I have been new to pcp airgun s. I bought my Texan during the pandemic and jumped in with both feet. I was in my younger days a long range powder burner hunter Benchrest and gunsmithing. I was very used to long range setup s and dialing elevation. After watching all the awesome long range videos on YouTube I bought my Texan. In short it has been a extremely difficult to obtain consistent accuracy. I shoot slot and that's what attracted me to airgun s. Cost effective cast slugs and air much cheaper than the powder burner alternative. My Texan breaks .... 300 lbs of slugs and two major issues... I bought a Texan for the reputation and accuracy presented online.. In short I need 2 big bores to have one working. So in my eyes Texan Tx2 valve not reliable... Umarex Hammer not reliable.. AEA big bores...not.reliable.. So.who really makes a good reliable big bore??? I haven't had experience with Western Bush buck or Hatsun piledriver or extreme big bores.. I making this post to help myself and new shooters getting into big bores. How many rounds of slugs without break downs. With powder burner bolt actions they never broke just wore out barrels. I want big bores to get better.. The quality of some of the barrels.on many of the big bores are horrible.. I would like the industry to get better.. More performance and less marketing hype. Thanks for bearing with me Airgun Nation friends..
Most reliable Big Bore?? Long Term Use
- Thread starter RM.510bigbore
- Start date
Something like XPs, Bushbucks or Extremes most likely are guns that really will give no trouble for a long time
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Gonna watch this one. I am jonesing to get a big bore. Where I live you can hunt any game animal with an air gun.
I would just like to get a few deer and maybe an elk (not a ranch/fence hunt). Texan had my interest but stories of poor accuracy and reliability issues have me looking elsewhere for now.
I would just like to get a few deer and maybe an elk (not a ranch/fence hunt). Texan had my interest but stories of poor accuracy and reliability issues have me looking elsewhere for now.
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Tell you what, the good old Sam yang ( now Seneca ) has been around a long, long time way before any other but DAQ was around,
Kind on the weak side powerwise compared to the crop today but they did put down a lot of big game and still do.
Kind on the weak side powerwise compared to the crop today but they did put down a lot of big game and still do.
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Iam thinking about getting one. Leaning towards the winchester or the seneca. I will follow along to get some information I hope.
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I wish I hadn't tried to save 4-6 hundred dollars when I got a "high" power big bore, quotes because air rifle big bores are all low power, some pathetically so. I bought into the hype on the Texans, bad mistake. There are very few quality choices out there, XP airguns, American Air Arms(won't have the power potential of XP), maybe western air rifles bushbuck(haven't been around long enough for me to trust personally), Extreme Big Bores, Quackenbush if you can get one maybe, and that is about it that I'm aware of. For target shooting, probably couldn't do better than American Air Arms if you can swallow the price. All the others are two shot guns for target shooting once you figure out the fill pressure and hammer spring for whatever bullet you end up selecting, unless you shoot tethered.
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I don't know much about Bigbore airguns but here's my take coming from a PB perspective. Except for a Sam Yang type 9mm that I bought 20 years ago I haven't talked myself into another one for the reasons Reed mentioned and other reasons as well.
Most of those Bigbores have thin actions and thin barrels. I'm sure a big part of that is because they are made for hunting and people want light weight rifles for this purpose. This is fine in a that regard but also the need for super precision isn't required for deer sized game 50 yards away either.
But for a target rifle those traits aren't optimal nor are desired. A couple guns I've considered are Haley and Sinner.
Check out this beast!
https://www.drummencustomguns.com/en/54-airguns?airgun=dz-sinner-giant-accessories
Most of those Bigbores have thin actions and thin barrels. I'm sure a big part of that is because they are made for hunting and people want light weight rifles for this purpose. This is fine in a that regard but also the need for super precision isn't required for deer sized game 50 yards away either.
But for a target rifle those traits aren't optimal nor are desired. A couple guns I've considered are Haley and Sinner.
