UPDATE: Corsair+ 7mm (part 1)

I know its been a while but finally got out for a quick shooting session this past Monday with the Corsair+ 7mm.

BARREL/MOLD DRAMA:  To this day, I have bought and installed a TJ barrel liner with 1-14" and one with a 1-10" twist.  This first video I made on the completed gun was with the 14" twist barrel.  You can see the video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lct_L6BtRdE&list=UUDBsDGN9infjfprvoHuqE6w  The performance with the 14" twist was really good and showed promise but at the time, i owned LESS than STELLAR bullet molds from LEE and I knew groups could be better.  I also had a LBT mold on order while I tested the 14" twist barrel.  When I finally got the LBT mold, I discovered that the 14" twist barrel was too big with a bore diameter of .2853".  And 7mm should be .284".  Unfortunately, when I ordered the LBT mold, I ordered it at .285" not currently knowing the TJ's barrel in 14" twist would be too big.  PHWEW!  HOPE THIS MAKES SINCE.  So now, I order a 10" twist TJ's barrel and upon receiving it, the barrels bore MIC's at .2833" which is not pretty tight.  Again, 7mm is .284.  But in this case, tighter is better.  When the barrel was machined and installed, Doug Noble and I noticed that the gun dropped some major speed.  Why you ask?  The faster the twist, the more the friction on the bullet as its pushed forward.  The slower the twist, the faster a projectile can move down the bore.  This phenomenon really rears its ugly head with airguns.  Remember, unlike a PB gun, we don't work off of upwards of 40,000-60,000 psi.  This gun works off of 3600 psi OPTIMALLY!  And when the 1-10 twist is installed, the Corsair lost about 60 FPS.  Doug made me one hell of a nice custom sizer at .2836" but I was not happy with the performance of the 10" twist barrel OVERALL.  Not only was the speed down but the overall accuracy seemed to be OK to me.  Lastly for the 1-10" twist, i bought a NOE mold in 7mm and it's called the THOR bullet.  This bullet has a very wide MEPLAT and once tested, AGAIN, I was less than happy with the barrel/bullet combos. So now, because I have too much free time on my hands, I decide to RE-INSTALL the 14" twist barrel and to re-order a new LBT mold but this time, I would order it at size .287" so I am only sizing down a thousandths and a half (so to speak...lol).

So this brings us to now.  With the new LBT mold on its way and the 7mm TJ Liner with 1-14" twist barrel installed, I cast up more THOR bullets and I head out for a quick shooting session.  It became readily apparent that the 14" twist was a better overall performer in 7mm ON THIS PLATFORM (corsair+).  I actually shot a decent 1.5" 100 yard group with those bullets and I couldn't get anywhere near that with the 10" twist.  After going to South Carolina and hunting/shooting with RJ Porter, it was apparent that the 14" twist barrel was the way to go.  Not just because I killed a pig with it that weekend...lol!  I was ringing steel plates out to 135 yards consistently with this barrel and the THOR bullets DESPITE THE FACT THAT I SAW "SPIRALING" OF THE THOR BULLETS ON VIDEO.  I could not wait till the newer LBT came in due to its lower weight and shorter length which should improve the spiraling therefore accuracy (more on that later).   So now, this past Monday, I head out and do some quick testing before the winds became unbearable.  Initial testing and grouping have really shown promising and I am expecting groups to be really tight at extreme ranges.  Or shall I say, my future goal for this gun is to remain under MOA at extreme ranges and so far, things look like with a little more attention to detail and some UPGRADES, I can achieve just that.

This group is with the 1-10 twist from a while back.  The higher pressure was just so the projectile could maintain enough speed to stay accurate.  And that is because of the much tighter 1-10 twist and these long bullets.

Here is the group from MONDAY at 55 yrds.  Now, on this groups, you should note the different FILL PRESSURES and I will add this, there are slightly different hold techniques for the set of groups.  YES, the Corsair is hold sensitive.  Don't ask why.........I don't know.  But the small tiny groups was done with a light hold.  As though I literally was holding a newborn baby.  this gun has always been like this.  Even brand new and in 308.

This groups is at 110 yards and is starting to show some potential.  Not only from this group and the one at 55 yards but from me shooting at 210 and 430 yards also (more to come later).

