What are you air gunners think of a 357 Western rattler are they really worth the money or do you have any experience with them just looking for opinion on them for as accuracy and and how reliable they are
357 Western rattler
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Western Airguns - All Things Western Rattler 357 & 45 - Master Thread
The Western Rattler in 357 & 45 caliber's master thread (inspired by @Ezana4CE) for the owner's and prospective owner's to compile, read, and search for good information on the Western Rattler big bore. Please contribute what information you have learned, read, videoed, or viewed down below...
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I was an early adopter back when the first .25 LCS SK19 came out. (Western predecessor) Loved that gun. Super accurate but leaked like a sieve. Sent it in several times to get the leaks fixed but they always came back. Finally had to sell it back to AOA. Bought the .30 LCS. That gun is a champ. Had one leak which AOA fixed and never any other issues. It takes squirrels at 50 yards all day with ZAN 56grain/ 845 fps. Bought the Western Rattler .357 right when it came out. If it sits for 6 months, it might need the tank topped off but no significant leaks ever. These guns are extremely reliable, very accurate, and super powerful. I've never had a jam with any of them. That being said, they all have one type and size of ammo that they like. If you give them what they want, you'll put rounds through the same hole at fifty yards all day. Otherwise, your groups will get larger. For my Western .357, it likes NSA 142gr which average about 845fps. It's a little louder but not bad. It's also heavy. AOA claims the high arc hunter 174 are the best rounds for this gun but I had much larger groups with those. I think it varies from rifle to rifle. I highly recommend these rifles. Just be prepared to do your own testing to find the round your specific gun likes.
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Thanks for the tips. I just picked up one of these in .357 and was looking for some ammo suggestions to start with.
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I, as many on the forum was was also an LCS early adopter before all the Western drama. I found the LCS to function fantastic, design was great, scope above bore distance - TERRIBLE, accuracy was below average and unacceptable even for hunting standards. Never used the full auto. Semi auto was very useful as you can imagine for larger game. Concept was and still is spot on. The accuracy as so poor even with pellet sorting and careful tuning that I will not get another Western/LCS Airgun. I debated on the .357 in my head, but ultimately decided against it based on accuracy experience with brand and scope placement design on Airgun.
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@CoyoteGod In your LCS were you shooting only pellets, slugs, or both? Which caliber were you shooting?
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Try a few slug weights from Nielson Specialty Ammo. And try the high arc hunter 178 gr. Just get a single box of each until you find out what it likes. JSB 81 gr pellets for plinking fun.
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I should clarify that my Rattler shoots 81 grain Diabolo pellets like crap beyond about 25 yards. Within 25 I can hammer something with a 81 grain pellet.
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Thanks, just took a look at nsa and i see i have some testing to do! Did you find the slugs in .357 fitting well in the rattler or did you find .356 or .358 a better fit?
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I tried the 125gr and 142gr nsa slugs this past week but there must be something up with my rattler. It was only sending the 125gr slugs downrange at around 700-710fps. When I tried to increase the regulator pressure I was met with a bunch of air dumping after each shot. Thinking I brought it up too far I turned it down 10ish clicks but the same extremely low shot count and poor performance beyond 50y. I ran out of time but I'm going to have to do some digging next time I can take it out.
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