Just received the gun and I cannot get consistent groups. I am shooting at 35 yards. I can put a couple of shots within a 3/4 inch group, but then the next couple will be about a 4 inch group. Nothing consistent. Sometimes high, low. or wide. The screws were loose after about 25 to 30 rounds, I tightened and zeroed again and they are still tight. I have about 350 rounds and tried super domes and rws super points and they react the same. I had a couple of friends over that are good rifle shots and they had the same problem. I don't know what the speed is, but it seems to have no problem knocking a hole in 3/8 plywood at the 35 yards. Any suggestions? Or do you think I got a lemon and should send it back. I am new to air gunning. Thank you!
Jim, the 350 gets along with scopes like Hot grease and cold water. I doubt there is anything wrong with the scope. I have six of them and never a problem. If you do a search on this forum and elsewhere you will see hundreds of comments concerning the 350/scope issue.Unfortunately you will find more opinions of why this gun eats scopes like M&M's, then a dog has fleas.The best answer I personally have seen of the past couple of years is to just shoot with open sights or a peep scope.I think that solution will avoid a lot of frustration and a lot of money on scopes. It will also be appreciated by the scope industry, especially those that carry a good warranty such as Leapers and Hawk.
Good luck
"Forget massive power as that equates solely into massive problems. Accept a nice 11-12 ft lbs and you could have a real nice gun"!
The Master
I have not found those two particularly accurate in higher powered air rifles (Super Point works great in my 656 fps 46 .22).
You didn't say what caliber; hopefully .22. If so, try some JSB Exacts. More break in may be good. While you are working on that, perfect your hold technique (search for "artillary hold" in the Pyramid Air Blog. Please note there is a tendency to flinch in a recoiling air rifle like the 350; resist it!
Dave I 100% disagree. I have several Magnum rifles and they are not scope eaters. Tuning is what they need. A untuned 350 is the hardest rifle there is to shoot. I can tune them for more power and smooth them out at the same time. I havbe a 350 doing 27 ft lbs. As well as a 25 Patriot doing 32 ft lbs. NEVER broke a LEAPERS scope yet ! ITS TUNING !
You're giving yrself a hard time by buying a magnum while yr new to airgunning. Magnums require very good tecnique and lots of practise to shoot accurately.So I'd focus at that for starters.
Also, I'd try other pellets, Baracuda, FTT, JSB..
Does yr scope have AO? If not, might be parallax.
I really dont think the rifle is the problem. They usually arent..
A 350 at 27lbs! Impressive indeed! Just curious, what pellet are you using and what is the fps? I bet it has little recoil as well. Lepers should use that in their ads. A scope that can handle a 27lb 350. mag and still keep on trucking. Did you tune the gun yourself or did you send it out. I personally am not much on such high velocity, but their are a lot of 350 owners that would love to have your gun.
Good shooting!
Dave@vabch
"Forget massive power as that equates solely into massive problems. Accept a nice 11-12 ft lbs and you could have a real nice gun"!
The Master
The gun is .22. I have tried different holds. I am shooting it on a stack of towels. I purchased the gun from Gun Depot and sent them an e-mail. The answer I got back was that because the gun is a break barrel and the scope is not attached to the barrel it will shoot different each time. Is that right? If so then I think I wasted my money. I am only shooting at 35 yards and if only get a pattern of 4 inches it is of no use to me for squirrel shooting!
Thanks for the information so far.
The scope not on breakbarrel is BS for your current problems. There is some (debatable) accuracy potential difference fixed vs breakbarrel, but insignificant when compared to the power of the force.
You did look up that artillary hold thing and ARE holding on that towel with your palm under the gun, right?
Well I borrowed my friends rws 48 also in 22 cal and mounted the scope to it. I was able to zero it in very quickly and my last two groups were 3/4 of an inch at 35 yards. I tightened all of the screws on my gun and remounted the scope to it. It took me about 30 minuets to zero it in (or almost zero it in). My last two groups were about 4 inches each. The gun just will not shoot consistent. I have an e-mail into air gun depot and I am waiting to see what the want to do. I really need a gun to shoot much more accurate. Thanks for all you input and if you have any more suggestions please let me know.
Forget the resting, use a normal shooting position, for instance FT position. I have plenty of rifles and hád even more, but only ONE of those shot accurately and consistantly when rested..The others just dont..I shoot best when in FT position, try it.
You did clean the barrel when you bought it?
Do you see smoke from or in the barrel after a shot? Do you smell smoke? If so, you may be having an accuracy problem from dieseling. Lubes in front of the piston seal will cause this.
Also, check the crown. It's the chamfer where the end of the rifling meets the end of the barrel. I've seen a lot of crown issues with the 350.
A little blue LocTite on clean stock and trigger screws will prevent looseness.
Those are a few things I would look at.
Rob
I did clean the gun and barrel - twice. There is no smoke coming out of the barrel. I did notice that the pellets seem to go in much tighter that my friends 48. What should I look for on the chamfer? Still waiting to here from Gun Depot. I will keep you posted. I am just very frustrated. What happened to German quality?
