TalonDor .257 takes it's 3rd Coyote @ 120 yards!

I've said it before and I will continue to say it, the .257 caliber is such a accurate, fun and devastating round for target shooting and hunting.  Short or long range.  In this story, I will introduce not only the TD257's 3rd coyote but also a new Swage Bullet maker named Nick at Nielson Specialty Ammo.

THE GUN (TD257):  For those not familiar already with this air gun, the TD 257 started life as a Airforce Talon .22 caliber airgun.  I then bought a 24" .22 cal barrel then switched it shortly thereafter to a .25 cal pellet shooter.  Now this is back when the .25 wasn't even popular or in the hands of the general public.  After converting to a 24" barrel 25 caliber air gun, I soon bought a Condor valve from Air Force and thoroughly enjoyed the boost in power.  Many years later, the gun sat on the garage shelves for many reasons.  The main reason being the accuracy was not consistent enough for me.  In comes Doug Noble over on the TAG forum and he custom machined my guns internal parts along with the installation of a TJ Enterprises 26-5/8" barrel in .257 caliber.  Put all of the above info together and VOILA, I now have what I call the TD .257 (TalonDor .257).  Talon frame with a custom "Condor" valve by Mr. Noble with a .257 barrel.

Now, on to the highest praises.  With this kill, my absolute love for my air gun confirms why I think the 257 is such a accurate, devastating and fun round while using air power.  This rifle has hit a coke can at 446 yards (over a quarter mile) and was what I believe the FIRST to do this.  It has scrambled raw eggs sitting on golf tees at 175 yards.  It has decimated small colonies of ground squirrels and jack rabbits.  It has VIDEO posted half MOA groups at 160 yards.  And with this kill, it has now taken 3 coyotes.  The 257 continues to impress me after all these years and there is no other small bore air powered round quite like it!

THE AMMO, THE MAN:  Now, for those of you that follow me and my AIRVENTURES, you know that with this gun I shoot a variety of self cast slugs.  One being the very popular Lyman 257420 which is custom hollow pointed.  Every now and again, I get to test new slugs.  As of lately, I've had the pleasure of shooting some new to me, SWAGED slugs by Nick at Nielson Specialty Ammo or http://nielsenspecialtyammo.com/.  Nick contacted me via one of my favorite air gun forums and offered to send me quantities of .357 and .257 custom swaged slugs.  Being a sucker for new ammo, I could not and would not say no.  Nick owns a trapping company out of CA and has always been a shooter of various powder burners and used to reload most ammunition he shot. He got into PCP's when he needed a solution for putting down animals he trapped. As he got further into Air guns, Nick noted a serious lack in accuracy with over the counter lead ammo for big bore airguns.  He started out casting and then learned about the swagging process which he liked a lot.  Diving right in, he purchased a Corbin hand press to learn the process.  Shortly after he bought a hydraulic press and many dies, punches and related equipment.  Nick spent over a year developing his craft and doing research and testing on various slug designs.  I have recently been giving Nick feedback and evaluating his slugs.  Which leads me to this kill.  Nick recently sent me some 77.3 gr Rebated Boat Tail HP's that I found to have some serious potential and asked him to remake them at 79 gr instead.  Being a swagged projectile, the maker quickly has the ability to make the projectiles heavier or lighter by simply adjusting a die.  Longer per caliber makes it heavy and the reverse for a shorter bullet.  Nick has some pretty exciting ideas for projectiles that show great promise and will be available for retail.  I won't let all the cats out of the bag and save future info on his slugs for future post.  Lets take a pictorial look at some of the slugs and targets from previous test sessions.  These pics show how much time and detail goes into the testing sessions to find out what works.  These are not all but just a few:

