Still not happy with hft500

I try diffrent things and it might have a honeymoon period of improvement but the goes back to not the standard i want .
I expect frim a hft 500 if it was clamped and sighted at 25 yards to do xs with the right pellet double rested it skips around the 2mm center may be left or right high or low at 50m clamped in the rifle club it does 30mm group with the best pellets i have at verious times tried 16 or 17 types of pellet .i have tryed it with AA standard air stripper with out ,with moderator and with out i know if you take a rifle back to a shop and complain about accurace the say its you its the pellets well it been double rested and clamped .befor i brought this where were people shooting 250s with 17 or 18 xs straight out the box with un sorted pellets .with the pellets that preform better i tryied washing them and weighing them and shoot them in there weight group .
I got the rifle from crawley surplus im sure they would be great to deal with but air arms is closer to me .think i have had it 49 days now. dose it make any diffrence who i speak to about the problem .part of me thinks its not fit for purpose and my 400 is as good or better ,ask for a refund , but i dont know if i would have the right to do so .my other options would seem to be polish the hammer slide and possible buy a new barrel but would loose my warrnty and why should i .
i do feel its worn the shine of the super dooper hft500 that i had such high expectations of .now i just have disapointment and feel like i could of saved the cost of the 500 and stuck with the 400 a been just as well off.

Sorry buddy, as you say, it's not BR accurate, but probably not off the mark enough for a refund on the basis of accuracy. Realistically based on what you have said your getting around 1/2 inch groups at 25m, and although that's not brilliant, it's not bad for a lot of guns either, so t could be a sticking point.

I took a Black wolf back for poor accuracy among other things, but I had it out once in a week and it was back to the shop the following one.

Your contract is with the dealer, so I'd go through them and explain what you have hear, not quite sure how they will deal with it, but if you don't ask you don't get?

Just as an aside, have you checked other stuff like doing a chrono string, adjusting the trigger, checking stock bolts and breach O rings etc??

Couple of things come straight to mind.

1. Head position. Are you lifting your head away from the stock between shots? Even fractionally to see what you are doing reloading?

2. Have you had another (competent) shooter try it? How did they get on?

Think you need to sort out the 25 yard or 25 metre stuff first, before stretching out to 50m

What accuracy are you expecting? HFT states a 35mm kill zone at up to 45 yards. That is only 41.15metres, which is quite a big chunk of difference to 50 metres.

What were you scoring at 25yds or 25m with the S400? Do you expect to be radically better at benchrest with the HFT500?

when its clamped i dont matter where my head is i saw a pic of the clamp in the rim fire section on here its a wooden platform with 3" concrete top and a thing that looks like it came off a very large lathe the a hard wood block that clamps to the rail under the rifle i could move the rifle and get 1/2" movement on the target at 50m if i tried so was told not to touch it except the trigger blade ,i did check the scope was on the same point on the target there was no wind ,it was this bench https://airgunforums.co.uk/threads/benchrest-options.186962/page-3 its very impressive

jesim1 said:

Sorry buddy, as you say, it's not BR accurate, but probably not off the mark enough for a refund on the basis of accuracy. Realistically based on what you have said your getting around 1/2 inch groups at 25m, and although that's not brilliant, it's not bad for a lot of guns either, so t could be a sticking point.

I took a Black wolf back for poor accuracy among other things, but I had it out once in a week and it was back to the shop the following one.

Your contract is with the dealer, so I'd go through them and explain what you have hear, not quite sure how they will deal with it, but if you don't ask you don't get?

Just as an aside, have you checked other stuff like doing a chrono string, adjusting the trigger, checking stock bolts and breach O rings etc??

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i have not done chrono strings trigger is very light so not pulling the shot stock bolt all good tissue over breach seems ok .

