AEA Challenger .30 on the way

[smythsg]

The Pellet Shop had to go and offer free shipping for Labor Day and that sealed the deal for me, Challenger .30 cal 24" barrel on the way. I convinced myself that a .30 cal is necessary because in Georgia, you can hunt chippers to Bear with a .30 cal...   I have been reading a lot of posts about the rifle, trying to learn what it likes and don't like. Anyone have any experience with the NSA 49.5 slugs in this rifle?

[Wayne52]

Now days that's a heck of a deal with the shipping prices of everything these days. especially at the low price they're still asking for them.  Our law is 35 cal or larger.  If yours ships with the same spring that came in my 30 cal you're going to have plenty of power for hunting deer !!!  The trigger pull on my 30 cal is soooo much nicer than it is on my .357.

[Back_Roads]

 I have a hammer spring and adjuster that a Member here "Shorty" has developed for testing, if you decide you want adjustable power, let me know. Mine can go from 50 fpe to 110 fpe using the slugs you have mentioned.

[smythsg]

Wayne, it's funny how the different states have different rules. In GA, there is no ft lb rule, just caliber. In theory I could take one of the break barrel .30 or .35 cal rifles and go after Black Bear if I was inclined to do so, but my .25 cal Airforce rifle making 100+ ft lbs is not allowed. 

I am expecting my inbound Challenger to have at least the same power that yours and others have posted about. Nice to hear that the trigger might be reasonable out of the box as well. What's your thoughts on Challenger Ping... does it need a bottle brush or some other de-pinger?

[smythsg]

Hi James, one of the reasons I embraced the Airforce guns was adjustability via the power wheel. Making the Challenger more adjustable would interest me greatly and I would love to learn more. And thanks for acknowledging the NSA 49.5 slugs, I will order a sample pack of them later tonight.

[35 shooter]

Congrats on your new .30 cal. I’ve been waiting for them to be back in stock in the 24” bbl.
Lol, trouble is I’m still torn between the 30 and .35 cal.

I think your going to really like that .30 cal.

[smythsg]

Hi Buddy, I think the .30 cal ,with adjustable power. will be a great all around caliber in the field. Just my humble opinion, but the next step up to .35 cal limits the rifle use to big game realistically. I owned a Seneca Recluse in .357 in the past, and while a fantastic weapon, the noise level and cost of ammo limited my use of the rifle. My plan for the Challenger is to use the rifle just like my .25 Airforce Escape, dialed down for small/medium game use, and dialed back up for the big guys. Pigs, deer, turkey and yotes are the big guys I will be after and the size of the North GA pigs and deer are not as large as the 300-500 pound monster hogs in South GA. I would not have considered a .30 cal if the state allowed me to hunt deer and turkey with the Escape, but alas, that is not the case.

If your intended game is larger or state regulations require .35 or larger for big game, of course that is the way to go. Unfortunately for me, the reality of my retirement now dictates I have one or two multi-use rifles instead of the room full of airguns I use to own. The .30 cal seems like a pretty reasonable choice for North GA.

[Wayne52]

Steve this was probably a month after I bought mine(I waited that long before I even cast pellets for it), what I'm going to do is cast the next heaviest pellets and see how they do in it with a 250 bar fill.  All my AEA's really seem to like the heavier ammo, even my 25 cal semi auto carbine.



I did turned down the power wheel to the 10 o'clock position because it was shooting way too fast on full power.

[smythsg]

Wayne, those numbers look really nice for a hunting rig. I may tune for slightly less power for normal day to day use, and of course turn it up if a target of opportunity appears. I ordered some Hatsan 48.5 gn pellets just for initial shooting and breaking in, but plan to test NSA 49.5 gn slugs for general use.

[gendoc]

Wayne, those numbers look really nice for a hunting rig. I may tune for slightly less power for normal day to day use, and of course turn it up if a target of opportunity appears. I ordered some Hatsan 48.5 gn pellets just for initial shooting and breaking in, but plan to test NSA 49.5 gn slugs for general use.

Hey Steve, if the hatsan/vortex .30 pellets workout good for you....i have 5-6 tins i can make you a deal on.
you got an awesome gun...i have the original challenger SL .357 and its very accurate for hunting deer and hogs.
enjoy .....

[Howler]

Hi Buddy, I think the .30 cal ,with adjustable power. will be a great all around caliber in the field. Just my humble opinion, but the next step up to .35 cal limits the rifle use to big game realistically. I owned a Seneca Recluse in .357 in the past, and while a fantastic weapon, the noise level and cost of ammo limited my use of the rifle. My plan for the Challenger is to use the rifle just like my .25 Airforce Escape, dialed down for small/medium game use, and dialed back up for the big guys. Pigs, deer, turkey and yotes are the big guys I will be after and the size of the North GA pigs and deer are not as large as the 300-500 pound monster hogs in South GA. I would not have considered a .30 cal if the state allowed me to hunt deer and turkey with the Escape, but alas, that is not the case.

