Seneca Dragonfly @ 50 yds

[@JohnLong-ch1mc]

Great shooting. One thing that happened with my Dragonfly was the nut at the end of the barrel that protects the threads on the moderator connection. That nut started getting loose and causing my shots to go all over the place. You my check that. I also saw that happened on to someone on another review that I watched.

[@airgunsofalaska]

That piece also worked loose on mine the first night I was shooting it on Friday. It’s definitely tight, I even checked it yesterday.

[@gmanneod8085]

I forgot about my comment interaction with PJ on Wisconsin Airgunner YT channel. He found the Dragon Fly MKII seemed to like harder pellets at longer distances past 20 yards. The Crosman Domed 14.3g were good at 45y with 11 pumps. His summary on the YT short was use harder pellets in the Dragonfly. Could be why you had some success with the Crosman and H&N 18's. If you have H&N 15 domed pellets you can try those. He also did some troubleshooting in the video. Check for the adaptor getting loose? He said because of the lower speeds compared to PCP's the wind push the pellets around easier.

[@airgunsofalaska]

I think I watched that same video last night.👍 The first day I shot mine the adapter came loose as well. This is so weird, in the second video the accuracy just went to crap. I figured cleaning the barrel would cure the issue so I’m both confused and frustrated why it’s not shooting anywhere near as good as it did initially? I just need to take a break from it. My enthusiasm to troubleshoot yet another finicky airgun simply isn’t there.

[@airgunsofalaska]

This morning, part of me started thinking I should just focus on buying and collecting vintage guns as my track record with new ones has been mostly disappointing so far. Another part of me wants to just mod out my 362 as I really enjoy shooting it.

[@gmanneod8085]

@@airgunsofalaska I can understand that. Before you buy your next air rifle I would check to make sure that the you're buying one that is not picky. There seems to be two classes regarding barrels. Pellet picky and anion pellet picky.

[@MrJflagel17]

I really like my Dragonfly. I have had no issues at all and it shoots amazing groups with Crosman pointed dime to quarter size (depending on my shooting) at about 10 yards across basement. Very happy with it. I put a Buck Rail silencer on it and its quiet. 6 pumps is usually all I do. Think you may have gotten a bad one. Sounds like you are just not happy with it, you can send it to me. 😊

[@airgunsofalaska]

Ha ha! I’m going to give my arms a break and test it out at shorter distances to see if it just sucks for long distance shooting or if something has come out of alignment?

[@Hook-set_Outdoors]

​@@airgunsofalaskaI'd have to say I agree with this comment, I've only had mine for a week, but shooting the 18 grain barracudas at 40 I can cover them with a quarter and just yesterday I made an 80 yard shot(stretching it too far I know) on a pest bird. And mine is a refurb from Pyramid Air lol

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@Hook-set_Outdoors It’d be cool to have you make a video showing you shoot the gun in real time at 40 yds. My experience with the .22 cal version of the gun has proven it to be inherently inaccurate past 35 yds. The barrel lacks support to be accurate with a scope.

[@Beesa10]

I commented on your other video without realizing you already tried the things I suggested eg pull patches through to clean the barrel, try a selection of pellets. It may be that particular rifle just isn't ever going to be a tack driver perhaps due to the quality of the barrel and internals, maybe better for shooting cans at 30yd, plinking with the open sights and with fewer pumps kind of thing. Shooting airguns in rain and wind always adds a significant challenge so at 50yd getting ~50% hits on those little ram silhouettes with a pumper after shooting it for two hours is pretty good going.

[@precisionrodentcontrol_PRC]

Some airgunning days are frustrating, disappointing. Makes it that much better once it all comes together! 💥🐀🔨

[@airgunsofalaska]

Yeah 😕. This gun has been kinda funny, I started off so excited and then ended the weekend kinda disappointed. Perhaps some different pellets will group better at longer distances?