THE SHOT:  I arrived at a location that I haven't been too in over a year but driving by frequently, I had seen a coyote or two and rabbits in the distance before.  When I parked my truck, my wife called me as she usually does 1st thing in the morning.  As we talked, I exited the truck to start setting up to target shoot.  I gathered paper targets and other miscellaneous items I use to target shoot.  I hung up with my wife and went to grab one of the 1st Airguns to shoot for the day.  On the way around my truck, I quickly spotted 2 coyotes trotting by in the distance.  I grabbed the TD257 from the gun case in the back seat and both of the yotes heard me rustling around in my truck and decided to STOP and see what I was doing.  When I removed the gun from its case, I adjusted the power wheel up to 4-12 (REALLY HIGH FOR MY GUN.  NORMALLY IT SITS ON PW 4-4 USING THE LYMAN 257420's at 1010 fps).  As my heart was racing, I grabbed one of the NEW 79 gr RBT/HP's and quickly slammed it in the gun.  I visually ranged the coyote at 100-110+ yards and decided to hold the cross hairs on top of the bigger coyotes spine and the 1st lower mil-dot (120 +- yards) on his chest.  The 2 coyotes started trotting off aimlessly and I soon gave them a loud bark!  The bigger one stopped and looked in my direction PERFECTLY broadside.  I lost sight on the other yote due to the nearby shrubbery.  At this moment, I squeezed the trigger and quickly heard the muzzle bark then the infamous THWACK which sounded like it hit a little bone.  At the point of the shot, I could see the 79 gr RBT HP slug fly and curve right into the coyote in slow motion.  The coyote yelped, spun twice and bit at his shoulder.  He then ran up the nearby hillside and at this point, I thought it was a bad hit and the coyote was going to get away.  I was so extactic to see the whole thing unfold like a movie, in slow motion.  As the coyote ran up the hill, it stumbled twice and at that point, I knew the coyote had been hit well and it started struggling to keep pace.  Soon after, the coyote fell and tumbled and when it fell, it completely stopped moving RIGHT at the moment it dropped.  It was dead while running.  I grabbed my Leupold range finder and ranged the exact bush the coyote was standing right next to at the shot and when I saw "120 yards", I just about yelped as loud as the coyote did......lol!  I kept ranging the shot and every time it read, "120".  This was the very 1st shot with Nick's 79 gr RBT/HP slugs and at that point, I hadn't even tested them yet.  I just loaded and kept the faith that basically, 2 grains heavier would somewhat still have the same trajectory as the lighter ones.  Needless to say, the shot hit the coyote in the lungs/heart on its RIGHT shoulder and exited the LEFT one.  The entrance was a very small hole and the exit was about 3/8".  The entrance hole was perfectly placed and square in the shoulder and the exit shoulder had a exit hole lower than centered due to me shooting slightly downward.  I was hoping the slug stayed in the coyote but it did not.  I was planning on recovering it.  To this day, I have yet to recover many slugs from game animals. Most completely penetrate as this one did.

Later, I set up my new Caldwell chrony and began to test the same exact bullet for muzzle speed.  I was amazed that the slug was traveling 910 fps with the chrony set up 6 feet from the muzzle for 145 FPE!  BC is still untested as of yet because the slugs are in their infant state but, being a RBT projectile with a pretty slick ogive, they retained enough downrange fps/fpe to totally penetrate a large male coyotes chest 120 yards away and cause massive trauma!  More info on these slugs to come!

Stay Tuned!

Tofazfou

CORSAIR+ 7mm: UPDATE/UPGRADES

 

Hey folks.  Just wanted to drop in a give and update on my Corsair 7mm.  I've really been paying some attention to this rifle as opposed to my TD257.  On my last update, I epoxied a Carbon Fiber sleeve to the guns barrel and that has worked well.  The CF sleeve's intention is to stiffen the barrel to remove any FLEX that is there.  The barrel is a Barrel Liner from TJ Enterprises and they come pretty thin. About .562"+.  Since Carbon Fiber is as strong or stronger than steel, not only would it add rigidity to the barrel but it would add girth.  The CF sleeve did aid in accuracy and consistency but something "SLIGHT" was still amiss.  My next thought was to test the gun WITH and WITHOUT its muzzle brake.

