Sonoran Random Thoughts On the BRK Sonoran

[Billm]

I also had my first Sonoran leak today. I filled her up and put her outside to acclimate. I went back out and started shootings and was shocked to see the velocity had dropped a lot. Then I looked at the Gauge and it was low. I figured that I hadn’t filled it. I filled it and put it outside. I started to shooting and heard a hissing nouse. It was leaking around the reg gauge. I tightened it up and all was good. I’m guessing the cold caused the o-ring to shrink.

 

[Billm]

Are you getting a good spread on your shots and SD number?

On a lot of the strings I was adjusting the hammer. This was the last string and it looks pretty good. Now, I shot for quite awhile and I don’t know how long the reg gauge was leaking. I had assumed that I noticed it right away, but maybe not. The first and last round had a good SD. The first round was 45 gr pellets.

 

[duchunter007]

On a lot of the strings I was adjusting the hammer. This was the last string and it looks pretty good. Now, I shot for quite awhile and I don’t know how long the reg gauge was leaking. I had assumed that I noticed it right away, but maybe not. The first and last round had a good SD. The first round was 45 gr pellets.

Good spread and SD numbers! Good you are moving the hammer spring at the same time

 

[Billm]

Easy hammer adjustment on the Sonoran or Sniper. Access cover is removed with four screws.

 

[Solo1]

Easy hammer adjustment on the Sonoran or Sniper. Access cover is removed with four screws.View attachment 19178

Like the ammo holders!

 

[pan60]

Like the ammo holders!

yes

 

[Billm]

Thanks, I started by making these. When you flip the lid over, it’s a sorting tray with dividers. But, then I decided they were too bulky and came up with the other holder. I just attach a lid from an empty tin to show which pellets/slugs are in the holder. I can hang them as shown or they will sit on a bench etc..

 

[duchunter007]

Thanks, I started by making these. When you flip the lid over, it’s a sorting tray with dividers. But, then I decided they were too bulky and came up with the other holder. I just attach a lid from an empty tin to show which pellets/slugs are in the holder. I can hang them as shown or they will sit on a bench etc..View attachment 19201View attachment 19199View attachment 19200

Did you 3D print those holders?

 

[Billm]

It’s raining today, but I went out and shot some anyway, because the wind is intermittent. I’m still not getting the slugs to group like I would like them to AEA 50.5gr pellets. At 180ish bar I adjusted the hammer for a max velocity of 894fps. I didn’t want to go down to a 5% tune because I wanted to keep the velocity over 850fps. I settled on just over 3% at 863fps with an SD of around 1.6. Turned out real nice. It took 24 pellets to find the tune with the hammer spring. I then shot a very small 8 shot (full mag) group of just over 1/2 MOA.

Did you 3D print those holders?

I did, I design them in fusion and then printed them.

 

[Solo1]

It’s raining today, but I went out and shot some anyway, because the wind is intermittent. I’m still not getting the slugs to group like I would like them to AEA 50.5gr pellets. At 180ish bar I adjusted the hammer for a max velocity of 894fps. I didn’t want to go down to a 5% tune because I wanted to keep the velocity over 850fps. I settled on just over 3% at 863fps with an SD of around 1.6. Turned out real nice. It took 24 pellets to find the tune with the hammer spring. I then shot a very small 8 shot (full mag) group of just over 1/2 MOA.

I did, I design them in fusion and then printed them.

Well done! Sometimes it just a little change that makes all the difference!

 

[Billm]

Well done! Sometimes it just a little change that makes all the difference!

Thanks. I still can’t get the slugs to shoot consistently. But, I have some more AEA slugs coming tomorrow, I think they do better. I might just have to move on from slugs.

 

[Billm]

I went out and shot several mags of 52.2gr commercial slugs today. It was very windy. I didn’t change the tune from the tune for the AEA pellets. Four out of ten groups were sub-MOA. They were running at 845fps. So I swaged five 52.1gr slugs and they were terrible. The velocity dropped to 830fps. I measured both slugs. The 52.2 gr are the same diameter, but are slightly shorter. The 52.2gr has a cup base vs the swaged slugs dish base. It’s got me thinking about selling my swaging press lol.