Give the gun to someone that ideally is already shooting good scores with an HFT. And see how they get on. Simply "clamping" a gun doesn't guarantee accuracy or even a consistent point of aim. I am surprised you describe the trigger as light. Because the trigger on the HFT takes ALOT of work to get competition ready and even then it isn't light. You could have a badly adjusted trigger and that could be causing the issues. Even HOW you pull the trigger can increase or decrease group size at longer range.
I have a second hand HFT here, which if I do my part pretty much single hole groups most pellets at 25, and is capable of pellet on pellet at 45. To be honest pretty much every other HFT I have seen is just as capable. Unless fiddled with by someone that doesn't fully understand the effects of their adjustments.

fixedwheel said:

Couple of things come straight to mind.

1. Head position. Are you lifting your head away from the stock between shots? Even fractionally to see what you are doing reloading?

2. Have you had another (competent) shooter try it? How did they get on?

Think you need to sort out the 25 yard or 25 metre stuff first, before stretching out to 50m

What accuracy are you expecting? HFT states a 35mm kill zone at up to 45 yards. That is only 41.15metres, which is quite a big chunk of difference to 50 metres.

What were you scoring at 25yds or 25m with the S400? Do you expect to be radically better at benchrest with the HFT500?

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i didnt use the 400 much due to weather and my dad was ill so only really practice cards and a really bad forum card for January in the dark with a lamp and in a head wind just did it so i had a card in on the last day of the month

Blues said:

Give the gun to someone that ideally is already shooting good scores with an HFT. And see how they get on. Simply "clamping" a gun doesn't guarantee accuracy or even a consistent point of aim. I am surprised you describe the trigger as light. Because the trigger on the HFT takes ALOT of work to get competition ready and even then it isn't light. You could have a badly adjusted trigger and that could be causing the issues. Even HOW you pull the trigger can increase or decrease group size at longer range.
I have a second hand HFT here, which if I do my part pretty much single hole groups most pellets at 25, and is capable of pellet on pellet at 45. To be honest pretty much every other HFT I have seen is just as capable. Unless fiddled with by someone that doesn't fully understand the effects of their adjustments.

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after feeling my trigger i was surprised people say they need polishing its very nice and with the standard spring can be as lite as my 400 with biro spring and rowan blade the only thing i have done other than adjust the trigger is fit a 3d printed shoe its every bit as good as my fwb300s trigger so i think with the new xti barrel ones, they may have done something different with the triggers or they are better finished as i dont think it could be improved by polishing .
and all of what you are saying backs up mine must be faulty, maybe a dodgy barrel i have a falcon t50i+ and if i watch the shot through the scope at 50x and it does not land where it should and the rifle is on a sr300 front rest with none slip mat between the br foot and the rest and a rear bag supported with my hand with this i still have to get my breathing and heart rate right i can see when i cock up .there is a empty bolt hole i can put a long cap head in and use pinch method to reduce any affect i may have . what i want is a rifle that preforms as well as you are describing above then i can shoot nsra and if i miss im wrong not the lucky dip where the pellet might go im happy to miss but i want a rifle thats doing its bit .

How would you describe a badly adjusted trigger mine is light and has defined stages, 2nd stage is quite short but its predictable and light enough not to pull my shot .

I would suggest letting a seasoned 'Benchrester' have a go (not suggesting that you can't shoot ). That way, if it is 'you', you will at least rule out the rifle and it will instill you with the confidence to work on your technique.

Check that the stock bolts are nice and tight, and that the breach seal is healthy (place a tissue over the breech area and look out for a telltale puff of air).

It would also be worth shooting a chrono string to look for any obvious deviations in velocity. Accuracy doesn't necessarily mean a nice flat shot string, but any large spikes or drops could be causing the issues you describe.

If none of the above resolves the issue, and your RFD refuses a refund, I would recommend emailing Air Arms with your findings. As the rifle is new, they may well offer to take a look at it for you.

Have you had a look down the barrel for any imperfections?

Mad Andy said:

Have you had a look down the barrel for any imperfections?

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It looks ok

Sorry to hear your having trouble with a rifle that has a great reputation.

I didn't see in your above post any mention of trying a different scope or mounts.

Every manufacturer throws up the odd Friday afternoon rifle.

