Q:

.30cal big bore pistol build

This build started as I had a short off cut of air vessel tubing from a length used on a rifle build..
However it is VERY short on big bore standards as they require a large section of tube in the rear to accommodate a large valve, hammer stroke and hammer spring, in this case if I was to build the same action as the .30 cal bullpup it would account for 3/4 of the length of the tubing which would be kind of pointless as there would be no volume left for air.

My goal is to keep this pistols OAL to 300mm which means no just adding a larger rear cylinder end cap to extend the hammer springs working stroke rearward which would have been easy.
This is where my challenge started and I am building a bit of a prototype to test a few new dimensions and components.
The first thing I wanted to achieve was the longest barrel and the shortest receiver length I could possibly get away with which meant shifting the valve body as far rearward as I could without loosing so much
hammer travel that power would suffer.

I have used a different hammer spring which is shorter and larger in diameter than the one I used in the .30 Pup which gave me 12mm less length on the springs total bind length when cocked.
Also being a short barrelled pistol a lighter hammer can be used to shorten dwell time on larger valve ports to get similar velocities form a larger but shorter burst of air, this gained me another 6mm.

The last and most drastic design change was the valve body its self, it is 8mm shorter rear of the transfer port than the rifle length valve and I have manage to claim back another 13mm by recessing the valve return spring into the rear of the valve.

Another change Ive made is reduced the poppet valve shank from 1/4″ to 5/32″ and made a stepped collar with a retaining grub screw that locks down on a filed flat..

A recessed valve spring seat means a flat or slightly recessed faced hammer can be used meaning more weight and a shorter hammer.

The new valve is much shorter in total length and still has loads of meat for countersunk retaining cap screws and still within the minimum safety measurement to the edge of the material. The smaller 5/32″ valve shank means I can use off the shelf M6 X 6mm cap screws to retain the valve in the cylinder and they still wont breech the bearing surface of the valve shanks bore like it did in the rifle valve with the 1/4″ shank which required the cap screws to be cut very short.
The over all valve travel remains the same as the rifle sized valve.

The valve spring I have used a stiff little bugger too which should help with efficiency not that that will matter much with this little pistola as it will have a low shot count with maximum power tune.
The best part is the new dimensions make the back end super short which will give me a 7″ barrel and a 130mm receiver compared to the 150mm of the pups, which will be low profile and made from a smaller material than the pups, the greatest advantage is I now only have a 140mm section of tubing behind the air reservoir for the firing mechanism compared to the 200mm of the rifles design but will have the same air delivery only with the dwell tuned to a pistol length barrel.

If all goes to plan this will lead to future pistol builds being shorter lighter and have more air capacity for a higher shot count.
I will be using a rotary multiple barrel transfer port design in this pistol which uses 3 smaller rotary ports within a cut groove rather than one large transfer port cut into the lower section of the barrel. This will allow me to use smaller cast bullets, round ball and JSB pellets without the problem of them dropping into the transfer port and jamming things up. more on that later.

Mods/Machinists

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Today I did a little bit of experimenting with the .30 pistol and JSB pellets running a milder tune…
Lately I have been running a 7 1/2″ long 1-14″ twist 4 groove match barrel with the cast 55gr and 85gr HP bullets but I wanted to see if I could get the JSBs to shoot better. I have found they actually shot quite well with the shorter 1-10.5″ twist micro groove barrel when fitted with a .22 silencer drilled out to suit the .308 bore. The cheap chinese .22lr suppressor although undersized and not very good at removing the bark did somehow stabilise the hefty .30 JSB pellets better and reduce the horrible groups it shot without the suppressor.
It probably works by defusing the massive blast of air from such a short barrel disturbing the pellets skirt design as it vacated the muzzle causing an unrecoverable speed wobble..
Never had probs with shooting the cast bullets though.

