Is there a lead slug casting setup for .25 caliber?
I don’t understand the .257 caliber. Why not have made it a flat .25 caliber?
Then us lowly .25 caliber owners could concentrate on powering up our valves, and increasing the length of our barrels to get the long range assets offered by the .257…
Anyway, if I wanted to cast some .251 or .252 diameter slugs, especially hollowpoints, where would I begin the search for the molds and furnace? I’d be fine with 35gr to 50gr slugs for the critters I try to drop with .31gr Barracudas? I wouldn’t put an Ein Jin 43gr slug in my Edgun Long.
I believe there is a lot of FPE I could benefit from with cast slugs, and no one to my knowledge has tried to max out the Edgun valve/reg setup. Might be fun to try a few things.
By the way, any suggestions where i can recycle lead from local sources?
Thank you muchly…and Merry Xmas!
H 😯 😯 t
“Kill it till it’s dead!” anon.
All Replies
Yeah, 80-20 is HARD! I think I’m running 95-5 or 20-1 lead/tin mostly.
I’ll bet the Ed can be tuned to be a bit better on air than the Talon/dor! 😉
Knife
Mike, the 22, 35 and 30 cal longs air tube is 388cc. I did get my 30 cal with my 25 cal breeches and Hart barrel to shoot my pure lead 44 grain LBT slugs at 845 with 37 regulated shots.
My 80-20 cast cut down Lyman and NOE slugs wouldn’t enter the in lead of the Hart barrel. I am going to have HPs made out of both molds and see what they then weigh. I would like to get them down to 45-47 grain weight. Not sure why the 80-20 bullets wouldn’t go in the in lead. It might need some more work or, the 80-20 bullets are just too hard to enter the in lead.
I am going to arder a set of 25 cal R3 breech blocks and a 30 cal R3 regulator from Tony and another TJs .257″ barrel. I think that I can get the Matador to shoot 45-47 grain slugs at 880-900 for around 35 regulated shots.
And Nitro isn’t that hard to come by! 😉 😀
Hoot, what is the volume of the air tube on the EdGun? Teh reason I ask, is that on paper at 80 yards, I see a real drop in poi after 5 shots with my gun. It has the stock 490ci bottle on it, filled to 3200psi. This is the very reason I have a larger 53ci bottle on hold at Dougs place.
So, why not turn a Condor into a BP? Seems an easy enough project ot me!
Knife
I know politicians get screwed up trying to say that on TV. With a 48″ barrel, you can just lean forward and stab your quarry. No need for tricky valve mods.
Strangly enough, I know! 😉 😆
Knife
DAY-UMMM John….that some kind of serious shit there!!!
However, I believe if I put a 48″ barrel on my Edgun Long, changing it’s name to the “Edgun Anaconda”…I can drill out my transfer port and breech, get a heavy hammer spring, and a solid metal valve rod, I can approach those numbers. Time will tell.
Remember this….There are “known’s” that we know about. We know that we know what’s known! Then there’s “unknown’s”, those being unknown’s of what we know we don’t know! But the wild card here are the “unknowns”, them being what is unknown to us about what is not known to be unknown!!! Know what I mean?
H 😯 😯 t
Shit Hoot, I’m shooting 43grn EJs over 940fps and modified EJ 52grn at 925fps out of a “stock” Condor. Stock being an eighteen inch choked barrel. Check my holy grail thread in AirForce general chat. I still need to find a velocity sweet spot for the heavies, but I believe accuracy is there to find.
John
Good points all, Tofazfou…unless you plan to mix a couple of drops of nitro-methane in with the air fill.
I understand a lot of shooters, having lost fingers, noses, eyes, and such from using the wrong gas mix…would tend to be aghast! However, I’d be very happy to get a 48gr HP up to 900 fps to slap down coyotes within 50 to 75 yards, or the occasional feral hog at 35 to 50 yards.
The .257 is a professional shooters gun. People who have places big enough to shoot long distances, without killing the neighbors chickens. However, for some of us, a milder version
of the full out, balls to the wall, .257 heavies, will do the job.
I guess a bullpup with a 48″ barrel would look a bit strange!
H 😯 😯 t
I see the edgun or any PELLET shooting tubed gun as having to be HEAVILY modded to even shoot 70 gr LONG 257 slug anywhere near even 875-900 FPS.
These guns in my opinion would require a ton of machining of internal beefier parts and you still would have to fill to higher pressures like a minimum of 3200 psi. Of course by then, the gun STILL has a short airtube for not a lot of volume which is gonna hurt CONSISTENCY therefore accuracy.
