I know a number of new shooters to springer air rifles that have found this article helpful in shrinking their group size and in general improve their springer air rifle shooting. So I though I would post it here so others could maybe pick up a pointer or two. I know it helped me.
SHOOTING "SPRINGERS" ACCURATELY
By Larry M. Gibson
I have been asked many times "How do you shoot groups like that and why can't I?" Those who've asked this question are very well meaning. They have invested their hard-earned money on a rifle and expect to be able to shoot it at least, reasonably well! Most of you will make your selection of a rifle based on the advice of others, whether it be from a magazine article, input received via the internet or personally from a friend or salesperson. Nothing wrong there as this is the usual course of events. Nothing wrong that is until you, the new owner, shoot your new rifle!
The problems begin when you get home or wherever your range is and set up a target. A few pellets are fired and you find the holes are everywhere! The more you shoot the more frustrating it becomes. After all, Joe Snuffy said in his article he was shooting dime size groups at 20 yards with this model rifle. The salesperson said this model was "reported to be wonderfully accurate". So why can't you shoot a group smaller than wallet size? Heck, right now you'd settle for silver dollar size, wouldn't you? Well let's discuss the situation and see if perhaps we can learn a few things. Then maybe the smaller groups will come.
First question, CAN you shoot? Now don't get all huffy and upset. I know you're an All-American born and bred to shoot deer at 1000 yards across a canyon while at full gallop shooting under the neck of the horse with your trusty hoop-leever thutty-thutty! After all we are a nation of rifleman, right! WRONG! Rifleman, read that marksmen, are trained to shoot. No one is born with that skill. Nor will you acquire that skill reading about it, not even this article, watching others shoot or from the movies. You will acquire that skill only when you know, understand and can apply the fundamentals of marksmanship. The best way to learn and acquire the skill of marksmanship is with proper instruction.
I remember my first "lesson" in marksmanship. I was six years old and wanting to hunt some gophers with an old Benjamin pellet rifle we had. My Dad who was in the army in WWII gave me the first lesson. We all know everyone who was in the army can shoot, right? After all we did win the war! Anyway the lesson went something like this; "Son ya put the front sight in the rear sight and squeeze the trigger. Got it? OK, go get one"! That was it! And I'll bet many of you reading this haven't had much more.
My point is, be honest with yourself. If you can't or don't know how to shoot now, admit it to yourself. Get some proper instruction because if you don't you will never shoot well. I would suggest your local rifle range/club. They generally have a smallbore program or may even have an air rifle program. Many will have "loaner" rifles and minimal equipment for you to learn. If you start at the beginning of their "season" they usually provide excellent instruction to novices. Admit to them that you are a novice. Believe me it will be apparent to them and they will be glad to help you. This is real the way to learn.
So, OK for the sake of argument let's assume you can shoot. Spring-piston air rifles (springers) like every firearm require the application of the fundamentals of marksmanship if you are going to shoot them well. But before the shooting begins there is the preparation of equipment; is the rifle in good repair, are the sights well mounted and all screws tight, do the pellets properly fit the breach to seal the bore, do we have a selection of proper pellets to test, and do we have good targets with a well defined aiming point? Have we really read the owners manual and do we understand the accuracy capabilities of our rifle? Do not expect an "entry level" rifle to shoot as well as a "top of the line" model. It just won't happen.
How do you know what is "accurate" for the rifle you have just bought? For the purposes here let's stick with "field" rifles to be used for plinking, casual target practice and small game (or pest control) hunting. Target rifles are another story and another article. Let's say you have just picked up a new Beeman R1 .22 caliber and you went whole hog, at the dealers advice, and had a Bushnel 3x9 air rifle scope installed on the rifle in Beeman's two piece mount. Not a bad setup! Now the question here is what kind of accuracy should we expect?
Beeman states in their catalog a center to center (c-t-c) accuracy of 0.21" at 10 meters (about 11 yards) which was probably shot with match pellets. How can you interpret this to give an indication of accuracy at our maximum anticipated range of say 50 yards? First remember that because a particular pellet may be accurate at 20 yards does not mean it will be accurate at 50 yards, but a pellet that is accurate at 50 yards will be accurate at 20 yards. There are many reasons for this, which are beyond the scope of this article. This is why you must test several pellets at the maximum anticipated range you will shoot to select the most accurate pellet for your rifle.
If you take the group size of 0.21" and multiply it times five (10 meters goes roughly 5 times into 50 yards) you have a group size of 1.05". But it really doesn't work out that good. Groups generally open up on a parabolic curve as the range increases and not as a straight progression. Therefore, you should expect your new R1 to shoot groups with some pellets of 1.5 to 2" groups at 50 yards. A reasonable and realistic expectation of usable accuracy. If you have another rifle for which there is no published accuracy data to interpret then testing is the only way of determining the rifles accuracy potential.
