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Engineer · Member

Hello

I'm new to this sport and I have already found that I have a LOT to learn. I have a lot of questions but I'll read through as many posts as I can and see if I can find the answers first.

I purchased a Ruger Air Hawk at a local store based on a salesman's recommendation. It is basically to get rid of some pest muskrats, to help teach my daughter to shoot, and improve my shooting skills. One of my requirements was open sites and being able to mount a scope. I wanted to stay in the $100-$150 range and would have preferred to purchase a scope separately but everything at the local Gander, Cabela's ... in that range came with a scope and a few with open sites.

This thing had been giving fits and I was ready to return it. I had 3" groups at 10yds but then I found the parallax was very bad. I could move the target 3" by moving my eye around the scope. It's a cheap scope so I removed the objective ring and adjusted it for as little movement as I could. After that I was getting 5/16" groups on average at 10yds and felt pretty good.

Next, I tried 30yds and couldn't believe I could do no better than 6" groups and most were around 8". There seemed to be a definite ring around the outside target. When I could see the pellets through the scope, they did appear to be curving but I thought it was just me. I read to try different pellets but I didn’t think changing pellets would bring it in very much. I was shooting Crosman Premier Super Points and bought some Crosman Premier Hollow Points and Devastator EX. The first thing I noticed was that the Devastator dropped in the barrel with no resistance. I had to push very firmly to get the Super Points in. The Devastators shot 6” low and 4” to the left of where the Super Points 8” group center was. Their group was better and about 2.5” at 30yds. I then tried the Hollow Points. They shot the same vertically as the Super Points but were 4” to the left. The Hollow Points fit in the barrel with a slight friction fit. They won’t fall out like the Devastators but you don’t have to push hard like the Super Points. The Crosman Premier Hollow Points are giving me 1” groups at 30yds with an occasional flyer to the left opening the group to 1.5”.

As you can tell, I have a lot to learn. I’ll be trying other pellets and reading through the forum for suggestions to try. Thanks to moderators, I know how much time it takes to run these forums.

Crosman140 · Senior Member

First, Welcome! It's great to have you here. Feel free to post questions. We love talking about airguns. Very Happy

Here are a few pointers with spring air guns...

. it can typically take 200 or more pellets before the gun "settles" down. But once you get them to settle, they are great shooters. I have a Crosman G1, which is almost a cousin to your Rem. Mine shot decent groups out of the box (1.5"-2" at 25 yards), but after 200 rounds I tightened to .75"-1" at 25 yards.

. Use the artillery hold on the gun. Allow the gun to almost balance on your front hand and then very gently pull the gun against your shoulder with your trigger hand...put no real pressure on the gun...it is sort of a controlled float if you will.

. Different pellets will shoot different. A snug fit is better as you are pushing them in the barrel...of course, you don't want to have to hammer them in, but a nice push is ok. Almost falling out is not good. But as you are seeing from your three test choices...they all shoot differently.

. Start out sighting your scope at 10 yards. They push it out to where it is zeroed at the range you will be shooting more often. I typically shoot at 25 yards or less, so I zeroed mine at 25.

I hope this helps.

Engineer · Member

C140, thanks for the welcome.
I have put over ~400 pellets through it; ~350 of the Super Point getting extremely frustrated at 30yds but not at 10yds. I cleaned the barrel before I shot it the first time and the first dozen or so patches came out black. After the first ~300 pellets, I went and really scrubbed it good and even ran a few patches with JB bore paste down it to scrub and smooth out anything that might be causing the large groups. I think these Super Point pellets just fly off to the side with this gun. There was a definite ring on the paper with about 6” diameter after I put about 50 shot into one target.
I’ve been practicing the artillery hold. I actually use it somewhat with my hunting rifles, only that I do put them back into my shoulder snuggly. My Weatherby 7mm Rem Mag will definitely let me know when I don’t have it up against my shoulder and I’ve had a few scope ring cuts above my eye too. After getting frustrated and wanting to take my hold out of the equation with this Ruger. I’ve been using an old gun rest I have and love. The gun rest is made of leather and filled with sand. It lets the gun’s recoil be controlled by the shooter. The front rest is on a cast aluminum pod with a slight dip in the center of the sand filled leather pad for the forestock and a triangular sand filled leather bag for the rear stock. That takes me out of the equation for sighting.
I didn’t like the trigger pull on this rifle as it seemed rough. Disassembling the trigger, it appeared all the parts were black zinc coated. I polished all the contact surfaces and the trigger is MUCH nicer. The stroke is less than .050” and I might shorten that little but not until I get used to the gun.
I’m going to look for a spherically domed pellet to try. It seems the gun like the Crosman Hollow Point so maybe closing the dome will help too. Thanks for the advice on pellet fit. I initially thought that pellets were supposed to fit very tight since that was the pellet that was recommended by the salesman. I’m also going to look for a new scope and a one piece mount. I usually spend almost as much on a scope as I do with my hunting rifles. That won’t be hard to do on $130 rifle.
Any recommendations on upgrades, especially pellets and scopes, are welcomed. I love to tinker with stuff and at $130, I can afford to mess up a little.

Crosman140 · Senior Member

Sounds like you have worked on most of the problematic areas of a springer. Hopefully, someone else will be along soon to help out. We're not short of ideas on this forum. Smile

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Depending on what ranges you use it on, I recommend a cheap 4 x 32 scope. I own the Blackhawk which is technically the same rifle but with a different stock. The scope that came with it is actually pretty good and bright in my opinion.

I don't shoot it very seriously though it's a pretty decent rifle. Neutral

Slavia · Moderator

Welcome to the forum!