[@precisionrodentcontrol_PRC]

@@airgunsofalaska without a chronograph it’s hard to say. A $50 chronograph and half hour (2 hours 😂) of testing would tell you a lot before you get to specific pellet choice. Such as, what number of pumps produces acceptable energy and smallest extreme spread. Domed for sure at 50. I have decent results with JSB RS 13.43 at 50 yards with my crosman pumpers, no wind. Most these pumpers are low power, in general I don’t think they have the oomph to stabilize heavy (18+ gr.) pellets out to 50 yards but IDK 🤷‍♂️

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@precisionrodentcontrol_PRC In all honesty I think the Dragonfly is just a piece of shit.

[@airgunsofalaska]

Sorry, that was good advice. I’m just frustrated with not only the accuracy issues but the terrible pumping mechanism. I’m having regrets I ever bought the dumb thing.

[@precisionrodentcontrol_PRC]

@@airgunsofalaska haha! I think you saved me $200 and a headache, I’ll be removing the dragonfly from my wish list. So happy to see you picked up a Benjamin 397, you needed a win after the Dragonfly and Magfire 😂

[@Relaxbadkneeadventures]

Rain ? come to 🇳🇱 30 degrees celcius here 😉👍 nice video again

[@airgunsofalaska]

86°F what! No thanks, that’s too hot for me. 😀 Looks like I need to buy some different pellets to see if I can find something that shoots consistently in this gun. I have a sneaking suspicion that with a better trigger on my 362, I could shoot more accurately and consistently at 50 yds with that gun over this Dragonfly.

[@dtm6190]

I get the best accuracy with 14.66 grain H&N Field Target Trophy pellets. I installed a Buck Rail moderator that tensioned the barrel when installed and I get a very quiet and accurate gun. I disassembled the pump, cleaned and lubed it with pellgun oil. The result is much easier pumping and with 10 pumps I'm getting 775 feet per second with 19.55 foot pounds of energy. Good Luck!

[@davidyummus6259]

What model Buckrail Moderator did you buy ?

[@airgunsofalaska]

@davidyummus6259 I never installed a moderator on the Dragonfly. I did try one out on my Benjamin Maximus.

[@peteralexben]

if you got the snowpeak pcp pr 900 w gen 2 (diana) and want to pump .it is handpump friendly (100 cc cilinder )you get 12 shots at full power 290 ms in 22 ,if no restriction by law ) .

[@airgunsofalaska]

I just looked that gun up. Right now at this moment I don’t ever want to buy anymore Chinese made guns. I just finished rewatching a bunch of Dragonfly MK2 videos and noted most everyone was only shooting to 25 yds. Yay. 🫤 Of course it shoots well at 20-25 yds. Many of the guns in my collection shoot well at that short of a range. I’m just a bit frustrated with it today. That’s interesting to read the PCP version would get 12 shots per charge. I’d not care for that. I’m learning more and more what gun types I like and what type of shooting I’m gravitating towards.

[@peteralexben]

@@airgunsofalaska .there are many guns out there that are rebranded china guns .i would not buy a pumper these days .only if it could shoot a 100ftpound energy Back up gun..a good springer is better .and pcp even more . Ik got many brands .after 50 years airgunning .anschutz walther fwb diana weihrauch fx hatsan and spa .with the china guns .its the price .and that is what you get .but a litlle tuning and getting some isseus correct .they shoot good

[@airgunsofalaska]

I’ve had pretty much all bad experiences with rebranded China made guns. I hear what you are saying about springers and PCP’s, I have those too in my collection. Lately I’ve just been into pneumatics for what I’ve been doing. Perhaps I’m finding the limits for the price range I like and just need to come to that realization? What I’ve found is I don’t tend to enjoy expensive airguns as much as I like lower priced guns. I just looked up the cost of an aftermarket trigger for my 362… around $100! As much as that whole gun cost brand new. 😂🙄 I can’t justify that… at least not right now. Might be time to switch things up and shoot my model 34 Diana again.

[@peteralexben]

@@airgunsofalaska i do like the cheaper guns .and make them better , i got 2 900 with regulator(177 and 22 ) orginal altaros and a huma ) and did some afterwork on it ,they shoot better then the best springers (they most best at 16 joule ) but i shoot at full speed .with pellets with the 900 serie .

