Ranger 45
Well I have a tracking number for the Ranger 45 that was assembled, test fired, chronyed, and shipped today.
28 inch barrel, standard stock and black crerakote finish, $1230 dollars including shipping.
To early to get the arrival date, it is not in the system yet.
Chrony numbers were:
Round ball. low setting 3000 PSI……1018 FPS
225………. low setting 3000 PSI……..877 FPS
405 shot 1 hi setting 4500 PSI………804 FPS
340 shot 2 hi setting 4500 PSI………843 FPS
These numbers will improve by 30 to 50 FPS as the rifle breaks in.
Regards,
Roachcreek
All Replies
Dan,
I have thought of that, but trying to test and gather information of a practical sort, I decided not to do that.
But yes, for just the joy of shooting it would work fine, until it rolls off my hood and 50 feet down the hill. 😆
Regards,
Roachcreek
I am curious about medium power also, it is easy enough to find out.
If your running too much air, Dan says you hear it in the report and you will see lower velocity readings.
Yesterday once I got the chrony set up correctly, I got into the 900 range with the 229 weight, I will try those 200 grain bullets of yours again, I think I was way too high on the pressure.
It appears from what I have seen and heard from Dan, the way to do this is to pick a bullet weight, then raise PSI until the velocity starts to drop, or at least that is how you do it on low power, I assume medium power is the same way.
When I tried to shoot 200’s at 4500 on low that is exactly what happened, I shot and did not see a hole in the target, the chrony was in the low 400’s, so I shot again, and that time I saw the bullet arc out and drop in front of the target and bounce up into it.
Typical PCP performance when PSI is too high/hammer impact too low. What I was trying to see was if I could get a long string with light bullets and indeed I did get along string, if you can live with 400 to 900 and back down. 😆
So on low power I am now at 3800 the first shot is 912 the second in the 960 range, in the weight range, I would need to keep raising velocity until the second shot is more powerful than the first, then I will have a three shot power curve.
On High power you don’t get a curve, you just increase pressure I guess until the hammer does not open the valve efficiently or you run our of balls to go higher. 😯
Butcher, I have not opened all those bullets you sent me,but did not cast yourself, do you know how many 260’s there are in there?
What I am going to do from here on out is to get the power curve, then I will test for accuracy. And right now I am going to dig into those bullets you sent and find out how many of the 260’s I have to work with and get started.
The chrony problem I had was a set back, but I did find out about accuracy, heavier so far seems to be better.
I have also learned or I should say unlearned some stuff with this rifle, we are used to shooting 5 shot groups, your wasting your time doing that with this gun, heavy bullets will only really give you two shots, lighter ones really only give you 3. I could learn to use the balistic plex and make adjustments in the field with it for drop and perhaps get one or two more shots, or I could learn to fill with my Pygmee bottle faster so I coud get faster repeat shots.
Important thing is and as Dan pointed out when we were talking yesterday about his quest for a magazine for the rilfe, you usually only get one shot in the hunting fields at game, a second one can be used if the first one has made the animal very sick, but if you miss an elk the first shot where I hunt at the ranges were talking about that are useful with this rifle, that elk is going to be gone.
So I will stick with two shot groups for the Heavies and three shot groups for the lighter bullets, I will just repeat the process to see if there is repeatability that can be depended upon after refilling each time.
Regards,
Roachcreek
ha ! you could teather it up to a tank for paintball or a 44 cf in a back pack if ya can stand the weight ,or just do that on a table , for shooting , that would give you more shots
,i am going to teather mine up to my 500 cf dot cylinder , and shoot the hell out of the gun to break it in and target shoot the gun .
i may have to use mid power at first to prevent valve lock to begin with , when the cylinder is 4500 psi, for just target shooting hooking the gun up to the cylinder ,and shooting it would be the best thing.
Just to clarify to the casual reader, I did not cast any of those slugs…I just bought/collected them from several others.
Those 260grainers on medium power……that’s what I am curious about. Even if those particular ones aren’t accurate it will still be nice to know how fast a 260grainer can go for three shots. A 260-280grain WFN out of that rifle should be PLENTY heavy enough to work great from any reasonable angle on deer/black bear/big wild hogs, and still be shooting very flat. About like a good healthy .45Colt when running Verals’ Displacement Velocity Formula using a WFN .36 meplat.
