Accuracy at 50 Yards with a Stock 1377?!

Drummond · July 01, 2013, 01:58:15 PM

I went on a guys adventure trip over the weekend in Virginia with several buddies of mine. We were primitive camping, hiking and did a high ropes course. Tons of fun. But, I took the opportunity to take a long my somewhat new, but refurbished Crosman 1377 with a cheap red/green dot sight. We were camping along a big field and at first we set up some cans and bottles at about 25 yards until they got used to shooting it. Then we went to about 30 yards, and we were hitting pretty good.....then 40 yards and eventually 50. And I really could not believe tha accuracy we were getting with that pistol! At 40 yards we were hitting 4 out of 5, across several guys who don't normally shoot guns at all. Then at 50 yards we were probably 2 or 3 out of 5, but still, that is amazing to me. My .25 caliber air rifle isn't consistant or accurate enough to do that...or maybe I'm just not as good with a breakbarrel and haven't mastered the artillery hold yet.

Anyway, we had a blast seeing who could hit that can at 50 yards and once we did and found the trick of where to aim, we were pretty consistently knocking those cans down. Granted at that distance I don't think the pellets were even piercing the cans, but still. This was in .17 caliber, and there was absolutely no wind at that time and we were bench resting it.

So, my point is WOW, I am really impressed by this pistol and am so glad this is the one I got.

To make it even more head scratching, we were using cheap Daisy wadcutter pellets that I picked up from Tractor Supply for $3.50 for a tin of 500. I didn't expect accuracy out of those things beyond 10-20 yards really, and never really tried anything much beyond that. I'm curious now to do some tests with some higher priced pellets..perhaps some dome shaped ones and see if my pistol likes those as well.

Just wanted to share the store with you guys. It was fun introducing these guys to the air gun world and having a great time around a campfire, and I would not be surprised if at least a handful of them will be picking up an air gun of some type in the near future.

Curious, have any of you guys experienced long range accuracy with a 1377? What's been your longest fairly consistant range?

agninja · July 01, 2013, 03:15:08 PM

Cool story. Yea, I don't have the ability to shoot that far at home, but it doesn't surprise me given the velocity of a 1377. As long as it's not windy, the only other factor is holdover. Once you know the exact drop you just aim above the cans at the same spot. A can is a pretty big target given the penny size groups airgunners typically aim for. What is it like 3"x6"?

I'd like to know the penetration it makes on a can at 30 and 40 and 50 yards. 30 is probably only a one side penetration. And 40 is a dent. And 50 a scratch.

breakfastchef · July 01, 2013, 03:36:33 PM

Great experience, Drummond. It is always refreshing to read a real life experience that helps us understand the potential of our airguns. I rarely shoot a 1377 over 20 yards or so.

I believe you demonstrated that a 1377 pistol is capable of plinking accuracy at 40+ yards. But, you would probably agree, that the same gun would not be accurate enough for hunting or bullseye shooting, for example.

Drummond · July 01, 2013, 04:36:32 PM

Yeah, now that I know it can hit a target like a soda can at 50 yards I need to experiment using a paper target. I'm pretty sure it will be a fairly open group...probably 3-4" which is about what that soda can is. I'm guessing they'd be about 2.5 x 5" although I need to measure that.

But, as Larry said, there's no way you could hunt an animal at that range with this particular pistol without some power mods or something. The squirrel would just watch the pellet bounce off and laugh at you

Also, agninja, that is a good idea to test out the penetration of the pellet at 20,30,40,50 yards. That would be interesting to know. I'll have to try that. I can get 50 yards on my target if I shoot from my neighbor's yard. I don't think he'll mind :-) Now it's going to be the challenge of finding a 75 and 100 yard space and see if it's possible to hit from there and even knock down a soda can. I'd probably have to aim like 15' above the target and basically drop the pellet on it

I got a BSA dot sight with a laser and light yesterday which is a huge upgrade from the cheap NC Star I have been using and plan to shoot some over the holiday weekend at my father-in-law's house with that. Not sure if we can get a 50 yard distance there or not but if so I'll report :-) I'm also curious about trying other pellets. I've got some Crosman domes with a slight hole in the top...I guess it's the hollowpoints as they call it. I'll give those a try too and see if they are any better or worse.

Thanks!

agninja · July 01, 2013, 05:09:34 PM

Those are the CPHP pellets you are referring to. They are a good pellet.

