I have had the opportunity to shoot a Beeman R9 air rifle recently. The R9 is a break barrel gun that is rated at 1025 f.p.s. and 16 flbs. in .177 caliber. The gun I had was purchased from Beeman to be used in a Friends of the NRA fund raising banquet. It came with Select Barrel Angle and Select Groups, both of which I would suggest be purchased with any break barrel gun. The gun wieghts slightly over 7 lbs. without the scope.
I new this was going to be an extraordinary gun when I shot at a 2 x 3 in. piece of metal that I have hanging from a tree at 55 yards. I hit that metal target nearly every time (the other times I jerked the trigger). I proceeded to mount a Bushnell 3-9X air rifle scope that Bushnell graciously donated to the FNRA banquet. After sighting in at 25, 40, and 50 yards I started to see how the gun grouped with a scope. The trigger was set at the default factory setting which took me some time to get used to. I was able to get consistent 1/2" groups at 25 yards with some groups where all the shots were touching. At 50 yards I kept 1" groups rather easily. I have another 1 x 2 in. metal target on that tree at 55 yards. I got rather bored shooting at that as it seemed to be too easy after a while.
I performed all of this shooting from a seated position with the gun resting across my arms (typical Field Target shooting position for me). I would expect that the groups would come down after the gun breaks in (about 1500 rounds they tell me). This would bring the R9 into the same areana as my HW97 fixed barrel Field Target match gun. With it, I am able to shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yards.
I hope to have more information on this incredible air rifle. I am going to purchase a R9 for hunting purposes. For further information about this or any other airgun, please call Beeman Precision Arms at 800-227-2744 or contact me at 407-951-3736. I can be emailed at harris.btroyer@ic1d.harris.com.
Good bye and good shooting.
To learn more about adult airgunning, check out the American Airguns Web Page