New 25 barrel arrives
Well the brown truck wound its way up my long driveway about 90 minutes before dark, and delivered my new barrel from RLAirguns.
The barrel, two tins of Kodiaks and paid freight was $217.00 but UPS sure took their time for a 61 year old kid and an early Christmas present.
I had the rifle all waiting with a new trigger mod and frame polishing so it was just prep the barrel and start shooting before it got too dark.
To all the advice I received from you folks, I did it like last time, sort of, I used a 22 Jag on a poly coated rod and bore guide. I used Goof OFF to clean the gunk out, and then did twenty strokes with JB and then cleaned again with Goof Off. I then polished the outside of the barrel from the front bushing towards the breech with 600 grit and lubed the barrel with silicone and the stub with divers grease. Then I put one patch thru with two drops of Breakfree in the center.
This barrel fits my breech very snuggly compared to my old 22 barrel.
I shot it at close range for two shots to get the elevation right. It was getting very dark when I shot the first group of three for a sight in. They measured just under 3/4 of an inch at 40 yards.
I made corrections and shot 5 shots, 4 were in one hole at a spot I could not see in the dark with out the aid of the Baraska on 12 power. The first shot went into the first pattern, obviously the windage had not taken hold on the adjustment. Right now the gun shoots about 1/2 inch left and 1/2 inch low, it was too dark to shoot any more.
The Air Hog fits fine on the 25 barrel and had been previously opend up, I blacked the brakes end to watch for clipping tomorrow when I go after it again.
I love that trigger mod I got off the reference section, it does require a drill press tho, so I got to use my new press again. It breaks clean with very little travel either way and holds fine.
First impressions of holding a 25 Kodiak for the first time with a 22 Exact 18 grain beside it , I coined an often used phrase from my wife, “its so beeg!.” 😯 😆 😆
Roachcreek
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Jerry,
I am waiting to see if this thing shoots for shit before I buy real pellets.
Roachcreek
Well I’m just waiting for you to put aside the little pellets and go for the full potential of your new .25!
I am beginning to see some of the variables that are effecting my accuracy.
Hold on the gun seems to be very different than what it was with the 22 barrel. Compounded by the fact that I do not have a dedicated bench rest.
I am not a bench rest shooter, almost all of my shooting is done from a hunting position, using available supports, or off hand, and that is the way I practice, because I hunt that way, not from a bench. I had been shooting from a little garden table, and even with the 22, I do not shoot stellar groups as a rule, the table just wiggles too much.
So last night, I reconfigured things, discarded the table bench and went directly to a Railroad tie that is buried in the ground and part of the landscaping here, I put a 8 x22 board on top of that I rested my range bag, I do not have anything to sit on, so I lean over to shoot, so I still do not have ideal conditions.
If I rest the gun with the action on the bag, I have only one bag so I do not rest the butt on anything and with the off hand slightly grasp the scope rail, I can get 1.2 inches at 50 yards, but I have to tell you, I have at least a 3/4 inch wobble in that group.
I have also changed my trigger settings, I have a trigger that breaks at I would say around 4 to 6 ounces, this helps a lot, but getting used to it was a bugger, but now I can identify some of the flyers as my fault.
I tried my bipod, I used Harris bipods for years, and until just before this Air Gun adventure a year and a half ago, I had three of them. The Airforce Bipod is shit, but it does improve my groups from the prone position.
The scope is another matter, when I make a left or right adjustment, and remember I have sighted it in at least a dozen times now, because of barrel removal and scope switching, it does not track immediately, it takes a couple of shots to go to the new POI.
And on top of it all, it is a 60 dollar Baraska, and I am sorry, even tho a lot of you love those Walmart specials, cheap scopes do not give great results, if they did, dedicated bench rest shooters would be setting records with them. I would get a new scope, but buying tanks and barrels and saving for shoeboxes compressors and buying Disco tubes and valves, well you get the idea, it is a priority thing, and the scope priority is moving quickly to the top.
So it may be the pellets, it may not be. Right now with the equipment I have I am getting 5 shots into 1.2 inches.
Fed ex is suposed to deliver 4 tins of JSB Kings on the 9th, I will have run out of my first 400 Kodiaks today undoubtably, and no 25’s are available locally, so it is back to the SS or the little HPA carbine until then for the crows.
Roachcreek
Roach have you measured the velocity of the flier. Also is it 4 shots then flier how about 10 shots. Do you only get 4 good shots then shit.
