At Long Last! Rapid Air Weapons HM1000x.25

Hi tsp3355,

Very nice RAW . . . hope my stock looks as good as your stock . . . nice sheen to the stock, is it as it came from Martin, or have you worked on it, and if so, what did you use?

I'm interested in knowing about your scope setup. Scope info and height of rings you are using?
Also, a photo of the front end of your RAW and what it's resting on in the air bottle area.

Appreciate the info . . . and thanks in advance!

FredSG
 
Awesome. A thing of beauty for sure. Good photography. If one was to use a Side Wheel, might need a small one. Unless you could get the SF adjustment farther toward rear of receiver. I do like the lower profile of the mag. I think I seen on his site that he is using the picattiny rail now. Maybe just covering up the grooved receiver? Was that an option when you got yours? I really like the adjustable cheek piece, but imagine that adds a little weight due to steel hardware. Like your front rifle rest, who makes that? That micro adjustment would be a nice feature. I have targetshooting.com one piece model 500, wish I would have bought the model 1000 LP. In most things I purchase, I rarely regret buying the best model, just buying the lesser ones. Do you shoot from that table in your house or was that just for pictures? Would be real nice on these cold days.
 
Fred, the stock is just as it came from Martin. I've been debating with myself about whether to do anything to it or not. Before I do, I want to ask Martin what they have already done to it. The scope is an Optisan Viper 8-32 x 60 sitting in BKL High Mounts. If the Pic rail was available as an option when mine was built I wasn't aware of it. I would have ordered it had I known. The adjustable comb hardware actually doesn't add much weight based on my discussion with Martin. The Viper is a terrific scope, but it's heavy. I use my RAW primarily for pest sniping from a fixed position and target shooting. I wouldn't want to carry the Viper around in the field all day. The only other thing I'd mention about the Viper is it is quite wide across the horizontal turrets, which makes putting it in a rifle case that is less than 5 1/2" deep difficult or impossible. If I had the Pic rail, I could more easily use quick release mounts to facilitate using a shorter depth rifle case. I don't understand the question about what the bottle is sitting on. Its just resting on the front bag of the shooting rest.

The shooting rest is a Bald Eagle from Grizzly Industries. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Rest-Slingshot-Cast-Iron/BE1006 Great rest for the money. It's not a Sinclair or SEB by any means, but for less than $250 including the front sand bag, it's a tremendous value. The front bag in the rest is also from Bald Eagle. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Radius-Front-Bag/BE1124 . It works very well for every bottle gun I've tried on it. I will eventually get around to removing the horizontal adjustment cable and slight lag that goes with it on the horizontal adjustment, but its not bothersome enough for me to tear it apart right now. There was another tread in the accessories forum that shows this mod done. The same rest is available without the horizontal adjustment mechanism for even less money.

Please feel free to PM me if I didn't answer all the questions, or misunderstood what was being asked.

Happy Holidays!

TracyP
 
Sorry, missed the question about the table. I can shoot from that table out the side door of our breakfast nook, but I rarely do. The range is limited to about 30 yards in that direction, and I have a shooting table set up in the garage that I can shoot from without irritating the Mrs. :). I used it to take a couple of quick photos, because I thought the light would be good there (it wasn't as good as I thought!). I really need to get my daughter to take some pics. She is a much better photographer than I am. Those shots were taken in about 60 seconds with my phone. 
 
Here is the moderator exposed.





You can see how far the moderator protrudes past the end of the barrel.



To remove it unscrew the end cap. It will be quite tight but will come off. Pull the baffles out then twist the outer tube off. It is just a tight fit on the rear bushing.



There is a piece of thick felt inside the tube around the second baffle for some sound absorption.
 
@ 30 cal, Thanks for the pictures. Looks like there could be about 4" between rifle muzzle & end cap on moderator.

Like some of you, I really like what I am seeing and reading, but wish it was a little shorter. I placed an order, but have time to make changes. If it is not .22 magnum loud, w/o the moderator I will leave it off. I live in the country and noise is not a problem, and have not seen that a quiet gun any better for squirrels, they hear any noise @ all. My Colibri is scary quiet & my FX 400 is loud ( no moderator) , no problem limiting out with either. I never cared for the looks of a moderator hanging on the end of barrel, would prefer a shroud, they can look just like a bull barrel. If you get a full length shroud from RAW on the HM1000X you will need a smaller bottle. For me that would be fine. When hunting I never shoot over a mag full & while targeting practice I am @ my bench with the nitrogen two feet away, sometimes tethered. A smaller diameter custom made shroud even thought less efficient, may be something I could do later on, if that is even possible. Just thinking out loud. Oh well studying your options on your next acquisition , is almost as good as getting your next PCP rifle. Like hunting, the hunt is part of the fun.

Thanks again 30 cal, for sharing your pics & experience.



 
No problem Nutcracker! Happy to help! Regarding the shroud idea. It would still need to extend past the barrel the same amount. You wouldn't gain anything. All that would acompish is loosing air capacity do to needing a smaller diameter air tank. I think your best bet is to just remove the LDC for hunting. I would paint the end of the barrel black so it looks better while the LDC is off.
 
Wouldn't having the barrel and moderator Carbon Fiber sleeved/covered help to reduce some of the noise when shooting? Just wondering . . . can't wait for mine to show up . . . I plan to order a second Carbon Fiber bottle as a backup and store it in the pocket of the Yukon Explorer Side Pack that you guys introduced me to . . . I have the blaze orange version for when hunting!

FredSG
 
"30cal"No problem Nutcracker! Happy to help! Regarding the shroud idea. It would still need to extend past the barrel the same amount. You wouldn't gain anything. All that would acompish is loosing air capacity do to needing a smaller diameter air tank. I think your best bet is to just remove the LDC for hunting. I would paint the end of the barrel black so it looks better while the LDC is off.

Exactly, why am I complicating things? 
 
I would like to have a "picatinny accessory rail" about twice as long +- with a sling swivel stud in the very front. Would make for a more comfortable sling carry. I know on my FX 400 I moved the stud about 4" forward via a metal piece on my synthetic stock. Was a lot easier to carry. Maybe one of you machinist can come something. I think that part may be stainless, if so would be a little tough to add a stud to the end of that factory one.