Precision airgunning has a way of pulling people in slowly, almost quietly, before turning into something much bigger. It doesn’t start in stadiums or training centers. It starts where most authentic outdoor pursuits begin—in the overlooked corners of daily life. Garages packed with benches and tools, basements turned into makeshift ranges, farm fields behind the house, and quiet local clubs where a few regulars gather every weekend to chase the smallest version of perfection there is. It’s a world driven by curiosity and calibration more than spectacle, and it tends to attract the kind of people who take small details seriously and understand the reward in mastering something few people truly appreciate.
It was against that backdrop that the Karma Red Panda had one of the most impressive two-week runs in recent memory. Only a week after I brought home the Extreme Benchrest 2025 title from the deserts of Arizona, another major event kicked off on the opposite side of the country: the Central Massachusetts Airgun Challenge (CMAC). As I flew home with the EBR trophy still settling into its place emotionally, the entire Saber Tactical / Karma Airguns team immediately turned their attention east. We weren’t watching CMAC to see if the Panda could win again—we already knew what the rifle was capable of. Instead, we watched out of the same quiet expectation you feel when a well-tuned rifle sends a pellet exactly where it should go. And sure enough, the Panda delivered a second championship in seven days. Two wildly different climates, two elite competitive fields, and two venues with nothing in common except that the Red Panda topped both podiums.
This time, it was JR Schinpike carrying the rifle to victory. His name might not have been the obvious headliner before the event, but after CMAC, it was clear that JR had stepped into the same circle of shooters who know how to get the most out of their equipment. The win wasn’t a one-off. It was proof of something we’d been seeing for a long time: when the Panda is tuned well and paired with a shooter who understands the value of consistency, it becomes one of the most dependable competitive platforms available.
The Making of a Modern Benchmark
Long before JR became the center of attention at CMAC, the Karma Red Panda had been quietly building what can only be described as a modern dynasty in competitive airgunning.
Since its release, the rifle has shown up in finals at nearly every major event in the country: RMAC, EBR, CMAC, the Pyramid Cup, and countless regional matches where local shooters have started using it to push their personal bests further than ever before.
Every time the rifle has entered a new environment, it has proven itself again. It racks up Top 10 finishes with the same frequency that some rifles merely participate, and it has secured podium after podium in a way that makes it difficult to ignore.
At the center of that record is Thayne Simmons, whose run of podium finishes with the Red Panda has fundamentally changed the expectations of what consistent shooting looks like. But what makes the rifle truly special is that its success isn’t limited to the Thaynes of the world. Shooters in the Sportsman Division, guys competing for the first time, shooters in their fifties and sixties getting into the sport later in life—all of them have found a reliable path to competitive performance through the Panda. It’s a rifle that rewards deliberate shooters and curious minds, the kind of people who enjoy working through a problem until the solution becomes obvious in the results.
Which brings us back to JR.
A Toolmaker in Search of Precision
JR didn’t arrive at the CMAC line with decades of professional shooting under his belt. His roots came from something arguably more useful in the world of competitive airguns: a lifelong career built on mechanical precision. His family ran a tool company producing medical-grade plastic components, and JR worked as a mold maker—a job where tolerances measured in thousandths of an inch aren’t impressive; they’re expected. He lived his career in the space where tiny inconsistencies aren’t inconveniences, but unacceptable failures.
When he retired, he found himself with more free time than he was comfortable with and a mind that needed something to work on. He tried returning to competitive archery but eventually shifted to centerfire rifle shooting. That pursuit ran into the modern obstacles that many shooters know too well—component shortages, rising costs, and the never-ending effort required to produce reliable ammunition. The appeal of airguns grew from that frustration, offering a way to chase precision without the overhead of reloading.
“When I retired I needed something to do,” JR told me. “But boy… it turned into a rabbit hole that goes to China.”
Finding His Way Into PCPs
His first serious PCP was a Benjamin Marauder Field and Target rifle. From there, he upgraded to a Daystate Red Wolf, and soon found himself running an FX Impact—a rifle that carried him into his first finals appearance at RMAC. That event would prove to be the turning point. During the finals, JR saw something new sitting in the rack: a Karma Red Panda prototype being run by PJ Clarke. When JR walked over between relays and saw PJ’s card, the decision to switch platforms was made instantly.
“During the finals, that’s when they were testing the Red Panda,” JR said. “I was just amazed at PJ’s card.”
He got home, placed the call, and became one of the first shooters outside the company to own a production Red Panda.
“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful gun,” he said. “I had to do a lot of learning with it, and I’m still learning with it.”
That learning curve paid off quickly, yielding a long list of strong finishes—local match wins, finals appearances at the Pyramid Cup, and a top placement in the RMAC Sportsman Division. CMAC would be the moment that tied it all together.
Interestingly, JR still shoots the original Panda he purchased years ago. He owns the full update kit to convert his rifle into the 2025 edition, but after talking with Donny Du at RMAC and hearing, “Don’t you dare change that gun,” JR decided not to touch anything. His reasoning was simple: the rifle was working, and in a sport where consistency is currency, making unnecessary changes can be a costly mistake.
“I’ve been doing so good with it, I just haven’t had the heart to change it over.”
Solving the Velocity Puzzle
In the months leading up to CMAC, JR typically ran his Panda in the 940–945 fps range. The rifle shot well there—well enough that he was accustomed to seeing 10 fps extreme spreads and standard deviations between 1.5 and 1.8. For most shooters, those numbers are more than acceptable. But he kept noticing a trend that bothered him.
“I always kind of fell apart when I had no wind,” he said.