I must stress also that not only is there an upcoming change to the Corsair in the very near future but, these groups were also shot with UNSORTED BULLETS.  The reason why I mention this is because, after coming home from this shooting excursion, I actually weighed many of my bullets and I found some in this batch that varied OVER 1+ grs.  So I threw many of them back into the pot except for some.  The ones is kept only varied no more than .5 a grain.  So I immediately started recasting and this time, I kept all bullets that weight anywhere from 130.5 grs UP TO 131 grs even.  So no more than half a grain.  So when i shot the above groups, slugs could have weight 1 to even 2 grs different.  NOT ANYMORE!  I will be keeping a tight lid on my weight variances for each gun now.  With long range, THIS IS NECESSARY!

Tofazfou

STAY TUNED!

1st Prairie Dog hunt in Northern Arizona

     This is my very 1st Prairie Dog hunt that I've been wanting to do for years.  I've often thought hunting them would be much like hunting Ground Squirrels here in California which is very fun, challenging and addictive.  Hunting them with AIRGUNS ONLY would only add to the fun and challenge.  Challenging due to the fact that I'm using air guns to make long distance shots.  And I'm not talking about 75 yards, I'm talking upwards of 300 yards.  My buddy and machinist Doug would join me on this weekend excursion and our guns of choice would be 3 guns each, 1 medium range and the other 2 would be for long range sniping.  But back to the equipment later in the post.

RANGE:  Well, it varies.  Typical ranges for shooting PD's can vary alot but its normally 100 yard plus depending on where you set up over a colony.  Where we hunted, the closer burrows just off the road 50-60 yards away presented no activity which is what I expected.  And where they were within close distances, it was too close to the hunting ranch which was not allowed.  We had to be 1 mile from the ranch before we could start shooting........EVEN WITH AIRGUNS!  So the further we drove from the ranch, the more we saw activity at the 95+ yard mark with a lot of them going into the 100's of yards.  And that was what i wanted....to shoot past the 100 yard mark.  My goal also was to push the 300 yard mark and that goal was achieved.  Doug made the longest shot of the trip which was at 292 yards using his Condor 257.  I made a hit on one at 288 yards and it gave a good THWOP but, the PD made it down the hole.  It took a while for Doug and I to figure out we were at 5500 ft elevation which made the long range shots harder because prior to the hunt, we sighted in at home where we were about 1500+ ft elevation.  A BIG DIFFERENCE!

PRAIRIE DOGS:  Across North America, there are a total of five types of prairie dogs: black-tailed, Gunnison's, Mexican, Utah, and white-tailed. There are two types of prairie dogs in Arizona; Gunnison's range across northern Arizona and black-tailed are located in southeastern Arizona. Of all the prairie dog species, the black-tailed prairie dog has the greatest range across western North America. They range from south-central Canada to the northern part of Mexico. For many reasons, the black-tailed prairie dog population has been declining. The last black-tailed prairie dog was seen in Arizona in 1960, and their range across North America has been reduced to less than two percent of what it used to be 150 years ago. The type that we would be hunting on this trip was the Gunnison PD and this species belongs to the squirrel family of rodents, and are predominantly related to the North American and Eurasian ground squirrels.  Gunnison’s prairie dogs are 12 to 14 inches (30 to 37 centimeters) in length and have tails that measure 1.25 to 2.25 inches (3 to 6 centimeters). This species weighs from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs (0.5 to 1 kg). On average, males are larger in size than females. Gunnison's prairie dogs have 22 teeth, and five 5 pairs of mammary glands.

GEAR:  For this trip and the type of game we are hunting, you don't really need a lot of gear.  You basically need clothing including a hat, gun of choice with a good scope, ammo, binoculars (a must), rangefinder (a must), a table and chair or a mobile/folding shooting bench (a must for long range accuracy) and lots of water and snacks (a must due to the summer heat).  A map of the area or ranch you are hunting is also nice to have.  I brought along my Bushnell PERMA-FOCUS binoculars and they proved their worth time and time again.  With my naked eye, I saw 1 prairie dog but when I looked at him through my binoculars, I saw 3 or 4 in the same area that just had their heads sticking up.  My Leupold rangefinder also proved its worth also as trying to GUESS these distances on flat ground will provide you with nothing but misses!

