Range Time

Description

[rangetime]

It's been a while since I've posted an update, but I happened upon an interesting post on the Air Arms Owner's Club forum the other day there, which I wanted to share.

The posts were by an AAOC user called Accuspell, and I was struck by that users obvious knowledge of the topic being discussed, and the clarity with which he conveyed the information.

The original posts can be found here: http://www.airarmsownersclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40359

It's one of those posts that you stumble upon ever so often, that makes you sit up and think.

For instance, I had always assumed that a 30mm tube was superior to a 1" tube – because all the top-of-the-range scopes sport the larger diameter body (with the exception of a Light Stream). It never occured to me that the 30mm tube would suffer a decreased depth of field. Makes sense.

Likewise, I would never have guessed that one of the main reasons that manufacturers opt for a larger objective lens, is so that they can get away with using an inferior quality glass. Again this makes sense.

Interesting stuff.

But perhaps the most enlightening fact, was Accuspell's explanation about how the exit pupil effects the brightness of the scope. In hindsight, the 'divide-by-7' rule of thumb does indeed explain why the fixed-power über-scopes like Zeiss' Diatal, are offered in 6x 42 and 8x 56.

So I've been going round all the scopes that I own, and dividing their objective lens size by 7, in order to arrive at the optimum magnification level. Turns out that the Bushy I have mounted on my .22 was already at its optimum magnification level of 6x, but the others weren't at their optimal settings.

When someone as knowledgeable as Accuspell highlights a scope that's worth checking out – you'd be foolish not to. And so with that in mind, watch this space for a review of Nikon's 3-9x 40 Pro Staff. I can't wait to see how it performs!

Incidentally, I've subsequently seen another post on another forum where an owner of this very scope was raving about its capabilities.

Stay posted...

[rangetime]

.20 cal

The debate about which calibre is ‘best’ – 4.5mm/.177" or 5.5mm/.22" – has raged on since the day that people started buying airguns, and it shows no signs of abating.

Fans of .177, point to its flatter trajectory. The flatter the trajectory, the greater the margin of error when it comes to rangefinding.

Proponents of .22 however, highlight its greater stopping power. This is useful for scenarios when you want to pack as much punch as you can – like hunting.

The largest single determining factor of a pellets trajectory is its velocity. Because .177 pellets are lighter than .22, they can be driven out the barrel at a far higher speed without going over the sub-12ftlbs threshold. .177 pellets travel faster, they arrive at their target quicker. And because they’re in the air for a shorter period of time, they are also subject to the effects of gravity for a shorter period of time – therefore the flatter trajectory.

If we use one of the most common pellets on the market at the moment – the JSB Exact (which a lot of manufacturers rebadge) – the .22 version can be propelled at 570fps without going over the sub-12 threshold, whereas the .177 version can be shot out at a whopping 785fps without reaching the same threshold.

Whilst it’s true that there are a variety of weights of pellets in both .177 and .22, there is still some deadground between the heaviest of .177 pellets and the lightest of .22 pellets – so you have a choice to make. Margin of error in rangefinding, or downrange stopping power?

Enter .20 cal.

This little heard of calibre, has a very loyal and vocal following. I’ve spoken to a number of very experienced shooters (200+ years of shooting experience between them), who all reckon that .20 is the best calibre that they’ve ever shot. Each and every one of them however, no longer own a single .20 rifle. When I asked each of them why they no longer owned the best calibre that they’d ever shot, the answer was always the same – lack of pellet choice, and problem sourcing the pellets themselves.

Now that JSB are manufacturing a .20 version of their benchmark Exact pellet, and one of the most revered PCPs of all time – the HW100 – is just becoming available in .20, I thought the time might be right to look at this novel calibre again.

At 5.0mm/.20", the .20 cal sits perfectly between .177 and .22, and as such it is often seen as a compromise between the two better known calibres. Like any compromise, there are two schools of thought:

The Glass Is Half Full Fans of .20 will tell you that this calibre has a flatter trajectory than .22, whilst still retaining more stopping power than .177.

The Glass Is Half Empty Sceptics of .20 will tell you that this calibre has a loopier trajectory than .177, whilst lacking the stopping power of .22.

It has to be said that there are a lot more people in the sceptics tent than in the fans tent, and it doesn’t help when importers of .20 rifles will happily tell you that you can get to the same trajectory by using heavier pellets in a .177 calibre, or lighter pellets in a .22 calibre – effectively making .20 redundant right out the gate.

And this appears to be the real kicker – why would you invest in an obscure calibre, when one of the more common calibres can largely mimic the same trajectory and aim points with the right pellets?

Well, I would ask you to look through the looking glass the other way, and consider for a moment – if lighter and heavier weight pellets were available in .20, isn’t it possible that this calibre could mimic the trajectories of both .177 and .22 – meaning that for the first time, it would indeed be possible for one rifle to do it all?

