Has anyone ran slugs in the .25 cal. 250z yet? If you have what size did you have luck with? Thanks.
Barra Slugs in the 250z
- Thread starter OneAcreFarmer
- Start date
I tried some .251 JSB knockouts that didn’t do well at 50 yards. Then I also tried some H&N .249 36 grain I think. I attached some photos. I think those might show some potential. It was just stuff my brother had laying around. I didn’t do anything as far as changing the factory tune yet. I’ll have to play around with it a bit and see what happens. My plan is to use this gun as a fox hunting rifle this coming season so I got time. Do you think 1 moa is a logical goal at 100 yards? 
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I’ve run a bunch of different ones so far. It likes all of the H&N .250 slugs I’ve tried. With the 34gr being the best. It likes 33gr apollos too. I’ve shot some .251 Patriot Javelins but I want to try a different moderator before I give a full verdict.
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Oh I’m at like 2800psi with the hammer most of the way in. I also added the rogue air slug power kit.
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I’m not exactly sure tbh… so this is what I’ve gathered from the gun so far. It LOVES slugs. Ive gone from 31-40 slugs so far. The 40s top out at around 800fps the 34s at around 850 and the 33s at like 880…. Not super fast but I’ve had zero accuracy problems. The slug power kit lets you open the reg past about 2500-2600 psi. My numbers were also last done on a pretty cold day. It’s like 84 degrees today so I’m gonna chrono the .251 cal 32gr patriot javelins this afternoon…so far it’s had no problem loading or shooting then just haven’t seen the numbers…. But eventually I’m gonna open up the block. The goal is to shoot a 42-44gr slug at 900-930 FPS…so like 75-85FPE… that’s gonna take some doing but I’m confident this gun can do it.
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Shot count might be horrible. I guess in my use case for the 250z I won’t really care. The area I fox hunt in, I would be lucky to see more than 3 on a nighttime hunt.
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@Cantona256
Keep us posted on any mods you end up doing and the outcome. I don’t have upper tier airgun money, especially since I like variety and tinkering, but would love to get the 250z to a point where I am confident in a 100-150 yard shot on a fox.
Keep us posted on any mods you end up doing and the outcome. I don’t have upper tier airgun money, especially since I like variety and tinkering, but would love to get the 250z to a point where I am confident in a 100-150 yard shot on a fox.
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My buddy forgot to bring the chrono for me to borrow so it’s gonna be a couple days before I get the numbers but in my little backyard range it was looking promising. The 40gr Apollo’s were shooting real nice and compared to the last time I shot them they were much flatter. Last time I chrono’d they were only doing like 800-805fps but anything above like 820fps puts them in the 60+ fpe range.
My shot count isn’t great. About 13-15 shots before I’m off the reg. Opening up the block will definitely help with that tho as that will improve the efficiency.
Either way I love the way this thing shoots. It looks really cool. It feels nice to shoot too.
My shot count isn’t great. About 13-15 shots before I’m off the reg. Opening up the block will definitely help with that tho as that will improve the efficiency.
Either way I love the way this thing shoots. It looks really cool. It feels nice to shoot too.
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I’m in
In one slug test video I saw it really liked the H&N .249 36gr but the guy had turned it up to 2500 on the regulator. Nothing else was changed.
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Okay, keep in mind this is my very first real pcp so I’m still learning haha. To make a long story short I knew my tune wasn’t right cuz I could hear the slug power kit was really slamming the valve open. I was getting decent power but the sound, accuracy and shot count were off.
So yesterday I decided to degas, reset the reg and I ported the thimble valve to 4.4mm from 4mm… this definitely had improvement as after retuning yesterday I got the gun back to the same velocity (around 880 for the 33gr slugs) but instead of being at 2900 on the reg I’m at 2600psi, the gun is whisper quiet and last night my buddy and I were taking pot shots out to 150yards and hitting with absolute ease and let me tell you I’m a decent shot but I’m no sniper.
Make a long story short the gun is amazing but they really choked off the block. I’m gonna port the transfer valve and block eventually too. But in the meanwhile the current setup is lovely…. Had no problem sleeping a big jack rabbit with a 40gr slug last night.
