I gave up on springers and bought a Hatsan PCP. It will hold a quarter size group at 50 yards. As others have stated, the scope and mounts on a springer will get thrashed. Also, I found that anything other than featherweight pressure on the forend will cause poor grouping.

For what it's worth, I have the same problem with my Weirauch springer. Years of honing cartridge rifle skills apparently don't help you shoot air rifles. There are several good air rifle threads in the rifle sub-forum. I have been told that most air rifles are very particular about what pellet they prefer, but I haven't gotten good enough to even get started at finding the "right" one. It is somewhat frustrating to say the least.

I don't know what the problem is with the OP's rifle, but I can tell you that a quality spring-piston rifle can be extremely accurate.

My old FWB (Feinwerkbau) 124 .177 is one of the most accurate rifles I've ever shot.
Back when my eyes were young, hitting dime-size targets at 40 feet was not too difficult.

I also have an old Beeman R-1 in 5mm, and it's quite a bit larger and heavier than the FWB.
It also takes more effort to cock the mainspring. It's a beast with serious power, but I've never shot it quite as well as the FWB.

Spring-piston rifles tend to settle down and become more consistent after a few tins of pellets have been shot through them.

Some types of pellets will be more accurate than others, sometimes a lot more accurate.
There are lots of pellet choices in .22 cal, so experiment and have fun.

Oh, and make sure the stock screws are snug.

quote:

Oh, and make sure the stock screws are snug.

Duhhh I cannot believe I forgot to add that.

Also as was said springers can be extremely accurate. My own personal benchmark is 10 under a dime at 20-30 yards rested. Scoped or diopter. I can shoot this more often than not and I have no talent. They will shoot they just need some love and understanding

My stock screws were loose and I lightened up my hold. I managed to shrink the group a lot. I did have 4 touching. The forend stock screw is really soft and the head is a bit messed up now. It was purchased at Airgun Depot and they have offered to make it right. Not sure if I want to keep it, get a replacement or purchase one a little higher on the quality scale.

I’m not sure if anyone knows the answer to this. I live in Illinois and I had to pay an FFL dealer to do the transfer. If I do upgrade or get a replacement, would I need to have the transaction go through my FFL dealer again?

I cannot answer the IL FFL question.

What do YOU want out of an air rifle? The reason I ask is because most of us gun guys gravitate towards POWWWWAAAA when the reality is we want an accurate plinking / target rifle. If you are not specifically pesting larger critters or out to long distance steer away from power.

Get a Weihrauch HW30S or HW50S (the 30s is also sold as the Beeman R7.). The HW50 is a bit larger and more powerful but still a middle power rifle.

The 30s/R7 is a sublime rifle to shoot. Easy to cock, forgiving to shoot, light, handy and extremely well made. It’s not powerful but more then enough to take small pests or shoot for a group at 40-50 yards.

I am only putting this out there because it too me a long time to come around to them and they are now some of my favorite rifles of ANY type period.

Here is something I wrote about my air rifle journey that started many moons ago.
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...550076484#9550076484

Here are a couple HW30s targets

I would listen to Chris on any air gun related advice (although Weihrauch's can be addictive)

cslinger, I enjoy accuracy however, whatever I decide to go with it must be capable of knocking the shit out of tree rats! Does Weihrauch still fit? How about a D34?

I am not a hunter and even thought shot placement is crucial with any airgun I personally think the HW30 probably lacks the power to reliably anchor a squirrel. I mean will it kill a squirrel, absolutely. Will it anchor one reliably without a perfect shot, I don’t know and if you are going to kill an animal do it humanely so I lean towards more power. The 50 and up should be no problem.

The D34 is an excellent rifle and should have the power you are looking for. I believe Numrich gun parts was closing out some D34’s at a great price. EDITED-THEY SEEM TO BE SOLD OUT. MIGHT WANT TO CALL THOUGH AS THEY WERE A GREAT PRICE.

Just keep in mind that even the best/easiest spring rifle will require you to develop new skill sets that are a bit alien to us powder burners. Once you develop these, however, your powder burning rifle shooting should become quite a bit better since your mind is subconsciously so focused on trigger pull and follow through.

^^^^
What he said.

I do hunt with air rifles. Squirrels @ 25+/- yds with my 50 is fine, could probably go out a little further but any longer than that and I move up to an 80 to stay a little flatter (and hit a little harder).

I have a Diana RWS 350 with a Leupold efr, deadly accurate. Used it for sparrow control during bluebird mating season. I was told, forget where, to never clean the barrel. I didn't listen and cleaned the barrel. Wouldn't shoot for shit after that, took hundreds of pellets to get it accurate again. Don't clean the barrel, ever.

I have an R-1 I bought almost 20 years ago. A guy by the name of Russ Bess tuned it for me and dropped the power down slightly and installed teflon buttons on the piston. It has been a tack driver ever since. It is a heavy rifle but does what I need. Try an assortment of pellets and find one that groups well and stay with them.