AEA Challenger .357 / 9mm

[Greg_E]

What diameter slugs do they like the best? I am going to buy a lee mold to cast slugs for mine.

It depends on the model and maybe even revision. Some like 356, some like 357. Make sure you know which magazine you have, some are short and maximum is around the Lee 102 grain, some are longer and will take up to around 3/4 inch long ammo. I know people with both. The Lee 356-102-1R and 356-95-RF should both work in the short magazine. Both of these will probably drop .3565 with pure lead unless you heat the lead to around 750-800 degrees, then you might get .357. Either way you should have sizing equipment to squeeze them down to desired size. You'll want to lube or powder coat to keep some of the lead out of the barrel. You'll need to research lube, I don't have a recommendation yet, trying something new to me and not sure it is what we need. Powder coat works well and not too hard to get going.

 

[Firewalker]

What diameter slugs do they like the best? I am going to buy a lee mold to cast slugs for mine.

Good question! I juts got my .357 yesterday and took my first shots today, I tried to chamber a .358, that was a no-go, I sized it to .356 and it chambered nicely and the Lee 358-105-SWC was stacking at 30 & 50 yards, I hit steel at 100 yards but need to put them on paper to see what the group size is like.

I'm trying the LEE TL356-124-TC next, powder coated of course.

I am loading one by one, too long for the magazine but will break out the LEE TL356-95-RF for magazines and see how that one shoots.

 

[Trgt_acqd]

I just bought one of these ,.. it shipped out today ... they look to be a power house right out of the box .... Sig shooter on youtube told me it's shooting 125 g slug = 900fps 3600 psi jsb 81g 1000 fps or more ... it cost 500 bucks comes with 1 mag plus fill probe .... I own 2 xp air guns ... ranger .45 36inch barrel ,and the badger .40 so it will be interesting to see how this AEA challenger does compared to my XP air guns ..... happy shooting ... Dan H

accuracy testing ...

Congrats. I want to get the 457 soon.

 

[Firewalker]

Congrats. I want to get the 457 soon.

I stopped at .357 since I want a five shot string.

 

[robdunsing]

Im so excited I also just bought one today and a .356 125 grain slug mould! Yay!

 

[scdaf]

How loud is this compared to a .22lr?

 

[THE_LAST_WORD]

say this is 2022 and in july i bought the newest generation of the .357 challenger . mine is a standard big bore w/side leaver. they did not have these when you started your thread. the regulator kit does not work on these(assuming another kit is being designed). but really you should get this model its even more powerful than the big9 and fits 175gr easy in the mag and ive fit 200gr in the breach but it will take heavier.

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

Before I have another gun shipped I will tell them NO FEDEX SHIPPING ! 2nd day of having to stay at my house for pick up because they required the adult signature , and of course they don't deliver when they say they are ,JUST GREAT ! , so I just got off the phone with FEDEX and again they are not shipping my gun today I guess ? tomorrow will be day three they are holding it at their hub 1 hour away from me , so I guess tomorrow they will ship it to a location near me so I can pick it up in person ... after this anyone wants to sell me a gun NO FEDEX or NO SALE !



I might as well update on this post , so after FEDEX telling me my package was not put on the truck for delivery today , I get back from La fitness from working out , and look whats on my door ! YEP ! - a FEDEX delivery sticker notice on my front door telling me they made and attempt to deliver to my house ! { oh yeah ! } ,and that I have to be here ,and sign for it !

at this point I think Murphy's Law , and FEDEX have a lot in common LOL ! So I guess the shipping adventure goes on , with any luck I will pick it up tomorrow ...

yeah just never trust fed ex.

for me the postman is best its slow but will get there.

