Snowpeak M25 .35 cal Does my barrel need help?

[Fado71]

I poured a new lap the other evening, heating the barrel until too hot to touch by hand but cautious not to over heat it.
The lap was bright silver in colour but sill not really seeing the lands clearly defined, sorry forgot to take a picture,  so i only worked a little on the breech end and have called it quits at this point.

As soon as the constant rain leaves i will try shooting it, fingers crossed i see some improvement in accuracy.

I will post again when i have shot it and then if all being well i shall work on the hammer spring.

So thanks again for the all the input you have all really helped me in this process.

I got plenty of night time visitors to a new area where i have built a raised hide.

[Keesbo]

I own also a M25 9MM.
Noticed that the groups are better without the bipod, just use a sandbag.
Without the silencer gives also better results.

Use the JSB pellets. I still have some flyers sometimes.

Here a 5 shot 50 meter group.

[Keesbo]

Also modified the bold linkage. It is originally to weak for the 9MM.
Added an additional one.

[Keesbo]

Some more 5 shot 50 meter groups.

Also added a regulator pressire gsuge

Removed the silencer and shortened the airtube

[Fado71]

I own also a M25 9MM.
Noticed that the groups are better without the bipod, just use a sandbag.
Without the silencer gives also better results.

Use the JSB pellets. I still have some flyers sometimes.

Here a 5 shot 50 meter group.

Thanks for your reply Keesbo.

I have seen your work on another site, i really like the regulator gauge you fitted and if i can get mine to shoot groups as well as yours i will look at fitting another gauge.

I am also going to look at the bolt, the bolt hitting you in the face does not sound good!

My gun also has a tripod and think that could be making my groups open up, i have now made a sand bag to rest on but i have a lot of heavy rain here so at the moment sighting it in is going to have to wait.

[bear air]

Have you had a chance to shoot it yet? I've been dieing to hear and see how the work improved your groups.

[Fado71]

Have you had a chance to shoot it yet? I've been dieing to hear and see how the work improved your groups.

No i havent, i have new goats being born everyday and i just havent had 5 minutes to myself.
I am still also waiting for my compressor to arrive, as soon as i have some time i will post results, i am dying to know if it has improved things or not.

[bear air]

Thanks for the update Alex.

[Fado71]

Hi to everybody,

i am finally back, it has been about 8 months or so and i have had some time to get back fixing this gun.

I bet most of you thought you would never hear from me again and i dont blame you but i have been back in the UK to restore and old Mercedes 250sl and then returned but it is fire season and way too hot to pump up this gun, 50+ degrees means escaping the heat.
So sorry for the massive delay but i will see this through 'till the end and will share all of it here.

I ordered a compressor but it never arrived and took ages to get my money back and as that never arrived i did not bother to order any JSB or other better pellets.

But i think the work i did on the barrel has made an improvement!!

Obviously i had to sight it in again, this time when adjusting the scope i could see the next pellet land in the direction of adjustment, getting closer to POA.

First pic is of my 3rd mag of 6 shots, first two mags were used getting pellets on paper so wont show those, distance is 51 yards.

I got 3-4 shots grouped pretty well and then a flyer or two but then i am still using the snowpeak pellets but this is a huge improvement on accuracy before the work on the barrel.
So happy to finally get some time to check out the work done.

Normally shots would land in random areas and not react to any scope adjustment which i am seeing now after the work!

I started on first photo target, 51yrds but the wind blew my cardboard over so i decided to try a target i set at 31yrds, left pic of two targets, because that is exactly the distance my hide is from my feed site.
I  took 6 shots as air went down and didnt want to pump again but you can see i had one flyer but the other 4 were in a decent enough group for my needs on a wild hog at 30 yards but i am still a long way away from trying that yet, i need to confirm this is consistent and try improving the accuracy and new ammo before i try a hog.

Right pic of two targets, second go at 31yrds, i am still getting used to finding a good hold on the gun.

