New to air rifles and I recently purchased a Dragon Claw .50 and am wondering what is the best bullet for hunting deer and hog ...Also would it be worth the $$ to have it tuned
Best load for Dragon Claw 50
- Thread starter robertbud
- Start date
robertbud,
From nothing straight into a Dragon Claw .50? You go straight for the jugular! You must have been a 30 pound baby. I started 30 years ago with a puny little ole Beeman R7 and thought I was hot stuff. Thirty years later I advanced all the way up to a .22 caliber Daystate Huntsman Classic. Now I've really grown into my shoes with another .22 in FX Wildcat clothes. Soon thereafter a .25 cal Condor, a .25 cal Impact, and a 30 call FX Boss. But I won't live long enough to grow all the way up to .50 unless I live to be a hunnerd.
All kidding aside, I'm sure another white-headed old airgun sage will show up who can help you slay that Dragon Claw .50. As a matter of fact, I might just stick around awhile and watch the behemoths stir up the dust and make the ground rumble.
Welcome to airgunning and to AGN.
BeemanR7
From nothing straight into a Dragon Claw .50? You go straight for the jugular! You must have been a 30 pound baby. I started 30 years ago with a puny little ole Beeman R7 and thought I was hot stuff. Thirty years later I advanced all the way up to a .22 caliber Daystate Huntsman Classic. Now I've really grown into my shoes with another .22 in FX Wildcat clothes. Soon thereafter a .25 cal Condor, a .25 cal Impact, and a 30 call FX Boss. But I won't live long enough to grow all the way up to .50 unless I live to be a hunnerd.
All kidding aside, I'm sure another white-headed old airgun sage will show up who can help you slay that Dragon Claw .50. As a matter of fact, I might just stick around awhile and watch the behemoths stir up the dust and make the ground rumble.
Welcome to airgunning and to AGN.
BeemanR7
Upvote 0
Robert
I had the forerunner to the Dragon Claw known as the Dragon Slayer.
I always used the 180 grain hornady round balls. I believe it was the .495 diameter ?
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1165132904/hornady-muzzleloading-bullets-round-ball
I could always hit a quarter sized kill zone at 30 and 35 yds.
Did a half arsed job at 100 yds one day without a good point of aim other than just aiming at the top ridge pf the barrel and trying to stay dead center of it. Would have spent more time at longer distances if it wasn't such an air hog.
The round balls did much better than any slugs I tried at the closer distances.
Got the idea from Jim Chapman's article
http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/dragonslayer.html
I think the top two holes were there before I started shooting , but the ones closest to my hand were the ones I shot at 100 yds, so yes if I would have been aiming at a good solid kz I'm sure the group would have been minute of deer with no problems. I just can't see worth a crap with a 12 power scope at 100 yds. These old eyes are a failing me. Still not bad for round balls. I called it my "Air Musket"!!!!
Darn thing would shoot a round ball through a 2x4 at 30 yds! Wish I still had it at times!
I'm sure Will Piatt od Saddle Mountain Gunsmith fame would be the man to contact for the best performance from your gun.
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/sam-yang-dragon-claw-50
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/career-dragon-slayer-50
Best of luck.
Fuss
I had the forerunner to the Dragon Claw known as the Dragon Slayer.
I always used the 180 grain hornady round balls. I believe it was the .495 diameter ?
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1165132904/hornady-muzzleloading-bullets-round-ball
I could always hit a quarter sized kill zone at 30 and 35 yds.
Did a half arsed job at 100 yds one day without a good point of aim other than just aiming at the top ridge pf the barrel and trying to stay dead center of it. Would have spent more time at longer distances if it wasn't such an air hog.
The round balls did much better than any slugs I tried at the closer distances.
Got the idea from Jim Chapman's article
http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/dragonslayer.html
I think the top two holes were there before I started shooting , but the ones closest to my hand were the ones I shot at 100 yds, so yes if I would have been aiming at a good solid kz I'm sure the group would have been minute of deer with no problems. I just can't see worth a crap with a 12 power scope at 100 yds. These old eyes are a failing me. Still not bad for round balls. I called it my "Air Musket"!!!!
Darn thing would shoot a round ball through a 2x4 at 30 yds! Wish I still had it at times!
I'm sure Will Piatt od Saddle Mountain Gunsmith fame would be the man to contact for the best performance from your gun.
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/sam-yang-dragon-claw-50
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/career-dragon-slayer-50
Best of luck.
Fuss
Upvote 0
Robert
In this video you can see how accurate my Dragon Slayer was with the 180 grain round balls. Hit the one inch sticker at 31 yds just about every time! Again, I could kick myself for selling it? LOL You could hear it go through the wood and hit the barrel behind it!
https://youtu.be/pvGh9ztEGdg
In this video you can see how accurate my Dragon Slayer was with the 180 grain round balls. Hit the one inch sticker at 31 yds just about every time! Again, I could kick myself for selling it? LOL You could hear it go through the wood and hit the barrel behind it!
https://youtu.be/pvGh9ztEGdg
Upvote 0
You have the seneca model? There was the original odd single tube "dragon claw" poor design.
Now the seneca should be 99% the same as a 909, if that's what your dealing with they are one of the easiest rifles pre-charged rifles to mod.
THE #1 thing for power is opening the front of the valve for air flow, just the same as a QB78 ( easy to find pictures everywhere), also a delron valve stem and lighter return spring. That alone will give you all the blasting power you need. I'm not certain what the design change was after the recall on the trigger designn but would think the same - few- tricks apply.
Consider DIY.
John
Now the seneca should be 99% the same as a 909, if that's what your dealing with they are one of the easiest rifles pre-charged rifles to mod.
THE #1 thing for power is opening the front of the valve for air flow, just the same as a QB78 ( easy to find pictures everywhere), also a delron valve stem and lighter return spring. That alone will give you all the blasting power you need. I'm not certain what the design change was after the recall on the trigger designn but would think the same - few- tricks apply.
Consider DIY.
John
Upvote 0
My 50 cal dragon slayer LOVED the 176 gr hornady .495 round ball. Before you do any modifications i would just get used to the gun and see what ammo works best for you. That roundball is very accurate and will take down a deer.
Upvote 0