I bought a Stoeger A30 .177 495fps from Canadian Tire because it seemed decent for the price and had a 3-9x40 scope. I’ve run about 150 pellets through it now, and I’m just confused by the spread.
I know that everybody says there’s a break in period during which it will be inconsistent, but I get the feeling that what I am seeing is worse than expected. Further, consistency doesn’t seem to be improving. The image shows four groupings:
- target 23, 10, 1 (in order of firing, first two last night and 1 this morning): Stoeger
- target 30: Marksman
These are ~1.5" squares, and I’m aiming for the center of each target. I am not a great shooter, I wouldn’t even say good - I just want to get rid of a rat in my backyard, and I haven’t shot in years. But I used my 20yo Marksman 1745 with a floppy barrel and a 4x20 scope I can barely see through, and I can get more accurate and better groupings.
These shots were taken at 11 yards. I’m using a camera tripod with a custom block on top to support the barrel of the Stoeger and the stock of the Marksman (as laying the barrel on it results in deflecting the barrel up about 8 MOA lol), and using a loose hold at the butt of the rifle. I’m a fidgety fucker that can’t stay still, but I’d say that I’m still enough at release with the Stoeger, considering the trigger is far smoother and lighter than the Marksman and I’m holding it farther from the supporting pivot point (both farther down the rifle and a longer rifle overall).
Another thing to note is that the scope that came with the Stoeger could not be mounted to it without shimming the rear mount up, as I immediately ran out of elevation adjustment. I used a couple layers of electrical tape, didn’t over tighten it, and have retightened it twice since as it settles in. It’s possible, but I don’t think that the scope is moving shot to shot.
It’s weird. I’ll have two of three shots that are somewhat consistent (down and to the right, for example), and then the next shot will be twice as far the opposite way, and the following shot up and the right. It just seems like too great of a spread for only 11 yards, even this early in the break in period. The box was semi-open when I bought it, but the rifle itself seemed untouched, so I also have some concern that somebody returned it and the rifle itself has an issue. Although I don’t know what that would be, because it looks mint, and oh boy is the pivot joint for the barrel ever tighter than the Marksman. I can move the Marksman barrel in all directions when closed, but the Stoeger is solid. Better be, considering it’s like twice the weight for the same claimed fps
final edit (I think) because it’s going to be too cold to continue soon:
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this trigger is not a 'pull gently until it goes off" despite being a two stage smooth trigger — grip-and-pull alone decreases the spread by half for me
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the spread on the non-defective model tightened up by 200 pellets
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the variable scope may be slightly inaccurate at max zoom — backing off to half power results in lower spread (more testing needed to confirm)
That’s expected from what you’ve described, but…
The first thing to do with a new air gun is clean the barrel with something like Ballistol to get rid of the preservative oils and grease that the manufacturers spread on the inside to keep the barrel from rusting in the box.
After that, there’s a “leading in” period where you’re shooting hundreds of pellets through the barrel before things reach equilibrium, and you find out realistically how accurate the gun actually is.
There’s also the matter of finding out which pellets the gun actually “likes” .
Most air guns are “pellet picky” and work with some pellets better than others.
Good pellets like JSB Diabolos, and JTS reduce spread. Bad pellets like Daisy Pointeds can get really wild.
I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet of the spreads for each pellet model for my Umarex Komplete.
Gently rounded pellets tend to be more accurate than flat heads and pointeds, because of aerodynamics.
The gun’s power will also dictate which weight of pellet that it likes.
You just have to try a range of pellet weights to find that range.
