New Horizons — when your life gets enlarged to .30cal ⚫

[JungleShooter]

Through the kind cooperation of two AGN members () — I have been able to purchase a .30cal rifle.

And just now, as I realized how many browser windows I had opened — it occurred to me — WOW!
There are new horizons opening up when your life gets enlarged to .30cal

Since I now own a new caliber — and a large one at that — I have a whole new slew of actual reasons to shop for more gun stuff...! Cool!

➔ Well, these "actual reasons" might be called "legitimate rationalizations."
➔ OK, just "rationalizations" then.

These reasons, errr rationalizations allow me to shop not just for .30cal pellets, but for the following:
.30cal silencers (plural — got to test a few, right?),
.30cal-suitable scope,

.30cal-tough night vision scope,
.30cal-worthy range finding binocular,

.30cal coffee mug while I await the nightly garden thieves on four legs,
.30cal drinking cup while I await the the daily visits of thieves with wings,

.30cal gun case for vehicle transport,
.30cal truck to load the gun case into,
.30cal gun backpack to hike from the woods to which I drove the gun case,

.30cal..... (Don't worry, I'll think of something.)


Matthias



PS: I haven't found a solution for my wallet. — It's only
.177cal

 

[pnwairgunner]

Hahahahahahaha!

 

[Motorhead]

Yea all the fun and being impressed with the impact of a .30 goes away pretty quickly when you realize tins of pellets are 100 to 150 count and as if not more expensive per tin than .177 & .22
Love shooting my 2 PCP's in .30, tho dislike the cost of feeding them if shooting for grins & giggles as one does with the lessor calibers

 

[Gerry52]

Matthias, welcome aboard the .30 train! You never mentioned WHAT you got in .30cal. I'm curious. Hope you enjoy the experience. My .30 Boss is still my favorite. Let me know what you think. Glad I don't shoot paper much. I'm still working on the 5 tins of pellets I bought over a year ago.
Gerry

 

[pesty3782]

Gerry I went through a tin last week at Rio between 50-100 yards. 177, 22, 25 are cheaper, but when hunting Pdogs and ground squirrels the schwack of the 30 just puts a smile on your face.

Tony P

 

[Trucker3573]

Kind of on the other side. I have a .30 and while it is fun to shoot and bucks the wind the best I hardly shoot that gun. I am a pellet shooter and 30 cal is a big jump in price. Also, what in the woods will the 30 make all the difference in world over 34 gr .25? Not much that I can think of. Therefore, while a great gun it mainly just sits.

 

[Smok3y]

Congrats!
I have been considering getting another rifle and been thinking hard about .30 as well. When you keep seeing the best scores everywhere shot by .30, it make it easy to be drawn to it. I do remember hating how expensive they were when I had my Impact, even though it was amazingly accurate. With so much of my shooting at 50 and mostly under 100, I was happy when I found a great shooting 22, and the price of shooting dropped dramatically and I had no issues shooting 500 rounds per sitting. I do miss that. That being said, I have room at 100 or more, so I have been considering going longer distances with .30 or slugs. It has been hard to jump on it though.

I have gotten out of airguns for a while and went back to 22lr to save on all the equipment charges. I thought I would be happy as little as I have been able to shoot this year with a busy job. But the ammo cost and the pain in the neck of finding the right ammo is much worse than the expense of airgun equipment. Wish I hadn’t sold my 177 and 22 now! I understand why people have multiple rifles now. (Just hard to find time to shoot 1 much less 2-3.)

 

[cosmic]

Once you hear that 30 whack, you won't go back !!!

 

[shambozzie]

Oh but the grin when you connect with a crow/starling 200/250 with a jsb 44.7@ 20+ fpe. Raw hm1000x. 30 .

 

[Spinach]

I've tried the .30 calibre twice, first FX boss then with the RTI prophet, enjoyed both. Definitely a different PCP experience.
Eventually cost and spare cash played a role.
.30 ammo is expensive, especially for a plinking pensioner.
Kept the prophet .30 kit, just for the odd bash.
Enjoy all calibre's.

 

[Motorhead]

Yea the .30 .... as a Non hunter of any game where a .30 would shine, I'm left to play with the caliber for giggles shooting of which I've done a fair amount.
Taken ground squirrels numerous times in excess of 100 yards watching them literally fly from the FPE transfer during impact .. Satisfying no doubt.
Watched the impact on rocks & fracturing said rocks, Pest birds fall from there perches in pieces .. dang !!!
All in all very similar to a .22 RF w/o the noise during shot .. but the noise at impact NOT so much

 

[JungleShooter]

Matthias, welcome aboard the .30 train!

Well, thank you Gerry and you all for welcoming me to your little .30cal train or .30 club.

▪ It's been taken me years of meddling with .22cal.

▪ And it took a strong recommendation of one of those gun smiths / modder jacks whose parents must have given him a regulator meter, hex keys, and a chrono to play with while still being in his crib, no silly teddies and toy cars for Ghost. Straight to the good stuff: GUNS!!

➔ @mtnGhost was so kind to push me over the edge and skip the .25 to go straight to .30cal.
➔ If I will ever need anything tuned, modded, built... — I know now where to go. Ghost is top notch.

Matthias

 

[JungleShooter]

"Luego que pruebas ese calibre — lo demas te parecen un chiste."

