Are there any revolvers similar to the Ekol/Voltran Viper 550 out there?

[Triglav]

Greetings everyone,

I'm about to discuss an "air" revolver, that most of you've probably never heard of and by the way, I'm not making this up, this thing actually exists and it's awesome as it can be, it's like a true S&W classic, but miniaturised in terms of its caliber, to shoot airgun pellets instead of .357 or otherwise .44 slugs.

So, I have this pellet revolver, chambered in 6mm flobert/ .22 caliber, that's absolutely unlike any "air" pistol or revolver out there. Most "Air" pistols or as I've already stated, revolvers - I'm just going to refer to them as air pistols for the sake of complexity or there lack of, are either powered by air (in example: PCP pistols, such as certain Artemis PP series or the Marauder Silhouette) or otherwise by CO2 gas... This thing of mine is different however.

It uses those tiny, acorn shaped, 6mm flobert blanks as propellant, to launch .22 pellets of all kinds out of the barrel's muzzle and yes, you've read it right, it uses blank rimfire cartridges with powder in them to shoot pellets out of the gun and therefore falls under the category of airguns/alarm-signal guns by my country's law. My version has a 4.5 inch barrel and is chambered in .22 / shorty 6mm flobert blank as stated above, but there is also a .25 caliber variant out there and I'd love to get my hands on that piece someday, especially if it would have a 4.5" or even a 6" barrel; I don't particulary like snubnosed revolvers, because they're even a tad louder than those with longer barrels. To load the thing, I must first insert the pellets into each individual chamber through the front end of the cylinder and then the blanks into the chambers at the rear end of the cylinder, like you'd load a regular firearm revolver. It's got a 6 round cylinder capacity and the bore on this thing is not rifled, it's smooth, but with proper blanks - RWS makes the best, with cleanest powder, and projectiles/pellets, either COAL wadcutters or JSB Jumbo Express 5.51mm pellets, this thing shoots like a champ! The Crosman "Vigilante" / 357 can take a walk with its grooved barrel compared to this smooth-bored powder burner of mine. I own both guns and I can tell the difference, the Ekol is a tack driver at 10 meters, you'd be able to take out a dime at that distance. In terms of accuracy at 10 meters or so, I've had the best success so far with RWS/Geco blanks and JSB KnockOut slugs, which this thing absolutely loves and shoots with utter precision.



So now, that I've given you folks a general rundown on this thing, I'd like to know whether you're familiar with any similar revolvers to this thing, with perhaps any Colt SAA replicas, that function on a similar principle or perhaps any derringers as such?



- Triglav

 

[Bob-in-WV]

I remember reading about such guns in the past. I think Daisy even produced a similar rifle but here in the USA they were considered firearms and regulated as such.

 

[AirNGasman]

In the 1960s we used to make similar revolvers out of the best cap-pistols that used small, plastic, percussion-cap type caps, by drilling out the solid plastic barrel. We then inserted BBs into the spent plastic caps for projectiles to load in the front of the cylinders; just as you describe. They weren't accurate beyond spitting distances, but we had more fun than should be legal having gunfights with firearms! Much more exciting than the BB (air) pistols we used otherwise.

In young adulthood I experimented with .22 pellets powered by .22 blanks, but found the blanks burned extremely filthy. So gave up on that experiment (after the land-lady complained of "strange noises" coming from my house).

My favorite air-powered six-shooter 'fires' 18.1 grain .22 pellets at 705 FPS, and 14.3 grainers at 785 FPS. NOT recommended for adolescent gunfighting!-

 

12 shots at 50 yards below an American quarter.

 

Six consecutive six-shot groups at 25 yards. 

 

[Triglav]

It's a shame they were labelled as firearms, they could at least consider them to be alarm/ blank guns.

 

[Triglav]

Hey there,

Wow, hahah... you guys were crazy shooting each other with those cap-guns like that! As kids we wouldn't dare shoot one another with airsoft guns shooting plastic BBs with less than 2 Joules of muzzle energy, nevermind cap-guns, that are as you've already stated - kids' firearms! However, I didn't know you could use those plastic or otherwise semi-metal cap guns to shoot BBs; that was pretty smart of you to have figured it out.

By the way, outstanding groups with that PCP pistol or is it perhaps a CO2 powered piece? What is it anyway, I mean what model/manufacturer? Perhaps Brocock? I've never seen anything like it, although the action - especially the hammer, reminds me of the Evanixs' guns. Also, with which gun have you shot those pellets powered by .22 blanks? Perhaps with a converted under-lever/side-lever or something like that? Oh and you must've used really cheap blanks in those experiments of yours in order to claim, that they were so fouling and just dirty in general, but more on that later on...

Now, I'm sorry I didn't include any images of my Ekol Vipers' groups, here they are (note, that I took these shots after the barrel was already pretty fouled; between reloads I didn't even bother cleaning the bore and by the time I took these, I already fired some 50 rounds of S&B 6mm blanks + .22 COAL WPs through the revolver) :

All of the shooting was done off-hand.

... and this is the first shot I took with this revolver that day at a pellet box lid, distant some 20 yards away with a GECO 6mm blank and a JSB KnockOut Slug in .22 :

I was aiming at the painted on pellet graphic on the lid and I guess, I really wasn't that far off - by less than half an inch or so; Plus, the barrel was still very much clean and basically unfouled at the time I took this shot.

So yeah, the groups would've been better had I used better or otherwise cleaner blanks (Geco, RWS, Dynamit Nobel, Fiocchi or certain other brands too), although its not exactly all about the purity of the powder within the blanks, it's also about the exploitation of the powder, resulting in a higher power output. The above listed brands of blanks are really good, with pretty clean powder within them and of course, with good usage of it as well, but are on the other hand also more expensive - 100 rnds of S&B 6mm flobert blanks = min. 6 Euros ... 100 rnds of GECO/ RWS blanks = 16 EUR. And that's just how it is.