Got to 1st thank Doug Russell at MadDog Custom Rifle Stocks (http://www.maddogcrs.com/) and Chad Simon of Lethal Air (https://lethalair.net/). Doug for making my .17 HMaiR mkIIs new RJ-6A Recon stock to spec and Chad for dipping the stock in Carbon Fiber. The Carbon Fiber look turned out amazing and Doug's work and attention to detail on the stock were on point. I can't thank either of them enough! For specs on the 17 HMaiR mkII look at the last post before this one. For more on the stock, look on..................
New Stock starting life at the MadDog factory
A swatch carbon fiber pattern I settled on from the Lethal Air Shop
Mix the MadDog Stock with the Carbon Fiber and VIOLA!
I couldn't be happier with the way this project turned out. Its my 1st Carbon Fiber wrapped gun-stock and certainly won't be my last. Same holds true for the MadDog stock. Not my 1st and won't be my last. I also have to give both gentlemen props on going the extra mile in their own ways. Doug did some special additions for me on this gun-stock that he does not offer and when I told Chad that I had no idea of what went well with my guns BLUE frame (see post below), in an instant, Chad suggested Carbon Fiber. It was like he was waiting for me to ask the question. And when Chad said "CF", I was instantly in love with the idea.
the gun PRE Stock
Introducing the .17 HMaiR mkII
A big THANK YOU to Doug Noble, Doug Russell and Chad Simon again for doing such fantastic work. I am so happy with this build overall. From muzzle to butt pad. I'm in love. The MKII is the way my original 17 HMaiR was meant to be built. I have had so many issues in the past that kept me from doing this build and instead, settling for my MROD version .17 HMaiR. Enough typing, its time to get out and shoot! See you guys and gals on the next one.
.17 HMaiR fitted with 27-5/8" .172 cal TJ Enterprises barrel, Boyds Stock, OEM Benjamin 22 cal Valve and various Hill Airgun parts
So, the build discussed here forward is version/mark 2. The second version to the ever popular and successful .17 HMaiR (pictured above). This time, it is built off of a much more powerful platform, the Airforce Condor. The Airforce line of air rifles are known for being some of the MOST powerful if not, THE MOST POWERFUL airguns because of the direct valve these air rifles are powered with. Unlike other airguns which have multiple 90 degree turns the air must take before it even hits the projectile, the Airforce valves are not only INLINE with the base of the projectile but are within about 1" of the base of the projectile. This format, equals POWER! Or the ability to make power!
She started life as an Airforce Condor frame and a 0DB LDC
Add a Green Mountain Barrel, Carbon Fiber 4500 psi bottle, Eagle Vision Rings and a Athlon Scope
Add a little Carbon Fiber to the barrel to wick away the shine and VOILA
Doug Noble did all the machine work to make this girl a screamer. Not only did he machine the barrel but he also made me a custom 1 of a kind hammer, valve, valve stem and valve body. As well as a custom breech to match the goods. The plan this time was to push the .172 round fast and hard. I mean, the rifle is named after the infamous .17 HMR rim-fire round and while compressed air cant equal what gun powder can do, we still can push pretty fast. My original .17 HMaiR posted at the top of the page, shot a 24.5 gr HP at 950+ fps which was fantastic but, that gun was limited due to mainly the limited capacity of the guns 212 cc airtube and its fill pressure of 3000 psi. It can push a 24.5 gr slug as fast as 1025-1030 FPS max but only for 1 shot then it dropped consistently after that. The new mkII version wears a 500cc Carbon Fiber bottle that can fill up to 4500 psi which may not sound like a big increase but, in HPA terms, THAT'S HUGE GAINS!! Double the air capacity and an additional 1500 psi! I can now push those same 24.5 gr HPs at virtually any speed up to OVER 1250 FPS! There is still more testing to be done though on all out power, power setting (for accuracy) and shot string numbers.
