.20 in FAC?

[freddie 0]

Will be looking at FAC air in the very near future.

 

I have already decided that I'd have .22 over .177 but I hadn't really considered .20

 

Does anyone have any experience with/comments on .20 in FAC?

 

ATB

Freddie

[pianoman 3,587]

Hi Freddie.

 

Are you going to use spring, gas ram or PCP as your preferred rifle action? If you are looking to spring and Gas Ram power, look no further than Weihrauch HW80, HW80K or HW90 gas-ram, or a Theoben Evolution (not their Eliminator. Looks lovely but, shoots like a dog!). But be mindful of your scope. It must be tough enough and recoil-proof or the recoil from such powerful rifles will likely smash a cheaper optic.

 

That said, your true answer to your query lies in available pellets and how stable a pellet is in this calibre fired from a higher powered FAC-level air rifle; and for that you need quality ammo. H&N Field Target Trophy in .20 is absolutely superb if you are using a Weihrauch air rifle.

 

I have my FAC for my HW80 .22 spring rifle and these and RWS Superfield are fabulous at 21 ft/lbs output. As accurate as a PCP if you know how to manage the greater recoil. I have also shot extensively with an FAC .20 cal. Weihrauch HW90 Gas Ram powered rifle owned by a friend; and it is absolutely beautiful at this level of performance using H&N FTTs.

 

You will find very quickly that the flight of an unstable pellet at these velocities will "Bend" sharply to left or right of target. That's if the massive shock of air up its skirt doesn't shatter it in the breech to start with! So your choice of rifle-action type, consistent power from the rifle and the right pellet is absolutely crucially important or you will end up with an unstable dog as good as useless.

 

If you are intending to use an FAC PCP you should be just as fine with a quality heavy pellet in .20cal. Bisley Magnums for example are amazingly accurate if your PCP likes them.

 

It is probably the perfect calibre for FAC level air rifle shooting but, again, the most suitable rifle for you that can take higher tuning and the available pellet choices in this calibre are the key as to whether or not this is going to work for you.

 

Do not think for a moment that there are cheap alternatives with FAC air because, believe me freddie, there are none!

 

Hope this helps.

 

Pianoman

[paulus 26]

i shoot 20 cal in fac air with a mk 1 rapid, the hardest thing is pellet to power choice, for me 27ftlbs and logun penetrators 15.6gr gives me the best all round performance. to move up to 42ftlbs then its a change over to heavyweight bisley magnums otherwise all stability is lost

[Acuspell 329]

I run my Rapid at around the 21 ft-lbs mark, for extra shot count. It will go to 27ft-lbs but halves the number of shots in the bottle! It remains accurate at the higher power - 5p groups at 50 yards.

 

Pellet choice is as stated above, either FTT or JSB Exact which although a little heavier at 13gn (FTT are 11.5) actually come out of the muzzle at almost the same velocity - 10fps down is all. I tend to run around the 910 fps mark with FTT and 900 witht he JSB pellet. I am still trying to work out which is the better. The JSB will carry energy downrange better due to it being heavier, so I might perservere with it, it is just I have a load of FTTs in stock!

 

.20 can be run up to 30ft-lbs happpily, best to stop around the 975 fps mark for greatest accuracy. You can drive the pellet faster, but stability does become an issue then, and the shot count falls away very rapidly once you go over about 24ft-lbs. I have a friend who runs his Rapid at 975 fps with Crossman Premiers (14.3gns) which is giving him just over 30ft-lbs and he can hit a tennis ball at 160 yards every time off the bipod. So the pellets are withstanding the blast quite happily. .20 is a brilliant calibre, it just has everything in harmony. Accuracy, knock-down power, trajectory, they all marry up very well.