At a certain point you are just kind of putting yourself on

. The 1377 is not going to be a hunting or target shooting gun past 30 yards.

Ted's Holdover on youtube has some crazy hunting shots at over 100 yards. Granted, he has some high powered fancy dancy airguns and mil dot scopes, but it's still hard to believe he can hit and kill a bird at those distances.

Cross Pistol Packer · July 01, 2013, 08:02:27 PM

Just ran 50yrd shot through Chairgun program, at 560fps 8grain pellet thats around 1377 out of box power,still 3.8ftlbs at 50yrds,hell thats enough to take your eye out

jSan22 · July 01, 2013, 08:08:24 PM

get some domed pellets and try that out.
in my experience, oddly shaped pellets start loosing accuracy past 25 yards for me. I figure I can squeeze a 1 inch group out my 1322 carbine with jsb Diablo 18 grain, but can try unless we loose all this wind.
a scope as always will help with accuracy. I like compact scopes. mines is 6x32 AO mil dot Illuminated reticule and its only 8 inches. alot easier to carry around and shoot compared to the 13 inch 1 pound 3-9x40 i bought for the gun.

agninja · July 01, 2013, 08:10:18 PM

Quote from: Cross Pistol Packer on July 01, 2013, 08:02:27 PM
Just ran 50yrd shot through Chairgun program, at 560fps 8grain pellet thats around 1377 out of box power,still 3.8ftlbs at 50yrds,hell thats enough to take your eye out

3.8 should be enough to penetrate a can I would think. Heck, that's almost enough to penetrate a squirrel!

Drummond · July 02, 2013, 01:43:34 AM

Quote from: agninja on July 01, 2013, 05:09:34 PM
At a certain point you are just kind of putting yourself on . The 1377 is not going to be a hunting or target shooting gun past 30 yards.

Perhaps, but smacking a soda can at extreme distances sure is fun

I do like paper target shooting at closer distances too.

1377x · July 02, 2013, 06:03:09 PM

JMJinNC shoots his 1377 @ 50 yards maybe further
he has some posts here
jsb dome pellets seem to be the go to's for long distance in high powered guns hn/beeman Kodiaks or jsb heavy's fill the bill

T191032 · July 02, 2013, 07:56:03 PM

"I went on a guys adventure trip over the weekend in Virginia"

Glad you had fun here in Virginia!

Never shot mine at 50 yd (don't have the marker up anymore - need to get a better marker in the ground for future reference)

sscoyote · July 03, 2013, 03:49:31 AM

Haven't even shot mine yet, but I have put a lot of study into reticles/turret applications for downrange zeroing and rangefinding and love trying for those 1st shot connections at longer ranges with rimfire and centerfire pistols. Most 2X pistol scopes have an extreme amount of adjustment in the turrets (to the tune of ~100 MOA+), and could be used to accurately reference those inaccurate longer range shots. Think you'd need a spotter and very dry sandy hill around the tgt. at +/-100...ish to reference bullet impact though. Be fun to try at least.

breakfastchef · July 03, 2013, 04:57:35 AM

If you have not already done so, download a free copy of Chairgun Pro from Hawke Optics. It is the standard ballistics program many airgunners use to plot trajectories, generate click charts, evaluate pellets, print scope caps, and oodles of other information. Methinks you will like it!

Quote from: sscoyote on July 03, 2013, 03:49:31 AM
Haven't even shot mine yet, but I have put a lot of study into reticles/turret applications for downrange zeroing and rangefinding and love trying for those 1st shot connections at longer ranges with rimfire and centerfire pistols. Most 2X pistol scopes have an extreme amount of adjustment in the turrets (to the tune of ~100 MOA+), and could be used to accurately reference those inaccurate longer range shots. Think you'd need a spotter and very dry sandy hill around the tgt. at +/-100...ish to reference bullet impact though. Be fun to try at least.

T191032 · July 09, 2013, 08:50:33 PM

Been a while since I had the 50yd marker up. Will have to make good use of it (.22 Magnum groundhog gun needs zeroing in) one day and give it a try with an air pistol.

Drummond · July 09, 2013, 08:57:35 PM

Curious, in your experience, what is typically more accurate at long distances, a .22 or a .177? I'd expect a .177 to go further since it's lighter, but also be less steady/accurate for the same reason, especially with wind. I don't have a .22 and .177 of the same gun to test with though. Has anyone here every tested that out? Say, at 50 yards?