Grumpy Gets His Gun

We know him as Dave Goldstein, but those of you who follow the  airgun forums know him as "grumpy".  Dave came by the shop this week to pick up his  FX Royale 500. Synthetic with three stage power adjuster.

The FX Royale 500 is in .25cal and comes standard with a 500cc bottle.  The smooth twist barrel provides excellent accuracy.  Permanently bonded factory muzzle break makes for a very quiet shooter, especially considering this rifle puts out 44 ft/lbs of energy right out of the box.

Enjoy your new rifle.

Theoben MKII .25cal 50ft/lbs

Local airgun shooter Ted Vick comes by the shop today to pick up his new Theoben Rapid MKII in .25caliber.  Ted is an avid airgunner and hunter. He is looking forward to using his 50 ft/lb .25cal to keep the wood chuck and other varmint population in check.  

Ted's rifle features a Walnut Sporter Stock with Theoben's quick fill and gauge.  Permanently attached evolution mod, makes for a quiet shooting 50 ft/lb rifle.  The rifle is sporting an Leupold 6.5-20x40, held in place with Theobens 1" scope rings.  Ted zero'd on our indoor range using JSB Exact King Diabolo .25cal's.  When I asked him, how's it shooting? He replied, "This is too easy, it keeps going in the same hole".

That's what we like to hear, though no surprise by Ted's comment, after all it is a Theoben.

Steyr vs Steyr Bench Rest

BENCH REST - It can be easy and difficult at the same time.  It can be very fun and very frustrating at the same time.  It   also can be very addicting.  That in a nut shell is my personal opinion of Airgun Bench Rest.   What got me addicted, was how I could pick up a new gun, in this case a Steyr LG110, drop it on a single front bag, supported by a chunk of Styrofoam underneath and shoot a perfect  250 - 5X card?

Rick B - Shooting his Steyr LG110 Hunter

This is what happened last Sunday, shooting against my friend Rick B. also shooting a Steyr LG110 Hunter in .22cal, he managed a 249 - 6X, again using a forward single bag.  With our confidence high, we started trying different shooting positions and different ammo.  Each of us shooting three additional cards, I averaged in the 245 range, while Rick out shot me with his LG Hunter averaging 247, seems the harder I tried and lower my scores became, hence the frustrating part.

I'm finding that being able to take an accurate airgun and shoot nice little five or even ten shot groups is much different then hitting the same pin head size target 25 times in a row. There are so many factors involved. Position of the gun on the bag, consistent grip or lack of grip in some cases allowing for constant shot sequence, weather, temperature,  (some of the range is non heated), ammo quality, barrel harmonics, the list can go on and on.  

Rick B made it back out to the shop this Sunday for some more bench rest challenge.  Other than using a different pellet JSB 8.4/4.53 head size this weekend, I started out with my mono bag styro foam set up that gave me the 250 card the week before.  245 - 3X was all I could mustard.  Rick with his .22cal Stery Hunter beat me with 246 - 5X.

Rick was complaining about his cheek piece being in his way, so I suggested that he remove it, which he did, and he also quit using his pellet seeding tool, last time I give him advice.  He jumped up to a 250 - 3x!  I moved up to a 248 - 6X.  Perhaps it was the JSB 7.9's or the fact that I went to a improvised rear rest, yes, feel free to chuckle at the set up, as I said it was improvised.

However, my scores were moving in the right direction, so I stayed with it.  Our third cards tied with a 249 each, but my 4X to his 2X gave me the win on this card.  Fourth and final card, Whoop there it is! 250 - 7X with my 12ft/lb .177cal LG110, Rick threw 5 bad pellets which placed him at 245 - 6X.  

Rick and I both decided that we are totally hooked on Airgun Bench Rest.  Now we need to acquire the proper bench rest equipment, build some sturdy benches, and practice, practice, practice. With long Michigan winters, FT not yet an option and small game season over,  Indoor Bench Rest has proven to be another great alternative Airgun option.  

**To Clarify our range building is 25 yards long, which means actally indoor shooting distance is approximately 24 yards. The last six yards of the range on unheated.

** Ricks LG Hunter has been reduced from 30 to 22 ft/lbs, shooting 18g JSB's.

**Rick's gun scoped with Nikko 10-50x60
** Jim's gun scoped with Leupold 6.5-20x40 Dot Reticle

For those of you who would like to try Airgun BenchRest, join us this Thursday March 1, 2012 from 5:00pm - 9:00pm.  $5.00 for 3 cards.  RSVP's always appreciated. 248-969-0377 or precisionairguns@gmail.com  This is a non sanctioned event, where the focus is on fun.  Targets set at 50 feet, indoor range.

