Air Rifle

[BilletHead]

           Maybe . 

[fishinwrench]

Here's where I am now.....

So I ordered a Crosman 1300KT in .22 from the custom shop, that was originally gonna be just a beater for bike rides and such, but then when I got it and realized how insanely accurate it was I went full tilt with it.  Installed a flat top valve and piston, a BOSS transfer port, and all the goodies to make the trigger amazing.  Also beefed up the pump linkage.  It will now blow through a Lake Ozark area phone book easily at 35 yards with 12 pumps and is dead nuts accurate.  The new valve and transfer port can take up to 27 pumps before it starts retaining air.  No idea on FPS yet but an infrared chronograph is on it's way from China 😉

Ok, so my first PCP was gonna be the new Gen2 Benjamin Fortitude regulated .22..... but then I learned that regulated guns (except for the extremely expensive ones) have this thing about always throwing off the first shot.  Well that's fine if you're just target shooting but that little personality disorder would totally screw you in the squirrel woods, so since I had really fallen in love with the light weight, compact, easy to carry 1300kt style I decided to make my first PCP the Benjamin P-Rod. 

Added a WAR moderator to keep it whisper quiet, a Hawke 3-9x40AO optic, and I have all the goodies to hotrod it after I get my chrony and can compare shot strings.   As it is right now, bone stock, it is only shooting about 14ft/lbs. but OMG is it ever a tack driver.   The little sticky note (the size of a squirrel head) contains the shots from a full magazine at 40 yards, and that's shooting off my knee not even a bench rest.   

Keeping it properly pressurized with a hand pump is no problem at all, less effort than jacking up a bass boat trailer to change a tire.  

 

[Ketchup]

Man, your collection is growing. I spent an hour a few days ago looking for my first pcp. Went to Bass Pro Friday as they have a few. I need to start looking into perking these guns up, as with any of my current 9, Ive done nothing but add optics. Think I will leave the springers stock, and trick out the pcp as much as I can. 

Looking good wrench. 

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Ketchup said:

Think I will leave the springers stock,

You might wanna think again.  There's an outfit in Australia (Custom Air Seals) that are making replacement piston seals for most spring and gas ram guns that not only boost your velocity by 50-75fps but also dampen the recoil.

They take the original seals that look like this 

And make replacements that look like this...

No idea why manufacturers haven't adopted this seal design (patent infringment maybe?) but I swapped out the ones in my Gamo Swarm and my Benjamin Prowler with the Australian seals and I promise you it is something you definitely wanna do to any break barrel gun you plan on hunting with.  Talk about waking up a sleeping lion!   

 

[Ketchup]

A search on Amazon turned up nothing, but I found their site online. 

Question: I see they offer the breech and piston seals. Are you changing both? 

I see the breech for my Hatsan 125 in 25cal. but not the piston seal. 

They offer for Gamo “which I have 4” but didn’t see model specific. Maybe one size fits all with that brand gun? 

I will keep digging into their site. Good stuff. 

[fishinwrench]

I ordered replacement breech seals when I got the piston seals, but so far I haven't needed to replace mine.  

I dumped a little pile of talcum powder over the breech area and fired the gun ......no leaks, so I'm saving the seals for later.

The blue Gamo seal also works on many Crosman/Benji applications....but not all.  The overall diameter and the diameter of the inside hole are all you need to verify, if they are the same then your golden.  The taper on all seems to be consistent on all makes.

Shipping time takes about a MONTH !

[Ketchup]

Sorry to wake up a 3 1/2 year old thread, but it is fall time so the feeling of guns and not rods is in the house. I have spent the past few hours searching online for my first PCP gun. Looking for sub $400. I’m undecided on a 22 or 25 cal. Love my Hatsan in 25 spring gun. As of now my top 3 picks are: 

The Vectis comes with the same Hawke scope i have on my 25, and love it so wouldn’t have to buy optics, tho the combo is $500  

I still have 7 air guns but no PCP still so going to add one soon.

Hatsan FlashPup QE, Wood 

Seneca Aspen

Hatsan Vectis Lever Action, Scope Combo

 

 

 

 

[fishinwrench]

I finally reached a plateau in my airgun collection.   I got tired of exploding expensive scopes with otherwise fine shooting break barrels, but I didn't want to fall into the compressor/air tank rabbit hole.  

I settled on the PRod platform (Marauder pistol... converted to a carbine).   Light as a feather, quiet, and a joy to pack around.

With it I am insanely accurate out to 50-55 yards with enough .22 power to quickly dispatch critters up to the size of a fox.  And I get 19-21 unregulated shots with the hotrod Prod before I have to MANUALLY pump her back up to 2850 psi......Which is good excersize, and doesn't take but 3-4 minutes.    Being somewhat of an experienced gunsmith, and a mechanic to boot, makes altering and tuning them a breeze.  I haven't had to touch the scope turrets in 3 years......they are dead-on-balls everytime I pick them up.   I have two of them.   One is tuned HOT with a silencer and Hawke 3-9, and the other is tuned MILD with stock barrel and a Hawke 2-7.    I get 28-30 shots between pump-ups with the mild PRod, but it is only deadly out to 40 yards....and range estimation has to be pretty precise.  

The JSB Hades pellets really woke all of my airguns up.   Those projectiles are FREAKIN' WICKED ! and they group superb through all of my guns.  

 

The Benjamin Fortitude is another that IS regulated, and wouldn't be too bad to manually pump up....... but it is long, and a bit heavy and cumbersome in comparison to my Prod's.    They are stupid accurate though, with plenty of punch for squirrels/rabbits.   Coons, huge feral cats, and armadillos might be pushing it a bit.  You can't effectively do a "power tune" on a regulated PCP gun.   

.25 cal. is great IF you have the power to push heavier pellets at a flat trajectory.   From my experience it takes a rifle like Billetheads FX to do that......and that means owning a compressor and tank(s).   Bigger/heavier projectiles are worthless if you're just lobbing them through the air.   Misjudge your range by 3-4 yards and you'll miss or wound your target.   I don't like that.

[Ketchup]

Awesome info wrench. So a few months back, when the better half asked what i wanted for my bday, that is when this PCP thought started again. Tho i chose a vacation and fishing gear, I’m still on the hunt for the first. My budget, if i keep the gun itself under $400, maybe $500 with optics allows me to purchase a compressor and goodies as well. I would like to find one in that 500cc onboard air tank, but those are in the $800 and up range. If i stop eating $30 a day at Sonic between breakfast and lunch, i could up my budget in a few weeks. 
 

If i go the $800 up range, I’m pretty certain my choice will be the Hatsan NeutronStar in 22. I have read about everything i can find on it and the looks, FPE, shot count, and all fits right in to my wants. Check it out when you have a minute. 

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, Ketchup said:

Check it out when you have a minute.

Noooo!!! 

The only way to control this affliction, and to have a happy life, is to find/build a gun that suits your needs.....and then STOP LOOKING !!!!  

I married my beloved PRod.  She's good to me, and I'm not fooling around on her. 

😅