SMP · Silver Status Member

Welome to the forum. Always nice to see a fellow engineer.

A few more things to look at.

None of my springers shoot well off a fixed rest regardless of how softly I pad them. I put my open hand under the forearm in rested shots in exactly the same spot as standing. If I don't I get a different POI

Have a really good look at the spring loaded lock up pin. it should be stiff but smooth.

Give the pivot a good look over. The barrel should be snug enough to hold in any position after its cocked. Also if the are plastic pivot washers it's worth changing to metal.

If the GTX II or woodward trigger fits your gun I would really consider it. It is amazing and the difference day and night.

Pellets really do make a huge difference...keep testing Smile

Once you have found a pellet that seems to work best you can then experiment with barrel weights. I found they do wonders, especially at longer ranges

HTH Mr. Green

Crosman140 · Senior Member

Engineer · Member

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.
I'll try all your suggestions.
Broom, it came with a 4x32 scope and it seems ok. After adjusting, I tap the rings with a plastic screw driver handle to settle the adjustment but it still needs to be fired to set the adjustment. I was thinking of getting a 3-9x40 scope of better quality but will use this one for now.

SMP (fellow engineer), I’ll try placing my had under the forestock next time I’m out shooting and if it makes a difference.
By Spring Lockup I think you mean when the barrel is in the up or shooting position. This does seem smooth and firm to me but this is my first springer and I have nothing to compare it to except for the Crosman Phantom and Gamo Big Cat and it was smoother than both of those in the store.
I’ve been leary of removing the pivot bolt as I don’t have the torque specs for this gun. How tight do you torque the pivot bolt or is it just done by feel. I torqued the scope bolt to twice the recommend torque for a 4mm machine screw in to aluminum and it still moved. Is there an exploded view somewhere I can get of this rifle or the RWS 34? I’ll take the bolt out and see if the washers are plastic or steel. I know the barrel will drop under its own weight after it is cocked and not returned to the up position. I take it that that is too loose?
The trigger is much better after polishing but it is not a “breaking glass rod” either. I don’t expect that from a rifle in this price range. I will look at the GTX II and Woodward triggers. If they fit the RWS 34 then they might fit this rifle too.
I purchased some more pellets today, we'll see how they shoot.

I’ve read the Chinese guns can benefit from a new piston seal, spring, etc, tune. I assume I’m going to need a few new tools to do that. Any suggestions on kits and tools? I’ll have to search the forum to see if anyone posted a “How to” on this.

rsterne · Moderator

I assume you reset the parallax to 30 yards when you went outside?....

I would strongly suggest you get a scope with an Adjustable Objective (AO).... and make sure you set it for the range you are shooting at....

Bob

Engineer · Member

SMP · Silver Status Member

The usual procedure for the pivot bolt is to tighten it until the barrel will hold in any position under it's own weight.

The lock up pin is the spring loaded pin in the end of the reciever. It has a beveled face that slides up and over a matching pin on the spring tube. It should be very stiff. but very smooth. If it's not remove it and polish the pin and bore and apply some quality lubricant like moly paste.

Your seal should be fine. If you want to go even farther to smooth the shot cycle you can do a "lube tune" There are some good videos on that on youtube. Look for a four part by "jgoodz" The video will also give you an idea of the procedures and tools that are common to most springers

broommaster2000 · Moderator

donec · Senior Member

Welcome to AGH from Pflugerville, Texas.

Engineer · Member

SMP, I removed the Pivot bolt and the Pivot shaft. The barrel was loose and the bolt could have used an 1/8 of a turn to just snug it up. I could turn the bolt with my finger but the shaft fit is in the barrel was perfect. I just had to use a drift pin in the palm of my hand to push it out. The washers are steel and I polished them up. The pivot shaft looked pretty good and just did some very fine polishing on it and the mating part of the barrel. I tightened the pivot bolt just enough to were the barrel won’t fall under its own weight. I used Lubriplate on the pivot shaft.
I’m going to need a little more help with the location of the “lock up pin”. There is a steel ball spring loaded in the barrel and pin with triangular point about .090” wide that ball rides up and over. The location of the steel ball looks to be peined and is not removable. I don’t think the triangular pin moves but I could be wrong.
I cannot find the videos by jgoodz on youtube. Do you have a link you can post? I did find a jgoodz420 on a website that shows the disassembly of an air rifle
One of the Fathers of a FIRST Robotics team I mentor and my work sponsors told me about a local shop for air rifles. I stopped by there today and really wished I had know about this place before I bought this Ruger Air Hawk. He showed me some pellets and I asked about 3-9x40 scope. He showed me a UTG Mil Dot AO for $69 but I’m going to hold off with the scope until I can get this rifle to group well enough for the scope. I did pick up some JSB Exact Diabolo Express (7.87gr) and Heavy (10.34gr). He said he buys the largest skirt pellets he can get and these are both 4.52mm. I was hoping the 4.52 was the price but they were $13.99/500. I guess that is not bad since I didn’t have to pay shipping. I probably won’t get a chance to try them for about a week but if they group very well at longer distances, I’ll probably go back for the scope. Gee, I thought I was going to be shooting for $.01 per shot but I’m now up to almost $.03 per shot. LOL
He said the Ruger Air Hawk and Black Hawk are NOT the same mechanics and there is more difference than just the stock and scopes. He said the Black Hawk is a copy of the RWS 34 but the Air Hawk is not. I don’t know but does anyone have a comment?

Thanks everyone for the help.

Donec, Hello from “way up nort”.