Review of the AmericanAirArms .357 Slayer BullPup

[Nomadic Pirate]

WOW !!!!! 

I could really just stop there 

The gun just screams Quality and great R/D, love the minimalistic approach, the gun is Lightweight and has great ergonomics and balance. 

Love the 1911 Grip, the trigger blade, the safety and the adjustable butt pad. 

The sidelever is sharp and light with a quick short precise motion. 

the trigger scared me 

 way to light for what I'm used too but I'm sure most people will love it, It breaks very, very nicely. 

Ihe Pup is incredibly quiet for a nearly 300 FPE gun ( when this gun comes out in the regulated Small bore versions it will be a really, really quiet gun ) 

The design aloud to get the scope pretty close to the bore, not being able to do that is in my opinion the big downfall in the BullPups. 

The Magazine is en route, but I took a few shots by Handloading, the recoil is nice and sharp so is the shot cycle. 

 

 

 

 




There's been enough independent reviewers shooting this gun that we already have lots of data on power and accuracy, the gun was sent to me with a bunch of ammo that is known to be accurate, ...but I'll concentrate in testing other rounds. 

I'll be doing the initial testing with a 160gr Matt's bullet a 140gr Matt's bullet and a 101gr Aero Magnum bullet 

 

 

 


If that 160gr prove hunting worthy ( I shot 5 round today and initially it looks good ) I'll do a chrono string on it to see where the fps, FPE is. 

also I bought one of those MrodAir 5000 psi pumps for this review, so I'll review that pump alongside ( used it already and so far looks real good ) 

 

 


My main review will be about Hunting this gun and how it performs in the field 


here some pictures of the gun held by a 5'7" 155# guy 

 

 

 

 



I'm sure I forgot a lot , if you have any questions,...Bombs away !! 

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[blackdiesel]

Looks more like a tactical gun than a bullpup. Can't wait to see hunting results.

 

[ajshoots]

Congrats Manny!! Glad to see you get the opportunity to wring out the Slayer!! A truely highend quality big bore!!

 

[30cal]

Very cool gun! I am waiting to see the High Power Rifle. More my style. But that is a bad ass looking BP. I like how they design all the calibers to shoot at 950 fps. I have often wonderd why manufacturers don't do this. I assume it's because it is less expensive to produce one power plant and just let velocities fall where they may for the different calibers. Seem like AAA goes to the trouble to design dedicated systems for each caliber to maintain optimum velocity for each size. Very cool!

 

[Lawndart]

Looking good, that is the rifle of course! Now go kill us a pig, pleeaassee. Thx

 

[Michael]

Damn your hair is getting long again!

Back to the airgun... Man these are exciting times! I'm happy to see other builders pushing the limits of design and possibilities. I've been to his website several times and the Slayer sure looks like it will be "slaying" a lot of the competition.

 

[Rodentor]

Wow is right!
The Slayer would have been my top pick for a bullpup, but I'm a hand pumper and 66 years old. It would take me a month to sight a .357 in, in the shape I'm in.
I can't imagine how you can continually pump to 300 bar with your body type. My belly helps me pump.
Looking forward to your Slayer and pump reviews...

 

[Nomadic Pirate]

The gun fills to 3600 psi, so it's actually not bad to pump it up, .....however, for once I wish I had a 4500 psi tank

 

[linsfreak]

WOWZA!

 

[Nomadic Pirate]

Wanted to wait for the Magazine but I was shooting my Rainstorm today so of course I had to mess with the Slayer too 

 

Shot the 101gr AirMunition and wasn't all that good, did some more shooting with the 160gr Matt's and they are looking real good, if the fit the mag they'll be my Hunting round for the 1st hunt, than I'll try the 140gr Wide cutters.


There's one thing I'm not to fond in this gun,
....I'm sure Tom had his reason to design it like this, but I would rather have a barrel band at the end of the reservoir, I can see and hear the tube and shroud touching as I handle the gun ( I'm handling the Pup like I would do in a hunting situation where you can't just baby them all the time )


The bolt design is Sliiick, ( Tom chime in about that please ) never seen something like that before,...that's cool.

Still amazed about that lever action, so precise, light, short, sharp,.....excellent.

 

[Nomadic Pirate]

As for the Pump,

...She's working remarkably well, takes 100 pumps after taking 6 shots to take the gun back to 3600 psi.

 

[Ted]

I just spent 20 minutes clicking every link on AAA's website. It is all a big tease right now. Even the angles on the gun photos left me trying to hold my laptop at an angle to see if I could get a better view. I'm not much of a big-bore guy, but those regulated smaller calibers sure have my attention.

