Tactical Hunter Red Dot Range Day Extravaganza!

Welcome to another range day!

Well, this post was originally posted "incomplete," meaning that I posted stats only, with none of the usual exposition on various factors encountered, caveats, etc. That was on June 21st. More time than I would have like has passed since then; today is July 17th, so it has taken almost a month for me to get back to editing this post, and for that, I apologize. Life has been really hectic (in a good way) for me lately.

I'd just like to say that the X1 red dot was a pleasure to shoot with, and although I think it still needs a bit of adjustment, I can tell that it was the perfect fit for this gun.

My goal is to get the groupings down to 2" or smaller at 25 yards. So far, I have failed to do so; my best grouping (as you will see below) was 2 and 3/4 inches for a 10-shot group.

Of course, all of the target work on this particular range day was done with only 1 pellet type, the Superdomes. On my next range day, before I go all crazy trying to adjust the scope again, I am going to try some different pellets, probably some SuperMags, Meisterkugelns, and maybe even some Gamo Rockets and Gamo Tomahawks. (I haven't shot the Gamos in a long while; those pellets have been sitting in my box for about 2.5 years! It's time I opened 'em up and let a few fly!) I look forward to seeing the results.

One problem I seem to keep having is that the pin that holds the plastic end-cap onto the P5 seems to keep slipping, allowing the force of the gun's recoil to knock the cap off after every 4 or 5 shots. I have been considering having a custom-built attachment made for the P5 that would allow me to put a small stock on it, effectively turning it into a carbine. This nonsense with the cap flying off might provide me with the perfect excuse to go ahead and do so.

Well, as for the rest of this post, the targets on the big sheet below were all shot in order, from left to right, top to bottom. If you zoom in and look closely, you can see the progression as I went from factory default settings to a more dialed-in, accurate setting. By the time I got to the last target, I was getting very good results for a pistol at such a distance.

Conditions:

No or little wind.
All shots from bench rest (sitting) position.
All shots at a distance of 25 yards (22.86 meters.)
All shots using Diana P5 Magnum pistol, with Pursuit X1 Tactical Hunter 1x30mm Red Dot Scope.
All shots using RWS Superdome .177 caliber pellets. (Wt: 8.3 grain.)





My New Toy: The Pursuit X1 Tactical Hunter Multi-Reticle Red Dot Scope.



Closeup of the new scope.

What's for Diana's dinner.

The beast is ready to ROAR!

All in a day's work: Sighting in the scope, top to bottom.

I am not going to count this one flyer. I slipped as I was firing.

Best grouping of the day.

Measured three different ways: Two and a quarter inches.

Measured three different ways: Two and three quarters inches.

Measured three different ways: Two inches even.

Best grouping (taking the WORST of the three measurements): 2 and 3/4 inches. (10-shot group.)

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, may all of your pellets fly true!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

Well, as it turns out, my next range day was 4 hours after my last post, ha ha ha! Fortune favors the brave, i.e., those foolhardy souls who will brave a trip to the gun range on a rainy day.

 

I brought my son, Yuri with me, and we both had a blast. Yuri was shooting open sights, from a bench rest, and the guns he was shooting were so big, heavy, and hard for him to hold (he's only 7) that I felt that he would benefit from targets being placed at "point blank engagement range," i.e., a distance of 4 meters (13 feet.)

 

Yuri shot my new (to me) circa mid-1980's made-in-West-Germany Diana Model 5G air pistol, and my circa 1934 Diana Model 27 air rifle. The pistol is made for an adult shooter, and is hard for him to grip properly. The rifle is big, and very heavy (he can barely lift it.)

 

First of all, I'd like to say how proud I am of him; he made some pretty great shots once I showed him how to get the proper sight picture. He also made a great shot that I almost got on camera, but alas, my phone died in the middle of recording it. He shot an empty shotgun shell off the top of a wooden post at 4 meters with the Model 27 (from a bench rest) and the shell flew, spinning forward, end-over-end, like a football being kicked for a field goal! The shell probably traveled a good 15 feet! I wish I had the video of that! We might go back to the range tomorrow after church lets out, just for a minute or two, to see if he can duplicate the feat. If we do, I will post the video immediately.

 

I also tried my hand at shooting the shotgun shell. I used the Diana P5 with BSA red dot, shooting from the same distance, sitting down, one arm extended (no bench rest.) Here is the result. I couldn't believe my eyes! What a powerful little pistol the P5 is!

Yes, that's a pellet lodged in the side of the empty shell!

As for my previous plans, I had to throw them out the window. There are two reasons for this; the first being that it started raining, which cuts visibility way down, even on easy-to-see targets. The second reason is that even my "large" 1-inch bullseyes in a 1.5 inch box are almost impossible to see at a distance of 15 meters. I only took one shot at that distance, before deciding to move the target in closer.

