RAW Rapid RAW HM1000X .25 or .30 cal

I own a .25 and a .30 HM1000X. .30 caliber is a great choice for you since you already own the .22, and no, .30 cal is not pushing the gun too much!

glr59 said:

I've become a big fan of shooting a gun within the parameters of it's design. I've spent way too much over the yrs experimenting with "upgrades." Which leads me to a caliber question. I have a .22 cal HM1000X and would like to toy with a larger caliber. This is for punching paper and accuracy out to 100yards, no hunting. Within the design of a stock HM1000x is it pushing the gun too far with a .30cal? Is the gun going to be happier running with .25cal ammo?

Thanks for the info
Jerry L.

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My experience so far (.25) has been there is no wrong answer when it comes to HM1000x.

I once had an HM1000x, pre-Air Force, in .30 cal. It was very accurate at 100 yards. I recommend shooting AEA or JSB 45 gr pellets at between 860 and 890 fps. No exotic tuning necessary. I think either caliber would be good, but if you're using it primarily for 100 yard shooting, I lean toward the .30 cal. The .25 would probably work too and would be more versatile for other kinds of shooting due to lower ammo cost.

glr59 said:

I've become a big fan of shooting a gun within the parameters of it's design. I've spent way too much over the yrs experimenting with "upgrades." Which leads me to a caliber question. I have a .22 cal HM1000X and would like to toy with a larger caliber. This is for punching paper and accuracy out to 100yards, no hunting. Within the design of a stock HM1000x is it pushing the gun too far with a .30cal? Is the gun going to be happier running with .25cal ammo?

Thanks for the info
Jerry L.

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Go with a 30cal, 25 is very close to what you already have.

I have a .22 HMX and would opt for a .30 if mainly for 100yds and further like said above . You could also add an external plenum to your .22 and sling heavy slugs for 100yds....

glr59 said:

I've become a big fan of shooting a gun within the parameters of it's design. I've spent way too much over the yrs experimenting with "upgrades." Which leads me to a caliber question. I have a .22 cal HM1000X and would like to toy with a larger caliber. This is for punching paper and accuracy out to 100yards, no hunting. Within the design of a stock HM1000x is it pushing the gun too far with a .30cal? Is the gun going to be happier running with .25cal ammo?

Thanks for the info
Jerry L.

Click to expand...

Jerry

I bought my RAW HM1000x .22 from SPAW in 2018/19 timeframe. I used it exclusively for 100Y BR Target shooting. Martin built it to spec with the Poly barrel to shoot the JSB 25.39g redesign pellets at 935 FPS.

In 2019-2021 time frame, GTA had a monthly 100y informal NUAH ( nothing under a hundred yards) target challenge, which I absolutely loved. I think I participated every month for about two years. The RAW shot consistently very well at my outdoor local range, and I had quite a few NUAH cards that were very solid. I had the random fliers and wind reading challenges, but I was interested in trying a .30 cal barrel to see if I could improve.

Sent it back to Martin and he put on a new .30 cal barrel and pellet probe. I shot the JSB 44.g and although it did well, I ultimately decided to go back to the .22 cal setup. I still have an almost new .30 cal barrel and probe keeping the gun safe warm.

If the AEA 51g and 45g were available at the time, I would have been more patient and practiced more with the .30 caliber. My sense is that you should try the barrel swap and give it a go with these two pellet choices. Quench your thirst.

Until I saw this post, I nearly forgot about having the .30 barrel in the safe. Was going to sell, but maybe I’ll hold off for a bit.

Tom

I have a pair of .30 HM1000X LRT’s with the plans of selling the one which was the least accurate. They both shoot extremely well and I still have both. The only drawback with .30’s is the cost of the ammo. I have a .25 RTI Mora and it too is equally as accurate at 100y BUT when the wind picks up, the .30 is slightly more predicable … at least for me.

glr59 said:

Tom

I've thought about the probe and barrel swap idea. Did internals have to be changed(springs) ? Did you have to increase reg pressure as well?
Funny thing about my .22. Martin sent it tuned to me for JSB 25.39 at 965fps. I've heard that is common. I've never been impressed, tried all the JSB 25.39 variants. Dropped the velocity still not impressed. Started reading about AEA and JTS pellets. After a few sessions I found the gun performs quite well at 100 yards with JTS 20.07gr pellets at about 980 fps. Go figure. I even tried the 25 gr JTS variant and it likes the 20 gr better. It likes the 18gr AEA pellets as well.

