Bulldog power valve
Travis of jeffersonstateairrifles has had my Bulldog for about the last 9 months working on a improved air valve and boy did he succeed. I’ll get right to it. These speeds are with the spring loose in the housing. Also, the spring is half strength of the stock spring, very easy to cock. 126gr .356 BBT did 895 at 2500psi, 915 at 2700psi, 928 at 2900psi, 943 at 3000psi, 961 at 3225psi, 973 at 3400psi, 989 at 3500psi, 999 at 3800psi, 1012 at 4000psi. I don’t recommend the higher pressures to anybody, use them at your own risk. I was searching for valve lock and didn’t find any. Using a 180gr spitzer it did 814fps -265fpe at 3000psi and 875fps-306fpe at 4000psi, that was yesterday.
Today I turned the hammer spring all the way up. A 165gr did 879fps-283fpe at 3000psi, 948fps-329fpe at 4000psi. A 173gr swaged did 811fps-253fpe at 3000psi, 901fps-312fpe at 4000psi. And the 180gr from above did 908fps-330fpe at 4000psi. Travis says that the power can be raised even more with a stronger spring. I had already ported my gun before Travis got it and it was shooting 241fpe max. All that is in a thread “working on the bulldog” in this gate.
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=107531.0
Regards, Tom
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Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
Those new bullets sound like just the ticket Roach!!
I went out shooting saturday, these days i need a driver and a friends son took us out among the junipers and sage brush.
I was amazed how the bulldog performed accuracy wise and lack of report in the desert setting runnung 225 to 250 fpe using my 180 and the 120 grain hp from Rick.
When I got home, I had a package from Accuratemolds for the 36-120-A, the solid nose version of what I got from Rick. I got it in double cavity, iron with the trough.
Yesterday I washed the mold in hot soapy water, after rinsing, heated it up to dry on a overtured cast iron skillet, smoked the cavities with several wood matches, smeared a slight amount of bees wax on the plate pivot area and had it casting wrinkle free bullets with 40-1 from a ladle pour in minutes. Soft, 40-1, wrinkle free bullets are accesable to home casters, but seldon seen in my experuence from commercial bullet casting machines. And iron Accuratemold are about the best I have used.
The 180’s mushroom to flat nickle sized slugs in duct seal at 800 plus, so I dout I will send them off to Eric any time soon for the hp treatment.
Yeah, I am a cast bullet guy, and loveing it.
That is the good thing about air guns and what you personally want to do with them.
You’re absolutely right! I hope to be casting soon! I have more than a few project rifles (and a pistol) that are dedicated cast slug shooters. I can’t wait to finish them and get to shooting!!
Cabose,
Yeah, I am a cast bullet guy, and loveing it.
That is the good thing about air guns and what you personally want to do with them.
“…I personally don’t get sub 150 fpe 35’s…”
Funny you should mention this! I’m in the process of building a bottle converted Gen2 Mrod that’ll be shooting around 130 fpe. I wanted to go this low because I’m only using pellets, and I wanted a somewhat decent shot-count. Also, for the intended game (largest being a fox), 130 fpe will be just fine. More than fine. Actually, it’s probably overkill. At this power level, it’ll also be very easy to suppress the muzzle report. So why go sub 150 fpe? Well, as long as you’re sticking to pellets:
– More shots (for a Bottle converted Mrod anyway)
– More quiet, easier to suppress
– Easier to tune for
– Easier to cock the rifle
– More than enough energy for small game up to 150 yards or so… (Not really sure on this one, as my rifle isn’t done, so I haven’t made a range card up yet)
For a cast boolit slinger? Yeah, anything under 150 fpe (Hell, even 150 fpe) is wasting time. But again, this Brod conversion isn’t a boolit slinger. I’m just slapping it together with spare parts I have from many different projects.
And it ismagazine fed.
I personally don’t get sub 150 fpe 35’s.
Tom, starting at 4000k,what was your remaing presure after 5 shots?
No worries at all Roach!
I got a response from Travis- Those drop-in valves aren’t quite done yet, but pricing looks like it’s going to be hovering around $165 or so.
Still, with both the new valve and the longer reservoir, the Bulldog is a viable choice for a .357 slightly over $1k and more powerful than nearly everything on the market… In a bullpup package, so it’s not too ungainly in the field. Not too shabby!
Caboose,
thanks alot, those bot traps are a hazard for me.
yes I really like the pit bull stuff. I have sent him a few of those 178 357 bullets I cast, he hit the golf ball at 308 yards with them in the Airgun Depoe challange.
I am thinking my 178’s , which funtion in the magazine would give me over 1500 fpe on tap.
I sent Travis a PM for you- He may not have updated his site yet… We’ll know soon enough. I may have to pick up a bulldog…
I don’t see it yet on his site. I tried to send him a message at gta but my poor eye can’t ger past the word bot trap I guess, no pun intended
yes I really like the pit bull stuff. I have sent him a few of those 178 357 bullets I cast, he hit the golf ball at 308 yards with them in the Airgun Depoe challange.
I am thinking my 178’s , which funtion in the magazine would give me over 1500 fpe on tap.
The new valve should be a drop in…
Also, Roach- there’s a company that makes a longer reservoir kit as well… “Pitbullairguns.com”.
Hi RC, it is a drop in kit as far as I can tell. It all goes between the air tube and the receiver. I’m not shooting it right now as the poppet had an aluminum chip in the seal line. By the time I removed the chip and tried the abrasive – drill proceedure it leaked worse. So I ordered a new air valve housing from Crosman at $16.95, love their prices as the original one had a groove in it from my efforts. I should be able to use my lathe to cut a new seal line on the poppet. If that doesn’t work I imagine Travis will send me a new one or I could buy one from him. Regards, Tom
that is great news Tom. now rhese are not drop in parts I have to assume due to the design, as it would be with a mrod.
I will be curious to how it performs accuracy wise with the greater horsepower).
Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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I got my valve in on Monday, I had disassembled my Bulldog in anticipation, you know the kid with a BB gun thing.
Those of you who know me know that I am legally blind these days, so the question is, what can go wrong with a blind bubba or a male
Version of Hellen Keller @3500psi?
Well it did not fit, the valve stem was too large at around .002. A couple of calls to Travis and I had it fit and powered up to 3500 psi 12 hours later. I ended up fitting the valve stem with 1500 grit and my drill.
My bulldog is ported to .277, actually my lovely wife ported it for me a couple years ago, I may port it to .30 later, but if I remember correctly, Tom did not gain much going from .277 to .30.
It held 3500psi all night, so today I gave it my proof test, which for me is can I still have useable air for a 5th shot. I shot 4 shots, no bullets just air, from 3500 psi and the 5th shot would have tripped at 2800 psi by my Joe B fill-system.