Once out to my shooting local, I shot a quick group with the muzzle brake ON.  I then shot a group with the muzzle brake OFF and I was soon surprised at how accurate the gun was WITHOUT it.  I played around for the rest of the shooting session with the MB off and decided once I got home, I would check it for clipping.  Clipping really was NOT my concern but I had to check the theory non the less since clipping with airguns is so common when you have a muzzle brake or shroud attached to the end of the barrel.  Once home, I checked the MB and it showed no signs of clipping and the hole in the MB was OVER .320" or so cause its made for a .308 rifle.  Still, thinking i could improve things, I opened the hole up.  Once I was able to return to my shooting spot, the same test as before was run.  A grouping WITH and WITHOUT the MB.  WITH the MB, things did improve over the last outing but they still were not better than WITHOUT the MB.  I determined simply that the MB had a "BAD" effect on the accuracy of the airgun and it will now be shot WITHOUT a MB.  So WITHOUT it is.  Hey, it's built for a 308 powder burner so i'm sure with the lower muzzle pressures of the airgun, the base or body of the bullet is affected as it enters, and exits the MB.

The next step I wanted to perform was to install an Aluminum Pillar into the stock that would add more rigidity to the action when mounted in the stock.  Its common knowledge that either Glass Bedding or Pillar Bedding aids in the accuracy dept.  So why not an airgun? Pillars can be bought from places such as Midway USA and Brownells.  See video down below for the process.  The results will be posted at a later date when the weather here allows for me to get out and thoroughly test.

With this being a long range airgun, it was time for one of the most anticipated but obvious upgrades.  I mean, I already had the SWFA 12x42 MRAD Scope but no high MOA Rings.  A call to my buddy Josh Porter at http://www.accuratebigboreairgunammo.com/ got me a set of 30mm SUN OPTICS adjustable rings.  These rings are adjustable for windage and elevation and are very cost friendly compared to other brands.  About 35 bucks a set.  As you can see from the last pic above, I already have about .055" of Elevation in the rear ring and none in the front.  These rings allow me to center my scope in all its turret setting for Elevation and Windage and be dead on at 100 yards which is were this gun stays sighted in for.  More testing and an update to come on these rings!

In the next session with the Corsair, we will test all the improvements to the gun.  Yes, its a lot of things done all at once but they are things I was going to inevitably do anyways.

Stay TUNED!

Tofazfou

TD257 takes its 2nd Coyote

I set out on this morning in hopes of calling in a Coyote (s) that I have seen roaming around in one of my favorite Jack rabbit locations.  As of late, the rabbit numbers have been low.  Heck, some days, I only see 1 or 2 which is extremely abnormal for this area.  There are Hawks and a Bobcat that live in the area but again, this is nothing new and numbers seemed to be lower than normal judging by past years.  So upon setting up and calling for over 20 minutes without as much as a distant glimpse of a yote, I decided that this particular predator hunt is a bust.  So I pack up and head to another locale that I normally visit to hunt Jack Rabbits.

So now, I'm driving down a familiar dirt road to park my truck and start the long hike through the vast desert.  Upon making the last left turn to park, about 100 yards down that road, I spot some awfully big ears.  This is not uncommon as driving through the desert floor will often present you with a set or 2 of big ears from a running Jack Rabbit.  Except these ears where not as long and the head of this animal was much BIGGER than a rabbit.  The problem is, the sun was glaring right into my face as it was still early in the morning.  Roughly 9:15 am.  So the sun was still low!  I immediately slam on my brakes and start staring at this animal with the intent on identifying exactly what it was.  To my surprise, it was a Coyote.  A big one!  Not only that but, him being in that area is DEFINITELY why i am not seeing any jack rabbits.  He was in my FAVORITE spot where I have killed plenty of jacks before.

I then put my truck in park and hop out after grabbing my Air Gun.  I knew i did not have time on my side as he was scarely curious as to all my racket with doors slamming and my footsteps mashing into the loose gravel.  I did not even turn off my truck I was so frantic.  Luckily though, the camera was still mounted to my gun and it was all inside of the case and I was on the Yotes blind side as he could not see me.  So all I had to do was to grab it, turn on the camera, hit record and shoot!  Upon grabbing the gun, I head to the rear of the truck to use the top of the bed of the truck for bracing.  This also kept me hid from the yote.  The coyote started trotting off due to my noise but, he was so curious that he stopped broadside to me and looked at me once more to see who and what I was doing.  This was his fatal mistake!

