Western Airguns Rattler .357

[Hornclayton]

What ammo were you using where it jammed? I want to avoid it

Its the second time. It was short tight fitting hollowpoints both times. If the rear of the slug sticks out enought to rub during a hand cycling dont use them. They should be slightly receded into the mag well. Except pellets they dont have the same issues. I use fx .35 pellets for bulk ammo and hight arc hunters. Polimags are good also. If you have a jamb get in touch i can givr you some important pointers since its disassembly of half the gun to remove a jamb. Do not shoot again if it jambs whatever you do and you will know when it does cause it basically looks like my beards upside down after. Eardrum nearly blown.....

 

[Bernie7]

Its the second time. It was short tight fitting hollowpoints both times. If the rear of the slug sticks out enought to rub during a hand cycling dont use them. They should be slightly receded into the mag well. Except pellets they dont have the same issues. I use fx .35 pellets for bulk ammo and hight arc hunters. Polimags are good also. If you have a jamb get in touch i can givr you some important pointers since its disassembly of half the gun to remove a jamb. Do not shoot again if it jambs whatever you do and you will know when it does cause it basically looks like my beards upside down after. Eardrum nearly blown.....

When I load it I always push the slugs forward a bit to make sure they’re seated. I’ve had good results with Lucky Seven Ammo round nose and a guy on this forum makes what he calls rattler food, $50 for 200 rounds shipped. It’s essentially a near perfect match to the 174 gr high arcs that they carried on AoA that were always out of stock. Although it seems you got some yourself. Glad I never tested my Lehigh defense rounds, realizing how big of a mistake that would’ve been.
Also just heard back from Shane at AoA, he says the valve they use should be the same as the FX impact mk1 and mk2 version (but not m3). What I don’t understand is doesn’t that mean the existing dual bottle adapters should work…?

 

[Hornclayton]

When I load it I always push the slugs forward a bit to make sure they’re seated. I’ve had good results with Lucky Seven Ammo round nose and a guy on this forum makes what he calls rattler food, $50 for 200 rounds shipped. It’s essentially a near perfect match to the 174 gr high arcs that they carried on AoA that were always out of stock. Although it seems you got some yourself. Glad I never tested my Lehigh defense rounds, realizing how big of a mistake that would’ve been.
Also just heard back from Shane at AoA, he says the valve they use should be the same as the FX impact mk1 and mk2 version (but not m3). What I don’t understand is doesn’t that mean the existing dual bottle adapters should work…?

I couldnt get the rattlers from camron norman to work. They didnt seat right, and were way to tight on the last band. I do the same pushing them forward to seat. I would think the duals would work the same. I ordered a 700cc omega from AOA after tuning mine up to 225 ish at the second reg so i can push out the full mag with slugs. Im not a fan of duals, id rather tether i think. I would just ask them at AOA directly.

 

[Bernie7]

I couldnt get the rattlers from camron norman to work. They didnt seat right, and were way to tight on the last band. I do the same pushing them forward to seat. I would think the duals would work the same. I ordered a 700cc omega from AOA after tuning mine up to 225 ish at the second reg so i can push out the full mag with slugs. Im not a fan of duals, id rather tether i think. I would just ask them at AOA directly.

Interesting…. When did you buy them and did you report that issue? I’m wondering if he fixed them before I got mine. (I placed my order Dec 15th, got them a week later)

Also I should’ve been more clear, when I asked Shane from AoA if any dual bottle adapter was available he said he thinks Air Superiority is working on one basically implying none of the existing adapters work.

225 on second reg seems super high, did you change anything else from the factory?

 

[Hornclayton]

Interesting…. When did you buy them and did you report that issue? I’m wondering if he fixed them before I got mine. (I placed my order Dec 15th, got them a week later)

Also I should’ve been more clear, when I asked Shane from AoA if any dual bottle adapter was available he said he thinks Air Superiority is working on one basically implying none of the existing adapters work.

225 on second reg seems super high, did you change anything else from the factory?

I got mine from Camron just before that and he did end up replacing his sizer he said. I let him know and conveyed my measurements on the slug. Sounds like you tried them and they work now?
I deliberately set the second reg that high to use the 357 as a 100+ yard hunter with slugs then using the power wheel i can turn down 32 clicks to shoot fx pellets somewhat accurately (popcans). You have to degas the cylinder to change the second dial by the tank. I went about 12 clicks counterclockwise to get to over 225 on the second reg. I got a second rattler 30 as an under 100 yd gun with less power mostly for pellets and polimags. Hoping to test on skeet soon in full auto.

