to - LOW, here are the results of those tests. I could probably drop the ES a bit by playing with the fill pressure some, but for this test it's close enough for govmint work.

HIGH MED HIGH MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW

3000 psi fill 3000 psi fill 3000 psi fill 3000 psi fill

Avg - 922 fps Avg - 874 Avg - 712 Avg - 573

ES - 33 fps ES - 33 fps ES - 33 ES - 36

Shots - 20 Shots - 25 Shots - 30 Shots - 40

Fpe - 30 Fpe - 27 Fpe - 18 Fpe - 12

LOW

3000 psi fill

Avg - 481

ES - 18

Shots - 50

Fpe - 8

That's a pretty wide range of power. On the Low setting, 8 fpe isn't a whole lot more than my FWB 300S, and the shot count would keep you going for a while.

Medium low, at 12 fpe, isn't much less than my 20 cal R9, and Medium power, at 18 fpe, is about the same as my .20 cal Theoben Crusader generated when I still owned it.

Medium high, at 27 fpe, is the same as my AA 410SL carbine generates at high power, and High, at 30 fpe is the same as many of my other full size PCP's generate at full power.

Change the pellet weight, and all of these numbers would obviously change, but this gives a good reading on just what "adjustable power" means, when talking about an AA 510 carbine.

I sure wish the in-between settings had click stops. Oh well.

After the above tests, I set the gun up for 18 fpe, shooting the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC PCP-2's, and using the set screw located under the power control knob, locked the control in place, so I don't accidentally move it while hunting.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the performance of this carbine so far, and now I know what the different power settings really bring to the party.

Picture of set screw location, with allen wrench inserted, used for locking down the power control knob.

AA 510 CRBSL - .22 Carbine - Added To The Airsenal

VarmintAir — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:32:33 -0700

I really, really like the Air Arms PCP air rifles. I have the AA 410ERBSL .22 rifle, the AA 410CRBSL .22 carbine, the AA 510 TC .22 rifle, and have just recently added the new AA 510CRBSL .22 carbine to the collection.

I recently made arrangements with Steve, over at Pomona Airguns, to get rid of the last remaining under lever, and break barrel springers in my collection. I've gone PCP 24/7. For what I do, a PCP is just a much better tool.

My rule of thumb is, monies generated from the sale of airguns, gets reinvested in airguns or airgun stuff. The springer dollars went toward picking up the new AA 510 carbine from Steve at PAG.

I'm curious to see how she compares to my AA 410 carbine. The first difference, that is immediately noticeable, is the longer air tube. The AA 410 carbine's air tube holds 180cc of air, while the new AA 510 carbine's air tube holds 242cc of air.

Below: The AA 410 carbine, with short air tube on top. The AA 510 carbine, with longer air tube on the bottom.

Another difference, is the way the power control operates. On the AA 410, to increase power, you turn the knob to the right, much like increasing the volume on a radio by turning the volume control knob to the right.

On the AA 510, it is just the opposite. No big deal, but if you own both 410's and 510's, it's something to be aware of.

The first thing I did, was to swap stocks between the two carbines. My 410 has a thumbhole stock on it, and I really prefer that stock when hunting. The new 510 came with an ambidextrous stock that is fine, but I much prefer the thumbhole for field use.

Speaking of the stocks, the ambi stock has a LOP of 14 inches, and the thumbhole stock is a half inch longer at 14.5 inches. The thumbhole stock has an adjustable butt pad, where as the ambi stock's butt pad is fixed.

As usual, the fit and finish of the AA 510 carbine are excellent. Air Arms puts out a really nice, high quality product. I've been happy enough with their guns, that I now own four of them.

Next up, I'll get the chronograph set up, and see how she does, power and shot count wise, compared to my AA 410 carbine.

I've been a bit under the weather lately, so it's nice to get a new toy to spend some time with.

More to come.

FX T-12 Whisper - .22 cal - Shooting The Baracuda Green - 12.6 Grain Tin Pellets - Over The Chrongraph

VarmintAir — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:29:34 -0700

I picked this gun up new in early 2007. It has been a stellar performer, and starred in the second half of my DVD, "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel."

