Shooting with .22 air rifle, Tommy 65

[Sonofagun]

Hi!

Today I was target shooting with my .22 air rifle. Shot from 10mtr and 20mtr distances.

The gun: It is a Tommy 65, made in Kolkata, springer with open sights. A copy of Diana 65. It weighs about 3.750kg. No idea about fps.

The pellet: Wadcutter pellets from Master shot. My rifle likes them. The pellet is of about 15 grains (rough calculation).
I have also tried pointed and round heads, but their shots are very very inconsistent.

The environment: In open area, no wind, 33% humidity, 30degree C.

All shots were taken in standing position without using any kind of support.

Now looking at my inconsistent shot placement I would request the experts and professionals to advice how can I improve my aim with this spring rifle, also other Tommy users please advise how have you improved the accuracy of your gun.

Regards
SonOfAGun

[dr.jayakumar]

Use ordinary pellets,not wadcutters for target shooting or try gsmith pellets.
regards
dr.jk

[brihacharan]

Hi!

Today I was target shooting with my .22 air rifle. Shot from 10mtr and 20mtr distances.The gun: It is a Tommy 65, made in Kolkata, springer with open sights. A copy of Diana 65. It weighs about 3.750kg. No idea about fps.

The pellet: Wadcutter pellets from Master shot. My rifle likes them. The pellet is of about 15 grains (rough calculation).
I have also tried pointed and round heads, but their shots are very very inconsistent.

The environment: In open area, no wind, 33% humidity, 30degree C All shots were taken in standing position without using any kind of support.

Now looking at my inconsistent shot placement I would request the experts and professionals to advice how can I improve my aim with this spring rifle, also other Tommy users please advise how have you improved the accuracy of your gun.

Regards
SonOfAGun

Hi there!
> To begin with I wonder if you did adjust the rear sight according to the distances shot
> Suggest you do this and see the results.
> You should bench rest your AR and shoot 10mtrs & 20 mtrs - adjust the rear sight for windage & elevation and see the results.
> If the grouping is within 1" allowing for the steadiness of your hold even with bench rest - you will get an idea of the accuracy of the AR.
> If the results are far better than your earlier trials _ Then all you need is PRACTICE
> Good Luck - Happy Shooting
Briha

[Basu]

I had one Tommy 35 and it had pipe barrel with 5.5 mm calibre.it loved the pellets with flare of 5.6 mm.your grouping is so large which raise question about loose side screw,improper fitting of pellet,unstable rear sight and creepy trigger action.Is has highy adjustable trigger same like cannon.if all above points are perfect then you should try on bench rest.as per my opinion grouping can reduce upto 1 rupee coin.

Basu

Note-The mechanism of mod 35 and 65 are same other than some decorative changes.

[Big Daddy]

Lol....you got the box with a single shot .
A few tips.
1) Clean your barrel (g smith or master shot cleaning kits are good)
2) Make sure, as mentioned by others, that all screws are tight.
3) Would suggest you use a bench till you are comfortable with the grouping.
4) Keep trying all pellets till you find out which one your gun likes.
5) Most important......don't get frustrated

BD

[airgun_novice]

Dear sonafagun,

1. Since you are using .22 cal, would suggest you to try it on a standard Air Pistol Target.
2. To sight your AR, seated bench shooting is better option than standing hand held.
3. Presuming it's a standard break-barrel and since it's .22 cal, suggest you to go for "dome" shaped pellets for >10.m. Pointed would also work for general plinking.
4. When testing at both the distances, use standard amount of pellets - say 10. That way you will get a fair idea of grouping.

Now at 10m, there actually appears to be a good group. While at 20m the pellets appear to "fall". But even at that they are not consistent. Which means (my guess) you were getting restless and lost some amount of discipline - may be it was the sweltering heat.

