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Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

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North Country Gal
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Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by North Country Gal » Thu Dec 17, 2020 11:20 am

I finally got a scope mounted on our new FWB Sport spring piston rifle, the scope being one of my go to scopes in the Nikon Prostaff 3-9x EFR. My goal was to put this beautiful air rifle on a rest at 30 yards to test for accuracy. Yesterday, I got the chance.

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Have to say, things went very well, right from the start. Once I got the scope roughed in on paper, I began to fine tune the adjustments using small one inch orange dots as the aiming point. In the target below, this would be the target on the left at just under half an inch. After some clicks in windage to pull the group into the orange, I then knuckled down using my best spring piston technique to push this rifle to the max for accuracy. This would be the target on the right. Yes, that is a five shot group under a third of an inch and I measured it conservatively.

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I probably should have ended the session right then and there. My hands were getting cold, anyway, with the late afternoon chill in the lower 20s. I continued on, however, and, sorry to report, groups started to open up. Could not repeat those sub half inch groups, despite my best efforts. Finally, when I started dropping pellets due to cold fingers I called it quits.

That's when I got a very graphic and visual explanation for the ever expanding groups. As I picked up the rifle to carry back into the house, the scope with rail actually slid backward off of the rifle. An inch to go and the scope with rail would have taken a tumble on the hard frozen ground. I had read that the FWB Sport with its sharp and very quick recoil made securing a scope a challenge and now I was seeing it. Back to the house to redo the mounts with plenty of loc-tite.

Still, short as this session was, I learned that FWB as a maker of fine air guns certainly deserves its reputation as being in the very top tier in the accuracy game. This spring piston air rifle really does give my best PCP air rifle a run for the money in potential accuracy. Will return to the range, soon, for another accuracy test, but this time, hopefully, with a scope that won't work loose.

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Sir Henry
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by Sir Henry » Thu Dec 17, 2020 11:48 am

You had a fantastic few minutes of shooting and I can completely understand the cold and fingers not working.
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by BigAl52 » Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:10 pm

Nice shooting NCG. What pellets were you using in the test?
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North Country Gal
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by North Country Gal » Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:21 pm

Thanks, guys.

All I've used in the FWB so far are the H&N FTT 8.64s. They provide a nice firm fit, but not too firm, which is an off the cuff way of predicting what will work best with any given pellet and springer matchup, plus, we keep a good stock of them on hand since so many of our other air rifles like them. Not always the best pellet in a given rifle, but I've never found a rifle that won't shoot them reasonably well. I'll probably try some other pellets at some point, though.
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by Sir Henry » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:46 pm

North Country Gal wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:21 pm
Thanks, guys.

All I've used in the FWB so far are the H&N FTT 8.64s. They provide a nice firm fit, but not too firm, which is an off the cuff way of predicting what will work best with any given pellet and springer matchup, plus, we keep a good stock of them on hand since so many of our other air rifles like them. Not always the best pellet in a given rifle, but I've never found a rifle that won't shoot them reasonably well. I'll probably try some other pellets at some point, though.
I may try some of those.
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John E Davies
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by John E Davies » Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:16 am

Is your Nikon scope springer rated? If not you should avoid it on that rifle. Maybe having it slide while you were shooting was actually trying to save it 😬 Does the rail not have slots for a hard stop pin?

I just got back into airgunning and I intentionally picked a .25 rifle because I have an increasingly hard time handling those teeeeeeny .17 pellets. In that cold wind I would have been helpless.

I also could not get nice tight groups like yours from a powerful springer. Good technique! I have a PCP gun mainly because I can shoot one of those adequately...

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North Country Gal
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Re: Accuracy testing the FWB Sport springer

Post by North Country Gal » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:07 am

Yes, John, Nikon Prostaff scopes are rated for springers and that EFR in particular. Have several on various springers and have never had an issue. Of course, Nikon scopes are no more, now that Nikon is out of the scope business, so I have to go looking for a replacement. These EFRs have been my go to scope for many years.

Yes, the FWB rail has grooves for a recoil pin that sits crosswise, but it's not adequate, even for the mount I'm using that was designed for that system. It's been one of the valid criticisms of this new FWB Sport. I may have to actually use an adhesive in the rails, as some have done. We'll see. This design worked on vintage FWB 124s and 127s, but those were lower powered. The new Sport at over 900 fps with standard weight 7.87 gr 177 pellets is anything but a mild mannered springer. It takes an experienced springer shooter to handle it. Beautiful as it is, I would not recommend it as a first springer.

Loading pellets with cold fingers is a fact of life in our northern climate, of course. I do prefer break barrel springers for loading in cold weather, though.

There are now some springers available in 25 cal, but I think pellets that heat are best handled by PCPs.
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