If your intended game is larger or state regulations require .35 or larger for big game, of course that is the way to go. Unfortunately for me, the reality of my retirement now dictates I have one or two multi-use rifles instead of the room full of airguns I use to own. The .30 cal seems like a pretty reasonable choice for North GA.

I would have to agree with your reasoning! that big boy lead is expensive & would limit my shooting. I would have to cast to offset the cost and of course thats just another expense. Looking forward to hearing how the new rig shoots for ya! keep us informed.

[smythsg]

Hey John, thanks so much for reaching out. I ordered a couple tins of the Hatsan pellets for my .25 cal M16 a while back, just to try them out. Virtually every pellet in the tin had lead shavings which had to be cleaned out, but after cleaning and culling any particularly bad pellets, the remainder had reasonably consistent weight and shot reasonably well at shorter ranges. Pretty labor intensive, but could save me a few coins. Once I receive the .30 pellets from Field Supply I will look them over and get back to you about your most generous offer. They should be here by the end of the week.

I know I am going to enjoy getting to know the ins and outs of the new Challenger and appreciate input from all you folks that have gone before me.

[bear air]

I like my 30 cal challenger so much that I've had it for a good while and haven't done a thing to it except clean it. Mine does ok with those vortex pellets but really shines with hades. I'm in the process of reshaping the stock. Not that it was really bad to start with. That's just how I am lol. Good luck and I hope you get one that shoots great.

[smythsg]

Hi Chris, always nice to hear that someone really likes the rifle you just laid down some coin for. Thanks for the well wishes, the rifle is supposed to get here tomorrow!!!

[smythsg]

The Challenger is in the house!!! The Brown Truck delivered both the rifle and the pellets I ordered from Field Supply at the same time this afternoon. Rifle arrived double boxed with two mags, fill probe, a T shirt, and a package of Oreo cookies (Kudos to the great folks at the Pellet Shop). The stock and the action both appear flawless per my initial visual inspection. I applied some Ballistol to all the metal parts, as well as the stock and assembled the rifle. In the hand the Challenger looks and feels very much like the big brother to my SPA M16 .25 cal. I will clean the barrel tonight as the rain is supposed to set in for two or three days and I wanted to get a rew shots off before it starts. The air tube was filled to about half when I received the rifle and I fired three or four pellets into my backstop just to get a feel for how the rifle sounds and how the action feels. Pellets cycled fine, but there is quite the Ping when the shot is fired. (May have to add a bottle brush or some other de-pinger to quiet that Ping) Overall impressions so far... I'm really going to like this one 

[sicumj]

Congrats on the new 30.  I just got my first 30, a Terminator.  I'm shooting NSA 47.2's right now and they shoot good.  I sampled the 49.5's but haven't done much testing.  From what I have seen from these AEA 30 cal barrels they shoot everything in slugs good.

[bear air]

I think the ultimate would be to get the hs adjuster that shorty made and throw a huma reg in and see how it does for power and efficiency. I bet it could do 80fpe for 3 mags.

[smythsg]

Just a couple of observations while setting up the Challenger .30 cal. Out of the box it did not weigh 6.9 lbs, mine weighed 8.1 lbs, weighed on two scales to be sure. Maybe the .30 cal weighs more than the .25 and .22? When I tried to adjust the power adjuster it was frozen, even after I took the locking ring on the other side of the gun totally out. I sent a quick text to the Pellet Shop and got an immediate reply on what to do. It worked, but the adjuster is very tight. I may have to remove it and apply some silicon grease to it. Again, Kudos to the Pellet Shop for the quick reply and great customer service!!!

Before I hit the field with this rifle it is going to need a sling, so sling studs will be installed as soon as I confirm it is a keeper.

Like others have already mentioned, the fill probe is rather loose in the fill port, but I held it in place while filling with my Yong Heng compressor and had no problem filling the rifle to 3000 psi. I will check in the morning to make sure the gun is holding pressure. If all is good, I hope to be able to do some chrony work tomorrow if the rain holds off.

[smythsg]

Chris, I have Shorty"s HS adjuster on the way for testing, and I bet  a Huma regulator would get rid of the Ping as well.

[smythsg]

Thanks so much James, I plan to test some of Nick's 49.5 gn slugs as soon as I get everything set up.