I’ll seconding the comment on pellet choice. The single most effective thing I’ve found with pellet guns (and centerfire rifles for that matter) you can do to calm one down if its misbehaving is to change what you feed it.in .177 I’ve have good success with all my springers and pcps with rws hobby s. Theyre light, but will work for rats and squirrels depending on the rifle. (https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/17a0e4b4-df69-4567-9576-e92f3cd0da21.jpeg)
definitely noticing a difference between rifles for pellet choice. weirdly, the A30 seems to shoot better with the pellets that are noticeably less consistent in quality. might be that the passable quality ones shoot better through it, then I pick one that’s out of round.
hmm, okay. the 4" spread just seemed way too large for nearly only 10 yards, and carrying out to 200 shots. discussion online indicated generally fewer shots and that spread at double the distance
I just did another 40 or so shots using a stronger hold instead of artillery, and the groupings were much more consistent. weirdly, I seemed to have one group down to the right and another up to the left, and nothing really I’m between or outside of those angles. still a 4" spread over the two groupings (same target, though…), but only 1.5-2 inches of spread on each group.
I’m having some trouble figuring out if this model A30 is a spring or gas piston, but I imagine you want the artillery hold for both? it’s just that I noticed an immediate improvement in consistency once I held the body securely with my front hand, which is definitely not the case with the little 1745. it sounds like a spring action to me, I have no experience with them but it seems like a gas piston wouldn’t make the clear spring noise.
I’m using an unopened old can of Crosman Premier pointed, to break it in, and once that’s out I’ll start shooting a new tin of Crosman Premier hollow points
I have not cleaned the barrel, just followed the manufacturer’s instructions that came with it, which were admittedly basically nothing. I’ve probably got around 350 rounds through it now, judging by how much is left of the tin.
I was wondering when/if I would get a reply, seems like it’s just you around here! figured I should add some content. thank you!
at what point do you think I can pretty much eliminate break-in as a variable? 500 shots? 1000? 2000?
I haven’t been impressed with the CPPs and CPHPs, both bought within the last few months, or anything that’s available in my local brick and mortar stores.
They’re certainly not the worst pellets out there, but a 4 inch spread at 10 yards is indeed nuts, which seems to indicate other problems.
I would deffo try cleaning the barrel. It might save you a lot of wasted pellets/money.
Then try the JSBs and JTSs. They opened my eyes as to how much difference good pellets make, barring my own deficiencies in skill.
my latest round of shooting got me a 2in, 3in, 1in, and then back to 3in spread, all minimum 10 shots per target. only changes were some minor scope knob adjustments.
it was looking good on the third target, with four or five pellets in the same hole, then I came back a short while later and got another crappy result.
these four batches were with the hollow points, which are a tighter fit on the barrel, and some don’t actually go down into the barrel opening without force so I didn’t use them.
I guess I’ll head in to grab some more pellets and a cleaning kit. I can at least say that after 500 shots, the grouping is definitely tighter than at first. but still very inconsistent
With cleaning an airgun it’s recommended to only use the cloth patches lightly soaked in Ballistol, not the brass cleaning brushes. This is in order to keep the rifling factory sharp.
It’s recommended to use a rotating cleaning rod on bearings, just allowing it to spin naturally as you’re pulling the patches through, to allow the patches to follow the rifling grooves.
When cleaning, only pull the patches from the breech to the muzzle.
Having started 3 months ago, I’m pretty new to airguns myself, so I’m just parroting barrel cleaning orthodoxy to you.
Another idea is to read the reviews on Pyramyd to see what others have tried and what works or doesn’t work: https://www.pyramydair.com/product/stoeger-arms-a30-s2-air-rifle-combo?m=3643
One user mentions “hold sensitivity” although they didn’t elaborate on exactly what that meant.
Lots of complaints about the heavy 4lb trigger pull, which can also lead to inaccuracy.
One guy mentions replacing the trigger and getting the pull down to 1lb and change.
Some of the pellet comments mention JSB 18.13 gr pellets, which are .22 caliber, so they must have been playing with the .22 version of the A30, not the .177
Reviewing my own notes, I seem to have misremembered about the CPPs: They were good at a 0.75 inch spread at 25-30 yards.
My apologies to Crosman.
the last two rounds, at target 20 and then at target 5. 20 is tighter but all over, 5 is fewer shots but oddly in two distinct groups, with a large grouping down to the right