Kingston - Home of the Monster Squirrels

 Sunday morning after an awesome breakfast in Dryden, MI, Cake Dave and myself headed up to Kingston, Michigan.  Kingston is one of those neat places that people visit and time forgot, water seems to flow up hill and the squirrels are massive! One squirrel will feed a family of four for a month.  As the picture of the squirrel in front of my jeep clearly shows, I was the squirrel hunting master of the day using my Theoben MKII .22cal and JSB 18g.  30 ft/lb of energy was all it took to drop these monster squirrels with properly placed head shots.  

Dave, excelled at long range starling whopping.  He regularly drops starlings at 65 -70 yards with his .22cal Daystate Tactical Air Wolf using JSB 18g. Now if I could just educate Dave on the difference between the grey soccer ball he thought he found in the woods and a hornets nest, we would both be on the same page.  

A good time was had by all.  Looking forward to next weekend, which is the last weekend for small game before deer season kicks in...

Team Theoben Takes to the Woods

 Awesome Autumn Sunday in Michigan. My good buddy Rickey B and I took to the woods early Sunday morning.  The day did not disappoint. I dropped five squirrels with seven shots using my trusty Theoben Rapid MKII .22cal.  It was shooting right at 30 ft/lbs with JSB 18g.  All five of the squirrels were perfect one shot, one kill. All head shots, just the way I like it. Ah Ha, Ah Ha!  

It was up close and personal with the longest shot being an off hand approximatly 28 yards. The closest one, I kid you not was 10 feet.  Yes, that's correct 10 feet.  I spotted the grey squirrel coming down the treeline at me, got the gun up and on my knee, tried whisling, chirping, trying to get this sucker to stop before he ran right over me.  Finally at about 10 feet away, he stopped, realized something didn't seem quite right.  This close you have to aim high.  I've had my fair share of extreem close misses, but not this time!  When in doubt I always have my scope set at low power, 3-4X and 10 yard paralax.  This allows you to make the close unexpected shots.  My theory is you usually have time to adjust for the longer shots, as they are futher away which provides time and cover to make the necessary adjustments.  

Most of my action took place in  a section of butternut trees.  I bagged the last four in a 30 yard radius of each other.  One I missed with the first shot,  as the pellet deflected off a small twig a few feet in front of the barrel. Perhaps because of my state of the art camo application the evening before, (lol) or the quietness of the Rapid, Mr Squirrel made the mistake of presenting me with a second shot, and the Rapid lived up to it's name.  Squirrel number five was an off hand shot almost straight up. I hate these shots, who practices shooting off hand almost straight up?  Took a little more time on the second shot, and dropped him with a clean head shot.  

Jim's Rapid (top rifle)
Rickey B's Camo Wrapped MFR (bottom rifle)

As you can see in the picture above, Rickey B's Theoben MFR .22cal wins the best dressed award.  After the season ends, I plan on treating a couple of my air rifles to this camo system.  

Since I bagged my limit, I radioed Rickey, and we met in the trail. He pointed out his second squirrel of the day.  Still hanging out of the hole in the tree where he had shot it.  This could have been a Kodak moment,  had I carried the camera into the woods with me.  Something else I need to pack with me from now on.  I teased Rickey..."We can't count it as a bagged squirrel, unless it's actually in your bag"  As luck would have it, we found a long, skinny dead tree that had to be 16'-18' long, with Rick extended on his toes, he was just able to nudge it out of the tree. He had to quickly side step the plummeting squirrel as it almost smacked him on the top of his head.

Turning in the drive back at my place, we saw a HUGH woodchuck head into the culvert that runs under my driveway.  I use to give these a free pass, but not with all of the destruction they have been causing.  We staked it out, being in was a nice sunny day, we figured he would come out sooner than later.  And it was sooner, not even 5 minutes passed before he came out.  From a supported position, it was easy to hold the cross hairs steady on the side of his head, actually right on his ear.  Bam he was down.  This is as big as an animal that I would normally shoot with an airgun.  But 30 ft/lb of Theoben Power made a clean kill on this chuck.  Shot placement, not power, wins again.  I'm not sure how large woodchucks can get, but this one measures 27" and close to 11lbs. 

I love hunting with an airgun, you can't beat it!

Gladiator MKII FX's Latest and Greatest

The Newest FX Gladiator arrived here at the shop.  Unscoped the rifle weights 8lbs 7oz, measures 44", I'd call it a mid-sized air rifle.  The dual air tubes are calculated to give this air rifle 100+ shots on high power.   This particular rifle is shooting at 30 ft/lbs, 17 ft/lbs and a shy 10 ft/lbs with the new 18g JSB 5.53's.  

