Barrel time, input/opinions wanted

[KnifeMaker]

Put a good strong LED light on that Gun Donny. Night time is the right time for testing!
Mike


www.ebay.com/itm/Convoy-C8-Black-7135-8-Xpl-Hi-1100Lm-Led-Tactical-Flashlight-Memory-Function-Pr-/123972248102?var=&hash=item1cdd526226

[Back_Roads]

 I got one of these lights , I see they have a good deal on them now, it lights up the yard real nice.
https://www.olightstore.com/pl-mini-2.html

[Rallyshark]

Put a good strong LED light on that Gun Donny. Night time is the right time for testing!
Mike


www.ebay.com/itm/Convoy-C8-Black-7135-8-Xpl-Hi-1100Lm-Led-Tactical-Flashlight-Memory-Function-Pr-/123972248102?var=&hash=item1cdd526226

I got one of these lights , I see they have a good deal on them now, it lights up the yard real nice.
https://www.olightstore.com/pl-mini-2.html

I hear you guys on that!  I've got a great light for that.  I have an awesome green LED light that the critters don't even see, and I can see well past any distance I'd take a shot at.  I have sat in my yard and watched deer with it, and they don't eve know they're lit up.  I'm not gonna shoot a deer with my .22 though, and not with anything in my yard.  I live in city limits, and it just seems like cheating.  Pigs in south GA are a whole other story though!  I hope to be adding to the Hunting Gate in the next couple of weeks, if everything goes as planned

Those are some awesome lights you guys linked!  I hear those little olights are pretty cool.  They've got a new one now that is double the power I think. 

[Rallyshark]

I got to do a little testing with the 34 grain Beasts, and I was right, It loves them!  They were same hole accurate anywhere from 900-950fps, so they worked wonderfully at the 915-920 fps tune.  I only tested at 30 yards, and it has been very windy today, but those heavy .22 Beasts didn't seem to care that much.  The only down side is they don't quite fit the magazine.  It wouldn't take much to fix that, since I only need about 1/2 mm extra depth, and there's plenty of material to work with if I want to take a little material off the magazine.  At least, I know this barrel can shoot pretty much any heavy pellet well, and even some of the mid weight ones well too. 

Of course, all this kinda makes it that much more frustrating that it didn't like the .217 slugs.  I'm really hoping it will wake up with the .218 slugs.  If not, it will still sling the heavy pellets very accurately. 

[KnifeMaker]

I have O lights,l Fenix, Jet Beam and more. But the low cost Convoys from simao on Aliexpress and the Astrolux with the stornger driver on bangood are unreal, and have a much tighter beam. (Helps with night vision. At only less than 30 buck, you cant go wrong for a gun light. (Ordered it with the newer SST40 high intensity LED.  


I do have a very high lumen Eag-tac with an 35 HXP led has a green lens cover, and it cost a LOT more, but the Convoy blows and the Astrolux blows  it away with the simple XPL Hi,  Factory decomed led And deep reflector. Man, it is a laser!


Not good for woods walking for light though. Very tight beam. Perfect on the gun.  It is much easier on the night vision not haveing the side of your shooting area and gun lit up. 

[KnifeMaker]

I'm looking forward to her how the .218's do for you Donny!


Fingers Crossed.

[Rallyshark]

Yep, it is amazing what you can get in a light nowadays!  The one I use is an Armytek Predator with a green LED.  It has a big reflector with a very tight spot.  I get a clear scope picture even at 150 yards with it, so it has more throw than I'll be using.  I usually use it on the second or third power level, and it goes to 5  

I got my fingers crossed on the .218 as well.  I'm more interested in slugs for long distance shooting in the 35-45fpe range.  I can thump the tougher critters at 50 and under with the Monsters or Beasts if need be.  If the .218 doesn't work, I have a backup liner that I can give it another go with.  It sure would be nice, if I didn't have to do that though.  I'm not gonna lie, have the fun to me is the project, haha. 

[Blutroop]

Get a prod mag. It fits the jsb 34 beasts perfectly. You have to open your breech up a tad, but worth it IMO.

[Rallyshark]

Get a prod mag. It fits the jsb 34 beasts perfectly. You have to open your breech up a tad, but worth it IMO.

I already fixed it.  I slapped the face of the magazine on piece of 1" derlin rod(just for mounting it), then stuck it in my lathe.  I turned a pellet width groove on the inside of the face a few thousandths deep, and that's all it took.  It will now hold the Beasts  

It will be a few days, before I can test the .218 slugs.  I got a last minute pig hunt that popped up, so that takes priority for this weekend!  I have my fingers crossed that I will be adding a post to the hunting gate, this weekend, if everything works out   I should be able to get the .218 slugs tested by next weekend though. 

