New World Record Air Rifle Shot: 1250 Yards – AirForce Airguns .357 Texan

[UpNorthAirGunner]

Watch video:


So after months of planning and practicing I have finally hit my goal of a 1200+ yard air rifle shot with my big bore .357 AirForce Texan. This video is the full documentation of my successful 1250 yard shot at a 21 inch "gong target" (metal trash can lid) shooting over a lake onto an island on a remote backwoods lake in Northern Michigan.

The longest documented Air Rifle shot previous to this attempt was 1108 yards from Carl (aka VeryBigrRifle on YouTube). His efforts are amazing and his video shows him hitting a target many times at 1108 yards. Carl is shooting off of a bench rest with a highly customized .257 AirForce mod and I learned a lot from his efforts. Thank you Carl for all that you do for this sport.

I chose to shoot off a bag and I am shooting a relatively "stock" AirForce Texan as far as the guts. The only thing I did to the guts of this gun is have the barrel fire lapped. It is a stock barrel and twist rate with stock valve and bottle. I am using the Mad Dog stock which does help firm up the frame. I am tethered to a 4500 PSI Carbon Fiber tank with a Huma external regulator which is set at 3200 PSI on compressed air. Over these last few months I have learned a ton from so many people in the industry that include marksman and manufacturers alike.

​A special thanks to AirGunDepot.com for setting this path with their Long Ranger Challenge and to many others like David Williams from Hunters Supply - Ron Goodhall from High Arc Hunter Ammunition - Al Clark from Aeromagnum Ammunition - all the marksman on GTA and AirgunNation forums and many others who have have talked with along the way. The final result was shooting a 174 grain High Arc Hunter Raptor Hollow Point cast bullet at 920 FPS with the adjustable scope base at 480 MOA - Hawke Frontier 5-30x50 Scope totally maxed out on elevation (roughly 550 MOA-ish) and holding 3 Mil Dots over the target with windage turret cranked all the way and holding 3 Mil Dots for wind at 1250 yards (GPS and Google Earth confirmed).

[GumpIsrael]

Nice! Props to you, that was awesome!

[RONIN001]

nice on a nice little breeze with that... 

Next...... 1325 yards for 3/4 (.75) mile shot!!!   

[DLP]

Fantastic Chris!  That is something Else for sure!

[Tims229]

Hey Chris that was an amazing shot you made there.  Thanks for sharing the video with us.  I can't believe you didn't put a couple more into the target just for fun

[aceflier]

Congrats Chris! You were definitely dedicated.

[Kinetic45^]

Yup, an amazing shot beyond my capabilities and I am so impressed but...
Done?
Now I want to see you add 250 yards to the range and switch over to Helium!

[UpNorthAirGunner]

Yup, an amazing shot beyond my capabilities and I am so impressed but...
Done?
Now I want to see you add 250 yards to the range and switch over to Helium!

That is actually what I was thinking too.  Helium would get me out there quite a bit more with the additional 200-300 FPS.  The bullet would be supersonic at that point and may destabilize after going supersonic and then back to subsonic - worth a shot though. 

[UpNorthAirGunner]

Hey Chris that was an amazing shot you made there.  Thanks for sharing the video with us.  I can't believe you didn't put a couple more into the target just for fun

After watching this a few times I realized that I really need a spotter with me maybe positioned closer to the target communicating back to me where I am hitting.  If I would have known where I was hitting shot to shot - I would have stayed at 1275 yards and would probably have hit it a few times.  I was just so frustrated in not being able to see where I was hitting up there on the berm, I moved the target out of frustration more than anything.  I need a better spotting scope for sure.  My sight picture was a TON better in that Hawke Scope on the gun vs. the camera footage you see from my 60X Simmons spotting scope.  I think that would help too. 

[jimmykay]

WOW!! amazing shooting

[Loki67]

Nice shooting!

[Prouzy]

Fantastic!

[straightup]

  Yeah that's amazing! Almost 3/4 of a mile for an air rifle!

 Positive affirmation on the quality of Air Force rifles.

[rkr]

How's the HUMA reg keeping up to the pressure loss, ie. how long do you have to wait in between shots for it to fill up? Mine tends to dip 10-15 bar over few shots from the original setting in my normal shooting pace.

[imadunatic]

Lake Dubonnet! We rent a seasonal on Long Lake during the winter.

Great shooting! This Texan keeps inching higher on my list and you're definitely accelerating it.

[UpNorthAirGunner]

How's the HUMA reg keeping up to the pressure loss, ie. how long do you have to wait in between shots for it to fill up? Mine tends to dip 10-15 bar over few shots from the original setting in my normal shooting pace.

It takes a few seconds to make its way back up to the selected pressure - but nothing too long.  How long is yours taking to get back up to pressure? 

[YEMX]

Huma makes an in-line reg for AF guns??? 

[Geoff]

nice shooting  !

[UpNorthAirGunner]

Huma makes an in-line reg for AF guns??? 

It is their external model that goes on my Carbon Fiber tank: http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/regulators/huma-external-inline-din-regulator-with-adjuster/

[rkr]

How's the HUMA reg keeping up to the pressure loss, ie. how long do you have to wait in between shots for it to fill up? Mine tends to dip 10-15 bar over few shots from the original setting in my normal shooting pace.

It takes a few seconds to make its way back up to the selected pressure - but nothing too long.  How long is yours taking to get back up to pressure? 

It's closer to one minute at 270 fpe level and the reg has been modded according to Huub's instructions. Even at 100 fpe it takes about 30+ seconds.