XP airguns ranger 45 caliber 36inch barrel MONSTER !
I now have my new xp airguns ranger 45 caliber airgun , and i must say this is a MONSTER shooting gun . 😆 😆 😆 😆
So far i have tested out 454 round ball ,and 250 grain laser cast bullets .
during brake in so far the round ball is working better , dead on accurate shooting 3000 psi 1070 fps on low power , mid power 3800 psi 1150 fps working down 9 shots to 877 .
The laser cast 250 grain stuff , on mid power 987fps working down 9 shots to 720 ,
these numbers should improve by around 50 fps after break in according to Dan Mcvey .
this gun gets a lot of shots for a big bore , and with the long barrel the power stays up even at low pressures . 😉
some pics shooting this weekend.
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I did some shooting today , tested out RoachCreek-Charlie’s 45-425b bullets , the gun really liked them a lot 😆
I have to say the trigger on this gun is AWSOME 😉 😆 😆 on a few other threads we had a few members that decided to put Dan’s trigger down before they had ever shot this gun well i have shot it some 400 time’s now , and i can tell you it has shot / trigger pulled perfect , there is no inconsistent rough spots at all , it is just perfect butter smooth even until the gun goes off , it was like this new out of the box ! 😆 PERFECT ! 😆
I have never tried Kroil.
My mold I seasoned as I described, and put a little graphite on the sprue plate and top of the mold.
I can open the sprue plate with a gloved hand when at the correct temp, and the bullets fall out most of the time without any tapping with the rawhide mallet.
Watch the cut sprue, it will tell you if your opening it too soon, if it looks like it sheared solid metal your okay, if it starts to look like it is breaking you at the verge of too hot, if your getting lead smear on the bottom of the sprue plate your too hot. There should be some resistance to opening
the sprue plate.
I add lead to the pot when it gets too hot to cool it down and leave a cast bullet and sprue in the mold while the pot heats to temp again for casting.
Remember, any oil on that mold will result in wrinkled bullets for a long time.
Regards
Charlie those bullets look GREAT ! 😆 😆 good job man ! 😆 you got me all exited to do this ! 😆 i just know it will be worth it because we can make what we want , and need for these gun’s
re-edited post – i am still trying to get the shoebox to work again , got off the Phone with Tom K going to keep working on this thing, and try to get it going , as Tom is willing to help out with parts or new unit .
Dan,
I have never tried Kroil.
My mold I seasoned as I described, and put a little graphite on the sprue plate and top of the mold.
I can open the sprue plate with a gloved hand when at the correct temp, and the bullets fall out most of the time without any tapping with the rawhide mallet.
Watch the cut sprue, it will tell you if your opening it too soon, if it looks like it sheared solid metal your okay, if it starts to look like it is breaking you at the verge of too hot, if your getting lead smear on the bottom of the sprue plate your too hot. There should be some resistance to opening
the sprue plate.
I add lead to the pot when it gets too hot to cool it down and leave a cast bullet and sprue in the mold while the pot heats to temp again for casting.
Remember, any oil on that mold will result in wrinkled bullets for a long time.
Regards
There is a big learning curve while doing this.
Heat is a friend and a foe to casting. It is important to keep your lead the correct temp, but at the same time keep your mold from getting so hot that it cools too slow and you smear lead under the sprue plate. A casting thermometer is very important.
I like to cast with two or more molds personally when I cast, that way it allows me to sit one mold down and fill another, that change over time allows the mold to cool enough to open.
Aluminum heats fast, but cools fast also, it can be dificult to use and it damages easily, many aluminum mold makers recomend you lube the top of the mold and sprue plate, this must be done carefully to avoid wrinkled bullets,.
Iron molds heat up slower and also retain the heat longer, and they do not damage as easily.
Bronze molds I have never used so I can’t tell you.
So what does this all mean? Well for me, it means that I will probably have only one design of bullet per mold, and I choose aluminum, but I have done this for a while. For a beginner, I would get the iron mold, it is more forgiving, and I would get one for the heavy bullet design and one for the lighter design. Multiple cavity molds really put out the bullets, but the pour is more tedius to get a propper fill.
To avoid damage, open and close you molds slowly, remember they are hot and soft as a result, only use wood or a rawhide mallet on your sprue late, never use abrasive materials like steel wool to remove lead buildup, I like to either poor lead on lead buildup and let it bond and set up and the let the lead just fall off, or use a old towel to wipe it away while hot and soft.
Clean your new mold throughly with alcohol, and then smoke the cavity with a lighted match or bic lighter to put a layer of black soot on it, Your first casting session will yeild few good bullets, your just breaking the mold in. Ask Tom what he recommends for a new mold.
And remember, safty glasses, welders gloves and adequate ventalation.
So if I were you I would get two iron molds for now. 😆 Took me a long fucking time to say that.
Regards,
Roachcreek
thank you Charlie , 🙂 i bought a aluminum 454 round ball mold from Midway for the heck of it , but the accurate i think i will buy the iron ones like you say , now how hot do you get the lead for aluminum pure lead , and how hot for the iron , i heard they are a little different temps ,
i had a guy that cast a lot tell me to clean the mold then use kroil on the aluminum mold -soak it over night , then take a Q tip wipe it out then hit it with the lighter like you said , he said /claimed this works great , he said if they come out wrinkled that the temp would be to cool , if they turn out frosted that, that was caused by to much heat .
i got the shoebox test running again , i had another oring fail again this morning , so i took everything out of the cylinder cleaned it , then i sighted down the cylinder to see how the piston rod lined up , it was off a bit , i had to bend the plates that that the roller piece slides back and forth that holds the lower rod , to get it to alien right , cross my DAM FINGER’S ! this time it works for a while , god i hope ! 🙄
Dan,
There is a big learning curve while doing this.
Heat is a friend and a foe to casting. It is important to keep your lead the correct temp, but at the same time keep your mold from getting so hot that it cools too slow and you smear lead under the sprue plate. A casting thermometer is very important.
I like to cast with two or more molds personally when I cast, that way it allows me to sit one mold down and fill another, that change over time allows the mold to cool enough to open.
Aluminum heats fast, but cools fast also, it can be dificult to use and it damages easily, many aluminum mold makers recomend you lube the top of the mold and sprue plate, this must be done carefully to avoid wrinkled bullets,.
Iron molds heat up slower and also retain the heat longer, and they do not damage as easily.
Bronze molds I have never used so I can’t tell you.
So what does this all mean? Well for me, it means that I will probably have only one design of bullet per mold, and I choose aluminum, but I have done this for a while. For a beginner, I would get the iron mold, it is more forgiving, and I would get one for the heavy bullet design and one for the lighter design. Multiple cavity molds really put out the bullets, but the pour is more tedius to get a propper fill.
To avoid damage, open and close you molds slowly, remember they are hot and soft as a result, only use wood or a rawhide mallet on your sprue late, never use abrasive materials like steel wool to remove lead buildup, I like to either poor lead on lead buildup and let it bond and set up and the let the lead just fall off, or use a old towel to wipe it away while hot and soft.
Clean your new mold throughly with alcohol, and then smoke the cavity with a lighted match or bic lighter to put a layer of black soot on it, Your first casting session will yeild few good bullets, your just breaking the mold in. Ask Tom what he recommends for a new mold.
And remember, safty glasses, welders gloves and adequate ventalation.
So if I were you I would get two iron molds for now. 😆 Took me a long fucking time to say that.
Regards,
Roachcreek
I just rebuilt my replacment Shoebox yesterday for the 2nd time, the first one I had rebuilt maybe 5 times.
I have gotten to the point now that I do the lower cylinder first, it seems the inner o ring wants to break more often and cause the early shut off or no charging.
The first rebuild is intimidating, and then after you do it once you see how truely simple they are. But itis the nature of the machine that you have to rebuilt it, a lot.
This time it was shutting off early, all the orings were fine, the end of the upper cylinger check valve seal had a lot of depostis, so I guess that is what did it this time, but once cleaned and orings replaced and together again it runs like a champ.
I do have to moniter this one closely at shutoff time tho, this one will shut off at 3500 PSI, if I so very slightly adjust the shut off collar, it will go way past 4500 PSI, try to get it back down and it shuts off agian in the 3000+ range.
I shot today with my rifle tethered for the first time, wow, that is the way to go for range duty.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Charlie what material should i get my accurate mold made out of , i was thinking of having a 3 cavity mold made with your 1= 430 b and 2=145 small one that Marvin likes , all in the same mold , 15 bucks extra is what it cost ,
i just had to change my orings again this morning , on the shoebox it broke one last night ,
Dan, Tof,
I just rebuilt my replacment Shoebox yesterday for the 2nd time, the first one I had rebuilt maybe 5 times.
I have gotten to the point now that I do the lower cylinder first, it seems the inner o ring wants to break more often and cause the early shut off or no charging.
The first rebuild is intimidating, and then after you do it once you see how truely simple they are. But itis the nature of the machine that you have to rebuilt it, a lot.
This time it was shutting off early, all the orings were fine, the end of the upper cylinger check valve seal had a lot of depostis, so I guess that is what did it this time, but once cleaned and orings replaced and together again it runs like a champ.
I do have to moniter this one closely at shutoff time tho, this one will shut off at 3500 PSI, if I so very slightly adjust the shut off collar, it will go way past 4500 PSI, try to get it back down and it shuts off agian in the 3000+ range.
I shot today with my rifle tethered for the first time, wow, that is the way to go for range duty.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Nice. Guess at some point, i’m gonna have to rebuild mine. But for now……..
Just used mine for the SECOND fill from 3800-4500 PSI. Working smooth as ever………………..FOR NOW……..lol
i just got back in from working on the shoe box , for a long time !
i had to replace the piston rod i put new orings in the cylinder and the check valve then i had some problem it would shut off at 1700 psi ,
so i took it apart again , looked at a few things put it back together same problem ! Dam ! 😥
so i took it apart again cleaned the lower cylinder all out , and figured out that there was a small micro round perfect cut of one of the orings that had been used before keeping the check valve open i figured , ya that’s it … 😛
so now i put it back together for the 3rd time -well this time it passed 1700 psi running like a champ then at 2700 it started kicking back ready to shut off again , 😯
so i took it apart again replaced the check valve oring again thinking that the little micro piece of crap messed up the new check valve oring that i just put in , so i put it back together again , same problem 3000 psi shut off ! CRAP ! 😯 😈 🙄 🙁 🙁 😥 😳 😈
so….. you guessed it…. i took it apart again ! …..and replaced the orings in the cylinder AGAIN ! fired it up ! and it went past 3000 working good again !
it is charging up right now thank GOD ! 😯 😆 2 1/2 hours later ! 😯
Dan,
Larch mountain, that is funny, acrossed the river from you is another Larch mountain, and everybody goes up there to shoot too.
The mold is from Accurate Molds, now mine had trouble, he got some bad sprue plate screws and it bound up and scored the mold.
Tom the guy that owns the place apologised profusely, paid for the shipping fixed it and apologised again, I got it back yesterday, I was so very impressed by his fast and great service.
The mold is 46425B but order it for 452 diameter with what ever lead alloy you will use, I specified pure lead, so it will cast big with lighter alloys and I can size it down.
He is 3 weeks on turnaround. Mine is aluminum, but you can get brass and iron also, they use RCBS and Lee handles.
I also bought the LEE hand press, the one that does not bolt to a bench and a Lee die to size, marvalous little press.
I have some bullets from another maker, who will surprise you because us air gunners do not usually associate him with this kind of slug. I will be posting about soon, 345 HP’s and a mid weight Real* looking bullet, 214 I think and some more Devastator type HP’s. He sent three different diameters and they realy look good.
I bought my Regulator off of Ebay, I got it for 271 shipped, the big air gun boys sell it for close to 400 dollars. I bought it for the Booster, but I am going to make the fitings so I can take it off to regulate for a tether, but I fill to 4500 PSI, so for big slugs, straight from the bottle is fine for me, it is how I like my Stoly vodka also.
Regards,
Roachcreek
I like your shooting grounds with all your gear and targets out there.
NICE!!
And yes, that gun is big and powerful..DAYUM!!
T ….. thanks man 😆 i am really stocked about this gun ! 😆 😆
i was shooting about 20-25 minutes from my house up on larch MT Vancouver WA , up high on the mountain 100 feet from the snow line great view up there , i spent most the day Sunday up there shooting away !
i think tethering the gun to a 44cf tank is the way to go , you can shoot like hell ! and plus learn how the gun shoots better at all the different pressures ,
i just need to get a regulater now so i can regulate down 4500 psi , on that tank in the pic i started out tethered at 3400 psi shooting the gun on low power , on a tank i already used a 1100 psi off the top of , this is a good way to have some fun shooting a bunch with-out recharging the gun over and over , 😆
T… you got the shoebox now so you can do this also ! 😆
it’s nice to hang out with all you guy’s on here thanks for all your help .
DH
That thing is a monster, you have to be young and full of piss and vinegar just to lift that thing.
Mine is heavy enough the way it is at 28 inches.
Charlie
Charlie….. it is a bit heavy with the extra wide stock , perfect for target shooting , i am going to get and ultra light stock for it also , for hiking some time soon .
I am ordering all the lead casting stuff from midway , i made a list tonight ,
20 lbs melting pot
kroil for treating the mold
fluxing
dipper
round ball mold
80 lbs of lead
i am starting off with a round ball 454 mold cause i know this works real well , i was shooting a hole through a hole with 454 round ball ! 😆 i think it is the perfect plinking round HA ! HA ! …. really if you think about it you don’t use much lead making them
Charlie i like that bullet you made the 400+ grainer what company did you get that mold from ? how much $ for it ?
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Dan,
The picture did not come up, how did they do and at what speed?
Regards,
Roackcreek