I decided, that since it has been awhile since I had run her over the chrono, that I would shoot a string, using the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC PCP-2, tin pellets, and see how she's doing compared to a couple of years ago.

On a 3000 psi fill, she is still real close to the original 36 shot string (3 mags). This time, the average velocity is just a bit higher at 882 fps, compared to 871 fps the first time. The ES is 33 fps, compared to 27 fps the first time, but still good enough for my hunting needs.

Since the DYNAMIC tin pellets have become very difficult to come by, and I have a couple of situations where I must use non-lead pellets, if I want to hunt those properties. I'm curious to see how the performance of the relatively new H&N Baracuda Green tin pellets stack up against the DYNAMIC PCP-2's, in a few of my guns.

I previously tried them in my AA 410CRBSL carbine, and determined, that from a shot count perspective, they are less efficient when it comes to air useage, but beggars can't be choosy, and though they aren't as efficient as the heavier DYNAMIC PCP-2's, they would certainly suffice in a pinch.

I also wanted to see how the Baracuda Greens would perform, from an air use efficiency stand point, in my Whisper.

What I found, was a situation similar to what I saw with the AA 410 carbine. On a 3000 psi fill, a 36 shot string with the 12.6 grain Baracudas, showed an ES of 77 fps, where the 14.5 grain PCP-2's only showed an ES of 33 fps. For my hunting application, an ES of 77 fps is just to great, and will have a negative effect on POI, especially at longer ranges.

If I stopped at 24 shots, with the Baracuda Greens, (2 mags) the ES was a very low 17 fps. It was with the third mag, that the velocity started to drop like a free falling safe, and the ES climbed like crazy.

I could probably improve things a bit by going to a higher fill pressure, but I don't like exceeding the manufacturers recommended max fill specification, so in actual practice, with this pellet in this gun, I would simply shoot two mags, and then refill the gun.

At this point, I've still got a good supply of the DYNAMIC PCP-2's on hand, so there is no need to switch to the Baracuda Greens just yet, but I always like to have a plan "B" just in case.

Next, I need to give them a good accuracy test at 50 yards. There is just too much snow on the ground right now to be able to do that, but both this Whisper, and the AA 410 carbine look like they want to shoot this pellet pretty well. I've only had a chance to do a small test at 25 yards, but they look like they have serious potential.

So, if you are in need of a non-lead pellet, for what ever reason, check out the Barracuda Greens, at first glance, they look like they could be a good substitute for lead pellets. At least in some guns.

AA 410CRBSL - .22 cal Carbine - Power Turned Down To 20 FPE - Shooting The Baracuda Green - 12.6 Grain Tin Pellets Over The Chrongraph

VarmintAir — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:23:55 -0700

The first thing that I had to do, was to remove the barreled action from the stock, so that I could access the set screw that locks the power control knob down. That's an easy task, because the barreled action is held into the stock with one allen head screw, located just ahead of the trigger guard.

Allen screw loosened, to allow the barreled action to be removed from stock.

With the stock removed, I was able to access the setscrew that is located directly below the power control knob. I had the power control set to maximum, and had it locked down so that I wouldn't accidentally move it while hunting. To turn the power down, I had to loosen the setscrew so the power knob would again turn freely.

Location of setscrew, with allen wrench inserted.

Once I had the setscrew loosened, I put the gun back into the stock, and got ready to do some chrony testing of the Baracuda Green, 12.6 grain tin pellets.

As a starting point, I set the power control to the half way point. I aired the gun up to 3000 psi, loaded a mag with ten Baracuda Greens, and started to shoot.

When hunting in an area where I must use non-lead pellets, I shoot the DYNAMIC PCP-2, 14.5 grain tin pellets in this gun. They give me 20 good shots, with an ES of 29 fps at 27 fpe, before I need to refill with air. Turning the power down, looking for about 20 fpe, I expected to pick up a few more shots, but as we'll see, when also switching to a lighter weight pellet, at the same time the power is turned down, doesn't necessarily mean an increase in shot count.