Post-it note, was one shot at my feed sight, set at same distance as the wild pigs feed.

one thing to mention is i have removed  the bipod and have made some sand bags and, it not only feels better but also helping with accuracy....... the more i shoot the more accurate i am getting so maybe the rest is down to me..... a few more mags will tell.

I have now made an adapter for my chrono to sleeve over the barrel.
I made some tests, before any barrel work in my shed and here is a string starting at 210bar.

210Bar
821-fps
817
811.1
785.3
818.3
803.6
789.4
781.8
769.3
754.4 ending with 150Bar

The gun seems excessively loud, i am not really hearing a whooshing sound just a very loud gun ..... wife says it sound like an air powered nailer.

Like others i am down to only 4 sections of the moderator because of any possible clipping throwing off my sighting in.

Those of you that have drilled out the hole, how much did you drill it out to?... mine is reading 10.68 - 11mm as original.

Would the excessive air cause me problems with accuracy? or is noise and wasted air about the only negative.


Jason i have checked your thread and not seen any updates, how did yours come out in the end,did you improve on your grouping you weren't happy with?

So i get to the point i am fairly happy at 31yrds and my trail camera show a group of 14 pigs on my feed sight for several days.....

i set up in my hide at 8pm and they didnt turn up, so i go lay down and wait for my phone to tell me they are there via my trail cam well i woke up at 11pm, i could hear some sirens, sirens of fire truck and then could smell thick smoke, looked out the hide and could see a big red glow..... then my wife called a big fire coming our way!!

I run home and get our fire defences going, then when we realized it was probably going to hit our farm we went in and recovered my trail cameras.

I can post the video if anyone wants to see it,  but at about 4 AM the pigs are there, a fire 50 meters away from them, fire trucks and noise all over and they are there eating away like nothing is happening, hot embers dropping all around them without a care!...... at one point my son in law and I are coming in to collect the cameras shouting which way to go and they dont leave until we are 20 meters away from them!.............. other nights you break a stick and they are gone 

Thankfully we stopped the fire right on our boundary and didnt lose land our my new hide i built.

so a few more days delay in writing here as going around checking and wetting hot spots so we didnt get any flare ups.

Sorry the post is a bit random but a lot gone on since i was last here.

[Fado71]

I hope i am ok to post a YT link........ here are the pigs eating while a big fire burns 50 meters from them and dropping embers all around them.
The light behind the trees is the flames.

The picture is my view that evening before i had to leave..... next time piggy

[Fado71]

Nobody got any comments, i was pretty happy with the results shown on my first targets.

Since then 2 shots on one night, two pigs down, 2 days later 3 shots and 3 pigs down, all dropped like a stone....... so 5 pellets - 5 pigs all at around 35 yards with the snowpeak pellets and a Oneleaf NV100 clip on night vision one of them was a large sow.

I was hoping to do some more work on the gun and keep posting it here but seems there is no interest now with no comments, still i appreciate all the help i did receive.

I wanted to ask peoples opinions of heavier slugs as it seems JSB exacts are good but only 81grain and from wanting to be ethical i wanted to use some heavier lead.
Now the new ZAN's look good and have great feedback but wondered if going to hand loading the longer heavier slugs, over 80grain would be worth it, anyone tried heavy slugs in this gun?

[anti-squirrel]

I've used 100+ grain slugs.  IIRC, just some 9mm reloads I ran through my swaging tool.  The swager came with my ShinSung 9mm lever action PCP; just so happens to be the perfect size for the M-25, too.  The slugs were an assortment a neighbor gave me; I think 107 grain and some 120s, but don't quote me on that ( I weighed them so they may underweight 110s?).  Either way, the slugs put nice holes in what you aim at and they land where you aim.  We've been too busy to do any shooting over 80 yards, but at 80 yards, the M-25 will put a smile on your face.

[Fado71]

Hi Antisquirrel.
I have only been shooting to 50 yards max so far while i fixed the barrel defects and doubt i will use it beyond 70 yards max.