You now have an "idea" of what to expect. Test shooting should be done from a solid bench rest position when at all possible. If that is unavailable then a prone supported position should be used. If these are unavailable then you are not testing, you are merely shooting. The idea is to eliminate as much "shooter error" as possible. To reach any valid conclusion as to which pellet is the more accurate you must test and assess the accuracy of the rifle, not yourself. But you still have to know how to shoot, even from the bench, so let's review the fundamentals of marksmanship as they apply to shooting springers.
First and second of the five fundamentals of marksmanship are position and grip (or how you hold the rifle). The position you should use is the bench rest position. Make sure that the bench is of correct height so you are sitting comfortably and not scrunched down all bent over. The bench should be solid and wobble free. Remember the key to any position be it standing, sitting, prone or bench is that it must provide a stable platform. There are basically 3 shooting techniques or methods of gripping and holding springers when shooting them. Which one you use depends on the shooting situation, i.e. bench or field and the individual likes of your rifle.
The Beeman technique or as I call it the "field" hold is described in the Beeman catalogue as; "Hold your airgun loosely against your shoulder and let it jump around when you fire it. Don't pull it in hard into your shoulder or strangle its forearm and don't rest the forearm on a hard surface. Let it recoil and vibrate freely - don't try to prevent it." Many also call this the "artillery" hold and it is generally the preferred hold with springers.
The "hard" hold is described as; "grasp the end of the forearm with the non firing hand so the thumb and index finger are along each side of the barrel pulling the rifle back into the shoulder hard (firmly would be a better term). The firing hand should grasp the small of the stock firmly and pull back hard also". This hold works well with "recoilless" springers like the RWS M54, some of the match rifles and the pump or PCP type rifles.
Bench rest position (also used in the prone supported position with a forearm rest) is when the forearm is laid into a grove formed into the front sandbag. The non-firing hand does not support the forearm but supports the rear sandbag onto which the toe of the stock rests. The non-firing hand adjusts the elevation by sliding the sandbag back or foreword. Merely squeezing the sides of the rear sandbag can make fine elevation adjustments when aiming. The firing hand grasps the small of the stock very lightly, only enough to just hold the rifle into the shoulder and steady the hand for a smooth trigger pull.
Some springers will shoot well from the standard benchrest position, most won't. With those springers that don't we must use the field or hard hold in conjunction with the bench rest. Thus most often when a bench rest is used with either the field or hard holds the back of the non-firing hand or forearm is laid over or against the rest. Never lay the stock or barrel against the rest (solid object, tree log, rock, etc) as it usually changes the point of impact dramatically and you will miss. There are variations to the above three positions, which mostly are dependent on shooter physique or the style of stock used.
The third fundamental to discuss is aiming or sight alignment and sight picture. In your case with the R1 and the Bushnel 3x9 riflescope you are going to set the power at 9 and adjust the AO to focus at 50 yards. Remember to read the instructions that came with the riflescope. You will need to know how to properly make adjustments to zero the rifle. If you are using the iron sights there should be some instruction in the rifle owners manual. If not, well that's the subject of another article, remember that you move the rear sight in the direction you want the shot group to move, i.e. if you are hitting low move the rear sight up. How much to move it you will have to discover.
To shoot well with iron sights you must align them correctly. The manuals usually have a picture of correct sight alignment but they fail to mention the most important thing. You must FOCUS on the front sight. To do this correctly, hold your trigger finger out at arm length. Now FOCUS on it hard enough to see your own fingerprint! That is how hard you must focus on the front sight! Yes, I know the target has your attention or it may be blurred but if you expect to shoot well FOCUS on the front sight. It's OK for the target to be blurred because you'll aim at the same spot on the blur and will therefor shoot good. If you lose your focus on the front sight and look at the target your groups will open, every time!
With either iron sights or a scope do not just aim at the target. For a proper sight picture, to enable you to shoot the smallest groups, you must aim at a "point" on the target. With iron sights a black bullseye is the best target. It should be just large enough that it is slightly wider that the width of the front sight. But you must still aim at a point and not just at the bullseye. You should use a "6 o'clock hold" meaning that the bullseye is sitting just on top and centered on the front sight. The point you are aiming at is the very bottom of the bull, or "6 o'clock" if the bull were a clock. When using a scope I like to draw small plus signs on the backs of target paper. I do this with a Magic Marker and they are about _" by _" which is good for 9x scopes. I can then square the reticle over the plus
sign very precisely. If we want to shoot precise (small) groups then we must aim precisely.