 

[Danman]

I went out and shot several mags of 52.2gr commercial slugs today. It was very windy. I didn’t change the tune from the tune for the AEA pellets. Four out of ten groups were sub-MOA. They were running at 845fps. So I swaged five 52.1gr slugs and they were terrible. The velocity dropped to 830fps. I measured both slugs. The 52.2 gr are the same diameter, but are slightly shorter. The 52.2gr has a cup base vs the swaged slugs dish base. It’s got me thinking about selling my swaging press lol.

Im still on the same train (of thought, lol)....buy a beefier .30 and keep the Sonoran but shoot only pellets outta it. Or, when a .30cal Brk slug barrel ever comes out.....snatch one up pronto for the Ghost! 120fpe will send those 52gr slugs at all kinds of speeds you need.

 

[Dedcntr]

I also had my first Sonoran leak today. I filled her up and put her outside to acclimate. I went back out and started shootings and was shocked to see the velocity had dropped a lot. Then I looked at the Gauge and it was low. I figured that I hadn’t filled it. I filled it and put it outside. I started to shooting and heard a hissing nouse. It was leaking around the reg gauge. I tightened it up and all was good. I’m guessing the cold caused the o-ring to shrink.

Hello, I see you’re really well-versed with the Sonoran. I just got a Power tuned Sonoran. I’ve run 50-60 rounds through it trying to zero it in at 50 yards and then went out to 100 using JSB 50.15 gr knock outs. The gun came to me from AOA with the regulator set at 150 bar. Every court of fourth shot is off 4-6” I’m guessing the air pressure needs to go up. I don’t wanna mess with it until I talk to someone who’s dealt with the first . Can you give me any tips/advice on what slugs are you having the best luck and at what air pressure at 100 yrds plus?

 

[Billm]

Hello, I see you’re really well-versed with the Sonoran. I just got a Power tuned Sonoran. I’ve run 50-60 rounds through it trying to zero it in at 50 yards and then went out to 100 using JSB 50.15 gr knock outs. The gun came to me from AOA with the regulator set at 150 bar. Every court of fourth shot is off 4-6” I’m guessing the air pressure needs to go up. I don’t wanna mess with it until I talk to someone who’s dealt with the first . Can you give me any tips/advice on what slugs are you having the best luck and at what air pressure at 100 yrds plus?

Welcome to the club. The Sonoran and PCPs in general are a lot of fun. I’ve DM’d you, but I’ll post a few tidbits here for the search engines and others that join the club. This is what is working for me so far. I’ve learned most of this by bothering a lot of hamsters. I’m just sharing what I’ve learned.
1.First and foremost, polish the barrel and maybe polish it some more. JB Bore polish and Flitz.
2.Set the regulator to 180 bar or thereabouts.
3.Try some AEA 52.2gr slugs
4. Use a Chronograph
5. Remove the stock, then remove the hammer adjustment access panel ( black cover in front of the cheek riser). Reinstall the stock, while leaving the access plate off.
6. Insert An “L” shaped Allen key (I believe 4mm) into the hammer and back it all the way out until it stops.
7. Fire a shot over the chronograph, don’t bother shooting groups yet. Annotate the velocity and then turn the hammer adjustment in (CW) 1/2 turn. Keep doing this until you get your highest recorded velocity. Then continue turning it CW using 1/4 turns until you see a drop in velocity. Try to keep track of how many turns it takes before you see the drop.
8. Shoot a 3 shot group and ensure you’re seeing the drop.
9. Now start reducing the hammer spring tension by turning it CCW. I personally do it in 1/4 or 1/2 turn increments and shoot 3 shot groups at each adjustment. You really should do this until you reduce the velocity by 3-5%. In my experience with the Sonoran that will not produce an ideal velocity for slugs. In my case I peaked at 879 fps and so I continued to reduce it to 864 fps. Listen for a change in tone of the muzzle blast. You will hear a change when you get to the point where the air exiting the muzzle is smoother. I have a couple of thousand hours sitting next to jet engines and can barely hear it lol. When you get to this point quit adjusting the hammer and shoot a few groups.
10. Try and adjust the hammerspring up and down in very small increments while shooting groups to see if they tighten up..