That’s not a statement you hear often. Most shooters fear wind. JR feared the lack of it.
At CMAC, early relays were shot in dead-calm air, and those conditions exposed exactly what he’d been sensing. His cards were solid, but not the kind that would win a match with the level of competition on the line. Somewhere between those early relays and the latter rounds, JR made a decision that would define his performance—he slowed the rifle down to 930 fps.
“Boy… she turned into a tack driver.”
What the card told him visually, the chronograph confirmed scientifically. His FX True Ballistics Chronograph showed a 5 fps extreme spread over 44 shots. His standard deviation dropped to 0.9 fps. Numbers like that don’t happen by accident. They happen when a rifle’s mechanical systems fall into perfect balance and the shooter is smart enough to recognize the moment.
“When I saw that 930 tune with only a 5 foot spread and a .9 SD,” JR said, “I knew I had found the holy grail of tunes for my airgun.”
That card—the one built on that perfect tune—won him CMAC.
A Shared Breakthrough Across Two Coasts
What stood out to me in my conversation with JR was how closely his tuning experience paralleled my own during EBR 2025. This past year was the first time I intentionally tuned velocity between cards—speeding up or slowing down the rifle as the wind conditions shifted.
For years I avoided making changes mid-event, believing the risk outweighed the benefit. But modern airguns are now consistent and predictable enough that thoughtful adjustments actually enhance stability instead of undermining it.
JR and I found ourselves laughing during the interview because we had arrived at the same conclusion independently: in modern benchrest, tuning on the fly is not only viable, it’s becoming necessary.
The Adjustable Transfer Port: An Overlooked Advantage
A significant part of JR’s success came from understanding—and using—the Panda’s adjustable transfer port. Many of today’s airgun platforms have moved away from adjustable ports, favoring simplified designs that cater to casual shooters. But in competitive shooting, “simple” often means “limited.”
Inside a PCP rifle, three forces define how the valve behaves: the regulator pressure that sits behind the valve, the hammer spring tension that strikes it open, and the natural dwell of the valve as it cycles. When these elements fall into balance, the rifle enters what shooters call a “velocity tune,” a state where the valve opens and closes with highly consistent timing for small velocity spreads. It’s a fragile equilibrium, and once it’s found, many shooters choose not to disturb it.
This is where the adjustable transfer port becomes invaluable. Instead of changing hammer tension or regulator pressure—both of which alter valve timing—JR adjusted the transfer port. By opening or choking airflow after the valve’s cycle, he controlled velocity without disturbing the balance of the actual valving system.
“When the wind died, I slowed it down to 930 using the adjustable transfer port,” JR said. “I didn’t change the hammer spring. I didn’t change the regulator.”
He understood that altering the core tune would risk throwing off the rifle’s velocity spread. Instead, he controlled the only variable that could be changed safely: the volume of air flowing from the valve to the barrel. It was the right decision, and it paid off.
Seeing the Shot in Numbers: The True Ballistics Advantage
JR’s tuning philosophy relies heavily on the FX True Ballistics Chronograph—a tool that has changed the way serious shooters understand their rifles. Traditional chronographs give a single data point at the muzzle. The True Ballistics Chronograph gives the entire story by capturing velocity at multiple points downrange and calculating real-time ballistic coefficient (BC). That BC measurement has become one of the most important metrics in competition because it reflects how well the pellet holds energy and stability under real conditions.
JR uses the TBC the same way I do: as a full-cycle feedback loop. Every micro-adjustment, from a transfer port tweak to a change in pellet lot number, shows up immediately in the chrono’s readings.
“I want to see what it is doing all the time,” he told me. “When I turn this knob, that chrono tells me exactly what the effects were.”
Years ago, when I first saw Frederick Axelsson walking the RMAC line with a prototype of the device, it looked like he was filming shooters with a tablet. He wasn’t. He was reading BC as pellets traveled downrange, watching drag profiles in real time. At the time, it felt like a glimpse of the future. Today, it is the future.
When JR saw that 930 fps tune produce a 5 fps extreme spread and a 0.9 standard deviation, the TBC didn’t just confirm the tune—it revealed the underlying aerodynamic efficiency that made his rifle feel so locked-in on paper.
Looking Ahead to 2026
JR already has his eyes on the future. He plans to return to RMAC, continue shooting the Pyramid Cup, and defend his CMAC title if the event runs again. But his focus isn’t just on trophies. What keeps him coming back is the community around competitive airgunning. The stories he shared about other shooters helping him troubleshoot, refine his tune, and explore new ideas reflect the side of the sport many people don’t see.
“The camaraderie… it’s unbelievable,” he said. “If someone’s having a problem, there’s someone right there offering help. This sport has some of the best people I’ve ever met.”
It’s Never Too Late to Start Something New
Before we ended the conversation, JR and I talked about age and experience in competitive shooting. I told him I’ll be turning 50 soon, and yet I still feel like I’m in the early stages of learning this sport. He’s 57, and only now stepping into the competitive prime of his airgunning career.
“You can’t be too old to learn,” he said. “This benchrest shooting keeps my mind going.”
That’s the real beauty of competitive airgunning. It’s a discipline built on patience, awareness, and curiosity—traits that only sharpen with age. Whether you’re an experienced shooter looking for a new challenge or someone who simply appreciates the mechanics behind precision, this sport offers something worth exploring.
If you’ve ever thought about giving it a shot, there’s no better time than right now. Bring whatever rifle you have, show up at a local match, ask questions, and give yourself the freedom to learn. The airgun community is ready to welcome you, help you, and cheer you on.
In this sport, you’re never too late and never too old to start pursuing precision.
Your bench is waiting.
