Tuning The “Thunderbird” flys. …. My last big gun build. I

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Ok now after doing a few many rifles of others ,I have some time to work on this to finalize it.. some changes have been made and a new piston was made for a .25 caliber gun. Will it be target gun? No ! Will it have target accrucy? YES

IM DOING A FULL longer LENGTH Lothar Walther barrel with my own air stripper design

Having just finished a 28 ft lb gun for another on this form ,his comments were “I can’t believe how smooth and easy for 28 ft lb gun it cocks” We are working out the bugs on barrel selection for best accuracy.

Is it a R1, no.. but a R1 isn’t 28 to 30 ft lbs.

The biggest problem is shooting them with a bad neck as recoil.. It is a direct blow back and sharp .. you can’t beat physics.. This gun is a Hunting gun once sighted in as is the FIREFOX …

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A.G.R said:
This is the second of two rifles I designed 16 years ago. I built one already. It’s known as the ”Firefox”. Some have seen it posted a few times here. View attachment 414701It was designed for hunting bigger game and at the time to see if I could. It does a solid 32 ft lbs .. it’s a carbine shrouded LW .25 barrel with custom piston and machined rear trigger block as well as cocking arm.


After hem hawing ,I decided to assemble the other one. It’s a bear to make these as they are parts from a Webley Patriot and a Uk Tommy trigger. Both valueable guns in their own right. .. Because of that , a custom piston as well as rear block had to be machined as they never made these guns in 30 mm tubes. A Uk Tommy is 27 mm , custom sears and the tube of a Patriot lengthened to acomidate the Tommy trigger and block. View attachment 414708View attachment 414709View attachment 414710View attachment 414712
View attachment 414725

I present to you the second generation of the “Firefox” build. The ”Thunderbird”.
View attachment 414715View attachment 414717View attachment 414718View attachment 414716

This gun is a bit different as I’ve learned a few things since the original build.. it’s still a 32 ft lb hammer but I did things a tad internally different on the spring ,piston, port, and barrel.. The stock is wiped with spirits to show future grain when finished. As I stated I will not be building any more hammers like these as , 1. I can’t get triggers , 2. I’ve built smaller prototypes that are easier to cock and shoot daily..3. There is no market for something like this as cost would be like a expensive fire arm. BUT BOY ARE THEY FUN TO HUNT WITH…poop DONT RUN AWAY.

I will be lengthening the shroud 2 more inches to aid in cocking and for looks.. These were parts from the same design I made 16 years ago..

This bird hits hard at 32 ft lbs. 25.3 Jsb kings @750 it will launch 20 grain domes at 875 for 34 ft lbs but it’s not as friendly
Its a long time coming and I really did not plan on doing this one as the “Firefox” is so good. But Alas. I feel content knowing my original plan was completed, even if it was 16 years later. I still have a lot of soft labor prepping metal for bluing and finishing the stock
I may even consider engraving it
Click to expand...
I'm really beginning to appreciate your posts displaying your craftsmanship and knowlege in general. You sir are an artist
 
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A.G.R said:
Ok now after doing a few many rifles of others ,I have some time to work on this to finalize it.. some changes have been made and a new piston was made for a .25 caliber gun. Will it be target gun? No ! Will it have target accrucy? YES

IM DOING A FULL longer LENGTH Lothar Walther barrel with my own air stripper design

Having just finished a 28 ft lb gun for another on this form ,his comments were “I can’t believe how smooth and easy for 28 ft lb gun it cocks” We are working out the bugs on barrel selection for best accuracy.

Is it a R1, no.. but a R1 isn’t 28 to 30 ft lbs.

The biggest problem is shooting them with a bad neck as recoil.. It is a direct blow back and sharp .. you can’t beat physics.. This gun is a Hunting gun once sighted in as is the FIREFOX …

View attachment 506123View attachment 506121View attachment 506124View attachment 506122

View attachment 506120
Click to expand...
Great to see the agonizing hard work finally to the finish line.
I have rebuilt the Hatsan 125 - 135 probably 10 times to date for others as well as other guns
HATSAN MAGNUMS Lothar Walther re barrel and done all the typical piston bearing ring , custom piston seal , gas rammed or custom guide and spring shroud or break tuned worked trigger resulting in smooth powerful, not harsh and 30 yrd accurate if your scope set up is correct and you do your part .
It is a lot of work and I am done with it, no more for no body forum wise they could give a rats and airgun world wise the same
They stick there nose up at everything and dont even know about doing a simple pellet to bore test nonsense all the time.

