I had shoulder surgery and later neck surgery and have been shooting PCPs almost exclusively for the past year or two. This spring I have been dipping my toes back into my springers. Up until now the only springers I had shot this year are a IZH60 and an R7. But today I got out my all time favorite springer, by old model, BSA Supersport Lightning. My pellet pouch was loaded with some old Crosman Pointed pellets so that is what I shot. I was shooting from a shooting bench at 35 yards. At first I was missing but after shooting at a rusted steel plate I realized that I was shooting about 1 1/2” low. So as I was sighting back in I realized that I was stacking pellet on pellet. When I was zeroed in I started shooting at my smallest spinners which are no larger than 3/8”. To my surprise I was hitting them consistently. Nothing puts a smile on my face like shooting a springer well. Then I started trying to hit some spinners back in the woods at 50 yards. I didn’t do well there with just a few hits at 50 yards on 2” spinners. I then tried to hit the small spinners again but the spell had been broken. I had to move to some slightly larger spinners. Last I tried shooting a ten shot group at 35 yards. It might have been a 1/2” group if it was not for shot 7 or 8 which opened it up to quarter size. I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t getting that pellet stacking accuracy that I started out with but that struggle is why I like springers.
David Enoch
There's an old saying in motorsports, "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow."
I'm a spring gun shooter myself, and I get a special thrill out of pushing both my own, and the gun's limits.
Nice work David, and nice shooting!
That's great, David! Good to hear that you finally felt like you could shoot your favorite springer again after so long. And while it might have been a little discouraging after shooting pellet on pellet and then having a ½" group spoiled by a wayward pellet, a quarter size group at 35yds is pretty good shootin' for a springer. Especially considering that you haven't shot that BSA for so long. So well done! ?
Thanks David
Supersports are great. I have a .22 and a .177. Also like my Challenger Carbine. Darn Maxi grip rails. Descendants of the Mercury. I still have my 1979 Mercury S. And the box too. Still looks great. Needs a buffer washer. I have to tear it down. Very few Mercury S'es around. Or Challengers.
Hey David,
Thanks for the nice post, advocating the use of springers as still being a worthwhile endeavor. Thanks also for including the details about your recent success regarding your re-emergence into the corner of the sport that many of us enjoy quite a lot!
I've remembered that pesky shoulder injury of yours, that you've mentioned numerous times. From what you wrote before, I had the idea that you'd never be able to shoot one of the spring guns again-- well, okay, except for the really light-duty ones that you mentioned. Thank goodness the PCP guns are there to take care of such situations, as well as be such great shooters in other ways.
I remembered that you also mentioned your BSA Lightning before. I'm glad to hear that its performance is encouraging you to move onward.
I'm hoping we'll be able to read more reports such as this one from you for a long time. With all the success you're having, I hope you'll be conservative about ramping up the shooting sessions. In other words, I know I'm not your mother, LOL, but if you go too far too fast, from what I've read, you're liable to have a relapse. I've heard those shoulder injuries and surgeries can be quite tricky. With a neck injury added in, I have to imagine that could be even more so.
You've always tried pretty hard to be a positive member and supporter of this forum, as well as the air-powered shooting sports themselves. It was a pleasure to read about your successful return to something that brings you, like the rest of us, so much pleasure.
My signature line is not just some old cliche of a sign-off that I think sounds good, so...
I wish you safe and happy shooting!
Enjoying 50yard springer shooting:
At 50 yards I shoot at shoot-&-see splatter targets that are 17"x12" and have an oval 3"x 2" bulls eye. My Hatsan .177 Dominator 200 carbine will fill those bulls with holes all day. If I stick a 1" black dot in the center of the bull the groups will tighten up. Satisfying.
Glad to see you're on the mend, and that you haven't lost your springer chops!
That is one sweet carbine, don't see that version too often.
SALUTE!
David I always enjoyed your postings and feedback for years. 8 love that you are doing well and as you very well know that shooting springers is a mental delight.
