Bullhead LRP Wilderness
(Long Range Plinker)

 Welcome to my workshop. Shown here for the first time completely in the raw, and unfinished, is the newest
creation to take shape on the bench. If you know my stocks, you know I make everything by hand.
From the butt pads, to the screw cups - to the hand rubbed finish, it's all done in the shop.
I've decided to take the next logical step, which is to design and fabricate something to fill a stock.
This is the first action I've decided to take to production. With the exception of a hand full of screws,
everything else is completely scratch built.  For those that want to follow the progress, I will be using this
section of the web site as a journal of sorts. I will try to keep the updates coming as the testing progresses.

Enough of that, you want to know more about the "Bullhead LRP". "Bullhead" comes from the stubbornness
required for me to build this piece completely from scratch, while everything in the shop around me was
going to Hell! "LRP" stands for "long range plinker", which is what I designed the gun to be used for.
This prototype is barreled in .25, and uses a Career barrel encased in a full length shroud.  Power is adjustable
and at this point I am guessing that it ranges from @ 20ft/lbs-@45ft/lbs. The gun is @ the same length as
an Air Arms S410E,  but holds more air due to a longer air tube than that on the 410. Action by itself weighs
in at 1lb 12oz. The trigger  is a scratch built 2 stage adjustable unit. As I have yet to harden the sear faces,
I have it set at @1lb pull weight. Once hardened, it will adjust lower without a problem, I just want more sear
engagement while testing. Initial results have been decent, netting @ .4" or smaller 5 shot groups at 50 yards
using .25 Beeman FTS pellets.

It's about 5 degrees here today, so I am pretty sure things will tighten up as I finalize the trigger, and can
stand to be outdoors without my teeth chattering behind the gun.

The stock is a "wilderness" pattern cut from electric blue laminate, featuring a semi anatomical grip
Maple and Zircote accents with an adjustable pad. The action is built using a 2024 T3 tube for
the air reservoir, 6061 T6 for just about everything else.  Steel and brass are used where needed...

A Little closer look at the breech area build. Before criticizing, please do remember that nothing
in this picture is finished! Rear cocking bolt sits above the screw adjustable power knob.

I had originally made the actual trigger blade from 2 pieces. The upper which engages a lever, and the actual blade.
I didn't care for the eventual placement of the blade in the trigger guard opening of the stock, or the feel
of the blades angle while pulling. So, I cut a new one piece to put the blade a bit further forward, and changed
the angle to give better leverage. I'm happy with this one. There is also an adjustment for first stage travel.

The stock is taking shape quickly. It's good to be getting my mojo back! I've missed it...

You can see the lengths I went to to lighten the overall piece, as well as direct the balance
to where I want it in the finished piece. Balance point will wind up being between the action mount
and the front of the breech.

Like every stock I cut, this one features some cast off to allow the gun to shoulder easily, forcing the cheek
piece in toward the face, while allowing a more "heads up" position behind the scope. The angle in this
picture distorts things a bit, but there is between an 1/8th" and 1/4" bend in the shape of stock between the grip
and butt pad. This allows the center of the action to align easier to ones eye. I do this with every stock I cut.

I will be doing some work on both the valve and hammer soon. I originally was only able to find a couple of
different options here, locally. Being out in the sticks makes it difficult to find raw materials. I have guessed
at some various other spring sizes and weights, and ordered some up. They should be here in a day or so.

I also spent some time cleaning up the metal work. I haven't decided on the finish for the gun as
of yet. Polished and clear anodized? Black anodized? Black with contrasting accents? Any which
way I decide to go, I will need to at least get the metal cleaned up and devoid of any machining marks.
Anodizing, whether colored or clear will require a complete polish job of all the parts.

The stock is now sanded out to 400 grit, and has a first coat of finish applied. It will be sanded and
coated again as many times as I feel it needs it. Probably 8 or so... The colors in the stock have
darkened up enough to make my decision on the action finish a bit harder. I originally thought the
colors would go great with a silver finish, but be too bright for black. I now think black would look
great with the coloring of the woodwork. Decisions, decisions...

Testing and development continue however... Today saw more work with the valve, and timing.
I wound up lengthening the stroke of the hammer by @.150", which seems to have resulted in bringing
the power up across the board. I also trimmed the spring guide down from the other day.