The dieseling doesn't come from the barrel. It comes from the compression chamber. Don't put ANYTHING in the transfer port like solvents or cleaners!
If you are suffering from dieseling and the amount of lube is small, it will go away eventually. Shooting heavy pellets will create more heat and burn the lubes away faster.
Rob
I did not see any smoke from the barrel so I assumed it did not have a dieseling problem, therefore I have only cleaned the barrel with rws oil. I don't know how to clean anything else on the gun. I just added the oils recommended by the manufacture to the locations they recommended. I am going to send the gun back to Air Gun Depot for repair or exchange. I hope it doesn't take too long and shoots accurately when I get it back. My friends 48 easily shoots a 3/4 inch circle at 35 yards. I would be happy with a 1 inch pattern at 35 yards. All of the research I have done indicates this gun is capable of this. Please let me know if they are wrong. Thanks.
I just added the oils recommended by the manufacture to the locations they recommend
June 19 2009, 4:27 AM
That would do it (dieseling) on a 350. Something like 5 drops of chamber oil directly into the....chamber. Anyhow, short of taking the whole thing apart and cleaning, the solution it to shoot it at big targets for a while while the chamber oil settles in (and not get too frustrated). I can add chamber oil to my 46 without noticable dieseling as it is lower power/speed. My 460 will bark like a rimfire .22 if I do the same to it. Even without the obvious dieseling, the more powerful guns will have some dieseling if enough oil mist is there.
After I added the oil I shot about 150 rounds through it. Shouldn't that be enough?
Here is the latest from Gun Depot. The first person I worked with finally told me to return it, but when I requested the paper work I now have another person that is just sent me this e-mail:
Hello,
Did xxxx explain to you the problem with break barrel rifles? Have you tried shooting it with just the open sights?
Break-barrel rifles can be inherently inaccurate when used with a scope. This is because of the design; constantly breaking the barrel can cause droop and the barrel can get loose over time. You never replace the barrel in the exact same spot as it was before. It can be microscopic, but with minute of arc in mind it can make a difference at long ranges.
The way to see this is with using the open sights, because they are attached to the part of the barrel that moves you will have consistent accuracy with those sights. When you mount a scope, it is sighted in relevance to the position of the barrel. Should the position of that barrel stray or loosen over-time, it can cause all kinds of accuracy problems when using the scope.
I recommend a fixed-barrel spring pneumatic rather than the break barrel style. With a fixed-barrel, you cock the gun with a lever usually positioned on the side or underneath the barrel. You get the power of a spring pneumatic with the added assurance of accuracy knowing you never have to move the barrel. This will make it much easier to sight and keep a scope sighted in.
What is going on? When I read the reviews from their company, every one says how accurate it is. I am going to try to call this person.
Just because 3 people from the same company tell you the same BS does not mean its true. All that notwithstanding, I like the 460 and haven't found anything wrong with it other than it needs a stronger breech lockup spring (Barry, where is the one spring fix???).
A stock 460 will still recoil and if its your hold, you will still have flyers. Why aren't you considering a 48? (your friends gun); was his tuned? If so, maybe whatever you get should visit a tuner first thing.....
If you are going to keep the gun, try bedding the action. Mix half sawdust and half 2-part epoxy, grease ALL metal well, tape over any holes in action, place epoxy in several places in the barrel channel of your stock, grease screws and tighten them down, leave overnight. I did this to my 350 and my Patriot and it made a lot of differenc in shrinking my groups, the action now fits the stock exactly and no movement when fired, takes strain off of stock screws. Just be sure all metal is greased so expoxy doesn't stick to metal, only to wooden stock.
Did you try tightening the barrel hinge pin screw? Maybe its loose? also how is the trigger and your trigger finger? Also if the pellets fit the bore tight and you dont push them in all the way when you close the barrel the skirts will be bent, I have seen this happen. Maybe try some JSBs or some other types of pellets that will fit your bore better. Good Luck
some rifle barrels when machined get choked at the breech due to the pressure applied when the barrel is turned to fit the breech block. Put a pellet into the barrel and push it to the muzzle end, if it's loose at the muzzle then thats the problem. As mentioned check the crown with a Q tip,any fuzz left there will tel you the crown is bad. Tighten the cross screw for the pivot pin if loose. Check the lock up ball and lug for any dirt in the area, clean and relube. Shoot the rifle with the scope off and using iron sights, if the problem is still there then it's not the scope. Watch how you hold the rifle with the scope on and with the scope off, a different head position will apply more or less pressure to the stock also watch how the hands touch the rifle with and without.
