Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns 22 Cal Rifle, Spring or Gas Piston Magnum.

I appreciate all the great info guys. I might have to look into a Beeman down the road. Availability looks pretty thin just now.

Anyhoo, I ordered an RWS 3500 .22 cal, gas piston, along with a Hawke 3-12x44, a one-piece Hawke mount for the 11mm base, and some JSB Diabolo 18.13 gr pellets.

https://www.airgundepot.com/rws-3500-gas-piston-air-rifle-22-caliber.html

I have no experience with a springer type gun, so looking forward to going through that learning curve. Been checking out YT vids to get a grasp on the technique, so I have a starting point.

Shane

I expect you'll have a ton of fun with the new rifle.
My latest is an RWS .22 gas ram as well. A 350 N-tec which is likely very close mechanically to yours.
It's my third with a gas ram in a row and I do like them, a lot.
The lifetime warranty is a comfort but I doubt I'll need it.
I ordered pellet samplers of JSB and H&N pellets and several tins of JSB Hades and just like a rimfire, It shoots them all but it likes what it likes.
Have fun running a tin or two through it and then you can get serious about finding exactly what it likes.

We'll need a report of course!

Oh yeah, I'll share. I'll get some pellets through it to break it in, and get myself 'learned up'.

The rifle I ordered (RWS 3500) is supposedly very similar to the RWS 350. German parts, Italian designed stock, USA assembly, limited lifetime warranty.

Let us know how she shoots. My R9 .20 shot dime sized groups at 25-30 yds.

You bet.

My old Sheridan .20 was very accurate. With the irons it would cut nice cloverleafs at 25 yards.

Of course I had young eyes then, and the pumper wasn't hold sensitive.

I would drool at the original Racine WI Silver Streaks, and never fortunate enough to own one. The R9 did not disappoint, forget 8 pumps

Yes, my eyes are not either...still take a BL22 out for an occasional tree squirrel....using irons.

Hopefully your RWS will be a big improvement.

There's not much out there on the 3400/3500. I suppose it could be a roll of the dice. I'll shoot the heck out of it and see what happens.

Should be fun. Nice spring air rifles are the fountain of youth.

The new air rifle arrived today. Got it set up, swabbed the bore dry, and put maybe 80-100 pellets through it.

Looks and feels like a quality gun. A couple negatives though.

- The high comb is perfect for the scope, but too high for the irons. I did shoot a couple dozen with the irons, but it was awkward. Not a big deal, I plan on using a scope anyways, and that high comb was one reason I chose this one.

- The trigger. It's pretty heavy. Maybe it will ease up after some use. Take-up is adjustable, but not the break.

So I'm a novice at springers, but I got a reasonable group at 12 yards. Went out to 20 yards and it really fell apart, 2+ inches. I don't know if it's my technique, or too heavy a pellet. I chrono'd the 18.1gr JSB at 690 fps. Chrono'd five, they were all between 688, and 692 fps. Maybe I need to try something it the 14gr range.

It can take up to 500 pellets to break in. The Pros say that too light and too heavy of a pellet puts undo stress on the mechanics. 14-15 gr. is the norm. unless things have changed in the last couple of years.

Try shooting off of a rolled up blanket or sleeping bag. Hold the rifle as lightly as possible and let it move freely when fired. Concentrate on a good trigger pull and follow through watching for the hole to appear in the target. Shooting with a firm grip and rest is not conducive to accuracy. Quarter sized groups at 25 yards should be pretty easy........as long as the wind is not blowing.

Appreciate the advice guys. I figure I'll burn through 500 pellets letting it break in, and learning to use the artillery hold. Went out this AM and put some downrange just shooting offhand at 15 yards, focusing on a light hold. Not bad for offhand. It's something new to learn.

Shane, I'm sure you know this - but a drop of oil (e.g. left over factory oil or olive) behind the pellet raises pressure enough to make the rifle go supersonic(diesel).
Of course this affects accuracy - Some people people think that "dieseling" is unsafe/bad for the rifle.
A Sheridan won't have that problem.

night owl, I saw that vid a while back. My brother does that with his pellet pistol all the time. I think it's a Crosman pumper.

35 Yards with the Crosman 14.3 gr. Shooting off my knee on a patio chair, in a 15 mph wind (winter is rolling in here). Hitting right of aim, but a good group for me.

The 14.3 gr Chrono's at 790 fps.

Got 200 or so shots through this now, starting to get the hang of shooting a piston gun. Trigger is getting broke in a bit, not so hard now.

Google the HW-35 Barakuda. There were Spring guns designed with an ether injection system to purposely harness combustion to kick a pellet out much faster. "Harness" apparently is a generous term because it was hell on standard pellets and seals.

Enjoying reading the journey Montana Marine! I'd hung up the Springers for a while in favor of PCP's and now old skool multi-pumpers (Sheridan). I'm inspired to drag out the ole FWB-124's and R-7. The R-7 was an incredible vermin machine!

Enjoying reading this and I'm learning a few things. Please keep us updated.

Breech seal shimming.

I noticed up front that the o-ring seemed flush with the breech. I wondered if it was getting a good seal.

A little google-fu revealed it is not an uncommon situation, and shimming via a washer, dental floss, plumbers tape, were all ways around it.

I have plumbers tape and floss on hand, so went with the floss. Removed the o-ring with a straight pin pry up from the outside edge. To get the floss down into the channel, I took about 10 inches of floss, and loosely wrapped it around a 44Mag case. Put the mouth of the case into the channel and pushed the floss off, and into place. Then put some silicone grease on the floss, and o-ring, and replaced the o-ring.

That left the o-ring a bit proud of the breech face, and I can feel it seal up on closing.

I chrono'd after, and gained about 30 fps with both the 14.3gr and 18.1 gr pellets. (820/720 fps fps respectively after). Chrony was being a little difficult (15F here today), but results seem good.

Pic after,

You shouldn't have to do that with a brand new rifle. Set a piece of kleenex on the joint and shoot. If there is an air loss you will see it.

I agree, shouldn't be an issue on a new rifle.

I'm not going to 'put it back the way it was', to check for leaks at this point. But the o-ring did not stand proud of the breech, at all, as it was.

I did gain 30 fps, so something happened that put more power on the pellet. I'm guessing that is more air pressure with a tighter seal.