Now for some range time.

5 Shots 30 Yards

5 Shots 50 Yards Last Group of the day

Put my old trusty Leapers 3-9x50 that I have used to test so many rifles, on this Gladiator as well.  Trigger pull unadjusted was a little longer than I prefer, but they can be dialed in precisely.  As is common with these guns, they settle in after a few shots, as I did as well and by the 4th and 5th groups the gun was shooting sub dime size groups at 50 yards.  Actually Amazing accuracy for a sporter/hunter rifle.  Did a little plinking off hand and the rifle felt comfortable.  

Another very impressive feature of this Gladiator MKII is how quiet it is.  On low power it's almost laughable, sounds like someone popping the top on a can of Pepsi.  On high power not much louder than that either.  All in all I really like this rifle.  My wife and partner Nancy knows I have a birthday coming up, hint-hint...

Note all groups were shot single loading 18g JSB pellets. Didn't use a tray on this occasion, but if I ended up owning one, I would prefer a single shot tray.  Gladiator priced at $1,595.00 includes one magazine.

Total of 5 50 yard 5 shots groups

Airgunners Dream Weekend-Part 2 FT Competition

Sunday morning I was off to the WWCCA (Western Wayne County Conservation Association) in Plymouth, Michigan for the last Field Target Competition of the 2011 Season.  I'm lucky to be only 1 hour away from this great facility. I would suggest anyone else who  is in close proximity to check out the WWCCA take advantage of all that they have to offer, especially for the Airgun Community.

I was anxious to take my AZ tuned Steyr 110 to the match.  Had not touched the gun since the Great Lakes 100 which was held at this same place.  Steyr's are usually tanks and very stable, once they are set up.  A few test shots at the test range show'd wind was going to be an issue, but everything else seemed good for the gun.  The  Leupold Competition with 3/8" target dot compliments this rifle well.  JSB Heavies were the pellet of choice for today. My wind guesstimates were all pretty good, did miss one 55 yard sitting target.  Wind blew the pellet a full inch or more out of the kill zone.  I aced the off hand with was 6 for 6 which is always a relief, but the kneelers killed me dropping 3 out of 6 including two at 35 yards.  As far as I know that 35 yard target still had shiny paint on it at the end of the event.  Scoring a 56 out of 60 proved to be a top score for the day.



The matches are scheduled for 60 shots over the course of fire.  The match is typically held on the Air Gun Walk through range.  A 20 FPE limit is imposed on their field target events, and WWCCA and AAFTA rules apply to all of the scheduled field target events.  A $10.00 entry fee also includes a hot lunch.

Click Here to see all of the pictures from the Field Target Match

To learn more about WWCCA check out:
http://wwcca.com/wp/airgun/

Airgunners Dream Weekend-Part 1 Squirrel Hunt

Saturday afternoon after the shop closed it was time for my second hunt of the season.  Considering I was only able to make three outings last season, two outings in two days, I was in my glory. With 70 degrees it makes for a perfect day.  The rifle that I chose for this hunt was my Royale 400 .22cal.  Didn't even bother with a mag. just strapped on a pellet pouch full of 18g JSB's.  I've got an old-probably 26 years old Leupold 2-7 compact, light weight, parallax non-adjustable preset @ 30 yards from the factory.  Back in the day, this was one of the few scopes that would hold up to the heavy recoiling springer and gas ram airguns.  This combo makes for a light weight, easy to handle hunter.  

The new section of woods that I have access to has a long line of mature hickory trees.  Normally these trees are squirrel magnets, however last year none of the trees had any nuts  on them, apparently trees go through some type of cycle or whatever, but this year, they are LOADED with nuts and squirrels.  Still having a lot of leaves on the trees, made it hard to spot the squirrels but the steady rain of cuttings falling from the tops of the trees was encouraging and exciting! 

  After a little patience I off handed a couple of  squirrels from the tree line.  Slowly worked my way further into the woods along a ridge which has even more mature nut trees and hardwoods.  The ridge is bordered by a nice little flowing creek.  Really made me feel like I was in the mountains of Kentucky or West Virginia.  Man, I love being in the woods this time of year.  Last squirrel of the day was a challenge. He was high in a hickory tree doing his thing, moving, cutting and dropping nuts.  I was in the seated position, resting against a smaller tree trunk, he had no idea I was there, and although I was getting anxious to make the shot, I knew that patience was part of the game.  As luck would have it, the first time he paused for a break, he was almost directly on top of a limb about a 1 1/2" in diameter.  Having a very stable rest and only about 30 yards away, I toyed with the idea of trying to shoot along the edge of the branch and catch the right edge of his head.  Patience Jim, Patience, there are better shots coming.  What's the hurry, this is hunting.  After this short break he started moving again, but paused long enough with his head cleanly exposed to make the perfect shot. Mr Squirell bounced off a few branches landing on the other side of the creek.  Time to go home with my 5th kill.  I kid you not, on my way out of the woods, I saw four more squirrels gathering their nuts for the winter.  This property will be on my list for future hunts.

