No more high priced .22 long rifle shooting for me?

[Bret4207]

I was looking at some of the options out there. Some of these PCP tanks they're talking 4000 psi. I used to fill scuba tanks as a part time thing. They had to be submerged in a water tank for both safety and heat reasons. Doing 3 tanks would raise the water temp to about bath water or hotter. I'm sure the tech has advanced since then, but it seems oddly uncomfortable to me.

Do they still make side cockers? I never liked the idea of a barrel cocker myself, too short a sight radius and using a fine barrel as a lever always seemed backwards to me, even if I did like the rest of the rifle.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Yes. Search pyramid air and airgun depot site. The RWS 48 is a good sidecocker Diana 460 is another I liked. There are others.

 

[RBHarter]

My brief stint as a VFF included SCBA filling . It took hours to service the reservoir tanks back after recharging the air packs . We filled 12 packs to 2500 psi off our 4000 psi capable 4 bottle rack . The SOP was to charge the fullest bottle first to 3500 . We used the cascade fill method lowest bottle first then finish or balance to the next and so on . It took as long to get from 3000 to 3500 psi as from 2000 to 3000 psi and we were only allowed a 10 deg above ambient temperature rise at the tank or 100° tank top temperature whichever was higher . Cool days were nice but it still took hours to fill basically 1.5-2 reservoir bottles from 1000-3500 psi . When we had meetings or training we would turn on the compressor and pump up the last or lowest bottle in 100psi steps . I think once we actually got 3900 , 3800 ,3700 and 3600 in the reservoir bottles .

Our compressor may have been a little tired I think it was purchased from a dive school that closed up after about 10 years .

 

[Bret4207]

IIRC it used to take maybe 8-10 minutes to fill a scuba tank. This was in Okinawa at a full time dive shop and the ambient air temps ran 85-100F in the summer. We used a big concrete tank that would hold 6 tanks at a time IIRC. About 6 feet long, 3 wide and 4 high. The water would get pretty hot!

 

[Bret4207]

Yes. Search pyramid air and airgun depot site. The RWS 48 is a good sidecocker Diana 460 is another I liked. There are others.

I must be doing something wrong,I was on Pyramid and couldn't find the 48. Have to go back and look more, thanks!

 

[BBerguson]

Yes, the RWS 48 is a side cocker. I need to shoot it more but 17 cal is lousy in the wind. Would love to get in a barn full of pigeons some night. I think the last time I shot them at night was in a silo, that was tough shooting!

 

[fiver]

nights are for Rat shooting.
you catch the pigeons inside early in the morning and close the doors.
if you have 2 guys fairly well hidden and they work together you can run the pigeons back and forth like coots on a pond.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

17 = Feathers
22 = Fur
25 = Fur + weight!

We had chickens for years, I shot thousands of rats. We actually enjoyed shooting them. But had a few hens get lead poisoning!! Not by shooting but by them eating the pellets on/in the ground!! Switched to copper pellets. Not as accurate but accurate enough, and no more sick hens.



CW

 

[Bret4207]

Yes, the RWS 48 is a side cocker. I need to shoot it more but 17 cal is lousy in the wind. Would love to get in a barn full of pigeons some night. I think the last time I shot them at night was in a silo, that was tough shooting!

You and my oldest son! He shoots them off our hundred foot silo. The Ravens have taken over part of that, so fewer pigeons up there, but they still nest in the barn.

 

[35 shooter]

Got the challenger set up with a Bushnell 4x12x40AO scope and my bullet mold came today.
Waiting on the chrono and pump to show up and I can get some no’s. going on this rig!

 

[BBerguson]

If I had a place to shoot rats I would! All the small dumps have been closed for years and I’ve never talked to any farmers that had much of a problem. The pigeons are much easier to find.