The yote was approximately 50 yards from me and when he stopped to take one last look at me, I excitedly put the crosshairs just behind his elbow and quickly pulled the trigger.  The shot went high and took out the arteries and nerves just under his spine.  The projectile of choice was the infamous Lyman 257420 in HP format that had been modified.  I call them MHPs for Modified Hollow Points which mean that I cut shallow slits into the HP mouth to aid in expansion (it does not need any aid BTW).  As I glared through the scope, I could tell the yote was hit in the vitals and that he was fighting to stay alive.  But it didn't last long.  In about 8 seconds, he was DRT!

After taking the yote, I decided that I would go for 1 or 2 Jacks.  I told myself that when I got one, I would pack up for the day and go home.  The Yote was all I needed but the day was still super early.  After spotting a few Jack and missing 2 cleanly, I decided to call it a day and headed back to my truck.  As I ventured back to the vehicle, I spotted a big rabbit right at 53 yards and decided to take it.  It was a very successful head shot and he was DRT!

All in all, this was a SUPER day and one of my best so far.  Not only was the weather beautiful but I managed to LUCKILY stumble upon a Yote and a Jack.

THE VIDEO:

Stay Tuned!
Tofazfou

Gateway To Airguns forum (GTA) 1st annual Airgun Hunt (meet/greet)

     On this adventure, I was invited to a meet and greet with fellow airgun hunters/shooters by Baxter Walton over on the GTA forum.  GTA stands for Gateway To Airguns and the forum has a vast database on everything AIRGUN.  From hunting to target shooting to gear to general socializing.  This meet was conceived by fellow airgunner Baxter Walton or BWALTON and was put together for all of us to get together and talk airguns, camping, hunting, target shooting and life in general.  It was a meet and greet sorta event with Ground Squirrel hunting being the primary focus.  Overnight camping was also an option as Baxter and Dale camped out Saturday afternoon/night.  Myself and Napoleon would arrive there Sunday morning as you will soon see in the video.  Not very many members showed as promised (RSVP).

 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 

THE MEET:  Well, only 4 of us participated and that was fine with me.  It was Baxter, Dale, Napoleon and Myself.  As explained earlier, Dale and Baxter spent the night so they were already at the campsite.  Napoleon and myself showed up Sunday morning with me arriving 1st.  After arriving, I was greeted by Dale and Baxter and it already felt like I had known them previously.  We talked for a while and kept hoping more folks were gonna show then up comes Napoleon.  Napoleon, Dale and Baxter hunt together all the time with each other and they have their own personal hunting crew.  Napoleon then shows up and we meet and greet also.  It was like i had hunted with them a few times already and that's a great feeling when you are just meeting someone for the 1st time.  After we all talked for a while, we decide to pack up from the camp site and head out to do some early morning hunting.

THE GUNS:  We didn't spend too much time talking guns and gear and such nor did we spend a lot of time on each others guns.  But, I brought along the TD257, Baxter had a customers HATSAN 25 that he customized, Napoleon brought along his very nice looking and quiet Evanix Rainstorm .25 that was tuned and shrouded by Will Piatt and Dale brought along some Daystate 22's and a couple other guns.  As it figured, I was the only cast bullet shooter or the other guys were the only pellet shooters.....lol!