I feel that it's almost like that simplicity is the best therapy. It's almost like taking a buck with a long bow while stalk hunting. Not with a crossbow in a tree stand. Hope that makes sense.
I agree David. Nothing like a smooth, tame springer for a grab and go shooting session. Somehow for me, needing fill probes, air tanks, compressors takes something away from the experience. Not bad, just different. I'll always prefer a self contained MSP or springer. Maybe because that's what I started with. Keep up the good shooting!
Becasue they are harder to shoot well?
Read though a random selection of posts here (or other mixed-boards where all power plants are discussed). Doesn't matter so much what the post topic, look at the wording folks use.
When talking about a PCP,the wording is mostly about what the rifle can do,,,,,in Springer posts,it's more about what the shooter can do with that rifle.
We fall into that pattern of writing/thinking without realizing it (wouldn'tcount as much if we did realize it).
Becasue they are harder to shoot well?
Read though a random selection of posts here (or other mixed-boards where all power plants are discussed). Doesn't matter so much what the post topic, look at the wording folks use.
When talking about a PCP,the wording is mostly about what the rifle can do,,,,,in Springer posts,it's more about what the shooter can do with that rifle.
We fall into that pattern of writing/thinking without realizing it (wouldn'tcount as much if we did realize it).
Or mabe cuz for me in my situation, I can grab any rimfire or centerfire rifle I own at half the cost of a decent PCP and stack bullets on my property. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy shooting a springer or a bow for that matter. Different challenges for different folks I guess.
I agree its great ta see ya posting n shooting again David. I miss the guys and the early days of the old yellow forum!
Enjoying 50yard springer shooting:
At 50 yards I shoot at shoot-&-see splatter targets that are 17"x12" and have an oval 3"x 2" bulls eye. My Hatsan .177 Dominator 200 carbine will fill those bulls with holes all day. If I stick a 1" black dot in the center of the bull the groups will tighten up. Satisfying.
I don't know whether you realize it or not, but you're basically quoting Mel Gibson's character in the movie, The Patriot, where he said, "Aim small, miss small". As you proved yourself, it really does work.
Another sport where the same principle works, but people sell but people seldom know to use it, is in golf.
A lot of people, especially when it comes to hitting the ball onto the green, just pick 'somewhere on the green' as their target. Or, they might pick the flagstick, but, the flagstick isn't necessarily the right place to aim on a lot of shots.
If the green has a lot of slope to it, or there's a potentially-stroke-robbing hazard on one side of it, you'll want to aim elsewhere to compensate for those things. In the shooting sports, that's the equivalent of not aiming directly at the bullseye if the wind is blowing.
I'm glad you posted your own version of the, 'Aim small, miss small' principle. Now other shooters can also benefit.
By the way, did you happen to see the movie The Patriot? Your comment made me think that you might have--or, that someone else might have introduced you to the idea. If you figured it out all by yourself, my hat's off to you!
David - thanks for sharing. After reading your post, I grabbed my one owner, high mileage, forty year old .22, RWS 45 and spent a fun afternoon in the back forty. It still loves Superdomes!
But - There is something special about a walnut and blued steel, Birmingham made BSA. History, tradition, cold hammer forged barrels, sleek lines.... I believe that your first model Lightning is one of the last to wear the signature BSA teardrop trigger guard. Have a standard size Supersport coming my way and can't wait.
Thanks for the inspiration. You made my day.
I saw the "Patriot". I understood what he meant. But I rediscovered it shooting air guns. Shoot at 3" bulls, then 1" bulls, then use a random pellet hole--the groups get smaller. Gross thought, but want a good head shot aim at the eye ball.
I think it is those amazing moments when you shoot better than you think that your gun is even capable that blow my mind. That could be true with a PCP too but it would have to be at much longer distances than I have shot. I guess it is the same with most sports, like golf and bowling too.