[@Alex-oy6wb]

The Umarex Notos is Chinese rebranded Artermis/Snowpeak) and I enjoy it more than the 362 and Dragonfly. Only the 880 and 901 are enjoyed as much as my Notos. Prob because they are easy to pump, but accuracy falls at 20+ yards (compared to the Notos)

[@kevinnielsen1356]

The point of owning a pumper is the ease of power variability. Pumpers are ideal for low power indoor shooting. I shoot mine at 30meters indoors using only 1 pump, ideal and accurate. Just because a pumper is capable of 15 pumps doesn't mean it's meant to be used that way. If one is looking to shoot high power, then a springer/gas piston, or a pcp is a far better choice. My Diana Stormrider is essentially the same rifle in pcp format.

[@airgunsofalaska]

Having to pump this gun up almost twice as much as a Crosman 362 for full power at 50 yds was a total drag. I love pneumatic guns. Just not this one. Had the big KZbin channels not misrepresented what this gun was capable of I’d not have been so critical of it. It didn’t live up to the hype.

[@kevinnielsen1356]

@@airgunsofalaska Shooting pumpers at full power is missing the best feature of pumpers, low power performance. If hi power (for an airgun) is desired, shoot a pcp or a springer/gas gun. The Dragonfly has double the power with two pumps than a Daisy 901 with 2 pumps. Your beef is with your fellow utubers not with Diana or Snowpeak. The Dragonfly is my favorite indoor rifle. For outdoors I have a Stormryder, same rifle in pcp.

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@kevinnielsen1356 for your use than it sounds like you’ll not see the shortcomings of the Dragonfly. None of those shortcomings were mentioned in the big YT channel reviews. All the guns and things shown on my channel are either already owned by me or purchased by me. I don’t like wasting my own money and that’s exactly what I did with the Dragonfly. That Chinese made junk show is long gone, I returned it for a full refund and bought a Benjamin 397S instead. The 397S is head and shoulders more accurate and consistent at 50 yds than the Dragonfly. I routinely shoot silhouettes at 6 pumps with my 397S at 50 yds. I also own and shoot PCP’s, springers, 1 gas ram gun and CO2. I prefer pumpers and the Dragonfly didn’t live up to the hype. Comparing a Dragonfly to a $68 Daisy 901 for indoor shooting seems odd. What I found to be funny was my ‘86 Daisy 880 was just as accurate at 20 yds as the Dragonfly. Why spend $200 for a Dragonfly to shoot short distances with the same accuracy as a well used, $10 garage sale Daisy?

[@kevinnielsen1356]

@@airgunsofalaska Chinese manufacturers are world class and I am finding you to be a racist ass

[@yoitired]

I'm not a fan of the o ring in the breech I can feel the pellet squishing its way in. An idea, notice the Dragonfly has the end of its barrel fastened to the tube where as the Stormrider is free floated after the first barrel band, maybe Diana figured something out that Seneca didn't. I do think it should be working better, I haven't tested the accuracy on mine but it just smacks anything I aim at with any pellet.

[@airgunsofalaska]

I was wondering if that brace at the end of the barrel might be causing an issue? Now that I have likely a couple hundred pellets through it I’ve noticed it doesn’t always feed a pellet smoothly into the breech. The flat nose pellets are the most apt to catch on something. Perhaps it’s malforming every third pellet & causing problems?

[@yoitired]

@That Alaska Guy - Airguns I didn't think of that, but if I can squish a pellet with my fingers an oring should be able to too. Actually now that you mention it the only pellets mine didn't like were wadcutters, I had to pull out the tray and do a finger fishhook to get them in, and then they shot all over the place. They were the kind with grooves in the outer skirt, and roundnoses with the grooves are a little sticky too. Yeah that oring in the breech seems finicky. Yeah I mean, is it safe to assume that the barrel, breech and trigger on the Dragonfly and Stormrider come from the same maker? And if mine is as good as I think it is🙃that must mean Seneca just doesn't know how to put them together as well. Either that or scope issues, I'm just using irons and haven't touched them from the factory cus they were right on. I had a tiny suspicion that pump might not be as good as they say, maybe the other guys on YT just don't want to admit they're not really happy with it and that it's not a step forward.

