Webley MK VI

[zippy]

Wouldn't you need to change the barrel sleeve for a .177 rifled one as well?

[jassi]

In an ideal world, but pellets can be shot through a smooth bore just as easily. Some early air pistols were smooth bored, including some Webleys.

[MikB]

Wouldn't you need to change the barrel sleeve for a .177 rifled one as well?

The drag differential between head and skirt keeps the pellet travelling headfirst, like a shuttlecock.

In my misspent youth, I did some experiments with a .22 rimfire smoothbore garden gun. When I shot rifle cartridges like LR or Shorts, the bullet toppled within a foot or two of the muzzle and I couldn't keep them all on a roughly foot-square pistol target at 10 yards. When I tried a .22 airgun pellet propelled by a starting-pistol blank, the results were far better - about 1.5 inches offhand at 10 yards.

Regards,
MikB

[flatrajectory]

[QUOTE=MikB;6520370]The drag differential between head and skirt keeps the pellet travelling headfirst, like a shuttlecock.

In my misspent youth, I did some experiments with a .22 rimfire smoothbore garden gun. When I shot rifle cartridges like LR or Shorts, the bullet toppled within a foot or two of the muzzle and I couldn't keep them all on a roughly foot-square pistol target at 10 yards. When I tried a .22 airgun pellet propelled by a starting-pistol blank, the results were far better - about 1.5 inches offhand at 10 yards.

Regards,
MikB[/QUOTE

A mis-spent youth.......you naughty boy.

My results were similar for the same set up, but I was grown up then at 13 , so there. .....

Pete.

[Powderfinger]

Didn't the late great Gerald Cardew once say that airgun barrels did not need to be rifled because a diabolo pellet is self-righting, like a badminton shuttlecock?

[demoncase]

A rifled barrel will probably be better in an ideal world, but I'm not going to be vying for the podium at the next NSRA 10m comp with the beast- as long as I can keep it on the card (if not in the black) I'll be happy..... Call it 'Minute Of Screaming Savage' as per the original

My only concern was the 4.5mm barrelling for steel BBs is a hair tighter than a true .177 barrel-Usually roundabout .175 but looking at the .177mm head diameter of my normal range fodder (RWS Hobbys)....Well, what's 2 thou of soft lead between friends?

[jassi]

Hobbys will shoot through the barrel, no problem - that's what I'm using at present.

An advantage of leaving it as a smooth bore is that you can revert to bbs ( as long as you have some unmodified shells)

[flatrajectory]

As there are no spare shells for the mk.6 yet, I managed to shorten some D.W. shells to fit, but.......
I was wondering if maybe the shells for the Umarex Colt Python may be the same size as the Wobbly ones...???
Does anyone have both to compare, or could anyone give dimensions of the Python shells.....?

Pete.