THE HUNT:  After we leave the Camp Grounds, we head up into the mountain range and we stop to glass the area.  It was also a chance for me to take a look at the surrounding mountain range and to do some preliminary videography.  Baxter decided that since I was new to the area, i should team up with either himself or Napoleon, both which are very familiar with the area.  Baxter and Dale decide to team up and Baxter sent me with Napoleon.  We then pack up and head to our 1st locale in which Baxter exits his truck and immediately spots a ground squirrel at 255 sitting atop a gigantic rock formation.  Baxter gives me the 1st shot as I'm the GUEST as he put it.  I had not properly sighted in at this locale since going on my last outting elsewhere but I trusted in my gun and how well I knew it.  So, I stalk to within 138 yards and decided that this is "THE" distance from which I will take my shot.  After a few fair misses, I soon learn my POI/POA and make scope adjustments accordingly. I was shooting 2" high and 2" to the right. The squirrel also moved from his original location to a new one due to those nasty .257 cal BUMBLE BEES flying over his head......lol!  1 sting and your a goner.  On the next shot, I give the squirrel shoulder as many crosshair/mildot points as I could spare knowing that if I were just a little off, I would either hit the head, the heart, the lungs or the spine.  I aimed for the base of the neck where it meets the shoulders and THWACK, it was a solid 138 yard shot.  IN THE EYE!

10 minutes later, a GS that my GS was playing with earlier came out of the same rock formation and started running towards Napoleon and I like it wanted revenge or something.  138 yards and counting (DOWN).  The squirrel reached another small rock formation that was 71 yards from Napoleon and I and it was Napoleon's turn to shoot.  The squirrel disappeared into the formation for a minute or two then came up.  I told Napoleon that the squirrel was headed for the highest rock and that he should get ready.  Sure enough, the squirrel appears and I start rolling film and ranging for Napoleon.  I then re-ranged the GS for Napoleon and it was again right at 71 yards.  But this time, the left to right breeze had picked up slightly.  As the squirrel crested the rock, Napoleon and his Evanix made the 71 yard shot look pretty simple.  SUCCESS!  We had 2 in the bag at this point.  After retrieving the GS and snapping some video/pictures, Napoleon and I find Dale and Baxter and decided head back to the campsite to do lunch.  But not before we had a small talk about our success the start of that morning.  We soon find out Baxter shot a ground squirrel also.

So now, after lunch, Myself, Baxter and Napoleon decide to go back out for part 2 of the days hunting adventure.  Dale opted out due to his extremely long drive back home.  So it was Myself, Baxter and Napoleon at this point.  Baxter goes out by himself and Napoleon takes me to another good spot of his.  We venture out to this area and it was beautiful and down in a shallow valley.  Upon arriving, we sit, take out our binoculars and within like 20 seconds, Napoleon sais, "I see one", "he is 88 yards directly in front of us sitting and some dead shrub branches".  I pull up my binoculars and after a few spotting tutorials from Napoleon, I spot the squirrel, FINALLY....lol!  Napoleon ranges the GS at 88 yards and I dig into my Strelok Ballistics Program to find that 82 yards is my 1st UPPER mildot.  I knew my gun was still shooting just a tiny bit high due to the extremely high altitude so I aimed the upper mildot slightly lower than the chest.  This would allow for a level hit right in the vitals of the chest cavity.  At the shot, I heard the distinctive THWACK and another GS was down!  This one makes #3 for Napolean and I.

We then pick up and decided to try one more spot that Napoleon had told me about earlier before calling it quits.  We drive a quarter mile over the next hill and park our vehicles.  This locale was a lookout point that overlooked a nice shallow valley.  We both get out and start glassing the area.  Neither of us saw anything then again, ALL OF A SUDDEN, Napoleon shouts out again, "I see one"!  This squirrel was sitting atop a rock that i had JUST looked at also and he wasn't there when I looked.  Napoleon ranges the GS at 95 yards and I began gathering my gun and chair and camera/bipod.  I cross over to where Napoleon was and set every thing up to prepare for the shot.  Napoleon is roughly 1 yard behind me.  The GS was definitely NOT in a rush to leave and I made sure I didn't give him a reason to leave.  Once set up, I made 2 vertical turret clicks down and put the 1st upper mildot dead square on the squirrels right eye.  I then call the shot to Napoleon as a Head Shot.  Upon the muzzle blast, a split second later, I could hear the very audible and one of a kind sound of a connecting projectile.........THWACK!  Napoleon was watching out of his binoculars and screamed out, "that was a head shot, I could see his head get slammed down before his body went down".  Upon arriving at the downed 4th squirrel, lets just say, we could tell the squirrel LOST HIS MIND!