 

[Bernie7]

The ammo seemed to be okay, but full disclosure I’m basing that analysis on only one trip to the range. That’s wild on the 225 bar, I’m guessing you’re over the max power spec they have listed by pushing it that far…?

I’ve been super busy with work but I have a whole list of hobby stuff to do hopefully this weekend.

• I finally have everything I need to polish the barrel now so I’m gonna do that : )
• Need to measure all my ammo, friend lent me his super high end calipers. @Hornclayton I’ll report back on newer rattler Ammo.
• Shane is sending me a new o ring for the second gauge. There’s a leak from the rear pressure gauge that drops about 5 bar/ day until it hits a stabilizing pressure around 125 bar and then stops.
• I have a 700cc on my s45 that I think I’m gonna swap with the 580cc on the rattler
• Considering removing the tank pressure gauge and connecting an airline that would run up the side to the top rail and then attach the pressure gauge to that so I can see it while shouldered. In fact I’m kinda surprised this isn’t an industry standard thing by now.

 

[Hornclayton]

The ammo seemed to be okay, but full disclosure I’m basing that analysis on only one trip to the range. That’s wild on the 225 bar, I’m guessing you’re over the max power spec they have listed by pushing it that far…?

I’ve been super busy with work but I have a whole list of hobby stuff to do hopefully this weekend.

• I finally have everything I need to polish the barrel now so I’m gonna do that : )
• Need to measure all my ammo, friend lent me his super high end calipers. @Hornclayton I’ll report back on newer rattler Ammo.
• Shane is sending me a new o ring for the second gauge. There’s a leak from the rear pressure gauge that drops about 5 bar/ day until it hits a stabilizing pressure around 125 bar and then stops.
• I have a 700cc on my s45 that I think I’m gonna swap with the 580cc on the rattler
• Considering removing the tank pressure gauge and connecting an airline that would run up the side to the top rail and then attach the pressure gauge to that so I can see it while shouldered. In fact I’m kinda surprised this isn’t an industry standard thing by now.

Cool, look forward to hearing more on the ammo Bernie if its right i will be ordering some from camron. Its just clayton by the way. I bet you enjoy shooting the rattler more than the s45. Im kind of an AEA hater. The pressure guage is a nice mod kind of like a panthera. Im kind of surprised theres not remote lines to tanks like paintball guns honestly. Wonder why? speaking of mods.

 

[Bernie7]

Cool, look forward to hearing more on the ammo Bernie if it’s right i will be ordering some from camron. It’s just clayton by the way. I bet you enjoy shooting the rattler more than the s45. Im kind of an AEA hater. The pressure guage is a nice mod kind of like a panthera. Im kind of surprised theres not remote lines to tanks like paintball guns honestly. Wonder why? speaking of mods.

Going from a Challenger which was literally broken out of the box and then blew the end cap off after the first shot and an s45 which unscrews and falls apart seemingly all it’s own, yes the rattler is in an entirely different league. I mean, you get what you pay for right? Although I have to add, Bin and Jason provided exceptional support whenever I had an issue, and the place I bought the Challenger gave great support as well. In the case of the Challenger the problem was getting replacement parts. I think it took 2 months to get them and AEA was apparently giving the distributor a hard time just to be able to send a few small pieces of stamped metal to me.

And yeah, seems like a business opportunity on the remote lines, I’ve been wondering why that hasn’t been a thing since I got a select fire Evanix and they literally warn you that shooting it under a certain pressure can essentially break it to the point of needed to ship it off. I’ve been thinking about that and looking for voltage displays because they’re sensitive to that too so I wanted to build like a smart gun display. Originally I though i’d do it by running wires from a digital pressure gauge but I just don’t trust a digital device for something as serious as high pressure air without a mechanical backup.

@SacShooter any thoughts on selling a kit with a male threaded right angle adapter that leads to a short hose of 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12” with a pressure gauge that has a Picatinny clamp so you could easily see tank pressure while shouldered….? Bet that would sell like hot cakes.