So today I received my $14 Airsoft 9mm silencer from Ebay and stripped it out to an empty can…
Some Airsoft silencers are made from very good alloy and with a few mods can be a cheap airgun suppressor. Both the front and rear of this brand are threaded on (not glued like most) and will easily handle the blast from an air rifle and will cope with the massive blast from this big bore pcp too…
I removed all the foam from the inside and made up a set of baffles and spacers then made an adaptor for the rear plug from the std airsoft 14mm thread to the 1/2″ x 20 UNF of my muzzle.
I ended up with a very cheap .30cal to 9mm muzzle can that really shuts this thing up and squashed my 5 shot JSB groups to inside an inch at 35yds with a 745fps av ;D
Without the suppressor it would be lucky to put them inside 6 inchs!

Fucking awesome. That’s all I can come up with.

Thanks guys, its been a fun build and even more fun to shoot.. it LOVES the little light weight 55gr hollow points and at 75-80ftlbs it makes a mess of anything it hits.

Just finished building another pistol for close range deer and pigs etc.. A .44 cal that shoots 163gr custom hollow points to 150ftlbs, currently getting 5 shots on a 220bar fill with a “mild” tune but it is capable of 2 shots at 200ftlbs.

Both pistols are now in line for some custom walnut target grips.. 😀




THAT is freakin sweet….

That pistol is awesome! I really like that muzzle brake. With the numbers you are getting, it probably helps.

I really think that is a good caliber and we are going to see a lot more coming on the market once the manufacturers realize there is a good market. It is small enough that you can get the velocity up pretty good and large enough to pack a good wallop when it gets there. You can also get a good number of cast bullets and molds for that caliber.

Damn that pistol is super nice. Very clean looking and simple.

You done real good sir…………

Looks really good. Tidy workmanship on it. 😎

Really liking that compact receiver. 🙂

Regards,

Al

cheers guys,
Im just finishing a .50cal tune up then Im on to a .44 and 9mm build..
Interested in you Weenge technique Knife..

Ive been tuning this little .30 hand cannon all week with a variety of hammer weighs/strokes and transfer port sizes and have settled on a nice compromise.
Currently gets 5 shots with .30 JSBs with a 850fps av, 5 shots with 55gr HPs with a 750fps av and 5 shots with 85gr Hps with a 650fps average..
I had intended to get the 85gr HPs up to 750-800 for 2-3 usable shots but Im quite liking the current tune as they all shoot well and pack quite a punch.

I swapped the crappy fake wood grain Crosman grips for the slightly less crappy Benjamin Marauder grips just until I get around to making the walnut ones, also tried the carbine stock on it..


Fine looking Work there Wingy! NICE! 😉 😀

Knife

Which reminds me. I have a technique that makes Weenge wood look like old antique Stag horn. It has been very popular!

Great work it looks stunning.

Cheers guys… It was just a small project to keep me busy :fishinghole:

Accuracy with the 85gr bullets seems good, here’s 3 shots rested at 35 yards 🙂

Too cool!!

should have made a few dozen while you were at it ! sign me up for one! nice build!

A final push today to get this to a testing state and it is finally there..
I didnt take many photos during the bolt and barrel work but will snap a few more when I strip it down for finishing again..
Here’s a couple of the barrel cut to length and threaded ready to be fitted, torqued and transfer ports drilled.

Here it is with its sister .308 Bullpup all assembled.

Here’s the receivers side by side to show the difference in the new short stroke design..

I still have loads of work to do on it with some nice walnut target grips to make and polish/stamp the receiver etc.
Im very happy with the cocking action on this one, very smooth and not so heavy that its awkward.
I made the bolt much larger in diameter and it stand only 5mm from the hammer so side loading is minimal.
I have put about 50 shots through it and got some satisfactory chrony figures but with only 2700psi left in my dive bottles I have to do an air run to town before I can shoot some full strings and do some paper punching.
Even with only 2700psi I got 5 good shots with a max of 842fps with the JSBs 44gr and a couple of good shots with the 85gr HPs which just broke 700fps at 93ftlbs
It has a lot of recoil and is louder than my bullpup so will definitely make your ears ring without hearing protection..

😯

Very, very, very cool!

:thumb:

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