Indian Air Rifle/Air Gun Comparison - Series 1

[joywarrior]

Hello all.

This is my first association with Indians for guns officially. Felt the need to get some advice/suggestions and throw in some, on few of the following general points, if someone's still listening to this post, since its a lil' old. So when I decided to go have some serious fun I knew I had to invest somewhat heavily . In my choices and budget somewhere between 13k to 37k . (Benjamin, Crossman, Beeman, Diana 350 magnum) . But that would mean a little more research and price budgeting and pending decisions. To continue with this hobby I decided to go for a home grown brand economical model for the interim. I just happened to purchase an SDB 150 in Lucknow a few days back for 2800/- (a discontinued model of the SDB kolkata unit, I guess the latest are 200, 300 with under lever and a probable 500, not sure about the 500 though). Was happy to buy in the price range of 'kolkata' since all other models seemed to be prefixed at prices of 4k and above, even when the true value is/was much lower. But then that is the story in India generally speaking other than kolkata and probably delhi.

Of all the guns I saw, in the 20-25 odd shops that are present here, found none that kind of impressed me, as is the case with all those who have had a brush with any imported ones(My personal experience with a neighbour's Remington). So I picked what looked to be the heaviest meanest looking steel n wood combo, near real rifle like feel, with all the quasi pride generating feelings . . and shot my own foot there off. . Though this did not happen in the beginning, it started troubling only after the first 200 shots.

I am now having trouble with the poor zeroing capability of the gun. For some reason, ranging from either poor quality make to ill-way'd long time storage in the shop n miss handling, poor rear sight, bent barrel, or may be cheap quality pellets, the problem seems to manifest itself by hitting 6 inches to the left of the bulls eye at 20 meter distance (65ft approx), when aimed at bulls eye, every time. And it is very frustrating to move the aim 6 inches right in the hope that some of the 30 / 50 shots I hit at a time, hit bulls eye. So have decided to cut out the rear sight and order for a custom built, hopefully cheap, rear sight which allows me to shift the sight a little more to the left than the current sight, so that when shots are fired at the bulls eye they start bearing down on the bulls eye.I have shot around 300 pellets by now and the surprising thing is the grouping is Ok within 2-3 inches from that distance. Also I am getting my barrel checked at the armourer shop of the forces. hope that doesn't turn out to be bent. Un Lucky me would mean I lose 2800/- Rs. . I don't think all SDB rifles are this way, I am guessing I just had a run of bad luck with a bad piece. Love the models of SDB, look and feel, wood stock, trigger( felt like pulling a SLR trigger), though specially SDB 200 will definitely buy that for my collection, if I can lay my hands on one here in Lucknow. Or guess will buy when I get it from Kolkata itself

As far as buying a National 35 (600 fps .177) or Precishole(800 fps .177) is concerned, wont do that kind of investment yet. Got to save for the big gun in the near future hopefully plus the Indian guns fps is way below my standard requirements so...

Guns checked and fired Daws models, GI models, ESA Models, National, Commando, Precishole .22 orion & DTE (10-20K /- ) Checked not fired. Wanted to check canon(kolkata make) which seems pretty popular but couldn't find it.

Will get back to my story with you guys who ever's listening ........

Cheers and -----

-----------Happy Plinking !

Joywarrior signing off.
joywarrior

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[joywarrior]

Hi all - just experimented with the home made chrono method to check for the unknown velocity in FPS measurement as suggested by Mr. Harshvardhan and a few others, in this forum. Since I could not lay hands on the excel sheet of Mr harshavardhan, I attempted to calculate the 6 shots via manually. I do not know if my calculations or the methodology is correct. I tried to use common sense which by the way I have in scarcity and calculated the fps for each of the 6 shots. I did this by allowing audacity to Check for sound using 'sound finder' and setting the distance between two sound occurrence to .05 sec. I got 384.9 fps on my SDB 150 Classic .22 Air Rifle using a Local Pellet (Lighter in weight - Targetshot), while the reading was 306 fps using 'Mastershot' heavier pellets.I dont know if such differences are normal with changes in the quality of pellets. Hope my readings were right.