Theoben Sentinel Stock - Latest Design

We were excited to receive the latest version of the Theoben Rapid MKII Sentinel Stock.  This stock allows for clean and complete concealment of Theoben's Quick Fill System.  The gauge is located opposite side of quick fill cap directly under the barrel.  
Available in .22cal and .25cal
Starting at $1,860.95

February Indoor Bench Rest

Dave Lovio, Jim Stanis, John Marotzke, Rich Mendyka, Rickey Broughton

Thursday, February 9th Precision Airguns hosted it's second Indoor Bench Rest Event. Typically we shoot three cards at 50 feet. This is an informal shoot with the emphasis on Fun.  The event brought some familiar faces and some new ones.

John Marotzke, a dedicated firearms bench rest shooter showed up with an HW97 that Precision Airguns tuned and installed a Vortek Kit in.  John pulled out a quarter from his pocket and threw down a challenge. It was going to be Springer vs Springer  I said, "John, your on, let me pull my  HW77 off the rack".  Seriously this gun has to be at least 26 years old, has a 3x9 scope on it,  it does have a Vortek Kit in it also.  I was just not prepared to use this old squirrell getter in a bench rest competion.  Jim Hutchison helped set me up on his bench using a front and rear bag.  I've never done this before with a springer, but with the Votek Kit installed this gun is very forgiving.  I was actually pleased with how the HW77 shot, only dropp'ed one and it was all me.  I ended up with a 249 4X. John had some problems with the seat on his bench, he shot a 245 5X.  So the quarter he challenged me with is now on a shelf at the shop for future bragging rights, or until John wins it back, which I'm sure he will.  Johns scores progressed up, his 3rd and final target was a 249 3X.  Good Shooting John.

Top: Long Barrel HW77
Bottom: Jim Stanis' same model 26 years later, still a Top Shooter

HW77's on Special starting at $525.00

Jacob Goldstein with
Daystate Huntsman Classic .22cal

Father and Son shooters, Dave and Jacob Goldstein were using multiple guns. Huntsman Classic .22cal,  .22cal MRod Pistol, and Crosman Discovery Rifle.  Toward the end of the evening, it was clear they were both trying to hold onto the Huntsman Classic.
Dave finished with 727 12X and his son Jacob 637 1X

Steyr LG110 Hunter

Rickey Broughton shooting his Steyr LG110 Hunter had a loose muzzle break that he had custom made and installed which caused a weak first card.  His second 250 12X was actually the high target of the evening.  Rickeys third card was a 249 4X, would have had a good shot at the lead, if he wouldn't have had an issue with his muzzle break. When his first card was a 235 3x, that's hard to come back from.   You'll get um next time Rickey...

Dave Lovio and Rich Mendyka arrived later, they shared Dave's .22cal Daystates Tactical Air Wolf with Hawke 6.5 - 20 tactical scope.  Dave only shot one card but shot a 249 4X.

Left: Dave Goldstein, Right: Jim Hutchison

Overall High Shooter with a score of 749.22X was Mr. Jim Hutchison, a competitive firearm bench rest shooter.  Jim was shooting an AirArms MPR .177.  Congratulatons Jim!

Tom Harvath Receives the Long Haul Award

Of all the people that made it by the shop on Tuesday, Tom Harvath wins the long haul award.  Traveling nearly 200 miles and 3 1/2 hours from northern Michigan, he is shown here displaying his newest acquisition  , HW100 .22cal.  Tom's trip was well rewarded when we opened the box and found this beautiful tiger striped HW100.  

Tom installed his scope, zero'd it in on the indoor range.  It only took a few shots to get it on paper, 18g JSB's making a nice ragged hole.  Good Luck Tom with your new purchase.  Thank you for your business.

First Day at the 2012 Shot Show

Exciting News from the 2012 Shot Show.  The show opens today with a lot of ground to cover, but here are some of our baseline findings. Daystate was our first stop.  The exciting news is the release of Daystates new Wolverine.
 

This is going to be Daystates New Premium platform for many of the future Daystate Rifles.  With an overall weight of 7.5 lbs, Gary Cane inspired ambi stock, 400 cc light weight bottle, one piece aluminum receiver, totally new trigger design, pneumatic magazine cycling, 23" fully shrouded barrel.  First Addition will be available in a .30caliber actually .303 to be precise, approximately 104 ft/lbs with 20 shots before refilling.   Other calibers will be available later in the production year.  Pricing not available at the time, this will be Daystates Premium Line, I'm guessing the price tag will be at or slightly above the current Air Wolf pricing.

Future Daystate Huntsmans will feature as standard, very lustrous premium hand rubbed oil finished stocks.


Daystate's  Grey Shadow - One of Daystates most Special Limited Production guns yet.  Based on the popular Air Wolf, this rifle features titanium and gold finishing with some very special Italian engraving.  The stock comes out of Miland Studio on Minelli Spa, and it self is a master piece of Italian craftsmanship.