So yesterday I decided to degas, reset the reg and I ported the thimble valve to 4.4mm from 4mm… this definitely had improvement as after retuning yesterday I got the gun back to the same velocity (around 880 for the 33gr slugs) but instead of being at 2900 on the reg I’m at 2600psi, the gun is whisper quiet and last night my buddy and I were taking pot shots out to 150yards and hitting with absolute ease and let me tell you I’m a decent shot but I’m no sniper.
Make a long story short the gun is amazing but they really choked off the block. I’m gonna port the transfer valve and block eventually too. But in the meanwhile the current setup is lovely…. Had no problem sleeping a big jack rabbit with a 40gr slug last night.
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That is awesome, thanks for sharing. My 250z is currently on the work bench. I butchered the stock trying to rethread it for a folding adapter. Waiting for a new stock so I can keep shooting.
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If you’re looking for big power with efficiency you’re probably gonna have to open up the block a bit. But this this is so fun to shoot
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6gr is only 50 fps difference? 34 at 850 is about 55fpe. That's not bad. HN .250 30-32 and Zan 28-32 were best in the short time I had mine. Actually extremely good. 30s at 905 d
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So here's my advice with slugs in any gun, especially ones with unchoked barrels. You can try a ton of different slugs in different sizes till you find one that's the most accurate. Nothing worng with that method. Or you could slug the barrel and measure the slug with a micrometer to find a good starting point in the right slugs size to buy and try.
I found alot of chineese barrels are oversized. I sluged a Umarex zelos .25 barrel and it sluged at .2541. Also vulcans, uragans, leshy and few other run oversized barrels.
Example a vulcan .30 cal shot ok/good with .300 size slugs. But it was stupid accurate with .3063 size. The right size as the barrel sluged at .3061.
I noticed oversized bore are particularly common on chineese barrels. With the zelos oversized at .254, it made sense why .249 were terrible and .250 slug weren't particularly accurate. Some were ok or possibly acceptable at shorter ranges like 50 yards. But at long range it will become more apparent.
In addition it's possible to be loosing 20 to 30 fps with the same grain slug that is undersize to the grove of the barrel. I ordered .254 slugs to try. In general you want the slug to fill and seal the grooves. Just something to think about with unchoked barrel and slugs.
Zelos .25 cal measurement
I found alot of chineese barrels are oversized. I sluged a Umarex zelos .25 barrel and it sluged at .2541. Also vulcans, uragans, leshy and few other run oversized barrels.
Example a vulcan .30 cal shot ok/good with .300 size slugs. But it was stupid accurate with .3063 size. The right size as the barrel sluged at .3061.
I noticed oversized bore are particularly common on chineese barrels. With the zelos oversized at .254, it made sense why .249 were terrible and .250 slug weren't particularly accurate. Some were ok or possibly acceptable at shorter ranges like 50 yards. But at long range it will become more apparent.
In addition it's possible to be loosing 20 to 30 fps with the same grain slug that is undersize to the grove of the barrel. I ordered .254 slugs to try. In general you want the slug to fill and seal the grooves. Just something to think about with unchoked barrel and slugs.
Zelos .25 cal measurement
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Yeah strange that the 40gr did 800 and the 34gr did 850. I’m brand new to the pcp world so I think it was mostly a bad tune causing it… I have since learned how to use just the hammer spring adjustments to improve accuracy. I shot a dime sized group from 25 yards with 32gr Patriot Javelin .251 cal. I ran out of light before I could extend out to 50 yards…
I also ported the thimble valve since then so I’m going to re-chrono later this week. I ordered some custom slugs in 34,36 and 37 gr…. Rogue Air is working on a new valve that will help with more air and once that’s out I’m gonna port the rest of the block. In the meanwhile, my goal is to get the 36 or 37gr slugs up to around 920-950…. I hunt coyotes, mostly at night so I don’t need a ton of range for that… but I’m looking for that “flatness” from the additional fps, if that makes sense..