 

[duchunter007]

Welcome to the club. The Sonoran and PCOs in general are a lot of fun. I’ve DM’d you, but I’ll post a few tidbits here for the search engines and others that join the club. This is what is working for me so far. I’ve learned most of this by bothering a lot of hamsters. I’m just sharing what I’ve learned.
1.First and foremost, polish the barrel and maybe polish it some more. JB Bore polish and Flitz.
2.Set the regulator to 180 bar or thereabouts.
3.Try some AEA 52.2gr slugs
4. Use a Chronograph
5. Remove the stock, then remove the hammer adjustment access panel ( black cover in front of the cheek riser). Reinstall the stock, while leaving the access plate off.
6. Insert An “L” shaped Allen key (I believe 4mm) into the hammer and back it all the way out until it stops.
7. Fire a shot over the chronograph, don’t bother shooting groups yet. Annotate the velocity and then turn the hammer adjustment in (CW) 1/2 turn. Keep doing this until you get your highest recorded velocity. Then continue turning it CW using 1/4 turns until you see a drop in velocity. Try to keep track of how many turns it takes before you see the drop.
8. Shoot a 3 shot group and ensure you’re seeing the drop.
9. Now start reducing the hammer spring tension by turning it CCW. I personally do it in 1/4 or 1/2 turn increments and shoot 3 shot groups at each adjustment. I really you do this until you reduce the velocity by 3-5%. In my experience with the Sonoran that will not produce an ideal velocity for slugs. In my case I peaked at 879 fps and so I continued to reduce it to 864 fps. Listen for a change in tone if the muzzle blast. You will hear a change when you get to the point where the air exiting the muzzle is smoother. I have a couple of thousand hours sitting next to jet engines and can barely hear it lol. When you get to this point quit adjusting the hammer and shoot a few groups.
10. Try and adjust the hammerspring up and down in very small increments while shooting groups to see if they tighten up..

Very good directions, @Billm. It is best to get the gun dialed in on speed, spread, and STD, then you can start shooting groups and fine-tune as needed. As Billm says on lines 9 and 10, first and foremost, get the barrel polished!

 

[Billm]

It’s just my opinion, new shooters priorities:
1. Buy a decent PCP air rifle that YOU like. You gotta like it, to spend time with it.
2. Buy a decent scope/sight. It doesn’t have to be $500, but you don’t want a $20 scope.
3. Buy several types of pellets to try.
4. Buy the best air source that your budget allows. The air source has a huge impact on the fun factor.
5. Buy a chronograph, whatever you can afford. It will be your friend. It will help you to tune your rifle and tell you when you need to quit shooting and need to refill.
6. Make sure you bought a chronograph.
7. Polish your barrel
Things like bipods, rests, shooting bags can all come in time.
Then allow yourself a few minutes to research your next airgun, because it’s coming.

 

[Billm]

I’ve gone back to playing with pellets in the Sonoran. I ended the day by shooting a lot of pellets trying to determine my shot count with the latest tube for AEA 45 Gr.,p. I actually got 112 shots on the Chrono and five dry fires not shown on the Chrono. 6 or 7were off the regulator. That’s the most shots I’ve ever gotten off the 700cc bottle. I ended up shooting 62 consecutive shots at an EBR practice target. I didn’t correct for wind. I’m very happy with the results. I’ll post some other groups I shot on the same fill, but prior to the paper target.

 

[duchunter007]

I’ve gone back to playing with pellets in the Sonoran. I ended the day by shooting a lot of pellets trying to determine my shot count with the latest tube for AEA 45 Gr.,p. I actually got 112 shots on the Chrono and five dry fires not shown on the Chrono. 6 or 7were off the regulator. That’s the most shots I’ve ever gotten off the 700cc bottle. I ended up shooting 62 consecutive shots at an EBR practice target. I didn’t correct for wind. I’m very happy with the results. I’ll post some other groups I shot on the same fill, but prior to the paper target. View attachment 19812View attachment 19813View attachment 19814

My Sonoran shoot the AEA 45 GN at 913 fps and they shoot very well, that is a nice grouping of the 62 shots!

 

[Billm]

My Sonoran shoot the AEA 45 GN at 913 fps and they shoot very well, that is a nice grouping of the 62 shots!

I tried 900+ the other day and I keep coming back to 750-870. I’m going to step through the different velocities again. It keeps me from getting bored lol.