Can you imagine owning an HW100, that could assume the role of both a .177 and a .22, by simply switching out the pellets?

Watch this space…

[rangetime]

Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x 42mm

INTRO The Elite 6500 series is Bushnell’s flagship range of scopes. There are many variations available, which serve most applications, but regardless of which configuration you settle for you’ll get high-end Japanese glass, the best lens coatings in the industry, a sturdy 30mm body, a very useful magnification range, a side mounted parallax correction dial and a fast focus eye-piece.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS The Elite 6500 series is presented in a large black carton, which immediately conveys the fact that you’re dealing with a serious piece of kit. Inside you’ll find the scope itself, a screw-on sunshade, a set of bikini covers and the warranty paperwork.

I predominately shoot HFT, so I opted for the 2.5-16x 42mm model, with the conventional hunter style turrets and a mil-dot reticle.

A quick inspection leaves you in no doubt that this is a quality scope which will take anything that you can throw at it. It demonstrates an extremely high degree of fit & finish, with the various dials and twisting collars exhibiting a well judged degree of weighting and they’re very smooth in their operation.

DIMENSIONS Objective-bell: 50.0mm Body: 30.0 mm Eye-bell: 43.6mm

FEATURES Up front, you’ll find the 42mm objective lens which features a Rainguard hydrophobic coating. This coating ensures that any moisture that collects on the objective lense immediately forms a bead which rolls off the lens. This is an extremely handy feature, the usefulness of which is hard to overstate. The coating is a one-time deal, which should last the lifetime of the scope.

Parallax correction is provided in the form a side mounted dial - which is the approach that I prefer. The dial itself exhibits markings from infinity right down to 10yds.

The turrets themselves, area hidden beneath protective caps which shield them from the elements and ensure that they aren’t knocked off zero inadvertently. Adjustments are in the 1/4" at 100yds range, and the turrets feature 48 clicks per revolution. The scope was optically centred straight out the box.

The scope features a compact eye-bell, at the front of which you find the magnification collar. Again, like all the other adjusters on the scope this collar is perfectly weighted and very smooth in its operation. Like the vast majority of scopes on the market today, the reticle is situated in the second focal plane, which means that it is a fixed size regardless of the magnification that you select. The red ‘10’ on the magnification ring signifies that the mil-dots are ‘true’ at 10x magnification.

At the rear end on the eye-bell you’ll find the fast focus eye-piece. This design is type where the eye-piece itself screws in and out of the eye-bell, rather than the complete eye-bell itself screwing in and out.

IN USE I mounted the Elite 6500 on my trusty .177 HW100, using Sportsmatch mounts. The Elite 6500 is one of those scopes where you notice an immediate improvement in sight picture the first time you look through it. It really does stand head and shoulders above the crowd. The sight picture demonstrates exceptional clarity and definition, with a crisp contrast and deep colour saturation.

I was able to achieve a sharp reticle at infinity very quickly, and likewise the parallax correction allowed me to eliminate parallax completely at my preferred range of 23yds. I didn’t have to re-adjust the eye-piece, which is always encouraging. Next I switched the magnification from 16x down to 10x, which is my preferred magnification for shooting HFT, at set about zeroing the rifle at 35yds.

Now, here’s the rub – because I’ve parallaxed the scope at 23yds, and I’m now attempting to zero the rifle at 35yds, my zero is going to be subject to a fair amount of parallax error. Ultimately, my group size is going to be a product of how easily I can manually correct for parallax error, and also the shot-to-shot consistency of the Elite 6500.

Within 15mins I was producing 5 shot groups about the size of my pinky nail – which I’m quite pleased with considering I have no experience with the scope. But what I was really pleased with, was the fact that I wasn’t doing this from a comfy benchrest position, but rather from a prone position.

At this point I’d like to discuss the Elite 6500s turrets again – they are quite simply an absolute joy to use, and I’d go as far as to say that they are probably my favourite turrets of any scope that I’ve shot.

Group sizes this small confirm two things: firstly the shot-to-shot consistency of the Elite 6500 is extremely good; and secondly I was able to manually correct for parallax error fairly easily on this scope – those two characteristics are absolutely fundamental to an accurate and repeatable setup, and in my experience actually quite rare.

WHAT IT DOES WELL This scope is a solid, no-nonsense performer. No matter which configuration you select, it has an extremely useful range of magnifications. The top-end Japanese glass and industry leading coatings deliver a sight picture which is truly outstanding. All the adjusters are perfectly weighted, and the fit & finish is exceptional.