Napoleon and I decided to find Baxter and call it a day.  It was nearing the 4 o clock hour and we all had a drive ahead of us.

HERE IS THE HUNT ON VIDEO:

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT AIRVENTURE!

TOFAZFOU

 

WELCOME to the 200 Yard Club! Ground Squirrel shot at 202 YARDS!!

WHY AIRGUNS FOR LONG RANGE?:     One of the reasons I love shooting cast bullets, especially in the mid-bore range of calibers, is that they carry their performance downrange much more efficiently than a Diablo Pellet does and they are superbly accurate at long distances.  My TD257 acts much like a 22 lr shooting High Velocity rounds but with a bigger/heavier projectile.  The retained energies are astounding considering these guns are AIR powered and not powder.  Case in point is that my TD257 using Lyman 257420 cast slugs at 70.5 gr in HP configuration makes 168-170 FPE/1010 FPS at the muzzle and at 200 yards, the bullet is still traveling over 810 fps and has a retained FPE rating of 108 FPE.  At 200 yards, the projectile still makes more FPE than the hottest FACTORY .303 cal Diablo Pellet Air Gun does at the muzzle.  The other reason is that the cast projectiles due to there nose shapes (fp/hp) cause massive shock and destruction as you will note in the below posted video.  One last reason but not the least reason is the all out challenge.  If i wanted easy, I would simply shoot the 17 hmr exclusively and only take shots at 50 yards MAX....lol!

ON TARGET PERFORMANCE:  As discussed above, cast bullets in short are the cross between a jacket bullet and a pellet in my opinion.  Not exactly a 50/50 split due to them being closer in performance to jacketed bullets but i think you get my point.  Since shooting cast bullets at longer ranges for a couple years now, I have grown to know and understand and TRUST ballistics programs and my eyes/brain and what they tell me about a rounds downrange performance/exterior ballistics.  And those programs tell me that a slug from a lowly airgun can kill way out there and have very little trouble getting there in a timely fashion to deliver the awesome power and accuracy it carries.  For this shoot, I chose to use the trusted LYMAN 257420 bullet that has been HP'd by Eric Ohlen at WWW.HOLLOWPOINTMOLD.COM.  And if you follow my Youtube Channel, you can see just how these little HP bullets perform in initial testing with water jugs.  1 year ago, I shot my 1st long range ground squirrel at 126 yards with the TD257 using the Lyman HP bullets and I was in awe at the devastation. I included that video clip into this video.

THE HUNT:  Heading out to one of my local spots that I haven't been too in a long time due to too many adolescents last time out, I was very happy to see all the activity of the now mature ground squirrels.  The winds were to be roughly 8+ mph during the hours I was there.  To me, this is just about perfect and is easier to predict wind drift.  As I knew the hunt would be short due to a later family engagement, I want to take no more than about 3-5 squirrels.  My goal though, was to take a squirrel at 200 yards.  I told myself, whenever I get the 200 yard squirrel (if I do), my day would be over.  Just as I predicted, my day went according to the plan.  None of this would have been possible without my trusty long range equipment.  My TD257, my Bushnell Perma-focus Binoculars, my Leupold rangefinder and Strelok ballistics program.

As I approached my "spot", the goal was to park at the fence and take shots across the open field because this provided the best view and the longest ranges.  Admittedly though, after my 2nd 172 yard GS while at the fence, it was just too hot to sit there any longer.  At one point, my all black TD257 seemed to have just a little valve lock due to the direct and hot sun so I knew later on, I would have to move into the tree lines and spot/shoot from there.  The 1st squirrel was foraging and as I eased into position, another GS spotted me and started his alarm bark.  This alerted the unknowing target squirrel and he stood very erect to see what all the hoopla was about.  I stayed very still and took my time taking the shot.  BAM, GS #1 was down!  110 yards is a very easy shot with the TD257 especially since its sighted in at 100 yards.  As you will see in the video, the only flinching was of the tail of squirrel as impact from the 70.5 gr HP proved utterly devastating.  The shot looked to be a neck/spine shot.