What actually happened, when shooting the lighter weight Baracuda Green pellets is, I was barely able to keep the original 20 shots with an ES of 31 fps. By the time I got to 25 shots, which was my original goal, the ES was 75 fps. Even though the power was turned down, shot count didn't improve with the lighter pellet, and ES had more than doubled by shot 25.

I have seen this phenomenon before, when testing light weight lead pellets in a gun, compared to it's performance when shooting heavier pellets. A heavier pellet seems to cause the gun to be more efficient in the use of air. I think it probably has something to do with a higher back pressure on the valve when heavier pellets are used.

Next, I again aired the gun up to 3000 psi, and switched to the heavier DYNAMIC PCP-2, tin pellets. I left the power adjuster at the previous half point setting, and started to chrony the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets.

Now this was more like what I was looking for. The 25 shot string started at 777 fps, peaked at 791 fps, and ended at 762 fps. The ES is 29 fps, and the fpe is 19.7 at the muzzle.

I wanted to try the BARACUDA GREEN tin pellets, as a possible alternative to the hard to get DYNAMIC PCP-2's, and they could certainly still be used, but seem to be a bit light in this gun.

I wonder if a regulated gun would maybe overcome this problem of inefficient use of air? I don't have a regulated gun, so until I get one at some point, this question will remain unanswered.

I still have about 10,000 PCP-2's left, and will continue to use them in the AA 410 carbine. I tried the Baracuda Green pellets in my FX Whisper, with similar results. I'll get that information posted at a later date.

I could certainly use the Baracudas in my AA 410 carbine, but would obviously need to refill more often, and that wasn't my goal. But, if at some point they are the only choice in a quality non-lead pellet, I'll certainly do whatever I need to, to keep on hunting in a lead free area.

I've again locked the power control down, except this time it's at the mid setting on the power scale. We are now ready to get after some California Ground Squirrels here in about four or five weeks.

How Do I Clean My Airgun Barrels? - With A, J. Dewey Coated Rod - Pro-Shot Spear Tip Brass Jag - Pro-Shot Cotton Patches - and Beeman MP 5 - Rust Inhibiting Oil

VarmintAir — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:27:08 -0700

Every once in awhile, somebody asks how I clean the barrels on my various airguns. Nothing particularly magic about it.

I've been using a J. Dewey, one piece nylon coated rod, with a Pro-Shot spear tip brass jag on it for many, many decades. The J. Dewey rods are superb quality. Ball bearings in the handle let the rod easily rotate as it pushes a brush or patch through the bore, and the nylon coating is first rate.

I was a Dealer of theirs for many, many years, and sold thousands of their cleaning rods. I never had a single rod returned for any reason whatsoever. Really good stuff.

For cleaning PCP barrels with shrouds, I prefer the Pro-Shot spear tip jag, to the one that Dewey supplies with their rods. When I am going through several baffles before coming to the barrel muzzle, the spear tip jag holds the patch better than the original jag, which has a tapered tip without the straight portion, that the Pro-Shot spear tip jag has. There is a short female to female adapter that is required to allow the use of the spear tip jag on a Dewey rod. The adapter is also made by Pro-Shot.

Pro-Shot spear tip jag, with adapter for use with the Dewey rod.

I clean from the muzzle, because when cleaning with a rod, that is typically the only option on most PCP's. Once I start the patch into the end of the shroud, I do not change direction. Not even a little bit. That will knock the patch off in the baffles. Once I start, I just keep the forward motion going, and I haven't found hitting the bore to be difficult at all. I haven't knocked a patch off in the baffles in years.

I use Beeman MP5 as a cleaning solution, and put a couple of drops on a proper size Pro-Shot cotton patch. I run the patch down the barrel in a short back and forth scrubbing action, until it exits at the chamber end of the barrel.

I will typically use four or five patches with MP5 on them, and then switch to clean dry patches, until one comes out clean enough that I'm satisfied.

