TargetTalk

My son shots the FWB P70alu, really well. In fact, he shoots it much better than the Anschutz 1907 he has. He claims it is the weight difference, yet when I went to the FWB and Anschutz website, the guns show to be about the same weight at 4.8 KG. I told him it made be the distribution of the weight. Both rifles seem to be balanced (to me). Has anyone else experienced this, or do you have an explanation? I would think he would shot them comparably.

Thanks

What do you mean when you say he shoots the air rifle better? Higher scores? More wins? Don't forget, the 10 dot on the air rifle target is comparatively larger than the 10 on the smallbore targets, so the raw scores tend to be a bit higher.

smallbore and air rifles are similar, yet very different. usually scores tend to be higher in air rifle. if your son saying he doesn't like the feel of his anschutz because it is an anschutz, then maybe you should look into other namebrand rifles (and fwb does make a sb rifle). if he doesn't like his anschutz because it's sb, then that is something he will have to work out. personally, i have anschutz for both, but there are slight differences as far as weight distrubution etc. plus you have to add in the fact that when you shoot a sb, you have more adjustments available to make. maybe that is something that he will also have to play with.

He shot 52 points higher, on a half course, with his air rifle versus his smallbore. That is a significant difference that is not a freak. Both of these matches were 3P.

that's not unusual. i can shoot in the high 580's low 590's in 3-p air, but i've been averaging 570's (high 560's on an off day) in sb. in sb, you are further away, and you have things like recoil to deal with. there really isn't anything wrong with him, he just needs to practice more. i've notice personally, that shooting more 3-p sb helps the 3-p air, but 3-p air doesn't help 3-p sb. i would suggest working more with the sb for a while.

Normally Air Rifle improves your SB scores because it forces technique. He practices his small bore regularly, but rarely ever even takes the FWB out of the case, until right before a match. That is part of why I don't understand why he shoots it as well as he does. He will normally shoot 520 to 540 with the SB on a half course, while he will shoot 570 with the air rifle. I just felt the scores should be closer. Maybe I was wrong.

A lot of factors can be different, not just balance. Have him make sure that both triggers are similar in pull, 1st stage take-up, placement at finger, etc. All measurements should be close - length of pull, hgt of cheek ... Another thing to look for is the sights - sizes of front & rear aperture, and eye relief. Make sure he has a front sight insert that gives a similar sight picture - ie the circle of white around the bullseye.

Where exactly are his scores varying greatly; any particular position?

I think your concentration should be not on your son's technique but on his position. SB rifles act differently because of recoil - there's no comparison between sb and air rifles. How much dry firing is he practicing? How many time during one practice session does he get in and out of position? is the rifle placed exactly the same after every shot?

His scores are higher all across. Not sure if one is better than the other. I plan to look at his aperatures, and length of pull. Although I have not been able to find one thing that I can lay my finger on, I have got several ideas from yall. Thanks.

You also need to realize that the air rifle target rings are larger than the A36 target rings, thus giving better scores for the same shots.

My daughters off hand air rifle scores are as good or better than her prone smallbore scores.

She's shooting Anschutz rifles in both, but the balance was completely different and her SB rifle was a couple pounds heavier. SB rifle has been sent off to a gunsmith for some modifications to make it feel more like her AR. We'll see if it helps. But, and even bigger factor probably is that she dri fires her AR several times a week. Smallbore gets shot once a week in practice.

This stuff can drive you crazy can't it?