Now, not saying it CAN’T be done but I think its just gonna take too much work for little payoff. The Korean big bores and maybe the Daystate Wolverine would be good candidates and MAYBE……..just MAYBE the FX Boss. But again, MACHINING is gonna be required.
Going from a 30 FPE or 50 FPE gun UP to 150-175 FPE takes some work.
The condors power plant and direct valving is just about the best candidate or the Haleys and DAQs
Yeah, a HP would be nice! 😀
Mine is still a FP, and shooting at 930 at the moment. Wouldn’t mind having one of my molds sent out to Eric at HP mold services to have a good-wide HP added! 😈
Knife
The BIG question is whether the Edgun valve and regulator have enough “punch” to get the required velocity for the .257 slugs in the weight range you guys shoot. My biggest concern would be the valve stem breaking.
OG, can the valve/reg on the Edgun be beefed up, or does it have enough capacity to do the deed as it is? I have to work with what I’ve got, so a barrel change
is probably the best idea, and I’d certainly take you up on the fitting process. I’m not certain how long it would need to be???
That R3 barrel’s single breech attachment, threaded-pull shroud setup, seems overly complicated. I was quite happy with the barrel butt to the breech, and an O-ring spacer arrangement. Did the job for me rather nicely. Crank down those scope mount nuts and that barrel wasn’t going anywhere! Things were a lot simpler in those days.
It’s the power plant that’s got me stumped. Getting parts for an Edgun is NOT EASY, nor is it quick, and I don’t know of any alternatives to the existing valve.
The caliber switch is the easiest part. I’m not concerned about shot count…I feel the need, the need for speed!!! I’d settle for a 60gr hollowpoint at 950 fps. Yes, that would do nicely for these parts.
H 😯 😯 t
Oh, I see how you are! 😆 And I started to call you tonight! 😳 😀
Hoot, there are a number of reason he .25 doesn’t work well. If you cut off the choke, and put the lead in the breach, you still have a 1/16 twist, which is just too slow for the heavier bullet as compared to a pellet. And the pellet barrel won’t shoot pellets all that well after the conversion anyway. So Just keep the l/W barrel un-molested for when you feel like shooting with a little (A Lot) less power. :8:
Bottom line, go with the TJ!
Oldgoat and I have plenty of bullets for you to try! 😉
Now as to Why .25 isn’t as popular to cast, The .257 has been around for over 100 years. In both black power filled cases, as well as modern smoleless. These are rifle bullets. So there are a LOT of .257 molds to select from. The .25 on the other hand, is just about limited to the .25 pocket pistol. Very bad designs for much of anything. And never any real interest in reloading for them. So what few moulds are avaliable, are just about useless.
The biggest exception to this is LBT Moulds. But these are “CUSTOM” Moulds by Veril Smith, and cost a hell of a lot more than just about any good off the shelf .257 mold.
You will probably need a bit lighter bullet than what the of the shelf molds produce, but either OldGoat or myself can take care of that for you. 😉
Knife
HOOT, you aren’t going to have any luck coming up with a cast bullet for your 25 cal Matador unless you cut the choke off of the stock LW barrel. If you do that, the barrel will be too short for the baffle nut to engage any barrel threads.
You could cut the choke off, have the barrel threaded for an adaptor that makes up for the length of the barrel removed and then have the adaptor threaded for the baffle nut on your R3 25 long.
For a couple of years, Charlie tried to come up with a great shooting setup that used a stock Air Force 25 cal barrel that he cut the choke off of. He finally came up with results that weren’t that bad but, he then tried a TJs .257” barrel and never looked back.
It would be far easier for you to buy a TJs .257” barrel, have it fitted for your gun, I can have it fitted for you for around $60, and then use that setup.
The TJs barrel and fitting would be around $300. You would keep your stock barrel and you could easily swap them.
Mike and I would be happy to send you plenty of .257” 50, 55, 60 and 65 grain bullets for you to try!
If the .257” TJs barrel and our cast bullets work out for you, the casting stuff would cost you around $400, lead included, and molds are readily available for the .257”.
If you want to try a TJs barrel and start casting, email me your phone number and we can talk.
PS: Don’t ever ask for Mike’s phone number and DON”T EVER, EVER, EVER call him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You won’t be able to get a word in edgewise, and just hanging up wont work! 😯
He will just call you right back and ask: Did we just get disconnected?!!!!! 😆
I have a 70 gr LBT mold right now.
It shoots good through the chrono but I haven’t had time to go and shoot it. I don’t think it will push in a LW pellet barrel without opening up the leed but not sure. LW barrels are .253-.254 before the choke though.
Not using LW barrels in my .25 anymore and don’t plan on ever using one again because of there inconsistent sizing.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Hi Hoot, there is a group buy of .25 lbt mold
check this
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=58933.0