Check out this beast!
https://www.drummencustomguns.com/en/54-airguns?airgun=dz-sinner-giant-accessories
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I think you are right about the Sam hangs being reliable. I haven't seen any post on the forums about them breaking often. I also noticed that the Bengiman bulldog seems pretty reliable.. I was chasing power... Know after having hunted with big bores and being semi handicap. I reliazed that I can only take neck or head shots so game actually drops on the spot and doesn't run a 1\2 mile with no blood. So maybe I might be better off with a low powered light reliable rig. I don't think there's any difference with a neck shot from a 50 cal at 600 foot pounds or a 35 cal pellet or.light slug to the neck. I'm not going to shoot any big game at long range chest shots and wound or loose game not being able to track.without a blood trail. Thank you all so much for.opening my eyes.
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If I were going with a single shot loading and probably tethered to a bench it would be with one of the three mentioned previously, XP, Extreme, and Western. These will chamber about anything, but will have to be tuned for shot to shot consistency and accuracy for the desired slug. If I wanting a magazine-fed quality piece of engineering, get the AAA Slayer. It is a MOA hunter and a bench shooter. With NSA's 142 grain slug it shoots a consistent shot string around 920 fps @ 270 pfe. It will also sling these same slugs at well over 1,000 fps for the first shot, but it is a cliff tune, and correct holdover practices are needed at 200m+ long range targets. I like the first four to five shots in a bell curve and more consistent, with about a 10fps spread. Also, I've put at least 2,000 slugs through it.
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Hi Reed
I have owned the Texan, Sam Yang, 3 Extremes, XP Ranger 45, AAA 357 and now a Bushbuck carbine . AAA or Bushbuck all the way for quality. Bushbuck for power. AAA for accuracy.
Blessings Ray
I have owned the Texan, Sam Yang, 3 Extremes, XP Ranger 45, AAA 357 and now a Bushbuck carbine . AAA or Bushbuck all the way for quality. Bushbuck for power. AAA for accuracy.
Blessings Ray
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dont under rate the Hatsan Piledriver in .457
i have had many of the others but for accuracy and power, the Piledriver
is a very reliable, simple single shot rifle just like the others mentioned.
i know some of you will laugh, but both my freezers are full of hog and deer.
so laugh on to Mcdonalds
i have had many of the others but for accuracy and power, the Piledriver
is a very reliable, simple single shot rifle just like the others mentioned.
i know some of you will laugh, but both my freezers are full of hog and deer.
so laugh on to Mcdonalds
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ima say bulldog lol .. the way i look at larger big bores is theyre for hunting period .. they arnt designed to withstand thousands of rounds of plinking .. neither are most higher power firearms .. pressures are higher, springs are heavier, gonna tax things with heavy use so id expect to overhaul it regularly in that situatuon ..
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From what you guys are saying you need to spend money to get a good quality big bore. I mean like well over 1K
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The Benjamin Bulldog is usable, but somewhat lacking in power in stock form as compared to those listed above.
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In my state you need 40cal or bigger to hunt white tail deer so for me 357 is out but thanks for the suggestion.
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Benjamin Bulldog comes in a 457 and available to order on the crosman.com website if looking for a magazine-fed deer hunting airgun. For a single-loader, I'd look at the Western Bushbuck per Shamu and others' success there.
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No I don't. The Dragonclaw did not make my short list of accuracy, ammo size, overall design, function, and power parameters in big bore. For big bore hunting there are very few big bores airguns that can meet my list. Firstly because most big bores are single slug breech-loading guns similar to muzzle loaders, and I want a magazine fed system for hunting. Also, I want top-shelf quality and craftsmanship unless I am buying something to modify or tinker with for my hobby needs. I'd suggest making a list of design and functions that you want in it, then look at the narrow field of contenders.
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That has been my Philosophy in hunting big game for over a decade and a half,.."make them drop on the spot"
A good precise, powerful .30 will get you what you want.
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