That was what a buddy on a Peruvian chat wrote me.
After he first sold all his .22cal guns and pellets.
And then sold all his .25cal guns and pellets/ slugs.
He said about the .30 caliber — in English:
"After you try that caliber — the others will seem like a joke to you."


I guess, despite the difference in language and continent — your Peruvian brother in arms thinks just like you guys!
Just LOOK at what you wrote in a thread that's barely 12 posts short!:

177, 22, 25 are cheaper, but the schwack of the 30 just puts a smile on your face.
Tony P

Yea the .30.... Ground squirrels (100y+) watching them literally fly from the FPE transfer. Satisfying no doubt. | Pest birds fall from their perches in pieces... dang!!!

Once you hear that 30 whack, you won't go back!!!

Well, you guys certainly "sing in tune" — I have read scores and scores of similar comments by airgunners with large caliber guns, or extremely high powered slug shooters.


Keep up the good work — keep the pests down. Permanently.

Matthias

 

[JungleShooter]

Matthias, welcome aboard the .30 train! You never mentioned WHAT you got in .30cal. I'm curious. Hope you enjoy the experience.
Gerry

OK, here it is:

RTI ➧ Because it has an externally adjustable regulator (something that in my opinion should be standard at this stage of the PCP development for any 4-digit sticker price gun).
And RTI has only about a fourth of the o-rings that a common Swedish brand uses in their guns.
And RTI has a tough barrel/shroud — my harsh environment does not favor barrels that loose their POI after a few bumps.


Compact ➧ Because I don't think I will ever buy a long rifle — bullpups must have been invented just for me.
And the Compact version is 25.8'' SHORT! (65cm!). Yet with a 510mm (20'') barrel.
Capable of 100FPE in 30cal. A terrible tornado unleashed from a tiny package.


Prophet 2 ➧ Because I wanted the balanced valve in order to be abe to tune the gun either for a relatively quiet shot despite the large caliber. —
Or for a higher shot count despite the smallish airbottle and the large caliber.


A used gun ➧ Because that's what my budget can stomach.



There were several snags on the way:
I had been watching the classifieds for months, no joy.

Finally, I cobbled together a deal between 3 AGN members:
I'm doing a barrel swap as they gun came with .25 RPB.
Gents, after thinking it through, and after mtnGhost's comments (and now yours!!!) — I realized: .25cal isn't sufficiently different from .22cal to warrant a new gun and a new slew of projectiles, a new scope, the works.


I am very thankful that this is now in process. Hope all parties will keep to their part of the RTI bargain.

And in a couple of months I have a visitor coming from the US, who will be bringing me an early Christmas present in their suitcase....


➧ Tomorrow I have to get started on the process of humbly requesting from the Peruvian firearms authorities a permission to bring a bb gun into Peru.
Takes about 6 weeks — if they approve the request.
➧ Same pile of paper work for the scope I'm bringing.
➧ Same to bring a few tins of pellets in the suitcase (that are basically not available in the country). (Yupp, last time they confiscated them.)


And I can tell you — after these (fairly typical) ordeals it is just so much sweeter when I get to squeeze the trigger of that gun for the very first time!!!

Matthias

 

[JungleShooter]

Yea the .30 .... as a Non hunter of any game where a .30 would shine, I'm left to play with the caliber for giggles shooting of which I've done a fair amount.
Taken ground squirrels numerous times in excess of 100 yards watching them literally fly from the FPE transfer during impact .. Satisfying no doubt.
Watched the impact on rocks & fracturing said rocks, Pest birds fall from there perches in pieces .. dang !!!
All in all very similar to a .22 RF w/o the noise during shot .. but the noise at impact NOT so much

Scott,

I totally forgot — you are a gun smith as well!!

I saw your name on a list of very select few who have been entrusted to do assemly work of the Thomas rifles — that's TOP NOTCH what you're doing!



➧ I will write you a PM, I have some additional questions about projectiles and barrels.

Cheers,

Matthias

 

[adamworkinghard]

Yea all the fun and being impressed with the impact of a .30 goes away pretty quickly when you realize tins of pellets are 100 to 150 count and as if not more expensive per tin than .177 & .22
Love shooting my 2 PCP's in .30, tho dislike the cost of feeding them if shooting for grins & giggles as one does with the lessor calibers

yup i feel the same way. the cost of 0.30 cal.. makes it more compelling to look for another pcp in .22

 

[cosmic]

Get a mold and cast your own...

 

[Ezana4CE]

Get a mold and cast your own...

@JungleShooter I was just thinking this. Can you not swage or cast your own ammo there?

Yea, .30 ammo costs more, but if you can afford to buy it, send that lead down range.

 

[JungleShooter]

@JungleShooter I was just thinking this. Can you not swage or cast your own ammo there?

Yea, .30 ammo costs more, but if you can afford to buy it, send that lead down range.

I checked into swaging — and almost fell of my chair when I saw the prices.

Besides, I am patient with people like my students — I'm not patient with mechanical stuff — making slugs/pellets is tedious and immensely boring to my mind that needs excitement....!

And as one buddy here reminded me: To be completely without legal worries, I would have to apply with the local authorities for a ammunition production license.
Yeah.... — if you think that's a hassle to do in the US — just multiply that by 5 (since I'd be doing this in a country that loves, LOVES bureacracy and unnecessary paperwork).
For now, I shelved the idea.

Matthias