What’s new, well nothing really. I should have plenty of stuff in this arena with trap going in full swing. But, today I am going to talk pellet rifles again today. My new spring piston rifle has in fact settled down and is shooting pretty consistently. I will show some groups below.

Shooting with a pellet rifle is a really good idea. It is a way to work away all the bad habits that develop when you only shoot high powered rifles. You can work on sight picture, trigger control (and not flinching). I noticed when I was shooting slugs at the range a couple of weeks ago that I would tense up in anticipation of the shot, which is a form of flinching.

There are numerous other reasons to shoot pellets. They can be done safely and discreetly at home as well as economical. I am seeing pellets go for $8-$14/ 250. That sure beats $34 / 50 (9mm) or $60 / 500 (22LR) or even worse $50 / 20 (30-06). Now that the business is done, we can start to have some fun and play around. I have a couple examples of the pellets that I have here.

It seems like the two on the left are the same weight, 7.6 grains. The container for the third one is not marked, so I do not know. I saw some for sale that were up to 16.2 grains and I think that those would make better varmint stopper, but then I also some that were 5.4 grains. What I am saying is that now it is time to see how different ammunition will perform.

Here I am showing my target with different groups. I generally shoot five at a time off of a rest at ten yards. Notice the bottom right target there are two distinct groups. The ones all grouped around the center of the bullseye are with the scope cover off. The group that is above to the right is with the scope cover on.

The scope cover has two clear lenses in it so you can see through it without removing the covers. Clearly, it makes a difference with the performance. It is something to note that I should remove the covers when shooting or sight it in with the covers on.

This has even got me looking into a chronograph. I have never been too concerned with how fast bullets travel as most loads have nominal or published velocities. However, I have started to become curious how consistent my handloads are or how do different weight pellets change in velocity, which I cant find published. I checked into the price and it is much more affordable than I thought it would be (at around $100) for an entry level setup. I see a chronograph coming in the future.

End Your Programming Routine: I have some new pellets coming, so I will soon be able to answer a few questions. Mostly, it is just fun. As a youth, I would spend hours shooting BB’s and I attribute that time to my marksmanship capabilities. I think as I have gotten older and mostly fired high power, I have lost some of my skills or more likely acquired bad habits. I think this is one way to help correct that.