I shot 3 pellets at each target, at a range of 7 meters, which was still moderately difficult to see in the rain. Here are the results:

The 1 shot that I took at 15 meters is circled.

I shot the first target once at 15 meters, and 3 times at 7 meters. I shot the next 5 targets three times each. I made a counting boo-boo, and shot the last target 4 times. Considering the small targets, and decreased visibility, I'd say these are some fair groupings.

By the way, the shotgun shell, and the small targets, were shot with RWS Super-H-Point pellets. All shots fired from a bench rest, using a 1x mag BSA red dot scope.

While I was at it, I also shot the Diana 5G, with hooded front sight, at a distance of 7 meters, using a bench rest. I sighted it in, making adjustments, on two targets (not shown here) and it took about 30 shots to get it right where I wanted it. Once I was satisfied, I shot the following two targets, 5 shots at each, without making any further adjustments:

Closeup of first 5-shot grouping.

Closeup of second 5-shot grouping.

While shooting, I noticed a bunch of gunk (old lubricant?) in the breech of the gun:

 

 

 

Not sure what it was, but I got a toothpick and removed it.

 

 

 

Once the gun was clean, I handed it to Yuri, who promptly shot the following targets (again, at a distance of 4 meters, from a bench rest, old-skool open sights.)

 

 

 

He shot this target 12 times. The red box is 4.5 inches wide. The bull is .375 inches square.

 

 

 

 

He shot this one 6 times. I think this was his best grouping of the day.

 

 

 

 

When he noticed I was only shooting 5-shot groups, he did the same.

 

 

 

 

Packing up, about to leave. "Please, Dad, one more shot?" BAM! Bullseye!
I was so proud of him!

 

 





In the time it took Yuri to shoot these targets (plus a few shots taken at metal targets, and at leftover CHL class targets, etc.) I shot the following targets with the P5, all at 7 meters, from a bench rest, with the BSA red dot. By now, the rain had let up a bit, and there was only a light sprinkle still going.

 

 

Overall performance of the P5 at 7 meters. Shots circled in red are stray shots from Yuri, ha ha.

RWS Super Mag pellets closeup 001.

RWS Super Mag pellets closeup 002.

RWS Super H Point pellets closeup 001.

RWS Super H Point pellets closeup 002.

RWS Meisterkugeln pellets closeup 001.

RWS Meisterkugeln pellets closeup 002.

 I took pictures of the pellet tins that were in use, but I figured since this post was already pic-heavy, I'd forego them this time. The stats on these pellets are well-known, and easy to find.

 

All-in-all, it was a great range day. Yuri did rather well for a seven-year-old who's only been to the range a total of three times. And I had great success with the Diana P5 / BSA red dot. That's the one that Yuri will inherit when he's 16 years old. At 7 meters, this gun has very repeatable accuracy, and it seems to like all medium and heavy varieties of RWS pellet.

 

When I get my other P5 (Tru Glo red dot) and my Hatsan Supercharger back from the gunsmith, I think I am going to sight them both in at 20 meters. Using a pistol to do anything, whether it's field target, bench target, or hunting, I don't think you'll be aiming at anything more distant than 20 meters. I am also going to design some homemade targets for that distance. I will show them to you in the next post. Until then, may all your pellets fly true!

 

P.S. For an old skool, open sight gun, the new 5G shoots like a dream; it's clean, and in what most collectors would call "near mint" or "very fine" condition. It shoots HARD, and must have been excessively oiled by the previous owner. During the first 10 or so shots, every time I would break the barrel to load the next round, a fine wisp of smoke would issue from the breech. Regardless of this, the pistol shoots as well as the day it was made, and is an excellent, high-quality, shining example of fine, German craftsmanship and engineering. Definitely a keeper!

 

 

Plans For Next Range Day

Ok, I have made some plans for my next range day, whenever that happens to be.

I got Ed to send me a new version of his 100-bulls-per-page target, with colored bulls. I will be shooting this target at 15 meters, using the Hatsan Supercharger, with the x2 Mag Tru Glo red dot scope.

I will shoot 33 of these bulls from the bench, 33 of them from a standing position using cup and saucer (police style) stance, and the last 34 bulls will be shot from a standing position using one-handed, full-arm-extension (Olympic style) stance.

Here is what the new Ed Canoles targets look like:

I Had Ed Make Some Solid Bulls For Me.

I will also be shooting my new target at 15 meters, using the Diana P5, with the x1 Mag Tru Glo red dot scope. I originally designed this target to be shot at 10 meters, but I want to push the envelope a bit on my next time out. These new targets are 20 bulls per page. I will be shooting 3 shots at each bull, for a total of sixty (60) shots.The first 7 bulls will be shot from the bench, the next 7 will be shot cup and saucer, and the last 6 bulls will be shot Olympic style.

