Hatsan Piledriver in .457

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gendoc

gendoc

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Oct 28, 2018
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Josephine Al. __ Lowest Bama Airgun hunter
interested in any reviews from owners here... about this gun for deer hunting, i have had the CF texan, and i have the Hammer now, which does very well !
we just have so much casting/ sizing equipment for the .457 that its looking like this caliber will be hunted with this coming november.
my son, grandkids and I really enjoy big bore airgun hunting !! 👨‍🌾
 
Love mine, hogs don’t and im sure the deer would agree. Accurate, very powerful, huge loading port, trigger is adjustable to single stage even and surprisingly good OTB. Hatsan has a tarnished reputation, yes, but zero issues with reliability or consistency on mine w about 1k rounds in. In fact I have not heard of any real issues with Piledrivers by other owners, least not here. Only thing I had to do was re align the bottle band a touch and add a 20moa rail. .457 350gr slugs fly at ~930 fps, shots 5&6 are low but still on axis and consistent. Very loud w/o a moderator. DonnyFL emperor and extension make it quiet enough the dog ain’t bothered. Not much to modify from what I can tell, besides maybe a larger bottle and it looks like they used grey thread gunk so heat may be needed. The piston style hammer system makes it really easy and smooth to cock, but no way to decock besides firing, so a minus there. Fill probe is a minus to some, but wasnt a deal breaker for me. No sling mounts bothersd me but i added my own and it shoulders really well though for being on the heavy side. Not much to rest on a bag, tripod works great. I had a post from initial sight in, never got around to the follow up groups, but i’ll add in the link to the post. Its accurate for sure. Im hard on my rig too, and its held up really well over a year with multiple hog hunts.

.457 piledriver initial sight in

quick post. Sighted in this beast a while ago, just now getting to post. Initial sight in of the Piledriver in .457. First shot low left after bore sighting. ATN 4KPro 5x20 (one shot zero works, was not recording as i forgot the sd card, doh!) NSA 350gr BTHP. 4300 psi fill, 4 shots, end psi...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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gendoc said:
As great as its been to me, repairs are my concern. I dont consider a breech o ring or fill probe o ring as a repair, and i have changed those. The drawback i accepted is when it does break or get wonky, i could be at mercy of hatsan’s reputable customer service if the repair is beyond my ability. Since I dont know anyone who has worked on one, im stuck there too for advice or guidance on the thing. So know that if you buy one, i was cautioned about their cs dept from folks here and from others, just passing in the same info. So far havent needed cs, prolly just jinxed myself. Lol.
Click to expand...
 
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yes, ive delt with there CS dept before, thats why i will only buy one from PA.
they give you 1 year warranty and support if needed.
i know a guy in Fl that has fixed every airgun i've sent him over the years.
even a couple hatsans and he says there very simple guns.
my oldest grandson is picking up tinkering with them also.
he has tore apart his invader and resealed it after many thousands of shots
its like a timex watch.....its still tick'n !!
 
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Made mine into a carbine!!
Cut 10 inches from the barrel and it's still doing 450fpe with 280 grain Mr hollow points! Didn't loose any accuracy!
IMG_20211016_193541.jpg
 
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ChuckHunter said:
Made mine into a carbine!!
Cut 10 inches from the barrel and it's still doing 450fpe with 280 grain Mr hollow points! Didn't loose any accuracy!View attachment 278174
Click to expand...
Awsome! Forgot you were doing that, i remember your post. Braver soul than I. So no other issues with yours either?
 
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ChuckHunter said:
Made mine into a carbine!!
Cut 10 inches from the barrel and it's still doing 450fpe with 280 grain Mr hollow points! Didn't loose any accuracy!
Click to expand...
Looks beautiful (y) Not surprised at no accuracy loss. As long as the projectile spin is stabilized and you did a good crown job on the muzzle. How much velocity loss did you have with the 10 inch chop?
 
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Bought 2 .50 cal Pile drivers 2 weeks ago. 1 works fine but one losses air over night. Bought a Benjamine .357 Bulldog. Calling CS tomorrow to see what they recommend on the Piledriver that loses air.The Bulldog came with a scope. Put Talos first focal planes on the Piledrivers. Bought 2 pumps, one is a ToAuto and the other is a Hill. Bought 2 reserve air tanks also. 1 is a minie and the other is the large. Both of them Pyramid Air. Had to get a double male air fitting and a .36” whip to make things easier. Running a double oil/water separator. This is my first pcp endeavor. I hunt every year with pistols, shotguns and rifles and in my old age wanted to try something different.
 
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i got the piledriver yesterday and got to test it out today..
50yrds is my max distance, and my most productive distance is between 17 & 30yrds.
this piledriver is just what Rick Rehm says it is.....a tackdriver !!
i have had 2 texans, 2 quackenbush, 2 badgers and a hammer.
none of them put 3 big slugs basically in the same hole @ 30yrds as the Piledriver !!

it took 11 patches to clean the gunk out of the barrel and it really shoots about every slug i have very well except the light weight stuff below 300gr.

i'm shooting my cast and sized .457 RNFP 405gr lyman slugs at around 885 FPS = 704 FPE

i like it !! and i'm going to hunt with it come our november ML/AG special season
and probably the remainder of deer season right on to hog wild season.

i will try and get some more pictures soon while i'm testing further. 👨‍🌾
Piledriver.jpg
 
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My Piledriver in .457
Very nice tac driver for an air rifle this big and this powerful.
It does basically put the round in the same hole at 50 yards but since I'm not a hunter yet, when I find someone with a big enough property, I'll be going for 500 yards just to satisfy my curiosity
Extra ancillary equipment includes an add on butt pad with integral mono-pod, Witt Machine muzzle brake, on order and Vortex Diamondback tactical 4 - 12 X 40 scope shooting the NSA 350 gr boat tail hollow points and carry handle
As it sits in the pic, weight is about 16 pounds

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