I figured I'd share my experience machining up a LW barrel blank to fit my BRK Ghost.
There are some good videos on youtube but not many that cover airgun barrels on hobby grade machines.
Starting point: BRK ghost .30 cal.
Objective: machine a .22 blank and the .22 probe.

First a few pics of my equipment for reference.
Lathe is a little machine shop Hi Torque 8.5x20
Mill is a Precision Matthews with DRO.


For barrels, I order 3 varieties from LW. A .177, .22, and .25. All 600mm long. All have standard rifling (they do offer polygonal), all with a 1/17 twist, and all choked.



First order of business is to take some measurements and make a plan. I ended up referencing the .30 BRK barrel and some FX smooth twist barrels also.



Since the bore centerline cant be assumed to be concentric with the barrel OD, I built a "spyder" for the front of the chuck and another for the output side of the spindle. This allowed me to indicate the barrel in on the bore axis. To start, I used an indicator on both the OD of the front and back of the barrel to get it close.



Next step was to use some "pin gauges" to make final adjustments to align with the bore center.



I made a mistake here. Since the barrel was .22 nominal and choked, I assumed the choked end was the end which had a "C" stamp on it from LW. The largest pin gauge that fit was .215" so I proceeded to cut the crown and muzzle threads. I didnt realize my mistake until I flipped the barrel around to machine the breech end and the .215 gauge pin didnt fit! Oh well. Lesson learned. I had to cut off just over 1/2" off (the breech/unchoked end) and start again.

For the benefit of those who arent familiar with the manual thread cutting process, I'll explain the steps to single point thread the muzzle.
I wanted to cut a 1/2" UNF 20TPI thread pattern. The first two things to determine are the Major diameter and the thread gutter depth.
The best way to do this is with the Machinery's Handbook.


The Major diameter I chose is the median between max & min specs (.494"). The gutter diameter is just a few thou smaller than the minor diameter. I used .437"
Below is a pic of the thread gutter cut to depth.



Next up is to reduce the OD to the major diameter.



Small chamfer added to aid in thread starting.



Since this is a hobby grade lathe, I had to change the gears which drive the lead screw to match 20TPI. This is done by referencing the chart on the machine.
The numbers apply to the tooth count on the gears. Diagram on bottom left shows gear position.



Here are the gears in place.



Onto the single point threading.



The engineering method to determine when the threads have reached correct depth is to measure them with "thread wires," but its a bit of a hassle.
I had a few different brands of LDCs on hand. I machined them until the fit was just a bit looser than "no play."



Next up is the crown. I experimented a bit here and tried 4 different ways. The objective is to make sure the pellet has a clean exit (no burrs) and to ensure the exit hole
is perfectly concentric with the bore centerline. I found a fantastic channel on the net called sub12airgunners. That guy is really impressive. The two methods he uses
are to either use a simple chamfer tool, or to use a die grinder cutoff disk rotating up and away from the center. Below is the cutoff disk method.

The result looked a bit rough. I did the Q-tip test to see if dragging it out would pull any cotton fibers (hooked on burr). It was clean.



Next, I tried the chamfer tool.



It was Ok but did have a few small burrs. Nothing that couldnt be fixed with a light polish but I ended up settling with a carbide 11deg cutter specifically for cutting crowns, then finished up with the dremel stone (similar configuration to the cutoff disk picture).




Muzzle done. Onto the breech end. First I chucked it up in the spider to cut the OD to match the factory Ghost barrel.
The surface finish was just OK. My cheap chinese carbide inserts are spec'd more for aluminum, so I used a green scotch-bright pad to cover up the evidence.
I think another factor was the "stick out." The barrel was held in a "spyder" in a chuck and still had a few inches of stick out. The super light cuts necessary generally arent well suited for carbide tooling.


Now that the OD of the breech end was concentric with the bore centerline, I removed the spider and re chucked in the 3 jaw. I double checked bore runout with an indicator and it was just .0003". I'll take that! Next step was to cut the leade. There isnt a lot of good information on how to do this on an airgun. On traditional firearm barrels, a specialized lead cutter/reamer is used. But since they arent compatible with the profile of an airgun breech, it was a manual process. Next step was the remove the rifling to just past where the transfer port hole would be milled.


You can see the rifling is perfectly centered in the bore. Proof the work was done on bore centerline.