PERFORMANCE and STATS:
500cc Carbon Fiber 4500 psi Bottle
25" Green Mountain .172 cal Barrel
Airforce Condor Frame
0db LDC
Athlon Argos 8-32x56mm FFP Mil Scope
Eagle Vision Scope Rings, 30mm
Dovetail to Picatinny rail
Custom Hammer
Custom Valve
Custom Breech
Capable of 102 FPE (33 grs at 1179 fps)
Stay Tuned!
More information coming very soon on this Blue Gem!
NSA, the acronym for Nielsen Specialty Ammo is synonymous with the words QUALITY and ACCURACY. You can even throw in the word (s) COMPETITIVELY priced because, a box of his ammo in some calibers cost the same or, they are even cheaper than pellets. Before we get into all of the technical stuff (as much as i'm allowed to tell), lets go back to the beginning. NSA officially started in 2015 but Nick of NSA was casting and swaging lead projectiles before that. I happened to meet Nick on a popular Air Gun Forum and I had already been casting my own projectiles at that time. We talked airguns and we also talked casting. I remember Nicks enthusiasm when he talked of buying casting and swaging equipment so he could try and make accurate ammo for his own airguns. In doing so, making ammo slowly became an obsession because in his mind, it also became about making quality ammo that was also very accurate in airguns as well as keeping the price affordable/competitive. We talked for days on accuracy and what it took to achieve this from airguns. I remember him saying back then, "why has no one made swage ammo already for airguns? Its the next evolution in airgun accuracy"! Nick dedicated himself in a lot of ways to achieve his goals. He spent countless hours searching the net and countless dollars on equipment as well as giving away A LOT of ammo to testers (he still does all this) in his never ending quest to be and sell the best.
Today, NSA has become a family run business with his wife and boys and even one of the boys girlfriend at the helm. Each member with a specific duty that they each perform very well. The family dogs can even be found at the main office at times should you decide to visit. I did say, "family run business".
PRICE: So, we won't get into how NSA keeps their ammo competitively priced but, we can show examples of how they are competitive. Search any popular airgun web store for pellets (this is exactly how I buy tins of pellets) and take note of price. Lets pick 25 caliber. A can of 25.39 grain domed (round nose) pellets in 350 count cost roughly $18.99 each. On NSA's website, 26.8 grain HPs in 325 count cost the same $18.99. Another example is, HP hunting pellets vs HP Slugs. A tin of only 150 ct special tipped HPs cost $15.99. That's for 150 ct! Again, NSA has a similar weight for $18.99 but, at 325 ct. AND HERE IS THE BONUS, no matter how many slugs you buy, shipping is ONLY $7. This is where you will really save compared to pellets because no other shop can match NSA on shipping cost. And when you get to bigger caliber pellets like .30 cal, the savings are even more. I will also add that NSA's selection per weight offering per caliber is unmatched compared to pellets. There is something for everyone and every gun!
NOTE: When I say competitive, you MUST take in the fact that these are specialty made hunting slugs that are in HP form with special bases that outperform traditional pellets.
QUALITY: While I can't mention alloy material, I can assure you that Nick keeps his lead mixture under tight scrutiny and won't settle for different alloys/mixtures to be on his shelves. This keeps his slugs very consistent which means you won't get varying performance with the same gun from batch to batch of slugs. NSA uses a special process to coat and clean his slugs before they are shipped to you (refer to video above). I will lastly add that NSA ammo is held to very strict weight and size tolerances. Like, a box of NSA ammo will vary no more than 1% of their suggested weight. Now, this is just a TOLERANCE that they adhere to as a "standard", often though, you can pick any caliber, any weight and grab 25 random slugs and the weights will often vary no more than .1 or .2 or a grain. That's TENTHS LADIES AND GENTS! Most Diabolo pellets can often weight 2-3 grains in variance.
ACCURACY: Again, Nick has dedicated a ton of resources to finding out what works best. He even list on his website, the BC and tells you what ammo performs best in what air guns. No one has ever done this. He sends ammo to "testers" such as myself that actually give real world feed back on a host of airguns. Custom and OEM. 2 such example are my full custom 30 Americana which absolutely loves his .30 caliber 47.2 gr HP's and my Uragan 30 which loves his 49.5 gr HPs. The Americana uses a TJ's .30 cal barrel liner and the Uragan .30 uses a CZ barrel. One is choked and the other is not! It matters!
