Leroy-tuned 909 numbers (new and improved!)

[Butcher]

Recently, the check valve on my Leroy-tuned 909 has been acting-up. Then it refused to take any air at all. So I sent it off to Will Piatt to get the issue resolved. I highly recommend Will Piatt to anyone whose air rifle needs attention, and needs it NOW. I got the sense that he made servicing my airgun a priority. Very prompt and professional.

Will found that the exhaust valve was distorted from the high pressure over time. I was in the habit of storing my rifle with a full charge of air.....he advised me to store the rifle with a minimum charge from now on.
Will recut the face of the exhaust valve and lapped it in to the valve seat, refaced the fill check valve, and ordered some fresh o-rings (he didn't realize he was out) all within 24hours of receiving my rifle.
Once the o-rings arrived (priority mail), and were installed, Will put 2600psi in the rifle and kept it for a couple of days to be certain it was holding air, and then shipped it on back home. VERY fast turn-around time.


I have to wonder just how long that exhaust valve had been distorted, because this 909 is now shooting harder than it ever has since I have had it. MUCH harder.

Here are some shot strings with the boolits I had on hand (running low). Sorry about the lack of target/group photo's. To much caffeine, and pumping for chrony strings to do that this time.

Note how a little psi hear and there can really dial-in a shot string to a tight fps variance. Only enough room to get 6 ft back from the chrony today, instead of my usual 10 ft.  So I will need to confirm these numbers with the chrony set ten feet back from the muzzle.  I have a feeling they are fairly accurate due to the consistency.

Hornady .457RoundBall
3000psi
886.3=249fpe
874.3=242fpe
859.3=239fpe

Hornady .457RoundBall
3100psi
873.2=242fpe
865.3=237fpe
843.9=226fpe

Hornady .457RoundBall
3200psi
870.4=240fpe
876.6=244fpe
858.1=233fpe

BigLube ROA's 210grains approx BHN9 alloy
3000
767.4=274fpe
773.1=278fpe
764.7=272fpe
744.9=258fpe

BigLube ROA's 210grains approx BHN9 alloy
3100psi
743.3=257fpe
771.2=277fpe
769.5=276fpe
758.7=268fpe

BigLube ROA's 210grains approx BHN9 alloy
3150psi
748.6=261fpe
773.6=279fpe
775.3=280fpe
767.8=274fpe

BigLube ROA's 210grains approx BHN9 alloy
3200psi
750.6=262fpe
780.9=284fpe***
780.8=284fpe***
758.4=268fpe

Sure Fire Raptors (?215-220grains?)
3000psi
735
742.6
743.1

Lee ROA's 220grain (from BHD)
3000psi
744.6=270fpe
764.8=285fpe
751.6=276fpe
730

Big Lube PRS 255grain .452 (to small)
3000psi
669.8
686.4=266fpe
699.7=277fpe
689.8=269fpe

245grain REAL's from BHD, labeled ".457 un-sized"
3000psi
706.1=270
712.8=276
715.7=278
695.9=263 (this REAL was from a different batch)

Lyman Maxi Hunters 255grains (only had two)
3200psi
673.3=256fpe
696.7=274fpe
693.4=272fpe (this third shot was a .452 PRS 255grain)

Comments: I'm always trying to dial my rifle in to shoot four shots per fill with no more than 20fps maximum variance in fps (preferably 15 or less).

As far as the good-old, in-efficient roundball goes I like the 3200psi string the best but don't think it is worth the extra 200psi in the fill. So I'll go with the 3000psi fill until I can see what 3050psi looks like. Should work OK even though the 3000psi string falls well outside my maximum 20fps variance goal. Roundball has always shown the highest fps variance in a string out of everything I shoot out of this rifle. EPP/UG's are much more consistent.

The BigLube ROA 210grainer looks like it has a lot of potential...though I have no idea if it is an accurate slug or not. Wasn't having much luck shooting it a couple weeks ago in a friends gun. With a little more experimentation with the fill pressure, I think I can get that fourth shot in there.

The 220grain Lee ROA design has once again proven itself to be the winner in the fpe department (285fpe!) with only one fill pressure being tested. The Lee ROA is commonly known for both it's power, and accuracy......a really good boolit for the SamYangs.

I think the 245grain REAL's have as high a probablity as any boolit out there to produce very tight maximum fps variances in SamYang barrels, for the most shots possible. Only had enough (almost) for one shot string, and it stayed within my maximum 20fps variance for a four shot string. Excellent.

