Update...
The first attempts at a 15" barrel for the BW didn't go great. Bobby had two short .22 barrels in his collection, both acquired from the Sterling dissolution in the 90s. We're not sure of the barrel manufacturer (LW? HW? someone else?) but they were kind of oddballs in that they were 8 land and groove. Squared off lands like a typical 12 land and groove from HW/CZ/LW, but only 8 of them. Sorta strange. They looked and felt good though, just didn't shoot for beans. They'd put a couple into nearly the same whole, and then a flyer or two, and then put two or three into a new hole, in a different place. Not what we're looking for.
He'd shot both of the mystery 8 groove barrels a bit before the hand-off and so since we were already aware of the accuracy issue, I had brought a different potential barrel from my stash to pass back to him. It was a 1:17 twist polygonal Lothar barrel, choked, that came out of a Red Wolf 6 or 7 years ago. So he machined it up and handed it back to me at the recent field target match at Duncan, AZ.
And I've since been playing with it here and there when time and work/family schedules allow.
Here's the balance point, just in front of the trigger guard...
And how it compares to a smattering of other guns in the 35-38" OAL range...
The shorter barrel drastically changes the entire feel of the chassis stocked Blackwolf. It's still a solid, porker of a rifle (
), but in a much more convenient form now, no longer nose-heavy. Just a generally "handier" impression when held and used.
So far I've been shooting the current carbine iteration as a 18-21fpe gun, using the JSB .22/13.43 and .22/18.1grain pellets. This is with a reg pressure of 95-100 bar, the white hammer spring, and the plenum stuffer. The transfer port in the barrel is relatively small, and so it's helping to keep things tamed down too. If the current status of this BW was Bruce Banner, he would call the factory form of the BW HiLite, "the other guy." The weight of the chassis and general design of the BW really aids in making the 19-20fpe feel quite behaved, all prim and proper and...reserved...perhaps demure. I know the beast within is capable of so much more, but it's a bit enjoyable to experience it in this restrained form. The current way that I'm enjoying the gun leaves me with a feeling of "just cuz you can doesn't mean you should" in regards to the maximum power potential of the platform.
Oh yeah, white spring = very minimal cocking effort, especially at the lower end of the power wheel settings.
Between the not-insignificant heft of the platform keeping any sort of recoil effectively eliminated, the convenient OAL, the barely-there cocking effort, and the easily controlled down-range energy of only 19-20fpe....collectively just a highly refined and enjoyable shooting experience.
As for efficiency at 19-20fpe....I got 205 shots from 240-100 bar. That extra ten bar from 240-250 should be worth another 8-12 shots, so something like 215 shots. Apples to apples of a 19fpe energy output, that 215 shots puts it slightly more efficient than a Ghost, and not as efficient as a Redwolf, both of which are also 250 bar MWP guns, using 480cc air bottles. Nearly half of a 500 count tin of pellets without needing to refill is pretty dang cool.
As for the accuracy...the barrel seems to slightly prefer the 18.1s @ 700 over the 13.43s @ 810.
All of this shooting was done in 8-22mph winds.
Here are some 5 shot groups @ 30 yards. The best couple 5 shot groups are probably 3/8" CTC. (Top left printed bull was the sighter/zero bull, so that particular target is messy). (The ten ring on this target is 0.475.")
And some 10 shot groups @ 50 yard , same two pellets, 13.43s on the left, 18.1s on the right.
The 13.4s are about 1.25" CTC and the 18.1s are printing 10 shot groups in the 7/8" range. Given the conditions, quite respectable for a low BC, slow moving pellet.
I'm quite enjoying it so far, and looking forward to much more trigger time with the BWCC (Chassis Carbine).
