I shot rimfire benchrest for several years, in the rimfire benchrest game it's rare to see a rifle without a barrel tuner. I began making and modifying barrel tuners for all my benchrest rifles, I also made with my own design an air stripper that threads into the end of the tuner that works really well. I just got into the air gun world, and I have been experimenting on my backyard range with a Gauntlet 2 .25 cal. that I bought last week, this rifle responds well using the tuner/air stripper. I have noticed that the barrel tuners on air rifles have just recently started being used, there is some skepticism as if they really work or not. I can only speak about my own experience using them on the rimfire rifles and this air rifle I just got but they do work for me. In my opinion, for a tuner to work properly it has to be mounted on the end of the barrel with main mass of the tuner extending beyond the end of the barrel and it also needs to be made so it can accept various number of weights as different barrels require different amounts of weight to achieve a proper tune. The standard tuner in rimfire benchrest is the Harrells tuner, it is made to be clamped over the end of the barrel, it has to be bored out for the size of the barrel it's put on and it clamps on with a slit type of joint. I have found that on a lot of barrels the stock Harrells tuner works better by machining off the mass of it's weight in the middle section so the weight can be put in the very front extending further from the end of the barrel. I have studied lots of high-speed photographs of rifles being shot and the number one thing that causes flyers is not the air or combustion gasses behind the bullet, it's the turbulent air that is being pushed out the barrel in front of the bullet, when that air in front of the bullet exits the barrel, it creates a turbulent cloud that the bullet has to pass through, and it can tip off the bullet causing a flyer. I came up with the idea of an air stripper that will disperse that cloud of air enough to give the bullet a clear path to the target without tipping it off. I took this Gauntlet 2 rifle and removed the barrel and machined a couple pieces to slip over the barrel that are held in place inside the shroud with O-rings to keep the barrel centered and machined another piece so that when tightening the end cap, the barrel is held tight with no spring inside. I installed my tuner/air stripper and have been experimenting with it to see what kind of accuracy I could get with it and it's been working very well. Just to be upfront, I'm not trying to sell anyone on anything, I'm just posting this to show what can be done experimenting with tuners etc. I will say this though, a tuner or whatever will not make a bad shooting rifle shoot good, but they will make a good shooting rifle shoot better if used properly.
I know showing pics of groups don't mean much but I think it's pretty good to get a 400.00 rifle to shoot an 8 shot group like this at 100 yards.......believe it or not....lol
I know showing pics of groups don't mean much but I think it's pretty good to get a 400.00 rifle to shoot an 8 shot group like this at 100 yards.......believe it or not....lol