I just don't think that I should be able to shoot a 14fpe-16fpe (I can't remember) springer weighing about 6 1/2 pounds that well. But, for about 20 minutes I did. Yesterday I shot the same targets with my USFT Hunter and it was hard to produce the same accuracy as I had achieved with the Supersport. Of course, like I said, after a short spell, my magic was gone. With the PCP it was easier to keep up what accuracy I had.
I remember one day that we had an area wide airgun fun shoot. I was shooting at about 75 to 80 yards at some steel plates sized for the Quigley Challege. I think they were about 1 1/2" x 2". Anyway, I got to hitting them with my Supersport. It was so much fun that I kept doing it for several hours.
David Enoch
David, glad to read you're healed enough to enjoy one of the best airgunning pastimes we can have.
There's something about Supersports that always made me feel like I was holding something... correct. In terms of hunters, we've all had rifles pass through our hands which were definitely up for the challenge, but somehow missed some esoteric mark. But you pick up an SS and you're set. Heck, when I went through one of those periods where I culled a good solid third or more of what I had, my Supersport stayed with me. It's still here to this day.
Randy Gunn had one. His stories were legendary. His site probably was one of the most visited of its time. In conversation, one simply referred to The Starling Page and every airgunner knew you meant Randy Gunn's page. Another highly respected airgunner now possesses that piece of history.
Even the open sites on those early SSs were nice. Although a Bushy 3-9x40 was the go-to for most of them, they could perform out to longer springer ranges with apolomb. BSA's hammer forged barrels certainly aided the mistique, even though by the time I got mine it was probably already a Gamo owned company. I hear they're still great rifles.
I just wish I had somebody or something to help me figure out why I'm not shooting well while trying to tame them springers. For example, after shooting a really bad string, I wish I could hand the springer over to an experienced springer shooter and ask, "Is it just me or can you do better using the same gun?"
Think being harder to shoot well is part of the fun.
Can read a bunch of random posts hereand see if you noitceacommon thread....we somehow differentiate PCP's and springers,even when we don't realize itfrom the way they are written about.
Fall into a pattern of "the rifle can do this...." or "the rifle can do better...."when talking about PCP's....showing that the rifle is the main limit, not so much the shooter.
With springers,it's more often about the shooter rather than the rifle. Get phrases like "what I could manage....." or" Had a good day.....".
Noah,
First thing is not to expect PCP accuracy. Accept twice the group size of a PCP as shooting well. Also, don’t expect to shoot well past 35 yards.
With those caveats, a consistent hold, rest, trigger pull, and follow though are other things that will help. I shoot from a rest and usually place the rest right in front of the trigger guard.
Good luck,
David Enoch
I would Have to Agree. Springers have always been and will continue to be my favorites.
Okb
I have two springers I really enjoy....RWS 54 and AA ProSport...both in 22 and shoot much better than I can shoot them... ?
Agree David... I'm a springer guy all the way... I like "simple" and fairly easy to maintain a springer.
I do own one PCP, a Shinsung Career II 707 carbine, that I bought years ago when they were so popular... it is a lot of fun to shoot with the lever action, but filling it with a manual hand pump is tedious... really don't want to get into all the extra equipment needed, and not sure how I would like trying to maintain them, with replacing seals, etc... getting to old for all that !
I have keep myself from the darkside for years. And never plan on getting a PCP. There's something about plinking and hunting with Springer's . Heading out into the field with one of my many break barrels only needing a tin of pellets. Knowing that you have one shot to bag your quarry. Getting to know the particulars of each rifle. How each likes to be held. Its favorite pellet. The range it has the most accuracy. Kind of like a woman. Each one different.
It doesn't matter is I'm shooting my restored Winchester 425 one of my Magnums or rifle in between I'm thrilled every time.
HAPPY SHOOTING ALL
Uhhh NO!!!
This is what I planned to say, but when I opened the post and saw it was you, I decided to capitulate. I always did like reading your posts and have you share your exploits. As far as I'm concerned, if David E says it, then it is so...
It is a nice looking little jewel...
Keep On Blastin'
Got to love them springers. Brunettes & blondes were my choice today.