 

[fiver]

watch those Ravens in the spring.
they will get by the pigeon nests and try to coo, but it comes out as a raspy crrreaw.
they are trying to get the baby birds to coo back so they can pinpoint them and swoop in.
after a time the pigeons won't answer back, but then the ravens know pretty much where they are and will sit up top as high as they can and make the noise 2-3 times then go quiet like they left.
and just sit there and wait for a head or two to pop up.

i thinks it's weird because they know where the nests are, and sit and watch them, but don't just go down nest by nest looking for a baby to snatch up.

 

[Bret4207]

If I had a place to shoot rats I would! All the small dumps have been closed for years and I’ve never talked to any farmers that had much of a problem. The pigeons are much easier to find.

Rat shooting at the dump! Man, that brings back some memories. That used to be a twice a week evening activity where I grew up. I wasn't old enough to do much shooting then, but it was a great spectator sport for a little guy. There was one gent that decided to put what amounted to a Molotov Cocktail with a lit fuse out in the center of the pile. He waited till about 25 rats were scampering all over the place and shot the glass. IIRC it took all night to put the resulting fire out!

 

[35 shooter]

Been playing with my challenger for awhile now.
Finally got a hand pump for it and it is a bit of a workout to pump up to 250 bar, but very doable.
It has been very accurate so far, though i’ve Only shot it out to 50 yds. I’ve tried 14.3 gr. up to 25.4 gr. pellets and a 24 gr. swayed bullet along with a 30 gr. bullet.
Groups at 50 yds. have been anywhere from 1/4” c/c to a 1/2” outside to outside depending on which ammo it likes best.
Just getting started with it so i’ve Shot mostly 3 to 5 shot groups while going through what I have on hand for ammo while lightly testing for accuracy.
I only get what I would call 15 good shots before it starts to drop velocity, but this one is designed for power and it delivers.
Some of the guys that have this rifle are getting over 70 fpe with 25 to 33 gr. bullets and pellets, but so far 64 1/2 fpe is the most i’ve gotten.

As far as shot count, AEA has come out with a regulator for this rifle now for $80.00 that gets many more shots per fill and still up to 70 or more ft. lbs.
This is one serious 22 cal. air rifle.

I ordered a 24 gr. pellet mold and a 25 gr. bullet mold from NOE that should be here in a few days... i’ll be doing some serious testing with it soon.
Seems to really like .217 to .218” dia. ammo best, so I ordered a . 218” NOE size kit for it too.

 

[35 shooter]

I’ve played with the challenger a bit lately with the 25 gr. Noe bullet and the 24 gr. Noe pellet mold.
I’m using mixed fired pellets for alloy with a lot of crosmans mixed in.
Pretty high antimony content in the crosmans, so I get about 2 thou. Over specs on the skirts and bullet bases and about a thousand. over on the noses.
Shot the pellets as they dropped at .220” on the skirts( would be .217” to .218” in pure lead) and the bullets I sized the bases down to .218”.
I’ve only shot them at 20 yds benched indoors so far, but have shot a lot of 1/4” and less c/c groups with the pellets.
The bullets in 25 gr. are’nt doing well with the mixed alloy, but others are having great results in pure lead with them.
My 30 gr. Noe bullets shoot great just like the pellets sized to .218” also with the mixed pellet alloy.
I’ll be ordering some pure lead from roto metal before long.

This rifle will smoke on full power lol. I’ve gottten the 30 gr. up to 985fps. and 24 gr. up to just under 1100 fps.
I’ll know more after cataract surgery on July 15!

 

[35 shooter]

Ordered a bbl. band and got it today. Made by Bison Airguns and Parts, it requires a bit of sanding for final fit.
After I got it fit to the bbl. and air cylinder it took the slack out of the shroud. The only way to move it now is to really twist hard against the shroud, so under normal use it should’nt move.
I think other than dropping the rifle on it’s side I’m good to go.
Lol, gives me an excuse to shoot it again to test how well it does .