[Rallyshark]

I haven't updated this is a few days, because I was waiting on time to test the .218 slugs.  I'll just start by saying I was unable to get the barrel to work with any slugs, including H&N.  I also suspect my problem is with the leade I did on my barrel that I made with the 600mm slug liner.  I think there is just too much room for the slugs to move around before they actually get to the rifling, which is making them inconsistent.  I believe you guys mentioned that earlier in the thread  Fortunately, that barrel loves heavy pellets, and some middle weight ones too, so it isn't a total loss.  More importantly, it has been a learning experience!

All of that above being said, I tried again with a 500mm slug liner, and got some results!  I was far more careful with the leade in, and it pretty much confirms my mistake on the first attempt.  I was able to get some pretty solid groups with a few different weight slugs.  I did have better luck with the H&N slugs in .217 and .218 than I did with the NSA slugs.  I think a lot of that comes down to finding the right speed, and I'm sure the NSAs would do fine if I find the right speed they like.  I just haven't had the time to go through all of the weights and speed changes to find the sweet spot for them all.  Man, figuring that out is a time and air user    I found that it likes the .218 21 grain slugs, but works well in .217 with the heavier stuff. 

The only downside is I couldn't get any of them to work at really high power(55+ fpe).  I found my best groups happened with the 30 grain H&N .217 slugs at 880 fps.  They were all right through the same hole, and no flyers!  As soon as I started upping the speed, the groups started opening up.  I didn't have time to take pictures and document it all as I'd have liked, but at least I'm finding the zone now.  I'll have to wait until I have a whole day, and a fresh air supply to further go down that rabbit hole.  I'm finding that the slugs are very particular about what speed they work well at.  25 fps can be the difference between same hole or 1" groups at 40 yards!  I also feel like a slight change in twist could make all the difference too.  Just for the record, the 600mm liner is 1:15.5, but the 500mm is 1:16.  I think the 700mm is 1:15, but man that would be a really long barrel. 

Anywho, I just thought I would give a little update.  I wouldn't want anyone to take my results to the bank, as I'm still learning what works when adapting the slug liner to a barrel for a non FX gun.  I think it is a very viable solution for many guns, assuming great care is taken with the thimble/leade in.  I would love to see what some of you more experienced folks could do with a liner! 

[Bob Pratl]

Donny thanks for the up date you are doing a great job in explaining step by step the changes and results. I find it most interesting. Did you slug the barrels and if so what are the sizes? What type of Epoxy would you recommend in bonding the CF tube to the liner? Do you have the dimensions of the thimble and leade?
Bob

[KnifeMaker]

donny, I had a drastic improvement when I changed t a 1-20 twist. Not supposed to work, but did. In a BIG way.


I need to check again, but I think FX learned the same thing in the B liners. I Will look it up again.


My Raptor Mini has a pellet TJ's in it at 1-18, and it too is shot gunning with slugs, but dead accurate with pellets. GRRRRR+1.
 I don't shoot pellets!


I'm trying to figure out how to fit the Brownell barrel to the Mini now. biggest issue is I have no way to attach the threaded piece to the front of the barrel in order to use an ldc. It is also part of the tensioning of the barrel. I cannot shoot at home without the DDDC due to my Wife's illness. She has to sleep a lot. Night and day.


Very dissapointed at the moment. But I will get it figured out.


Mike

[rkr]

donny, I had a drastic improvement when I changed t a 1-20 twist. Not supposed to work, but did. In a BIG way.


I need to check again, but I think FX learned the same thing in the B liners. I Will look it up again.


My Raptor Mini has a pellet TJ's in it at 1-18, and it too is shot gunning with slugs, but dead accurate with pellets. GRRRRR+1.
 I don't shoot pellets!


I'm trying to figure out how to fit the Brownell barrel to the Mini now. biggest issue is I have no way to attach the threaded piece to the front of the barrel in order to use an ldc. It is also part of the tensioning of the barrel. I cannot shoot at home without the DDDC due to my Wife's illness. She has to sleep a lot. Night and day.


Very dissapointed at the moment. But I will get it figured out.