Once I am hitting with consistent accuracy at 15 meters, I will move the targets out to 25 meters, and shoot all the bulls from the bench. I will NOT be making scope adjustments; I will be changing my Point of Aim (using "holdover") to hit the bulls.

I believe that sighting my pistols in for 15 meters will allow me to shoot them at 25 meters with only a minor adjustment in Point of Aim.

Here is what the new 20-bull target looks like:

My New Target, With 20 One-Inch Bulls.

I measured my new target, and the printed version is pretty close to what Microsoft Publisher said they would measure when printed. Check it out:

The Outer Box Is 1/64 Of An Inch Off. I Can
Live With That.

The Inner Box Is 1/32 Of An Inch Off.
No Big Deal.

The Bull Is Exactly One Inch. Perfect.

Once I get these pistols shooting the way I want them to shoot, I can try "special" targets, such as tin cans, metal, animal-shaped field targets, etc.

I also intend to shoot the Hatsan at 100 yds. again, to see just how far I can push the pistol envelope! Wish me luck!

Range Day, Mixed Feelings

Well, I finally got out to the range again last Saturday (May 24, 2014) and I must report that I have mixed feelings about the results.

Long story short: the Hatsan performed great, for the first 25 shots or so, then it became incredibly hard to cock. I suspect a broken or cracked mainspring.

The Diana P5 performed great, no spring issues, however, I noticed that at the end of the cocking cycle, the automatic safety failed to engage about 7 times out of 10.

Both guns have been returned to the gunsmith, and I hope to have them back soon. Hopefully, both repairs will be quick and easy.

But in the meantime, let's look at the visuals from Saturday's shooting fest:

This is what I had in the Hatsan.

This is what I had in the Diana.

Saturday's Fresh Target.

The view from the bench at 10 meters.

The Hatsan started out great; I began by trying to sight in the new red dot at a distance of 10 meters. I shot groups of 5 from a bench rest. This Tru Glo 2x Mag red dot scope was awesome! I really enjoyed shooting it.

First 3 shots were high, so I adjusted down for the last two.

After shooting those 5 shots, I taped the hole so that I could re-use the aim point.

Another decent grouping.

Again, covered up for re-use.

Quite an improvement on the second try.

Again, I was really happy with the second time around.

Even those 3 shots that were high had a good grouping, measuring 1 inch.

Worst group of the day, at the center of the target. Measurement: 1 and 2/16 inches.

Best group of the day; if you measure true center to true center (A-B) it's 7/16 of an inch. If you
measure between outer edges (1-2) it's half an inch. Either way, an excellent performance.

At this point, the Hatsan become really difficult to cock; I was in the middle of a 5-shot group, and the first two shots were great. But shots 3, 4, and 5 were WAY off. After this occurrence, I put the Hatsan down for the day, and switched to the Diana.

Shots 1 and 2 were SPOT ON. Shots 3, 4, and 5: Not so much.

The first thing I did with the Diana was a little 10 meter sighting-in with the new (1x Mag) red dot. Here are the results: (5-shot groups)

Not bad for a first attempt.

Let's cover 'em up, make some adjustments, and try again.

Not bad at all! This was the best group of the day for the Diana.

I had intended to shoot some of the Ed Canoles targets, but my printer ran out of ink, and I was unable to print them. So I drew my own version on a sheet of graph paper. I call them my "Quasi-Canoles" targets.I drew them with a fine-tip pen (the only thing I had available at the time) and they ended up being REALLY hard to see. Check it out:

Boy, was I ever optimistic! 10 meters indeed! LOL :D

Let's change that to 5 meters.

My Quasi-Canoles targets, plus a few orange bullseye stickers, which turned out to be
much easier to see, even at 5 meters.

I had a little trouble making adjustments on the red dot; but it was my fault. I forgot how large the adjustments have to be for short distances. But I had fun, at any rate; I have color-coded the groupings, to make them easier to follow. By the time I got down to the orange stickers, I stopped adjusting the scope, and started using a different aim point. The orange stickers were shot "lolipop style," i.e., aiming just below bottom center-edge of the sticker. (On a clock, imagine aiming at the 6, while expecting a POI of dead center of the clock face.)

First go around, all 6 shots were low.

Final results (color coded) all 5 meters from bench rest, using 1x Mag red dot. I plan to do 
a lot better next time, because I will have this fiasco fresh in my memory! Ha ha!

AFTERMATH: Our "fresh target" isn't so fresh anymore. This is what it looked like
at the end of the day's shooting. You will notice other groupings that I didn't bother to post,
because this post was getting really pic heavy to begin with.

Well, folks, this concludes another range day for the Scientific Airgunner. Please let me know what you think in the comments section, even if it's severely critical. The only way we learn and improve is by making mistakes. Cheers!