Tofazfou's HPA (high powered air gun) Expeditions: January 2014

On this post, I wont bore you guys with too many words. I know how we guys are...sometimes we just want more pictures and video and less story. But this one is easy to follow if you've read my previous post on my CORSAIR+ .308 going 7mm. Well, the time has come and so has the story, pictures and video.

STORY: In short, here is the very SHORT beginning of a long written (future) saga about my Corsair+ in 7mm. Previously, the Corsair was in 308 in which I loved but I felt a few things could be better. One thing in particular was the barrel. The 308 version had a 1 in 20 twist rate and the lead in was cut for 170 gr bullets. This was never Kosher with me but my gun performed pretty well with 150 gr and lighter bullets which was my personal preference. So now, its either get a new 308 barrel with a faster twist or change calibers altogether. I also wanted better mounted and cut Weaver scope rails. The choice was easy, I wanted a new caliber anyways since years ago I gave up my 308 Winchester for the 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser. Following suit, I could have opted for a 6.5mm barrel but I hate having 2 of the same caliber anything. So since I never owned anything in 7mm, why the heck not. So, you ask........WHY 6.5 or even 7mm? Well, the answer is simple, those two calibers offer some of the highest Ballistic Coefficient values in bullets that could be considered pretty light for caliber. This is exactly what I'm after, shooting lighter bullets at faster speeds that have high BC numbers. These features are ideal for long range shooting. Another attribute is that lighter bullets kick less due to less mass accelerating down the barrel and exiting. For an air gun, recoil is not that serious but, why not have less anyways while having all the benefits of a serious long range round. So 7mm it is. The barrel is made by TJ Enterprises and has a twist rate of 1-14 and he also offers a 1-10" twist which can handle heavier bullets. But I don't want HEAVY, I want LIGHT (ER). After all, this is an air gun that only deals with 3800 psi and under as opposed to 50-60,000 for this guns center fire ancestors. The 7mm barrel measures 30-1/4" long with a O.D. of roughly 9/16" and a bore to groove dimensions of .278/.284". Also, the bullet of choice would be any design around 120-135 grs with a BC of around .300 +- some.

PICTURES:

CORSAIR+ RECEIVER

7MM BARREL MACHINING "THE START"

7MM BARREL MACHINING IN PROGRESS

7MM BARREL MACHINING: all cuts/holes made at the breech of the barrel

CORSAIR PARTS IN A PILE

MACHINING THE TRANSFER PORT TO FIT 7MM BARREL

WEAVER BASE before machining

1/2 X 28 TPI THREADED BARREL

FINISHED 7MM TJ ENTERPRISES BARREL

MUZZLE BRAKE ON 7MM BARREL

FINISHED BREECH END WITH TRANSFER PORT AND ORING

FINISHED BREECH END WITH LOADING PORT AND BARREL SET SCREW

WEAVER BASES INSTALLED ON COMPLETE RECEIVER AND LOWER TUBE

7mm BULLETS

THE CORSAIR+ 7MM

VIDEO:

AS USUAL............STAY TUNED!

TOFAZFOU

While journeying home after work, I receive a call from my hunting buddy Eric Mayer and he asked me "guess what"? I say "what"? And he replies that he has his hands on a FX BOSS .30 cal Air Gun for testing at his discretion. Eric also had a brand new Hawk Sidewinder 30 Tactical scope to fit to the Boss for testing also. Eric also had in his possession 1 tin of 50 gr JSB 30's and I informed him that I also just so happened to have 2 tins of 44 gr JSB's which I heard at the time happened to be the better pellet for the Boss. So after talking about 20 more minutes, Eric and I set up a hunt/shoot date for us to ring out the Boss. Of course, my TD257 would just have to join in on the trip.

Time for a few GLAMOUR Shots of the FX BOSS .30 and HAWKE Scope:

The Boss .30 was on a limited loan venture that did not allow tons of time for testing. But, being well versed in air guns/guns and their traits, it’s no different than any other air gun when it comes to “GETTING THE JEST OF IT”. But on the 1st outing, it was readily apparent that the 30 cal projectiles had some serious drop. At 100 yards with a 50 yard sight in, we used Chairgun and the pellets BC to calculate a drop of 12-13".

