I've completed the Dragon 87 caliber.











It's a beast. Far more accurate than anybody would believe. We were shooting it yesterday. No problem at all to hit targets out 76-114 yards. It just pounds them to dust. I've tuned the gun to shoot it's 924.02 grain pure lead slug @ approx. 840 foot pounds of muzzle energy. It speaks with authority!

Gary

Good Lord Gary, all I can say is WOW!! It's a Ultimate Bigbore for the Century he..he.. now I need to do a bank job......he..he..

Here's some more Dragon stuff to enjoy.

I was lucky enough to go shooting with Gary and Kelly on Saturday and enjoy the Dragon debut. I took a couple shots of the gun too:





Changing the lighting and settings makes the colors appear different but also shows off the "texture" of the finish. It is a really cool looking gun!


I might have been in the way here...


Gary about to fire through the chronograph. 840 FPE! Dude!

Now that the gun's tune was found to be "adequate" it was time to see if she shot good. Let's take a look:

Looks pretty good! Those were the first 3 shots at the 50 yard board.


.87 Smoothbore shooting 924gr slugs at 840 FPE, now that'll hunt!


A happy moment! See the coyote in the background? That's next...

The following video shows the Dragon's next couple shots. Without any adjustments we just guessed at the holdover for the first shot and we were too conservative. The big slug didn't drop as much as we figured and just nicked the top of the yote's back...where it was aimed. The next shot was aimed dead on the orange target dot.

That works.

Here's video of some more Dragon shots, all of which are 78 yards or more:



This guy was a little over 100 yards out.


Gary is looking for debris from the hit. The paint on the ground is where the target was when shot.


One shot caught the edge of a steel target...


Gary said it was going to leave a mark...


We found the splat.


The dime makes a nice size reference doesn't it?

cool videos! It looks more like a small missile streaking down range than a bullet in slow motion.

Jerry, can you describe what you think of the gun, since you've seen and shot it in person?

Regarding the pic with the dime laid on the "splat": not only does the slug collapse upon itself very straight ... but even the solid bottom drive band has imbedded itself into the mass of lead, and has produced a ragged "sunshine" edge all around. These things collapse in waves ... they collapse ... spread ... seperate into "petals" of lead like a flower ... if they keep collapsing under energy, then those petals shear off and the remaining mass spreads, produces petals, and they can shear off too. And entire massive ring of petals has sheared off of this and disappeared ... and it's spread out again to this size. Look at the base of the lead (under and around the dime) .. see how the lead looks like it's sort of "boiled"?

In the splat above - (the half splat) ... you see the exterior edge is ragged. Well - petals developed there, and would have been about 1/2" long all around ... had they not sheared off. There's a massive amount of shrapnel from a hit like this. This gun puts some energy on target.

Gary

I like it, a lot! If you're into shoulder fired cannons and that sort of thing...

Another story. Oh ... BTW ... Jim was away this holiday weekend ... or he'd have been here for the festivities. So; the story ....

On the video where I shot the 100 yard groundhog ... Jerry was taping. Well, I shot - the hog fell ... I shouted "yeah!" or something like that ... Jerry stopped the camera ... and THEN .... THEN .... I saw a big ole silver hub cap drop from the sky and land near the target! Honest. Seemed like quite a lapse of time ... I'm glad we didn't take out any light planes ... haha ... I actually recalled where it landed ... and found it. One of the splats shown.

Gary

Gary,

Yeah, of the 3 big bores you have shot recently. Mine was the real light weight at 700 ft lbs. That's really something.

For the guys that haven't shot one yet and love watching the slugs travel down range in the video. I've always have a habit of blinking, when I shoot. I've been training myself to keep my eyes open. It really pays off when shooting these bad boys. Because you actually can follow the shot in with your eye. Dory

Yeah ... that's neat. That micro-second before impact, when your eye tells you the trajectory is good, and you know it's gonna pound the target.

Gary

I particularly like the video where the spent round goes spinning off into the distance in slo-mo. Cool shot there!

As usual, I'm never ready to go to the range when Jerry and Jim arrive. That's because, work is never done here. I never go home. So; I work until I've lost the edge, and pick up as soon as I'm fresh again.

Putting the Dragon action in it's stock, Jerry actually noticed before me, that the trigger was brushing the wood recess ... and dragging. That indicated the trigger block was fitted a bit too neatly. I needed to relieve the machined cavity a bit more. Of course, the stock is finished. As in ... "You want to do WHAT with it?" Right ... put the finished stock back into the vise of the milling machine, to precisely cut out the wood with accuracy. Avoid all the metal edges, corners, don't clamp it too hard, or too loose ... and don't run the head into anything. Above all ... DON'T bang it on something afterwards, when you are taking it out of the machine, and feel you are done.



Here's the stock in the vise ... the card stock used to protect it ... the milling bit spinning, .. and the shavings coming away. I can't show Jerry's face during this operation, as it's quite frightening. heheh.

It worked.

Gary

Yeah, thanks for not posting a picture of me during that operation! I'm sure I looked like that smurf or dwarf or other character that just KNOWS we're all doomed!

Ya know ... that reminds me .... I miss the Smurfs. That was quality entertainment. Everything is too "disturbing" today. I wonder where the little blue creatures are today ....

They are in my basement trying to make nice purple slugs for you know who!

That's one very special Dragon Love the videos too, lead flying in all directions. This gun should be suitable for bunny hunting, in circumstances where you wish to leave no trace of the victim
Kind regards
St George

Gary, this gun is truly a Masterpiece, I just feel that with its looks, performances and power, it should have been written in main stream gun magazines. Same goes for your other awesome bigbores.

I know that the pics were taken under a variety of lightings and other conditions, but I'd swear the wood is mellowing already..... must be the heat.....

big time envious now!

cool stuff!

All I can say is AWESOME!

The craftsmanship looks fabulous, as always. The marrying of the finish of the wood and the finish of the metal takes great talent. The function is precise; well beyond what most people would expect to be possible. I hope it gets used often by its future owner.

It is not every day that one gets to see truly functional art. Excellent job Gary!

the dragon finish almost looks alive , the way the light plays off the colour . is the finish smooth , it looks glossy smooth , but the depth of the pattern almost looks deep and textured ,
love the near vertical pistol grip , all in all a stunning piece of work , let alone how well the accuracy and performance figures add up too.
well done indeed gary.

Thanks Tom,

Yes - the finish is glossy smooth. The "undulating texture" is a special effect. Turned out really neat. Glad you like it!

Gary