Connecticut Custom Airguns
  • Welcome!
  • Hector's Airgun Blog
  • Products and Products Blog
    • One-Off's
    • The "Héctors Special'" scope by Sightron
    • K1050i FT
    • The Hex Louver or "Secret Sunshade"
    • Pellet Path Calculator >
      • Questions, Answers and Comments on P-P Calc
      • Privacy Policy for PP-Calc
    • The Nautilus SideWheel
    • The X-10 TiltMeter
  • Zimmer-Silhouetten
    • Results 2017-2018
    • Results 2016-2017
    • Results 2015-2016
    • Results 2014-2015
    • Results 2013-2014
  • References and Links
  • Contact us
  • Store

Hector's Airgun Blog

Where we discuss, CIVIILY,  anything airgun.

Return Home

Nur für Jäger / Only for hunters

3/29/2020

8 Comments

 
Most of you know me as just another spring-piston guy dedicated to Field Target.

But that became pretty much the single track ONLY after I moved to a reasonable altitude.
​
For most of my early airgunning history I lived near Mexico City (8,000 FASL), and hunted in the surrounding mountains (10,000 FASL). A spring-piston guy I WANTED to be, but couldn't.

So, between 2001 and 2010, I developed several interesting PCP's; from hunting Steyr's (bases for the later "HP" models), to highly sophisticated Talon SS's.
One platform provides the exquisite precision of Austrian gunmaking, the other provides a superbly simple device with huge potential under a proper understanding of the in-line valve so seldom encountered in commercial airguns.
It also helped that I had, and have, personal connections to the CEO's and Inventors of both guns, LOL!

Anyway, the usual disclaimer:

Modifications made to the gun in this blog entry were made by knowledgeable professionals, do NOT attempt to replicate. They proved safe in the specific gun in question.
NO WARRANTIES, expressed or implied are given with this publication, if you modify your gun, you are responsible for the modifications and their consequences.
No "fit for purpose" guarantees are made and the responsibility of proper function remains with the manufacturers and importers of the specific products herein reviewed.

So, with that out of the way, let's get to the System:

The Rifle

Picture
In 2002 I got my first Talon, I had a trip to Arkansas, to visit my good friend Tom Anderson (R.I.P.) at the Buzzard's Bluff for the airgun show at Little Rock, and I had it delivered there.
After some time using it in an OEM configuration, I started adding/deleting things; from baffles to a "High-Flow" valve, to the infamous, and completely useless, safety.
When a friend asked for a custom build to yield 50 shots at 35 ft-lbs with a single 200 BAR's fill, was when I discovered the true potential of the in-line valve.

​And then the Mid-Flow valve came into being.

A valve that was designed to CLOSE ITSELF upon reaching a specific flow rate.

Now ¿Just what is a "Flow Rate"?

Well, the definition we apply here is best exemplified in this diagram:
Picture
As you can see from the drawing: Average V (V with a dash on top), is the velocity of the fluid; A is the area of the conduit, d is the distance traveled by the fluid in a certain amount of time t.

In essence, a valve that closes itself upon reaching a defined Flow Rate (Q) means that the valve closes when the speed of the fluid (air in this case) through the conduit reaches a certain point.
And so, if you have the same speed of the air flowing into the barrel behind the pellet, it stands to reason that the velocity of the pellet at the exit of the barrel also has to be the same every time.

In reality, there is nothing perfect, but this simple arrangement is pretty close. There are no moving parts, no regulator, the pressure itself behind the air in the reservoir is the main closing force (the valve uses a very weak "starting" spring for the closure), but the true force of closure comes from the pressure in the tank. More pressure creates a quick closure, less opening time, but because the whole thing is triggered by the flow rate, it is very consistent in the MV. Standard deviation for 10 and 30 shot strings at 850'ish fps was 3 fps.

AND, to improve on things, the Power Wheel in the rifle ACTUALLY becomes a working control.

To give you a few examples:
With a 12" L-W barrel in 0.22" cal, the short rifle yields:
34 ft-lbs with the Power Wheel at 4:3 and Baracuda Match (21.1 grs. pellets)
At 6:3, the gun yields 36 ½ ft-lbs with still a good shot count.
Using JSB Monsters (25.4 grs), with the PW at 4:3 it yields 34½ ft-lbs
At 6:3, it yields 37¼ ft-lbs
At 8:8, it yields 39½ ft-lbs. And then it settles into the strongly diminishing returns section.