The Caliber: The 30 cal pellet (Diablo) guns are very new. There is still a lot of discovery left about the 30 projectiles. But so far, BC is predicted to be roughly in the .04 BC range for the 44 gr JSB diablo pellets. JSB .25 cal Kings are found to be roughly .033 BC. 30 cal pellets are so far manufactured by JSB and in two different weights. 44 grs and 50 grs. The caliber (.30) is also something pretty unique to us here in the states. It’s actually a European caliber and that means that unlike here in the states, it is NOT .308” but more like .303”. Odd yes for us westerners but a deadly round none the less. For an air gun, 40+ grs is super heavy but combined with that above listed BC, it equates to a very heavy hitting projectile that will prove “DEADLY” on game up to Coyotes at range.

The Barrel: The barrel on the Boss is also something that is very new. Its called the ST or SMOOTH TWIST. What this means is that the bore is actually SMOOTH like that of a shotgun and only rifled at the very end of the barrel. “End” meaning the last 1.5-2”. Yes, that’s right, the ST barrel is smooth from the breech all the way down to the last 2” of the muzzle where it is rifled. But, the another big difference is that the barrel at the end is not rifled traditionally but, the rifling impression is imparted on the barrel from the outside via a special machine. This is unlike a fully rifled barrel and so far, this new style of barrel has proven or IS proving to be just as if not MORE accurate than a fully rifled air gun barrel. With that being said, the twist rate at the end of the muzzle is showing signs of being much slower than conventional thought. It’s definitely NOT 1-16” turns but over 1-48”+ turns. These barrels are proving to be extremely accurate with the JSB pellets in the 850-890 FPS range. MORE CONCRETE INFO TO COME AS THIS BARREL BECOMES MORE AND MORE POPULAR AND WIDELY USED.

The GUN: FX guns have been around for a long period of time and are well built. They are light, powerful, quiet, well made, and very easy on the eyes. This gun proved to have all those traits BUT, it is very long due to the shroud on the end of the barrel. The shroud does not come back to the breech like other shrouded air guns but instead, it STARTS about ¼ of the way from the muzzle down the barrel then back over the barrel and way past it. This makes for the barrel to appear much longer than it actually is. This also adds to the OAL of the gun. Even though long, the gun like many FX guns is really light for the length. Did I mention that the gun is LOOOOONG….lol! Speaking of the shroud, one of the nicest features on the gun is its silence due to the shroud. The gun Eric and I tested is really quiet for the power and even a couple of airgunning bystanders commented on how quiet it was. It’s deceptive even. Its quieter than a few SMALLER calibers that I have had the opportunity to shoot.

STATS:

Lever/Bolt action

9 shot Auto Indexing Magazine fed

Overall Length - 47.5"

Barrel Length - 24"

Weight (unscoped) - 7.15 lbs

Length of Pull - 14.25"

Caliber - .30

Power - 78 ft/lbs

Capacity – 500 CC’s

The ACCURACY:
With only 2 pellets out (from a very respectable manufacturer…JSB), the accuracy is superb considering the big caliber. Well, not so much caliber but the fact that it’s a 30 cal DIABLO projectile. When kept around 880-890 fps, it is not uncommon for the gun and pellet combo to produce around .750” groups at 50 yards. But I will say this, the gun is more accurate than the pellets. The JSB’s weight goes from one extreme to the next. The Boss itself is regulated and very consistent in shot to shot fps spreads when the pellets weight close to the next pellet. Accuracy will reflect this. But on a whole, with carefully selected pellets, there is no reason why the gun can’t shoot .5” groups at 50 yards. My only complaint about the gun is that the accuracy from a 250 BAR fill tends to wonder from RIGHT to LEFT as you shoot more and more groups. When Eric and I started sighting in the gun, it was apparent that the groups wondered from RIGHT of bulls eye to the LEFT of the bulls eye. But the groups remained very tight. At 75 yards, while we did not measure the groups, the gun still grouped very well. The gun was actually designed for ranges around 75 yards and the accuracy at that range shows just that.

