Western Airguns Working to Figure Out the Western Rattler .357
- Thread starter Ezana4CE
- Start date
@Airgun-hobbyist I have spent less time with my Rattler as deer season approached (tomorrow will be another season opener) because I knew I wouldn’t be deer hunting with it this season. Between that ,other obligations, and squirrel hunting the Rattler has been oiled and stowed away.
Please post photos showing how you grease or work on your Rattler’s trigger linkage.
Please post photos showing how you grease or work on your Rattler’s trigger linkage.
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@Ezana4CE I didn't think about taking pictures at the time. The process of greasing the pins was pretty easy, only requiring removing the bottom chassis screws and then the trigger linkage itself. The one spot that was more challenging was applying a thin coat of grease on the moving sear parts inside of the Rattler's rear housing. I used a plastic dental pick to get it in that tight spot and on them.
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The cover on the right side with the logo has a bunch of trigger components inside. I haven't felt the need to add grease, but I took the cover off out of curiosity and it's holding a rube goldberg machine worth of components. I'm sure the components in there contribute to the feel.
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Ok so I shot a couple of mags through my Rattler .357 and chronographed what I could after bumping up the reg from 145/150 to 160 bar. Temps were between 54F - 48F. Now I’m running into the issue of the magazine not advancing. I literally had to start manually advancing the mag. Has anyone ran into this issue? Could this be temperature related or do I need to also adjust the power wheel now that I’ve adjusted the regulator?
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I would thing that it would need adjusted out to allow more air flow to balance out the semi-auto feature and valves. I have my Rattler's wheel turned all the way out at full power, and don't adjust it. This gives me a half a magazine of consistent full power shots for hunting and to move the heavier slugs as fast as possible.
With over 500 rounds through my Rattler 45, the two issues I've seen causing the magazine not advancing: 1) the round has moved forwards in the magazine. 2) the barrel is installed too tight against the magazine.
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@Airgun-hobbyist Last I shot the Rattler it cycled fine. I haven’t removed or moved the barrel. As for pellets being too far forward, I do seat them snugly with a pen. It hadn’t been an issue in the past. I’m working with the same sized slugs I’ve been shooting. Additionally, I would think that slugs situated too far forward would also impede the magazine as I attempt to manually advance the mag while loading it. After loading it I rotate the mag a full revolution before shooting. An obstruction is an obstruction, is it not?
I can’t see cool weather being a factor. 47F isn’t so cold to me. Next time out I’ll try shooting without seating the slugs. I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve been doing and it hasn’t presented an issue. I also question the accuracy of the gauges. I try to not shoot down to low. It’s tough to trust the accuracy of the gauges when I’ve shot off the reg before when the gauges indicates that I was still above reg pressure.
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Mine "jammed" while shooting, so it was the recoil that jostled the slug forward enough to impede rotation. Because I am using a full length slug I can't and don't seat them too far forwards. They sit flush with the back of the magazine.
For inquiring minds, what is the depth of the magazine of the 357 for the longest possible slug length? And, how fast does it shoot your heaviest slug at full power?
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@Airgun-hobbyist I’ve shot 110, 120, 140, and 145 grain slugs. I haven’t shot my heaviest slug (185 grain) yet. Nor have I shot the gun at full power. I just bumped up the regulator yesterday from where it was set when I bought the Rattler.
Here’s data from yesterday.
I can measure mag depth later.
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The gauges of mine don't match up either. I shot it down past the reg gauge once to where it didn't shoot after immediately pulling the trigger, similar to the GK1 if low on pressure.
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@Airgun-hobbyist I’m setting it up for hog head shots, pig vitals, and possibly deer for next year. I shot a hog broadside with a larger slug and more power (different .357) and didn’t recover the shot hog. I don’t feel confident to try it with this gun. I figure once I get the Rattler set up, I can take a large hog out within three shots the way I want it set up. I’m just not comfortable enough to hunt hogs with this gun yet.
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Western Rattler .357 magazine (chamber) depth is approximately 0.830”
Length of 120 grain slugs. 0.5355”
185 grain slug length 0.8505” (too long).
Edited to move the decimal in my typed measurements.
Length of 120 grain slugs. 0.5355”
185 grain slug length 0.8505” (too long).
Edited to move the decimal in my typed measurements.
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Back to work shooting 120 grain swaged slugs from 50 yards off of a tripod. I didn’t tamper with the settings. The mag is advancing as it should today. I don’t know what was going on yesterday. And for some strange reason the regulator is now reading 150ish after reading 160 bar on yesterday after making a slight adjustment to increase set pressure.
15 shots.
Nothing to brag about, but I’m enjoying myself. Today I’m limited to 50 yards because I don’t feeling moving. With this rifle I have to be very mindful of my backstop.
Below you can see that the 145 grain Griffin Rebated Boattails aren’t grouping so hot at an average velocity of 811 fps.
Shot string data. They need more velocity.
Here’s how they look in the mag after being seated with the pad of my thumb.
15 shots.
Nothing to brag about, but I’m enjoying myself. Today I’m limited to 50 yards because I don’t feeling moving. With this rifle I have to be very mindful of my backstop.
Below you can see that the 145 grain Griffin Rebated Boattails aren’t grouping so hot at an average velocity of 811 fps.
Shot string data. They need more velocity.
Here’s how they look in the mag after being seated with the pad of my thumb.
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After the temperature hit around 51 F the cycling issue occurred again (mag didn’t automatically cycle after taking a shot). By this time the metal on the rifle was pretty cold to the touch. I didn’t do anything differently and I was shooting the shorter 120 grain slugs. I’m really curious if anyone else has experienced cycling issues in cool weather - once your Rattler or ambient air reaches a certain temperature.
Here how the 120 grain slugs look seated on the mag.
Here how the 120 grain slugs look seated on the mag.
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For the cycling thing... someone mentioned the barrel. Good thing to check, it may be to tight against the mag and getting tighter as the gun contracts from cold temps.
And don't forget the lever on the left side. I've forgotten to flip it down after loading the mag and it won't cycle.
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@caliusoptimus The lever is a non-issue. I was wondering if the barrel was too tight or loose before I went out to shoot earlier. When I got out there all seemed well…that is until temps dropped. You may be into something with the barrel spacing correlating to lower temps affecting the metal. I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this with a Rattler.
I’m also curious about what’s going on with this regulator. Today’s shot string looks very close to a string shot a couple of days ago. This is after bumping up the reg a tad. I want to know what I did to lose velocity.
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