I decided to settle on 853 fps average MV, getting 55 perfect shots at ± 3 fps of standard deviation. The gun uses 26.2 cc-BAR / Ft-lb so it's not extremely efficient, but it is not a bad number for the power level.

The forend was taken from an old Benjamin, and the pistol grip was carved by a friend in Argentina. What you see strapped to the front section is the remote control for the laser rangefiding scope. Yes, that "small" scope is a laser rangefinding scope with quite impressive capabilities, but more on that later.

Accuracy wise, the gun seems to perform better with the H&N Baracuda Match, this being a typical test target:
Picture
Groups 1-5 are different tests and intents to get a grip on the wind drift. Some groups are 5 shot groups, one group is a 10 shot group, and the important #6 group is a 3 shot group after a 20 minutes rest, dealing with he wind blowing between 3 and 15 mph.
​In the old days, the barrel liked very much the 18 grs Jumbo, but I am out of those for the moment.
​
Not bad at all for a 33" carbine with a 12" barrel that weighs in at 7# 10 oz WITH the laser rangefinding scope and the remote control.

The scope

In a hunting airgun, the scope is as important, if not more than the rifle itself, once certain minima for energy, accuracy and precision have been met. This scope was an interesting find at the 2019 IWA show, but it was not until now that I have had the chance to put it through its paces.

Scope is made by Opteck, a company based in Canada, and the scope is a peculiar unit.
Laser rangefinder is specced to provide readings between 10 and 750 meters, which makes it ideal for airgunners. It also is a relatively simple device because it does NOT have neither elevation nor windage adjustments.
In order to keep everything simple and as weather proof as can be (scope is rated IPX6), there are as little external perforations as possible. So, how do you manage?
Answer lies in the smart base. The BASE is adjustable for windage (60 MOA) and elevation (90 MOA).
Now, BOTH adjustment dials are on the sides. AND they follow the Central European method of stating where the impact IS, not where you want the impact to MOVE TO. But, once that is understood, adjustments are just like any other device.

Scope is 10X32, fixed, with controls for reticle focus and for parallax/image focus. Powered by a single CR123 battery, it is not difficult to keep fed.
An auto-shut-off after 15 minutes works like a charm, and the remote control uses a CR2032 battery.
Picture
Picture
Picture
The display is also unique:
Picture
Do note that at the top of the viewing window we have:
Distance to the target (the small tree with the white flowers in the picture), angle of the shot (to the right), rifle cant (the two lines appear and disappear as the rifle is canted one way or the other).
Simple, but effective, a lot of information for the long range shooter.

Now, what about the gradation in the reticle? Well, our friends at Opteck put this diagram in IPHY (Inches per Hundred Yards), or "shooters MOA"), but in reality those divisions are metric and are in mrads and halves of mrads:
​
Picture
In other words, this:
Picture
This scope would be interesting at almost any price.
No other scope can boast of the same rangefiding capabilities.
No other scope can boast of the same IP rating
It combines three ADDITIONAL things that are critical to the long range shooter (and in airguns that is anything beyond 40 yards/36 meters): Slope meter, level, and rangefinder.
Reticle is clear and not too complicated. Personally, I would like a more "informative" reticle, but with the laser rangefinder, that is almost overkill.
Glass is clear and even at 10X, it is not overly dark for a relatively small package.
And it is a lightweight device (under 17 Oz.), when you compare it to the scopes I am used to for FT.

Since I am going to declare war on a band of depredating deer (the little tree with the white flowers is the only one remaining of three that were sown some time ago). I am sure this system will be an important element.

;-)

Keep well and shoot straight!






​HM
8 Comments
RidgeRunner
4/2/2020 05:43:30

Whao! Dude! That is awesome! That is THE scope for my HM1000X in .357!

I know it was not, but it is as if it was designed with the airgun hunter in mind. Because of your FT shooting you want a more complicated reticle, but that is not what this scope is made for. The simplicity in the field of view helps you to focus better on the shot. Your target does not have a clearly defined little hole for you to shoot through. You can also pay more attention to objects such as twigs that can deflect the shot. This reticle, rangefinder, tilt, angle combination speeds the process way up.

Of course, you know all of this.

Drool!

Reply
Hector Medina
4/2/2020 10:45:33

Hello RR!