Some barrels clean up really fast, and others take more scrubbing with MP5. I just eyeball the patches, and decide by their appearance when the bore is clean.

Pro-Shot spear tip brass jag with patch.

I always laugh when I see the internet gurus telling folks that they will ruin their airgun's barrel if they use a cleaning rod on it. Like these barrels are made from the same stuff that drinking straws are made of. I've checked all of mine with a magnet, and they are all made of some type of steel. Much harder than the pellets I shoot in them, much harder than the brass jag I clean them with, and no, the barrel won't bend if you lean the gun against it in the corner.

Use a quality one piece coated rod, with a brass jag, using quality patches, and the idea that you are somehow going to damage the barrel is total nonsense. Myself, and several friends have been cleaning our airguns this way for decades. Never an issue of any kind, and some of our guns are close to 40 years old, and shoot as good today as when they were new.

To hear the gurus tell it, these barrels are very delicate, and you have to pull the cleaning patch through from the chamber to muzzle, and you must use patches made from a 15 year old virgins belly button lint soaked in extra, extra virgin cleaning solution.

They seem to imply that just leaving your gun in the same room with a cleaning rod could do serious harm to your barrel. Where do these guys come up with this stuff?

Anyway, I've been using this method successfully for many decades, on a lot of expensive and very accurate airguns, and don't see any reason to change, and not only that, but 15 year old virgins are getting harder, and harder to find.

FX Whisper .22 - Prepped For 2012 - California Ground Squirrel Adventures

VarmintAir — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:29:49 -0700

Ground squirrel hunting, in my corner of the world, kicks off in about five weeks. This year, I'm going to campaign several different rifles, including my FX Whisper. I haven't shot this rifle in about three years.

I've owned her for about five or six years, and she was one of the main players in the production of my DVD, "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel." The way I have her currently set, she generates about 24 fpe, shooting the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets, and the accuracy is excellent.

If you happen to have a copy of my DVD, the last half of the video was shot using this rifle and the PCP-2 pellets. There are kills out to just under 100 yards using that pellet. She drives the PCP-2's at an average of 871 fps.

The FX Whisper is a fairly light weight rifle. I wanted to add some weight, so I mounted a Simmons 6.5-20x50mm scope on her. With the camera mounted, she tips the scale at just under 8.5 pounds. Light enough to carry all day, yet heavy enough to hold steady in my Stoney Point bipod, when taking a shot.

I'm also going to try the H&N Baracuda Green tin pellets in her, and see how they perform. The DYNAMIC tin pellets have become very scarce, so it would be nice to have a readily available alternative.

The next thing that I need to do, is clean the barrel, and get her sighted in. I'm also going to set up the chronograph, and see what she is doing, velocity wise, with the Baracuda Green pellets. The DYNAMIC PCP-2's are 14.5 grains, and the Baracudas are 12.6 grains, so I'm thinking the velocity will probably be over 900 fps with the Baracudas.

I get 36 shots on a 2900 psi fill. That's three mags, and that is typically more than enough for a two or three hour hunt.

I'm also going to campaign with my AA 410 CRBSL .22 carbine, and my Marauder .22 cal rifle this year. This should spread the load a bit, and make for some very fun squirrel hunting. I can hardly wait to get started. H-minus five weeks and counting.

As in the past, I'll be posting the hunting stories, with embedded videos, here on the blog.

More to come in February.

AA 410CRBSL - .22 cal Carbine - Going To Turn The Power Down To 20 FPE - To Use With The Baracuda Green - 12.6 Grain Tin Pellets

VarmintAir — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:10:39 -0700

Man, the past few months have just been crazy busy, and because of that, there hasn't been much time for airguns, or the blog. It's looking like January is going to be more of the same, so I thought I would take a little bit of the down time available between Christmas and New Years, to adjust my AA 410CRBSL carbine down to about 20 fpe at the muzzle.

I plan to hunt it with the relatively new, H&N 12.6 grain, Baracuda non-lead tin, .22 cal pellets on California ground squirrels next year.