I didn't have much time to do shot testing, but the first fill after the valve work had @45 pellets within
a 1.5" circle at @60+ yards from a 2600psi fill. This included any shots that may have started to drop due to
a drop in velocity. It was a pretty casual test, as all the shots were taken off hand, with the gun rested on my
left arm while I was holding one of the posts on the back porch. Power was set at medium/low. I also took
several shots at both the highest and lowest power setting before starting the batch shots at distance.
Overall, I have to say I'm pretty happy with performance so far. Low power is still stout enough to make
an impact with the .25 pellet. I would rate it on low as producing the same amount of power as the .25 Discovery
build I recently completed, which is right at 745fps. and high power is up there, as the pellet is just starting to go
super sonic. At least it sounds like it is, as there is just a bit of a crack from the shrouded barrel.

As a side note, expect to see a bit of stuff appearing on the sale page, as a Doctors appointment
this morning confirmed my worst fears.  I some how managed to give myself a hernia this past week.
While being on my feet becomes painful over the course of a day, I will need to pay the medical bills
out of pocket. Surgery is in order, and we should know when sometime after the first of the week.

1/26/09 No picts today. Visually the gun remains the same. Did have a customer comment
last night that he thought I should go with clear anodizing for a final finish of the piece.

I spent a little time cutting a few different hammers this afternoon. The original is quite light, with lots
of material either drilled or milled out of it. The thought was to have a quick strike, with the spring
tension controlling the power. I wanted to see what effect the hammer weight will have on power and
consistency, so I added some beef to the hammer. The first new one was almost completely solid, and weighs
probably twice as much as the original. I installed the new one, and OMG. We are talking powerful! Right from
the get go the pellet is going super sonic with a very pronounced crack. Fun, but not what I have in mind.
I then milled another that is about half way in-between and installed that one. Still too much power on low, so
I turned it down a bit more on the lathe. This one seems to be close to what I have in mind. I am looking for
decent power, along with gobs of shots from a fill. The power adjuster will allow me to really crank it if I
decide I want to really blast something.

For the original build, I left myself plenty of valve stem exposed, along with lots of available travel in
the valve itself. I used the new hammer in conjunction with a spacer against the valve face to limit the
stem travel, and I think I really like this combination. Of course I will need to try a few more combinations
with different set ups to actually see which will be best, but I feel this combo is close. It will now be a few thousands
here, or there. A gram or two here, for some fine tuning. With this combo installed I did 45 shots from a 2600psi
fill with no noticeable POI drop at 65 yards. Informal testing for sure, but decent results nonetheless. There
is snow on the ground today, and I chose @1/2" exposed items sticking out of the snow as aim points. Gun
rested across my left arm, while holding onto a post. Out of the 45 shots I took at this distance, there was only 1
that I couldn't figure out, and that one was a way to the right POI vs. POA. The rest landed where I expected them to.
Real easy to see that big .25 pellet hitting the snow!

One last note, when I cut the new hammer, I changed the angle of the face edge a couple of degrees. The goal
was to see if it would ease the sear let off. It did. I could clearly feel a difference in trigger pull
without making any adjustments at all to the trigger unit.

This evening, or perhaps tomorrow I will try to get some weights and measures off the pieces I have to help
define some of my results.

1/27/09 a few parts for testing...

pictured is a basic valve assembly, minus seals. This one is similar to the one I currently have in the gun.
The thing on the left is the original hammer/striker I had installed. This is the one I took out for yesterdays
testing. You can see how sculpted it is. I put it on the handy dandy food scale in the kitchen today, and it
tops out at just over 2 ounces. I cut a couple more in half ounce increments to test. More to come on
those results. The rest of the picture are various springs I have tried so far in the build. Either in the valve,
or as hammer springs.

Believe it or not, the wood pictured is a grade 3 Rapid stock, and what will be a really nice TX200 FT stock.
They don't look like much when they first get started...

1/31/09 testing continues...
I've been working on a few other projects for the most part. I have a few pieces that I need to complete to ship, and my
recent injury is slowing me down more than I had hoped. I am in plenty of discomfort by @1:30pm, or so. I need to
get off my feel for a while in mid afternoons, or I am no good whatsoever to my wife. Considering my "job" is
caring for her, I need to do what I need to do... We see a surgeon on the 19th, and should know after that when I
get fixed up.

I have continued shooting the gun on a pretty regular basis, and things seem to be remaining consistent.
I'm putting @100 shots a day through it, when I can, and it's still hitting right on target. There are a few
little bugs to work out though... I am loosing @200-300psi over a 24 hour period. I took the gun apart, and submerged
the tube in water, and all I can see is that maybe once every 45 seconds or so, a single small bubble
will "pop" out of the exhaust port. Not a steady stream, but a single little bubble. I pressure tested by
filling the tube with oil, and pressurizing to 4500psi (the max I can do in house at this time). Even after 72
hours I am unable to find any oil seeping from anywhere, so I am a little stumped. I'll try recutting the
the valve seal face and see what happens.