Questions:

1. Is the block one piece or two (top and bottom)?
2. Who makes the barrel?
3. Different barrels for high-power vs low power versions?
4. Is Hawaii experiencing drought?
   [/LIST=1]
   Comments:
   1. The trigger looks similar to the one on Daystate electronic guns (which are very very light).
   2. The silver air cylinder gives the gun a very distinct look.
   3. Love all the railing - very practical
   4. The visual balance is very nice, imo.
      [/LIST=1]
      Really looking forward to more info trickling out - especially on the regulated smaller calibers.
      Thanks for the introduction.

 

[travels4fun]

The YouTube video of Tom Costan being interviewed by Dana Webb covers a lot of the technical specs along with mentioning the barrels are made by TJ Industries. Here is the video

 

[Ted]

Thanks Scott!

 

[Nomadic Pirate]

"Ted"I just spent 20 minutes clicking every link on AAA's website. It is all a big tease right now. Even the angles on the gun photos left me trying to hold my laptop at an angle to see if I could get a better view. I'm not much of a big-bore guy, but those regulated smaller calibers sure have my attention.

Questions:

1. Is the block one piece or two (top and bottom)?
2. Who makes the barrel?
3. Different barrels for high-power vs low power versions?
4. Is Hawaii experiencing drought?
   [/LIST=1]
   Comments:
   1. The trigger looks similar to the one on Daystate electronic guns (which are very very light).
   2. The silver air cylinder gives the gun a very distinct look.
   3. Love all the railing - very practical
   4. The visual balance is very nice, imo.
      [/LIST=1]
      Really looking forward to more info trickling out - especially on the regulated smaller calibers.
      Thanks for the introduction.

1. 1. 
      Yep, from what I see those small bores will be just plain wicked, the sidelever, the bolt are superior to anything I've seen before, I hear from the technical guys that the valve design is unreal too.
      
      Answers :
      
      1.....Monoblock.
      2....TJ,
      3....Possibly
      4.....Summertime, it gets much dryer in the Summer then is when the grass goes down.

 

[Rodentor]

"Nomadic Pirate"As for the Pump,

...She's working remarkably well, takes 100 pumps after taking 6 shots to take the gun back to 3600 psi.

100 pumps ain't bad at all. Effort-wise, how does the pump compare to your other pumps? I'm using the pump from Flying Dragons that looks like the Air Venturi G6, and have used the Hill MK2 or Mk3 before it died. My biggest problem is not the pumping, it's the waiting until the thing cools.
Thanks for the reviews...

 

[Nomadic Pirate]

"Rodentor"

"Nomadic Pirate"As for the Pump,

...She's working remarkably well, takes 100 pumps after taking 6 shots to take the gun back to 3600 psi.

100 pumps ain't bad at all. Effort-wise, how does the pump compare to your other pumps? I'm using the pump from Flying Dragons that looks like the Air Venturi G6, and have used the Hill MK2 or Mk3 before it died. My biggest problem is not the pumping, it's the waiting until the thing cools.
Thanks for the reviews...

The pump is actually remarcably efficient not at the level of the HILLs but a nice pump, I hear people complaining about the effort to get to 3000 PSI but here I'm going to 3600 psi and it's not bad at all.

Agree it's about tediousness, that's why I have multiple pumps, 30 strokes, switch pump, 30 strokes, next pump, 30 strokes, by now the 1st pump is cool so I can start the cycle again, this way I never actually have to wait and never really put to much stress on any pump ?


 

[Nomadic Pirate]

The Magazine came in today, works on the same principle as the Maurader Magazine but it's solidly built, all metal. 

rotate the cover 

than insert the 1st round tail first 

and the rest nose first,.....the 160gr bullets fit great, actually there might be enough room for a 200gr bullet 

the mag gives you the shot count 

Now let talk about the bolt, 

this design is super slick, as you cock the gun this is the bolt 

but as you come back to load the round this is the way the bolt looks 

and once you finish breeching the round the inner bolt retracts so there's no interference for the air flow, the bullet takes all the air 

the gun looks good with the mag in 

 



I was zeroing in for the hunt today and I'm happy to say that the 160gr bullet is very, very accurate,...looking good 

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[Nomadic Pirate]

I'm really happy with the accuracy of the 160gr bullets, also I'm getting used to the gun and the super light trigger, 
However Hunting will have to wait a tad longer since last week the foster unit started to play up and the gun would just lose all air, tried to fix it but it only worked for a few hours, 
luckily Tom has been working on an upgraded fill unit even before this happened, I should have a new unit in not to long and than the games can be resumed 

 

 

[DaBinChe]

OP, so are you planning on doing head shots with this setup or you think it has enough fpe to penetrate to the vitals?

Also with the 160gr pellets what is the fps?