I wonder what the difference is with the EPP/UG’s between low power and medium power, and if .454 is to big for the .452 despite the miniscule contact area on the EPP/UG’s. I guess high power wouldn’t go much faster, and would just waste air?
when you shoot the gun on high power 4500 psi according to Dan , you should be using 340 grain ,and higher ,other wise you are just waisting air, low -mid power is what you want to use with all the other stuff below 300 g ,
Butcher,
I am curious about medium power also, it is easy enough to find out.
If your running too much air, Dan says you hear it in the report and you will see lower velocity readings.
Yesterday once I got the chrony set up correctly, I got into the 900 range with the 229 weight, I will try those 200 grain bullets of yours again, I think I was way too high on the pressure.
It appears from what I have seen and heard from Dan, the way to do this is to pick a bullet weight, then raise PSI until the velocity starts to drop, or at least that is how you do it on low power, I assume medium power is the same way.
When I tried to shoot 200’s at 4500 on low that is exactly what happened, I shot and did not see a hole in the target, the chrony was in the low 400’s, so I shot again, and that time I saw the bullet arc out and drop in front of the target and bounce up into it.
Typical PCP performance when PSI is too high/hammer impact too low. What I was trying to see was if I could get a long string with light bullets and indeed I did get along string, if you can live with 400 to 900 and back down. 😆
So on low power I am now at 3800 the first shot is 912 the second in the 960 range, in the weight range, I would need to keep raising velocity until the second shot is more powerful than the first, then I will have a three shot power curve.
On High power you don’t get a curve, you just increase pressure I guess until the hammer does not open the valve efficiently or you run our of balls to go higher. 😯
Butcher, I have not opened all those bullets you sent me,but did not cast yourself, do you know how many 260’s there are in there?
What I am going to do from here on out is to get the power curve, then I will test for accuracy. And right now I am going to dig into those bullets you sent and find out how many of the 260’s I have to work with and get started.
The chrony problem I had was a set back, but I did find out about accuracy, heavier so far seems to be better.
I have also learned or I should say unlearned some stuff with this rifle, we are used to shooting 5 shot groups, your wasting your time doing that with this gun, heavy bullets will only really give you two shots, lighter ones really only give you 3. I could learn to use the balistic plex and make adjustments in the field with it for drop and perhaps get one or two more shots, or I could learn to fill with my Pygmee bottle faster so I coud get faster repeat shots.
Important thing is and as Dan pointed out when we were talking yesterday about his quest for a magazine for the rilfe, you usually only get one shot in the hunting fields at game, a second one can be used if the first one has made the animal very sick, but if you miss an elk the first shot where I hunt at the ranges were talking about that are useful with this rifle, that elk is going to be gone.
So I will stick with two shot groups for the Heavies and three shot groups for the lighter bullets, I will just repeat the process to see if there is repeatability that can be depended upon after refilling each time.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Just to clarify to the casual reader, I did not cast any of those slugs…I just bought/collected them from several others.
Those 260grainers on medium power……that’s what I am curious about. Even if those particular ones aren’t accurate it will still be nice to know how fast a 260grainer can go for three shots. A 260-280grain WFN out of that rifle should be PLENTY heavy enough to work great from any reasonable angle on deer/black bear/big wild hogs, and still be shooting very flat. About like a good healthy .45Colt when running Verals’ Displacement Velocity Formula using a WFN .36 meplat.
I wonder what the difference is with the EPP/UG’s between low power and medium power, and if .454 is to big for the .452 despite the miniscule contact area on the EPP/UG’s. I guess high power wouldn’t go much faster, and would just waste air?
T,
I only shoot it one way, outside. I have only used the disfusers once, the sun last shined here in Western Oregon when there was a Kennedy in the Whitehouse, or so it seemed this winter, so almost all the time it is…bareback.
I was putting it in front of the muzzle before I got the tripod, but when I got the Ranger, I kept blowing the thing off my hood.
I got tired of digging it out of the mud to see how fast the gun was shooting. 😳
The rear screen has taken a couple of hits, my Caldwell bag does not give a lot of clearance when they are both on the hood, the bipod is a great boon to my testing.
Yeah, I know pretty lame.
