January 21, 2007Hole-in-one
Sunday afternoon I decided to spend a few minutes shooting my air rifle in my basement range. OK, calling it a range is a bit generous. It's 10 meters from my position to the target, which translates to just a bit over nine meters from the end of the barrel. But 10 meters is normal air gun target range so I don't feel too guilty. So, this was my first target. Decent shot, huh? Actually, this is FIVE shots. I was sitting, and had a rest. I had my scope cranked to 12X. Still, it's hard not be happy with a group like this, especially considering the gun I was shooting. Under the conditions listed above, the gun is a more important part of a group like this than a shooter's skill or lack thereof. The rifle in this case was a .22 caliber Beeman Kodiak, which is Beeman's renamed version of the English-made Webley Patriot. It's a high-powered spring-piston rifle that has earned lots of praise for its hunting capabilities (I bought it for hunting squirrels) but has been criticized by some for being harsh and inaccurate. It is hard to cock and it kicks so hard it has a reputation for destroying scopes (although the inexpensive BSA scope I have on mine is holding up OK). But there is no way to call a gun that can shoot this kind of group innaccurate. It is so much more accurate than my other squirrel gun, a stock Ruger 10-22, that it's not even funny. That rimfire gun can't put five shots in a 3-inch circle at 20 yards. (I've sent it back to the factory once already. Maybe Ruger just assumes everyone who buys a 10-22 is going to upgrade the stock, barrel and trigger.) This group was shot with a JSB Exact pellet. The next five shots I took were with the heavier Beeman Kodiaks, and the group was almost as good. The next shots were with Predator pellets, which have a polymer tip and are designed for hunting. That was the worst group by far. (Still all in the black.) That short session not only reaffirmed my satisfaction with this gun, which I got for a great price just over a year ago, but also got me thinking that I really need to get out for at least one more squirrel hunt before the season ends.
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About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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