One such example of me testing 3 different slugs Nick designed in early 2019
INNOVATIVE:
A new concept for some of their caliber offerings. The "Knurled" bullet.
NSA is my favorite airgun slug manufacturer because not only do they make great airgun ammo, its also their passion for the sport, the people and the future. They are leaders, they are innovators, they are family!
I've spent quiet some time trying to figure out what 30 cal air rifle I wanted. My top choice was the RAW (Rapid Air Weapons) 30 caliber. And after a year or so thinking it over, I wanted something just a little different than my normal since I owned a Theoben Rapid 25 previously. I wanted something I was NOT familiar with and something no one or not too many people owned. Something that wasn't so public. After scouring the internet for 30 cal air rifles, I ran acrossed the Airgun Technologies URAGAN 30 cal. Hmmmmm, I thought, I'm interested. The rifle is actually a semi bull pup that is carbon fiber bottled and features a side cocking lever. Ok, now i'm paying attention. WHY? Again, i wanted something different than my norm which includes full sized or even over-sized airguns and something not too many people owned.
As far as "different", this rifle fits the bill
DETAILS:
50 shots
85 FPE factory setting
2-9 shot magazines
Shrouded barrel
Regulated
32" OAL
530cc CF Air Reservoir
300 bar fill
22.5" CZ barrel
2 Stage Adjustable trigger
7.7 lbs weight
Side lever cocking (left or right side)
Adjustable butt pad
Picatinny Scope Rail
Pressure Gauge (no regulated pressure gauge)
For Glass, I choose the Discovery Optics VT Series of scopes in 30mm. For Scope Rings, I prefer the adjustable Eagle Vision brand
The Discovery 4-16x50mm SVFP FFP installed. Scope may change in the future
INITIAL PERFORMANCE: After filling the rifle to its recommended 300 bar and installing the scope, it was time to see if the gun truly got 50 shots at 85 FPE. The pellets of choice are the JSB 44.75 grs Diabolos. 1st shot was 913 fps and the 51st shot was 916 fps. That's 82-83 FPE which honestly is, CLOSE ENOUGH. I actually shot 4 more shots for a total of 55 shots before the Uragan fell off the reg. Factory claims are spot on and to be honest, I never expect them to be exact. Testing in the Czech Republic is going to be a little different than testing here in the States. But for me to get 83 fpe out of a claimed 85 fpe is hardly worth nitpicking. When testing certain NSA slugs, i saw exactly 85 FPE on a couple of weights. This tells me that Airgun Technologies has done very well in the design and claim numbers. Initial groups at 60 yards came in at .410" CtC and .6" Ctc with 44.75 and 50.15 gr Pellets respectively. We are off to a good start and don't worry, accuracy and slug testing will be the focus of my next post on the AT Uragan.
HISTORY:This gun came to me via a friend wanting to get rid of it. Who am I to say no....lol?! The air rifle was in OEM form and in OEM caliber which was .22 cal. Shooting 18.13 gr JSB Diabolo pellets roughly 880 FPS. At this time, I was already wanting another .20 caliber air rifle but, now especially since I heard that soon, JSB would be coming out with a heavier .20 caliber pellet. Previous brand .20 cal pellets were weighing in the 13+ gr arena so, a heavier .20 cal pellet really rang a bell with me. And as luck had it, I also had previously received a phone call from another buddy that happened to get his hands on a spare .20 cal barrel that was machined to fit a Theoben Rapid air rifle and the previous owner used the .20 cal barrel to shoot FT matches. So I knew the barrel would be a good one. This is how the Cometa Lynx .20 cal started life.
The 1st order of business after purchasing the air rifle was to observe/inspect and fix the leak that I knew the rifle had and to also clean/polish the internals and replace all o-rings (lubed). So strip the gun down I go.......
The next thing to do was to get the newly acquired .20 cal barrel and have my buddy Doug who is my machinist, copy the .22 caliber OEM barrel. The more SILVER barrel is the .20 caliber and the darker is the OEM .22 cal barrel. Mission accomplished, .22 barrel copied and .20 cal barrel fits the action very well. Time to clean and polish the barrel.
