Ive been sharing my thoughts on the Raptor in an ongoing topic in the PCP area but realized there might be some die hard FT/AGN people who only come here.
If youve already seen my other comments you might want to pass on these, as Im not really saying anything new here, just kinda summing up the gun for FT.
Jefferson State Air RIfles announced the Raptor last spring. What immediately got my attention for it's use as a FT gun were the large, robust breech block and the fact that barrels can easily be swapped. If you're an FT person, you know the hunt for that elusive, perfect barrel is never-ending. The exchangeable barrels, and the beefy breech block reminded me of my USFT and I ordered one, with high hopes that it could be a FT contender.
As the development of the gun progressed and more info became available, I learned of other potentially beneficial features, in the context of FT. The barrels are tensioned, which, in theory should lead to a more consistent poi from day to day, minimize harmonic imbalances, etc. There is a massive metal frame extending from just in front of the trigger guard to up near the bottle to aid in rigidity. That frame also has a picatinny rail at the bottom. The supplied AR style stock has every adjustment possible, good for when the gun needs to be made to fit you. Adjustable regulators were added (and just recently were delivered by the subcontractor). An improved trigger was developed, which turned out to be sublime.
It comes in full size with a 22 inch long barrel, or a mini version which has a 16.5 inch barrel.
All of these pieces are parts and features really got my attention, again, with FT in mind.
I received mine about 5 weeks ago, a full size in .20, somewhat as an experiment to see how .20 does in the wind at sub 20fpe, and somewhat to scratch an itch for a .20 pcp that Ive had since briefly owning an RX2 gas ram in that caliber.
(Not FT related but this is how it did @ 102 yards and 24-25fpe with pretty windy conditions. 10 shots.)
While mine shipped with a fixed regulator (adjustable one pending-it currently does best at 24-25fpe and above), I have found my hopes for the gun to be true. By using my standard metric for a FT gun, the IFP paper target, the Raptor is performing right up there with a gun proven to be capable of winning matches, without any of the accoutrements found on the FT specific gun.
That leads me to my most recent developments. These should help with a little more rearward weight that I felt the gun needed, as well as general stability from a bum bag, and if the butthook works out, forced position shots.
I built a thigh rest for the Raptor. For Open class they are legal and, in my opinion, really help with side to side stability. They essentially swing down from the stored position to….rest on the thigh.
Here's a pic of one for those unfamiliar:
The cam/lever unlocks to swing it down to the thigh, and locks it in position, at either the stored or deployed positions.
Here's the one I built for the Raptor:
This one is lacking the cam lever (should be here on Monday). It will pivot where I'm am pinching and unlock to swing down and be lockable in the stored or deployed position like the one in the first picture.
Aluminum seemed the obvious choice. Kind of interesting back story to where the aluminum plate came from…..I grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma. For a growing boy, a couple thousand acres was an awesome place the hunt and fish and just roam wherever I wanted. Well we had these signs posted everywhere, keep out, no trespassing, that sort of thing. Well when the ranch sold when I was about 20, the signs were taken down and placed into a big conex (among a bunch of other random stuff) that was then moved here to AZ. I noticed the signs a couple months ago and made a mental note that they were there. When needing some decently thick aluminum plate for the Raptor thigh rest, I went and grabbed a sign. Turns out aluminum can be cut with a jigsaw and shaped with a belt sander. Took longer than necessary with the lack of proper tools but seems like it'll work for the intended use. Kind of cool, in a nostalgic way, to literally have a piece of the ranch on the gun.
I also ordered some other cheap baubles that I think I can turn into a convertible bag rider or butt hook (facing front or back).
Im currently using an AR front grip as a knee riser. It attaches to the picatinny rail and seems to be working well.
We're lucky here in AZ to have two field target matches per month, at least in the winter months. Now that Travis has the adjustable regs in, really hoping he gets caught up soon with the back log on the Raptors so that one finds its way to my house and I can try this baby out at a match.
In summary, the gun has a lot of potential for us FT folks. I have gotten the impression that JSAR developed the gun with much higher powers in mind, and fortuitously created a gun that seems like it should be able to really perform in our area of interest. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts applies here.
Now, as far as subjective thoughts on the gun and its use for FT. It's good! Zero hammer movement, zero lag in the pellet being gone ("lock time") and it's generally not hard to be accurate with it. It is a very "dead" gun to shoot. It seems that really heavy guns have this deadness to them. The Raptor shoots like a much heavier gun that it is. I think my full size is supposed to weight around 8 pounds unscoped. It shoots like my really heavy USFT in terms of deadness. The current trigger is very good, a FT capable trigger (and we know it takes a decent trigger in FT). It also maintains it's poi from day to day, very nice attribute to an FT gun, considering how much work we put into knowing our poi at every yard.
Here is a little sample of what it can do:
I am very excited to shoot it at a match and intend to report back with how it goes.
