New Scope Got Me Thinking

[webster 90]

just back from a weeks holiday in orkney and while over their the missis bought me a new scope as a surprise , now when the missis usualy buys me something for my shooting i cringe as sometimes its cash down the drain im glad to say this time it looks like she was paying attention ,

 

i got handed a second hand tasco world class 3-9x40 mill dot scope with low mounts ,the optics seem to be nice and clear and after the last 2 shooting outings the mill dots work spot on with chair gun by hawke .

 

the idea i has was to put my hw77 full length back in its standard stock as the 40mm lens and low mounts allowed me to shoot without having to dick about with the cheek comb hight

 

hers what i found

 

standard stock

i did my standard zero at 24 yards and found for me the scope comb hight was almost spot on the gun handled very well but the reach to the trigger is quite a stretch but my 77 has a set back trigger so its not too bad ,the weight of the gun was about spot on as far as distribution goes for me as i like my guns with the weight quite far forward and not being one of the noodle arms brigade the weight of the gun wasnt going to be a problem .

 

out in the field the outfit was great 2 hours out in the field shooting from standing, kneeling and prone the gun was flawless came on target with no probs at all 2 bunnys in the bag at 24 and 27 yards both standing shots and another at 15 yards prone .

 

shooting from a rest the pellet groups were as follows

25yards 5 shots under a 5p

35yards 5 shots under a 50p

40yards 5 shots under a 50p

 

i got home and swapped the stock over to my cs500 stock

 

cs 500 stock

the cs stock i have for the 77 is an older one the missis bought of ebay for me a while back but for some reason it doesnt have a thumb shelf ( yet) and i have fitted a bisley adjustable butt pad ,

first thing i noticed is the hole gun rests into the shoulder much tighter and it feels that the action is closer to the shooter the pistol grip is at a tighter vertical angle bringing the trigger much closer to the shooter and with my set back trigger its perfect the overall handling of the gun improved , one thing i had to do was raise the butt pad a fair bit to get the eye to scope position spot on but thats just fitment issues with me not the gun.

 

out in the field again no probs a few things i found when swinging the gun onto a target the gun stopped faster ie it wasnt trying to keep moving threw the target think this might be down to the action being nearer to the shooter so less of a pendulum affect .when shooting from the prone position the taper on the stock to the barrel end made getting the gun into a shooting position a bit of a pain as i had to raise the for end higher to get the scope on target which i found to be tiring as my wrist was taking alot if the weight where as the standard stock just needed a hand under it to support the action .2 bunnys this shoot one crouching at 35yards the other standing at 22yards

 

shooting from a rest the pellets grouped

25yards 5 under a 5p

35yards 5 under a 20p

40yards 4 under a 2p 1 touching the outer edge of the coin

 

i personally prefer the look of the gun in the standard stock but feel alot more confident taking longer shots in the cs500 stock so for now its staying the the cs as the handling and the feel of the stock work better for my frame

 

didnt really do this comparison for others but for my own conclutions it just helps me get it write in my head if its written down

and reading threw it it might give someone the answer as to why so many of us change to custom stocks .

 

the cs weights 1103g

the standard weighs 1216g

 

my hw80 also wears a cs500 stock and the direrence between the standard and the cs stock is night and day

 

hers the gun in the 2 stocks sorry about the quality but my cameras not the best

 

cs500

 

standard

Edited September 15, 2013 by webster

[Elliott 436]

Looks the business in the CS stock I much prefer the 40mm objectives. The only problem you usually find is the mag range for the 40mm scopes are 3-9.

 

People bang on about the light gathering ability of 50mm lenses but high quality glass in 40mm format it better than a cheaper scope with a 50mm lens.. I only wish I could afford one!

[webster 90]

Looks the business in the CS stock I much prefer the 40mm objectives. The only problem you usually find is the mag range for the 40mm scopes are 3-9.

 

People bang on about the light gathering ability of 50mm lenses but high quality glass in 40mm format it better than a cheaper scope with a 50mm lens.. I only wish I could afford one!

bud i wish i could find a the hawke scope you have on your 77 would be going on my hw80 but i can only find them in 30-30 ret and i like the holdover points marked .

[gosling1960 191]

Great looking rifle, love it in the cs stock.

[Lewis Ste 245]

Iv just bought a bushnell 3-9x40 sportsman on eBay and can't wait to compare it to my hawkes. Should be a perfect for a little hw springer iv got in mind in a couple of months

 

Atb

[Elliott 436]

 

Looks the business in the CS stock I much prefer the 40mm objectives. The only problem you usually find is the mag range for the 40mm scopes are 3-9.

 

People bang on about the light gathering ability of 50mm lenses but high quality glass in 40mm format it better than a cheaper scope with a 50mm lens.. I only wish I could afford one!

bud i wish i could find a the hawke scope you have on your 77 would be going on my hw80 but i can only find them in 30-30 ret and i like the holdover points marked .

