Am I doing something wrong here?

No matter what your weapon is, test your weapon FIRST.

THEN you test your self.

Shoot your air rifle off a solid bench rest FIRST so you know what it is capable of. Once you have the best 10 shot group you can possibly get and the aim point adjusted over the CENTER of the target, NOW you are ready to start using the gun for practice sessions.
 
@Jack Ryan I totally thought it was the other way around. I thought you had to focus on your own skill before the weapon. I honestly don’t know when I can get out to the range. Eventually though. I held up my .22LR last night and found that I could hold it a lot steadier. How do y’all feel about dryfire practices? To get a feel for the trigger before I get to the range.
 
Some can be dry fired and some shouldn't be. It depends on the models. If you have snap caps(dummy rounds), you're probably safe. I wouldn't dry fire without them though.
 
Local stores I go to don't seem to carry .22 snap caps, which is odd to me to say the least. I have this habit of taking .22 rounds apart and am left with an empty shell afterwards which I often use in place of snap caps. That's how I often practice pulling the trigger. Also I often check the firing pin to make sure it's not damaged or flattened. Really quickly, would it be a bad investment to get a decent scope that could be used for my .22 and my air rifle? I was planning on using irons most of the time but thought a scope would be nice because my eyes aren't all too good and wanted to stretch the .22's legs a little if I get the chance.
 
What brand/make is the rifle ? All Rugers regardless of cartridge or type of firearm can be dry fired excluding maybe some really old models . It right in the Q&A section .
 
It’s a Glenfield Model 25 made in 1973. Glenfield, from what I’m told, is a distribution company of Marlin. Most Marlin .22LR rifles apparently CAN be dry fired but since it’s an older rifle I don’t want to take any chances. My rifle isn’t by any means rare but it’s somewhat difficult to find much more detail about the rifle aside from reviews and such.
 
honestly don’t know when I can get out to the range. Eventually though. I held up my .22LR last night and found that I could hold it a lot steadier. How do y’all feel about dryfire practices? To get a feel for the trigger before I get to the range.
Lanny Bassham....Olympic gold medal in 1976 and two time world champion smallbore (1974 and 1978) was in the military during the run up to the 1976 Olympics. During part of that time he was stationed where he had NO access to a range for practice.
How did he train? Dry firing every night.
 
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@darkgael Noted. What does dry fire training encompass? Am I eventually supposed to be able to tell if I’m pulling the gun off or not? How can I tell without actually firing a round? I’ve seen experienced shooters be able to tell immediately if their trigger pull was good or not, and where they need to adjust for a follow up shot. Also, I’m not 100% sure but it seems like pulling the trigger with 10pumps on the air rifle is heavier than pulling the trigger with fewer pumps or no pumps for that matter.
 
During dryfire, you should be watching the sights. They should remain in alignment and should not move off target during the trigger pull.

You're going to have some wobble while holding the gun on target because it's not possible to hold a gun perfectly still, but the trigger pull shouldn't move the gun around.
 
I've been practicing like 15 minutes a day (for the past week) and it doesn't look like the sights move at all when I pull the trigger. There is a slight shake from the hammer or the trigger mechanism going off, but that's about it. I think aside from trying to hold the gun steady (which is difficult for such a light gun) I think I've squeezed every bit of accuracy I can outta this rifle.

P.S. For some reason I can't wait until I get my first center fire rifle. I want to become proficient with the with .22 first, but this dream of a center fire rifle just lingers over me. My buddy said an AR-15 is always a good "first rifle" but I'm really interested in a bolt action .308 of some kind, or a scout rifle maybe. Something general purpose, handy, but can be used at some distance (Ideally out to at least 600yrds) for if/when my skill gets there. I'm getting a couple years ahead of myself here (maybe sooner?) But, price aside, the Remington 700 SPS Tactical looks oh so appealing to me :)
 
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During a shooting session...it makes sense not to drink caffeinated or sugary drinks. Try to get the nervous tension out by shaking your hands and legs and overall...relaxing.

But on windy days...you'll have to hold the rifle firmer in your shoulder pocket.