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@yoitired I’ve been wondering if all the extra pumping forces from shot to shot and the linkage pivoting further down the air tube is causing things to more around and affect the barrel?

[@yoitired]

@@airgunsofalaska Hm maybe, I know for a $200 gun it makes me a little nervous how precariously the barrel hangs, but the 362 is fastened even less and seems to be okay.

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@yoitired once I get some ambition to mess with the Dragonfly again I’m going to check the tightness of the barrel grub screws to see if something worked loose? Right now I don’t want to waste any more time and effort on it.

[@johnndavis7647]

I have a theory thst each brand and weight of pellet will be most accurate with a certain number of pumps. I hope to try my Crossman 140 with 5 pumps, 6, 7 etc until i find the smallest 21 yard group. Then try other brands of pellets to see if there is a difference. Thanks, for the video

[@airgunsofalaska]

Long story short I could never get this Dragonfly to shoot consistently accurately at 50 yds. I agree that some guns prefer particular pellets and certain pellets work better at different ranges. Than there are other airguns that are not pellet picky and just shoot well regardless of the pellet and range.

[@scotthanson4200]

have you tried 30 yards using open sights if good at 30 yards try 50 yards. have you tried rws pellets or gamo pellets. i have a crosman 1400 pumper from early 70s great condition and it was picky with pellets but it really likes the daisy pointed field pellets .22 cal for some reason so l just shoot those with this gun.

[@airgunsofalaska]

I just tried out what you suggested and shot with open sights at 20, 35 and 50 yds. It shot extremely well out to 50 yds. I used Crosman Premier HP’s. I’m now throughly puzzled? How does it shoot accurately and consistently at 50 yds with iron sights but worse with a scope?

[@scotthanson4200]

@@airgunsofalaska nice job with open sight shooting which is always reliable. l pretty much love shooting open sights. the problem with scopes is that they are sensitive always have to baby sit the scope mountings and the inside hairs move very slightly l dont trust scopes. now if l was shooting 100 yards or something with a firearm at small target then would carefully dial in the scope and l would expect dime size groups using a quality scope. but as far as air gunning l always go open sights. to many people now days always think they have to put a scope on there gun. for me l dont trust them mostly on a springer air gun. they always come with excellent open sights anyways but l think the problem with the dragonfly is the scope. scopes always have to be baby sitting them. internal crosshairs move. plus the scopes make the gun more heavy weight and they get slighly hit out in the field and your aim is all off. in the old days most guns were used open sights its a better skill to learn. once you craft using open sights your now a really good marksman.

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@scotthanson4200 thank you for your advice! I’m presently shooting it at 50 yds with a different, known to be good scope off my Air King and seeing the same, inconsistent groups I did before. It’s very frustrating.

[@gmanneod8085]

Nice shooting for a 2 Benjamin air rifle. There are lots of discussion threads on accuracy for the Mk 2 on the forums at airgun nation, airgun warriors, and Tom Gaylord has some great stuff at PA too. These inexpensive pumpers are "usually good for 30-35y. If you get a really good barrel you may have consistency at 50+y.

[@airgunsofalaska]

I was a huge forum guy with my motor sports hobbies. I was disappointed when they started falling away in popularity as people migrated to Facebook groups which are garbage. Forums preserve info where everything gets lost on FB, plus that company is a privacy stealing piece of trash. Sounds like I need to Google around for some forum posts. In rewatching Dragonfly videos last night I think I understand why few showed the gun shooting out past 20-25 yds. Or they don’t present anything to scale for their groups. Grrrrr 🤬, seems like so many channels are sponsored by someone or are hoping to get free sh!t to test they don’t present the whole story or negative aspects.

[@gmanneod8085]

@@airgunsofalaska The Dragon fly is a pumper version of the Stormrider. An extra barrel band stopped the barrel droop and harmonics and made the Stromrider a much more accurate at longer distances. Maybe someone will make a barrel band to fix the Dragon fly?