If you shoot FT, keep an eye on this gun cuz my 5 weeks with it have me thinking it could be a winner.
If youve already seen my other comments you might want to pass on these, as Im not really saying anything new here, just kinda summing up the gun for FT.
Jefferson State Air RIfles announced the Raptor last spring. What immediately got my attention for it's use as a FT gun were the large, robust breech block and the fact that barrels can easily be swapped. If you're an FT person, you know the hunt for that elusive, perfect barrel is never-ending. The exchangeable barrels, and the beefy breech block reminded me of my USFT and I ordered one, with high hopes that it could be a FT contender.
As the development of the gun progressed and more info became available, I learned of other potentially beneficial features, in the context of FT. The barrels are tensioned, which, in theory should lead to a more consistent poi from day to day, minimize harmonic imbalances, etc. There is a massive metal frame extending from just in front of the trigger guard to up near the bottle to aid in rigidity. That frame also has a picatinny rail at the bottom. The supplied AR style stock has every adjustment possible, good for when the gun needs to be made to fit you. Adjustable regulators were added (and just recently were delivered by the subcontractor). An improved trigger was developed, which turned out to be sublime.
It comes in full size with a 22 inch long barrel, or a mini version which has a 16.5 inch barrel.
All of these pieces are parts and features really got my attention, again, with FT in mind.
I received mine about 5 weeks ago, a full size in .20, somewhat as an experiment to see how .20 does in the wind at sub 20fpe, and somewhat to scratch an itch for a .20 pcp that Ive had since briefly owning an RX2 gas ram in that caliber.
(Not FT related but this is how it did @ 102 yards and 24-25fpe with pretty windy conditions. 10 shots.)
While mine shipped with a fixed regulator (adjustable one pending-it currently does best at 24-25fpe and above), I have found my hopes for the gun to be true. By using my standard metric for a FT gun, the IFP paper target, the Raptor is performing right up there with a gun proven to be capable of winning matches, without any of the accoutrements found on the FT specific gun.
That leads me to my most recent developments. These should help with a little more rearward weight that I felt the gun needed, as well as general stability from a bum bag, and if the butthook works out, forced position shots.
I built a thigh rest for the Raptor. For Open class they are legal and, in my opinion, really help with side to side stability. They essentially swing down from the stored position to….rest on the thigh.
Here's a pic of one for those unfamiliar:
The cam/lever unlocks to swing it down to the thigh, and locks it in position, at either the stored or deployed positions.
Here's the one I built for the Raptor:
This one is lacking the cam lever (should be here on Monday). It will pivot where I'm am pinching and unlock to swing down and be lockable in the stored or deployed position like the one in the first picture.
Aluminum seemed the obvious choice. Kind of interesting back story to where the aluminum plate came from…..I grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma. For a growing boy, a couple thousand acres was an awesome place the hunt and fish and just roam wherever I wanted. Well we had these signs posted everywhere, keep out, no trespassing, that sort of thing. Well when the ranch sold when I was about 20, the signs were taken down and placed into a big conex (among a bunch of other random stuff) that was then moved here to AZ. I noticed the signs a couple months ago and made a mental note that they were there. When needing some decently thick aluminum plate for the Raptor thigh rest, I went and grabbed a sign. Turns out aluminum can be cut with a jigsaw and shaped with a belt sander. Took longer than necessary with the lack of proper tools but seems like it'll work for the intended use. Kind of cool, in a nostalgic way, to literally have a piece of the ranch on the gun.
I also ordered some other cheap baubles that I think I can turn into a convertible bag rider or butt hook (facing front or back).
Im currently using an AR front grip as a knee riser. It attaches to the picatinny rail and seems to be working well.
We're lucky here in AZ to have two field target matches per month, at least in the winter months. Now that Travis has the adjustable regs in, really hoping he gets caught up soon with the back log on the Raptors so that one finds its way to my house and I can try this baby out at a match.
In summary, the gun has a lot of potential for us FT folks. I have gotten the impression that JSAR developed the gun with much higher powers in mind, and fortuitously created a gun that seems like it should be able to really perform in our area of interest. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts applies here.
Now, as far as subjective thoughts on the gun and its use for FT. It's good! Zero hammer movement, zero lag in the pellet being gone ("lock time") and it's generally not hard to be accurate with it. It is a very "dead" gun to shoot. It seems that really heavy guns have this deadness to them. The Raptor shoots like a much heavier gun that it is. I think my full size is supposed to weight around 8 pounds unscoped. It shoots like my really heavy USFT in terms of deadness. The current trigger is very good, a FT capable trigger (and we know it takes a decent trigger in FT). It also maintains it's poi from day to day, very nice attribute to an FT gun, considering how much work we put into knowing our poi at every yard.
Here is a little sample of what it can do:
I am very excited to shoot it at a match and intend to report back with how it goes.
If you shoot FT, keep an eye on this gun cuz my 5 weeks with it have me thinking it could be a winner.