The other thing I want to get figured out is the noise. Out of the stock, the action is fairly quiet. No particular
sounds or vibrations to speak of. In the stock, the action produces a fairly loud "sproing" when fired. I
have heard this same noise from say a Falcon FN, and Webley Raider actions. I will try a few things
to see if the it is possible to reduce the sound any while the action is mounted in the stock.

2/4/09 Still shooting the gun on a regular basis, and now have @ 2200 pellets through it.
A quick visual inspection of all the moving parts shows no sign of wear so far.

A wound up tracing the slow air loss to some debris on the stem in the check valve I made for the fill port.
I have been pressure testing the assembly in the rinse tank of my anodizing set up. Apparently there
was enough trace acid in the water to cause some corrosion on the steel I used in the check valve, and it started
to pit a little bit, which prevented it from sealing completely. I replaced the part with stainless, and changed the water.

I also solved the problem with the noise the action was producing while in the stock. I cut and installed a
pre chamber for the valve, which is kind of like a "de-pinger".  While not quite a regulator type set up, I am
testing a few internal pieces to see if they have any effect on shot to shot consistency. So far, so good.
I also enlarged the transfer port another .02" or so... The gun now produces just enough noise on low power
to know that you have some authority with the .25 pellet, and just starts to get super sonic on high, with
just a slight "crack" without the corresponding "whoosh" of a bunch of unused air being spent on the shot.
Low power works just fine for what I designed the gun to be used for, which is shooting at distances
between 50 and 100 yards.

I have a couple of hundred shots through this set up, and am so far quite pleased with the results. I
feel like I'm getting close to where I want this gun to be. If things keep progressing the way they are,
the plan is to start building another one in the next couple of weeks.

I put it all back together and filled to 2900psi, threw the scope back on it, and took @10 shots
from the back porch to get the scope back on target. Put the gun up, and returned to the shop to
start the days work load. I came in at lunch time, and put a pot of water on to boil. I figured I would
put a few shots through it while waiting for the water to come up to a boil. Grabbed a small handful
of the FTS pellets I have been using, and stepped out onto the porch. I took one shot at @70 yards
at a small branch (looked to be about the size of a q-tip) sticking out of the snow. Hit. When I lowered the
gun to load another pellet, I noticed some movement on the hill up behind my 72 yard target stand. Ahhh,
a fuzzy tailed invader....

I would have to guesstimate the distance at right around 100 yards, as he was quite a bit up the hill behind the
target stand, and at least 20-25 feet up a tree. I just figured "what the heck, let me see about taking the shot..."
Usual porch position, with my left hand holding a post, and gun rested across my arm, I guessed at the step
of the reticle for an aim point, and let one fly. The sound indicated a solid hit as he fell from the side of the tree,
as I watched through the scope. I lowered the gun, and watched to see where he was going to run to as I fumbled
a follow up shot into the breech. He made it maybe 10 - 15 feet before balling up, and doing a face plant into the snow.

The gun is for sure effective at distance, which makes me really happy!

2/9/09 For those that might have missed the update, I went back and measured the distance of the shot
I took on the squirrel on 2/6/09. It measured out at 117 yards.

I spent the weekend just shooting the gun. I'm at the point now that I think I might be done with this one.
It is shooting so well that I am afraid to change anything. It's holding air, and it isn't making any strange sounds
any more...

On Saturday I spent a bit of time up on the hill (in the woods). I did a bunch of plinking while seated in
the FT position, gun rested on my knee. There was just enough snow left on the ground to provide lots
of small targets to plink at. Small pieces of leaves or branches sticking up through the snow. Most shots
were taken at known distances (I shoot up there a TON) and ranged from @ 35 to 80 yards. I gained
enough confidence while shooting to start picking out really small aim points, and the gun rewarded my efforts
by delivering that fat .25 pellet right on target. It was on the warmer side, so the snow was kind of slushy,
and it was a blast to watch the giant splat each shot produced. I am very impressed by the results the
Career 707 barrel is producing.

Sunday was a Family gathering day, so I only had a couple of hours in the morning to shoot. It was
much warmer, and most of the snow is now gone. First shot I took was at 50+ yards and resulted
in one dead chipmunk.