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

I picked up the gun yesterday , tested it out today shooting 20 shots - 2 air charges JSB 81 g - 980's first shot down to 880fps on the 10th shot , very accurate at 50 yards I like it... it's a cannon for sure ,....



one of the thing's I did not like was the hammer spring it is about the hardest spring to pull back that I have ever used , It is getting a bit better as far as stiction goes I used a little bit of synthetic grease on it in the probe bolt area and its helped to break it in it seems to be getting better ,and better ,..... I am hoping to get another poppet made out of peek and see if we can lower this hammer spring pressure down a bit would be nice , and I do recommend you use gloves cocking this gun easier on your skin ,,,

hmmmm mine new rare beast.
AEA .357 challenger standard big bore w/side leaver 212fpe with a 81gr jsb pellet 1085.5fps would be upto a 220gr lead at 820fps(thats the slowest my gun shoots that rd at first shot) for 322 and a half fpe (my airgun shoots better than these numbers for the most part 30fps higher on aberage).

it cost $609 without all the goodies like the emperor $240, utg 360 $73, extra 10 shot mag $35, slugs of various weight $200.

if you are looking for a new one the pellet shop had mine.

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

Man! I have been looking at the .357 bull pups, glad y’all are liking them so far. I may still have to order one.

dont know if you have gotten your .357 yet or not but if you are near dallas i have the standard .357 big bore model. and anyone comes by may shoot it. 17miles west of dallas

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

I just got one and the mag is 12mm deep, so it will shoot slugs up to around 110gn. The 95gn and 105gn fit right in. The breach is 20mm wide though so you can single load just about any .357 slug on the market.

This rifle is a beast, has quite a bit more power then the benji bulldog and accurate too, shoots slugs great once you find the one it likes, mine prefers .357's over the .356

It is built like a brick, the only complaint I have is that it is pretty loud, not backyard friendly at all, but nothing that can't be fixed with a good can.

the newest big bore model can put way hevier slugs in the mag, my standard version big bore can do 180 in the mag and ive put 220gr in the breach ,it might take bigger single shot. and the platform is more powerful, 140gr at 1000fps is normaland those 81 gr will fly faster than pellets should around 1200fps but my chrono only goes to 1100 so i have to use heavier slugs and no pellets at all.
and mine likes .356 better than .357 and at that power level i am a bit skeered to try .358 even in pure lead,

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

I think I have figured out a way to cock this gun a lot easier , use your thumb behind the receiver where the round part goes into the stock , at the same time pull the bolt back over the top with 2 fingers if possible.... this technic makes the probe shaft float more so there is no stiction or binding ,and allows the extra pushing force from your thumb to help as your fingers are pulling back ... better leverage with this technic makes it feel almost half as hard as doing it the other way ... hope this helps some of you guy's out , and it makes it more enjoyable to shoot your challenger .357 .....



If you are shooting JSB 81 g ,and shooting at around 1000 fps with 3600 psi .... run around 3000-3200 psi to start to slow the speed down below 930 fps this will give you more accurate results with pellets , slugs you just have to shoot , and see if you have a sweet spot in FPS that makes them accurate ,and a lot of the time the slugs like to get up 1000 fps ..... Dan H

yeah and if you use your elbow on the butt plate as you do that is is so easy you will smack yourself on the back of your head for not seeing it sooner.

 

[Aetheral-Sniper]

Hey, just got a .357 compact. 93 grain NSA are even more accurate at 50 than jsb 81. Right now I can only fill my gun to 3300psi, which is below the shot curve. Can anyone tell me at what point does this peak at it's shot-curve? Thanks in advance!

I think it is just above my 3300psi fill, but not sure.

hmmm the AEA challenger base model has a sweet spot between 3350psi -2350psi for most calibers, the big bore models have a sweet spot more near3600psi-3800psi to 2350psi and both challenger types will fill to 4500psi but if it were me 4100psi is where it stops valve locking so you are good from 4100psi -2300psi really which will net you plenty of good shots. the base .357 will range aprox 240-120fpe on average if your airgun does better , feel privleged.
the big bore model .357 ranges aprox from 380-212fpe depending on weight of slug.
like after the first 10 shots with the big bore you basically get another 10 shots at the power level the base challenger puts out. and then after that you get several decent but not full power shots , but i wont let my gun go under 700fps without refilling so thats all the info i have for ya