Whether using a scope or iron sights your "eye relief" or stockweld must also be consistent. Your eye must be the same distance from the rear of the scope or from the rear sight for each shot, this is "eye relief". The stockweld is the placement of your cheek on the stock at the same place and with the same pressure for each shot. Do not press down hard on the stock with your cheek, only use enough pressure to steady your head on the rifle. Proper and consistent stockweld will ensure consistent "eye relief".
All scopes have a specific amount of "eye relief" required to have a full field of view. The head should be placed at the proper position on the comb of the stock (stockweld) and the scope should be moved forward or backward to obtain the proper "eye relief". With the factory iron sights the importance of the consistent stockweld is paramount. If mounting an aperture (receiver sight) rear sight mount it as far to the rear on the receiver as practical. The closer to your eye the better. Note how match rear sights extend out over the back of the receiver.
Breathing is the fourth fundamental. Here too, there are several different techniques. When bench shooting the best technique is to take several shallow breaths as you refine the sight picture. Then when it starts looking good let your breath out normally until you reach what is called "the respiratory pause". That is when you are neither breathing in or out. When this happens stop breathing, however do not hold your breath for more than 8-10 seconds. If you do your eyes will begin to blur as your brain is losing oxygen, yes it happens that fast. If you have not fired the shot in those 8 seconds stop - take a few breaths - and start the sequence again. The first few times you will probably continue to hold your breath and fire the shot anyway, it will not be a good one, until you learn.
The above breathing technique is not very useful when hunting or exerting yourself. Here the proper technique, and it is only learned through much practice, is to stop breathing when you begin the trigger pull regardless of whether you're breathing in or out. This technique must be developed so it is almost second nature. It's successful use depends on you mastering the next and most important of the fundamentals.
The most important fundamental is trigger pull. Do all the other fundamentals to perfection then jerk the trigger and you will miss! Notice I have said trigger "pull". Trigger "press" is another correct term. Trigger "squeeze" is not. We do not "squeeze" triggers! Point your trigger finger in the air. Now grab hold of your forearm with your other hand. Now squeeze the trigger. Notice the finger could squeeze nothing by itself. You had to clench your hand in order to satisfy your mind's perception of "squeezing". When you "squeezed" you felt, with the other hand, the large muscle in your forearm flex. This muscle flexing will cause the rifle to move and disturb your aim and you will not shoot well. Now, just pull or press back with the trigger finger alone and you will feel very little muscle flex in your forearm. That is what we're after, a good smooth trigger pull. A good smooth trigger pull may be the gradual application of pressure on the trigger until the rifle fires or it may be done very quickly. Either way it must be a smooth pull. No jerk, no slap and no squeeze!
Applying the fundamentals of marksmanship correctly and consistently shot after shot will increase the odds of shooting good groups. However there is one very important aspect of the fundamentals of marksmanship that cannot be over looked. That is FOLLOW THROUGH. Follow through is the continued application of the marksmanship fundamentals immediately after the rifle is fired through the recoil. You must continue to maintain the same grip of the rifle, you must keep the trigger pressed to the rear, you must continue to look at the sight picture and be able to "call the shot" (know where on the target the reticle or front sight was at the moment of firing), you must not tense up anticipating or reacting to the recoil and you must release the trigger only after the recoil has stopped. Using good follow through will allow the rifle to fire and recoil naturally and consistently. It all adds up to shooting good groups.
As an example of how all this works I recently ran a series of tests with a Webley Hawk MKIII .17 caliber spring-piston (springer) rifle. This was my "entry level" air rifle I got some 25 odd years ago. This barrel-cocker was purchased new from Beemans. It was made for a Middle Eastern country (Iran?) that because of political turmoil had cancelled the contract. The salesperson at Beemans told me at the time I should expect about 1 ½" groups at 30 yards, such a deal. Since I was only going to be shooting 20 yards in my backyard that was close enough. With Crow Magnums it does in fact shoot 1 ½" at 30 yards. The test I was conducting was to see if inexpensive (don't want to say cheap) pellets purchased at a local chain store would shoot "reasonably" well at 20 yards.
The pellets to be tested were CopperHead .177's. There were the Wadcutter Pellets and the Pointed Pellets, both 7.9gr. As many springers sometimes like a different "hold" for different pellets I would test the new pellets with all three holds, bench, field and hard. The test would be from a solid bench at 20 yards. When using the field and hard holds the back of my non-firing hand would rest firmly on the sandbag. My elbows would also rest firmly on the bench. On some days I shoot well and on others _ well like they say "some days are diamonds, others are stones"! That being the case I always like to shoot a "control" group or two. This is done with pellets of a known accuracy level. Gives me a "standard" to make a valid comparison. For this test I would also shoot Crow Magnums and Beeman's H&N Match Wadcutters as "control". All groups would be 10 shot strings with each hold.