you are getting good free advice from some members here on your RWS 350 problems
1st. that's why I sold my RWS 350 and bought the B28 (same as the RWS 350) but tuned by Mike and it shoot's 860 FPS with Gamo Hunters 15.3 gr. and deadly
2nd. if you buy out of the box compared from a tuned AG then you have apples to oranges and I will explain, if the RWS 350 was from Pyramyd Air it is not tuned and your warranty is from UMAREX the B28 from Mike comes tuned and has a lifetime warranty from him
3rd. the RWS AG are NOT CHOKED from the factory, Mike inspects every single one of his AG before he sells them and by inspect it meaning he tear's then down and built them againg from the ground UP
4th. accuracy and velocity problems are not the same because velocity has to do with seal's (piston and transfer port seal's) and accuracy with the barrel like choke in the barrel and bad pellet fit in the breech, they are different problems (one is metal and the other plastic parts)
JIM: off with the scope and shoot open sights @ 20 yards (zero) around 50 pellets!! 10 rounds with different hold positions maybe and see what your POI is, by the way please try different pellet brands and grains
if you have more than 3/4" problems around in accuracy, then it is YOU and not the 350 or the scope that was's giving you problems
warren
and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"
1. I have tried different pellets - still shoots the same - lousy.
2. Scope is perfect - as stated above, I mounted it on another AG and pattern is perfect.
3. I have fired some 400 rounds through the gun. That should be enough to loosen it up and see it starting see improved shooting. No difference.
4. I have tried holding the gun several different ways. Everyone seems to like the gun resting on on the palm, which is what I prefer. No matter how I hold it I cannot get a group.
Like I have mentioned I shot with my friends 48 with the scope mounted on it and I can get between 1/2 and 3/4 in at 35 yards, so my holding method must not be all bad.
5. My eyes are not good enough to shoot with the sites. Therefore I had another friend (young, good eyes, and excellent shot) and he could not get a group with it.
6. I always push the pellet in all the way and it is a tight fit.
7. All the screws have been tightened with no difference in shooting.
8. Everyone seems to mention a different problem with the gun. When I researched the gun on line 95 percent of the people only talked about how powerful and accurate it was right out of the box.
And now everyone comes back and tells me it needs to be tuned to shoot accurate. Someone is not telling the truth here.
9. I have been shooting rifles for about 50 years. I admit that I am new to AG's, but if there is such an art to be able to shoot a squirrel at 20 to 30 yards I don't think there would be a market for these guns. Like I mentioned I can shoot my friends and do better that 3/4 of an inch at 35 yards - no tune - never cleaned - only had about 500 rounds through it - shoots just fine right out of the box.
10. Like I also mentioned above the dealer (air gun depot) told me that these guns are having accuracy problems especially with the scopes. I believe them, because there is no way your going to get 5 pellets in a 3 inch circle at 35 yards. It could be this gun, but after all the comments with problems everyone has mentioned I am starting to believe that RWS has quality issues with this model.
11. I would not recommend this gun to anyone - your better off with a $30 BB gun in my opinion.
12. Still waiting for a response from Air Gun Depot on my e-mail that I sent them on 6/12.
A breakbarrel of good quality is every bit as accurate as a fixed barrel; period.
I only have bb airrifles, and they are STUNNINGLY accurate if I do my job.
Yes they can wear, than just fix/adjust it.
Inherently, there's no difference.
Iirc, the 34's, the T05's, dó have choked barrels.
I was thinking, does the 350 have similar stock fixing as the 34?
The 34 has a little rail attached (screwed) onto the action into which the stockscrews go.
Maybe this screw that tightens the rail is loose?
1. I have fired some 400 rounds through the gun. That should be enough to loosen it up and see it starting see improved shooting. No difference.
Some guns take several tins to "loosen up"
2. Like I have mentioned I shot with my friends 48 with the scope mounted on it and I can get between 1/2 and 3/4 in at 35 yards, so my holding method must not be all bad.
Different rifles can require different hold techniques.
3. And now everyone comes back and tells me it needs to be tuned to shoot accurate. Someone is not telling the truth here.
You are on a public forum getting everyones OPINION. Mine shot well right out of the box. It shoots wonderful after the tune.
4. Like I also mentioned above the dealer (air gun depot) told me that these guns are having accuracy problems especially with the scopes. I believe them, because there is no way your going to get 5 pellets in a 3 inch circle at 35 yards.
Yor dealer is full of bull. My 350 will certainly outperform these specs by a long shot.
If I were you I would take a deep breath and relax. Then I would send the rifle to a qualified tuner and let them work their magic on it. If you don't want to do that I would recommend selling it and buying a more mild mannered rifle. Good luck with your decisions.
The 48 series are remarkably easy to shoot imo. I've always shot springers, all kinda brands and I always used the FTposition, rifle over arm. And with succes. Untíll I got my 34 Panther. It just wouldn't group at 25m!!(from the arm)2" 'groups'!? Because it was new, I suspected it wásn't the rifle, because it rarely ís the rifle.
Than I started testing with holds, and tried shooting from the fist,(fist on knee) and voila, VERY tiny groups!(1cm edge-edge)And with EASE!
So it stíll cán be yr hold!
Diana's cán be very hold sensitive.
I don't know how you can be so sure. I have several guns that are essentially identical, and have had problems with one of them that did not occur with the others; yet I could not definitively eliminate the hold as a potential problem until I fixed the problem.
I had 460 problems that went away after doing a lot with it, but I still don't know what that fix was???
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