My 2nd attempt was at a GS at 172yards and it was getting pretty hot sitting there in the direct sunlight.  Upon the 1st shot at this squirrel, the shot fell very short and I could tell there was either mild valve lock or the guns moving parts were really hot and were restricted in their movement.  I then rechecked STRELOK to make sure I was holding correctly for the shot and then got prepared for shot 2.  The winds at this time had picked up just a little and I overcompensated for the shot left to right by just a hair and did not compensate enough for the drop.  At the shot, the squirrel jumped very high and sped off down his hole.  I could tell the bullet went just below him and scared the BEJESUS out of him.  He for sure will live to become my target for the next outing.  It was a clean miss.

My 3rd squirrel in the video actually came from a shot I took exactly 1 year ago at 126 yards.  On this squirrel, winds were into the high teens and would not die down.  Due to this, I chose to give the GS a left to right cross-hair lead by 1/4 mil-dot and a 1st lower mildot hold over to compensate for the range.  At the shot, the impact was more deafening than the muzzle blast as you will observe during the video.  The shot connected perfectly in the GS left shoulder and exited the right shoulder destroying the upper chest cavity and all its contents (heart/lung).  The impact looked as though he was hit was a 100 mph baseball pitch.  The GS did the death flop acrossed the huge boulder and fell down into the rock cluster.  Another one down but still not at my goal of 200 yards........

My 4th GS would prove to be the most challenging not because of the range but because of the uneven ground between he and I.  At certain points, I could clearly spot him sitting atop a grounded tree branch then grazing down into the grass surrounding the branch. He was for sure a busy body.  My 1st shot at him came once he again stopped atop the grounded tree branch.  It was a really CLOSE shot and I figured he would for sure stay down his hole.  I was mad for missing because he was exactly 202 yard away and this was the shot I wanted.  After staying put and not giving up, 2 ground squirrels reappear in the area.  1 came from its hole to the left of this squirrel and the one I shot at came back out of his hole.  Except this time, he came out of his hole and then came sat in a hole to the right of the tree he was grazing around.  But he wasn't dumb, he only stuck his head and shoulder up and ate on something nearest his hole.  He had no idea where I was and what the heck that was that blew dirt on him so violently....lol!  As I readjusted and started the camera rolling, I gave myself a quick pep talk and I referenced my Strelok program.  I then deeply thought about where on the mil-dots the last shot hit and I decided to give it just a tad more elevation.  At the shot, this proved to be the winning ticket.  I could clearly hear the smack but at this time, I was still unsure as the GS was already in his hole.  So my thought was, if I even hit him, he will be lost down his hole.  I then pack up my gear and decide to go down and look for any signs.  What kept sticking in my head was the THWACK!  I know that sound.  I couldn't clearly SEE an impact and I could AUDIBLY hear one.  So I assumed he was at least TOUCHED by the 108 FPE bullet.  Upon arrival to the double tree where he foraged, I did not immediately see him. Well, when I looked into the correct hole.........WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE THE RESULTS..................!

Stay TUNED!

Tofazfou

New 6061 Aluminum Dovetail for the Sam Yang 357

Another item I've wanted to replace since I did initial research on the gun was the POT METAL Cast dovetail scope ring base.  Since owning it, I now know for a fact that its easily "CRIMPED" by the scope rings.  It doesn't take much torque to make "FLAT" spots on the base.

After talking to my machinist (D. Noble), he already has a dovetail that he mocked up a while ago while PERFECTING making them.  Alls he had to do was to cut it off the block it was machined on then start the machining process to duplicate the OEM base.  The new base was to be made out of 6061 Aluminum.  I won't bore you guys with needless details cause this process is self explanitory and its better seen then EXPLAINED TOO.....lol.

1st up, pics of the process:

AFTER FINDING CENTER, THE MILLING STARTS

YOU CAN SEE THE "base" OF THE DOVETAIL FORMING IN THE CENTER

 AFTER THE CENTER IS SLOTTED, ITS FLIPPED OVER TO CENTER PUNCH THE MOUNTING HOLES

BOTH ENDS ARE DRILLED FOR THE MOUNTING SCREWS THEN THE EXCESS FINS ARE MILLED OFF AND.................voila!