Daystate's Stefano Gervasoni proudly displays the New Wolverine.

Daystates

It was nice to bump into Pavel Kolebac the owner of JSB Pellets. Other than keeping current JSB quality production lines moving,

Pavel is finalizing the spec's of the new JSB .30cal pellet.

FX is never one to rest on their laurels, here is a picture of their new Royale Elite.

 Notice the four splad barrel retaining screws, which allows for quick and easy caliber chances.  No need to change the loading probe or bolt as all air comes directly from rear bolt assembly.  Power levels are the same as the Royale 400 and Royale 500 basically 30+ ft/lb and 44+ ft/lb.  

Higher power levels and Reg'd Versions are in the works.

 

Another new find was an FX Verminator, using a Royale 400 action, a variety of barrel configuations ranging from shrouded basic calibers to one that shoots arrows style bolts. More to come at a latter date.  Estimated price for the entire package $2,000.00 

 

Brad at Hawke Optics demo's a few new products for us.  The Panorama's have 4 new models, featuring 3-9x40, 3-9x50, 4-12x40 and 4-12x50, all featuring 1/2 mill dot, IR as well as adjustable objectives down to 15 yards.  Prices will range from $179.00 - $219.00 Look for additional information on our website when we receive them in stock.  

Other new items we saw were a windage adjustable one piece mount as well as a flash light lazer combination which fits 1" or 30mm tubes.  

Windage Adjustable Mount - Price Range $53.00 for the 1" and  $62.00 for the 30mm



Some nice targets, not available at this time, but hopefully will be in the future. Great for informal FT shoots, no need to put up lines or the need to re set, targets have a cartridge that hold 20 biodegradeable chalk disks, and automatically reset once disk is shot out of target.  Lets hope they make it to production.

Airs Arms Booth - Featured their Classic High Quality products.

That concludes our first day.

Jim and Nancy

January Squirrel Hunt

Dave and his Big Bad Daystate Air Wolf  shows me how he made  his 65 yard squirrel head shot. We couldn't believe the weather- January 8th in Michigan. 38*, Sunny and light wind.  He actually missed his first shot.  Dave carries a range finder, so he knew the exact range.  He did however, fail to give any allowance for the cross wind.  The squirrel who had it's head sticking out of a hole in the tree, pulled back into the tree, but shortly after, stuck his head out of the tree once again.  This time Dave held for the wind, perfect hit right behind the ear.  Popped the squirrel right out of the hole.

Slim Jim borrows Dave's Air Wolf for a shot

I was close behind with a 62 yard one shot using my FX Royale 400 .22cal, and at that range I actually saw the squirrel roll off the limb a fraction of a second later I heard the loud audible "whoap" of a well placed head shot.  I also used my Rapid MKII .25cal set up at 35 ft/lbs with JSB's.  made a 54 yard head shot on a Big Grey, Amazing, hit right where I was aiming, right behind the eye, fell just like a field target at a competition.  Just rolled out of the tree, he never knew what hit him. Most shots were taken between 40 - 55 yards.  These are awesome squirrel woods, first time we hunted them.  Sure pays to know your aim points at longer ranges.

Early January and we Limited out

Squirrel Hunting with an Air Rifle
doesn't get any better than this!  

Sure beats shoveling snow in January

 

January 5, 2012 Indoor Bench Rest

Thursday January 5, 2012 Precision Airguns held their first indoor Bench Rest Competition of the year.  A great group of people attended, and it was wonderful to see how well they shot using a variety of rifles and pistols.  We also had two youth shooters, which is always great to see our sport continue to the next generation.  Emphasis was on fun shooting at 50 feet, with a variety of air rifles. Yours truly only had time to shoot his first card. (using my squirrel rig, FX Royale 400 and  3-9 Leupold)  Shot a 250/11X.

Since this Bench Rest was just for fun, many of the participate played with more than one model of gun when shooting their three targets.  Here are just some of rifles that were used.

Perfect Score would be 750
Here is how are
Rick McKean       748/19X        Steyr .177
Mike Freeman      745/19X        CZ200 .177
Rick Broughton    744/10X       Steyr Hunter ,22
Jim Hutchenson    744/9X         Air Arms S500 .177
Dave Goldstein     739/4X         Daystate Huntsman .22
Steve Keigley        735/3X         FX Royale 500 .25
Mike S Freeman    729/10X       CZ200 .177 & FX Royale 400 .22
Jerry Knapp          725/9X         Daystate/Steyr  .177 & .22
Lauren Goldstein   671/6X        FX Whisper .22 & Daystate Hunstman .22
Jacob Goldstein     603/2X        Marauder Pistol
Jim Stanis              250/11X      FX Royale 400 .22 (DNF)
Gary Humphry       246/2X        FX Royale 500 (DNF)

To view all the pictures from the nights event.  Click Here