A Webley Rebel might be suitable for the sort of thing you are thinking about. Problem is they do not appear to be available any longer. They are clones of the Sharp Innova. I have two one in .177 and another in .22. They perform as well as a 39X and have the added advantage of a 11mm scope rail which is needed because the sights are bad. If you can find one it should be cheap because they never gained any level of popularity in the US. I believe they are still available in the UK and cost around £110.
The points that you mentioned was very similar to what I was considering, and I have similar concerns. Brass is softer than steel true but not THAT soft , still quite durable. Also if it were tapped into for breech mounting if it was done right it should be stable (not like there's going to be any front/back/sideways push on it after mounting is done). If I end up getting far with that and enjoy the performance then I might think about 4130 vs 304 stainless tubing to replace it. Those both would be considerably stronger than brass right? Anyways the tube is really the farthest needed to go (from scratch is optional really from a performance standpoint). Btw on your build of .25 pumper will you be using the Benji valves? Just curious.
I agree Twicehorn , it would certainly not be done for any FT or any competition related stuff (that would be silly). It's just for sakes of enhancing the airgun for leisure and maybe small game uses.
I came to the conclusion that the only way for me personally to get what I wanted was to study as much as possible and have my own gun made.I made that decision about two years ago and got so far as the barrel twist rate before I got bored and the project was pushed off to the side.Yes, my original design was close to the current 39x design and used the valve... Until I realized that the cartridge style valve has a number of limitations and that the valve won't be able to produce the pressure and flow that I need to propel a .25 at the speeds I want.
I generally agree that only accurate rifles are interesting, but that is still somewhat limited by the rifle's purpose. I think a part of my enjoyment of the Benji is that there is no pressure to make a good shot, really, just to hit that durn can, which pretty much always happens. I resist (and actually never have) shooting it at paper targets to avoid that pressure to get a good group or get 5 in the 9/10/x ring or whatever. I don't shoot at animals generally as the squirrels and even grackles around my house are well-behaved, it seems. But, should the need arise, I feel pretty confident I could deliver a humane kill inside about 25 yards.It also reminds me of my youth patrolling the neighborhood with my 760, at a little more appropriate size for a grown-up.So this thread about accurizing the 39x has helped me clarify my thinking on why I like the Benji so much.
Quote from: GumpIsrael on May 26, 2017, 08:54:57 PM I came to the conclusion that the only way for me personally to get what I wanted was to study as much as possible and have my own gun made.I made that decision about two years ago and got so far as the barrel twist rate before I got bored and the project was pushed off to the side.Yes, my original design was close to the current 39x design and used the valve... Until I realized that the cartridge style valve has a number of limitations and that the valve won't be able to produce the pressure and flow that I need to propel a .25 at the speeds I want.The specific brass that the main tube is made from is prob not too important as we can assume that it is something that's nowhere near strong enough to be ideal, and at the same time somewhat strong enough to do the job of holding things OK. What you bring up about the stock tube being a bit thin to tap good threads is a good point but maybe this issue can be resolved in someway. To me the goal of these mods was never for the sake of making a cheaper rifle expensive (that would even be counterproductive). Pumpers have a lot of accuracy potential, and although I enjoy shooting pcp's I don't like being limited to tank fills. The only higher end product that offers something similar is the FX independance yet despite being $1500 in price it has some features like the unsupported barrel that I find a bit concerning. So the reason 39X seems like a good place to start is since it has a relatively big valve and pump diameter. I'm still waiting for the one that I ordered recently so after it arrives I'll have a better sense of how difficult this will be.