 

[35 shooter]

Finally got the eyes taken care of( cataract surgery)and got to the range Sunday afternoon. It was a good day to test under different conditions, as all I had to do was wait a few minutes and conditions would change lol!
Mostly sunny with few rain clouds and head winds up to about 10 mph with intermittent cross winds from left to right.

Shot my mixed pellet alloy first with my 24 gr. Noe cast pellets.
First 6 at 50 yds.we’re in .481”, then a rain cloud covered the sun for a few minutes and the next 2 shots cut each other almost a half inch low of my original group.
Waited for the sun to come back out and put 3 more shots back inside the original group! Wanted to check wind drift so caught about a 6 to 8 mph crosswind and shot 2 cutting each other about a half inch to the right of my original group.
Thought it should have drifted more at 50 yds., but that’s what I got.
These pellets are avg. between 1050 to almost 1100 fps.
Somebody forgot to tell this rifle that’s too fast for pellets lol.

I had a few jsb 25.4 gr. pellets and. Shot 6 into a .6ish” group at 50, then tried the mixed pellet alloy 25 gr. Noe slugs and put 6 into a little over an inch at 50 and quit shooting them as they were’nt as accurate as the pellets.
I need to try them again when I get some pure lead to cast them with.
Next trip I’ll try 75 and 100 yds. with the pellets just for kicks.

Pretty happy with poi between sun and cloudy conditions… still minute of squirrel head at 50 yds. either way.
Loving this rifle for sure. Can’t believe it shoots pellets so well at 60 plus fpe!!

 

[Snakeoil]

17 = Feathers
22 = Fur
25 = Fur + weight!

We had chickens for years, I shot thousands of rats. We actually enjoyed shooting them. But had a few hens get lead poisoning!! Not by shooting but by them eating the pellets on/in the ground!! Switched to copper pellets. Not as accurate but accurate enough, and no more sick hens.

View attachment 27500

CW

I would think that copper would be bad for them too, CW. If dog swallows a penny and does not pass it, it can poison him. Remember, copper is a primary ingredient in boat bottom paint. Been outlawed for use in pond to keep weed growth down in some states.

 

[Bret4207]

I would think that copper would be bad for them too, CW. If dog swallows a penny and does not pass it, it can poison him. Remember, copper is a primary ingredient in boat bottom paint. Been outlawed for use in pond to keep weed growth down in some states.

Pennys are made out of copper colored/washed zinc these days I've been told.

 

[Bret4207]

Finally got the eyes taken care of( cataract surgery)and got to the range Sunday afternoon. It was a good day to test under different conditions, as all I had to do was wait a few minutes and conditions would change lol!
Mostly sunny with few rain clouds and head winds up to about 10 mph with intermittent cross winds from left to right.

Shot my mixed pellet alloy first with my 24 gr. Noe cast pellets.
First 6 at 50 yds.we’re in .481”, then a rain cloud covered the sun for a few minutes and the next 2 shots cut each other almost a half inch low of my original group.
Waited for the sun to come back out and put 3 more shots back inside the original group! Wanted to check wind drift so caught about a 6 to 8 mph crosswind and shot 2 cutting each other about a half inch to the right of my original group.
Thought it should have drifted more at 50 yds., but that’s what I got.
These pellets are avg. between 1050 to almost 1100 fps.
Somebody forgot to tell this rifle that’s too fast for pellets lol.

I had a few jsb 25.4 gr. pellets and. Shot 6 into a .6ish” group at 50, then tried the mixed pellet alloy 25 gr. Noe slugs and put 6 into a little over an inch at 50 and quit shooting them as they were’nt as accurate as the pellets.
I need to try them again when I get some pure lead to cast them with.
Next trip I’ll try 75 and 100 yds. with the pellets just for kicks.

Pretty happy with poi between sun and cloudy conditions… still minute of squirrel head at 50 yds. either way.
Loving this rifle for sure. Can’t believe it shoots pellets so well at 60 plus fpe!!

Sounds like you have a winner! Good for you!