[@icewaterslim7260]

Chronos are showing around a 25 to 35 fps difference in the last 5 pumps of the .22 cal. depending on ammo. That's not much for the xtra effort.

[@airgunsofalaska]

Yeah, that’s not be worth the extra effort at all. The stupid thing should’ve been set up for a 10 pump max like most every other pneumatic in the world.

[@jimstewart5008]

I wonder if it is something lose, barrel perhaps, I think you should be able to get better accuracy, just based on the few pumpers I have shot.

[@airgunsofalaska]

I think something worked loose or came out of alignment. I kept help but think all the banging around from twice as many pumps per shot is helping anything with the gun. The pump linkage is pretty flimsy.

[@jimstewart5008]

@@airgunsofalaska I often wished when people did a review of a pumper or springer they would show the cocking linkage. As you know not all are created equal. You might be on to something there. I was so interested in these. Thanks for the reviews keep us updated.

[@staffordboy7824]

I'm definitely spoilt by my HW97k, i still haven't found a pellet that isn't accurate & consistent !

[@airgunsofalaska]

Right?! I often can’t help but have my frustration show through about different guns. My Diana model 34 shoots everything well. I like the aspect of, “it’s not the gun, it’s me” causing inconsistent results. I know some guys really enjoy the process of tuning, testing, troubleshooting and discovering the perfect pellet. I’m finding I’m not that guy. By virtue of me creating this channel, I’m likely more into airguns than the average shooter but I’ve got my limits of patience. This gun is now kinda pissing me off. 😐

[@PedroGonzalez-yr7nw]

Exercise device...I'm needing to do the exercises...

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@PedroGonzalez-yr7nw I guess?! 😂🤣 A guy would be way better off with the Mk1 or a Benjamin as it’s way fewer pumps even though they take more effort.

[@MarcIsTheAnswer]

The hermit crab joke, lol. 🤣😂

[@airgunsofalaska]

Ha ha! 😄👍

[@WalnutandSteel]

Brake clean is the wonder g Drug!

[@airgunsofalaska]

Haha! I made sure to push the tube down past the seal before I sprayed. I think it works great.

[@Relaxbadkneeadventures]

😉👍

[@tammynicodemus6463]

I feel your pain spend money on a air rifle and try all to make the shot.and it is just poop . I guess it's what you pay for and what the manufacturer gave you . Not what we expected.

[@airgunsofalaska]

Fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund from Amazon. Now Pyramid Air can eat it. Perhaps they should quit supporting the making shill videos to sell more product.

[@tammynicodemus6463]

@@airgunsofalaska I'm gun shy I would like to make a purchase of an air rifle that would be respectful of the price.pcp is a large grasp.will it be worth the money.can I make a shot that I want?

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@tammynicodemus6463 Are you wanting a PCP or a pneumatic? The pneumatics are nice as all you need are pellets after the purchase and decent quality guns last for years and years. I’m still shooting my 1981 Crosman 760 that I got brand new as a kid and it was a department store gun. I can’t recommend the Dragonfly as mine had parts falling off it and it wasn’t accurate enough. I’d recommend looking at a Benjamin 392 or 397 for a pneumatic. But, the new ones are very awkward to shoot with iron sights. The Crosman 362 is also a good pneumatic but make sure to clean the barrel for the best accuracy. For PCP’s they are nice and accurate but expensive and require at least a hand pump which is additional cost. I’m waiting for Crosman to release the 3677 as I think it’ll be a good value. There are other PCP’s that are in the $200 price range (gun only) but they are made in China and I’ve not had good experiences with Chinese made guns from various brands in that price range. I’d rather wait to see what Crosman/Benjamin brings out than buy one of those.

[@airgunsofalaska]

@@tammynicodemus6463 OMG! I totally forgot about the Crosman 1377 or 1322 pneumatics. They are awesome. They are decent priced, great quality, have steel frames and real barrels, they are easy to pump up, accurate, and have good power. You can buy an accessory stock to make it into a carbine, they work really well for back yard shooting. They’ll teach you out to shoot a handgun well and are fun as a carbine.