First Squirrel of the Season - JSB's do not Disappoint

My favorite time of the year, Fall in Michigan synoumus with Squirrel Hunting Season. Opening day was Thursday Septemer 15th, but didn't make it into the woods till late Friday afternoon.  My first day out, I planned on taking my 12ft/lb MFR .22cal, early season, lots of leaves, most shots are close under 30 yards which makes this perfect for the 12 ft/lb.  Hey if the Brit's can do it so can I.  Just makes the hunt that much more of a challenge. 

When my buddy Rickey B showed up in the afternoon with his full power .22cal MFR, I did not want to be out gunn'd so I grabbed my Daystate Wolf which is shooting at about 29 1/2 ft/lb.  A couple of test groups with my Theoben MII and Daystate AirWolf show'd that both guns were shooting the latest batch of  JSB 18g. 5.53 head size very well. Rickey's Theoben MFR is nicely camo'd out using a camo film process that Precision Airguns and Supplies will be offering as an option to our customers soon. Check back for Pricing, and Pattern Availability.

 

We headed off to a small section of woods, not really seriously hunting, we were doing more walking and talking than usual.  Amazly within a half an hour or so I managed to bag three of the unsuspecting long tails. With the recent cool snap they were so busy gathering their nuts, they didn't see us coming.

 

I backed out of the small section of woods to give Rickey a chance, sat near some dead elm trees, plinking at the steady flow of starlings that kept landing at the tall tops.  This is what airgunning is all about...Click-Whop-Drop  Light is starting to fade away and Rickey walks out of the woods with one squirrel in hand "Yeah at least I didn't get skunked" says Rickey.

Looking forward to more hunts, longer time in the woods and bigger bag limits.

Good News for Michigan Gun Owners Regarding Silencers/Supressors

For those of you that didn't know Michigan has been a partially Class 3 friendly state.  In other words, some NFA (National Firearms Act) controlled items, have been legal for purchase (machine guns) while others have not. On Friday September 2, 2011 the long awaited clarification letter from Current Michigan State Attorney General Bill Schuette clarifies that silencers, suppressors are now approved items.

Being a Class 3 Dealer and anticipating this approval, we have in stock Sound Suppressors for various models.  Keep me in mind you would not be able to simply walk into our shop and purchase a suppressor. There are necessary application for transfer tax, registration and background checks to be completed prior to purchase.  Estimated lead time varies, however 8 - 10 weeks for approval is common.  

Top: HW100 with light weight aluminum mite model
Bottom: 1022 with .22cal Wraith Model 

Pistol has the old tried and true Maxim Model

Anyone interested in getting on the list, feel free to call Jim at 248-969-0377 or email us at: precisionairguns@gmail.com

As stated in the Detroit FreePress on Saturday September 2, 2011

"Michigan law permits gun owners to obtain and use noise suppressors or silencers as long as they first go through a federal permitting process, according to a formal opinion released today by Attorney General Bill Schuette.

The state law which generally forbids the sale or possession of firearm mufflers or silencers contains a specific exemption for those obtained with federal authorization, Schuette said.

Schuette's opinion is a victory for Michigan gun rights groups and shooting enthusiasts who said uncertainty about their legality made it virtually impossible to possess and use silencers here. According to advocates, silencers are useful under some circumstances for hunting, and at shooting ranges located within earshot of residential areas.

The attorney general's opinion parallels one issued four years ago regarding the possession of automatic weapons in Michigan. Then-Attorney General Mike Cox found that machine guns could be legally possessed by Michigan citizens who obtained authorization from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Applicants for the federal permits are required to undergo background checks, including criminal and mental health history, and obtain a certification from local law enforcement.

Joel Fulton, president of the Southside Sportsman Club, said in a statement that Schuette's opinion brings Michigan "into the mainstream." Thirty-eight states permit citizens to possess silencers, according to the National Rifle Association.

Fulton said use of the devices is just good manners.
"It is considered rude to your neighbors to make excessive noise that disrupts their peace and quiet," he said.