 

[Bernie7]

@Hornclayton I’m gonna make a dedicated post but I took some measurements. Cam’s 174s are listed at the bottom left. Did a random sampling of 3 slugs from each of type I had. The Lehighs were the control considering they’re CNC machined. The two measurements for each are taken at 0* and then again after rotating 90*

 

[Bernie7]

Also, to all Rattler owners, has anyone had an issue where when you unscrew the air tank and the valve doesn’t shut and ALL the air escapes? In the manual it specifically says this shouldn’t happen…

 

[SacShooter]

@SacShooter any thoughts on selling a kit with a male threaded right angle adapter that leads to a short hose of 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12” with a pressure gauge that has a Picatinny clamp so you could easily see tank pressure while shouldered….? Bet that would sell like hot cakes.

We are open to new Ideas. We like making the micro-bore hoses, the problem is that you don't really know what thread standard you are running into. All our stuff is (USA) NPT, aside from our BSPP to male quick-connect adapters. I'm pushing to also make custom hoses for BSPP and Metric, but that would cause more confusion to our customers unless we come up with a way of marking the fittings and hoses. I have not thought about a Pic gauge clamp. We do have the TMan, TMan Compact that people will use with our smaller gauge with male quick to monitor line pressure on tether systems.

 

[Bernie7]

@SacShooter something like this

Or do any rattler owners have ideas or have tried something like this?

 

[TRIPP]

Hello All, just received my Western Air Arms Rattler (.357/9mm). It doesn't seem as heavy as it is when you pick it up and shoulder it, so the balance seems to be good,. I have a 2021 Huben K1 in .25 and LCS SK 19 in .25. The Rattler is very very similar to the SK-19, just slightly beefier, lol. The rotary drum mag is a lot thicker thus it can take one heck of a long slug, or a relatively short JSB .35 pellet. Slide up or down loading gate is nice and better than the factory Huben style loading gate, although Kelly from KRAZYCOOL put on a much better flip up loading gate on my Huben. Makes loading the Huben much easier. Working today, but tonight will throw on my AGM ADDER Thermal rifle scope and test it out. I love the AGM ADDER scope because I can see the pellet travel in flight and again for about 5 seconds when it impact into wood. Because of friction travelling down the barrel, the pellet is somewhat warmer than this cold Nebraska winter air, and so the thermal picks up and it shows up as a white tracer round kinda, lol. Then upon impact into like a tree or stump, the pellet is still warm for a while so shows up a white dot. Then my second shot if quick enough I can aim for the first glowing pellet and then see where the second pellet hits. Then I adjust the X and Y axis (the crosshairs) and move the crosshairs towards the actual second pellet impact point. I use my rangefinder prior to find a tree at whatever distance I want to shoot at. Its nice because everything is pretty visual from the flight path of the pellet until the impact and then of course for 5 to 10 seconds after impact the pellet is still warm enough to glow when looking through the thermal(AGM ADDER). Had it on my Vulcan 3 .30 and it is a death machine for rabbits out to so far 125 yards. I leave for work each morning at 5AM, just so I have a hour of darkness to hunt on way to work, lol. I gotta tell ya, thermal is like a super power, especially in a large field you can scan so quick and see like a mouse, which looks like a small white mouse. I shot 2 mice at 70 yards the other morning with it and the Vulcan 3 in .30. Poor mice, lol. Anyway, the quality and machining of the Rattler looks very good, if not superb. However, none of that matters if it cant shoot accurately. Pretty sure it will or I would not have spent 2300 on it. I got mine used (very lightly used, looks new to me) and saved about 300 dollars from new. Came from AOA, have always had great experience with them so far. The AGM ADDER can also record video and audio (swear words when i miss lol) and so I will record video of my shooting and try and post it on here when I am done tonight. I have some Slugfest Airgun Ammo magnum .357 pellets going to try as well as some JSB pellets. I will also be trying out some Slugfest slugs in a couple of weeks or so and then hopefully some recorded shots on coyotes and or other pests/varmints. I am sure most of you will be watching the Superbowl today,,,, which makes me laugh because my idea of a Superbowl is a ceramic kitchen dish at 300 yards as a target, lol. Anyway, enjoy your Sunday everyone!

 

[Bernie7]

@Hornclayton Checking in on you, making sure your Rattler didn’t explode from the 225…

 

[jmeade1975]

Did you lay it down in snow/ice? Either way I’d reach out to AoA with a detailed description of the problem. Please let us know the outcome/resolution.