You take a powerful piece of crap built gun and turn it into what it should of been including a proper steel barrel block and in the end its not worth it. except for yourself.
I Have a T J barrel coming for one more of my hatsans and that's it.

Great to see you Criss doing your thing !
 
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4888blues said:
Great to see the agonizing hard work finally to the finish line.
I have rebuilt the Hatsan 125 - 135 probably 10 times to date for others as well as other guns
HATSAN MAGNUMS Lothar Walther re barrel and done all the typical piston bearing ring , custom piston seal , gas rammed or custom guide and spring shroud or break tuned worked trigger resulting in smooth powerful, not harsh and 30 yrd accurate if your scope set up is correct and you do your part .
It is a lot of work and I am done with it, no more for no body forum wise they could give a rats and airgun world wise the same
They stick there nose up at everything and dont even know about doing a simple pellet to bore test nonsense all the time.

You take a powerful piece of crap built gun and turn it into what it should of been including a proper steel barrel block and in the end its not worth it. except for yourself.
I Have a T J barrel coming for one more of my hatsans and that's it.

Great to see you Criss doing your thing !
Click to expand...
Mike. It’s a self depreciating arena.. Most are to cheap. Want it tomorrow and HAVE ZERO CLUE.
Kit dropper s have all the knowledge they need ..

Sadley they are fading out too


I will NEVER do Another Webley Patriot/Kodiak. Uk. Nor Hatsan variant. These were hybrids that I prototyped years back. It is just To much work working on Turky guns
as you stated , and the UK GUNS ARE DINOSAURS. You can’t get parts.
This is a farewell to big guns and I may shoot it once a month if lucky. I have the stock made or I would have scrapped the project.



.
 
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A.G.R said:
This is the second of two rifles I designed 16 years ago. I built one already. It’s known as the ”Firefox”. Some have seen it posted a few times here. View attachment 414701It was designed for hunting bigger game and at the time to see if I could. It does a solid 32 ft lbs .. it’s a carbine shrouded LW .25 barrel with custom piston and machined rear trigger block as well as cocking arm.


After hem hawing ,I decided to assemble the other one. It’s a bear to make these as they are parts from a Webley Patriot and a Uk Tommy trigger. Both valueable guns in their own right. .. Because of that , a custom piston as well as rear block had to be machined as they never made these guns in 30 mm tubes. A Uk Tommy is 27 mm , custom sears and the tube of a Patriot lengthened to acomidate the Tommy trigger and block. View attachment 414708View attachment 414709View attachment 414710View attachment 414712
View attachment 414725

I present to you the second generation of the “Firefox” build. The ”Thunderbird”.
View attachment 414715View attachment 414717View attachment 414718View attachment 414716

This gun is a bit different as I’ve learned a few things since the original build.. it’s still a 32 ft lb hammer but I did things a tad internally different on the spring ,piston, port, and barrel.. The stock is wiped with spirits to show future grain when finished. As I stated I will not be building any more hammers like these as , 1. I can’t get triggers , 2. I’ve built smaller prototypes that are easier to cock and shoot daily..3. There is no market for something like this as cost would be like a expensive fire arm. BUT BOY ARE THEY FUN TO HUNT WITH…poop DONT RUN AWAY.

I will be lengthening the shroud 2 more inches to aid in cocking and for looks.. These were parts from the same design I made 16 years ago..

This bird hits hard at 32 ft lbs. 25.3 Jsb kings @750 it will launch 20 grain domes at 875 for 34 ft lbs but it’s not as friendly
Its a long time coming and I really did not plan on doing this one as the “Firefox” is so good. But Alas. I feel content knowing my original plan was completed, even if it was 16 years later. I still have a lot of soft labor prepping metal for bluing and finishing the stock
I may even consider engraving it
Click to expand...
The woodwork is beautiful. I can't say anything about springers as I'm more informed on performing colonoscopies than springers, and I've never scoped a colon
 
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A.G.R said:
It’s just spirits on it ,in that pic. Here it is done Thanks 👍 View attachment 506630
Click to expand...
I'm reading you make these often..

I have an early 20th century Drexel Secretary in dark Cherry. Is it possible to use the faces of the drawers, the desk itself and the sides to make a composite stock blank or several... It's beautiful cherry. This gives me ideas.
 
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I'd say that if you're going to do it, charge enough to make it somewhat worth your while and go for the high end market. I'd be thinking $4000+ myself. It's more than I can afford, but nothing about what you're doing is cheap or easy and as you say, the market is very limited, so it's not like you're going to make it up on a high sales volume.
 
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