Is it me or the gun?

[daveO]

I've got an old Webley Vulcan KS that I bought new about 10 years ago. I used to happliy stalk squirrels and pigeons etc with it when I was younger but it got mothballed when I went to Uni. I dragged it out earlier this year to deal with a rat problem and decided I wouldn't mind doing a bit more shooting now. The problem is I've been trying to dial the scope back in for a bit of distance and can't get the accuracy I'd like for hunting at range. It's always been fine for closer stuff but after about 25m I'm finding it harder to get a grouping under 1.5" even with more stable stances.

It's a short barrel springer at the end of the day I suppose but should I be able to get more accurate shots with it or have I just reached the limit of it's accuracy? I've just been out in the field shooting at just over 30m and put 10 shots in a 1.5" group, it's gusting quite strongly at the moment though. I might try a different pellet and see if that helps.

 

[British Red]

Very hard to say. My suggestion would be to shoot some groups prone with your left arm resting on some sort of firm support (bags of compost etc.). Set up a target and shoot a few 3 shot groups. I like to shoot groops from a bench rest to test the gun rather than my own ability - then I can measure where the problems are!

 

[MSkiba]

If its the scope then :

1 Clamp down your gun, vice prefebly. so it cannot move.
2 walk 25m ahed of the gun and put down soem wood, or paper, anything that can take a hit and not move either.
3 shoot the gun, mark a big X where it hit
4 adjust your sights on the locked down gun to the X you drawn.

If its the power, try new spring.

there, pefect 0 centres sights.

 

[Shewie]

Isn't 10 shots in 1.5" at 30m fairly acceptable with a springer ? I think I'd be pretty happy with that in these winds at the moment.

 

[Silverback 1]

If the gun has been stored/unused for a long period of time check that the stock screws and scope mounts are still tight.
Might be worth running a cleaning rod through as well.

 

[tobes01]

Have you checked that your pellets are happy with your gun? Might be worth browsing around to find which pellets perform best with it, or buy one of those selection packs so you can try a dozen different types to see what it gets on with.

Tobes

 

[Harnser]

things to check, if its a break barrell rifle check the barrel pivot pin and barrell at the hinge point for any play, movement here will cause inaccuracy, also check the action is tight in the stock any movement here will also cause inaccuracy, spring guns have a habit of loosening the stock bolts and sight mountings over time.
if the rifle has been stored for a number of years the grease on the main spring may have gone sticky due to evaporation of the solvents within the grease.
try using some round head diablo pellets these are more accurate at distance, pellets with flat or hollow heads are only really any good for close range targets.(I only use Round head diablos regardless of distance )
you could also try pulling the barrel through, break the rifle but don't cock it (safety) pass a doubled length of strong fishing line (shock leader) down the barrell loop first from the muzzle end.
pass a small thin piece of cloth through the loop with a small amount of white spirt on it pull this through and repeat a couple of times now do the same thing again with a dry piece of the cloth if you use a light coloured cloth you can see the dirt easier do this a couple of times. next repeat with another piece of cloth with a little (a few drops) 3 in 1 or gun oil on it. next do the same thing again with another dry piece of cloth. shoot a few pellets through it the first 10 or so shoots can be a bit inconsistant you may find the grouping size tightens if this is the problem.
A few warnings which may be helpful if you think there may be an internal fault,
Be very carefull if you decide to open the action the main spring may be preloaded and under tension. lubrication of airrifle springs requires the use of special lubricants very sparingly and no lubricant should be in the front of the compression chamber or the face of the piston seal or you will cause dieseling (lubricant ignites under pressure like a fire piston) this could cause damage to the rifle and will probably put the rifles muzzle energy above the legal limit 12ftlb for a non fac rifle which could mean you a breaking the law when using it.
hope has given you a few ideas to help

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Some very good advice above...

The first, and most simple way to eliminate the most common problem is to simply try another brand of pellet.

H&N make some very good lead in various shapes, along with JSB.

Try some FTT's (field, target, trophy) accupel's (slightly lower grade/cheaper premier) or some JSB exacts (i would go with these) and you could improve your groups there and then if your barrel decides it dosen't like whatever you are currently shooting.