I talked to service and they said it could be do to a heavy assembly grease and cold weather, or an internal adjustment that would need to go back to service to get fixed. I tried it in slightly warmer weather and it operated correctly. I went out a couple weeks ago in 40 degree temps and it started misfiring again. I am a bit concerned if cold temperature is going to be an issue as I live in Idaho. I will give it another try and hope I get it figured out with some upcoming hunts in the near future I don't want to send the gun off if I don't have to.

 

[Nealgrove21]

Hi guys it’s me Song (AirSniper) I have been shooting a lot of rounds through mine Rattler 357 for the pass 4 weeks and still learning how to shoot this gun. The Rattler has a lot of potential, powerful and very accurate. I have a lot of confident hitting my target out to 200 plus yards. Gun do have few weak point when it come to airs leaks. However just like any PCP there always going to leaks sooner or later. I has about 5000+ rounds with this gun and still shooting strong. Here is my latest video on YouTube shooting soda can at 200 yards.

I also have a few hunting videos shooting ground squires, but I can’t post those videos on YouTube. Imagine what those slugs can do a 🐿, just look at the soda can that I destroyed at 200 yards.

Hey song, what is your reg setting and power wheel at shooting those 156gr slugs? Are you running the factory 145-150 bar reg or did you tune it higher? Also what kinda FPS are you getting with the higher GR slugs? I just got mine recently and I’m trying to figure this whole air rifle thing out. Took the barrel off when I first got it to clean and I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot with the barrel tightening ever since. It’s been having cycling issues.

 

[Bernie7]

Hey song, what is your reg setting and power wheel at shooting those 156gr slugs? Are you running the factory 145-150 bar reg or did you tune it higher? Also what kinda FPS are you getting with the higher GR slugs? I just got mine recently and I’m trying to figure this whole air rifle thing out. Took the barrel off when I first got it to clean and I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot with the barrel tightening ever since. It’s been having cycling issues.

What brand/style/grain for pellets/slugs? May have some insight. You want to use lead that has lots of surface area contact on all the PCPs that shoot from the rotary mag (Huben, LCS, Rattler/Sidewinder). Can’t promise that’s the issue, I’m sure a loosey goosey barrel could also do it but want to rule out the projectile.

 

[Nealgrove21]

What brand/style/grain for pellets/slugs? May have some insight. You want to use lead that has lots of surface area contact on all the PCPs that shoot from the rotary mag (Huben, LCS, Rattler/Sidewinder). Can’t promise that’s the issue, I’m sure a loosey goosey barrel could also do it but want to rule out the projectile.

Brand High-Arc 174 gr and JSB and FX 81 gr. I need to just do some shots with it while adjusting the barrel instead of turning the magazine wheel with my hand to do a function check. Wish I would’ve scribed the barrel when I first got it but like I said I accidentally threw the barrel out of adjustment when I was trying to take the moderator off. The barrel turned with it cause of the loctite they use from the factory.

 

[SONG55]

Hey song, what is your reg setting and power wheel at shooting those 156gr slugs? Are you running the factory 145-150 bar reg or did you tune it higher? Also what kinda FPS are you getting with the higher GR slugs? I just got mine recently and I’m trying to figure this whole air rifle thing out. Took the barrel off when I first got it to clean and I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot with the barrel tightening ever since. It’s been having cycling issues.

Reg set about 150bar. After removing the barrel and when installing make sure the barrel touch the magazine and turn back a half of a quarter turn. Make sure magazine is able to turn without binding. If your magazine is not cycling properly, it might be the magazine index o’ring need to be replace or barrel and magazine is binding.

When reg set at 150bar, you need to play around with your settings by adjusting the power wheel, until you reach speeds about 850-860 fps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[Nealgrove21]

Reg set about 150bar. After removing the barrel and when installing make sure the barrel touch the magazine and turn back a half of a quarter turn. Make sure magazine is able to turn without binding. If your magazine is not cycling properly, it might be the magazine index o’ring need to be replace or barrel and magazine is binding.

When reg set at 150bar, you need to play around with your settings by adjusting the power wheel, until you reach speeds about 850-860 fps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Just blows my mind for a gun that’s almost $2,800 that they can’t properly machine the barrel so that it’s a precision fit when snugged up or at least have a laser etched mark from factory to realign. Or a brand new gun possibly needing new parts already. Starting to feel like I’m getting sucked into a money trap