Kral Arms Bighorn .357 with 28" barrel

[thammer]

Added the barrel from a Benjamin Bulldog. Lots of inside work on the valve and ports.
Pushing the 145gr Nozler slugs at near 900fps. She's ready for a new shroud and will likely get a 700cc CF bottle to extend the shotcount and maybe squeak out a few more fpe.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Added the barrel from a Benjamin Bulldog. Lots of inside work on the valve and ports.
Pushing the 145gr Nozler slugs at near 900fps. She's ready for a new shroud and will likely get a 700cc CF bottle to extend the shotcount and maybe squeak out a few more fpe.
View attachment 558824

@thammer What’s your current shot count per fill with this build as is? At 880 fps, a 145 grain slug is producing about 249 FPE. That’s impressive.

 

[thammer]

@thammer What’s your current shot count per fill with this build as is?

It's a nice bell curve of about 6 shots 860 up to 890 back to 860 but that requires a slight overfill on the factory bottle so CF needs added either way.

 

[thammer]

The Kral design drop blocks really limit the airflow so the higher pressure is needed to off set that.

 

[Ezana4CE]

It's a nice bell curve of about 6 shots 860 up to 890 back to 860 but that requires a slight overfill on the factory bottle so CF needs added either way.

@thammer A 145 grain slug traveling 860 fps makes about 238 FPE. That‘s still a good amount of power. Is this a 3000 psi max fill pressure or 4500 psi? What’s the overall length of the rifle?

 

[thammer]

So that bottle is 3625psi/250 bar. It needs about 4100psi in that configuration to get the optimal shot string. With the shroud it will be just shy of 48" so she's rather long which is expected having a near 28" barrel on a rifle configuration.

 

[Ezana4CE]

So that bottle is 3625psi/250 bar. It needs about 4100psi in that configuration to get the optimal shot string. With the shroud it will be just shy of 48" so she's rather long which is expected having a near 28" barrel on a rifle configuration.

@thammer 48” is considerably long. What’s the weight? Does the rifle balance well? Do you think an airgunner/hunter would be shooting this build off-hand or is it better suited for benchrest shooting?

 

[thammer]

@thammer 48” is considerably long. What’s the weight? Does the rifle balance well? Do you think an airgunner/hunter would be shooting this build off-hand or is it better suited for benchrest shooting?

It's a hunting gun. However the shooter feels comfortable. I shoot it off sticks or brace against a tree or fence post typically when hunting. As is it's exactly 9lb. A CF bottle and shroud should keep it just a touch over 8lb plus scope.