I love shooting my (3) bull barrel 22 BSA Martini Model 12/15's and my Anschutz Match 54 in the offhand/standing position
 
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How to find out how you are doing:

1. Jack is correct- you must first learn the accuracy of your rifle by shooting it “from the bench.” That means get a table and some good solid things to rest the forearm of your rifle on, such as some sandbags or bags of rice, and fire off a group.

The best shooter in the world can’t shoot better than their perfectly held rifle.

The gun has its accuracy which you may be able to improve by testing the number of pumps you use and the type of pellet you use. Perhaps one type of pellet will be more accurate in your rifle than others. Perhaps five pumps is more accurate than 6. Rifles are complex and exactly how the pellet leaves the barrel depends on so much, right down to two identical 880s might not like the same pellets.

Your power line 880 is a pneumatic gun, you don’t need to worry about the complexity of a vibrating piston/spring and how you hold a rifle with reverse recoil.

The shooter has their wobble area. That’s how well you could shoot with a laser beam mounted on your gun that scores when the trigger is pulled. That’s the practice practice practice part.

When trying to find out how you are doing, try shooting at conventional targets and ranges. That is, 10 meters is the internationally accepted distance.

Get some official 10 meter targets. I bet you can print them off the interwebs.

Then score yourself. See what your score is compared to what other guys get. Low 90’s is pretty good.

You are shooting at pretty much “way the hell out there” range. Things like wind are coming in to play.

Once you are shooting a while at 10m and keeping your scores... you’ll want to find a local club and shoot some league shoots.

It’s fun.

And as for ammo, don’t shoot high velocity .22 ammo.

Try CCI standard velocity, Aguila regular ol velocity, CCI mini mags (not likely but sometimes) and if you don’t get good accuracy out of one of those types, i’ll send you a tin of rws pellets.
 
My Diana Model 54 Air King recoilless sidelever spring piston air rifle in .177, likes heavy JSB Match Diablo pellets.
 
@ 10 yards offhand(unsupported), I made the group in the middle of this pizza box and put at least 1 shot in each finger. I did this with my kids' Daisy Red Ryder single pump bb gun and some rusty bbs. I would expect a multi pump bb/pellet rifle could do at least that if not better, but I could be wrong.
 

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Your pizza box has instructions on how to carry a pizza box on the bottom???
What happens to the pizza while the kid is reading the directions?
 
Really? 10m? That seems rather close. What kind of group should I expect from my rifle at that distance? What kind of group is expected at 25yrds?
 
Your pizza box has instructions on how to carry a pizza box on the bottom???
It's a Domino's Pizza box. I'm pretty sure the instructions are "tongue in cheek". It came with the pizza. I didn't design or print the box, but it makes a good target.
That seems rather close.
It is rather close. It's a single pump Daisy Red Ryder. It's not exactly what I would call a precision rifle or a long range shooter. If you aren't getting groups you are satisfied with, move to a closer range. Once you are satisfied, push your distances out further.
 
It's a single pump Daisy Red Ryder.
It's also a smoothbore. Smoothbore airgun competitions are usually held at 5M, if I recall correctly.
What kind of group should I expect from my rifle at that distance? What kind of group is expected at 25yrds?
Assuming that there's nothing wrong with the rifle or scope, with decent pellets and no wind, it should shoot 1" groups or better. Maybe 2 to 3 times that size at 25 yards.
 
Smoothbore airgun competitions are usually held at 5M, if I recall correctly.
I didn't even know there was such a thing. I'm pretty sure my 10 pump Crossman (also a smoothbore) from when I was a kid was capable of longer ranges. I'm guessing that was because of the extra velocity.
 
I’ve been reading more into air gun competitions. It’s pretty cool stuff! I guess I always kind of avoided airgun sports because I wanted my air rifle to be a bridge to real fire arms instead of air gun competitions but this is very interesting. A lot of shooting fundamentals that I could practice in airgun sports. A lot of my cousins have recommended I start hunting small game with my air rifle, which I might try (I’ve never hunted before and don’t know what to do with the game) But summer is around the corner for me and I’m gonna spend a lot more time shooting!
 
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