1. Whenever you get such a group and then diverge - STOP. Flashback to what you were doing when you got those 4-6 pellets in a cluster. Your focus, hold, breathing, posture, feet planting style etc. etc.
2. Try to replicate those conditions again and see if you get similar results.
3. Ideally shoot in groups of 5 without changing your posture etc. and then check out the group and then go again. Even if one group shifts wrt the other after your breaks it's OK for starts or for testing purpose.
4. All said and done the AR should be fitted in a vise and shot - that way human errors and flaws are eliminated. Then remains only the tango between the AR and the pellet brand or even the batch.

Anyway, good luck. Hope you have undergone the requisite safety course and follow the instructions to the core. After all the dome-shaped and pointed pellets travel further in the trajectory than flat-heads and are potentially more dangerous. SO here's to your safe and enjoyable shooting.

[Sonofagun]

Thank you for all your posts. Yes, the side screw was a little loose. Will put up some more pics of my practice soon and hopefully accuracy will be better this time.

[Sonofagun]

The rear site was also a little loose. Did some "jugaad" to make it stay. Now the accuracy has improved and groupings are much closer.

[joywarrior]

Lol....you got the box with a single shot .
A few tips.
1) Clean your barrel (g smith or master shot cleaning kits are good)
2) Make sure, as mentioned by others, that all screws are tight.
3) Would suggest you use a bench till you are comfortable with the grouping.
4) Keep trying all pellets till you find out which one your gun likes.
5) Most important......don't get frustrated

BD

How many pellets must be fired before I can expect the gun to behave normally after the cleaning and oiling of the Air Rifle. The air rifle I have was ok enough and most faults were related to shooters errors. But suddenly a day or two ago the gun went totally mad and started shooting pellets of a 1 feet by 1 feet target box that I have. I have never seen this gun go mad like this. So I did the drill...checked the screws found one on the gun barrel loose so tightened it, cleaned the barrel with pull through method using anti rust WD solution till the cleaning cloth started coming out clean, set the sights as per centre position default, oiled the gun and yes I minded all the warnings of not putting oil in barrel or breach or cylinder..but in the morning after I still found lot of dieseling effect, smoke out of every shot...So i fired 30 shots .. the first 4 were bulls eye 20 meters, thereon the next 26 shots were crazy but within the target box and only on one side, lop sided on the left side 3-6 inches...Finally after 30 shots the pellets started missing the box completely again...so I gave up and am taking the gun to a repair shop to test what is the problem. Could not check the seals and washers since I have no knowledge of how to ....Any advice or suggestion would be welcome....did I need to fire 200 rounds before going to the repair shop..I don't know..HELP ! Any and all.

[joywarrior]

Thank you for all your posts. Yes, the side screw was a little loose. Will put up some more pics of my practice soon and hopefully accuracy will be better this time.

Could you resolve your problem. I seem to be having the same problem...not that I expect my air rifle to be dead accurate like the better quality ones like national or or others for that matter but going out of the 1.5ft by 1ft target box altogether is weird. How many pellets must be fired before I can expect the gun to behave normally after the cleaning and oiling process of the Air Rifle. The air rifle I have was ok enough given the local and poor but known quality and most faults were related to shooters errors. But suddenly a day or two ago the gun went totally mad and started shooting pellets 'off' a 1.5 feet by 1 feet target box that I have. I have never seen this gun go mad like this. So I did the drill...checked the screws found one on the gun barrel loose so tightened it, cleaned the barrel with pull through method using anti rust WD solution till the cleaning cloth started coming out clean, set the sights as per centre position default, oiled the gun and yes I minded all the warnings of not putting oil in barrel or breach or cylinder..but on the morning after, I still found lot of dieseling effect, smoke out of every shot...So I fired 30 shots .. the first 4 were bulls eye 20 meters, thereon the next 26 shots were crazy but within the target box and only on one side, lop sided on the left side 3-6 inches...Finally after 30 shots the pellets started missing the box completely again...so I gave up and am taking the gun to a repair shop to test what is the problem. Could not check the seals and washers since I have no knowledge of how to ....Any advice or suggestion would be welcome....did I need to fire 200 rounds before going to the repair shop..I don't know..

[joywarrior]

Hi all,

Well this is an interim brief 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 gun .

However on a serious note the groupings have markedly improved. 10m is now between 1.2 inches of 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