Check your legal rights as to 'fit for purpose' Law.

If you send it back via RFD for assessment/repair and paid by credit or debit card you will get at that point 120 days to reject it and ask for refund.

It maybe worth checking if you already have 120 days card protection from point of purchase.

Talk to your cards 'dispute team' for advice.

I bought a TX200 Ultimate Springer last summer and went though the same process, I don't think there was anything out of the ordinary to expect accuracy from a spring gun costing nearly £1100. I tried everything, and I mean everything. Even bought a CS1000mk2 and nothing worked. The quality control was pants, ended up replacing the original stock due to a split that it left the factory with and the chrome on the trigger peeled off....this on a brand new gun. Short stroked it too....Just could not get it to group.

I ended up getting rid of it and it's put me off AA for life.

I have 2 HFT500's one was great out the box the other had few issues a lad at our club took it had it to bits says he just cleaned debured and polished bits and altered the trigger and i loved it so much that he took my other one did the same to that i took it to the range today scoped it back in. I am well happy its the same again so much smoter cocking lever lighter triger same as the first one gone from 10.57 ish to 11.4 ish and pellet on pellet today little or no wind using JSB 8.4 shorts

Is the barrel shrouded?
Are you shooting it within its sweet spot? On mine its more consistent and accurate at 170 down to 120 bar

i'm not familiar with the hft500 but if it was a 400/410 i'd clean the barrel, float the cylinder, and use jsb exact/AADF 4.52 and start accuracy testing @ 20yds to begin with
if that nib thingy at the end of the cylinder is touching the barrel/silencer then i'd float the cylinder

Reading this is making me reconsider if I actually want to swap my R12 for one as its putting them through the same hole at 25
Do many of the hft500/s500 struggle with these issues?

Somethings to ask and something to try.....

As others have said, definitely do a chrono session to look for significant fps variation.

What pellets have you tried in the clamped rest and which were the best and which were worse? Or was there not much difference?
EDIT...I should be more clear...I mean at 25 metres, in the clamp, no aim point change, 10 shot groups.....how big/small??

That clamped bench looks solid. Before using it I would make sure the rail in your stock it clamps to is solid in the stock with no looseness/play at all. Next I would check the action is tight in the stock with no play. Then that the barrel is tight in the action. Is that all good?

I am not sure how the HFT500 is put together but assume there is an air port in the bottom of the bore near the breach. Are there any burrs on this that are scraping/marking the pellets?

Rich

Have you tried rodding a pellet down the barrel ?

Luap said:

I try diffrent things and it might have a honeymoon period of improvement but the goes back to not the standard i want .
I expect frim a hft 500 if it was clamped and sighted at 25 yards to do xs with the right pellet double rested it skips around the 2mm center may be left or right high or low at 50m clamped in the rifle club it does 30mm group with the best pellets i have at verious times tried 16 or 17 types of pellet .i have tryed it with AA standard air stripper with out ,with moderator and with out i know if you take a rifle back to a shop and complain about accurace the say its you its the pellets well it been double rested and clamped .befor i brought this where were people shooting 250s with 17 or 18 xs straight out the box with un sorted pellets .with the pellets that preform better i tryied washing them and weighing them and shoot them in there weight group .
I got the rifle from crawley surplus im sure they would be great to deal with but air arms is closer to me .think i have had it 49 days now. dose it make any diffrence who i speak to about the problem .part of me thinks its not fit for purpose and my 400 is as good or better ,ask for a refund , but i dont know if i would have the right to do so .my other options would seem to be polish the hammer slide and possible buy a new barrel but would loose my warrnty and why should i .
i do feel its worn the shine of the super dooper hft500 that i had such high expectations of .now i just have disapointment and feel like i could of saved the cost of the 500 and stuck with the 400 a been just as well off.
View attachment 952481View attachment 952482

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A&M Custom Gunsmiths do a great job with these rifles, but it’s disappointing that you are having trouble with a new rifle, not what I’d expect from Air Arms. Might be worth having a conversation with Air Arms?