What is the average power I can expect from these models using the most accurate pellet? What is usually the best pellet? Are common cheap pellets I can find at the local gander mountain like RWS, gamo, and crosman any good if I can't find a more expensive and rare pellet that the gun likes?
you cannot go wrong with the model 48 in either cal. .177 or .22 but be warned it's a heavy springer but very dependable air gun
mine has a bipod, Dampa mount (Sports Match), muzzel brake (Vortec) and a Barska scope in .22 cal. all OEM interior and it shoots 810-820 fps, plan to tune it with some experimental components (top hat and rear guide) which I have designed
warren
and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"
Ok, I have 48/52's in every caliber .177, .20, .22, and .25 now where to begin... well first 48/52's are the same gun the ONLY difference is the stocks. I do not have a chrony so I can't recite pages of numbers but I can tell you that they are powerful in all calibers. Pellet choice can be largly personal preference, many people love to hype the crosman premiers and JSB's and other expensive pellets, but having tried them all I can say often times it will be the cheap wal-mart daisy or crosman pellets that work best. You just have to shoot till you find one that works for you. I will note however that my 52 in .22 loves RWS Superpoints and my 48 and 52 in .25 love Beeman Match wadcutters and the same goes for my 48 in .20
Ok moving on to groups at 50 yards... brings me to a question for you, how good of a shot are you? LOL the better you are the smaller shall be your groups. Basically the gun can put every pellet through the same hole if you can.
Other things to note 48/52's are heavy so think about mounting a sling if you intend to carry it anywhere, Bipods are also a consideration.
I have found that a nice small light scope works best I have several scoped with 2-7 x 32 AO scopes and they work like a dream.
I hope this information is of use to you and influences you to buy a great gun and come back and tell us some of your shooting experiences.