WHAT IT COULD DO BETTER The short answer is not much – the Elite 6500 really is a very polished product indeed. The only minor niggle that I have is with the markings on the magnification collar – you’ll see 2.5, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 & 16 – if you want to set your scope up to exactly 7x for some reason you’ll have to either guess or make up a mil-dot measuring target. This is simply down to there not being enough space on the magnification collar to engrave all the numbers required, and this is a illustration of why the method that Zeiss adopt – where the numbers are actually engraved on the eye-bell because there is more space there – makes a lot of sense.

CONCLUSION Let’s be honest, the RRP of this scope isn’t cheap, and in this price bracket it has some serious competition. That being said, I personally feel as though the Elite 6500 is worth every hard-earned penny. It’s a really solid performer which excels no matter how you evaluate it. For me, it was the quality of the sight picture which really caught my attention. The fact that I was able to easily manually correct for parallax on-the-fly sealed the deal. The excellent build quality and tactile controls are all confidence boosters. The end result is that the Elite 6500 series is now my default go-to scope, my benchmark if you will. I know own two of these scopes which I’ve paid for myself – surely that’s the ultimate recommendation?

[rangetime]

AIM 40 Tactical Drag Bag

£140 for a gun bag is a lot of money, and gun bags like scope mounts are often viewed as an inconvenient necessity which you want to try and pick up as cheaply as possible.

Hence the brisk trade in £20-30 gun bags.

So I was a little hesitant at spending £140 of my hard-earned on a piece of kit which ostensibly did exactly the same job as a £20 bag.

Fast forward a couple of years, and the AIM 40 Tactical Dragbag is still the single best piece of shooting related paraphernalia that I’ve ever bought. In fact, I now own three of them.

So what is it that I like about them so much? Well, everything about the AIM bag oozes quality. As gun bags go, they offer an unrivalled level of protection that gives you peace of mind when you’re hauling your kit in and out of the boot of someone else’s car.

The walls of the bag are thick and padded, and your rifle is securely cradled inside by a pocket for the butt and three Velcro straps. There’s a pocket that runs along the spine of the bag for a spare cylinder or cleaning rod, and two pockets on the outside that can swallow an impressive about of odds and sods. Any magician worth their salt should be able to pull a Trident nuclear submarine out of one of these pockets.

But what I love most about my AIM bags is their build quality. There a 101 different ways that AIM could have cut corners to save money - but they haven’t. Indeed they’ve done the exact opposite and over engineered the bag. The choice of materials, fasteners and the attention to detail in the stitching – you just know that these bags are going to last a lifetime.

The AIM bag is one of those few, no-frills, honest products that I would recommend without any hesitation. It’s worth every penny.

[rangetime]

MTC Optics Viper 10x 44mm

INTRO If I had to sum up MTC Optics approach, it would be ‘value for money’. Whilst their products are never going to rival big ticket scopes like Bushnell or Zeiss, when you consider that their offerings cost a fraction of the price, and you start to tote-up what you actually get for your money, it’s easy to see why MTC Optics have such a massive representation on the HFT circuit, and why their following is so loyal.

Indeed, I should imagine that the Viper 10x 44mm is probably the most common scope on the HFT circuit.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS The MTC Viper is presented in a box which isn’t the most sophisticated on the shelf – and to be honest I’m OK with that, because I can appreciate Sammie and Gary’s pragmatic approach where they’d rather spend the money elsewhere on the product. In many respects the packaging reminds me of the packaging the EB Sniper is supplied in – functional would be the polite way of putting it.

Inside the box, you’ll find everything that you need. There’s the scope itself, a screw-on sunshade, a set of basic but functional mounts, a set of metal covers, an elasticated scope bag, a neat little parallax adjuster sidewheel, and a lens cloth.

The fit and finish of the scope is starting to look a little bit dated, especially when you compare it to the likes of more recent offerings like Deben’s Panorama EV and Sidewinder 30 scopes. It’s not uncommon to find some minor cosmetic flaws on boxfresh MTC Vipers, and indeed it’s quite easy to chip the paintwork when you’re attaching the metal covers to the scope. But again I have to remind myself that this isn’t a £300+ scope, and these concerns are quickly dismissed when you consider some of the scopes other features.

DIMENSIONS Objective-bell:??mm Body: 30mm Eye-bell: ??mm

FEATURES Up front you’ll find a well judged 44mm objective lens – it’s just big enough to collect an impressive amount of light, but not too big as to force the axis too far from the barrels axis. It’s actually possible to get the 44mm Viper snug onto the barrel without too much effort – and this speaks to the Vipers HFT pedigree.

Next we find the side mounted parallax adjuster and reticle illumination control. The parallax adjuster features two large raised lugs which provide ample grip, and also act as a key for the small sidewheel which you can install if you wish. The weighting of the controls varies quite a bit from scope to scope, with some examples being extremely smooth whilst others are way too stiff. The reticle illumination control features 12 different settings including off – so it’s easy to find a setting that’s perfect for any condition.