Long story short it’s just like everyone says. The gun is accurate and it will shoot slugs fresh out of the box. In fact I’ve shot less than 10 pellets total. If you’re looking to push the gun it’s very easy to tune but for really serious power it needs to be opened up… that being said just porting the thimble valve has improved efficiency massively. Reg is at like 2550 instead of 2900 and I’m getting 22-25 a fill instead of like 12-15…but I freaking love this thing and I’m happy I got it. lol I’m already planning my next gun but I won’t be selling the Barra anytime soon. I feel that in a couple years this thing will be like the Gauntlet or Notos and have a million aftermarket options available for it.
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Okay everyone another update:
Slugs… since porting the thimble valve I tried shooting some .251cal 32gr Patriot Javelins and the gun loved them. In videos I’ve seen a lot of .249 H&N slugs being shot but my particular gun likes .250 and .251 she’s loose hahaha.
Pellets: since then I decided to give pellets one more try. Why? Because I like to shoot a lot. Everyday if I can and my slug tune was just too inefficient. 15 shots a fill generally. Also, 40 gr slugs moving at 880-890(I did eventually get them that fast) really limited my shooting options. Even hollow points were passing through stuff and the BC made me have to be extra extra cautious.
So anyways I went with an H&N 28.24gr barracuda and the 250 loved it. My best group was 7 or 8 pellets in like a nickel sized hole at 50 yards…in a crosswind. If I wasn’t doing a Michael j Fox impression the whole time I’m confident it would do better. But I’m a hunter not target shooter so good enough for me. The best part? Getting 915-920FPS for 50-53FPE and 35-40 shots a fill.
Mods:
thimble valve ported to 4.4mm from 4mm.
Rogue air slug power kit… hammer spring set complete flush right now.
Regulator at 2100.
Conclusion: I wanna shoot heavy ass slugs as flat as I can because I’m completely obsessed with chasing coyotes…But in order to do that the whole block needs to be opened up. Might need a bigger plenum too but considering I managed to gain 75-80fps from just the thimble valve and slug power kit maybe not. I think getting 40-42gr slugs up to 950fps wouldn’t be too difficult….. however this is my only gun right now and I’m too poor to buy another so the pellet set up gives me more versatility. Additionally the current tune lets me shoot 30&31gr slugs easily with just a minor hammer spring adjustment for accuracy.
Slugs… since porting the thimble valve I tried shooting some .251cal 32gr Patriot Javelins and the gun loved them. In videos I’ve seen a lot of .249 H&N slugs being shot but my particular gun likes .250 and .251 she’s loose hahaha.
Pellets: since then I decided to give pellets one more try. Why? Because I like to shoot a lot. Everyday if I can and my slug tune was just too inefficient. 15 shots a fill generally. Also, 40 gr slugs moving at 880-890(I did eventually get them that fast) really limited my shooting options. Even hollow points were passing through stuff and the BC made me have to be extra extra cautious.
So anyways I went with an H&N 28.24gr barracuda and the 250 loved it. My best group was 7 or 8 pellets in like a nickel sized hole at 50 yards…in a crosswind. If I wasn’t doing a Michael j Fox impression the whole time I’m confident it would do better. But I’m a hunter not target shooter so good enough for me. The best part? Getting 915-920FPS for 50-53FPE and 35-40 shots a fill.
Mods:
thimble valve ported to 4.4mm from 4mm.
Rogue air slug power kit… hammer spring set complete flush right now.
Regulator at 2100.
Conclusion: I wanna shoot heavy ass slugs as flat as I can because I’m completely obsessed with chasing coyotes…But in order to do that the whole block needs to be opened up. Might need a bigger plenum too but considering I managed to gain 75-80fps from just the thimble valve and slug power kit maybe not. I think getting 40-42gr slugs up to 950fps wouldn’t be too difficult….. however this is my only gun right now and I’m too poor to buy another so the pellet set up gives me more versatility. Additionally the current tune lets me shoot 30&31gr slugs easily with just a minor hammer spring adjustment for accuracy.
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I promise I will try some more slugs and probably port some things on my 250z. I’m just waiting until my replacement stock gets here from Barra. I screwed the factory one up trying to install a side folding adapter. 
It’s kinda hard to shoot a stock less gun.
It’s kinda hard to shoot a stock less gun. Upvote 0