Trident Action

I started out working on a .22 action. My goal was to make a long stroke, high powered .22 that would
spit the heaviest of ammo at whatever velocities I wanted. Some testing over the chrony soon showed
me that I was WAY overpowering the ammo. I could get a bunch more noise out of the gun, but not more velocity.
I got to a point where I was actually starting to loose speed, while gaining a bunch more bang. A longer barrel
would be needed to take advantage of the amount of air this action will push. Not having one on hand, I
made the decision to rebarrel the action in 9mm, and go from there.  What follows is the result...

The action is named "Trident" just because it needed a name, and the stock is an "Expedition" style
I originally came up with earlier this year.

Going for power, I didn't want to build something that felt like a toy. I was looking to build something that felt like
a real gun. So, the build is robust. To deal with the amount of power the action is capable of producing I machined
a steel bolt loading probe that incorporates three separate locking lugs. The long, large striker assembly
rides in delrin bushings to keep both cocking and firing as smooth as possible. The trigger unit is a two stage
adjustable number. The power is also adjustable in more than one way, to allow me to fine tune the action
to take advantage of the ammo I choose to shoot. All this adjustment possibility is a bit mind boggling,
but more on that later...

The amount of air being expelled on each shot, combined with the weight of the 9mm ammo (I am currently
testing with everything between 77gr to 125gr ammo) quickly showed the need to control the front of the gun.
In my initial test sessions I could get some pretty good accuracy, but with a tall vertical string. I cut and tried a
half dozen or so muzzle breaks to try on the end of the shrouded barrel, and wound up with the one pictured.
It is ported both sides, and there are a series of holes in the top as well. I tried several different configurations
on the top holes, and wound up with a set up that works well on this gun. More on that later as well...

I've done gobs of testing on the Trident 9mm. The gun will produce 5 or 6 good shots off a fill, and then
drops off like a rock. So, 5 shots and fill, five shots and fill. Problem I am having is that I can get crazy
power out of the gun. And I can get good accuracy out of the gun. I can't seem to find the sweet spot that will allow
me to get both at the same time, however. At @ 90ft/lbs, the gun will put 5 or 6 80gr bullets through the same hole at 50 yards.
Switching to 100gr slugs  will move the group to the left a bit, but produce pretty good groups. Upping the
power even a little past this point starts opening up the groups, and going as powerful as the action will go, starts
sending bullets out like a pepper shaker. The lack of abundant different types of readily available 9mm ammo,
and the associated cost coupled with the need to refill every 5 shots has become a bit tedious. So, in order to refine the gun,
and work out the details, I made the decision to make one in a smaller caliber that will yield a bunch more shots per fill.
The one pictured with the squirrel is a .25. I dropped it right into the same stock I am using on the 9mm prototype.
The two actions are for all purposes identical, with the exception that I am using a lighter spring combo, and
obviously a bit less stroke, and striker mass in the .25. The .25 has been working really well thus far. I currently
have it set up to produce right around 42ft/lbs using Kodiak's. I gotta say, the quickness it put this squirrels lights out
was a bit of a thrill. The shot was right around 62 yards, and the results were instant.

I did a bunch of testing to balance out the combination of valve assembly and hammer/striker set up,
and wound up with an action that is putting out right at 50ft/lbs with Kodiak pellets. There is a bit of
easily tunable power by either installing, or removing a couple of spacers from the rear spring guide.
I went through several spring weights, as well as lengths and pre load to produce the combination
of power, and cocking effort that I wanted out of this action, and am quite pleased with the over all
results the gun produced.

A closer look at the breech area...

This one features an anodized finish I am calling color case patina...

Triggers are all two stage adjustable units. The pellet loading probe features dual locking lugs, and is
both smooth, and solid feeling.

This one is black anodized with just a touch of red and silver accenting and sits in a Royal Blood
Expedition style stock.

This one is satin silver clear anodized and sits in an Electric Blue laminate Expedition style stock.
Aside from the coloring the two actions are identical. They both feature dual locking lugs on the loading probe,
separate cocking levers, two stage adjustable triggers, adjustable but pads, and power is tunable via
spacers stacked on the spring guide. They are currently set to produce @50ft/lbs using Kodiak pellets.
Barrels are Lothar Walther, and are shrouded. The guns are not dead quiet, as I had to balance
the power output with what I wanted the overall size to be (which is 43").
There is no "bang", or "pow", but a decent "poo-woomph" of power upon discharge.

Some of the details...

Electric Blue Laminate "Expedition" stock with a clear satin silver anodized action.

Royal Blood laminate "Expedition" stock  with a black, red, and silver anodizing job on the action

 Walnut Thumbhole with a "patina" and gold anodizing over black on the action.

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