For all practical purposes, I'm out of serious hunting with springers, and have made the complete switch to PCP's. Just a better tool for what I do.

Last spring and summer, I hunted exclusively with my new Benjamin Marauder PCP pistol/carbine. The gun, shooting 12.8 grain, DYNAMIC Sn-2 tin pellets, generates 13 fpe at the muzzle. That was essentially the same power as my R9, or HW97 .20 cals, and doing it in a PCP repeater carbine, that is recoilless, accurate, quiet, and weighs 4+ pounds less than either of those guns. I was loving it.

I was hunting very steep terrain, at elevations that at times were close to 6,000 feet, and humping a heavy rifle around in those conditions gets old real fast. The Marauder pistol/carbine was awesome to hunt with in those areas.

There were some situations however, where the terrain was to steep and rugged, to allow me to get close enough to take some nice shots on squirrels in the 70/75 yard range. With my P-Rod doing 13 fpe, my self imposed range limit, is just a little over 60 yards. So I had to pass on those 70/75 yard shots, but it got me to thinking about a carbine doing about 20 fpe, that would reach out there, in that inaccessible terrain, and roll those furballs with ease.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I already owned the solution. My AA 410CRBSL .22 cal carbine, turned down to 20 fpe, would be just about ideal. It currently does 27 fpe for 20 shots, with the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets, so using the power adjuster to cut it back to 20 fpe, shooting the 12.6 grain Baracuda Green pellets was a no brainer.

So why not just shoot it as is? Well, because I don't need 27 fpe at the muzzle to cleanly kill ground squirrels at 75 yards, and dropping it back to 20 fpe will increase the shot count by some number, as yet not known.

Also, in my experience, most light pellets do not do real well accuracy wise when driven ultra fast.

I also want to test the H&N non-lead offering, just in case the DYNAMICS become unobtainium in the future.

Using one of the online calculators, I determined that I need an average muzzle velocity of 845 fps, to produce 20 fpe at the muzzle, with the 12.6 grain pellet.

According to my past notes, this rifle is launching the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets at an average of 911 fps, for an average of 27 fpe at the muzzle. That's with the power control set wide open. At that setting, I'm sure it will be launching the 12.6 grain Baracudas at close to 1000 fps, or maybe a bit more. I don't need that kind of velocity, and that's one of the reasons why I'll be adjusting the power down to give me about 20 fpe at the muzzle.

I'll get the chronograph set up here soon, and report back with my findings. It will be interesting to see what happens to the shot count, when the power is dropped from 27 fpe, to 20 fpe. Probably nothing major, but I should pick up a few more shots.

More to come.

Category - "Hunting Video Library" - Updated

VarmintAir — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:36:10 -0700

Marauder .25 cal, with camera and Abert's tree squirrel.

I've finally had a chance to add the new videos I shot on hunts this past spring and summer, to the "Hunting Video Library" category of the blog. For those who don't know, the "Hunting Video Library" is where I post all of the videos I shoot during hunts. They are posted without the associated stories that would normally go with them. It now includes most of the videos from various hunts over the past two and a half years.

This way, folks who just want to watch the hunting videos, have them all located in one place.

There are video clips located in the Library, that I shot while hunting with the following guns. AA 510TC .22......Marauder .25......Marauder pistol .22......AA 410 ERBSL .22......AA 410 CRBSL .22......FX 2000 .22......Discovery .177......FX Whisper .22......and my RWS Rapier .22.

To find the "Hunting Video Library" just scroll down the side bar, on the left of the main blog page here, to the "Categories" section. Scroll down it until you come to the "Hunting Video Library" heading, and click on it. That will take you to the Library section.

If you click on the "Hunting Videos" category, and not the "Hunting Video Library" category, it will take you to a section of the blog that has the hunting stories with their associated videos embedded.

The "Hunting Video Library" is made up of individual videos only. Scroll through the offerings, until you see something you would like to view, click on the arrow, and after loading, the video will play. I hope you enjoy watching the clips.

RWS Rapier .22 cal, with video camera mounted.