One interest in shooting since i was a youth has always been long range shooting. The challenge of hitting things far out intrigues me. Since i shoot high powered rifles, I've made a lot of nice 500 and 600 yard shots on various targets. Three big differences today between powder burners and airguns is BC of projectiles, power, and accuracy at distance. There are others for sure such as projectile propellant (gunpowder vs compressed air) but i want to discuss the 1st three. While an airgun will always be down on power compared to a powder burner, airguns can be made to be accurate and they can shoot projectiles made of lead that closely resemble a sleek high BC powder burner bullet. And the High BC combined with the correct twist rate can help airguns to shoot far and still be accurate.
Lets take a look at some of the bullets I cast that I have used and some that i currently use:
These .308's have a BC of .199
These .257's have a BC of .129
Various .457 bullets that are shot out of airguns I have owned
A couple of cast .308 airgun bullet
This 100 gr Spitzer has a BC of .221
By using cast bullets in airguns, we extend the range of the gun vs using the same airgun that shoots Diablo pellets. But let it be known, Diablo pellets in the right gun can be deadly accurate out just past 100 yards and in the right conditions. We also, by casting our own bullets, save money vs what it cost to shoot powder burners in today's economy.
M.O.A.:
Lets talk MOA for just a moment before we get to the video. MOA is MOA no matter the gun or projectile used. MOA is general terms is simply 1" at 100 yards, 2" at 200 yards, and 3" at 300 yards and so on. For anyone who doesn't understand MOA, i would suggest over all that you google the term and get to understand it fully. But, for my particular shoot at 446 yards, using G7 ballistics program, with a 75 yard zero the 100 gr Spitzer would drop 452" from the 75 yard mark all the way out to 450 yards! My scope would need 110 MOA to compensate for the 452" of drop over that distance. I explain in the video how I compensated for it but, the brief explanation above simply shows a person what kind of knowledge it takes to accurately place bullets on target at extreme distances.
TD257:
This is one of my long range airguns called the TD257. Many might ask, what is TD257? Well, its simple. The T stands for Talon. The D is half a word from ConDor and the 257 designates the caliber of the gun. So what is Talon and what is Condor? Again, easy! There is a airgun manufacturer in Texas called Airforce. In their line of guns they have 1 model called the Airforce Talon and another model called the Airforce Condor. To make this story shorter, my gun is a Talon frame with a Condor valve (much more powerful valve than the Talon line of guns) and is in .257 caliber hence the name, TD257. The gun was custom built by Doug Noble (his contact info is in the video credits) and he is a machinist. Its currently set up to shoot the Lyman 257420 74 gr bullets at 1000+ fps and 100+ gr bullets at about 890 FPS for roughly 166 and 180 FPE! The barrel is from TJ Enterprises and its a barrel liner with a 250 bore and 257 groove and is 26-5/8" long. The twist rate is 1-14", and has a O.D. of about .562"
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