Is Benjamin too late to the party coming out with a .257 Bulldog?
- Thread starter MileHighAirGunner
- Start date
They also updated the .357 model... saying that it will now produce "300fpe" and shoot 1135fps! Which in my opinion will be too fast to be shooting the 81 grain JSB (which the current Bulldog loves around 950fps).
So the new .357 will have enough power to meet 215fpe Texas hunting Minimum power requirement, and now that it makes 300fpe from the factory and has a larger air tube... just like the Tuners have been adding, ie Pitbull airguns, Veradium, etc.
Crosman knows what they are doing... they let the Tuners R&D all these years, then just copied what they where doing, basically making those people obsolete. Airforce did the same thing with their Condor SS rifle and Talon SS silencer kit, just copied what the aftermarket was doing. Smart
So the new .357 will have enough power to meet 215fpe Texas hunting Minimum power requirement, and now that it makes 300fpe from the factory and has a larger air tube... just like the Tuners have been adding, ie Pitbull airguns, Veradium, etc.
Crosman knows what they are doing... they let the Tuners R&D all these years, then just copied what they where doing, basically making those people obsolete. Airforce did the same thing with their Condor SS rifle and Talon SS silencer kit, just copied what the aftermarket was doing. Smart
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Although is not a beautiful gun .. I really like how it holds and handles . So much that as soon I found one at the price I sold mine I buy it and send it directly to veradium for a 308 conversion.. and when another comes my way..will certainly have one made in .257 only for the 257-420.
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I don't think there to late to the game it's nice to see other manufacturers building 257 cal airguns
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I just hope that they .. Benjamin brand . have been reading all long this years about the 257 .. and design the gun around the 257-420 and make the lathe accordingly..and not end with a lathe to shoot 120gr that will make the rifle useless.. is not a miracle that the 357 bulldog performance is better in the 145gr and up . Is because the lathe is to deep.. making most light and short bullets inaccurate..
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I am looking forward to it. I like the idea of a bullpup repeater that is around .22 powder burner energy.
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@WarriorPoet I thought something similar. See posts #7 & #8 here. https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/magnum-m357-bulldog.1285973/
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This rifle makes my Pulsar look good and that is hard to do
Fashionably late to the party is always best. The rifles check A LOT of boxes for hunting. The .357 looks promising. What tuner breaths on these for the best results?
Fashionably late to the party is always best. The rifles check A LOT of boxes for hunting. The .357 looks promising. What tuner breaths on these for the best results?
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When is the 257 Bulldog going to be available? I figured all the YouTube content makers would be getting .257 Bulldogs to review!!!!!!! I.hope pretty soon.....Excited to see what velocity the .257 will shoot a 70 grain slug,,I'm hoping 1000 fps
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It takes a lot of air to do that....even with my 36" TJ's 25-20 barrel, 150fpe burns a ton of air....I was never happy with having to shoot tethered or refilling after every 5 shot group. Recently switched to a 700mm STX Superior Heavy. Initial results are promising. With an OEM tube configured for ~60cc of plenum, regulated at 2000psi it will do 15 shots of MP Molds 48gr 6.35 airgun bullets at 930fps. So far nothing but a few shots into the mulch trap. Hopefully it shoots straight, lol...When is the 257 Bulldog going to be available? I figured all the YouTube content makers would be getting .257 Bulldogs to review!!!!!!! I.hope pretty soon.....Excited to see what velocity the .257 will shoot a 70 grain slug,,I'm hoping 1000 fps
Considering the Bulldog's relatively small res when compared to bottled guns, it is much better suited to .250 bullets in the 40-50gr range, if you want a decent shot count and range-appropriate ES....IMO... If you only expect 3-5 shots of 150-170fpe at acceptable ES, that is likely within reason for the OEM .257 Bulldog.
It will be interesting to see where the numbers fall, once production guns are in shooters' hands.
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I'm used to tethering to a external regulator now for my Texan and Airsaber.... So I'd be happy with two good shots without being tethered..Yep I'm that guy...I like the unregulated big power....90 percent of my shooting allows me to tether to my scba tank and regulator... My big Texan has all kids vibrations with all that power.. I'm hoping Bulldog 257 a good compromise with power accuracy and much more compact package than a Texan.... I'm optimistic excited for the .257 Bulldog...
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Has anyone gotten their hands on one of these yet?
I am still enjoying my home grown regulated .250 Bulldog... 20 shots of Altaros ATP Smooths at 850fps, per fill, 1800 reg setting. 700mm STX Superior Heavy liner.
Here is a cherry-picked 100 yard target from last Saturday morning. Shot the center group first, after topping off to 3000psi, no shots burned. First shot after the fill was first shot of the center group. Decided to call it quits while I was ahead after the lower left group.
