What's your dream Big Bore?

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I would love to own a big bore rifle some day but the part that holds me back is the amount of pressure needed for these guns. Are most of the higher end guns all 4500 psi? I think the extremes are all 4500 psi and to me that's very high to shoot your gun but I guess you need these high pressures to push heavier bullets. If I were to get one, it would be AAA because of the lower fill pressures and still maintaining high FPE and accuracy. 
 
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@davidsng I bet your .308 Slayer still shoots flatter than .257 beyond 150 yards, keep us posted! 

@wyshadow Yes, some big-bores rely on extreme pressure. Slayers are designed with a sweet spot around 3800 psi. One thing I like about my Texan is the really low fill pressure (mine likes 2800) but then again it “only” makes 350 fpe with its favorite bullet, NSA 265. 

Brian
 
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I'm a lucky fellow.

I have a New to me .257 Texan from Shamu. 

I also have: 

Sam Yang 909s with only iron sights currently that is a hoot to shoot.

.458 Quackenbush LA Outlaw that flings the lead with authority,

.58 Quackenbush LA Short Rifle, which I think would be a perfect 50 yard pig rifle. This thing is great for breaking stuff. 

.58 Quackenbush Pistol which is just plain fun.

I am so happy with the .257 Texan. It might be my dream rifle. I will say I have coveted a Quackenbush Outlaw LA in .308 but that's a crap shoot since Dennis hardly makes rifles any more. Since I can't hunt deer or pigs here in California, the big DAQs only see fun shoots with steel as the target. One day...

The Texan will be my Turkey gun in the spring. :)
 
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Ive had slug shooters .257 to .457 and pellet shooters (some shoot both) in .30 and .357. I prefer a more traditional style, at least in positioning of the action and barrel to the stock, ie not bullpup style. I I went back and forth regarding the Slayer but just not my style and for bench shooting not the best for me in balance. Now if they came out with the Slayer in an Evol configuration, I probably would not be able to resist. Ive had high pressure rigs such as Extreme, which can be tuned downed to lower pressures, but obviously for a loss of power. Ive mostly gravitated towards to mid to low pressures. Ive had several Texans, and with a Maddog stock to improving the ergonomics, it is hard to beat for the power you get. But it seems the kinesthetics just dont do it for me, referring to the charging/cocking handle. Dont get me wrong, they do what they are supposed to do, ie can be very accurate and powerful (Ive had four of them, all great shooters) and can even upgrade. I just like a bolt action, even if it is separate from the charging/cocking. Im on my 3rd PBBA, this one in .308. Love the rifle overall, needs some more tweaking and considering converting it to .257 as it is not a ported barrel and threaded to the receiver (meaning easier to find someone to do the work). Right now I have it set to a sweet spot of 3000psi, but can quickly make it a 3500psi for larger projectiles and power. 

I would be interested in in some lower priced modern valve designed PRS, bench and hunting style. There are so many stock options out there, no reason for cheap non ergo designs. Repeaters would be nice, but not a deal breaker for hunting or bench. Ive had a few Sam Yangs, great value for a big bore, maybe not enough power for some, and would like an opportunity to change out the stock. What I have found in the higher fill pressures, more inconsistent shooting (off a bottle reg). Part of that is just the nature of the designs in air flow but add to that the sensitivity in shooting them, ie most all of them are "smack the crap" out of the valve which makes a harsher shot cycle and really long barrels to get the power. The Bulldog is a great start for mass production of a repeater over 200fpe, just wish they had another configuration option. The Hammer will be interesting to see. I actually like the look, and if they come up with some smaller calibers, could be a winner.
 
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I am somewhat up in the "Air" on my dream big bore. I just sold my Texan .308, wanting a more powerful, knockdown gun for hunting (mostly coyotes, quietly). I live in a rural area but there are still neighbors who I'm sure don't want to be bothered by my .223/5.56 AR at midnight. Over the course of the past few years I have really gotten into night hunting for coyotes. I go through deer hunting withdrawal every year, and the predator hunting helps me with my cravings until turkey season comes in and I begin fishing in the spring (live in N. IL). I loved the accuracy of the .308 Texan, and had it suppressed with a shroud from RLairguns (quiet as a mouse, as I mentioned on another thread, that suppressor made the gun quieter than a number of BB guns I've shot). However, I found that unless I hit the coyotes in the head then I couldn't get them to fall generally within a recoverable distance, thus my search for a higher-powered, and quiet air rifle. I hate to spend the $2000+ on some of these models (Slayers for example), and it appears that they don't come suppressed. That being said, I might if it does the job well and I can put a suppressor on it. Those of you who are more knowledgeable than myself when it comes to big bores, what would you recommend (assuming the Umarex Hammer doesn't come out, or doesn't come out for some time)? Thanks for any input.
 