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To change calibers from .22 up to .30 usually only the regulator needs a little adjustment.

JSB Monster Redesigned pellets changed slightly about 4 years ago, and they no longer perform like they did. Martin was giving you the best information at the time. AEA and JTS pellets work well for now. I shoot the AEA 25.39 at 930fps and it is lights out.

So, I think the responses are endorsing .30 caliber for 100 yard target shooting. We are also seeing some very favorable ‘likes’ for AEA and JTS pellets.

Not sure if Martin did anything else with my swap other than adjust reg and HS from .22 to .30 cal for tuning purposes.

Where are you leaning Jerry?

I recently bought some Jts 45.06 grain pellets to try in my 30 calibers. I’ve been exclusively shooting the jsb 44.75 grain pellets. I was pleasantly surprised how accurate the Jts pellets were. They were much more accurate in my Skout epoch compact than the jsb,s. The Fx M3 didnt have as much of a noticeable change as the Skout did. Shooting was at 50 yards and then the wind came up before I could completely test them in the Fx.
I haven’t tried the Jts pellets in my raw yet. It’s a 22.

I plan to go 30 cal on my Hm1000x for 100 yard benchrest. I had a want add out last year for a barrel and probe so if anyone wants to sell let me know.

glr59 said:

Tom
After reading the responses here I think there may be a .30 in my future. Because of illness I haven't competed in awhile but long range FT has intrigued me for awhile. I purchased the HM1000x .22cal before I got sick with the intent of using it for long range FT(out to 100yds) But plans fell apart. I've recently been able to start shooting again and the results from the JSB pellets(Bad) surprised me as well as the JTS pellets(good) surprised me as well. I have to admit I'm very cpmpetitive and if I have a better chance at hitting a target out to 100yds with a .30cal vs a .22 I'm going in that direction. Plus slinging a piece of lead that big puts a smile on my face. (I'm still just a kid at heart)

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I have a very close first cousin who lives in Richmond, Va. Very nice area. I see Midlothian is about 20-25 miles from Richmond city. Hope you are feeling better and are on the mend Jerry.

If you can wait a couple of weeks, I will send you my very lightly used .30 cal barrel. It’s been in my safe for a few years and I need to find the pellet probe. Currently out of town. Please PM me with your address. Send PM to TommyB.

This way you can try it out at 100y with either/both the AEA 45g and 50.1g. You definitely will have to adjust the reg, and it would be well worth it to give Martin a call and see what he recommends. Alternatively, he can tune the .30 cal barrel and set it up for you himself. You would just need to send him the action only, no stock.

Ask Tim ( Igolfat8) what velocity his two RAW LRT 30’s like for these pellets. He is a competition BR shooter who has great experience.

Let’s stay in touch. I have great interest in following your journey at 100y.

Martin Rutterford, creator of all things RAW, at airguns-usa.com will sell you a barrel of any caliber with probe for about $350 which includes a CF sleeve and 1/2X20 muzzle adapter.

tommyb said:

I have a very close first cousin who lives in Richmond, Va. Very nice area. I see Midlothian is about 20-25 miles from Richmond city. Hope you are feeling better and are on the mend Jerry.

If you can wait a couple of weeks, I will send you my very lightly used .30 cal barrel. It’s been in my safe for a few years and I need to find the pellet probe. Currently out of town. Please PM me with your address. Send PM to TommyB.

This way you can try it out at 100y with either/both the AEA 45g and 50.1g. You definitely will have to adjust the reg, and it would be well worth it to give Martin a call and see what he recommends. Alternatively, he can tune the .30 cal barrel and set it up for you himself. You would just need to send him the action only, no stock.

Ask Tim ( Igolfat8) what velocity his two RAW LRT 30’s like for these pellets. He is a competition BR shooter who has great experience.

Let’s stay in touch. I have great interest in following your journey at 100y.

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One of my RAW .30’s likes 880 and the other one likes 920 with 45 grain JSB and AEA pellets. Neither like 50’s? Go figure???

.22, .25, .30 caliber RAWs have polygonal rifled barrels, and all the current ones are from LW. Traditionally, the .177 barrels have traditional rifling and are choked.