Seems I've reached the picture limit for one post. I'll continue on in post 2 of 2 (same title).

Could have cost me my life the other day. Had a Vectis that was jammed due to me forgetting to tighten the hammer spring set screw. Finally got that fixed and ran a dowel rod thru my barrel; pushed out three pellets. Wow. So seeing the barrel was cleared I fired into the carpet inside the house. I failed to realize my dowel rod didn't go all the way through and this guy shot out, ricocheted 3-4 times and came to land on the work table next to me. Dang! My head/body could have been in that trajectory somewhere. There is a God. Thank you oh Lord for keeping me safe. A great reminder to never assume your barrel is clear and to fire them outside or in a safety barrel when possible. Keeping this as a good reminder for the future.

I saw a AEA SF series. I wanted to know if this is a decent airgun. I am retired, live in the county and like to shoot. I want to shoot targets off front porch and maybe some squirrel/small varmit hunting. I used to shoot a lot of targets with center-fire rifles and don't enjoy guns that aren't accurate or ones I cannot make accurate. I'm pretty good at tinkering and working on things so not afraid of needing to tweak. In your opinion would this be a good rifle to get it would get shot a lot.

This is NOT a laughing matter!
Beware of a laughing airgun enthusiast in your area:

Hey guys


Say I have been looking at getting another rifle for my son for some NRL22 shooting, for his birthday coming up. I was looking at a 22lr for him, but in my talking with people it would seem that powder and bullets may get hard to find again. So to avoid this and being as I have a ton of pellets and a compressor, ammo and air are not a worry. And being as I am not sure if he is going to be going forwards with the NRL22 with me, I don't want to drop a ton of money into a rifle for him. He is currently shooting an EdGun R5M .177 so he is no stranger at shooting airguns with me, just need something in a higher caliber.

So I was looking at the Armada due to its adjustability and semi light weight. That had me wondering how the accuracy and dependability of the rifle is. Shooting out to 100 yards will be a standards for the rifle. More than likely looking at either the 22 or a 25, but leaning more towards the 22 being as I have plenty of ammo.

So what do you guys think of the rifle over all OR is there another option that would be a good thought? I have been talking with a fellow member here about a Daystate Wolverine and that would be a killer rifle, I just don't want to have the stock or bottle to get scratched on the barricades.

So what do you guys think?

Hi Guys & Gals, been out of the game for awhile, but the fever never quite went away. I lost interest because I stopped hunting & Grandkids seem to replace it.
Anyway, I have a 2-part question:

1st, I don't really like bullpups, but love carbines, so;
Is there a way to turn a Vulcan (1st rendition) into a carbine; stock choices of course.
It's a wonderful rifle but not my bag. If the answer is no then I'm afraid it will have to go on the block.

2nd, whether I sell or keep, I want to get it re-sealed;
I would like to get in touch with Derrick Wall, but can't seem to get a callback on the number Charlie Frear gave me
Does he have a website or business name I should be looking for?

Thanx in advance

Hawke 8x32x56 scope. As new in the box as it came to me. All accessories included. This is too much scope for my tired old eyes. $500.00 shipped.

I'm Ricardo, 37 years old, I'm from the island of Terceira, in the Azores, Portugal! I have been practicing pistol shooting at 10 meters ISSF since November 2022 and in my first Match after a week of training I made 420 points!
I had since Christmas 2022 a FWB 103 with the dry fire broken, even so in June I was 3rd in the Sanjoaninas 2023 championship with 492 points, which was my record with the FWB 103!
this Christmas my brother who had already offered 103 to see if I liked it offered the FWB P44 that was his, I entered the district and went to the RegionalI which I was in the half table with 471 points because I barely knew the pistol!
She was officially mine for Christmas and I had a bad start to the season making 434 points in the first match because the sigth was very low and the trigger was also not as I liked!
Finally I was sad but I trained and trained and on 01/31/2024 I reached 503 points with her, and since then I have reached 502,511 and 516 at the club and several times between 500 and 516 at home!
The pistol was bought in 2011 and has a leak through the barrel that sometimes spills and others do not, I have already ordered the Orings kit but it is missing for the regulating valve that I am seeing if I find out what they are and I have even published it here in the forum... I have match on the 21st and I hope to be able to do it!
It is a pleasure to be part of this forum, I hope to be useful and learn a lot! Greetings to all!
Ricardo

F/X Wilidcat MK3 compact in excellent condition with custom Kuiu camo dip done by Utah Airguns. $1300 shipped includes WCmk3, 1 .22magazine, 2 .25magazines. 1 500mm .25 barrel and 600mm barrel. 1 .25 huma probe, 1 .22 Huma probe, fill probe and Black Arts barrel band. Trades welcome. Scope, rings, moderator, fx chrono and bipod not included but can be discussed. Any pics needed can be messaged upon request. Pic shown is 500mm .25.
Screenshot is current tune. Pretty efficient with 3 mags per fill.

