AEA HP MAX inbound! Need help picking a good mold

[Raider03]

I hear you.  I found the video I will post it, obviously I don’t know how they got that, but that is what the chronograph shows.  I saw one video of a person shooting 81 grains at 900 fps by adding a few washers behind the hammer spring.  Maybe they had some washers in there or a bigger spring / hammer. 

Cant wait to get my hands on one and do some testing so I can stop just repeating what I see on YouTube videos

900 fps / 145 fpe with 81 grain:



177 fpe with 152 grain here:

In the 68 Whiskey video they installed washer behind the hammer spring to increase preload. That increases the velocity to 900fps on the first shot.

[Spacebus]

That is quite a jump just buy changing ammo,

That would mean that the gun shoots 850 fps with the 81gr pellet

and then 810 fps with the 120gr bullet,......I don't know but it just doesn't look right to me, maybe tho since the barrel is so short and maybe doesn't get the most out the pellet.

The huge bearing surface on the NSA slugs, among some others, has the practical effect of "lengthening the barrel" when you fire. This is just my hypothesis, but it seems like the bore is still sealed even as the slug is exiting the barrel. I have had similar results with slugs from another member from his HP molds RF BBT mold with a ton of lube grooves. The power was not quite as high as the NSA slugs, but very close, within a few FPE.

My AEA challenger shoots cast NOE 240 grain FN BBT slugs with one driving band the same speed as a 305 grain NSA slug with close to .5" of bearing surface. The NSA slug is also almost twice as long in total length. This is with the same lube on the projectiles as well.

I tried to tell you about this in regards to air bolts, etc, but you said the effect was minimal when the valve arrangement is not in line with the barrel. I would call 50 FPE in my Challenger and 30+ FPE on those HP Max .357 significant.

[Nomadic Pirate]

I just realized the MAX .357 is a 4500 gun, that takes away from my group of gun I'm interested now.

[Mr.P]

I hear you.  That is the one fly in the ointment, isn’t it? 

[Spacebus]

Most of the AEA guns don't have the right valve setup for making power at 4,500 PSI. Most are set up for 3,600 psi and less. All of the pressure vessels are rated at 4,500 psi/300b

[Nomadic Pirate]

Most of the AEA guns don't have the right valve setup for making power at 4,500 PSI. Most are set up for 3,600 psi and less. All of the pressure vessels are rated at 4,500 psi/300b

On the video that is how it got the High FPE, at 250 BAR it was getting 150 FPE and the bullet was traveling at sub 700 fps,

sometimes the FPE achieved with high weight projectiles but low speed it's a bit of a tricky thing, nominally sounds good but can be detrimental.

[Nomadic Pirate]

I rather have a 80gr EPP/UG traveling at 850 fpe for 128 FPE
then a 152 gr bullet traveling at 670 fps for 152 FPE.

[Mr.P]

All depends on what you’re using it for I suppose but for anything far away a flatter trajectory is always preferable.  I am a consummate plinker. No hunting, no bench rest, just casual target shooting and destruction of everyday objects, so i can live with either one. 

My interest was in a high powered compact
 gun that is easy to disassemble and repair that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and has the power to hit 800-900 fps with whatever I am shooting, so this will be just right for me. Been waiting for something like this for a while now…

What does “EPP/UG” mean?

[Nomadic Pirate]

All depends on what you’re using it for I suppose but for anything far away a flatter trajectory is always preferable.  I am a consummate plinker. No hunting, no bench rest, just casual target shooting and destruction of everyday objects, so i can live with either one. 

My interest was in a high powered compact
 gun that is easy to disassemble and repair that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and has the power to hit 800-900 fps with whatever I am shooting, so this will be just right for me. Been waiting for something like this for a while now…

What does “EPP/UG” mean?

EPP/UG is that bullet that Bin was shooting after the 152gr ....those 4 bullets he shot.

El Paso Pete,.......he made that bullet to match roundballs in shooting attributes,

if you only plinking I would highly suggest you also get a Bottle of 360 rounballs from "Ballistic products"  and 8 pounds bottle is in the 40 bucks range.

That is what we used to shoot out of our .357s back when there was not really any other ammo available,.....they can be very accurate and at 70gr they fly at a decent speed.

[Nomadic Pirate]

actually I was on their website and now they have a 22 pound bag for 70 bucks,

at 70gr a round I wander how many balls you get in a 22 # bag ?
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/BAM-5-Antimony-000-Buck-91mm-22/productinfo/UB000/

[Mr.P]

I appreciate the tip.  I’m not sure how loading works as far as single shot shooting goes but i assume those round balls will not work in the magazine.

This is my first hands on with an airgun with a magazine so I have a few things to check out and understand here.

You are pretty sure that loading round balls will be simple in this case?

I’m not going to be buying anything other than a few backup rounds for this gun - I will be casting my own for sure. 

[E30_S50]

I think those roundballs should work fine in the magazine. I use those exact same .36 roundballs in the rotary magazine of my evanix sniper

[Nomadic Pirate]

Yes roundballs load just fine in magazines.

[Mr.P]

Well that’s some good news!  Do round balls come out with reduced energy because of the small amount of bearing contact? It’s basically the equivalent of a single thin drive band if I understand it right.  I would love to get my hands on a few of these just to compare to other projectiles. 

“ We've spared no expense by adding 5% antimony. This stuff is as hard as lead buckshot gets.”

Is hardness not a problem?

[E30_S50]

With a Longer bullet that hardness might be an issue, but with the roundballs the smaller contact surface seems to allow it to work fine.

There is reduced fpe, but it's due to the lower weight of the projectile, not the bearing surface. These are .36 in a .357 barrel, so it seals just fine.

[Mr.P]

Well, honestly 120 vs. 170 fpe is no biggie when you are trying to slice the edge of a steel can or punch a hole in an empty Coleman canister.  So it may be I get a bag of those as my backup and then do my best to keep up with my shooting by casting.  In fact, I am placing an order now…

[Mr.P]

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/mobile/Super-Buck-Lead-000-8-lb_jar-360/productinfo/SBK30/


This is a different alloy I’m guessing?  Trying to spend less than $69…

[Nomadic Pirate]

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/mobile/Super-Buck-Lead-000-8-lb_jar-360/productinfo/SBK30/


This is a different alloy I’m guessing?  Trying to spend less than $69…

Yup, that is the bottle I used to buy.

[Mr.P]

Well it’s on its way.  Along with a mold from MP and sizing bushings from NOE.  What else do I need?  Some kind of simple optics.  Would rather have this as a red dot or open sights (which I could rig with my 3d printer and some irons sights I already have). 

Have to wait until Tuesday for the airgun.  Mold, bushings, lead shot, gun each via a different shipping service.  it will be a fun week…