Most reliable Big Bore?? Long Term Use

Mitch333 said:

Ya, I saw Sam Yang mentioned, but not in relation to a true "big Bore", coulda missed the refence tho, it's been a long day.

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@Mitch333 Re-read the title of this thread in the big letters at the top left side of the page. Also read the name of the forum this thread is posted in (above the thread title). I hope you can get some decent rest.

From what I have experienced, AEA big bore challenger 357 has never failed me so far and I have had it 2-3 years now. IT also has more power stock then many and cheaper. The downfall is ,, its heavy.

Another year in the books and the American Air Arms 357 Slayer has been a dependable treat. This particular big bore has had thousands and thousands of slugs put through it, averaging 500 per year minimum. It shoots with consistent MOA grouping on calm days to whatever distance I want to, and hunts like a dream with it's weight and balance.

follow up to my post on this thread back in February of last year.
I purchased the Western Bushbuck in .45 caliber. That is the minimum caliber for this state for deer.
I got the carbine model. The length and weight allow ease of use in the ladder stand or ground blind.
It is sighted in at 65 yds with 365 grain hollow points. It will put 5 shots in a 1.5 inch group off the shooting stick.
I harvested 2 nice deer this last fall. Both at around 50 yds and DRT.
I had a lot of fun practicing all summer. Shot over 1200 rounds. Visiting shooters were blown away by the accuracy and ease
of shooting this little carbine.
I highly recommend.

Doc

Hey guys I have the 457 Texan and I will say that at 50 yards which is where I'm practicing currently I can group the 290 2:30 and 3:50 in pretty tight groups still learning the gun but I wonder if any of you have ever shot some of the AEA big boars from a price point standpoint they seem to be far superior in cost then the Texan that I spent almost $1200 on but I'm invested in it now so I need to learn what it likes and be satisfied with that it's not gonna shoot every pellet I can tell you that for a fact 145 which is what I wanted to use it for for smaller game it flicks it almost off the paper and the 240 Nielsen doesn't like it too much either in comparison to the other weights I mentioned I've actually considered having one scope set up for the lighter weights and one scope set up for the heavier weights it does group well I will say that but the bell curve on it depending on where the hammer spring is set took me by surprise this weekend I had it set up for lighter pellets and instead of dropping at the yardage on the third and fourth shot it was actually gaining so on a non windy day I thought I might go out and do some more research today was pretty windy at the range. Next what is the issue with the Texan as far as reliability goes I put about 1000 rounds through my 457 carbine with no breakdowns I won't tell you that it's my dream accurate rifle because so far it hasn't proven to be so what seems to be the issue with reliability that some of you have experienced

RM.510bigbore said:

I have been new to pcp airgun s. I bought my Texan during the pandemic and jumped in with both feet. I was in my younger days a long range powder burner hunter Benchrest and gunsmithing. I was very used to long range setup s and dialing elevation. After watching all the awesome long range videos on YouTube I bought my Texan. In short it has been a extremely difficult to obtain consistent accuracy. I shoot slot and that's what attracted me to airgun s. Cost effective cast slugs and air much cheaper than the powder burner alternative. My Texan breaks .... 300 lbs of slugs and two major issues... I bought a Texan for the reputation and accuracy presented online.. In short I need 2 big bores to have one working. So in my eyes Texan Tx2 valve not reliable... Umarex Hammer not reliable.. AEA big bores...not.reliable.. So.who really makes a good reliable big bore??? I haven't had experience with Western Bush buck or Hatsun piledriver or extreme big bores.. I making this post to help myself and new shooters getting into big bores. How many rounds of slugs without break downs. With powder burner bolt actions they never broke just wore out barrels. I want big bores to get better.. The quality of some of the barrels.on many of the big bores are horrible.. I would like the industry to get better.. More performance and less marketing hype. Thanks for bearing with me Airgun Nation friends..

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I would say pbba airguns my shrouded .457 pbba only uses 3 o rings total in the gun and there all 70d size and are available at the hardware store it's very quick and easy to tear down and fix no regulators no air gauge..

Have you ever used the AEA BIG 9? I've owned mine for around three years, and the only maintenance required was the replacement of a single o-ring. It's quite powerful for a stock .357 caliber. If a coyote appeared at 200 yards, similar to the target shown in the video at 132gr, it would be quickly subdued. I doubt any other PCP can compete with its power for $600. Even the M357 doesn't match the Big 9's out-of-the-box power. However, it is a hunting PCP and quite heavy, so I typically hunt from a blind and a tripod. LOL I'm old.

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I have a .357 bull dog and I got a couple hundred pellets through it. It does not leak, it’s plenty accurate, but it is on the low side for power. When I use cast .357 bullets I can make around 200 ft lbs.

I do have about $800 worth of pitbull mods sitting in the basement that I never get around to playing with. But now that you can hunt deer in Wisconsin with an air rifle I might get the motivation to get er done.

extradrygin2001 said:

I have a .357 bull dog and I got a couple hundred pellets through it. It does not leak, it’s plenty accurate, but it is on the low side for power. When I use cast .357 bullets I can make around 200 ft lbs.

I do have about $800 worth of pitbull mods sitting in the basement that I never get around to playing with. But now that you can hunt deer in Wisconsin with an air rifle I might get the motivation to get er done.

