Another Range Day!

Well, this morning we got up early, tended to all of our errands, and that left time for...

ANOTHER RANGE DAY! YIPPEE!

Range conditions:

All target shots performed at a range of 10 meters.
All can shots started at a range of 10 meters, which increased as the can rolled further and further away.
Weather: Sunny, clear, and mild. No wind.
All target shots were performed while seated, and using a cardboard box as a bench rest.
All can shots were performed standing, using police-style cup and saucer grip. Hands were loose, to allow the gun to roll with the recoil.

Today, I played around with the Hatsan, but not enough to get any real data.

Then, I broke out the P5 Magnum (Diana.)

That's when the real shooting started.

As always, clicking on the picture will allow you to see it at full resolution.



Here's the ammo we used today:

A heavy pellet.

A light pellet.

A medium weight pellet.

First, I made use of a handgun target that someone had left unused; they shot the top four targets, but left the bottom four untouched. So I shot the bottom four; waste not, want not.

Starting target: the one on the right, with two sets of 4.

Here's the four that I shot:

This is what they looked like after shooting, before I labeled them.

Here's what each one was shot with:

Meisterkugeln gave the best grouping.

Both Supermag groupings were decent.

Again, decent groupings.

HyperMax had decent groupings as well. RWS doesn't make low-grade pellets, even their light stuff is pretty OK.

By the way, I experimented with different sight pictures while shooting these groupings. The one that seems to work best for me is to allow the red dot to rest directly above the green dots, with the red dot blocking out whatever I'm aiming at. Like so...

This is what I see when I aim the P5. If I put the red dot level between the green, it tends to shoot low.

Ok, so, in my opinion, the worst grouping was the HyperMax pellet. So I decided to have a shoot-out between Meisterkugeln and Supermag. I set up two targets next to each other, and shot each one alternating until I had 5 shots. Then, I shot 5 continuous shots at each one without alternating. That means that each target was shot 10 times. Here are the results...

First Five Shots:

Here they are, completely blank.

Supermag on the left.

Meisterkugeln on the right.

Shot number 1 for each, off to a great start!

Shot number 2 for each, Meisterkugeln takes the lead!

Shot number 3 for each, Supermag showing some spread.

Closeup of shot 3 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 3 for Meisterkugeln.

Shot number 4 for each, human error creeping in; I wasn't taking as much time to aim by this point; I was getting too anxious.

Closeup of shot 4 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 4 for Meisterkugeln.

Fifth shot for each. Again, human error starting to show.

Closeup of shot 5 for Supermag.

Closeup of shot 5 for Meisterkugeln.

Now, 5 more shots for each target.

Closeup of final grouping for Supermag.

Closeup of final grouping for Meisterkugeln. We have a winner!

You may have noticed that I had a Spec Ops target set up today as well, just to play around with. Here are the results:

The terrorist got his nose blown off, as well as losing his lips, and getting his chin clipped.

The terrorist's heart and lungs ain't feelin' so good...

Overall view.

Grouping sizes; fingernail shown for size comparison.

Again, fingernail shown for size comparison.

Yet another photo of my finger :)

There was also a Red Bull can sitting next to the target, on the ground...

See it, to the right of the Spec Ops target?

The Red Bull can after a few pellets.

I have some videos that go along with the can shooting, but they are very large. I will probably need to put them on Youtube first, then link to them. When that is done, I will update this post, so check back in a few days.

Until next time, fellow airgunners, I bid you good day!

EDIT: Let's add the videos:

Red Bull Part One

Red Bull Part Two


Ok, enjoy, folks!

A Day at the Gun Range

Ok, so I went to the range today. Knowing that 10 meters is roughly 33 feet, and knowing that "giant steps" are roughly 3 feet each, I paced off 11 giant steps, and set up my targets. This is a pic taken with my iPhone 5 from the shooting bench, no magnification; I think I will bring a tape measure next time, because it felt like more than 10 meters to me. What do you guys think? (By the way, if you click any of the pictures, it will let you view the full-size image.)

Here's the view from the bench

The targets on the stand were full torso handgun targets. I put my target over the head of the torso target. Here's a closeup, so you can see what I mean:

My target covered the head portion of the torso target

By the way, I was using this type of target:

It's not exactly an airgun target, but it will do. The black area is 5.25 inches in diameter.

First, I sighted in the Hatsan Model 25 Supercharger (.22 Caliber.) By the way, I was using RWS Super H Point pellets, 14.2 Grain. These shots are all open sights, seated, using a cup and saucer grip, resting my elbows on the table (not the gun.) The first five shots were abysmally low...

First five shots; shooting way, way too low.

So, I made some adjustments...

The hole next to the word champion was my fault; the hole in the 6 ring reflects the effects of the adjustment.

And some more...

Now we're getting somewhere!

Final grouping; at this point I am satisfied that the Hatsan is "sighted in." I started shooting the metal targets after this, pinging those suckers every time!

Final grouping for the Hatsan.

By the way, I had a few folks with me today. My son, Yuri, who is 6 years old, and my father-in-law, Mark.

While I was shooting the Hatsan, my son was shooting the Diana 27 (.177), and my father-in-law was shooting the Crosman Titan GP (.22)

After I finished with the Hatsan, I switched out with Mark, and started shooting the Crosman Titan. I had the local gun shop mount and sight the scope for me, so I didn't bother to adjust the scope. I just started zinging away...

First few shots with the Titan. Same distance, same kind of target, same pellet as the Hatsan. Firing from a seated position, using the little red bench rest that Yuri was using in the picture above. And making use of the Centerpoint scope.

...And then I zinged away some more...

Final grouping for the Titan; it was just too darn hot to keep going (94 degrees F.)

Close-up shot of my baby, the Titan GP. I love this little gun!

All in all, we had a great day at the range! Unfortunately, we didn't have access to a chronograph today, so I don't have any FPS or FPE to give ya. Hopefully, the next time I go to the range, I will have had the chance to buy my own.