 

Rocking horse poo now, I'm afraid

 

Lots more to choose from though, the panorama are supposedly good

[webster 90]

kinda fallen out of favour with hawks stuff my rang finder went tits up and so have 2 scopes now . the frontier seems to be one of the better scopes but all i can find is the 30-30 rets , time will tell for the tasco , the 77 seems to have a much smoother firing cycle to the , will keep my eyes peeled .

[pianoman 3,587]

Bottom pic. Your HW77s factory stock is the one for me webster Looks lovely mate! The HW80 has a bit bigger cylinder and thus gives a bit more grunt. I agree with Elliott too, given an absolute one-or-t'other choice it would have to be a 40mm Objective lens scope. For an air rifle at least, you can't beat a really nice, compact 3-9x40. I've just picked up a 4X40mm Nikko Stirling Silver Crown for £10 and put it on my FAC HW80 .22. Absolutely fantastic! I thought, for a tenner it would either get smashed by the hefty recoil she dishes out, or absorb it well and shoot well with it. No complaints with the 7 rabbits, a couple of woodies and a squirrel I bagged over the weekend with it. It's a tiny scope that hardly makes it's weight felt on my HW80. And that's what I want now. Balance and little additional weight with a scope on board.

 

Really accurate rifle shooting is all about comfort, poise and correct scope fit when you bring your rifle up into the aim and compose the shot. That goes for whatever type of rifle shooting you like to do.

 

For me personally, I love traditional, classic sporter stocks with sweetly shallow-raked grips and slim forestocks.

 

Hence I prefer the traditional HW factory sporter stocks as supplied for the HW77, HW80 and 97K. These are functional, with low-set shallow forends and with a sweet rake of chequered grip and wrist. I find the "Custom Stock" stock are very well made and the Walnut strains they use are beautiful. But, they add a little too much weight and the grips are a tad steep, like handgun/pistol grips for my tastes. (I used to have the CS500 sporter o my HW80 but, I went back to the original after a short while for the above reasons!).

 

Elliott gave me a beauty of an early HW77 stock which now boasts a sanded-in left-hand palmswell which I've sanded out further to make it a lighter, more ambidextrous stock with an all-new oiled finish and adjustable butt pad. It's fitted to my HW97 .177 competition/HFT rifle and gives a beautifully elegant, graceful pointability to the underlever action and that is a hell of a boost to accuracy. How well it points as it comes up in the aim. The low comb and sweetly raked grip make it perfect suitable for shooting with 40 or 50mm Objective lens scopes fitted.

 

All previous Hawke issues I've had with spring rifles aside, I have a Hawke Panorama 4-12x50 EV AO IR with half mil-dot reticle and it's proving a seriously excellent scope for it. But, I also use a Hawke HD 3-9x40 AO with generic mil-dot reticle with it and that too is a superb little scope for not a lot of money. Both are not too long or so heavy that they unbalance the rifle. Makes taking a standing shot much easier to accomplish and prone shots very comfortable to control with the reticle closer to the barrel and the rifle couched nice and gently in the shoulder with no faffing about getting my 'ideal' head position into place. It all comes sweetly up into aim and on the shot. Just as any good rifle should.

 

So, the perfect scope, in terms of weight and balance imposure, plus accuracy I think, would be a quality, compact 3-9x40 with adjustable objective focusing. If you like scopes like this spec. on rifles with a high butt comb then you have to go to higher mounts to align your head properly with the eyebell lens. But, there is nothing inherently wrong with doing this.

 

Hope I haven't waffled on so long. Sorry.

Edited September 16, 2013 by pianoman

[webster 90]

pianoman is it possible for you to put a pic of your modified stock as my standard stock could do with stripping and refinishing and im a joiner im quite happy to have a go at modding the stock just would like a pic to get an idea what its meant too look like

 

cheers

Edited September 16, 2013 by webster

[pianoman 3,587]

Hi Simon.

No mate sorry. I don't have a digital camera to do it. I'm hopeless with anything like posting pics. But the stock's a beauty, just like your HW77 factory stock. It was a right handed early/Mk.I factory HW77 stock. The thrust of the right bias cheek piece caused a slight but positive outside resistance on my left hand palm (felt like it was pushing my hand away slightly). I just set to work sanding it away and eventually sanded-out a palm-swell. The stock now has a perfect and comfortable feel for left hand shooting and I would love to get another early model HW77 like it.

 

A carpenter like you will have no problems improving your HW77 factory stock. But do you really need to do this?

 

Cheers mate.

Simon

Edited September 16, 2013 by pianoman

[webster 90]

prob not but i like tinkering , think i might just spend some time honing my shooting on the standard stock and see if the groups improve