326 yd Accuracy-VIDEO-.257
Hi All,
After last years range to 1000 yds +, was NEVER pleased with guns inconsistency…..I mentioned then a TOTAL re-thinking and rebuild was going to happen this winter….More CONSISTENT ACCURACY, being the goal….I gathered parts and materials, my ideas and gunsmiths thoughts too, left it with him and several weeks later It was built. Gun to the eye looks as it did last year. Goal this year is extreme accuracy, (for an airgun) at reasonable distances 400-800 yds. Monday I shot MOA at 326 and 421 yds…..Easily as I predicted…….After playing and learning in this range, may see what it can do further out???? Later in summer……. Video at 326 yds https://youtu.be/mJf3Fcv8WXY Click vid lower right and view FULL SCREEN
I have been testing it for 6 weeks now with differing slugs, and pressures and etc. It is truly a great rifle now. After getting elevation at 100 yds on first firing went to the first 1″ target dot and first 5 from gun were .7″………Next was better…….It shoots MOA or better all the time. Half moa a lot of the time and a few at 1/4 moa at 100 yds. Of course if wind is blustery, you are testing SHOOTER skills not gun capability. I TRY to TEST with less wind to see what rifle and tune, is capable of.
This season I have bullets/molds that were NOT available to me then and each is better than what i shot last year too.
I went to the Coalinga range and shot my steel plate at measured 326 yds. Also the Turkey at 421 yds, Have other vids to process from Monday shoot……Still have a couple glitches to IMPROVE this gun even more. Test one tomorrow
I also have ANOTHER .257 at gunsmiths being built right now.. Couple differing things to see if they can be improved on??? 2 test vehicles…….These are NOT your dad’s pellet guns 😉
Added some pics of 100 yd groups testing this bad boy…All 5 shots except that .104″ as after 3 I quit to not mess it up 😆 Click pic and some enlarge
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Carl
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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
If I stay on this forum long enough. I might be a pretty good caster out of the gate. Thanks to those who will share their knowledge like yourself. Thank you for the taking time for a layman.
Depends on what your rifle likes, all are different, only you can call that. The ARsENAL 257420 is better for me than the lyman ……..It is a very good bullet to…….The hotter you cast at the more the bullet SHRINKS as it cools down. Not a LOT but can be near .0005″
Just learned something, Carl. I didn’t know the size of the cast bullet changes according to mixture. I would have thought the mold would be the sole factor in size. I glad to find these things out the easy way. I’m sure I’ll be ordering the 257388 soon, do you the they perform better than the Lyman 257420. I should ask is there another cast mold that drops more accurate rounds?
Is the 257388 still casting at 85 gr with the 2% mix?
I think I might be getting the competition bug again but I’m waiting from an endorsement from a friend of mine before I make the final decision. If I get it, I’m going to go extreme benchrest this time instead of 10 Meter Air Rifle.
Good luck in your shooting and WAITING for gun to be built………Can be frustrating for sure. Of course the less tin used, bullet weight goes up slightly…….I have 3 Arsenal 257388 molds. A 4 Cavity, and two 5 cavity…..I drop weights from 84-85.5 grains with the tin 2% or 2.5% One 5 cavity shoots great, dropped straight from mold and shoot. It with 2% drops couple tenths smaller than groove dia but didn’t seem to make a difference. If i go to the 2.5% tin, it is just a tenth or so above sizing die………Heat and tin percentage will adjust the size of slug to……Need a digital mic to know. Some people think a vernier reading 3 places is enough.. Need to read in minimum 4 decimal places…….Most digital mics read 5 places……….
Carl
It sounds like you have a great resource that know the ins and outs of tuning. I just love it when someone with exceptional skills gets their due mention. I hope to join the ranks of Loooooong range air rifle shooters when I get my Doug Noble Special .257 although it may be about 10 year before I can match what you’ve put up. People like Tom Witt and Doug Noble are 1 in a million and get much respect from me.
Is the 257388 still casting at 85 gr with the 2% mix?
I think I might be getting the competition bug again but I’m waiting from an endorsement from a friend of mine before I make the final decision. If I get it, I’m going to go extreme benchrest this time instead of 10 Meter Air Rifle.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks. His Name is Tom Witt……He doesn’t do airguns…For me, he did…….I get all the parts i want and materials drop off and we hash out our ideas and he builds what i want. If any ideas from him come to his fertile mind, he runs them by me. Some I approve, others I don’t believe would help and say no. He has built 5 competition rifle for me and numerous other projects. He is about 72 yrs old, has more work than he wants to do, so no he won’t build anyone else’s. But as we speak is building another like this with couple differing things.
Mold was the 257388 but that .104 was their 257420 too. Cast either 2.5% or 2%…….depending?
I won’t tell what was done to the gun but it was a total ground up build to do what it is doing. All the accuracy tricks and parts, assembling and stabilizing techniques to build a competition RIFLE were done by master Gunsmith. And all it took was CUBIC $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Carl
I’m glad all is working out. A few questions 1) Who is the gunsmith (good results are worth a mention). 2) Is the mold the Arsenal 257388? If not what is it and where to buy it? 3) Are you casting with pure lead or ehat is the mix? 4) What mods were made to get these results?
Thanks in advance!
Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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If I stay on this forum long enough. I might be a pretty good caster out of the gate. Thanks to those who will share their knowledge like yourself. Thank you for the taking time for a layman.
Pic of bullets used on this 326 yd video and the 421 yd video on this forum
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Carl