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I mean I'd like an AAA Slayer but regged. Really a carbon bottle, or two carbon bottles, would be better than their tube too. (lighter and greater volume) Of course no such beast exists..... Allegedly they're 1MOA guns, but with a 7 round count and no regulator how many rounds actually go into that 1MOA group is a bit questionable. *shrug* 


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@STO - Slayers are absolutely MOA shooters. I’ve shot sub MOA with mine (5 shots). These weren’t meant to be bench guns (built to SLAY) but they’re the gun to beat at Extreme Benchrest. They’re extremely efficient Airguns when you consider the power, shots per fill and reservoir volume. Most big-bore shooters shoot groups of 3 and sometimes 5 shots. So yes, expecting 100 yard MOA from the 7 shot mag is unrealistic. BUT, at typical distances you’d hunt, they’ll stack all 7 shots on one fill. Also, a composite bottle would only add weight to the rifle, they are NOT lighter than titanium tube. They are also weaker. In hydro testing, The Ti tubing on AAA rifles doesn't even begin to bulge until almost 14000 psi!

They’re just on a whole different level, is what I’m trying to say.
Click to expand...


 
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Dream big bore?

First, let me qualify my idea with the fact that I am a hunter, and I hate fugly guns that look like a leggo design or something out of old low budget sci-fi movies.

Hunting means I want one full power shot that has everything I can stack behind it, and then a decent finisher. I hunted with muzzleloaders, then moved to a bow and now crossbow since I am older. Only having one shot has never bothered me at all. Spray and pray doesn't cleanly harvest game.

I am also sensitive t the looks of something i am going to partner with for the rest of my life most likely. I like wood. Not laminate. Wood.

For me, the perfect big bore would look very much like a longrifle, would be loaded from the muzzle, and then the air loaded from a pony bottle after the bullet is loaded for each shot. A dump valve loaded from a regulated pony bottle.

Why? Looks, simplicity, safety, weight, flexibility and the ability to use a long enough barrel without looking unnatural. Using a dump valve and a sear like that used on the Sharp's allows the use of a traditional sidelock with factory set triggers. If the chamber is in the wrist of the gun with it dumping straight into the barrel at less than a 90 angle, you could even use a pistol grip shape and actually create an adjustable chamber volume. I had the later box lock look in mind myself.

With such a tool, I can shoot anything from patched roundball all the way to things like the 385 HP's, Powerbelts to sabots with a dizzying variety of bullet calibers and weights at the ranges i hunt at. It is capable of producing the power needed for however many shots the regulated pony bottle is good for. If you put a smoothbore barrel on it, you actually have a real functional economical to shoot air shotgun in your hand.

It is a dream though, since no one builds anything that simple or flexible. I recently was given a quote to build one, and I will never get pne unless I do it myself!


 
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@ahnlaashock,

You’re probably in the minority in wanting a muzzle loading air rifle, but not when it comes to a real wood stock. A lot of big-bores (Slayers included) put function over form.

Rumor has it, Slayers will soon be available in American walnut stocks. I’ve been pretty vocal about it, as have others and AAA has “rumor has it” listened.. I personally think they’ll sell wood over all metal bullpups 2:1. 

Brian


 
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Using a dump valve in the wrist with Sharp type sear and traditional long rifle set triggers, no external hammer or cocking system is needed. The trigger lifts the bar, the valve blows open, the pressure drops, the light spring drives the plug back into the bottle and the sear drops holding it closed before it is then recharged.

My idea was to reverse the Sharp type sear and knock it open with a classic side lock, but it is just as easy to eliminate the lock and just do the firing directly from the trigger like in the Sharp And Cannon air rifles that simply lift the bar with a lever..

The sear is just a hardened polished flat bar with a hole in it. It drops down and the plug is held in place until something knocks it up so the plug can blow out through the hole. It has a spring on top to push it back down when the valve closes again.

The spring that pushes the valve closed after the pressure has eased has to be strong enough to control the part blown out well enough to keep the valve from destroying itself, and with pressure on the sear, it can be hard to get a straight smooth light trigger pull. The set triggers cure this since when you set them, you are cocking a hammer inside the gun to knock the sear open, not gently push it open using a lever.

The one guy who posted his work here could make one in an afternoon except for inletting the stock. Common breech plug threads means you can swap barrels within reason as long at they have the same profile. A card wad, a shot cup, and then an over shot card gives you a shotgun pretty close to the capabilities of the shotguns the settlers took with then as they moved west.

The ability to use sabots means you can go from a 180 grain 357 in a sabot to a pure lead 385 grain buffalo bullet in the same gun. If you want, you can order high quality long range HPs designed for the rifling twist. At air rifle velocities, you can even hunt squirrels with roundball. Caliber is limited to what barrel will fit the threads, and how big a valve you can fit.

Image these as air rifles, with or without the locks.

http://www.longrifles-pr.com/stockscomponents.shtml
 
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