Other Low powered .25?

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My first P35 was a 25 because that was all I could find. I tested various pellets and settled on 20 grain H&N FTT. I lowered the regulator and had them going over 800 fps. A little over 30 fpe. I took 18 squirrels with it at that tune. Whacked them hard. A jaw impact crushed the skull. Only 3 pellets failed to exit. It's tuned for more power now for the occasional bigger critter but lower power 25s definitely work.
 
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Airgun-Revisions said:
https://www.airgunrevisions.com/product/the-shawty-b/

I’ve already been producing these .25 barn guns and field tested for 5 years now. Guys are buying them for multiple uses because the power range goes from 400 ft./s to 700 ft./s.. They are even a hit down in Florida for iguana hunting. Read the specs. M&M Guide Services use these for their customers to shoot.

View attachment 536745
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@Airgun-Revisions

Would you convert a customer supplied rifle to those specs?
 
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Here it is guys! I really love the way it looks! The wood stock is visually well proportioned to the size of the rifle. I've been a Taipan fan for almost 5 years now but I've never even considered buying the Compact before. Now that I have it though, I really like it! It's noticeably lighter and shorter than the Standard Veteran. I can't believe Taipan gave up on this size rifles. I think it's perfect for a modest tune.

I had a little bit of trouble tuning this one tonight. It came from the factory shooting about 42 FPE. I didn't do much shooting at that power but from reading other people's experiences, it probably gets around 30 shots on the reg from a full 250 bar fill at that power tune. I initially wanted around 20 to 23 FPE with the .25 JSB King 25.39gr but I ran into an issue where the hammer spring is just too much even backed out all the way. Meaning that for a particular reg pressure that would give me 23 FPE, I am unable to back out the hammer enough to give even just 2% lower velocity than maximum. That was at 50 bar and 60 bar reg pressure where the hammer spring was too much. I could probably achieve that tune with a lighter hammer spring but I just decided to tune it up a bit instead.

I was successful tuning it at 70 bars reg pressure. This gives a maximum velocity of 695 FPS with the 25.39gr JSB. I then backed the hammer spring down to give a final tune of 675 FPS (25 FPE). I haven't done a full shot string, but from the tuning shots, at 25 FPE, it's using only 2 bars per shot. This gives 90 shots on the reg from a full 250 bar fill! :eek:

In comparison, when I had the reg pressure at 60 bars, even backed all the way down, the hammer spring tension was still too much for that reg pressure that the best shot count estimates I got was only 57 shots. The valve was just too light at that pressure.

20250214_022353.jpg
 
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I too have no idea why Taipan got rid of the Shorts. Hell really they got rid of the Standards too. The new 550mm are the same length as the original Longs. I'd love a shorter one but oh well. Apparently the Shorts never sold well which seems crazy to me. I have access to one if my Brother in law ever wants a different gun thankfully.

I bet that gun is very quiet at that power!
 
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Dairyboy said:
I too have no idea why Taipan got rid of the Shorts. Hell really they got rid of the Standards too. The new 550mm are the same length as the original Longs. I'd love a shorter one but oh well. Apparently the Shorts never sold well which seems crazy to me. I have access to one if my Brother in law ever wants a different gun thankfully.

I bet that gun is very quiet at that power!
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Yes you're right, Taipan basically discontinued the shorter guns and started with the Long size now only getting longer from there. The Compact might generally be not popular but I think many people will actually like the size of it if they've had the chance to see it in person and actually get the chance to use one. I'm one such person. I think the size and looks are just awesome.