I am still enjoying my home grown regulated .250 Bulldog... 20 shots of Altaros ATP Smooths at 850fps, per fill, 1800 reg setting. 700mm STX Superior Heavy liner.
Here is a cherry-picked 100 yard target from last Saturday morning. Shot the center group first, after topping off to 3000psi, no shots burned. First shot after the fill was first shot of the center group. Decided to call it quits while I was ahead after the lower left group.
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I'm wondering if I can buy barrel and probe to fit my OG Bulldog, swapping barrels once you get all the parts is easy, a bit more for the probe.
I agree that 150fpe is going to be a small shot count. The 457 is only 3 shots and the 357Magnum looks like 4 to 5.
All of these could use an optional 4500psi tube and regulator to 2800 or a little more. I get about 12 regulated shots in my OG with mods at up to about 210fpe with 155 grain or 180fpe with 130 grain.
I agree that 150fpe is going to be a small shot count. The 457 is only 3 shots and the 357Magnum looks like 4 to 5.
All of these could use an optional 4500psi tube and regulator to 2800 or a little more. I get about 12 regulated shots in my OG with mods at up to about 210fpe with 155 grain or 180fpe with 130 grain.
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I spent a bit of time with pitbull's long high pressure tube and the huma reg/plenum kit, in both .257 and .357. Results were very similar to what you described in .357. I do not have my notes in front of me, but I do recall the huma plenum being a bit wasteful of high pressure space consumed vs plenum created. In .257 it just was not practical to go regulated and 150fpe. Very few shots. For my higher energy 357, I just tune unregulated for 3 shots a little over 350fpe. You can get a 4th and 5th shot out of it, but velocities are down in the 800's. If tuning low-mid power I have a nice regulated 20 shot 160fpe tune.....
A tube combo I liked was using a 2024 OEM length tube and one of the pitbull extensions as the plenum, with the huma resting against the hpa side of the tube coupler. That yielded the most plenum while sacrificing thr least amount if hpa storage.
I may pop the 35" .257 barrel back in at some point to refresh my data a bit, there have been some learnings since I last tuned the .257.
Mike
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Yes, I agree that the pitbull tube could use a little more plenum. They cut the length short so it fit the rest of the rifle, a little more air is always welcome.
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Just for grins I did some unregulated testing today using a 2024T3 OEM length tube that can handle 3500psi fills. The gun was equipped with my smallbore valve, which has a .290 valve throat vs OEM .375 valve throat. This valve is optimized for a .25 or even a .22 slug shooter.
Using the 35" .257 barrel, a few test shots at varying pressures with 68gr MP molds hollowpoints went like this: 3500PSI, a little over 1100fps; 3000psi 1050fps; 2500psi 970fps.
Switching back to the STX Superior Heavy 700mm, I found a 3 shot tune of Altaros King's weighing 66.5gr---1030, 1039, 1018fps. 3500psi down to 3000psi.
These were just quick tunes obtained by dialing hammer spring up and down. No tweaks of striker protrusion, different springs, etc. The fact that the tunes were so close at 3000psi tells me there is a bit of meat left on the bone for the .257 tune. Likely needs a bit more hammer weight to increase dwell at higher pressures.
I know this data does not directly map over to an OEM .257, but at least it is some data. Currently we have zero data on the OEM .257.....
Using the 35" .257 barrel, a few test shots at varying pressures with 68gr MP molds hollowpoints went like this: 3500PSI, a little over 1100fps; 3000psi 1050fps; 2500psi 970fps.
Switching back to the STX Superior Heavy 700mm, I found a 3 shot tune of Altaros King's weighing 66.5gr---1030, 1039, 1018fps. 3500psi down to 3000psi.
These were just quick tunes obtained by dialing hammer spring up and down. No tweaks of striker protrusion, different springs, etc. The fact that the tunes were so close at 3000psi tells me there is a bit of meat left on the bone for the .257 tune. Likely needs a bit more hammer weight to increase dwell at higher pressures.
I know this data does not directly map over to an OEM .257, but at least it is some data. Currently we have zero data on the OEM .257.....
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The .257 Bulldog is still coming. We are waiting on barrels. We hope to have them in the next month or so. Then all the velocity and accuracy testing can take place.
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Are you considering caliber swapping kits for the "generation 2" platform and maybe the "generation 1" platform? For 357 --> 257 I would think barrel, probe, and magazine would be the only things needed. Maybe add the barrel supports to make the swap easier. If the price was decent, I would be interested in a 257 kit, not sure I have enough plenum in my Pitbull regulated tube for the 457.
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Greg - We are not going to offer caliber swaps for the current Bulldog. Trigger pack pins need to be pressed out of the receiver to swap the bolt. This is not something we recommend doing.
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