I got the "Cuda" ready for it's "First Fire" test cycle. And, it exceeded projections.



The rifle as tested this evening. I even had Jerry on the phone as a witness to the events - and he quickly ran the numbers thru his computer to give the energy figures.

I'd targeted 600 fpe for the gun. I knew that would be exceptional for an AIR gun in a bullpup format.



Here's a shot of the chrono having shot the default slug for the gun - the 330.68 grain 58 Falcon Barnes cast slug. 920 feet per second brings in the energy rating at 621.6 foot pounds of muzzle energy for this slug. AND, please note ... this is THE LIGHTEST Barnes 58 slug. When field testing gets into the heavier slugs, I'm sure the energy will go up quite a bit.



Here's the set up. I shoot thru the huge steel muzzler which contains the shot - allowing it to escape only to jump across the chrono, and into the ballistic mail box.



The gun waiting atop the sink between shots.



All of us here at Barnes Pneumatic are extremely pleased!

The gun also seems very good with air consumption. The field will tell.

This is turning out to be all I planned for it, and quite a bit more.

Gary

Great initial numbers Gary! Thanks for including me in the first fires.

Very nice Garry,Great numbers for such a light slug,and you have still to tune it.If I may coment Garry, the pivot pin for the Rocker/Fireing lever appears offset to give the hammer greater purchase over the valve,this should take advantage of the30'' barrel length and work great with heavier slugs(at least thats my expearience).Your project is shapeing up real nice. Danny.

Holy smoke! At least, that's all that will be left of anything shot by this pup!!
No wonder your eyes are bulging and your skin has turned green, Gary
Cheers
Neil

Hello Neil,

While he looks like me (many times during each week) ... that's a fellow I hired to "de-bug" the new designs. Get it ... ? De-Bug the designs ... .... hahah. He came highly recommended and qualified.

Yeah ... the gun is pretty smoky - for sure. I'll get it to the range, and then get something else on the bench.

Gary

im not even going to ask how the trigger feels , and how it balances , its a barnes ,,, infact , im not even sure why i typed this ,,, infact forget i did, i have.

Two stage trigger feels like a two stage trigger should.

It shoots great off of the bi-pod as shown. And the line of shot vs. the bullet streak shows that it's very well balanced.

Gary

So Gary, how well does that muzzler thingey work? Can you even hear it from outside the shop, or does it just keep the noise down to the proverbial "low roar"?

I especially like the way your "inbox" is amply sealed with duct tape....very Alaskan!

Hi Sean,

The sound inside, with a heavy gun, is much like setting down some dumb-bells not too gently. There's a metalic quality (the inbox), and a thud quality. But - it doesn't have any real sharp edges, and it isn't loud enough to need any ear cups. Outside, it's much, much more muffled. Still, I limit the use and try to be aware of the time and what's going on outside.

The set up is totally safe. It's a thick steel walled pipe with a 1" plate steel far end. In the far end, there's a hole about 1 1/2" diameter. Welded to the outside is a pipe about 14" long. So - the only thing that can come out has to line up with that hole. And - even a bad "split" is still directed by the pipe so it can't hit the chrono and is caught by the inbox. Surrounding all of this is a floor to ceiling 1/4" thick plate steel cage backer. The round can only exit the muzzler if lined up - and it only jumps across the chrono before being caught. The inbox is heavy steel - with another 1" backer ... filled with insulation, slug debris, and capped with about an inch of duct tape to help contain lead schrapnal, if any should exist. Tried to make it have severals layers of redundant safety. You have to test velocity to do the work.

Wooden baffles inside muzzler to disintegrate with poorly aligned shots so there's no spray back to the user.

I mention this much detail in the event that it might keep someone from being hurt who might misunderstand the usage and build a hazard.

Sounds like a stout design. And it ought to keep most of the lead dust out of your indoor air.

Which, as Martha would say, is a good thing.

yes , as with many things , best not to upset the neighbours ,,,,
last night my neighbours dog was barking for hours and hours ,,,
eventually , i got up ,,, snuck next door with a burger
and led the dog into my yard ,,
when it had finished the burger ,,, yes
it started to bark again , for hours ,,, i though
lets see how they like it....