.30 Cricket

[zx10wall]

Ernest Rowe modified this pup a few years ago from .177 to .30. At that time he fitted an unchocked .30 LW barrel. It was maxed out shooting the 44.75 gr JSBs at 860 fps. This was the state of the rifle when I purchased it second hand. The accuracy was good but I thought it could be a bit better. 

The first thing I did was modify the cocking lever. I shoot left handed. The end of the side lever dug into my cheek. So, I cut, heated and shaped the lever. Made a biathlon type handle, fitted it and called it good. I had to cope out the stock a bit for the new cocking configuration. I also removed the mag holder as it did not hold .30 mags. 

I recently sent the gun to Ernest. He prepped a .30 Smooth Twist barrel and fitted for me as well as a titanium valve stem. He also made a hammer weight for me to get the speed up. I set the reg to 150 bar and dialed the rifle in for 885 fps with the 44.75 gr JSBs. I am getting 20 shots on the reg from a 255 bar fill and it's quite accurate now. Huge improvement. I sanded the synthetic stock, reshaped where the mag holder once went and shot several coats of Rustoleum bed liner paint on. Lastly, I got a Neil Clague dual shroud that is super nice. 

Very happy with it. Many thanks to Ernest for all his help and expertise. Here are a few pictures. Groups are five shots from 50 yards lasered. 

 

[Bowhunter73]

You've got a winner there like the way you did the stock, the power level and accuracy really seal the deal.

 

[NeilClague]

Looks good, I like the finish you got with the bedliner, it looks really good on the gun. Have to ask why you got rid of the magazine holders though, I thought they were pretty handy to have? Neil.

 

[zx10wall]

"NeilClague"Looks good, I like the finish you got with the bedliner, it looks really good on the gun. Have to ask why you got rid of the magazine holders though, I thought they were pretty handy to have? Neil.

Neil, the .30 mags wouldn't fit in the original .177 mag holder. It was useless to me. I only get two 10 round mags worth of shots on a fill. One mag in the gun and one mag in the pocket. Beautiful and effective dual shroud you made me. Cheers.

 

[Cone]

I'm jealous, I would love to have that setup. I have a Cricket .25 that I love but I would really like to have a .30 to go with it. I wonder if Ernest could do a .30 Cricket rifle?

 

[Cone]

Also that is beautiful shroud from Mr. Clague.

 

[zx10wall]

"Cone"I'm jealous, I would love to have that setup. I have a Cricket .25 that I love but I would really like to have a .30 to go with it. I wonder if Ernest could do a .30 Cricket rifle?

I've no doubt that Ernest could do that for you. Although, I would think, with an effective LDC mounted, it could get really long! 

 

[Cone]

I'm not to worried about a LDC, where I shoot at noise isn't a factor.

 

[zebra]

That's amazing. 20 shots from a .30 at that power from a Cricket with the shorter air cylinder is very very impressive. Some manufacturers are selling longer 25 cal guns that can barely squeeze 15 shots out before falling off the cliff. 

Ernest should start making his own brand of air rifles. When I see what he can achieve by modding someone else's design, I have to wonder how good he could make it if he designed his own from the ground up. I would definitely buy one (at least).

In fact, if ER brings out his own brand of PCP bullpup, it might be the one scenario where I would consider pre-ordering. 

I wonder how many shots he could get from a .30 Cricket made from a 25 cal.