The Haley .457 is here.

After you have a friend get seriously injured by an airgun done wrong, you might think about that a bit differently. I didn’t own that gun, either. Should I not say anything about it?

I didn’t jump on here until you posted a false statement that I felt you should know the truth about. Lots of false rumors in that circle (like the rumor I supposedly had a Gargoyle catastrophically fail on me….never happened…..NOT TRUE!).

It’s not what I have heard….it’s what i have SEEN.

No I haven’t held one in my hands, but descriptive pictures and video do not lie. I’m not mechanically inclined, but damn I sure don’t have to be to know what I saw wasn’t good. It was enough for me to drop off their list in a heartbeat. I also base what I say off of conversations I have had with Reba in the past that set-off some serious red flags for me.

Like I said, there is probably a learning curve with building these rifles (especially for the backyard novice builders that are not legitimate machinists/have no established tolerances), and those rifles I referred to were made over a year ago. Hopefully they have advanced since then…..the power output you are seeing out of your rifle upon initial testing indicates to me that advancement has been made (you have the muzzle ten feet or more from the chrony, correct?).

Other stuff I have seen in this thread, along with the high ratio of people I know of that promise to post the performance numbers of their Haleys, only to return a couple of months later with a for sale add, indicates they still have a ways to go AFA quality control is concerned.

I wish them well with that….I really do. The more quality options available in the bigbore airgun market, the better.

This is why people usually don’t bother sharing their negative experiences with a builder. People get emotionally involved with their purchase and forget they are speaking about a rifle and not their mother, and feel obligated to stick-up for their new-found rifle-building friends that are so nice to talk to on the phone.

When have we ever had any sort of problem with each-other RJ-Porter? I only offered information on a builder, and his rifles.

I know it is easy to make fast friends with Reba, and she is a charming conversationalist, but when it comes down to it that is irrelevant to the rifle, isn’t it?

Please maintain some objectivity, and realize that I am not trying to fight with you here. I had to correct your statement about those with problem rifles choosing not to return them, because it just isn’t true with the 2 out of three problem rifles I know of from that time. The two that I know of were returned (the 20 second video made it obvious as to why), and the other was basically re-built/re-engineered by it’s owner to get it to perform the way it does now.

Again, I like to see a bigbore out on the market for awhile so as to get past any initial corrections with the rifle. Not saying I wouldn’t buy something new to the market…..I would have to have a lot of confidence in that builders’ ability as a legitimate, and knowledgeable machinist, and have a good talk with them about the catastrophic failures that have occurred with these bigbore rifles in the past (that get swept under the rug pretty quick in small circles).

My friend that purchased two Haley rifles reacted the same way towards a guy making less-than-glowing comments about his Haley on another forum. He went off on the guy pretty harsh, saying Haleys were the best thing running etc. before he even had his rifles. Well he choked on his words big-time a week or two later when his rifle showed-up. Now he wants to buy the guy he went-off on several beers sometime, because he was sooooo right.

After a good friend of mine got knocked-out and cut-open (almost lost his eye) by a loading bolt with 3000+psi of air behind it, shooting a rifle from a new, unproven builder that I recommended he check-out because everyone online said awesome things, I no longer give airgun builders the benefit of the doubt just because people say nice things, or they are sweet people to talk with. These airguns are to dangerous when done wrong.

If you don’t offer negative feedback to the builder (or they just won’t accept it, and continue making excuses), they will never get thru their learning curve building these rifles, and the same problems are not going to go away.

The tuned 909 is the only bigbore I have (or need, for that matter), though I have played with a couple of DAQs, a Gargoyle, and another one-off home-build bigbore made by a gunsmith.

My 909, like most, had some easily-fixable issues….those being the fill fitting, the loading port sleeve, and the cocking lever. Still working on getting a custom lever made, but the last replacement lever I got indicates that SamYang may be listening, and beefing-up their cocking levers.

If you want to compare your Haley to my 909, you need to put at least 2000 rounds thru yours, like I have mine. I doubt your rifle has better accuracy, and I am confident my rifle will stand-up to a couple thousand more rounds as well.

I would also be willing to wager that the build quality of the 909 is superior. We can settle that one pretty easy, as I can have my 909 torn-down in about ten minutes TODAY, and take some pictures to compare to the innards of your Haley. I need to sight it in with some different boolits, anyway, so now (well, this evening) would be the perfect time to do it. I don’t have a long enough screwdriver to get the valve out, but I can get the rest of it apart. The 909 design is so very basic/simple, that even I can do it lol.

You have more fpe in that rifle for sure, but I have all the power I want or need for coyotes/bobcats in this 909, and it has killed much bigger stuff for me as well. It is also a proven safe design (now that the sear issue is resolved). It is the perfect predator calling rig for my application and area. Not many bigbores can match it’s shot count, accuracy, and power for four shots (270-280fpe)…..can’t think of another bigbore out there that fits the bill any better than this one, really. Might match it, but beat it? No probably not.

I think we have a mold that will drop Raptors at .457. At about 220gr they are designed for less powerful guns than yours but I bet they would really scream from your rig. Literally. These slugs have been shown to make a real noticeable sound going down range when moving fast!

RJ,

Those are great numbers! You might want to try the 345 HP again, it’s the only one without a curve but I bet that’s just from limited shots so far. You could settle on any of those slugs based on the numbers so far. Does one of them fly better than the rest or have you just done chrony work so far?

BTW, I’m not trying to make you feel bad about your purchase. If you use the gun just as intended and don’t try to overdrive it, I expect it will be just fine. I really had no idea there had been any mishaps a year ago…I guess I slept through that or old age has stolen that memory. Since you knew and bought anyway, you are clearly satisfied that any serious issue has been resolved. Also, because of this thread and/or the post on the yellow, you are a little bit better informed should anything make you think the gun has changed in performance.

You didn’t get hurt on that gun, even if it does need work. But at that PSI I think I’d leave it alone 😀
I was going to buy a JH rifle but they never sent me back an email so i passed on it.
Now I have the only big Boar I need 308 and I just got the sabots for it I’m going to try some hollow points from my reloading bench. 😀

I’m not downing Jacks guns at all. I really like the looks of them and mine does shoot well….

They are a bit rough on the inside though… could use a bit of refinement for sure. The first time I tore down my .32, I was shocked… worked fine, but I dont see how. Still, a bit of clean up and she is doing just fine.

Those are some good numbers for sure!