Bill, it was entirely my fault. I 'm not familiar with how the gun shoots at longer distances. I had not tried shooting at paper at anything but 20yds. I can shoot same hole shots at 20yds 3 or 4 out of 5 pellets every time with 0.25" CTC. I had not researched the pellet drop, holdover or anything, but I prefer to do my own testing at those distances and judge by myself. I 'm use to the 350, what can I say?
Another mistake I made was using Beeman FTS 14.5gr. I grabbed the wrong magazine! The gun was warm. I always keep it near the radiator so it's usually at a constant ~72deg. I meant to grab the "hunting" clip that has loaded with all CP 14.3's in it. But even with those, I think the POI would have been too low, not chest center, and ended up wounding the crow, so I 'm glad I didn't in a way.
The 850 .22 redeemed itself by taking its first victim 1/2hr later. A poor little squirrel, #17, paid for the crow's inability to get closer to my position
God I hope I haven't wiped them out for real now
Distance was only 22yds and the CP went right through in the ear where the crosshairs of the Tasco Golden Antler were positioned. To my amazement the CP went through the other side. I did not expect that with only ~603fps avg. MV (11.6fpe) but we all know the CP's penetration characteristics and good Energy retention. My guess is it didn't hit too much bone having gone through the ear on entry, but exit seems to have hit bone. I have him in the refrigerator way in the back in a large ziplock bag hiding him from my wife, until my neighbor gets home from work where he will cook him and I 'll have a taste. The last one tasted pretty good the way he made it but a little too greasy for me. I 'll ask him to make a little stew this time or something similar
or I 'll just give it to him cause it can hardly satisfy one person. It's more like an appetiser for 2. We are both "big guys". I 'm 6'2 210lbs and he must be 230-240. We 'll be sharing a ~1.5 pound squirrel minus the bones, head, insides, feet & tail.. not a lot left for 2 large men
Good thing his wife doesn't eat squirrel. She should hang out with my wife..
Oh well, had I gotten the crow I would have left the squirrel alone but I wanted to see how the 850 performed on fur & bone and I must say I 'm pretty happy with it but I think I 'll be using it for critters within 30yds only until I get the spring hammer upgrade. The 350 will handle any and all duties beyond 30yds.
I decided a while ago Bill to go with the B&A AS to PB adapter but with a 9oz CO2 rechargeable tank from Lowe's. That's not the same as the 13cu.in. HPA tank is it? HPA is "high pressure air right? How do I get that refilled? I don't own an aircompressor. Can I use an electric tire compressor that I use at the car races?
I like the idea of recharging a bigger CO2 cylinder for a couple of bucks. I have to do more research and read up on it more.. I think anything else besides that 9oz CO2 cylinder I 've seen in pics of other 850's, is just too big to put on the gun. That will give me very close to 3X the amount of shots and consistent power for many hundreds of pellets. Do you have the 850 as well Bill? I 'll be doing the hammer spring mod as soon as hunting season is over, hehehe. Can't part with my guns now with less than 3 weeks left to the season..!
Diana 350 Mag .22
Hammerli 850 .22
Various Crosman CO2 & Pump