[bennedose]

I have been looking a a few Indian made air rifles 0.22 only. Reviews on this site were useful in giving me rand names, bu some shops have unlisted names.

I had narrowed my choice down to ether IHP or Precihole 0.22. Most reviews say that the Precihole rifle is accurate. Does anyone have any idea about IHP rifles? A powerful rifle that is inaccurate is useless. I am looking for something that is consistent at 20 to 30 meters.

Alternatively if Precihole users can confirm that the rifle shoots true and accurate I will just go ahead and invest in one.

[YoYo]

simple.
Want for a proven, quality product having less performance/accuracy = IHP
Want a performance/accurate product which is not yet fully proven on quality/durability = precihole sports

[pratik_mahale]

Want a performance/accurate product which is not yet fully proven on quality/durability = precihole sports

Want for a proven, quality product having less performance/accuracy = IHP

How a proven quality product be a less performance/accuracy

[pratik_mahale]

Do you wants to say IHP is a proven bad quality product

.177 IHP barrel is as good as precihole

When I made some modification in my IHP 35 .177 the power is also as same as precihole

http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19876

Only the major & very important difference between IHP & precihole is the two stage trigger of precihole

[joywarrior]

simple.
Want for a proven, quality product having less performance/accuracy = IHP
Want a performance/accurate product which is not yet fully proven on quality/durability = precihole sports

I too Endorse this view...perfectly articulated !

[YoYo]

when i say "less performance/accuracy" in my last post, it is that of compared to Precihole sports products.

Precihole produces more performance/accuracy than IHP. This point is proven and is universally accepted.

But the point now is that, Precihole sports should prove itself to the market.

I have bought an Precihole sports Pegasus .177 CAL air rifle.

Review upcoming 3 to 5 days.

[joywarrior]

The IHP 35 .177 is slower in velocity unless customised since it goes around 600 fps which is basically around 6-7 feet pounds pressure - fpe(generalised).It is also advertised as a gun on most informational sites official and otherwise to have an effective range of 35mtrs, which makes it good for 10 mtr competitions only. The Precihole Pegasus .177 on the other hand appears to be the only 'Indian Air Rifle' with a range for 50 mtr competition because of the higher velocity of 800 fps and 12 ft-pound pressure - fpe (generalised) which seems adequate for the same. Whether one would use it or use higher rated and preferred Imported guns for the 50 mtr rounds is another question.The decision for buying one amongst the two is a burden to be shared by the probable owner, as of now. However it seems a tad bit tilting in favour of the IHP, 'economically' speaking since the IHP 35 costs somewhere near n lil' over the halfway mark 5k-5.5k of the Precihole Pegasus 9.8k (market print price 2012-2013). Even if affordability is not an issue Unless the Precihole creates a greater buzz in the market for being markedly way ahead than the IHP 35 .177 it would seem prudent to go for the time tested and dependable IHP 35 .177 as per my personal and also some other people's general opinions. But then that would be me.

Thank you for reading
joywarrior.

[joywarrior]

Hello All, It just doesn't seem possible for me to experiment 'tuning' with my new air guns as of now. So the only thing right now that I am interested in is changing my spring for a better one. My problem is I do not know how to identify which spring Indian /imported would be a match for my air rifle. Refining the question a step further - how to identify the model/ make / specs of a 'spring' for an unknown Indian model of an Air Rifle. ( By now every one should know I am talking about the SDB 150 that I have), but that's not the point. The interesting element would be to know how to identify the spring and get something which would be a fit for the gun.

Hope some one replies.

Thanking you
Joywarrior

[joywarrior]

Hi, Well this is an interim report that I am sharing with people who directly or indirectly helped me get out the lop sided idiosyncratic notion that I saw my self becoming attuned to. This is in regards to the problems I was having setting up my zeroing and grouping capabilities of my finger busting .22 Air Rifle (SDB 150) . I have checked all that was told to me by my forum peer heads and others regarding checking of the screws on the barrel, the bolt, loose sighting issues, positioning, firing techniques, cleansing and so on and so forth. I am happy to inform that the AR has come back to its true character and at which it was always good at i.e being bullishly in-accurate self serving moody son of a gun .

