FWB 300S sporter .177
Over the fifty plus years that I have been hunting, and shooting, both powder burners and airguns, there have been some rifles that have stood well above their peers in the accuracy department. This FWB 300S is one of them. I call it my 300S sporter. It doesn't have the barrel sleeve, so that helps to keep the weight down, and the stock is some kind of hardwood that has been stained a dark brown. I bought the rifle new, from Beeman, back in the early seventies, but there are no Beeman markings on the gun anywhere. Interesting.
Accuracy wise, the gun is exceptional. I use it to take ground squirrels, with head shots, out to 45 yards. This rifle will shoot either the 7.9 grain JSB Exact Express, or the 8.4 grain JSB Exact pellets really well, with a slight edge going to the 8.4 grain Exact . The rifle generates just under 7 fpe at the muzzle.
With the race for more and more power in todays airguns, some folks miss out on just how effective, and efficient a gun like the FWB 300S can be, as a tool for controlling certain types of small vermin, such as ground squirrels.
I've killed literally thousands, and thousands, of California Ground Squirrels with it over the years. It's a keeper for sure.
FWB 300S Tyrolean .177
Another exceptional shooter is my FWB 300S Tyrolean. It's basically the same gun as my 300S sporter, just sitting in a Tyrolean style walnut stock. This rifle has the barrel weight/sleeve on it, and that adds some weight. Especially out front. Again, this rifle is death on ground squirrels out to 45 yards.
The pellet of choice here is the 8.4 grain JSB Exact. For some reason, the JSB Exact Express do not do well in this rifle. It's a bit on the heavy side, but I really enjoy getting her out for a ground squirrel, or chipmunk hunt a couple of times a year.
FX/RWS/Rapier .22
The folks at FX Airguns in Sweden, make some exceptional air rifles. Somewhere along the way, they private labeled their Timber Wolf model as the Rapier, for RWS to market under their brand name. The one that I own is one of the most accurate airguns in my collection. In good conditions, it will literally put 18 grain JSB's through the same hole at 50 yards. The sporter type turkish walnut stock, just adds to the classiness of this very accurate rifle.
Instead of a magazine, this rifle has a two shot shuttle. It works great, and I use it to hunt both ground squirrels in California, as well as tree squirrels and prairie dogs here in Arizona.
FX/RWS/Rapier .22
FX 2000 .22, in factory walnut stock.
My FX 2000 was the first FX built gun that I purchased. I acquired it used, and the fellow I got it from told me it was exceptionally accurate, and he wasn't wrong. Like the RWS Rapier, this rifle will also stack 18 grain JSB's at 50 yards.
I used this rifle while filming the first half of my DVD, "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel." The performance with both 15.9 grain JSB's, and 14.5 grain DYNAMIC tin pellets, has been exceptional. This is the rifle that truly got me hooked on PCP's, pretty much for ever.
No recoil, superb accuracy, that easily surpasses many of my high dollar .22 rimfires, with power to cleanly take ground squirrels, and prairie dogs out to 100+ yards. How can you not get hooked on that kind of performance.
FX 2000 .22, in custom Blackwidow laminate stock.
I have a Benjamin Marauder in .22, that I have been very, very, happy with, so when I heard that Crosman was going to bring the Marauder out in .25, I knew that I would have to add one to the collection, and I haven't been disappointed.
My .22 Marauder is very accurate. It hangs right with my AA 410 ERBSL, FX Whisper, and Logun MK II in that department.
My .25 Marauder however, is in that group I mentioned in the title of this story. She is definitely at the top of the accuracy pyramid.
While pellet testing, I was blown away by the accuracy of this particular rifle. The first year I hunted with her, I had her shooting the Beeman 31 grain Kodiaks. I remember, that on my final sight-in target, she stacked five Kodiaks into a group at 65 yards, that I could easily cover with a dime. I then went on to kill prairie dogs with her, out past 100 yards. Incredible accuracy and power, from a PCP that didn't cost a grand or two. This rifle is a keeper, and will remain in my collection for many years to come.
Marauder .25, in custom laminate stock.
Last, but not least, in my collection of super accurate rifles, is the latest addition, my .22 caliber AA 510 TC. I just added this rifle this past Spring.
The design of this gun kind of intrigued me. Instead of the usual big honkin bottle screwed into the end of the receiver, to increase shot count, the folks at AA went with twin cylinders mounted side by side. Much like with a side by side shotgun.
Having hunted quail with side by side 20's, and 12's, for many decades, I was curious about how this rifle would feel in my hands. I love it. It is a little bit muzzle heavy, and I like that in a long range varmint rifle. I shoot from a Stoney Point telescoping bipod, and this rig sits very nicely on the bipod's yoke, and really helps when going for those long range shots in the wind.
If you've followed any of my prairie dog hunt stories with this rifle, and watched any of the videos, then you've seen me take a bunch of dogs all of the way out to just shy of 100 yards with it.
The accuracy is definitely at the top of the accuracy pyramid in my collection. Her pellet of choice is the 18 grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy.
AA 510 TC .22
A lot of various guns have passed through my hands over the past five plus decades, but with very few exceptions, the ones that were exceptional, accuracy wise, are still in my collection. The vast majority of guns are accurate, but once in awhile, one comes along that is exceptionally so, and those are the ones that I really cherish, and they find a permanent home in my collection.
At the present time, these six rifles are the cream of the crop among the guns in my airsenal, and none of them are going anywhere, well............... except varmint and small game hunting.
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