Today we’re looking at some targets HAM Tester Doug Rogers shot using the KalibrGun Snipe 2 with 18 Grain pellets. The range was 50 Yards.
Doug made this additional test for his own interest. He liked the Snipe 2 a lot and wanted to see how it would perform at longer than our standard HAM review distances. This took some time to accomplish as – whenever he had some time to make the test, there was either rain, wind or bitter cold: none of them being ideal for significant shooting.
Indeed – even for this test – he had to cope with a steady 6 – 8 mph wind for the first target. Not until a couple of hours later had the wind died down enough for him to try again in fairly calm conditions. It was not completely still, Doug said, but considerably better than for the first target.
Weather conditions are a major issue for HAM testing, here in Up-State New York. It’s very tough to predict when the weather will be calm enough, warm enough and not raining or snowing!
First we need to confirm that Doug shot the KalibrGun Snipe 2 in .22 caliber that we previously reviewed for HAM. It was the same Gold Award-winning gun.
Also, the same Gold Award-winning optics were used, the Sightron SIIISS 10-50 x 60 scope, mounted with Leapers UTG PRO rings. Doug used the scope set to 45x magnification. He also activated the red reticle illumination as the target was in a shaded area.
We like this scope! It’s big but very sharp and clear: a favorite for testing.
The main difference is that Doug felt the Snipe was shooting rather too hot for the 18 Grain pellets he planned to test. So he reduced the regulator set pressure to 60 Bar on the gun’s gauge. That’s a significant reduction from 150 Bar where it was when we received it (photo below).
That gave a Muzzle Velocity of around 835 FPS with the 18 Grainers. Instead of the 1,000 FPS plus that is was producing when we received it. Doug felt much happier with that…
In addition, he wanted to see if the gun liked the 14.3 Grain Benjamin Match Grade pellets. he was disappointed to see that they didn’t fare so well – at least not on this day.
Doug used his Caldwell StableTable Lite portable shooting bench for these tests. He likes the portability of this unit, but dislikes the fact that there’s always just a little unsteadiness to it. A couple of bags were used to support the gun.
So, how did Doug do?
Well, the best group of the day – if we exclude one clear flyer – was produced after the wind had died down by the 18.13 Grain JSB Jumbo Heavy pellets. The CTC group size for the remaining 9 shots was 0.46 Inch wide x 0.78 Inch high.
The best group size including all 10 shots was produced by the 18.1 Grain JTS Dead Center pellets at 0.85 Inch wide x 0.85 Inch high. Again after the wind had dropped.
Here’s the “light wind” target.
Below is the first target, shot in windier conditions. Interestingly, the groups on this target all have a CTC size that’s between 6 and 8% larger than for the same pellet in the lower wind conditions. That shows Doug was pretty consistent in his shooting!
In summary, Doug likes the Snipe even more! He’s impressed with the very solid feel of the gun when shooting, saying that it had very little recoil. That gave him a lot of confidence in its performance.
He also thinks that a concentrated effort to select “the right pellet” for it and then tune to the best FPS would definitely give tighter groups than he achieved on this day shooting the Snipe 2 with 18 Grain pellets.
He considers that this KalibrGun air rifle still has more accuracy to give!
The post Shooting The KalibrGun Snipe 2 With 18 Grain Pellets appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.