The above review is for BuckRail. It's no secret that they have exceptional customer service. It's also no secret that stacked filament is not durable enough for prolonged field use.

There's a cheap and easy fix for that.

Order some industrial heat shrink of the correct size and install it over the moderator. Even thin heat shrink will greatly increase the durability. You can double it up if you feel the need.

I like to heat a baking sheet and roll the assembly on it to uniformly shrink the tube but you could still use a heat gun or micro torch etc.

This BuckRail tapered 1/2x20 has industrial 1.25" heat shrink over it.



I could throw it against a brick wall and it wouldn't break. Save yourself and Terry the hassle and put some over yours. I think it looks better this way too. Less like a "toy". It also slightly reduces the 'whispy' 'plasticky' ping from resonance that some of them have.

Thanks for reading. Make a great weekend.

I know...this looks crazy. And I don't mean to detract from the main thread...but how many optics is too many on a GK1?



Basically, I got too excited when I got the A3 stock yesterday and threw a riser red dot on...to discover I can use both if I want to! I will be truthful...I felt like a bad@$$ for 60 seconds shooting pistol style then flipping the stock out and using the red dot.

This morning I went back to 'normal' mode and flipped the stock piece around on the a3. The two optic gk1 may come back though......... #flameon

What does the "Importer" do, that the manufacturer and/or a dealer can not do?

Generally speaking, a maufacturer makes a product, sells the product to a variety of dealers, who sell the product to the consumer.

3 vital componets of the entire process, from manufacturing to end consumer.

But with airguns (and P.B.'s as well,) there is a middleman called the "IMPORTER".

What exactly is the purpose of this middle man or importer?

Wouldnt the manufacturer reduce overall cost, by selling their product directly to their dealers, and eliminating this middle man?

Help me understand the purpose of the importer!

.

New not used. I have three of these for sale.

Carbon Fiber and PETG baffles with resin printed endcaps. She's a looker.










Two shots with a 22 fpe Talon P .20 cal no moderator, then two shots same rifle same
pellet with the Ember and finally the sound of the pellet impacting on the target
backstop at 25 yards. The target is further from the microphone than the muzzle of the rifle.
Play this at half speed to hear it better.



35mm by 100mm / 1.38" by 3.94"
60 grams / 2.1 oz.
22 caliber
1/2 x 20 UNF stainless steel helicoil insert

Designed to run on rifles between 20 and 40 fpe but will run fine on more powerful guns.
This is the new "porous" baffle technology we have been discussing on the forum the last
six weeks or so.
Accuracy second to none.

This design has been repeatedly tested on a 70 fpe CONDOR.

$50.00 to your door, CONUS only. I will ship OCONUS but we will need to work out shipping.

PM @OldSpook with your email address. I will invoice you via PayPal.


**It is your responsibility to know and obey the laws in your jurisdiction**
**Marked "Airgun Only"**

Mike

In celebration of Presidents day, Im stepping away for the next week to enjoy the pursuits of life.

See y'all in a week!

Mod in excellent shape, 1/2×20 threads.

Willy Jeep; 630 HP This is a test video. Kind of cool, and teaching Nicholas how to post videos with a picture in them.

I recently set up a 25 Yd range outside in my backyard. It's 23 Yds from the window to the firepit and so I sit 2 Yds inside the comfort of my shop. It was dark and snowing tonight so I set up a Dewalt spotlight on my pellet trap. Nice evening of shooting!