I finally got the chance to shoot the rifle tonight outside of just chronograph testings inside my enclosed gun room so I now have a better idea of the gun's loudness. I'm not going to over exaggerate and use terms such as "mouse fart quiet" or "I thought the gun was broken". It is still a 25 FPE gun after all. Having said that, it is noticeably quieter than my Veteran Long in .22 tuned to 32 FPE. It is also quieter than the Veteran Standard in .22 tuned to 27 FPE. With the 30+ FPE .22 caliber Taipan rifles, I always have to wear hearing protection whenever I shoot more than 5 or 10 shots in a session from inside a window because it really hurts my ears and I get a major headache afterwards. No such issues with the Compact... and I shot waaaay more than just 10 shots tonight. The sound of the Compact at this power tune is so smooth. The best way I can describe it is a hollow tube "thump" sound letting you know that a projectile has been blown out of the barrel.

I've also gotten a better idea of the shot count estimates. Based on all the shots I did tonight, it is giving me a calculated estimate of 83 shots from a full 250 bar fill.

The tune also has a great shot to shot consistency. Although I have not done an actual one session shot string, every time I chronograph at the muzzle, it's always been around 674 FPS or 675FPS. The highest I've seen it is 684 FPS when the rifle has sat unused for 16 hours. This is why I really take my time with the tuning because as a standby varmint rifle, that first "cold barrel" shot is really important to me.

I also chronographed the gun at 32 meters and it's giving me a pressure corrected BC of 0.042 for the JSB King 25.39gr.

So far, I'm really happy with how this "low power" venture is turning out to be... The quietness and smoothness of the shot cycle, the high number of shots per fill, the shot to shot consistency, and the size, weight, and overall appearance of the rifle all seem quite awesome!
 
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MushroomPsyche said:
First kill for the Veteran Compact. This is supposed to be a gun for 15 meters, but as you can see, 37 meters is no problem. 😅
Also, looks like it's shooting a smidge high. I will re-check the zero later tonight.

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That's good eat'n right there! The hams are my fave and the back straps. My Buddy gets the rest, he won't touch them raw.
 
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It's been a few days and I just wanted to update. This gun has turned out quite awesome. The low power tune makes the shot cycles very smooth and quiet. I've taken some shots at 40 meters and it's dead on accurate. Yes, I know I planned the gun to be used for sub-20 meters but it's so accurate and I actually find it easier to shoot than the Veteran Standard at 44 FPE tune with the King Heavy. Before all this, I've told myself that if I ever get a .25 caliber gun, it has to shoot at least 40 or 45 FPE, otherwise I'd rather just get .22 caliber. Now that I have this gun though, I think a low power tuned .25 caliber is totally worth it. The bigger caliber at lower powers is so efficient with air usage.

I now understand all the "low power airgun" proponents.
 
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I may retune my P35-25 this fall before squirrel season. It really likes 34 grain mk2 JSBs but struggles to get them to 800 fps due to a short barrel and small hammer spring. More mods are planned when I can get parts. But especially if that doesn't pan out I may go back to little 20 grain FTT pellets it shot well in the 32 fpe tune and see what they do at 600 to 700 fps. 16 to 22 fpe. I do not use it for squirrels with the current tune because the maximum range according to chairgun is 718 yards. I have a large lake behind the house for pellets to fall harmlessly into but there is a fairly busy street within 700 yards. Retuning the gun this way would keep it from being able to reach the traffic. Drops the maximum to about 400 yards.
 
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I hit a bit of a snag with this setup. Although the gun has been very accurate, the Huma Air is having a hard time regulating the 70 bars low of a pressure I set it to. The regulator is rated at 110 to 170 bars, and although I've gotten away with using it at 95 bars, 70 bars is just too low. I re-checked the reg last night and it was reading 80 bars when when I haven't touched it since I've set it days ago. Even then, there were times when the velocities were erratic. Most of the time, the velocities are consistent, but then, there will be that one shot where it's 30 FPS too low.

If I increase the reg pressure to around 90 bars, it will make a 30 FPE gun but will also reduce the shot count considerably.

I'm thinking of ordering Belleville washers replacements with a lower pressure rating from Huma Air so I can keep my 25 FPE tune. They sell a set that's rated for 60 bars.