As said, you are better off leaning the action on a sandbag for support and dampening to narrow out the lead issue, i've been shooting 20 years and can get a reasonable group prone, off a harris pellet on pellet.

Hth, TBL.

 

[Pignut]

Isn't 10 shots in 1.5" at 30m fairly acceptable with a springer ? I think I'd be pretty happy with that in these winds at the moment.

Agreed! I would push a few more rounds through at the range you want to soot at. See how you get on before looking at faults with the gun.

 

[Mojoracinguk]

yup, the weak link in most shooting rigs is the operator
given that you probably have tried supporting your gun to negate your influence on the shot, then i'd say time may have taken it's toll on the spring.
on another thread i mentioned that the BSA spring in my supersport went from 11.99ft/lb to 6.25ft/lb over c.12 years (5 of those were fallow) and these 'lost' units of energy are what would be keeping the projectile from deviating over the last few yards of the 30 you are shooting over, given a breeze or slight wobble during the lock time of your rifle then the extra power will make for a more consisstent shot as it will be out of the gun faster (recoil has less time to effect the pellet & it has more energy at the given distance to resisst deflection by the wind)

Although I don't know the gun your talking of, or the conditions it was kept in (was it moist...is the blueing still intact and rust free) as these could indicate problems may be inside the gun...the way the internals are moving (as mentioned before) is the gun smooth when you cock it?
or is it slightly rough? (this could mean the internals need greasing although if you can feel 'roughness' then it is probably very dry) the barrel could be dirty or the crown (muzzel end of the barrel) may have taken a knock (i've heard this can give poor grouping but never experienced it)

to be fair though....1.5" at 30 yards....is fair...after you check out your set up...this could bring us back round to the start...keep at it and see if you can tighten the groups with...er...practice practice practice
Happy shooting.

Mojo

 

[MartiniDave]

For what it's worth my Vulcan KS (.22) works best with eley wasp 5.6(blue tin not purple). These pellets look truly awful, but it'll stack them i the same hole at 25 yards. The breech washer is prone to damage on the vulcan, this can cause poor performance. I'd suggest a good long plinking session, after checking the stock screws stay tight, putting a few hundred shots through it, then see if its improved. If not it's new spring time, taking care to avoid ox products. Venom used to do really good springs but I don't know if you can still get them. Whatever you do, don't clamp it in a vice, springers need to recoil freely when you're setting them up.
Also try lookinng on Airgunbbs.

Dave

 

[daveO]

Thanks everyone. I tried a different (not necessarily better) brand of pellets that I found and the grouping tightened up a fair bit. Well less height difference but same windage spread. It's calmer today so I'll try them again later and see how it looks. I think a better pellet may improve things a lot if that's the case. Is it worth getting the power checked out by a specialist?

I'll try some of the tips above and make sure everything is tight and clean. It was stored in my fleece lined gunbag in a dry place so looks as good as it did when I put it away.

 

[ESpy]

1 Clamp down your gun, vice prefebly. so it cannot move.

It's a springer, not a PCP. Don't clamp it (you're constraining the recoil and you won't get an accurate zero if you do), just do as Red suggested and rest it on a bag of compost (or a sandbag, sand sock etc. etc.).

 

[_mark_]

Clean the barrel! 30m 1.5" is pretty good after a few yrs!

 

[dean4442]

Clean the barrel! 30m 1.5" is pretty good after a few yrs!

I agree with this but then put a few rounds through it before you start checking the groups to get a bit of lead coating the barrel. I've done this with my .22 and always find the first few rounds are all over the place and then it settles down to nice tight groups.
Colin

 

[AccuCover]

There is a lot of very good advice in the previous posts.

I would only add the windage spread you mention could be due to canting (tilting) of the rifle. Small amounts of cant will make a large cant error at these distances.

Any dieselling mention in earlier post can be seen by looking for brown smoke left in the barrel after firing.

Loose stock screws are best dealt with by wrapping them with a couple of turns of PTFE plumbers tape, which prevents them from working loose, but still allows for adjustment. My Webley Longbow was a real b****r for shaking it's screws loose prior to giving it the PTFE treatment.

It may also be worth firing a string of shots though a chrony to see the shot to shot consistency of velocity and power.