Air Rifle Any hope for accuracy?

[Industrial Toys]

I have been trying to site in a cheapie Beeman Air rifle with Beeman scope.

The think has a crazy hard trigger pull making this almost impossible. Curious if any one knows anything about reducing the trigger pull.

Also, something I have always wondered. How critical is the eye position to the scope? Not relief, but side to side. I mean, there is surly an optimum position. but it's almost impossible to determine, and I wonder if this affects sighting, or is it a case of as long as the cross hairs are on target, it doesn't matter.

And, I have seen lots of guys tap a scope gently after making an adjustment. This seems to make no sense to me at all. As much as a (bored) friend did decades ago, when he opened his scope and stuck his finger in there to clear what he thought looked like e cob web. He ended up with a mangled cartoonish rectical!

Thanks.

 

[CADplans]

I have been trying to site in a cheapie Beeman Air rifle with Beeman scope.

The think has a crazy hard trigger pull making this almost impossible. Curious if any one knows anything about reducing the trigger pull.

Also, something I have always wondered. How critical is the eye position to the scope? Not relief, but side to side. I mean, there is surly an optimum position. but it's almost impossible to determine, and I wonder if this affects sighting, or is it a case of as long as the cross hairs are on target, it doesn't matter.

Thanks.

With cheap scopes, repeat eye position is almost imperative.
They even have a word for it ,,, "parallax"

High dollar scopes are available with parallax adjusted for air rifle distances.
Many 22 rimfire rifle shooters use good air rifle scopes, because they shoot at the same distances.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks. Yes I have heard of parallax, but never knew if it affected point of impact.

 

[Arky217]

I have been trying to site in a cheapie Beeman Air rifle with Beeman scope.

The think has a crazy hard trigger pull making this almost impossible. Curious if any one knows anything about reducing the trigger pull.

Also, something I have always wondered. How critical is the eye position to the scope? Not relief, but side to side. I mean, there is surly an optimum position. but it's almost impossible to determine, and I wonder if this affects sighting, or is it a case of as long as the cross hairs are on target, it doesn't matter.

And, I have seen lots of guys tap a scope gently after making an adjustment. This seems to make no sense to me at all. As much as a (bored) friend did decades ago, when he opened his scope and stuck his finger in there to clear what he thought looked like e cob web. He ended up with a mangled cartoonish rectical!

Thanks.

First of all, you are not going to get any reasonable accuracy with a 'cheap' air rifle.
And when you couple it with a cheap scope, it's only a matter or time (usually a very short time)
before the reverse recoil of the spring destroys the scope.

With springer air rifles (which all the cheapy ones are), you will actually get better accuracy
by holding the rifle lightly (but very consistently), rather than trying to hold it down solidly on a bench
rest. This is because of the inherent nature of the beast due to the reverse recoil of the spring.

As to the scope, for best results you need a scope that has a parallax adjustment, not to
mention one designed especially to resist the potentially damaging effect of the spring recoil.

To easily see the difference that a parallax adjustment makes, take a scope that has a set
parallax setting of say 100 yards (most scopes are like this) and lay the scope on a rest and
sight it on a target at say 20 yards. Then without touching the scope, move your eye from side
to side and watch as the crosshairs go side to side across the target.
(the closer the target is, the greater the movement that you will observe)

If you do the same with a scope that has a parallax adjustment, and you set the parallax
adjustment at 20 yards for a target 20 yards away, you will see no movement of the crosshairs as you move
your eye from side to side.

 

[mcfarmall]

I have a Gamo air rifle with a Gamo scope that is pretty much useless. I can't hit anything with this rifle. Give me my old Crosman 760 with iron sites and I can do some damage. My son says it's the cheapo scope that's my problem.

 

[LittleBill21]

it can also be due to the scope rings. the scope rings generally need to be lapped to make sure the scope isn't getting messed with.

 

[JRobyn]

I'm pretty sure I have that same $99 Beeman! There's a couple of things to know (IMHO) to get decent accuracy out of a spring-piston air rifle. As noted, they have weird and rather violent "recoil" from the piston/spring suddenly releasing/accelerating and then slamming back to rest. Only the acceleration should affect your aim; the slamming back should happen after the projectile is gone, but it can still affect the scope zero. The best you can do to mitigate is to use a CONSISTENT hold, especially against your shoulder.

Second, in almost all cases, a scope is mounted NOT to the receiver/barrel, but to the "frame". Meaning that every time the barrel is pivoted to cock and close, it MIGHT return to the exact same angle, or maybe not. There's also a small barrel-frame seal (o-ring) that will squish a slightly variable amount. I have a $$$ RWS that was useless with the RWS-suppied scope until it was a few years old and had worn in for a consistent close. This usually only affects elevation. DO check to be sure that your barrel pivot clamp bolt is snug, else you can also get windage variation. In some cases, the barrel/frame misalignment is enough that you can NEVER get a scope to align correctly with the actual barrel. From a few feet away, try sighting down the barrel and frame when it's closed to judge how close yours is. If it's way off, try to exchange it. The best fix is iron sights. But if your rifle is like mine, it would have to be drilled/tapped. My RWS came with a wonderful set of irons with multiple bead configurations. Since it was new, it has been a literal tack-driver at under 50yd ranges.

It is true that spring-piston air rifles are VERY hard on a scope, and they need to be designed and built to withstand the forces. My hunch is that this means extra stout springs to hold the reticle firmly against the adjustments, AND robust adjustment mechanisms. One would hope that Beeman knows this and has included an appropriately-designed scope?? The one they supplied with mine has stood up ok to maybe 250 cycles or so.

p.s. There's info out there on adjusting Beeman triggers. Attempted adjustments on mine made little difference. beeman trigger pull adjustment - Yahoo Search Results

 

[om21braz]

Others have pretty much "zeroed" in on the issue. That said, within their limitations, air rifles can be extremely accurate. I can remember a Feinwerkbau a friend had that could cut playing cards in half on edge at 15 yds. provided you did your part. Off a bench, it was like shooting fish in a barrel - even with open sights.

 

[Bravo Xray]

Is your goal primarily to get the best accuracy from what you have, or to get an air rifle that is accurate? If it's the latter, check out Pyramid Air

They sell the widest assortment of brands and models, from budget friendly rifles and pistols up to Olympic quality stuff. And they have folks who answer the phone who can help you choose a good product for your needs.

If you're trying to get the best accuracy from your Beeman, if you're not already aware, there are many different pellets in the popular calibers (.177, .22, etc). Not every pellet shoots well in every rifle. Usually a rifle will shoot better with one particular weight and shape pellet. the folks at Pyramid can help with that, too. And no, I'm not affiliated with them, just a very happy customer.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks for the great replies. I have a Cheq air rifle that I got in the 60s. It still works with its simple iron sights. I thought an air rifle with a scope would be the cats meow. That would have helped kill many more plastic army men, way back then. I especially liked the way the prone shooters would fly away when hit on a concrete floor.

I like to maintain shooting skill without disturbing the tranquility around here. I regret that I did far too much of that years ago.

Funny, some of the more expensive pellets have a larger skirt that needs to be pressed into the chamber with a pointed object or the skirt will get stuck. Quite annoying.

I checked the trigger mechanism. The trigger acts right on the piston spring. I didn't think messing with it could help except possible make the rifle unsafe. But I will explore those article with great interest.

Failing that, I would love a selective fire air gun, but our government won't allow such toys into the country.