I got my barrel and hammer from Tony of TT great shooting. EunJins 43 gr at 950 fps at the moment I am shooting Benjys domed 27 grains at 1080 fps on 5 setting. Other than the barrel, bushings, and hammer everything else is stock. I used to get a similar problem accurate one day the fliers the next. I found out it was my scope, too low, parallax. Also AF scope sucks.
It’s a long process of elimination trying to find out where the problem is but that’s the fun of airgunning. Hope you find the bug.
Mae,
I sold that barrel, but this 25 barrel is a very good fit.
Roachcreek
Roach creek if you still have that accurate 22 barrel measure the bushings to see if they are a good fit.
Dvu0704,
Yeah I seldom clean a barrel in an air rifle, I did with this one just to check to see if lead buildup was the cause of the flyers.
In 14 months or so of owning my 22 barrel I may have cleaned it once. When I sold it, I asked the fellow who bought it if he wanted me to clean it, but he did not want it cleaned either.
I used t have a 17 Remington that if you did not clean the barrel of metal fouling, a 30 to 45 minute job, after 20 shots, velocity dropped 200 fps and accuracy went out the door completely.
That is why I love air rifles.
Roachcreek
Another thing you should be considering, everytime you change pellet type, you will need to put approximate 20 pellet or more through the barrel to build some lead inside the barrel before test your group again.
You don’t need to clean the barrel that often and if you need to clean it for any reason, make sure to wipe/clean it with several clean patch through the barrel to make sure it clean, clean….
Yeah I thought you said you where shooting Kodiaks. They have been documented to have flyers.
Stick,
When the barrel arrived it had one bushing that was loose to begin with, and I have taken it out and put it back in at least a 1/2 dozen times in the last three days, and of course checked each time.
So yeah everything is tight.
I shot another two groups at 25 yards standing leaning against the car, very sturdy postion, but had flyers in each group that went to 3/4 inch center to center, from what people are telling me here it sounds like this is par for the course for Kodiaks, so I will wait for JSB Kings to get serious.
At that same range, my little SS will stack 18 grain Exacts, but will put Hobbies and the lighter 13.4 grain Jumbo’s into 1.5 inches, so these guns are almost all picky, it just needs the right pellet. It is just when you live where I do, pellets are at best a week out and hefty freight charges.
Roachcreeek
RC,
Have you checked to see if the barrel bussings are tight on the barrel and tight in the frame?
Stick
Kodiaks are good, but they are ‘famous’ for the odd flyer out of 5. I think most would tell that story also.
Jsb Kings are the thing to feed it. You can blow them out of an old bit of copper pipe and still get good groups!
BUT- If it stacks, then shifts poi and stacks a couple there, that ain’t no flyer. Is the speed changing when poi shifts? Some barrel seem to shift poi readily when speed changes, I’ve had a barrel like that. Drove me nuts.
I think I have two things going on at once here, first Kodiaks may not be the pellet for that barrel, happens with almost all rifles, they have one they prefer.
Second, It needs more lead down the tube, and I am working on that.
JSB’s always worked in my 22’s I guess I will try them next.
And it is only day two. 😆
Thanks guys,
Roachcreek
Hey Roach, try some JSB 25.4 grain. My Edgun didn’t like the Kodiaks or the Benjy .25.
The JSBs have a more rounded head and the skirt is thinner. I think that the thinner skirt helps it expand into the bore better than the Kodiaks.
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I got the JSB kings a couple days ago, but the weather has beeen shit, so they sat.
I shot them yesterday evening, and at first they were like the Kodiaks, I removed the LDC then I started getting better groups and the POI moved drasticly.
I moved into the garage for protection from the weather and was shooting
standing and leaning against the car for a rest at 30 yards, suprisingly steady. The groups would wander after a scope adjustment, then tighten up. The last two groups were an example of this phenomen.
I was 1 inch to the left and five went into .56 inch. I moved the verticle turrent 7 cliks to the right. The first shot was 1/2 ich right and 1 inch low, the next on top of it and to the left, the next on top of that shot and to the left, until the 5th shot was right on.
Those last 5 shots cut a single long hole as they moved from #1 up and to the left to#5 which was where the adjustment should have put it.
This Baraska scope has been doing this for a few weeks.
It is not even near optical or adjustment center. The scope has 7.3 turns of elevation and is at 6 turns of elevation, so it is far from center, would this cause verticle adjustments to be delayed and to move both verticle and horizontal.
I have used Leupolds most of my life and never shot this many rounds thru a cheap scope before.
Roachcreek