All in all, I ran 4 tins of FTS through the action this weekend, and had no issues with the gun at all. It did
what I expected it to do each and every shot. I will eventually get my hands on a chronograph to see
what it is actually producing in terms of energy, as many seem to be hooked on the numbers. For me,
the gun is doing exactly what I want it to do, which is shoot accurately at some crazy distances, and
produce a fair number of shots per fill. I've been taking on average 45 shots off of each 2900 psi
fill without touching the power adjuster. I do not plan on doing any additional finishing work to the action,
at this time.  While it could easily be taken to a whole nother level by some continued polishing and
finishing work, followed by anodizing - I kind of feel that it would be a waste of time. I like that the
action looks home made, and know that if I did finish it further, my continued testing, and
disassembly/re assembly would only eventually result in damage to the finish. Nope, this one will stay
just the way it is. I will begin building another one that I will take to a higher degree of finish.

2/17/09 If you've made it this far, you must still be interested, so thanks!

Testing with the action continues. I told this story on one of the forums a few days ago, but if you missed
it, this is how it went...

We were without power for a couple of days, but the weather was mild enough for me to spend some
time outdoors shooting. I wound up plinking at a beer can at what I was guessing to be 170 yards. It
took me about 10 shots and a scope adjustment to walk the pellet onto the target. Once on target
I nailed the can 8 out of 10 times, at what has since been measured to be 165 yards. I also connected with
a bottle at the same distance that was about half the size of the can 3 out of 3 times. These were the longest
shots I have ever attempted with an air rifle, and am thrilled with the results!

I've so far settled on using the gun with the power adjuster turned in about 1.25 turns from the low setting.
There are 5 or 6 more turns on tap before topping out on high. Scope is zeroed at 60 yards. All the pieces
and parts are still holding up with no signs of trouble. I've ordered up a bunch more lead to feed the gun.
I will be doing some testing with some heavier weight pellets, up to 30 grains or so, to see what does what.
I've been shooting FTS exclusively so far, and accuracy has been excellent.

If I continue to have as much success with this action as I have been, I may consider building a  few on
a limited basis.  I am also starting several other gun projects, so stay tuned for some additional
web pages dedicated to their development.

2/18/09 - I received a shipment of both pellets, and some various assorted other materials to test today.
I got a couple of thousand Kodiak Match pellets so proceeded to rip a tin open to see how they would do
out of the Bullhead LRP. I left everything set up as I had it with the FTS, and took a couple of dozen shots
at @ 60 yards. While obviously hitting lower than the FTS the results were OK.  I turned the power adjuster in
to @ 80-85% power, and was able to drive the pellet super sonic.  I also tried a different hammer spring,
which gave similar results (a fairly LOUD report), but this time with the power adjuster turned almost all the way out.
I shot the gun this way for @ 100 shots, and then went back to the original hammer spring. I prefer the
cocking effort with the original spring installed, which is much smoother and somewhat softer than cocking,
say, an AA S410. The stiffer spring required a more concerted effort, and I feel the end result was just more
noise upon discharge, without a bunch of gain down range. Groups with the Kodiaks are not as good
as the FTS. I am still hitting the target though...

If you look closely at the front leg of the gun rest you will note the results of the Kodiak at 50 yards. You can also take
note that the power adjuster is in about half way in. I did a fills worth of plinking with it this way, and am happy
with the results. Comparing the results with another gun you may be able to relate to, hmmmm, I would
say it is very much like shooting a 707 Career, only with a much more ergonomic layout, and a better trigger.

The aluminum I have ordered to build some more guns was backordered, so just for giggles I wanted
to see how this particular valve would push heavier loads. With a different hammer, and spring installed,
coupled with a bit longer stroke on the hammer, I had no trouble propelling over 100grs of lead out the
end of the barrel with a very loud blast behind it.  While my plan for the 9mm is a larger valve body, this
gives me a pretty good idea of what to expect when I get there.

3/31/09 - I know there has been a gap in my reporting on the progress of this gun, and I apologize!
Since my last report I had surgery, recuperated, and have started on a couple of other projects that will be
finding there way onto the web site in the near future.

As for the Bullhead LRP, testing continues. I now have thousands of shots through the gun covering
hundreds of fills on the tube, and everything seems to be holding up well. Visual inspections, followed by some
careful measurements here and there confirm that everything is still working the way it is supposed to be.

There are a couple of small details I want to change on the guns design, such as the barrel bands placement,
and mounting layout, which I will do on the first pieces I produce on a production run. I've not had any problems
with the way it is now, just feel it will make for a cleaner over all finished piece in the end. Other than that, I am
pleased with this guns overall design and function, and will at this point (barring any obvious problems
that may arise in additional testing) consider this one a wrap.
 
 
 

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