Next was to get rid of the aluminum shroud and to convert it to FULL Carbon Fiber. This gives the rifle a little more pizzazz and lighted it up just a tad overall.
Now, the theory is that since the gun was pushing .22 caliber, 18.13 gr JSB at 880 fps, then it should be very similar in FPS/FPE once shot in .20 caliber. Especially since the new .20 cal JSB's come in at 15.89 grs. which is definitely starting to get heavy for .20 caliber. After adjusting the regulator to the desired PSI output to push the new JSB Heavies to 885-895 fps, it was now time to shoot groups. Initial test showed promise and let me know I'm heading in the right direction.
The last piece to the puzzle was to find a bi-pod adapter to mount a bi-pod because the stock is so short and thin up front, that it doesn't allow for bi-pod to be mounted to the stocks forearm underside. Mission accomplished thanks to another buddy of mine, Jason, who also owns a Cometa.
Quick pesting session proved fruitful after I spent some time ranging the rifle and getting to know the .20 cals trajectory. Also trying out the Side Shot scope-cam setup. This was a very easy 78 yard chest shot that proved fatal to Mr Ground Squirrel.
OVERVIEW:In the past, I owned a Logun Solo .20 caliber and was totally amazed and how fun and accurate the caliber was. I felt as though I had been missing something all my airgun life when I converted the Logun.....lol. I had since sold it and very much regretted it. So after all these years, a donor rifle falls right into my lap and I could not pass up the opportunity to own another 20 caliber airgun. This airgun though, had some advantages. 1, it has a side-lever action. 2, it has a magazine. 3, it has a bottle which has more capacity than a tube. 4, its regulated for consistency. 5, it has a pressure gauge. These are all things the Solo did not have. And these option make this airgun very attractive. And yes, if you haven't caught on by now, I'm using the standard .22 caliber magazine that came with the rifle and it functions just fine cycling .20 cal pellets. I think overall I did a great job on this rifle and I did it to keep the 20 cal legacy alive. This is a caliber that If you are a small bore airgun lover, you need to own an airgun or 2 in .20 caliber. It also can't go unmentioned that I thank JSB/PREDATOR INT'L for not only making the .20 calibers legacy live on by updating a tried and true product and making it better.
Had been giving this idea some thought for quite some time now. "WHAT IDEA DUDE" you ask? Well, since swage bullets are so popular and the weights are so consistent, what If i were able to cast slugs that looked like swage slugs? Hmmmm, so the idea was born. And for those that don't quiet get what the differences are between swage and cast, let me try and give a quick and simple explanation. A swaged projectile is formed from LEAD WIRE (cold/room temp) of a given diameter and hydraulically pressed into a die (which is internally shaped like a bullet) via roughly 20+ tons of force. Some call it cold pressing or cold swaging because the lead wire is never heated during or before the forming process. With cast bullets/slugs, lead is melted to roughly 720-740 degree and poured via a ladle into a metal mold (also internally shaped like a bullet) until it cools slightly, then is dropped out of the mold and the process is repeated over and over. And that's it in a nutshell. So now, back to the bullets which i won't give any deep details about, they drop out of the mold roughly at .3385+- some and the HP versions weight 170 grs and the FN (solid) versions weigh right at 175 grs. They require very little sizing and the solids are very much consistent in weights. Almost exactly like swaged slugs. The HP"s definitely vary but nowhere near as bad as cast bullets with lube grooves. That's right guys, these cast bullets/slugs have no lube grooves and look 100% like swaged ammo. And to boot, they are of the RBT or REBATED BOATTAIL design. Initial testing has shown EXTREME promise and now that the slugs have been HP'd and casted up, it will soon be time for testing. Initial velocities of the 170 gr HPRBT's is 960 fps and the 175 gr FNRBT is 950 fps. These are fantastic initial speeds compared to my infamous 175 gr HP with lube grooves.
Until next post guys, stay safe and shoot straight! TOFAZFOU