Hey peoples how's everyone doing. I just got into PCPs about 3 weeks ago. I picked up a Gamo Arrow and it shoots great using Crosman Premier 14.3g .22 hollow points. I decided to grab an Avenger, DonyFL 1/2 20 UNF adapter/barrel stabilizer, Tanto moderator, Saber Tactical upgraded pic rails and a descent compressor. I finished putting it all together, filled her to about 3500 PSI and took it out. I'm shooting the same 14.3g Crosman hollow points I shoot from my break barrels and from my Gamo Arrow, and I can see the pellet start to spiral at about 20 yards. I'm only shooting to 50 at the most, 9 times out of 10. At 50 I'm having to hold down 2 mil in my scope and left 1mil. The pellets land right on top of each other, nearly. I tried dropping the regulator down to 1300 PSI and no preload tension on the HS to 1 1/2 turn in on the HS. Also, many 1/4 turns between. I couldn't get the velocity below 880. Do I need to run a heavier pellet to get rid of the spiraling. None of my other guns spiral at all that I can see and hold excellent groups. Sub MOA at 50 yards so 1/2" groups. If a heavier pellet is the answer does anyone have any recommendations? There are so many choices. Oh, to add, I clean my pellets, dry them well and lube them with REM Oil. A very thin coat, they aren't dripping wet with lubrication. I don't know, I've found cleaning and lubing like this works very well for me. Thanks

Because it is accurate and for some reason air guns love it.
Some people will tell you the pellet selection is hard to come by.
From what I see the .20 is less pellet picky than the other calibers; thus you do not need a wide range of pellet choices.
Yep, that is the beauty of the .20, non-fussy.
OK, choices are a great thing, make mine a .20

Yesterday I received my two Cometa air rifles and like them so much, and today I ordered a new tuned Cometa Fenix 400 Premier in .22 caliber from Keystone Airguns. Charles

Just for giggles, today after I got back from a Squirrel hunt I decided to see what my Talon P sounded like at 100 yards. The gun is running a moderator design I call the "Krait". The moderator is 40mm x 127mm and is for all practical purposes an enlarged "Ember" which we have had so much success with.

I expected I'd be able to show that the gun was almost undetectable at 100 yards. I got out the LASER and went next door to shoot thinking the yard there was 100 yards long but it wasn't it was 85 yards so I ran with that. A little math and I'd be able to talk about the noise level of the gun at 100 yards, or so I thought.

The gun is shooting JSB 15.89s at 800 fps. I tweaked the tune a bit yesterday and reduced the muzzle energy from 26 fpe to about 22 fpe. I noticed it quieted the gun some. Today when I was hunting I took a couple of practice shots and thought to myself, "Man! That is quiet. I wonder if something is wrong."

In Chairgun the time of flight works out to 357 ms at 85 yards. The temperature today was around 50 degrees F and I am at sea level so the speed of sound was real close to 1100 fps. It takes 232 ms for sound to travel 85 yards under those conditions. We can use this information to calculate that the sound of the shot should arrive at the target about 125 ms before the pellet does. So if we look at the time line we can identify the actual sound of the shot and calculate the power of that impulse.

Here is a shot being fired so that the pellet passes over the microphone and strikes a bush about 20 feet behind it. Play it at half speed.

You will notice that you do not hear the sound of the shot, just the zip of the pellet passing over the microphone.
I have reduced the speed to 25% in this next cut of the sample. You can just hear the sound of the shot at the beginning of the "zzziiiiippppp" sound. If you slow this cut to half speed you will be listening to the actual sound at 1/8th speed. You can clearly hear the shot but hey... ain't nobody gonna hear that unless they are listening for it with a "Big Ear".


Here is the graph of that sound from Audacity.

I would love to see a company ( preferably JSB ) come out with a heavy .25 pellet in the 38-40gr range and as a Wadcutter.

I know that Hollopoints are sexy, I know that slugs are sexy but unfortunately in the airgunning world the Meplat is completely overlooked
As a hunter I rather have a big Meplat then a Hollowpoint.

A nice heavy Wadcutter with a lot of the weight in the front ( maybe make it with narrow riding bands like the EunJin ) would really fill an empty spot in today's airgun world.

Attached are a few pics of some of the items that i got from the Air Venturi Giveaway. I just got the last of the things in and will post more pics and videos soon. Thanks again to all sponsor's that donated the great stuff, as well as Michael for putting the whole Giveaway together. We all look forward to future Giveaways. I feel that "this" is also a great reason that AirGun Nation requires "new" members to have so many posts in a given time period. Imagine how we would have ALL felt if someone just got on the forum to enter the Giveaways, and WON!!!! That wouldn't be fair to those of us that get on here dailey and contribute to the Sponsors and other people of "this" community.