Now that the Daisy 853 has been tidied up and repaired, it's time to take it out shooting.

Check out part 1 and part 2 of this series

On the menu for the day was a pretty straightforward 3-part test. First and foremost - make sure this air rifle can shoot. That would be accomplished during the pellet testing phase, in which I would try to find which of 3 pellets had the tightest group size. With the rifle in working order and the pellets selected, I'd move on to penetration tests. 

Preparation

Preparation involved oiling the pump filter/o-ring. Just drop light oil onto the ring until it's saturated. Should last about 1000 shots before it needs to be re-oiled.

Next up was swapping the iron sights for a scope. I left the front sight on, but took the rear sight off to free up the 11mm rail. I have some old rings that will fit the rail, and a new scope to throw onto the rifle. Air guns are supposed to be pretty tough on scopes due to the recoil, but I was confident this scope would survive without issue.

Setup

The setup is simple: a paper target at 10 meters, 3 varieties of pellets, the new Sporter 3-12 scope, and a mix of objects to shoot.

.177 cal (4.5mm) Pellets:

• H&N Terminator, 0.47g (7.25gr)
• Stoeger X-Match, 0.53g (8.18gr)
• Vogel Merlin Match Plus, .53g (8.18gr)

The Daisy 853 puts out a pellet with around 4 foot-pounds of energy. It's not a lot, but enough to sting if it hits you. It can put a hole through a light can, punch through a few sheets of cardboard, and possibly even crack a glass bottle. I didn't bring the chrono to test the muzzle velocity, but the pellets are small and light enough that it may not have picked up the shots regardless. 

Pellet Testing

Group testing was first on the slate. In order, I tested the H&N Terminator, Stoeger, and Merlin. The Terminator pellets won by a good margin with group sizes half of the other two. Stoeger had a broad spread of 2" at 10m, while Merlin patterned relatively vertically. None of the groups had the legendary precision that air rifles have become known for, so more testing on other pellets will be needed in the future. 

For this stage, there was no need to zero the scope. I just wanted to hold the same spot to see how the pellets grouped. With the H&N Terminator pellets selected for stage 2, I dialed the elevation to get the scope right on the money at 10m.

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing could commence once the pellets were selected and the scope dialed in. The .177 cal pellets were able to puncture a soda can and thin slat of wood. The pellet was captured by a thicker piece of wood (1/2"), completely blocked by a section of PVC pipe, and bounced off a rolling ground target. The shotgun shell survived, but hopped pretty far into the air.

It would appear that most materials can stop pellets from the Daisy, especially if greater than 1/4" in thickness. The 853 is a cordless hole-puncher, and a very fun one to use.