Mike

How about one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/SILENCER-ADAPTOR-1-2-UNF-Male-Male-Air-Arms-S510-TX200-HC-Falcon-Airgun-Rifle-St/351099079900?hash=item51bf22ccdc:g:U1EAAOSw5cNYjL9j


Drill through with 8mm bit and use silver solder to attach.

Alternatively if those threads don't match - get a grub screw with correct threads, drill through and solder on.

[KnifeMaker]

Thanks Ric, sadly, it has big red letters under it here. "Does Not Ship to the US". GRRRR!!!

[Hobbyman2007]

If that threaded adapter would work, why not just use a 1/2x20 bolt with the center drilled out? Might not be as pretty but function over form for this guy every time.

[Blutroop]

Thread the barrel liner. Make a nut with 5/16-28 inside 1/2-20 outside with a flat shoulder for taking a wrench.

[Rallyshark]

Donny thanks for the up date you are doing a great job in explaining step by step the changes and results. I find it most interesting. Did you slug the barrels and if so what are the sizes? What type of Epoxy would you recommend in bonding the CF tube to the liner? Do you have the dimensions of the thimble and leade?
Bob

I was going to, but decided that it wouldn't do me any good really, because I'm not going to be sizing any ammo.  I will try it with the 500mm barrel, since I don't have it in the gun right now.  I don't know how well I'll be able to measure the slug, but I'll give it a try in the next day or two. I have .217 and .218 to pick from, and from many different makers now.  I'm just experimenting to see what works  

The thimble will depend on what gun it is going into.  For me, I had to make it .469 OD to fit the breech of the Flashpup just right.  I made it as large as possible, but the factory barrel was .466 OD, and about 1.9" in length.  I let the thimble extend outside the breech just a little on the new liner barrel at 2.2", and it is overlapped with the 12mm ID carbon tube.  It is kinda interlocked with the liner/carbon/thimble/more carbon.  That was my way of making sure it was as stiff as possible, without having a weak spot at the breech exit. 

For my .22, I made the leade .221".  Where I messed up with the first attempt was going in too far with that .221(allowing the slug to wobble prior to the liner), and the transition to the liner wasn't as smooth as it should have been I think.  On the second attempt that is working better, I took that .221 bit(#2 cobalt bit), and put a very slight taper on the last 1/4" of the bit so it would have a smooth transition.  I also only took it as far past the barrel port as I had to for smooth loading.  Basically, about a 30 grain slug's length past the barrel port, maybe slightly less. 

I like to use JB Weld when I can, BUT that's a tough thing to use on very tight fitting parts, because you'll end up with the carbon about half way down the barrel and stuck if you aren't careful,lol.  On the tight stuff, which most of it is on these two I did, I used the Devcon 2 ton epoxy(regular curing, not fast curing).  It spreads in between the parts easier, and fills the smaller gaps better.  I did use JB Weld on the T6 LDC adapter on the end though, as well as set screws.  I used the epoxy on the thimble and flush 4-40 set screws for good measure.  It ain't gonna come apart, that's for sure! 

[Rallyshark]

donny, I had a drastic improvement when I changed t a 1-20 twist. Not supposed to work, but did. In a BIG way.


I need to check again, but I think FX learned the same thing in the B liners. I Will look it up again.


My Raptor Mini has a pellet TJ's in it at 1-18, and it too is shot gunning with slugs, but dead accurate with pellets. GRRRRR+1.
 I don't shoot pellets!


I'm trying to figure out how to fit the Brownell barrel to the Mini now. biggest issue is I have no way to attach the threaded piece to the front of the barrel in order to use an ldc. It is also part of the tensioning of the barrel. I cannot shoot at home without the DDDC due to my Wife's illness. She has to sleep a lot. Night and day.


Very dissapointed at the moment. But I will get it figured out.


Mike

Do you have picture of the end where the shroud is tensioned?  I'm trying to picture it in my head, but I don't remember how those are tensioned right now...

[rkr]

If that threaded adapter would work, why not just use a 1/2x20 bolt with the center drilled out? Might not be as pretty but function over form for this guy every time.

Grub screw is better if you do not have a lathe as it will center the drill bit.

[Rallyshark]

I attempted to slug the 500mm slug liner, and my results were a bit smaller than I anticipated.  I got .214/.215.  It is kind of hard, since there aren't exactly defined rifling marks with the FX barrel.  It is obvious on the slug that it is effectively sizing down the entire slug a bit.  No part of a pushed through .217 slug is untouched, with the exception of the shoulder forward.  That's what my results were, but I could have done it wrong too.  It does take some pretty good force to push through the choke.