GUNS:  For me, I brought along my Corsair+ 7mm, my Talondor 257 and my Sam Yang .357 air guns.  Doug brought along his Condor 308, Condor 257 and his Condor .30 caliber.  The .357 and 30 caliber pellet rifles would be used for anything under 100 yards and the other calibers would be used for anything over 100.  Well, at least that was the game plan.  The Corsair 7mm makes roughly 215 FPE using a 120 gr HP bullets from a LBT mold.  The TD257 makes right at 160 FPE using a 70-74 gr HP/FP bullet from the Lyman 257420 mold or, 180 FPE using 100 gr spitzers cast by RJ Porter (@ http://www.accuratebigboreairgunammo.com).  The Sam Yang .357 currently shoots 35 cal 81gr JSB pellets at 910 FPS and is a hard hitter.  Doug's 308 Condor makes roughly 250-260 FPE.  His 257 makes 188 FPE using the same Lyman 257420 bullet that I do.  And his 30 caliber condor makes roughly 80 FPE using 44 gr JSB 303 pellets.

Here are some pictures of the rifles used:

Doug and his CUSTOM Condor .257

Doug Noble's full CUSTOM .30 cal Condor

My TalonDor .257 with Mad Dog Stock

My Corsair+ 7mm

My Recluse .357

With AZ hunting licenses printed out (AZ PD, licenses too) and my truck filled with gas, we head to Northern Arizona to hunt the Gunnison Prairie Dog...........

AZ PD hunting video

Stay tuned!

Tofazfou

NEW PROJECT: Sam Yang Recluse 9mm

THIS JUST IN............YEP, yet another "PROJECT GUN".

Every since I bought and sold my old Career (Korean Big Bore PCP) 9mm Ultra, I've regretted it.  It was powerful, accurate and damned well built.  The problem back then was the fact that there was not very much AIRGUN BULLET CASTING knowledge back then as well as USER knowledge.  The point is, I personally didn't know much or anything about casting and projectile options.  Nor did I have any knowledge of measuring or slugging a bore and matching a slug to that bore.  I was just happy to have a big bore air gun and a well made one to boot.  But because of the lack of knowledge on my part and the lack of air gun info out there, I bought and tried many slugs but only found Ballistic Products RB's to be accurate.  They made great target and hunting rounds but offered no real variety.  Because of this, I later sold the gun.  The sell of this gun has had me in REGRET every since.

TIMES HAVE SINCE CHANGED. AND THIS BRINGS ME TO THIS POST...................

Introducing the Sam Yang RECLUSE 9mm:

 Here are some pics of the gun during its Maiden Voyage:

FEATURES:

Single-shot

Bolt-action

Rifled steel barrel (0.3543" to 0.359" diameter) -  12 lands and grooves (micro) with a .358" bore 

Double Air Tube (290cc)

11mm scope rail (use only compact scopes)

2 power levels (first bolt stop is low power, second is high)

3000 psi max fill pressure

Threaded muzzle with end cap

Built-in manometer (air pressure gauge)

Hardwood Monte Carlo stock with checkered forearm & grip

Raised RH cheek piece

Includes probe with 1/8" BSPP male threads

Scope - Bushnell AR223, 4x18x40mm

Barrel Length - Well, it depends.....lol!  22-1\4" excluding the rear of the barrel

GOAL with this gun:  Besides the fact that I've longed for another 9mm for years, certain things have changed or at least, become available.  For one, the knowledge of custom or match barrels have greatly improved.  The availability of said barrels has greatly improved also.  The rise of quality tuners and machinist has also increased.  More people now cast there own bullets and bullet casting info has spread across the planet when casting for air guns.  Pellets making techniques as well as available pellet calibers has also improved.  Things today are simply better than they were 5+ years ago.  Not only can one cast 9mm bullets for air guns (specially shaped and pure lead) but the advancement of pellets has come a long way.  Today, not only is the 25 caliber popular but so is the 30 caliber now.  Right after they introduced the 30 caliber JSB pellet, they brought out the JSB 35 caliber Diablo which previously only included the Korean 9mm Eun Jin 70+ gr pellet which has NEVER been of quality.  What I would love to do is with rifle is to shoot 81 gr pellets, 70+ gr round balls and cast bullets all from the same barrel and gun.  And to do it ACCURATELY to boot using the DUAL POWER SETTING feature built into the hammer (dual cocking slots milled into hammer) of this gun.