Oh yeah. Can't forget to mention the all-time fps king of the hill. The "X-Ring" rubber pellets! I'd venture to guess they weigh about 16grains in .45 They punch a very neat hole in cardboard, and seem to be fairly accurate at about 20 feet.
These can be re-used, and are just the ticket for very close range vermin duty around the house should you have neighbors very close by (so long as they don't mind the NOISE!).
It will be fun trying to get a really tight string out of these. The first three numbers look very promising in that regard. I'll try to take a sqwerl with one sometime just for kicks (headshot). I wouldn't ever want to get hit with one of these, rubber or not!

X-Ring rubber pellets (guessing 15grains for now.... the 44 version is said to be about 13grains)
3000psi
1433fps=68fpe
1398fps=65fpe
1399fps=65fpe
1331fps=59fpe

[Jaymo]

I have the .45 REAL mold and the .45 T/C Maxi Ball mold, plus a few other .45 molds for my 909. What exactly is the Lee ROA mold? It doesn't quite ring a bell. Can you give me a mold # flr that one, or an item # from Midway, Wideners, etc, where you bought it? Thanks.
So, would you recommend LeRoy for doing the tune?
Glad I know now not to store it with a full charge.
909 Sure seems to like the heavier boolits, eh?

I had thought about getting the Lyman #457122, .457" 330 gr flat-nosed hollowpoint mold. I'd probably run these through a .454" or .455" sizing die and lube them with either White Label Bullet Lube's black powder cartridge lube or my homemade patch lube, or T/C Bore Butter.

OR, maybe Lee's  .457" 340 gr flat nosed mold with the bullets prepped the same way prior to shooting. Or lubed with spray moly or liquid alox.

Good info, Butcher. Thanks.

[Jaymo]

Hmm, why can't I edit my post?
Anyhoo, Never mind. ROA=Ruger Old Army. It hit me right after I posted. I have a Lee ROA  mold. I like the DD BigLube ROA molds a lot after seeing them.

[Butcher]

I haven't started casting my own yet.......soon though.

     If you are into casting your own boolits for the 909, you should order the mold that drops the very first boolits designed specifically for Sam Yang 909 guns (probably the first bigbore airgun design period).  I'm talking about the LBT WFN series designed by none other than Veral Smith.  

     Veral had not realized that bigbore airguns existed until I brought them to his attention a couple of years ago, and asked him to design the LBT bigbore airgun boolits.  This bigbore airgun version of the WideFlatNose is available in four different weights between approx. 240 and 270grains.  

     They hit the spinner incredibly hard!  I have only been able to test the 240grainer version for accuracy thus far, but as you can see it does pretty well at 50 yards.  This is a typical 50yard group from my 909 off the steady stix.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x65/butcher45/Oct9001.jpg


Sorry for the poor picture......hard to see here, but the bands are very narrow.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x65/butcher45/WFN004.jpg


     If you are into hollowpoints, send your Lyman/RCBS mold to this guy, and he will hollowpoint a cavity or two for a very fair price.

http://www.hollowpointmolds.com/

[Butcher]

I just remembered that Eric Henderson created a bigbore boolit design in .50 caliber awhile back, so this wouldn't be the very first bigbore airgun design.  It is the first LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) bigbore airgun design, though.

[Jaymo]

Does Veral Smith have a website? I'm familiar with the LBT WFN bullet designs, just didn't know he made one for the 909.

Ooh, I like the mold hollowpointing service. I'd love to make one of my .44 caliber wadcutter molds into a hollowpoint. That would be just plain nasty.

In a SHTF situation, a .44 cal hollowpoint, full wadcutter fired from a Charter Bulldog would be an impressive stopper, while remaining low pressure.

I'd like to see a .45 caliber, full wadcutter, hollowpoint mold for the 909.

Maybe I should get my T/C .45 cal Maxi Ball mold converted to HP.

[Butcher]

http://www.lbtmoulds.com/moulds.shtml

Vogel sells a HP Maxi, and it didn't do so well in an expansion test.  Probably because the cavity is to deep. Pretty accurate, though (like every other Maxi-Ball type boolit I have ever shot).

Vogel tends to make the cavities of his HP's WAY, WAY to deep so that may have something to do with the HP MaxiBall's poor terminal performance.  Gotta fill the cavity before it can expand, right?  Keep the cavity shallow and wide (like a Devastator) and it should work OK.  What's nice about them HP molds is that Eric at Hollowpointmolds.com can provide several different pins (that make different size/shape cavities) to experiment with.

A .44Special shooting HP Wadcutters sounds like the perfect nightstand gun for sure!