The first stand-out feature of the MTC Viper are its turrets. The Viper features large ‘sniper’ or ‘target’ style turrets which can be adjusted on-the-fly, rather than being hidden beneath protective covers. The design of these turrets is simply genius, and in this respect the Viper puts all of its competitors to shame. Compare the Viper to the likes of Deben’s Hawke Sidewinder 30, and the Viper makes a mockery of the Sidewinder.

With the Viper you simply pull the respective turret away from scope body to unlock it. Once you’ve zeroed your rifle you simply push the turret back into its original position, and unscew a little collar which allows you to turn the turret legend to zero before securing it again. The whole thing takes seconds, and is a masterclass in product design. I have yet to see another target style turret which comes close the MTC Vipers design.

The second stand-out feature of the MTC Viper, and arguably its killer feature, is its reticle design. The Vipers SCB (Small Calibre Ballistic) reticle is hand’s down the single most useful reticle that you’ll find for HFT. The secret is the floating crosshairs. In the centre of crosshairs, you’ll find a floating cross that provides you with +/- 1/2 a mil-dot of reticle, and then another 1/2 mil-dot gap. This effectively gives you a crosshair within a crosshair. On a sub-12 .177 rifle, you’ll find that the majority of your aimpoints will actually fall within this smaller crosshair, allowing you to ignore everything else that’s going on. From ~11–40yds, all of you shots will land somewhere on the floating crosshair. It’s hard to overstate just how useful that particular feature actually is – and you won’t find it anywhere else.

Being a fixed focus scope, the MTC Viper 10x 44 doesn’t have a magnification collar, but at the very rear of eye-bell you’ll find a fast focus eye-piece which screws in and out of the eye-bell. A word of warning, the magnification of the Viper does change noticeably as you turn the eye-piece in and out.

IN USE The optics on the MTC Viper aren’t going to win any awards, any time soon. And to be honest, at the asking price, it’s not fair to expect that anyway. Besides, the MTC Viper isn’t about high-end optics, it’s about high-end functionality. As a result, the sight picture is never going to be super high definition, or exhibit spectacular contrast and colour saturation. Both Deben’s fixed mag Hawke Sidewinder 30 10x 42mm, and their Hawke Panorama EV 4-12x 40mm scopes wipe the floor with the MTC Viper in terms of sight picture, but given the choice, I’d opt for the MTC Viper every single time. It’s all about that SCB reticle!

Anything between 13 to 35yds is going to land somewhere in the top post of the miniature floating crosshair, and you’ll start to notice that that 1/2 mill-dot top post can be squeezed comfortably into most of those killzones. Anything between 35yds to 40yds is going to land somewhere in the lower post, and 45yds will fall perfectly into the the gap between the inner and outer crosshairs.

Suddenly, hedging your bets on rangefinding becomes so much more effective.

"I know that that target is somewhere between 18-25yds away – oh look, I can squeeze all of those aimpoints into the killzone."

And this is where the MTC Viper beats every other scope out there.

WHAT IT DOES WELL The turrets and the reticle really are in a league of their own. Likewise, Sammie and Gary’s customer service is second to none – they really know how to look after their customers.

WHAT IT COULD DO BETTER Fit and finish, and consistency of control weighting from scope-to-scope isn’t exactly the Vipers forte, but there again if solving these problems added another £50 to price of the scope then I’d rather have it as is. Ultimately, Sammie and Gary look as though they’ve made a lot of well-informed decisions, and spent the money in all the right places. The number of people shooting the Viper 10x 44mm seems to back that up.

CONCLUSION It may not be the most polished scope on the market, but it singlehandedly proves that spending money on a big ticket scope doesn’t necessarily make you a better a shot. Just look at the amount of silverware that top shots Chris Cundey and Richard Woods have picked up using this scope over the last few years – and neither of them are switching to another scope anytime soon. As much as I love my Bushnell Elite 6500s, they don’t make me shoot any better. Put it this way, if I were dropped on a desert island with only one scope, and that scope was an MTC Viper 10x 44mm, I would never want for anything else.

[rangetime]

HW100 Trigger Tuning

I’ve been playing around with the trigger on my HW100, in an attempt to tune-out the creep in the second stage.

I’ve been able to tune-out the creep before, but it always seems to rear its ugly head again.

I’m not sure what is causing it – presumably one (or both) of the adjustment screws is actually moving by its own volition.

Coming from shooting Steyrs and Walthers, I’m used to top-end match grade triggers. Any movement in the second stage is really disconcerting, and I really hope that I can get the HW100 up to scratch, as otherwise it really is a superb rifle to shoot competitively.