Bulldog How Relevant are Harmonics to the Benjamin Bulldog Platform?

[Ezana4CE]

Depending upon when you bought your .357 Bulldog, to my understanding the barrels are either made by Green Mountain (older) or Lothar Walter (newer to spec for Benjamin). These are 28” barrels secured by a grub screw. The barrel is housed in a trapezoid shaped shroud with a plastic support piece fitted around the muzzle end. There is no support between the breech block and the end of the shroud.

Considering the amount of recoil that these air rifles create with the aforementioned battle support, I’m wondering how barrel harmonics affect shots from the Bulldog. Especially considering that shops like Veradium Air and Pitbull Airguns use or sell additional barrel supports in order to help better support the barrel within the shroud. I would think that the manufacturer would make small changes like additional barrel supports to the platform after seeing what others have done in this regard. So my question is, are barrel harmonics a huge issue with the .357 Benjamin or Benjamin M357? I haven’t shot a .457 Bulldog and I believe that the barrel may be 0.5” longer on that one, but I’m sure that the same question would apply.

 

[BenjeneerJohn]

I have not tested the aftermarket barrel spacers. I cannot say if they work or not. Have you tested them and found them to improve your accuracy? If so, I would like to know more about what your setup. We are always learning from our customers and aftermarket vendors.

I can say that we have engaged targets at 300 yards without a problem. Ethan is the engineer that turned the 357 into the 457 and M357. He took 2nd place in the 2022 Extreme Big Bore Challenge at EBR with a stock 457.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@BenjeneerJohn I have used aftermarket barrels supports on the .357 Benjamin Bulldog for a couple of years. However, I shot smaller calibers more frequently so I can’t say that I have noticed a remarkable “before and after” difference. Certain projectiles have only been shot using said supports. I installed a different type of supports yesterday in my M357. I’d like to take some time with them to compare differences, but this time around I’m keeping up with my findings a lot more efficiently. I’m not so scientific when it comes to shooting. I am a hunter. If I can tighten up already acceptable groups on paper, great for me. If they are a little more open at a distance, all is well so long as my shots are within the kill zone. With that said, a sizable set of lungs are forgiving targets. With big-bore Benjamin air rifles, I tend shoot at larger animals (dog sized and larger).

 

[BenjeneerJohn]

Let me know what you find! If you find something that works great, I might buy a set and test them myself.

John

 

[Ezana4CE]

A write up on barrel harmonics if anyone is confused or interested. I’m still learning about this myself.

Barrel Harmonics 101 - American Airgunner

Barrel Harmonics 101 Part 1: Good Vibes Only – Vibrations, Carbon Fiber Sleeves, Barrel Tension and Barrel Tuners Whether it’s somebody’s auntie sending “good vibrations” on Facebook, TikTokers talking about “the Vibe”, or airgunners writing forum posts about barrel tuners, optimizing vibrations...

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