INTRODUCING: BADGER .375 cal

My newly customized .375 cal Epox Badger is mostly finished as of today.  I say mostly because I still have some power tuning to do but this will be done over time as I shoot the gun more and more.  So without further hesitation, here she is:

The gun started life as the EPOX BADGER 40 cal:

.375 cal. WHY?: Many will ask this question and its no secret or magic theory behind it.  But here are the reasons.  #1, the caliber in the airgun world is unique and or different.  I love "UNIQUE" and I love "DIFFERENT".  No current manufacturer makes this caliber in their big bore airgun line except DAQ (not even sure if he still offers it).  A long time ago, I fell in love with the .375 cal that came from Dennis Quackenbush (DAQ) and I've always wanted to own one.  They were hard to get and it still seems impossible to get on his list.  But anyways, I said my next big bore would be a custom .375 cal since I can't get a DAQ. Then along came EPOX BADGER.  The price point and timing were just right.  #2, since I live in California and can't hunt but coyote as my biggest game, there is no need for 45 or 50 caliber IMO.  I have owned 50 cals, 45 cal and 357 cals and the 50's and 45's slung too much weight for my use and the 357 cal seemed just about right. The .375 cal is also more of a rifle round and would provide much heavier and longer bullets than 357 cal for more downrange punch and penetration.  #3, proper barrels with twist rates where readily available from TJ Enterprises Barrel Liners which are proven.  The .375 is known as an accurate round.  #4, plus, being a caster, the 50's and 45 cals use too much lead when casting as is more efficient in this regard. #5, I already own a 257 cal and 7mm airgun that made more power than available .357's.  So the .375 was the next logical choice as it will provide 350-400 FPE.  So this gun will become my medium to big game hunting gun.  A niche my 357 could not fill.  So there you readers go, those are my reasons and I'm sticking to em....lol.

THE PARTS, THE WORK, THE MACHINING: As stated earlier, the gun started life as the Epox Badger 40 cal.  From its beggining, I already knew how I wanted the gun to look and how I wanted it to perform (of course caliber too).  1st purchase would be a Richards Microfit laminated stock to add a little weight and style to the rifle.  2nd purchase was a TJ Enterprises .375 cal barrel liner at 30" and 39/64" O.D.  3rd, I did not need a scope as I have a few that have no homes. I installed a older model Hawke Varminter 6-24-44 with Mil-dots.  4th, for reaching out near and far, I bought a set of Burris Signature High Mount rings with 20 MOA inserts. 5th, I bought a 3' section of Carbon Fiber tubing to epoxy onto the TJ barrel.

To machine/fabricate the parts, I acquired the services of my machinist Doug Noble and RJ Porter.  Doug machined the TJ barrel to exact tolerances to properly fit the Epox breech.  The finished barrel is 28.5" long.  RJ Porter custom made me a barrel band to install onto the new TJ barrel complete with epoxied CF tube and he also fabricated me a new hammer and cocking pin made of hardened steel.  The OEM barrel band will be used with the 40 cal barrel.  Yes the gun will be dual caliber.

One of the issues RJ, Doug and I found was that the hammer cocking pin was not only bent backwards but was hitting the underside of the bolt probe.  Doug made me a stronger cocking pin and I have since dremmeled out the underside of the bolt probe.

One of the task I completed was to aluminum pillar bed my action. Since my action was to be aluminum pillar bedded at the rear, I had a grand idea to pillar bed the air-tube at the front.  This is something that has never been done by a big bore airgun manufacturer and because I want extreme accuracy, this was the most logical idea I could come up with.  The idea was presented to Doug and he made me a reverse barrel band.  I think you guys get the concept here and there are a few different ways to accomplish this.

Next up was to work the QB trigger assembly that comes on the gun.  I am pretty familiar with these type triggers and while the are only single stage, they can be made lighter and smoother.  In comes Mr Dremel, Mr Spring (lighter 1's) and Mr Trigger Pull Gauge.  It didn't take me long to get the trigger down from 3lbs to 14.5 ounces and a lot smoother pull cycle.

ACCURACY/POWER/FPE:  Right now, the gun is still making a little bit more power in .375 as it did in .40 cal.  350 FPE now and about 320-325 in 40 caliber.  I'm still working on the tune.  Thats pushing a 40 cal-180 gr slugs at 885 FPS and 215 gr slugs in .375 cal at 850'ish.  But the gun is deadly accurate in both calibers.  It's holding MOA in 40 caliber at 100 yards and SUB 1/2" MOA at 100 in .375 cal.

GOAL:  Simply put, this gun will be the most accurate big bore out there.  It is a HUNTER and a TARGET shooter.  WHY?  Because you can have both and it doesn't have to cost $2000.oo.  One just has to put on their thinking cap like I did.  Forget high power claims, too many manufacturers are reaching for this with claims of 700-1000 FPE.  Well, you can have those numbers because with that power, you now have 1 shot guns that have no accuracy.  And ACCURACY is what has been forgotten.

I soon wait to see manufacturers/folks copy my ideas and give me no credit.  At least apply some lube ;)

Stay Tuned!

Tofazfou