Group size results:
______CROW______H&N__COPPERHEAD_COPPERHEAD
______MAGNUMS__WCs______WCs________POINTED
HOLD
Bench___1"________1.25"____1.35"(9 in .9")____2.2"
Field____1"________1.35_____1.1"____________2.65"
Hard____1.75"______1.37"____1.5"____________1.7"
Additional notes and assessment:
Crow Magnums; Shot as well as they normally do. This is my "preferred" pellet so far. I normally use the field hold with this rifle/pellet. The hard hold was strung vertically indicating I was not consistent. Also the POI was 1" lower than the field hold. I also tried a variation of the hard hold using just enough grip with the firing hand to effect a smooth trigger pull - no good, group strung vertically 2.7" Will stick with field hold - has worked for 25+ years, why change.
H&N Match Wadcutters; Field hold was normal group size. Hard hold strung vertically - not consistent hold.
Copperhead Wadcutters; On par with H&N's at half the price. May be good alternative. Will have to see how they perform loaded backwards on slugs.
Copperhead Pointed Pellets; Not good! Will use for trade.
So what happens if we use a rifle with a little more quality, power and accuracy potential? Let's take a look at a break barrel springer of good quality in the "mid power" range with a reasonably good accuracy expectation, the Beeman .20 cal R9. The R9 is a quite popular springer and there are numerous modifications and "tunes" available for it. However, my R9 is stock, right out of the box so to say, and has a 4X Simons scope mounted on it. It is reasonably well broken in having had a couple thousand pellets fired through it.
I already know what the accuracy potential of the rifle is having ran accuracy tests on multiple .20 caliber pellets. Once again the Crosman Premier (CP) gets the nod as the most accurate pellet across the R9s expected (for most of my use with it) maximum range of 40 yards. It will put ten shots into 1 inch at 40 yards very consistently, always better than 1 inch and most often in the .5 to .75 inch group size with selected and weighed CPs. Beeman states the accuracy of the .20 cal R9 to be .15 inch C-T-C at 10 meters. Four times that is .60 at 40 yards, roughly. The rifle will do that with 10 shot groups of selected pellets so I am confident this rifle is living up to the accuracy claims. So let us use the CP pellet, straight out of the box and not weighed or selected as this is what most of you will do, and merely test the difference between the holds used with the bench rest position with the R9.
Test was conducted at 23 yards which just happens to be the distance from my (or should I say my wife's) kitchen counter out the sliding door to the back fence. There I use a large chunk of lodgepole pine as the pellet trap with the paper target stapled to the front. There is no other yard behind the fence, just trees and brush before there is a fenced off swampish drainage area. It is a safe range. With the Hoppe's front rest and their benchrest sandbags front and rear the counter makes for a very solid and comfortable benchrest. For this test I fired four 10 shot groups, one 10 shot group from each position, standard bench rest, benchrest with hard hold, benchrest with field hold and bench rest using a field hold with the forend resting on the sandbag.
Test results;
Benchrest; Group was 1.5 inches C-T-C. Five of the shots were kind of close but the other five were scattered. There was no consistency to the group. Center of the group was 1 inch above point of aim.
Bench rest with hard hold; Group was .662 inches C-T-C. Group was consistent. Center of the group was .7 inch above the point of aim.
Bench rest with field hold; Group was .536 inch C-T-C. Eight of the ten shots were clustered into a .205 inch group C-T-C with the other two shots being the "flyers" opening the group. This is consistent with non-weighed or selected CPs. Center of the group was 1.1 inch above the point of aim.
Bench rest with a modified field hold (field hold with forearm of rifle resting on front sandbag); Group was .951 inch C-T-C. Group was strung horizontally with no consistency. Center of group was 1.1 inch above the point of aim.
Observations; the Beeman R9 is a very fine "mid level" springer. It has sufficient power for hunting small game and yet has the accuracy potential for good informal target and recreational shooting. It certainly lives up to the advertised levels of power and accuracy with the right pellet and the right hold. Obviously from the test above the field hold produces the best and most consistent accuracy. Both the standard bench rest position and the modified field position produced the worst accuracy. The hard hold produced acceptable and consistent accuracy though not as good as the field hold. Note also the change in point of impact of the centers of the groups between the field and hard hold positions. The lessons here are you must use the correct position, your position must be consistent from shot to shot and , of course, you must apply the other fundamentals of marksmanship.
So there you have it, nothing "magical" about shooting springers. So take the R1 and head to the range. Just remember, prepare your equipment, select proper pellets, apply the fundamentals of marksmanship, follow through and have reasonable expectations of the accuracy your rifle may be capable of. Oh yeah, one other thing, have fun!
These tactics work with any air rifle but especially springers(barrel breakers, side cockers and under levers) and with rimfires also. Small groups and tight lines to all. Lawdog
