The CCA SSP, or the SouthPaw Super Plinker

A special carbine for a good friend.

Yes, I KNOW that SSP stands for Single Stroke Pneumatic, but in this case, it means something different.
Just get over it, LOL!

First of all:

Disclaimer:
Modifications made to this rifle were performed by an experienced professional airgunsmith. And, proved safe in THIS gun.
No warranties are implied nor extended.
We have no control of what you do on your own.
If you do decide to make ANY modification to an airgun, be conscious of which elements are under force or pressure and realize that, even a "little pre-compression" or as little as 10 BAR's CAN cause SERIOUS bodily harm.
These modifications have not been reviewed, nor approved by DIANA / M&G
Again: Be careful! You are the only guardian of your health and safety.

Uuufff.- that's done.

A few months ago,  a friend and I were talking about left handed airguns and I mentioned the DIANA 75, and I showed some pictures, he very candidly asked if I could build him a TRUE Left Handed PCP.

Now, my wife shoots left handed, and I do have a number of friends that are left handed.
I play Golf left handed, when I am "at bat" I can choose LH or RH, I do write RH'ed.

In any case, I am sensitive to the plight of the SouthPaw.

So, after some consideration I said: "Sure!", but it has to be a plinker.

WHY?

Well, because the only action that is available at a reasonable price that is truly left handed is the one for the DIANA Stormrider.
AND I would much rather spend $200 of my friends money, add another $100 for the regulator, then another $120 for a superlative L-W barrel, and $80 for the Free Flight Hammer, and have a truly special gun, than spend $600 in the lowest priced "convertible" action that carries a questionable barrel and valving.

So, the project was born, specs:

Platform.- DIANA Stormrider, wooden stock.
cal 0.177"
Power output.- between 11 and 13-14 ft-lbs
Good efficiency
Crisp trigger
Reasonably accurate
Scoped, no iron sights
Reasonably quiet, no need for an LDC

I will not bother you with the details of the disassembly, modifications and assembly, because we have done that in the past. There are several entries in this blog about the Stormrider.
For those that have not read them, here is a list:

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/exploring-the-diana-stormrider-part-1-the-trigger-and-the-power-plant-in-017745-mms-cal 

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/exploring-the-diana-stormrider-part-2-the-performance-at-sub-600-fps 

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/exploring-the-diana-stormrider-part-3-the-mid-power-region-800-fps-and-above-in-0177-and-20-ft-lbs-022-under-real-world-conditions-at-the-2018-pyramyd-air-cup

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/ken-wheelers-adventure-with-the-diana-stormrider

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/ft-rifles-for-small-frame-shooters

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/a-bb-gun-for-the-us-army-c

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/first-the-army-now-the-two-top-leos-of-the-nation 

There is quite a lot of information in those entries. Hope you enjoy reading them.

Now to the results:

This is the finished product.

The scope is a generic "plinking scope" that is full size, but still is capable of focusing down to about 5-6 yards at lower magnifications, and 8 yards at 9X.

Scope is mounted as low as possible, using cantilevered, droop corrected, BKL Mounts:

And here is the Free Flight Hammer unit installed:

The polygonal rifling L-W barrel was crowned with a 6° target crown:

AND a left handed single shot shuttle was added:

So, a TRUE LH'ed rifle!

AND, how does it shoot?

Well the proof is in the pudding!

This is using the 9.56 grainers from QYS lubed with Pledge:

 10 shots ea at 25 yards; very high winds (20 mph and shifting) precluded really good groups, you can see that the vertical dispersion is real small.

Using the same pellets lubed with T-9:

You can see a bunch of goups at around 0.5" O-O, and more "rounded".

So, I do think that T-9 seems a better lube for this barrel.

Do note that at this setting, the little carbine is yielding 15.7 ft-lbs.
Again, at that power level, the small (100 cc's) tank can give 55 good shots before going off the reg.

And how does it perform with OTHER pellets?

Well, not enough time to test them at targets, but to give you an idea of the flexibility of the system:

So, between 11 and 15.7 ft-lbs, this little carbine is capable of everything in between.

Which makes it an interesting setup.

Personally, shooting outdoors, the medium-heavies (QYS or BFT)  are interesting even in strong winds.
For indoor shooting, or when the day is calm, a 7.9ér at 900 fps is nothing to sneeze at.

Poly barrels tend to like high MV's so I am sure that the owner will be playing more on that end of the scale.

It was a very interesting project!

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM