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Homebuilt airguns

Build your own, or polish a factory gun with new kits and possibly new stock.. it’s not the same as building a gun from the ground up. Figuring out the stroke and weights and spring rates for dedicated power platforms.

I do build my own break barrels.. I usually make my own pistons and internals. I scalvage as much factory parts as I can . Front forks. And cocking linkages. I make tubes and sleeve down factory guns that are poor shooters. Custom stocks. There are few if any gun builders in the air rifle industry. There are a few who strip factory guns slap a new springs in and call it custom .. not so…

Mainly because it’s expensive to do and very few people want to invest in Hand built break barrels with grade 3 and up stocks and pay for labor to have it done.
Since Venom went away it’s been a dead art..
 
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I would like to know if there is a place on this forum dedicated for people who build their own airguns ?

Thanks
Maybe 'this' is the thread? Can you expand on you definition of Homebuilt? What about a pumper turned PCP with every part on it remade or modified? Or, should it be designed and machined from raw stock within the home shop? Or can you design it and have others build the parts and you assemble? Whatever the qualifications, I wanna check out the Homebuilt stuff too!
 
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It certainly will be a PCP ; there are some parts I could"nt make at home : barrel , maybe regulator . I have the idea to better the air flow coming from the plenum chamber to the barrel port. In most PCP it's a sharp elbow , two channels drilled at 90° , for ease of machining. I wonder it it would be possible to "blow" the air directly behind the pellet ; I think Edgun did it on the Leshiy .
I have the tools to do the machining , lathe , milling machine , and some special gunsmithing tools.....but I know It 's a hard job with no guarantee to success ;)

Thanks for the link !
 
Maybe 'this' is the thread? Can you expand on you definition of Homebuilt? What about a pumper turned PCP with every part on it remade or modified? Or, should it be designed and machined from raw stock within the home shop? Or can you design it and have others build the parts and you assemble? Whatever the qualifications, I wanna check out the Homebuilt stuff too!
I second this! Maybe we make this the home build section. I’ve always been interested on making/ converting air rifles and there’s little to no help elsewhere for someone who’s new to the concept.
 
It certainly will be a PCP ; there are some parts I could"nt make at home : barrel , maybe regulator . I have the idea to better the air flow coming from the plenum chamber to the barrel port. In most PCP it's a sharp elbow , two channels drilled at 90° , for ease of machining. I wonder it it would be possible to "blow" the air directly behind the pellet ; I think Edgun did it on the Leshiy .
I have the tools to do the machining , lathe , milling machine , and some special gunsmithing tools.....but I know It 's a hard job with no guarantee to success ;)

Thanks for the link !
Sounds like you have the knowledge and equipment to give it a try! After the the guns you have owned, this might sound funny, but have you considered starting with a platform like the 22xx or the SPA line? Definitely not as glamorous as a Kalibrgun. There is a lot of knowledge that can be gained by tinkering with them, there are 1000's of posts (some by very respected enthusiasts) explaining most any process and mod you can think of. I honestly think that a lot of the airgun magic that is here now is a direct result of the R&D done by very smart hobbiests and archived in forum posts spanning the last dozen years or so. My first 'PCP' was my childhood 1377 pumper. I didn't have any machine tools at the time. I did have normal wood working tools and a drill press. Not even sure how I got the idea back in 2010. Had to be a random search that lead me to guys messing with HPA conversions. Glad I went down the rabbit hole.
Here is a picture of my first Homebuilt gun. Not pretty or put together like most at the time. cobbled together with parts from the hydraulic supplier and paintball shop. There is no air tube. Just a #5 oring boss fitting and nipple screwed directly onto the back of the valve. started out as a .177 I think it has a 2260 barrel on it now and shoots just over 900fps making about 25ft/lbs. with14g. It doesn't come out of the closet much anymore, but it has taken more ground squirrels than all the other airguns I own combined. I hope you are able to build something, there is a lot satisfaction gained through the process.
first pcp.jpg
 
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Nice work ! Yes , it's always rewarding to build things of your own , airguns included . I don't want to start from zero , probably modify some existing parts . As I stated , my idea would be to improve air flow to the pellet. I didn't even make some drawings , just thought of some chanes. But it makes it's way in my head so.....back to the drawing board and see what could be done . Airguns are more complicated to build than firearms due to air tanks , reg , valve ....lot of p seals.
 
🤔now I'm down in this rabbit hole and thinking any of these would make any slinger "custom"?
Painting/dipping?
Changing any OEM part to aanything else?
Adjusting triggers?
Aligning sights/scope to current owner?
Adding any optic that isn't stock?
Adding or chopping anything off?
Felt strips and whatnot for comfort?
Sanding down sharp edges?
then what about modifications to add ons?🤯
🤷‍♂️🤪🤙
🤔🤣just thinking
 
As for building the direct valve idea without a hammer, I was just talking with my buddy the other day and looking at the Edgun Leshiy 2 diagrams, it's pretty interesting how they built it.

You could probably look at those pics on Google and get an idea. Make some and we can test them for you... I'll buy the pellets!
 
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As for building the direct valve idea without a hammer, I was just talking with my buddy the other day and looking at the Edgun Leshiy 2 diagrams, it's pretty interesting how they built it.

You could probably look at those pics on Google and get an idea. Make some and we can test them for you... I'll buy the pellets!
I have some extra tins of plinking ammo for that cause🤪🤙
 
I have some extra tins of plinking ammo for that cause🤪🤙
If they can make a similar design and just use some TJ barrel blanks or lothar barrels, and drive down the absurd cost for some of these guns, it would sell very well I'd think. I just do get the $2500+++ price tags of some of these guns. I know theyre bad ass and new cool stuff, but seriously it's insane.
 
I’ve built quite a few trying different valve designs. My avatar is a home build where the main poppet sits directly behind the slug. The main poppet is controlled by a much smaller pilot poppet struck by a hammer that requires around 5lbs to cock. It has been tested (quite a bit) with 4500psi and functions as designed.

Obviously it is inspired by the L2 (in many ways).

And a couple others (not quite as finished).

I too wish there were a dedicated place here for the home builder/designers.

Dave
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