Can a Condor do it?
Hi guys,
Since I got my first Condor, I’ve been trying to achieve 100fpe in .22. That has fallen by the wayside as with the limited weight of pellets available in South Africa in .22 it isn’t achievable.
My new goal is 80fpe, I’ve managed 66fpe with 30gr Piledrivers in a custom barrel with excellent accuracy. And with 37,5gr Daystate Rangemasters I could push the ME to 72fpe but accuracy wasn’t very good with a loopy trajectory.
Now it seems that I’ll be able to lay my grubby paws on 32gr Eunjins. What I want to know is, does n stock Condor have the ability to push a 32gr pellet at around 1050-1060fps in a clean barrel with lubed pellets?
If not, what mods would I need to do to achieve this level of power?
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards Nick.
All Replies
Heed DOUGS warnings. Seeing numbers like 1400 fps sounds really damn awesome until you get your valve to do that very same things.
1400 fps or shall i say, wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaay above the speed of sound is not good for various reasons. 1 MAJOR factor is LEADING. We are shooting PURE LEAD PELLETS/BULLETS and trying to push them supersonic or close to it. Pure lead and speed do NOT go good together and it has been done since forever. Everyone now realizes BELOW speed of sound is best especially when shooting pure lead projectiles.
Unless of course if you wanna shoot HARDCAST (bullets of BHN that are rated for 1500 fps and above) bullets instead of pure lead pellets/bullets.
But oh yeah, Doug can do it! 😆 😎
I hear what you’re saying Tofaz, its not the numbers that have me interested. My thoughts are moving towards cast or jacketed piledriver type ammo. The guy who builds the Airvolution barrels has a self designed rifle that’s doing +-1377fps with 18gr Jsbs but the valve is designed for his rifle and won’t work in the Condor. What I planning is shooting cast 30-37,5gr pellets/slugs in those barrels and eventually go heavier when I can come up with something. My biggest issue at this stage is getting higher velocities for these projectiles. If I can push them at 1050fps as I’m currently doing with the 14,3gr Webleys, I’ll be happy. Everything depends on accuracy of coarse. But having a valve system that gives me the option of increasing velocity when the need arises will be one headache less. From there I could put more attention into designing heavier ammo.
Nick,
Heed DOUGS warnings. Seeing numbers like 1400 fps sounds really damn awesome until you get your valve to do that very same things.
1400 fps or shall i say, wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaay above the speed of sound is not good for various reasons. 1 MAJOR factor is LEADING. We are shooting PURE LEAD PELLETS/BULLETS and trying to push them supersonic or close to it. Pure lead and speed do NOT go good together and it has been done since forever. Everyone now realizes BELOW speed of sound is best especially when shooting pure lead projectiles.
Unless of course if you wanna shoot HARDCAST (bullets of BHN that are rated for 1500 fps and above) bullets instead of pure lead pellets/bullets.
But oh yeah, Doug can do it! 😆 😎
Bloody bloody hell. Do you sell them and if so, what do you charge? I’d like to see if its viable in SA currency. Where can I read up on your valves?
No just make a one piece stem to replace what you have with different port set up. Air has to make 2 90* turns to go out the stem with the stock stem.
My valve would get you a 100 fpe in .22 but I don’t think it would group at that speed. It pushes .25 JSB’s at almost 1400 fps.
more you need to make a stem and put 3 ports on the end instead of the side.
Thanx for the help guys. Dyotat, is this the Dyotat valve that you’re describing? Is the a link where I can see it and hopefully get some info on it?
Re. making a new stem, can these be turned on a lathe? I’ve spoken to a few guys around here and they’re not keen on trying to make these as they’re worried about the safety aspect.
There is only so much you can get out of a condor valve. If you want
more you need to make a stem and put 3 ports on the end instead of the side.
I have done this and I think you do get an increase in speed, be careful not to make the holes too big though or the stem may lose integrity, and don’t grind the circle any futher upwards, just square off the sides and bottom.
Guys ,
I have this idea to increase airflow through the Hi-flo valve. The 2 ports on the stem, I was thinking if I was to file the bottom part of the hole into a square/flat shape, ie. the hole would eventually have the shape of a tunnel-round on the top/left as is and flat at the bottom. Surely this would allow more air through with out weakening the stem.
I’ll try and post pic of my idea but what I want to know is, has anyonetried this and will it work?
Thanx Nick.
You guys are very fortunate, if things were different this side I would’ve had a Condor in every calibre possible.
Sounds good to me! Still surprised that no one has tried it. Or maybe they have. The Daystate Ranger-80 comes to mind. It shot bullets a LOT better than pellets! Hummmmmm! 😉
Mike
Nick,
That sucks (caliber restrictions). But 223 is 22 caliber……lol! RIGHT?! And yes, i agree with you on the 7mm caliber. I would love to have one made in 6.5mm. HMMMMMM, sounds like another FUTURE project for DOUG and my CORSAIR…….lol! Ooooops, did i just volunteer Doug….AGAIN!
To the others, you can have a machinist fit ANY barrel to ANY GUN that you own. If you want to shoot 22 lr bullets, i would not use a CHOKED barrel as my first choice. Like the powder burners, use a straight unchoked barrel. 1-16 is the NORM for 22lr powder burners and is a good starting twist for any project airgun pushing lr bullets. A little faster would NOT be a bad thing either. In 22 lr, barrel are being made or shall i say “HAVE BEEN” made with 1-9″ twist for longer 40 gr target ammo. So faster than 1-16 for 40 gr bullets would not be a bad idea. My pet 10/22 has a 1-9″ twist GM barrel
If we didn’t have calibre restrictions, I would fit a .223 barrel and setup the rifle upto push 55gr bullets at around 950-1000fps.
I’d love to have another Condor in 7mm.
I have thought about putting a 22lr barrel on my condor also I believe it would most likely shoot 22 lr unjacketed bullets to decent velocitys and give a great b/c and another plus is that the stock breech could be used And if you get a modded valve the bullet could handle going transonic and keep some stability due to the bullet design IMO this would make for better long range shooting than the .217 pellet due to its limits in accuracy/ velocity On the other hand the 22 lr bullet shoots decent in powder burners at 1200 fps I think it is possible to get a condor in the 100+fpe range with 22 lr bullet/barrel setup
I’ve often wondered just why we couldn’t get a strait taper .22 pb bbl. and put it in our AF toys. .22 pb slug’s, (Bullets) are readily available, and we are pushing enough velocity to use them. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. But I don’t know of anyone who has ever tried it.
The .22 pb bullets don’t shoot well our of the choked LW bbl’s at all. Never tried removing the choke to see what would happen. My guess is that the twist rate is wrong.
If I had a lathe, I would have tried it years ago! 😉
Mike
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hmmm?