Condor .257 question

[Tony Fryery]

My condor .257, running Doug's valve, hammer and spring in a 61 Ci tank. Right now she loves the 80 gr Ranchdogs and shes pushing the 980 fps average over 5 shots. Groups at 100 yards.

SCHWEET!  Gotta love the NOE RD's

Oh, right now, that's the go to bullet. 60 Gr NOE milled down from the 80 gr NOE are nice, but only play nice out to about 75 yards before they open up. I'm still looking for more rounds that she likes along with my other .257.

[Tims229]

So I'm guessing the limiting factor to my Condor is the valve and the 24" barrel.  Guess I have some buying to do.  I'll start with the valve once Doug has some again, then see if I need to go longer on the barrel.  Thanks all for the responses

Make sure you get his heavy hammer and spring too. Larger volume tank is a plus if you want to shoot 5 or more shoots per fill and get a decent bell curve.

I do have heavier spring and hammer and can tether to a SCUBA tank if needed for bench shooting.  Just need to get the velocity up and the stock valve will only get me around 800.  I should see what kind of grouping I get at this velocity though.  Just not sure how these slugs will perform at 800 fps.

[dyotat100]

When you run a carbon tank on the longer barreled guns you get a real nice 5-7 shot bell curve. You just have to start around 3400 psi. I don't have any testing with 24" 257 barrel.

The valve comes with the proper spring that works with the valve.

What hammer do you have?

115 gr works the best and let's you only have to use 0-4 on the PW.

[Tony Fryery]

So I'm guessing the limiting factor to my Condor is the valve and the 24" barrel.  Guess I have some buying to do.  I'll start with the valve once Doug has some again, then see if I need to go longer on the barrel.  Thanks all for the responses

Make sure you get his heavy hammer and spring too. Larger volume tank is a plus if you want to shoot 5 or more shoots per fill and get a decent bell curve.

I do have heavier spring and hammer and can tether to a SCUBA tank if needed for bench shooting.  Just need to get the velocity up and the stock valve will only get me around 800.  I should see what kind of grouping I get at this velocity though.  Just not sure how these slugs will perform at 800 fps.

Doug and Cedric are very knowledgeable on this platform. Shooting tethered really needs to be regulated to a set psi on every shot.

[KnifeMaker]

Tony, I'm really stoked on that group!

Love the finish on the gun. SWEET!!!

 I need to pm you on the hush-hush!!!

Knife

[KnifeMaker]

For whatever reason, my .257 with Dyotat valve really likes 3700-3800 psi. (It's a 24" bbl)

I enjoy shooting down to 3800 in my scba bottle, and rather than topping off, simply open the valve on the scba and shoot the big 88cf bottle down to 3600 psi.

 I can get around 75-100 shots this way and it is very similar to shooting tethered. Without the cost of the required valves. 

When she reaches 3600, it's time to top off the bottle again to around 4800 psi.  Which the Altaros does during lunch.
Then back to shooting.

It's' a good day!!!

Knife

[Tony Fryery]

Tony, I'm really stoked on that group!

Love the finish on the gun. SWEET!!!

 I need to pm you on the hush-hush!!!

Knife

Lol, thanks Mike. I think I'm going to break down and go 4500 psi bottle on the gun. I want to see what 3400-3500 psi does with Doug's valve and your 80 gr ranchdogs.

[KnifeMaker]

Tony;

My Bad, Man, old age is really kicking my butt!

My old barrel was 21", but now use a 27: barrel. Man, What was I thinking?

The longer barrel really woke the .257 up!

Knife

[hammer0419]

I just got my 257 up and running this past week. I have Doug's valve, hammer, and spring. I shoot a 24" barrel as it is strictly for hunting here in NY. LESS to carry and short shot distances. Plus I wanted it shrouded as I will be using it in not so remote locations. So far I'm really liking it.

Jim

[KnifeMaker]

Neil Clague made a very efficient one for me. Nicely made, and light!  It really tames the bark of the .257 nicely!

Randy at R&L Airguns now has a big bore shroud for te the AF AG's
Is at the moment, for the .45, but I don't think there would be an issue  to change the baffles for .257.

Doug, Dyotat100 makes the most technically advanced LDC, but good luck getting him to make one. LOL!!!

Donny Fly on the TAG does a good job.

Tony at TalonTunes, the owner of the TAG tells me his will stand up to .257, but oddly, I know of no one who has ever put one on a .257. They are light,and the quietest by far I have ever heard on a .22 or .25 pellet firing gun.

Knife

[hammer0419]

I hvae the R&L shroud on mine. How good it is??? I had contacted Neil but he wanted a dozen measurements and I guess I was to lazy to deal with it. I would give a kidney to be able to send my gun to Doug!!!

Jim

[dyotat100]

Sorry I can't recommend a shroud. I sent a customer to Neil and I had to spend a hour to make it work after giving him all the number. Didn't matter what I gave him because none of the numbers were what I gave him.

Not to knock Tonys but I blew up one of his up with a modified stock valve on my .25. It is a good pellet shroud for sure. A 257 shroud needs to be all aluminum and should be able to be taken apart to clean.

The RL texan shroud works real good and it would be nice if he made a version for the 257. It is all metal and uses K baffles.

[hammer0419]

I just shot my 257 with R&L shroud next to my Ruger  22. My 257 is twice as loud as my 22?? I wish I had machinist skills to mess with it a bit. I would like to some how flute the shroud collars so air can escape further within the shroud. The air has no chance to get past the fore most collar so half the shroud is not even utilized.

[Tony Fryery]

I just shot my 257 with R&L shroud next to my Ruger  22. My 257 is twice as loud as my 22?? I wish I had machinist skills to mess with it a bit. I would like to some how flute the shroud collars so air can escape further within the shroud. The air has no chance to get past the fore most collar so half the shroud is not even utilized.

If your handy with a drill and start out small, you can drill holes on the flat side where the bullet goes thru, even the aluminum piece that goes on the barrel to align the baffles and keep them tight. Just use like a 3/64th for your starter bit since it's small and should be easy to get it centered between the pass thru hole and the side wall. Then step up to max 1/8th and finish the holes. 4 or 5 should be plenty. You really need to let someone else shoot it and you stand away about 10 yards. What you're hearing when you pull the trigger is valve noise. That ping in your ear. That you really can't quieten down much. Rubber o-ring behind the top had, but Doug's valve has a teflon shim behind his top hat to help with the top hat not going to deep in the valve. Giving you the right amount of air being released without wasting to much air and collapsing your top hat.

[hammer0419]

 I will have to take it apart a look at what I can do. I can hear the shot and the ping. I am hoping to quiet the shot. I figured the ping was the valve. I'm also going from an Mrod to this beast so reality check in order!!

[KnifeMaker]

The R&L .45 shroud is made totally differently than the norman, or current .257 shroud. If Randy starts offering it in .257, it is going to be a winner!

Knife

[hammer0419]

The R&L .45 shroud is made totally differently than the norman, or current .257 shroud. If Randy starts offering it in .257, it is going to be a winner!

Knife

That would be great. The current 257 is nothing special. Hopefully I can mess with mine this week some time.