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200 foot pounds is very low for a .357 maybe invest into a pbba or XP or extreme big bore

extradrygin2001 said:

I have a .357 bull dog and I got a couple hundred pellets through it. It does not leak, it’s plenty accurate, but it is on the low side for power. When I use cast .357 bullets I can make around 200 ft lbs.

I do have about $800 worth of pitbull mods sitting in the basement that I never get around to playing with. But now that you can hunt deer in Wisconsin with an air rifle I might get the motivation to get er done.

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After adding the mods how many fpe do you expect? You could use a longer barrel to gain even more power. The M357 using 214gr is 311 fpe. If you can come close to that I wouldn't bother with a new pcp. It would be a shame not to use those parts.

357cal said:

After adding the mods how many fpe do you expect? You could use a longer barrel to gain even more power. The M357 using 214gr is 311 fpe. If you can come close to that I wouldn't bother with a new pcp. It would be a shame not to use those parts.

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I believe the expectation is 300 ft lbs after mods. I agree as I do not plan to purchase a different rifle. The short overall length of the Bulldog was one of the main attractions.

Why has no one mentioned any of the big-bore Quackenbush (DAQ) air rifles? The guy has been making these guns for over 20 years. Have his big bores not stood the test of time? Are they not good quality air rifles?

Ezana4CE said:

Why has no one mentioned any of the big-bore Quackenbush (DAQ) air rifles? The guy has been making these guns for over 20 years. Have his big bores not stood the test of time? Are they not good quality air rifles?

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They do, but there aren't that many around (low production) so there is going to be less responses about them on this thread. Same goes with the original AAA Slayer's being custom built and not as many around, so not as many responses.

I have a western Rattler 357 that I've never had any problems with that's powerful and semi-auto and a Seneca double that so far has not given me any problems but I haven't really shot it that much. But if I had to pick the most reliable Big bore I've ever shot, it would have to be the Benjamin bulldog 357. I had it for a few years and put tons of pellets and slugs through it, when I got the Western Rattler I gave it to my dad and he shot it a lot and then he found something else he liked and he gave it back to me. I took it out shooting after he gave it back to me and it's still fires like the first time I fired it. Between me and my dad, it's been with us for over 3 years and we've never had to fix anything on it, send it in for any maintenance, never change the seals or anything.

357cal said:

From what I have experienced, AEA big bore challenger 357 has never failed me so far and I have had it 2-3 years now. IT also has more power stock then many and cheaper. The downfall is ,, its heavy.

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What do you find so funny

357cal said:

From what I have experienced, AEA big bore challenger 357 has never failed me so far and I have had it 2-3 years now. IT also has more power stock then many and cheaper. The downfall is ,, its heavy.

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What do you find so funny

anonymous_.457​

357cal said:

What do you find so funny

What do you find so funny

anonymous_.457​

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Dude... aea is junk... get a custom big bore like a extreme or xp or pbba... mr rob chadwick.... aea is a lawsuit waiting to happen literally all the big bore builders im friends with have looked at them and say there not safe. And their junk my big bores are around 9 years old and still work amazing i just bought a extreme big bore .457... it does over 600 fpe.

anonymous_.457 said:

Dude... aea is junk... get a custom big bore like a extreme or xp or pbba... mr rob chadwick.... aea is a lawsuit waiting to happen literally all the big bore builders im friends with have looked at them and say there not safe. And their junk my big bores are around 9 years old and still work amazing i just bought a extreme big bore .457... it does over 600 fpe.

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How much did you pay for your Extreme? AEA has been promoting their PCP airguns for years; are there any legal actions against them? If they were of poor quality, there would likely be some lawsuits by now. My .357 is as reliable as your $2,000 PCP. A recent comparison between the .357 PCP and the Extreme Big Bore revealed only a 17 FPE difference, yet mine was $600. An alternative could have been the AirForce Texan in .45 cal, which offers 500 FPE. Below, 1, 2, and 4 are from a 357 Extreme Big Bore, followed by an AEA 357 side lever. I will not spend 2grand on any PCP when I can buy a Mark V Weatherby for that same price. “Criticism is the best form of flattery.” Thank you.

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AEA hate is real up in here. Listen we all know that AEA can't make a semi-auto to save their lives, but they're regular having to cock it after every shot big boars are good. I had the 50 cal bullpup and it was good. I never had a problem with it. I would still have it if I didn't get the Western rattler 357 and the Seneca double shot, on top of getting my Benjamin bulldog back from my dad, I just couldn't justify having that many guns for the same purpose. The magazines and their semi-auto system sucks in my opinion, I had nothing but jams and magazines breaking, but they're big bores are good for the money.

longshot81 said:

AEA hate is real up in here. Listen we all know that AEA can't make a semi-auto to save their lives, but they're regular having to cock it after every shot big boars are good. I had the 50 cal bullpup and it was good. I never had a problem with it. I would still have it if I didn't get the Western rattler 357 and the Seneca double shot, on top of getting my Benjamin bulldog back from my dad, I just couldn't justify having that many guns for the same purpose. The magazines and their semi-auto system sucks in my opinion, I had nothing but jams and magazines breaking, but they're big bores are good for the money.

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Thank you for your honesty and you are absolutely right about the semi-autos.