However on a serious note the groupings have markedly improved. 10m is now between 1.2 inches of 4/5 rounds best. I know I have to do some of the improvements in the technique of shooting, the first and foremost requirement for a shooter . The dieseling caused by excess few drops of anti rust oil and grease is now wearing off after 50 rounds. Hope fully by tomorrow or day after I would have been able to have detected the best shots type and brand for my air rifle.

Till then happy Plinking
joywarrior

[joywarrior]

hello Guys, just tested my SDB 150 .22 Air Rifle /Air Gun and found the shockingly disturbing trigger pull weight of 9.5 - 11.5kg. After the first few shots the AR steadied at 11.5. .....Oh I am just tired merely looking at my Digital hook Scale staring with those big number with me.

Happy Plinking / Targeting to all AR owners of .22 Indian make rifles who don't have to be stupefied at the crazy !

joy warrior

[fantumfan2003]

With an exception or two, all Indian made air rifles are of very low quality, hence the low price.

Most air rifle shooters look for accuracy and build quality in the air rifles they intend to buy.

Case in point, The Precihole SX100 series, fulfills both the above requirement, don't let its "new kid on the block" status bother you.

It is obvious that quality does not come cheap so it will be worthwhile on your part to save money and go for a quality air rifle.
BTW none of the brands you mention can be termed as quality products. They are at best good, entry level products.

A good quality air rifle will be expensive but it will be last you for ever.

M.

[bennedose]

What I write here may sound like sacrilege to many enthusiasts, but I have done what might be "unthinkable" in India (where I live) although I would not have given it a second thought `if I had been living abroad. More than 20 years ago I bought a Weihrauch HW 35 (0.22) in the UK. It was the love of my life and I carted it around everywhere and brought it with me along with transfer of residence to India paying 100% duty.

In those days I knew nothing about competitive shooting. My love was plinking and associated things. Therefore I knew nothing about "grouping" and the art of actually aiming consistently over a fixed distance. The HW 35 was a precision instrument like a microscope or a jewellers balance. It could knock the head off a matchstick consistently. More fun was going through both sides of a tin can. I recall hitting (in a garbage dump) a half empty high pressure spray paint can with blue paint. The can was punctured in one shot from about 20 meters and the can spun and whizzed about like a crazy diwali rocket spraying blue paint everywhere as the pressurized contents released themselves.

Over the decades the Weihrauch actually became old and I started getting bored. Its muzzle velocity was down to 200 fps or so and it needed major servicing. Although it was a fine work of art as a rifle, it needed care. But it was more of a hunter's rifle with an extra long (22 inch) barrel. This made carrying it around and even storage inconvenient. It's length and weight took a little getting used to and I simply fell out of love.

I live in a house where I have some antique items from my grandfather's days and I simply did not want to store a rifle as an antique which most people cannot appreciate. I also did not want to hand it to a random gunsmith for fiddling with it and making it better.Nor did I want to sell it at an inflated price. Eventually I gave it to someone who can care for it.

Air rifles do not really last forever. If you can care for them yourself or you have someone who can do that for you, they will last for many decades. But I like turnover and I like checking out new things. India has changed and I foresee a lot of exciting stuff coming out of India - so I would not worry too much about one's "current" rifle. Make the best use of i. Enjoy it. And when the time comes. get another one and care for it.

Just my thoughts.

[joywarrior]

With an exception or two, all Indian made air rifles are of very low quality, hence the low price.

Most air rifle shooters look for accuracy and build quality in the air rifles they intend to buy.

Case in point, The Precihole SX100 series, fulfills both the above requirement, don't let its "new kid on the block" status bother you.

It is obvious that quality does not come cheap so it will be worthwhile on your part to save money and go for a quality air rifle.
BTW none of the brands you mention can be termed as quality products. They are at best good, entry level products.

A good quality air rifle will be expensive but it will be last you for ever.

M.

Couldn't have said it better.