Regards,
Roachcreek
So i’m lost RC, what type of light were you using to get low readings? Flourescents or something (flourescents are a no no for chronies)? And yes, 10 FT and a tripod is THE ticket for chronies. A chrony needs to also be OPEN ALL THE WAY each and every time you use it. If the photo eyes of a chrony are too close together for a couple shots then they become all the way apart, your reading will also b all over the place. Shooting with the chrony closed in a “V” shape even a little will give you high readings and shooting too close to the eyes will give you a high reading.
I must have laughed myself silly when my buddy told me his Dragon slayer was shooting over 1100 FPS with roundballs. i could not stop laughing.
Dan,
Yeah I would love to have one of those fance swilveling chair shooting bench things. The table might work if it has adjustablelegs for the slope.
I bought a camera tripod to use with the chrony, that did wonders, got it a St Vincents for 7 bucks i think it was, so 7 bucks in a bipod a 1200 in a gun and another grand in filling stuff.
I have a Caldwell bag and I paid 35 bucks for it, but the aperatus I set it on caost thousands, my Explorer 😆
Regards,
Roachcreek
I remember seeing a post where a guy used a folding ironing board seemed like a good idea to me if it had a type of saddle bags to hold ammo, tools and supplies.
By the way Roach, has the little lady held that powerhouse yet? (the Ranger) 😀
At first I shot the 229’s from a 4500 fill using the low setting, the velocity was 400 to 770 fps for 8 shots, it looked bleak, I have been in constant contact with Dan Mcvey and when I related this to him, and asked if it was valve lock, he politely told me it was without saying I was an idiot, nice guy that Dan. 😆
I have terrible chrony technique, if I can get most of my shots off with out hitting the Chrony too many times I am happy. Dan explained his chrony set up, using two of them in a windowless room with halogens, well that embarassed me, because he was ready to send me a new valve. It was because he felt my chrony readings were low, he brought it up to me and told me my readings that I was getting with the 385, which were in the 700’s were about 150 FPS low.
So I decided to try really hard to do the chrony correct. I did not worry about groups, I set the chrony 10′ away and fired over it into a huge Doug fir. working hard to stay level.
I also lubed my bullets by putting them in a small plastic parts bag with white lithium grease I use on the Shoebox, that grease is nonflamable so it seemed a good idea.
I filled to 4700 for the first two shots, then 4500, 4400,4300,4200, 4400
1.859
2.834
3.845
4.828
5.856
6.780 I think this shot was not level
7.848
8.831
9.852
10.821
11.865
12.834
Then knowing I was at 3800 PSI I fired 3 229’s lubed the same way
1.912
2.868
3.887
I refilled to 3400 and shot two more
885
837
I need to seperate the shooting at targets and chrony work into two sessions. At my target range, I park on a hillside sideways, it is steep enough that when I open the drivers door and get out I am litterally climbing out, when I release the door it slams shut hard, so to set the chrony up and shoot over it makes hard to get it level, that results in skewed results, always on the low side I think, but not accurate none the less.
Tomorrow I will start in on the Butcher bullets.
I also called the Gun Works today, they have Oregon Trail 300 grain bullets in bags of 50 and boxes of 250, they are $9.50 and $105.00, it is $22.00 cheaper per 250 to have Oregon Trail ship me some, and I can get 360 grain ones at the same time, which the gun works did not have. OT’s USPS shipping is included in their price. And I don’t have to burn 10 dollars worth of gas to do it.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Charlie get a table to shoot off , they make the portable tables that folds in half , and you can get them at walmart for about 40 bucks , this is what i use ,
then i use a gun bag, or the adjustable tri-pod with the bag on top which is what i use a lot , then find something to set the chrono on about 10 ft away ,
if you take your time, and set it up right you can shoot through the chrono, and hit the target at the same time ,
i myself use my prochrono at 10 ft , and then at 30 yards or so i set it up in front of one of my spinning targets so i can hit the targets,
i set the prochrono about 6-7 ft in front of the target , and keep track of the fps , after i shoot i just look through my scope at the prochrono to see how my speed is
the cool thing about having the table set up is you have room to get comfortable, and set your gun stuff on it like bullets , your filling cylinder , it just makes it easy to fill the gun, load ,and shoot it , i think you will have more fun set up like this , i really enjoy my shooting a lot more set up this way myself , it takes the frustration out of it for sure .