Contact Dawson Bell: 517-372-8661 or dbell@freepress.com"

Reg'd Royale 400 Test

Had a free evening so I decided to scope and test one of the new Royale 400's with Regulator and 3 Stag Power Adjuster. Gun is totoally stock,  out of the box, not even a  trigger adjustment, which is crisp, but a little heavier than I like it.  Installed my basic 3-9x50 site in Leapers scope - Base Line Scope I know, for this quality of rifle but seems to get the job done.  Started shooting at 50 yards, winds were rapidly dieing down, began with lubed 16g JSB pellets, like everyone else these days I'm low on 18g  JSB's so I decided to conserve all I could for site in purposes.  Got away from the lubed 16g pellets and went directly  to 18g JSB non-lubed.  Shot two groups,  both were half the size of a dime @ 50 yards.  Again this is me with a single bag and a 9X scope. 

Went inside the shop to check the energy levels and consistency of the three powers.  I simply hold the gun and shoot it over the crony, approximately 20" from the front of the screen.  No height or distance rest points so there can be some variations based on hold.   

High Power - String for 10 Shots: -  JSB Weighting in at 18.2  Averaging 30.8 ft/lb

876.4, 877.7, 877.0, 870.6, 859.1, 869.1, 873.3, 873.0, 872.2, error reading, 862.9

Mid Power - 5 Shot String - JSB Weighting in at 18.2  Averaging 18.4 ft/lb
675.1, 670.9, 675.5, 675.6, 676.4

Low Power - 5 Shot String - JSB Weighting in at 18.2 Averaging 11.35 ft/lb
530.4, 528.9, 528.1, 531.7, 532.2 

Numbers on medium and even low power seem very consistent, and was I very curious how pellets would fly at these lower velocities, so back out to the range, clam conditions brought in the Michigan mosquitoes, fired one group medium and one group at low power.  33 yards single loading, firing fairly quickly to avoid the those little vampires. The sub 12 ft/lb group was a nice little one holer with one shot pulled.  I'm confidant I could have shot a better mid power group had I continued shooting.   Bottom line, the improved version of the Royale 400 offers the shooter more versatility for the various wants, needs and desires of today's Airgunner.  Lower Power should produce 300+ shots, High Power should produce 90+ full power shots.

Daystate Panther Gets A Hug

Some days I just Love my job.  This week I had the chance to installed the Huggett System on a .22cal Daystate Panther..  I'm Very Impressed, it is very quiet even on High Power. Going to a good customer out of the country, and he requested that I fire a few test shots to ensure everything was up to par.   Nice shot cycle and flat trigger blade, really felt nice on the finger.  It was a pleasure to shoot this gun. 

 Gusty winds were prevalent, so I fired one group at 20 yars, but after such a good group at 20 yards, I decided to try one at 50 yards.  Lost count 11-12 shots majority still under dime. Two power settings: 20 ft/lb and 28 ft/lbs with JSB 18g pellets.  Great Shooting Rifle!

Daystate Panther: $2,646.00
Huggett System** $350.00 with Daystate purchase

$375.00 when installed on your Air Rifle
** Must be permanently installed on air rifle at our shop

HW98 and HW77 receive Vortek KIt Install

Tom Gore owner of Vortek Products came by the shop recently.  While Tom was here, I tuned and installed a Vortek Kit into a customers HW98 .22cal.  Before install,  out of box gun was shooting 650 w/JSB 14.3, after install, gun shot at 725 w/JSB 14.3  Naturally the twang and vibration is gone.  Gun now has the typical all bang and no twang that I have found to be customary with the Vortek Kits.

Scoped my personal HW77 then Tom and I spent some time on the range.  This old HW77 has always been a great shooter, but now it's even better.  The transfer port was opened years ago, I don't remember how much.  We used Tom's Vortek Kit with the newer 25mm VAC Seal.  With the larger port opening Tom suggested a smaller gauge 120 wire he is using in some of his kits.  I'd say it was a good call, gun appears to have amazingly quick lock time.  Still shoots with good energy @ 870 fpe with a JSB 8.4 pellet, which equates to about 13.5 ft/lbs.  I would have been happy to achieve just 12 ft/lbs. I was really looking for smooth shooting and accuracy, and the HW77 did not disappoint.  Gun can be laid on a bag, held as light as possible and shoots consistently, it had the same point of impact for both Tom and myself.  Shot this group later in the day when the winds had calmed down.  50 yard group.  Not Bad for a springer with a 9x scope.