Also, I've noticed that when I'm degassing the gun, the pressure in the plenum is retained. I don't know exactly what's going on but this might be another indication that I'm pushing the Belleville washers way past their specifications. Within specifications though, I can degas the air cylinder from the bleed valve by the fill probe port. Now, I have to open the valve at the back by pushing the hammer in.
 
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Now that I've had a bit of time and a number of kills with this gun, I can say that this gun is definitely a 30 meter gun for me. I've taken a few beyond 30 meters, with the longest one being 40 meters, but shots within 30 meters is just so much more reliable for me. I also still learning the best way to hold this gun and always fine tuning the scope's zero.

The .25 caliber at 25 FPE has similar performance to similar powered .22 caliber on squirrels. Meaning, from what I'm seeing, headshots are a must if I want to drop them right where they stand. I have at least a couple wounding shots and from what I'm seeing using this gun, the .25 caliber at this power is more crippling to them than wounding shots with the .22 caliber. With the .22 caliber, if I don't drop them with a headshot, they usually get to run away and hide making a follow up shot impossible. With the .25, a wounding shot would usually cripple them where they can't move, making follow up shots easy.

In contrast, the .25 Standard Veteran tuned to 44 FPE is always a kill on the spot even with chest shot within 50 meters.

Of course, one clear advantage of the low power .25 compared to similar powered .22 is that the .25 uses so much less air than the .22 caliber.
 
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The more I shoot this rifle at this tune, the more I find that it is very sensitive to follow through. I usually do my target practice at 33 meters and at that distance, the rifle is definitely accurate but only if I really concentrate on my follow through. My Veteran Standard .25 tuned to 45 FPE has considerably more recoil but that rifle feels like a laser beam compared to the 25 FPE Short. With the Short, the groups start to really open up (1 cm +) once I start to get tired and don't pay as much attention to the follow through.

I have taken some squirrels with 1 shot with the Veteran Short at 30 and 40 meters so the gun can definitely do it, but I've also had some that took more than 1 shot so my confidence with this gun at those distances is not 100%.

I attribute this sensitivity to the long lock time with the JSB King going 670 FPS. I also tried the King Heavy on the same tune and got very similar results.

I'm also running the gun at very low reg pressures; 65 bars. I don't know how that affects accuracy but I vaguely remember reading some people say that higher reg pressures is usually better... I'm not 100% sure though if I recall that correctly.

The rifle is very good at the 15 to 20 meter distances that I bought and tuned it for but it's still nice to have a rifle that is easy to shoot accurately at longer distances. However, I'm not sure if it's worth to tune it to 33 FPE. 33 FPE would give the same muzzle velocity with the JSB King 25.39gr as my Standard with the King Heavy at 45 FPE. At that tune, I'm sacrificing noise and the relative safety of the lower power for closer up varminting. I can also just as easily grab the Standard Veteran if I need to shoot at longer distances since that gun spot on and much easier to shoot at much longer distances.

The Standard is actually more hold sensitive than the Short. I have to firmly hold the Standard against my shoulder to control recoil, but barely grip the pistol grip. I hold the Short in a similar manner but I notice that it's not as picky to the way I hold the it. Maybe because it hardly has any recoil at its power tune. It's just the follow through that it's picky with.

I'd like to add that I typically shoot on a tripod without buttstock support. I can probably improve consistency with support at the back but I don't want to practice like that because I don't hunt varmints that way.
 
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Ok, I couldn't take it any longer... I re-tuned the gun to 755 FPS with the JSB King 25.39gr. for 32 FPE. Although I like the low power, I just couldn't stand how difficult it was to shoot accurately.

With it at 755 FPS, it now shoots similar to how my Standard is with the King Heavy at similar velocities.

It will take a while before I'm fully confident with this gun, but initial testing looks very promising.

The gun is obviously a bit louder now, but only about the same as my .22 Long at the same power tune.

The shot count is estimated at around 62 shots compared to 80 at the 25 FPE tune. So not too bad. The regulator went up from 65 bars to 95 bars.
 
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