Man I'm so excited I just ran in here and started typing to figure this out. Does anybody have a bipod on their 350 or any magnum springer for that matter? I have had mine for over a year now and after constantly hearing that a loose hold is whats best for magnums I have brainwashed myself into thinking just that. Now with the artillery(loose) hold I get good groups with mine when everything is working out...3/4" CTC @ 25 yards. At least that's what I'm happy with. Just for the heck of it I rested the end of the stock on the bench to see what it would do. Low and behold it was shooting better! I was getting some groups that were 1/2" now. Not only that but I could actually see the pellet hit what I'm aiming at now. It doesn't kick off the POA after firing. I even watched the pellet fly through the air once when I was really still. Would putting a bipod on there have the same effect as resting it on a hard surface like I was doing? If so then I need a bipod.
I usually do my target shooting. I use an old outdoor table that is heavy with a steel frame and legs, and a heavy wooden table-top. I use a chair that sits kind of low, and rest my hand on 2 pillows with the artillerty/loose hold. The bottom pillow is a regular one. The top one is a small decorative (little harder) pillow. I just let the rifle rest on my hand and I don't grip the gun's forearm hardly at all. If I want to rest my elbow on the table I 'll put a couple of bags of fertilizer on the table and the smaller pillow on top of those which I rest my hand on. I usually get 1/2" groups this way (with scope) or better with the 350 .22 at 25yds.
I have also tried shooting at the target by just letting the gun rest on the small pillow without putting my hand there at all. I have gotten 3/8" groups this way at 25yds with usually 2 out of 5 pellets hitting the same hole (center bullseye). So yes the less you touch the 350's forearm or less pressure you put on it, the better it shoots. It's definitely hold sensitive. Now that I have no scope, I usually do my target shooting at 20yds instead. I don't even touch the forearm now. Just rest it on the pillow and let it rip. I can still manage 1/2" groups on open sights but don't get same hole shots. The gun seems to shoot even more accurately when I put very little pressure on my shoulder with the butt, contrary to what I 've read. But I have only observed that when shooting from the bench. When shooting free hand standing, I make sure the butt is firmly in my shoulder.
I have never seen the pellet travel down the target with the 350 though. That's interesting. Are you sure you have not lost some power? Why would you see it now, and not before? At 25yds as soon as I pull the trigger, the pellet has gone through the paper. The report and the impact seem to occur almost at the same time. Only at 40yds I am able to hear the pellet's impact a fraction of a second later. At speeds of 270yds/sec, the pellet reaches the 25yd target in ~1/10th of a second. It probably depends on what kind of background you have behind your target. When I had a scope on the 350, the entire gun would move from the recoil so I never saw the pellet actually strike the paper or make the hole. I always looked at it through the scope a couple of secs later to see where it hit. Are you saying you can see the impact of the pellet on the paper (or plinking target) as it happens through your scope? That's one hek of a smooth 350!
Yeah it shoots much smoother now after trying this. Well I wouldn't say smoother but now I can hold the scope on target even with the hard recoil. When I said I used a shooting bench to rest it I meant I had it resting directly on the wood bench I shoot from. Nothing in between, just wood to wood. Seeing where it hits is real nice now. Just like a PCP, ha. The shot that I saw travel in the air was just a shiny blink of metal in between when I pulled the triger and seen the hole appear on the target. It was a dark piece of wood I was shooting at and maybe the sun was shining just right to make it reflect off the back of the pellet. It was getting dark out soon so I only fired about 30 shots like this before I came in to type this originally so I'm sure I can get some even tighter groups. I was never able to see it before, only after I tried setting it on the table. I always thought that it would jump all over with a solid rest like that. It did make the POI a little higher with resting it on the table but I just adjusted the scope and now it's right on. I hope this is permanent with this gun as it's much easier to set a gun down on a bipod than try to hold it artillery style every time. I always wanted to be able to shoot prone but I had to hold the gun with both hands which made it difficult unless using some pillows. I don't intend on carrying pillows with me when I hunt with this so this really works out. I'll be looking for a nice bipod now or maybe create one that will go at the far end of the stock. Basically just splitting a bipod into two pieces. The break barrel will get in the way of a regular bipod unless it's mounted pretty close to the trigger. Thats where I usually hold the stock so I better test this some more before I start drilling into the stock. I was resting the stock at the very end which is right where it breaks so hopefully it rests in the middle with similar results. If it can be rested at the middle of the gun then I'm drilling for sure.
I use this bi pod on a RWS 48 , Crosman Quest 1000X and a Chinese XS-B3-1 fully modified.Locks on and off real nice I use a peice of inner tube rubber so I don't mark the barrel.
Heres the link to buy one!
Thanks Robert, I seen the clip on to barrel ones but I was thinking of actually making it a permanent attatchment to the stock.
I know it will be difficult with the break barrel getting in the way so that's why I'm trying it out for a while on hard surfaces
before I start drilling into the stock. It will have to be some kind of custom split bipod that attatches to each side of the stock
so not to interfere with the barrel as it's being cocked. So far the gun is shooting the same whether rested on a hard or soft surface
and even with or without holding the stock under the forearm. It's funny as the gun just started to shoot well with any hold I try
and doesn't seem to care what it's rested on anymore. I just want to be extra sure.
bipods that are higher than 14"? I saw the "sitting" one that's 30" but that means sitting on your butt. Do they have bipods that you can sit in a chair and fire away? I would guess ones that are can extend to 40" or higher?
Very Welcome ,Yes it's unfortunate they get ya there !
December 10 2007, 1:59 PM
They do ship pretty quickly though . My shooting buddy picked one up last season for prairie doggin out in So Dak . . Worked well for him . When you get it, do post up your impression please.