NEW AND IMPROVED 6061 ALUMINUM DOVETAIL BASE

A BIG THANK YOU TO DOUG NOBLE FOR DOING SO MANY OF MY MACHINE JOBS DUE TO THE FACT THAT ITS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET GOOD QUALITY AFTERMARKET PARTS THAT ARE STRONGER THAN THE OEM VERSIONS!!  I'M A HEADACHE.............I KNOW..................

THE MILLING PROCESS

Father and Son's 1st airgun outing

It's funny how when you become a parent (FATHER), while you dearly cherish you child being a toddler/infant, you quickly want them to get to that "MAGIC" age of when they can go EXPLORE the world with Daddy.  My son Mason is now 7 y.o. and will be 8 in a very short time.  I am 6'-2" tall and my boy now reaches my upper diaphram/lower chest area.  Boy how time flys and how quick they grow up!  Well, he has had a 50cc dirt bike for quite some years but obviously could not ride it alone.  We would often go for rides together on it and have a blast of a time.  Times i'm sure he will remember for the rest of his life.  Mason also has his own Crosman 2240 with 14" barrel and half shroud and a Tasco Red Dot scope that runs on CO2.  He has shot his airgun in the garage at 10 yards and a time or 12 (lol) when he was younger and a time or two at a little further distance of about 30 yards.

Well, now that he is right around the corner from 8 y.o., I decided that it was time for he and I to have our 1st outdoor adventure and it was time for him to learn to ride his dirt bike all by himself.  I figured while we were out in the wild being MEN, I would bring along HIS airgun and one of mine and have just a little fun together.  Nothing serious obviously but, just a little fun.  By the way, at the point before this outing, Mason has had very little experience with shooting and even less riding a dirt bike.  But he has SOME experience with both!  This day would allow him to gain more on both subjects, guns and motorcycles.

As I stated earlier, this day was honestly more about him riding his motorcycle than shooting.  Especially because I knew the wind would be a little high.  After we trained and rode the bike, Mason wanted to take a break to have lunch.  After lunch, I asked him if he wanted to ride again or shoot.  He replied "SHOOT".  Of course, I smiled ear to ear.  I then walked out 3 of my bowling pins to roughly 50 yards and came back to the truck to start shooting.  The gun WAS NOT SIGHTED IN as I had just taken it apart and modded it for more power.  Mason then asked me if he could shoot and i said, "why not dude" as I could be the spotter and its always easier this way to see where HIGHLIGHTS of our afternoon.  Upon firing, Mason actually hit the 1st pin flush.  I WAS IN AWE and AMAZEMENT and considered it a fluke.  So now the filming of his shots actually start and I challenged him to do it again.  Well, AGAIN HE DID.  Number 2 was down.  I then challenged him to hit the 3rd pin and if he did, I would buy him a Lego set which he loooooves.  Upon the 3rd shot, the pin spun slightly letting me quickly know that the shot wasn't centered but to one side.  I didn't think it was gonna fall.  I mean, have you guys seen the current prices of some of the Lego sets?  SERIOUSLY, CAN YOU BLAME ME!?
the pellets were hitting.  So after about 10 minutes of instruction on shooting the Recluse .357 and getting it to feel right to him, I told him to aim center of the bowling pins and to gently squeeze the trigger.  Now, my goal was also to not really be filming like I usually do but to just film some

As for the rest of the action, I will let you guys watch the video.  I will go on to say that I am extremely proud of my son and I'm a very proud father.  Mason shows signs of being a marksman and he actually loves shooting.  And he listens very well to instruction.  This day, was a day that I will never forget and I have my fingers crossed that he will WANT to do more shooting.  Dirt biking too but, this after all IS an airgun blog.

I look forward to more outings like this.  Another chapter in both our lives begins.....................


THE VIDEO:

Thanks for Staying Tuned!

Tofazfou