TargetTalk

i've been eying a m48 since I shot my neighbor's 54.
Mostly for fun, small game... plinking, however I've recently gotten into 10m using my buddy's Daisy Avanti, and it's lookin like I'm pretty good.

(Just for clarification--- I have shot extensively with firearms of all types, I am a good enough shot to be sure, so unless this 48's just insanely accurate, I will be able to see it's potential.)

Now... a good Avanti is about my budget... and I'd compete with one, they are accurate enough for me... but I wouldn't shoot a crow at 50 yards with them.

See my problem?

Ok so basically what I want to know is if I show up at a non-olympic scale shoot but a shoot with generally fair/good shots behind 10m guns with an RWS 48, am I going to even have a freaking chance??
And if I do have a chance, anyone know of some good peep sights for it?
Thanks much in advance!

Or is it even legal under rules?

Maybe I should rephrase the Q this way...
I need both: Small game and 10m.

Can I kill these 2 birds with the 1 rws 48 stone?

John,
Welcome to the world of serious target shooting. I hope you find a home here and enjoy the competition and comaraderie with the fine folks who inhabit this group.

You have raised a good issue, and I don't think I have seen it asked before. Here is my opinion, for what it is worth.

I have owned an RWS 52 air rifle, just like the 48 with a few decorations added. It is WAY too inaccurate to compete in this sport.

There is another problem as well. One of the rules of the event is that you must not cause a disturbance to the shooters around you. Shooting that cannon in an air rifle match will certainly cause a disturbance. The sound of the rifle going off is rude enough, but the sound of the pellet hitting the backstop would be a problem as well. Most serious competition air rifles run in the 500-600fps range. That's a big difference from the RWS 48 at 1100 fps.

So, given the fact that the accuracy is not there and the other competitors will not appreciate your choice of rifle, I think you are pretty much doomed as far as doing the dual purpose thing.

If you want to compete, do it with the Avanti. If you want to shoot crows, do it with the RWS 48. Life is short. It is a shame to spend it with only one gun. Find a way to get the money together for both sports.

Looking forward to seeing you on the podium at nationals. You'll have a much better chance of doing it with the Avanti. You have NO chance with the RWS 48.

All the best,
Marc

Hi John

Mark is quite right in his post to you. Its horses for courses and you will find (i hope not the hard or expensive way) that the RWS is really only suited for shooting small game, tin cans and possibly field target.

If you are really interested in shooting 10m as well as small 'varmints'

i suggest you scout around for a second hand match rifle designed for 10m and keep your RWS for the out door bit.

You must understand that the Olympic 10m discipline is not going to be cheap if you add on all the accessories that you will undoubtedly need if the sport 'grabs' you. 10m shooting can be quite addictive and this is why its so popular round the world.

Your best move is to go along to a local target club where 10m is shot and talk to the members

Good luck
Peepsight

Hello John,

As the others have said, I also feel that a hunting rifle is not suitable for ISSF 10m. But for your interest, in my country (Indonesia) hunting rifles are used in an event which is called Air Rifle Hunting (ARH). The current national record (not yet registered I think) is 553 an the rifle used is HW77.

All of the rules in ARH are the same as ISSF 10m air rifle, except that you must use an unmodified hunting rifle which doesn't use precompressed air as its powerplant (basically you must use a spring gun). Although the rules call for unmodified hunting rifles, usually "minor" modifications are permitted (like trigger work, shortening the spring, shortening the buttstock a little bit, etc.).

You might be wondering what hunting rifles the competitors use. In reality, all the ARH shooters use HW77s because it was found that they are the most suitable (before, they were Diana 50s). The trigger is great for a hunting rifle, the front sight width is almost perfect, and the the rifle can produce a 6mm (diameter/side to side) grouping in 10m using match pellets (at least mine can). But unfortunately it won't be able to beat a proper match gun.

As for RWS 54 an her big sisters (48 and 52), I think the front sight is too wide, the muzzle velocity is too big (but you can shorten the spring), and the trigger needs tweaking. I'm not sure about 54's accuracy, but I and some others have found that *maybe* because the (original) MV is too big, it cannot group well using 8+grs match pellet (using heavier hunting pellets, like 9-10grs, we found that the groups were tighter).


Hans
PS: I don't know about 54, but Weihrauch makes peep sight for HW77