I have not done much lately in the way of varmint patrolling, however I did take one misbegotten shot at a raider taking advantage of my generosity in one of the feeders. Black oil sunflower seed attracts all short of adventuresome types, so varmints are a foregone conclusion, however it does not mean that one must put up with the side effects of trying to attract song birds. The raider had a bad day, and while he ended up being a runner, it was not really the fault of the R1 .20 Carbine. As I said, the shot was really ill-conceived, and I forgot to hold over one mildot to account for the short distance. Still, there is a certain satisfaction knowing that a raider shall not return again to steal some seed.
Last weekend was some beautiful weather; sunny, upper 70s. The perfect weather was the stuff of spring legend, which was really a nice change from the dreary snow from the previous week. I used the break in the weather for an opportunity to give my R1s a go. I took some target practice from ~37 yards (sitting; using my knee as a rest), and while the shots are not all that remarkable, there is plenty of potential if I ever decided to get serious or use a bench rest.
From bottom left, clockwise: RWS Super Dome, Napier Power Hunter, RWS Superpoint Extra, RWS Meisterkugeln. The scan is not that great, but the RWS Superpoint Extra pellets won the day, hitting 7 shots in a quarter area. The Napier Power Hunter pellets also did pretty well. Considering that the cheat Center Point scope is usually sighted for ~17-20 yards, I thought I did decent.
From bottom left, clockwise: Beeman H&N Match, Beeman Kodiak Double Gold, Benjamin Cylindrical, Beeman FTS Double Gold. Results were fairly mixed, but it was my last shooting session, and I just switched from contacts to glasses. By a wide margin I prefer contacts when shooting. The Kodiak Double Gold pellets have potential if I tuned my Carbine to their pleasure, but the FTS Double Gold had a couple of really nice groups, and I suspect that the Benjamin Cylindrical pellets have a ton of potential.
If I could figure out how to pull it off, I would love to try a R1 Carbine .22 Ram. Now that would be an interesting gun!
