New Pellet gun blues

[fresnohunter]

I haven't really shot a pellet gun since I was a kid. Now with the lead ban (except for air guns) i decided i would try a pellet gun for squirrels etc.

I bought a new Benjamin Nitro Trail .25 cal. Packaged with a scope.

When I did take it out shooting it left something to be desired. 20 yards and the groups were pie plate size. I checked the screws on the rifle and scope, everything secure. It just shot like crap.

I researched and seems like these guns need to be broke in. One shop I called and asked him about, his response, " shoot a 1000 rounds and then call me if you still have problems"

Is this normal? 1000 rounds till it shoots better

[ojisan]

Try some Crossman Premier pellets, if those don't help experiment with other brands.
I have had good luck with these in my Benjamin NP in .177 and .22.

I have a bunch of Gamo pellets here that shoot shotgun size groups in several air guns I have.
I don't even bother to try them anymore.

[roush2win]

I had that rifle. The Crossman Premier Pellet from Walmart worked best for me. My best at 20 Yards was dime size group all the pellet holes were touching, but that was rare most were quarter size. Good luck with scopes, the hard recoil eats scopes. The UTG Swat from Amazon held up best for me, also lok-tite the scope mount screws and double sided tape on the scope rings. Have fun.

[BigStiCK]

Yup, what they said. Certain guns like certain pellets & hate others. Try many brands & weights, see what works best. Pie plate at 20 yards is crap.

[ChaoSS]

I haven't really shot a pellet gun since I was a kid. Now with the lead ban (except for air guns) i decided i would try a pellet gun for squirrels etc.

I bought a new Benjamin Nitro Trail .25 cal. Packaged with a scope.

When I did take it out shooting it left something to be desired. 20 yards and the groups were pie plate size. I checked the screws on the rifle and scope, everything secure. It just shot like crap.

I researched and seems like these guns need to be broke in. One shop I called and asked him about, his response, " shoot a 1000 rounds and then call me if you still have problems"

Is this normal? 1000 rounds till it shoots better

Try other pellets as suggested, but also make sure you're shooting a spring gun the way a spring gun needs to be shot. It's not a firearm and it's not a pcp, so you could be adding to your own problems.

[therealnickb]

Yep. I have a decent RWS. I’ve tried a dozen different pellets. Past 20 or 30 yards it literally liked just one of them. IIRC is was the super point.

[fresnohunter]

Try other pellets as suggested, but also make sure you're shooting a spring gun the way a spring gun needs to be shot. It's not a firearm and it's not a pcp, so you could be adding to your own problems.

I tried shooting it off a table with a bag after first just shooting it freehand. Didn't seem to make a difference. I just spent a few minutes running clean patches through it, initially came out dirty then came out clean. Fired about 50 rounds then ran patches through it again. I will try to see if it shoots any better this weekend

[k1dude]

You own a piston gun, not a spring gun. A piston gun isn't nearly as finicky about hold as a springer.

I usually have to run about 500 pellets through a gun before it begins to settle down. Some get lucky and it's good out of the box. Others get unlucky and it takes 1,000 rounds to settle down.

Make sure you check the mount. I've found many mounts that come from China assembled incorrectly. If you have an incorrect one, disassemble it and re-assemble it properly. Also, the cheap scopes that come with the gun are usually horrible. A large percentage can't hold zero out of the box.

I wouldn't worry about the gun until you have several hundred rounds through it using cheap pellets. After that, get a better scope/mount and start to experiment with different pellet brands and weights. Many have good luck with JSB and H&N pellets.

Good luck.

[LoadedM333]

I just bought Benjamin Trail NP XL .22; I cleaned, tightened and locked down with blue loctite prior to firing.
I was using Crossman premier 14.3 Gr. Pellet, I guess I got lucky; the first shot was right on the edge of a bullseye of my target at 25m. Took less than 20 pellets to zero using crappy scope and rings that came with it. I will change these out soon.
Manual states breaking it in at least 100 pellets minimum.

Took out a few ground squirrels from my backyard, the wife is pretty happy, those pests were destroying her garden.


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[ojisan]

Get one of the top two one piece mounts at the link below.
They work great, no more loose scope / rings.
They have a recoil stop too.
Great value.

https://www.pyramydair.com/a/Accessories/Mounts_bases_rings_levels_and_scope_stops/1_piece_mounts/52

[k1dude]

Get one of the top two one piece mounts at the link below.
They work great, no more loose scope / rings.
They have a recoil stop too.
Great value.
https://www.pyramydair.com/a/Accesso...iece_mounts/52

Those are the mounts that sometimes come improperly assembled with gun/scope combos. Often the clamping bar will be inverted and you can't tighten it to the gun properly. You think you have it tight until it works loose after a few shots. After tightening again, it works loose again after a few shots. Rinse and repeat until you figure out something is way off because even with lock tite it still comes loose.

So you take it apart only to see it was assembled upside down at the factory. I can't tell you how many times I've told people to check for this - then they tell me I was right.

[subscriber]

Try shooting it with open sights at 10 yards, offhand. Hold as just tightly enough so it does not fall out of your hands.

If you can shoot 1 or 2" groups at that distance, put the scope back and try again. If it shoots worse, then the scope is either no good, or it has a 50 yard fixed parallax. Then, you can consider an adjustable parallax scope or shooting it open sighs.

These can sometimes be found for about $60. They are good value, and stand up to springer double jolt recoil: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UGIMNQ/

Try different pellets and see if that makes a difference. If not, you should have checked the barrel hinge for excess play by now...

[Kay Burton]

As for me, this is strange. If you buy something, it should work normally right away, and not after shamanic dances and other manipulations.

[ChaoSS]

As for me, this is strange. If you buy something, it should work normally right away, and not after shamanic dances and other manipulations.

Some items simply need to be broken in before being used as intended.

[buster1960]

For a novice pellet shooter with limited funds, what rifle is a good one to get? I don't have much experience with air but I'd like to add one to my game plan. I don't want to waist money either. I would like to keep it under $350. Any suggestions?