OVERALL THOUGHTS on the BOSS: Long story short, I truly like the gun and would buy one if finances allowed. This gun was new in the box and had not been cleaned or tuned or tested previously. So while accuracy was great, the shifting of the POI (right to left) had me a tad concerned. If it were mine, it would be stripped down, cleaned and checked for any deficiencies. But this is not Eric’s nor my gun. And, this is a TRUE testament of how an AVERAGE Boss at any moment could be expected to perform or ANY air gun for that matter. My report of shifting POI is not the first as I consulted a few others on the forums and they reported the same but it is NOT the same with EVERY Boss. The Boss debuted in or around 2012 and won its Maiden Voyage at the Arizona Extreme Bench Rest and I can surely see why. While having some awesome wind bucking ability compared to the 25’s and under, the pellet itself at 880+ fps and using a 44+ gr pellet does have some serious drop. This is something that takes a little getting used to. The wood and finish on the barrel and receiver are spectacular and is a testament to the FX companies sense of craftsmanship in making beautiful and functional guns. Not only the finish but the workmanship on the gun was superb and it shows that FX is no slouch. While as long as my full blown THEOBEN RAPID .25, the FX Boss is over 1.5-2 lbs lighter and about as long too. Most of the length comes from the HALF SHROUD that is over the end of the barrel and back about halfway. Although long, this gun shouldered very well and pointed like a dream.

Eric Mayer – Final Thoughts: A small portion of our target work, as well as some of our hunts, is included in the video posted below. Before that, I wanted to say a few things about the FX Boss. While we did end up taking it coyote hunting, we did not have any that came within the range I felt comfortable with (<100 yards). Although the Boss is an excellent rifle for varmints from a bench, or other type of rest, I felt that the length hindered me while on the stand. Too often, I found the barrel caught up in the bushes I was tucked into. Also, trying to adjust into a shooting position, without being spotted, proved to be fruitless. Perhaps more time hunting coyotes with the Boss would have allowed a better opportunity, but the weather did not cooperate here in Southern California. While the rest of the country was freezing, we were experiencing higher than normal temperatures due to Santa Ana winds (desert winds). The unseasonably warm weather did bring out other varmints and I was successful in shooting some ground squirrels on video.

Bench Testing the FX Boss

We did get plenty of time at the bench shooting the FX Boss. The chronograph results with the 44 grain and 50 grain pellets were surprisingly close, but the nod went to the 44 grain pellets due to being a bit flatter shooting. Cedric and I enjoyed shooting various targets while at the bench, but pomegranates turned out to be our favorite. The farmer had just dumped a pile of under-size, or animal damaged pomegranates near where we were shooting, so we used many of them as targets. Lots of pomegranates died while we tested the energy of the Boss. We were also shocked to see the damage these pellets flying at 850 to 880 feet per second caused! We got some good video, a very sticky GoPro (look for it in the video below) and made some quail very happy as they came out to eat the seeds we scattered about. A testament to the lack of noise the Boss puts out was the quail that fed on the seeds while we kept shooting at targets setup just a few feet away.

Pomegranate juice covered target

As stated above, I was able to take a number of other smaller varmints with the Boss and found it to be extremely efficient. As you watch the video below, you will hear me use the word “authority” when speaking about how hard the 44 and 50 grain pellets hit. My wife chuckled at me using the word (because I rarely do), but it was the only word I could think of to describe the absolute power the pellet had when smacking the varmints. Two of the ground squirrels I shot (on video below), weighed over 2 pounds! That is a very big ground squirrel for winter time in Southern California. The higher foot pounds of energy of the Boss killed all the varmints I shot immediately. I can picture a hunter with this rifle taking various types of larger game animals, such as Deer, Wild Hog, Exotics and Javelina. Unfortunately, although we are seeing more states change their regulations to allow bigger bore airguns, there are only a handful of states that offer those opportunities right now. If you do get an opportunity, the FX Boss is a great choice for anyone looking to expand their arsenals into something a little bit different.