I shot today using up all but three of my first 100 Mr Hollowpoint bullets.
At first I shot the 229’s from a 4500 fill using the low setting, the velocity was 400 to 770 fps for 8 shots, it looked bleak, I have been in constant contact with Dan Mcvey and when I related this to him, and asked if it was valve lock, he politely told me it was without saying I was an idiot, nice guy that Dan. 😆
I have terrible chrony technique, if I can get most of my shots off with out hitting the Chrony too many times I am happy. Dan explained his chrony set up, using two of them in a windowless room with halogens, well that embarassed me, because he was ready to send me a new valve. It was because he felt my chrony readings were low, he brought it up to me and told me my readings that I was getting with the 385, which were in the 700’s were about 150 FPS low.
So I decided to try really hard to do the chrony correct. I did not worry about groups, I set the chrony 10′ away and fired over it into a huge Doug fir. working hard to stay level.
I also lubed my bullets by putting them in a small plastic parts bag with white lithium grease I use on the Shoebox, that grease is nonflamable so it seemed a good idea.
I filled to 4700 for the first two shots, then 4500, 4400,4300,4200, 4400
1.859
2.834
3.845
4.828
5.856
6.780 I think this shot was not level
7.848
8.831
9.852
10.821
11.865
12.834
Then knowing I was at 3800 PSI I fired 3 229’s lubed the same way
1.912
2.868
3.887
I refilled to 3400 and shot two more
885
837
I need to seperate the shooting at targets and chrony work into two sessions. At my target range, I park on a hillside sideways, it is steep enough that when I open the drivers door and get out I am litterally climbing out, when I release the door it slams shut hard, so to set the chrony up and shoot over it makes hard to get it level, that results in skewed results, always on the low side I think, but not accurate none the less.
Tomorrow I will start in on the Butcher bullets.
I also called the Gun Works today, they have Oregon Trail 300 grain bullets in bags of 50 and boxes of 250, they are $9.50 and $105.00, it is $22.00 cheaper per 250 to have Oregon Trail ship me some, and I can get 360 grain ones at the same time, which the gun works did not have. OT’s USPS shipping is included in their price. And I don’t have to burn 10 dollars worth of gas to do it.
Regards,
Roachcreek
I will pack up the daystate and be out for a week of bird control. lol
(just to help a buddy out)
Forgot to say, that TheGunWorks had LaserCast .452, and I think some other make….big bags of bulk Keith-type.452 SWC’s, and button nose slugs in stock when I was there a few years ago Even had what looked like Lyman #452389 which is an oldie (obsolete mold) but a goodie. You never know what they are going to have in stock.
Beware of the selection of gorgeous hand-built muzzleloaders, the Ruger ROA selection, and the 2 and 4-bore barrels when you go in there. Bet you’ll spot a Sharps or two. They also carry molds, and casting stuff (much of it listed on his site thegunworks.com).
We are about a 100 mile round trip from here, and a phone call away from Oregon trail in Baker Or.
I am just going to order some of those 360 grain Trueshots and some 300 grain cast bullets from them. The freight is a lot less than I would spend on gas. I used to order from them about 10 years ago.
S&M Sporting Goods here in UUUgeeen has some Oregon trail bullets, but they are all round nose 45 ACP’s
I took the Ranger apart again tonight, just because I can and it is so easy to break it down, wish my AF rilfes were that easy.
I suppose I will have to break down and get the 58 caliber barrel/reciever also, puts the Royale another 400 bucks further out.
I was hoping to do the bird predation work with a Royale this fall, but it looks like I may have to use the 58 😈 .
Regards,
Roachcreek
ya you would be better off just to order up some then i would shoot that gun on low-med power with 230 -250 grain or round ball 140g so you get more shots per fill to break it in , and for just target practice , fun shooting the gun
, then use some 300 plus stuff , to figure out the shooting on those , then write it down , and save the heavy stuff for hunting.
this is how i am going to do it use less air with cheaper lighter bullets/140 g round ball =more shooting for fun .
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
I have thought of that, but trying to test and gather information of a practical sort, I decided not to do that.
But yes, for just the joy of shooting it would work fine, until it rolls off my hood and 50 feet down the hill. 😆
Regards,
Roachcreek
use a table , shoot the gun teathered over 200 shots , for break in , then gather data