Let's just say that there was some contribution from some airgunners.
;-)

For FT you can click for every shot.
In real hunting, you can't. No time.
As long as ranges are kept short (35-40 yards) you can put the shot very precisely where you want it with just the main crosshairs.
For longer shots in windy conditions you need holdovers and holdoffs at the same time.
That's when a Xmas tree style reticle becomes extremely useful.

A good shooter will always concentrate on the sights, not on the target. Even with scope sights.
You cannot concentrate on an empty spot in the reticle.

Hope I'm making sense.

Keep well and shoot straight!




HM

Reply
RidgeRunner
4/6/2020 12:12:55

Hector,

You make perfect sense. I do have to disagree about short ranges though. Growing up I hunted groundhogs. We only had crosshairs, those were of varying thickness. You learned to estimate ranges and windage. My father and I regularly shot groundhogs in the head at 300-500 yards with a 12X Weaver scope with very fine crosshairs.

I do like some of the Hawke reticles. The fine etched reticles with 1/2 mil marks gives me multiple marks to use without being too busy.

I guess it is what you get used to. To me it seems a lot easier to hit a groundhog in the head at 500 yards than to put a .177 pellet through a 3/8" hole.

RidgeRunner
4/11/2020 08:14:57

By the way, like that wood.

Yogi
4/19/2020 09:26:32

Hector-what a great idea! Seems well executed too. Do you know MSRP?
Now take one level further. Have a red dot that computes range, pellet drop, angle of shot, cant level, and then moves the red dot to the proper POA. Almost idiot proof, lol.

Stay safe, stay sane,

-Yogi

Reply
Hector Medina
4/19/2020 11:01:29

Hello Willem!

It IS a nifty little scope.

We're already at the next level; but not in the way you suggest, we're providing bluetooth connectivity to a ballistics app that calculates and displays drop and wind starting from a "table BC" starting from the range transmitted by the scope to the app.

So, you point the scope at the target, push the remote button, then read in your app (tablet or phone) the aimpoint.

And next step will be to incorporate PP Calc's functionality into that app so that you can obtain, and store, the BC for YOUR system (s).

The few that I have checked that do what you suggest are scopes in the $ 1,300-4,000 range and are limited to 1/2 mRad resolution; there is a reason for that, you actually use TWO reticles, so you DOUBLE the cost of the internals. For larger targets it may make sense. For airgunning, where targets are really small and your POA's need to vary by 1/8 mRad's, it is best if you get shooters used to "splitting hairs" in the reticle.

Besides, I found long ago that when I thought something was foolproof, somebody came along and invented a better fool.

;-)

I have not set an MSRP, but the first units have sold for $420.

AaMoF, they are flying right now and should be delivered on or around April 23rd.

We'll see how these perform in the hands of other shooters.

Keep well and shoot straight!



HM

Reply
MAXWELL GARNETT
6/17/2021 12:48:17

interested More info price where to get

Reply
Hector Medina
6/17/2021 22:45:18

Just received a new batch.

Go here:
https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/one-offs.html

For price and specs

And drop me a line through the contact page to arrange shipment and paying.

Thanks for your interest!





HM

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Hector Medina

    2012 US National WFTF Spring Piston Champion
    2012 WFTF Spring Piston Grand Prix Winner
    2013 World's WFTF Spring Piston 7th place
    2014 Texas State WFTF Piston Champion
    2014 World's WFTF Spring Piston 5th place.
    2015 Maine State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 Massachusetts State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 New York State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 US National WFTF Piston 2nd Place
    2016 Canadian WFTF Piston Champion
    2016 Pyramyd Air Cup WFTF Piston 1st Place
    2017 US Nationals Open Piston 3rd Place
    2018 WFTC's Member of Team USA Champion Springers
    2018 WFTC's 4th place Veteran Springer
    2020 Puerto Rico GP Piston First Place
    2020 NC State Championships 1st Place Piston
    2022 Maryland State Champion WFTF 
    2022 WFTC's Italy Member of TEAM USA 2nd place Springers
    2022 WFTC's Italy
    2nd Place Veteran Springers
    2023 WFTC's South Africa Member TEAM USA 1st place Springers
    2023 WFTC's South Africa
    2nd Place Veteran Springers

    Archives

    June 2024
    May 2024
    February 2024
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Events
    Gear
    Hunting
    Tests

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly