Well since my wife had a garage sale Friday and Saturday I decided to go shooting Sunday afternoon. I had wanted to go prior days but she needed help! I wanted to try my Condor with lower pressure. I tried various air pressures and found to get best results at 1500 psi.



Setup at 65 feet to start. No trouble hitting target. Once I found best settings I went to 100 feet. Manage to get one decent group at 1500 psi. 1250 was to low and 2000 was hard for valve to open. So I think a custom valve, large port and heavier hammer spring will provide what is needed to get heavy grain pellets flying!



Due to being government land and former gravel pit, many off road vehicles. Dust was flying as a dirt bike and quad came by. I tried two pellets from Mr. Hollowpoint but to heavy for my current setup. Last picture is shot with my homemade rifle. Didn't want to scratch it so I shot off hand.

Still need to make a shooting bench and use sand bags for support. It will allow more accurate shooting.

Seeing big bore rifles shoot 100 yards accurately gives me further appreciation to Gary's rifles.

I know there are many shooting out there. Please post your day of shooting and targets. We all enjoy it!

Thanks for visiting and reading.

Pedro



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2015 03:26AM by pedrog.

Hello Peter,

I appreciate the post you have made. It takes time.

Glad you got a chance to shoot.

I was talking to a friend/customer a few nights ago ... I mentioned the work I need to do on my range, and fencing. That clarified, for him, why I have been shooting at shorter distances. There are been sooooooooooooooooo many people moving in on the parimeter of our property. I need to make sure it's all safe.

Many thanks. I hope folks share and comment.


Gary

Gary,

Safety first! Hopefully no neighbors hinder you from shooting.

I went out with an older friend tonight to help test his boat. He knows a farmer with private land only 10 minutes from our little city. The gravel pit on the land is long enough to get to 60 he boat to full speed and then some. Hoping in time to be allowed to shoot there as it is private land. Have to tread lightly, do not want to mess anything up for my friend.

Happy shooting & machining

Pedro



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2015 03:37AM by pedrog.

Pedro,

I want to put up some fencing. Then clearly post some signage.

There is room for safe shooting. I'll get it done. There are just some shop/ledger/sales issues that are more important right now.

We have gone thru a wave of properties transferring which touch ours. I can't own nearly as much as I'd have liked to.

Also have to get A/C in the Range Shak - not just for comfort but for humidity control for items used there.

GAry

Thanks for posting Pedro. We have been so busy lately I have not had the time to do some shooting.

1500 psi seems on the low side, what's the normal operating pressure of the Condor? Did you change the valve on yours?

It's time to shoot somewhere!

Hi Sal,

The Airforce Condor works at 3000 psi normally. For 177 & 22 works great. When I tried my 40 call home made barrel I used a modified stem with Condor valve. My thoughts are I need larger diameter valve, large ports and a heavier hammer and spring. Have to find the correct balance.

I visited Tofazfou's blog and he is pushing 900 fps with 257 85gr. Cedric has done a great job making his rifle do what it is.

Thanks for commenting.

Well at least glad to see somebody's getting some air time. I'm even likin your bullet trap too. It looks like you made a little shoot going into that chunk of pipe to gather all your pellets and keep them from ricocheting out . So you can't shoot at your house? It looked like a nice country setting from the pics you posted . Must be an event loading everything up AND traveling . My properties about 900 foot long and some neighbors just moved in and bought the house next door. They have children playing our side a lot . The back half of my property is all wooded and you know how kids are they like to traipse around in the woods. Just can't chance it now even though it's legal , it still makes me nervous. I've had bullets whiz by me and it's scary . Hope you get your valve straightened out . A lot of people play with those Condors so it must be a fairly easy thing to do for someone as talented as yourself. Cedric has some amazing videos of kill shots too. Makes me long for the desert .

Thanks
Kurt

That's neat Kurt. I hadn't noticed it here on my dinky phone. That's a "scroll/snail" trap. Bullets spin around the diameter once they are deflected in. Good Eye.

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2015 10:44PM by barnespneumatic.

Hi Kurt,

I based the trap on the snail trap design.

[savagerangesystems.com]

On my site:
[airgundevelopment.com]

I should have made the sheet metal and 1/8" thick because when I got into heavier lead balls I really dented it.
To bad you cannot shoot on your property, understand due to kids. They can be very curious and would be a terrible thing to have any accidents.

Drive isn't to bad 25 min. But it's legal. Going to find closer eventually.

Thanks for the comment.

Pedro

Don't do this at home: especially if the manufacturer tells you not to. However: knowing that everybody seems to alter and tune those .... It crossed my mind ....

Play with the hammer itself, Pedro.

I think those are synthetic when stock. Probably Delrin. Been forever since I saw one. But - for the data, bet you would get a huge boost just reproducing the stock hammer in mild steel. Let the valve the same to start. Try 2,500 psi. A quick and simple swap out. You'd probably be surprised, but ......

Don't do it at home .... .



Gary

Thanks for the tips. Already running a mild steel hammwe with nylon end caps. Somewhat heavier than original.

The breech is plasyic, perhaps that is what you are thinking?

I found a nice valve design similar to what Tofazfou did on his. I will try it soon I hope.

Pedro

Pretty neat setup, you just use magnets to hold on the targets?

Yep. Neat.

I see he uses it both horizontal and vertical.

I made one once when Jerry, Jim, and I were Ridin' the War Wagon over to the field. But - we found the big guns 600 fpe and up, buckled the splash plates and even tore the welds. Besides mine weighed about 1,200 pounds I think. But - Pedro is young ....

Good job Pedro.

Gary

You CAN buy them ready-made from Savage. They cost a mint and weigh a ton, but it looks like they work great.

And as far as your BPS home shooting range goes, by the time you're done fencing and posting signs and putting up berms and dealing with all the access issues you might be ahead if you just put in a shooting tunnel right from the get-go for the longer range shots. One of the ranges I used to go to had an above-ground 'tunnel' sandwiched between a couple of IPSC-specific pistol ranges (due to range safety considerations). It was a hundred yards worth of 4' diameter concrete sewer pipes covered by a shallow berm, with a covered bench at one end and a target "box" at the other that you would slide target frames into from the side.

That much pipe would be pretty pricey, but you could get largely the same effect with a couple of closely spaced berms and a wire fence or cover on top to keep the critters out. Lots of dirt and tractor work, just what you need.

You have never dug a hole in the Florida Panhandle ... Have ya Sean. Hahaha.

Actually - I've always liked the tunnel idea. But - I suspect you'd get a SWAT team visit before you got too far. Ha.

"What cha hiding in there Son?" What cha plan to do in there? Says here .... "You bought some Cough Syrup in Feb. .... you don't SEEM to have a COUGH to me, Son."

"That was 3 months ago, Sir ... and how do......

"How many OTHER tunnels you got around here, Son??" "Fiddy??" "Huh?" "Whaddchuukallme?????"

No Sean .... I'll just spray paint a target on the door of an old Buick ... Like everybody else does .....,

Gary

Can't dig cause of roots and vines. Didn't mean digging gets ya into trouble.

However; I suspect if ya went to building tunnels ... Google Earth would tell on you.

Yes 4 earth magnets hold the 8 c 11 targets.

Hey, there's an idea! Just line up two rows of junked cars, and shoot between them!