BARRELS:  1st - Let me make it clear that I'm not downing or complaining about the OEM barrel on this gun.  I just received it and I've only shot it informally from 45-125 yards.  By informally, i mean, NOT SHOT ON A BENCH USING A REST.  But, with that said, the OEM gun has shown some good accuracy with both pellets and my cast bullets.  I purchased a TJ Enterprises 357 barrel with a 1-16" twist at 25" long.  The OEM barrels bore measures .358 when slugged and mic'd and the TJ Enterprises bore measures .3572"

Initial Projectiles for this gun:

 JSB Diablo pellets that measure .358" at the head

 

 JSB Diablo's vs Nosler .357's

JSB 81 gr .35 cal vs Nosler 145 gr .357

 Accurate .360 109gr Boat Tail Air Gun Bullet

So, as you can see, the parts are all here and will slowly come together as time permits.  The gun has already proven in a short time to be what i hope for.  I can't wait to start the video comparison between the stock barrel vs TJ barrel.  Initial FPS with only a couple of internal mods has the gun pushing the JSB 81.02 pellets at 650+ fps on LOW power and 910+ fps on HIGH power.  The 110 gr BT bullets are stepping along at 470 on LOW and 830 FPS on HIGH.  THE BULLETS THOUGH ARE .002" OVERSIZED (.360" as cast vs the .358" bore) AS I DON'T HAVE A .358 SIZER YET!  Velocity will be higher with proper sizing.

Stay Tuned!

Tofazfou

LEAD: "Flowers", "Mushrooms" and "Pancakes".......ummmmm ummm!

If you've ever wondered how air gun projectiles perform when they hit objects, then wonder no longer!  These "objects" range from flesh to steel to fruit to water filled bottles/jugs to ballistic gel on down to rubber mulch and plumbers putty.



While many an air gun lacks the all out foot pounds of energy (FPE) compared a powder burner, the one thing that they do have is that just about all the projectiles made for an air gun is either PURE LEAD or a 20-1 mix (Lead to Tin).  Bullets and Pellets.  What does this mean you ask?  Well, pure lead is very soft and malleable and can often be scratched, dented, smashed, mushroomed, flattened, or even reshaped with just your fingers.  Airgun projectiles can be made from a variety of soft metals but anything other than pure lead will create a performance void when compared to pure lead.  Antimony, Tin, Bismuth or any other type of metal simply will not perform like lead will.  Especially at many air gun speeds/power levels.  Lead is one of our planets most plentiful elements and is normally only dangerous when ingested, inhaled or SHOT WITH....lol!  It is by far one of the best and cheapest metals for our sport.

So if lead is this soft, imagine what happens to lead when its pushed 600+- MPH and its hits an object that's soft or solid?  And this is the premise of this post...........

Let's take a look:

A MUSHROOMED .25 cal Predator Polymag pulled from ballistics gel at 10 yards (930 fps).

A MUSHROOMED 7mm 20-1 HP bullet after impacting 2 jugs at 110 yards away. 880+ fps.

  

 

MUSHROOMED Predator PolyMag in 20 caliber after impacting ballistics gel at 10 yards.  880 fps



 

PANCAKED.454 cal/220 gr bullets after impacting AR500 steel at 75 yards!  660 fps.



PANCAKED .308 20-1 bullets after impacting my AR500 steel swinger set at 100 yrds.  880 fps.













 

MUSHROOMED .457 310 gr HPs recovered from Plumbers putty set at 50 yards.  800+ FPS.

 

MUSHROOMED .257 cal HP shot into Ballistics gel.  900 FPS.

 

A FLOWERED trio of .251 slugs after hitting a electricians junction box from 100 yards away.



 

A MUSHROOMED .22 cal Predator PolyMag recovered from Ballistics Gel at 880 FPS!





MUSHROOMED .308 148.5 gr HPs after impacting Duct Seal from 55 yards away!



 

 

FLOWERED 7mm cast bullets after hitting my AR500 plate placed at 200 yards downrange!

 

MUSHROOMED 220 gr .454 cal Raptor bullet after impacting a pigs skull at 40 yards.  660 FPS!



 

A lastly, this is the aftermath of the OBJECT that these projectiles (above) hit:



 

Corsair 308 vs Jack Haley 457.  Jugs set at 91 yards.  Both guns using HP projectiles.

 

Pool ball hit by Corsair 308.  Set out at 55 yards.



 





So as one can clearly see, for air guns, pure lead is one awesome performer and helps the projectile tremendously in transferring its Foot Pounds of Energy on target.  With current bullet casting molds and practices and current pellet making techniques, projectiles and air guns are getting more and more accurate (when combined) and sophisticated (polymer tipped, tin and HP projectiles).

 

DISCLAIMER:  ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER AFTER HANDLING LEAD! NEVER PUT YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR MOUTH, EARS AND OR EYES WHILE HANDLING LEAD!

 

For more information on LEAD, please either Google and Wikipedia it.

 

Stay tuned.