My thoughts on slugs was to have better stopping knock down power although these domes had no problem, the large sow i took between the eyes, i checked entry wound which was pretty big, passed through the back of skull and pellet was found half way down her neck.

I hear good and bad things about slugs and accuracy, i think i am now happy the gun has more than enough power for my problem pigs but accuracy is everything no matter what we use, how did you find the slugs accuracy? im assuming you have an M25?

I can find ZAN slugs but are hollow point and cant help but think they might deform too much on impact and not have so much penetration if a shot is slightly off mark.
The only other slugs Krale stock are hunters supply which look pretty rough in the photos but have solid points, then NSA which dont "look" great, no dish in the base and an unstable "looking" short slug.
Then it leaves the limited choice of pellets,, the JSB exacts which i hear good things on accuracy but i really would like to use the guns potential and use something heavier.

I cant find any info on the barrel and twist rate, wether it likes slugs or not and not found much about the M25 using slugs and accuracy so still have a lot to learn and understand as i really dont have the cash to keep spending on slugs just to try and hope they will work well.

This week is forecast lots of rain so i will be in my shed and working on the hammer spring and getting the gun tuned and also looking at fixing the bolt issue as dont like the sound of that hitting me in the face.

[nervoustrigger]

Alex, nice work with the M25 on those hogs!  Thanks for the write up and pictures.

[Keesbo]

I only used the ZAB 80Gr slugs, and they performed very bad.
Just keep on shooting the JSB .35 at 50 meters.

[Fado71]

Thanks Jason, All the help you gave me is what made all of them drop like a stone8), i have replied to you on your thread 

[Fado71]

I only used the ZAB 80Gr slugs, and they performed very bad.
Just keep on shooting the JSB .35 at 50 meters.

Thanks for the information Keesbo, for me priority is accuracy so yes i think i will stay with the JSB's

Can i ask, where can i find the thread of yours yours i think you mentioned about where you showed all the work you did to the M25, i have seen the photos here but no in-depth explanation of what you did, if there is one.

I want to start some work on my gun, fixing the bolt is my first priority but dont think i am able to do the masterful work you did, i just dont have that sort of machinery.
Any input would be gratefully received.

[Keesbo]

Hy

Here is my story about the M25 .35 on a Dutch Forum in the Artemis/Snowpeak tread.

https://www.luchtbuks.net/index.php?/topic/128344-het-grote-artemis-knutselprojecten-topic/page__st__990

You have to read some pages.

[bear air]

Awesome pesting Alex. That one hog looks to be a pretty good sized pig. Please post your shot string numbers, so far I have only shot mine as it came from the factory. And haven't taken the time to chrony it and get actual numbers. I thought it to be comparable to a 22 rimfire power level only in 357!. I have enjoyed mine and always read new threads and new posts on older threads when they pop up.

[Fado71]

Bear air, thanks buddy....
From what i have been reading a .22LR has similar power as the M25, 120/160 FPE, im getting 120 right now and is why i was looking at slugs... dont forget my feed site is 31 yrds and took the girl in the bucket at about 20, didn't weigh her but i had trouble dragging her 20 yards!
Another 100 fps and a 125 grain would give a considerable increase in FPE and with hogs and thick bone/gristle every little helps but an accurate 80 grain at 820-fps is more than sufficient i think up to 50 -60 yards on a brain shot..... but it has to hit the mark for a drop and clean kill.
Mine is factory settings, i have only worked the barrel because of the defects it had, i will post numbers as i go.
I wasnt too pleased with my initial 50 mtr groups after my work but also im still pretty new to the gun so that might have been something, but the grouping at 31yrds was more than tight enough for me to try a pig at the same range.
Can i post a video/s i have of my NV-scope on these pigs, not sure if it is allowed in this section?

Speaking of my statement above about what i have read about similar power of the M25 and a 22LR, are the grain weight's measured the same for live ammunition as for lead pellets/slugs.
Just the articles i read stated about a 40 grain slug/bullet in the 22LR giving the 120/160 FPE.... that would be half our grain weight and has me a little confused