Machining "CUSTOM" Parts (a video view)

Being a DIY'er and a general handyman type guy, one aspect of "CUSTOM" made parts has always escaped me.  And that's the "MACHINING" side of custom parts.  Sure, like most of you, I've seen videos of CNC and Lathe/Mill machining but I've never had the opportunity to see it for myself nor did i really know how long the process took.  Since meeting Doug Noble or DYOTAT100 over on the TAG Forum, that's all changed.

Doug's been into airgunning for some years and machining parts even longer.  But he recently joined the TAG Forum and started showing many of us some of his ideas on increasing the performance of the AirForce line of guns.  Especially when it came to making all out power and even improving on some of the other various basic parts of the gun.  But what stood out was his valve work and machining skills.  He had some really great ideas and also the tools to make those ideas happen.  I then got the idea from another source to turn my half Talon, half Condor into a super small bore.  When i saw the Jack Haley 257 and it's performance numbers, I knew I had to have a 257 cal gun and what better than the Air Force gun that I had right downstairs in my garage.  After contacting Doug via PM's, we decided to meet up and discuss my idea's for what I wanted as well as other "GUY TALK".

After our initial meeting and me dropping my gun off to Doug, I asked him if I could video the progress of my guns transformation and he gladly agreed and said, "ANYTIME" I was welcomed to come over and film whatever I wanted.  I was very extactic that he so graciously agreed.  And I've been filming every since.

Here are some pics along with a brief description of all the NEW parts fresh off the lathe:

Valve Body with Valve Stem

 Return Spring Retainer

3 Port Valve Stem

Assorted Parts

Valve Body and Valve Stem

Valve Stem Retainer/Guide

Hatsan Air Stripper

Long story short, here is a video that i put together that's roughly 10 minutes long.  And that's as quick as i could make it before it literally "BORED" you all to death.  Its Doug making his full custom 257 cal Valve Body and Valve assembly for my 257 TalonDor.

The Finished Assembly with Bottle:

53 Ci bottle with completed valve assembly, pressure gauge, fill nipple and WokGuard15

The bottle is currently being painted.

STAY TUNED!

Tofazfou

Performance of the TD257 on small game

This gun to date has been such a blast to shoot.  My TalonDor .257 is one of the absolute best airguns in my "AIRSENAL"...lol!

 Also, casting bullets for it has also been very rewarding.  Since i got my Lyman 257420 mold HP'd, i've run a few test to check on their performance.  But as most know, shooting reactive targets is a bit different than shooting flesh and bone.  So only with a couple of game animals taken with the Lyman 257420 FN bullets, i've been very curious to see how the HP offspring would fare on the same animals.

With the addition of a Limbsaver Barrel De-Resonator, accuracy and consistency were improved and the gun has become extremely accurate and potent at range.  With my gun having such a short frame and such a long barrel (26-5/8" long), the Limbsaver was just the ticket to stop whipping or vibration.  On this outing, once i set the Limbsaver De-Resonator to the perfect location, it was time to hunt.

During the hunt, I managed to bag a few ground squirrels at various ranges ranging from 52 yards out to 78 yards.  With the Jack Rabbits, I managed to take them from 40 yards, out to 186 yards!  With the 186 yard kill, I hit the record button but I failed to push it hard enough to start recording.  I got extremely excited when I saw the rabbit run from about 90 yards away all the way up to 186 yards and just stop and relax and watch me.  Some people get Deer Fever, I get "small game" fever....lol!  Back to the story, i keep my scope set on 12x as to be able to effectively use my Mil Dots and when i viewed the rabbit, he looked really small.  I then set the objective adjustment to roughly 150 yards and i could see the rabbit as clear as day.  BUT HE WAS SMAAAAAALL in my scope.  I looked at the rabbit with my naked eye as i did not have time to use a range finder and i guess about 170+ yards.  I then quickly held the lower and thicker DUPLEX post just above the rabbits head.  I knew with this much holdover, i had the head and the shoulder covered for impact.  Both being a kill shot with this caliber.  To my surprise, and about 3/4 of a second later, i saw through the scope the rabbit crumble to the ground then the impact report made it back to my ears shortly after.  Both, verifying that I made a solid hit.  I think loaded another bullet and then rechecked through my scope that the rabbit was indeed down!  After confirming that, that's when I glanced up at my video camera monitor and saw that the record light was NOT red which meant it was not recording the shot.  Now, I won't give too much more away.  I will let you watch the video and take a journey with me as i hunt with this fine airgun.

THE VIDEO:

All in all, I am very pleased with the performance of this airgun.  It is one of the most lethal airguns in my collection.  The gun is currently undertaking some new performance mods.  So needless to say..............STAY TUNED!