Down the rabbit hole

Paper tear may also be the target not held firm against the backing board.
Looks like from top pic that it's only held on by couple of pegs and is paper.

This is how to read your shots

Blue is your group, red are what we call fliers (generally caused by a damaged pellet) or a poor shot or form.

The purple arrows point to the paper tear I was talking about earlier and most likely caused by a off balance pellet.



Generally with myself. If I do a poor shot it's because I've flinched or closed my eyes when I've taken the shot.

Edited by Billbobnz - 05 Feb 2023 at 7:25am

Do you have a starp across the back of the rifle? Do you use the front strap?
Have you tried differnt pellets?
What pellets are you using?
How big are the groups?
Definitely a lot better than the last target.

Yes

Before you do, be aware that a lot of ppl don't think you should use cleaning rods in air rifles and pull throughs are thier choice.
Some ppl say you don't clean an air rifle barrel till it's accuracy goes.
After you clean it will will need to fire a 20 odd shots through it to relead the barrel (that's how many I do)
You can look up cleaning air rifle barrels on Web. Don't just read one, you need to read a few as there are a few differnt reasons why people think differnt things.
I'll be interested to see what the twist rate is on your rifle. Check it's not on barrel, but I think that's more cartridge rifles.
Also the pellets out of air rifles are can fly strait without rifling thier shape is very stable, however the twist helps to over come the air making the pellet unstable as it pushes past as it leaves the barrel. Has other advantages in flight too. If your rifle has strait rifling by some wierd chance I'd think about changing barrels.
Its something for ball shot which is a totally differnt dynamic for flight.

I've also been looking at strait rifling it's a shotgun thing. Also used in muzzle loaders that are shooting ball. Stops uneven pressure in on ball in muzzle loader and supposedly tightens shot out of a shot gun.
It is not a rifle thing.Good to see you looking up stuff cuterabbit.
Youll need to be more specific in your searches.
Wikipedia is OK but bit general.

https://youtu.be/nJS3tb01NU0