Saxby and Palmer

[sbd]

..."firing pin" spring wouldn't have looked out of place in a springer the physics of the cartridge meant you had to give a hell of a whack, hence the propensity for the bolt to fly back which often led it to fracture at the rear and they weren't cheap to replace.

The Safari got everything right

[Geezer]

..."firing pin" spring wouldn't have looked out of place in a springer the physics of the cartridge meant you had to give a hell of a whack, hence the propensity for the bolt to fly back which often led it to fracture at the rear and they weren't cheap to replace.

The Safari got everything right

Exactly. I could never work out why they hadn't realised that the safety needed to postively lock the bolt in the forward position.

And, for the benefit of others, building a PCP where each shot used a different air reservoir, valve, seals, pelllet support, and a different endcap through which the pellet had to pass, and which was then loaded into a chamber, potentially seating slightly diiferently according the variation in tolerances in each cartridge body, was a recipe for poor accuracy and reliability.

sbd: how much better was the Safari? Even when they were new, I recall the reviews praising a lot, but not exactly extolling their accuracy.

[sbd]

...speaking the Safari's were a different beast for all the reasons you identify above, the TAC cartridge was infinitely more consistant and were effectively a knock open valve so either on or off so to speak. The smaller volume was a major boon.

One of my favorite bits of the Safari was the bolt handle and body were linked by a left hand thread so that as you locked the bolt down it took up any variance in COL arising from the tolerances of the components. As to accuracy I can remember clover leafing with them but there were always compromises such as the pellet having to jump from the nose cone to the barrel.

[sbd]

...for the pistols/Safari were the same, pumping them more and more is a a waste of time as you found out, they were never power monsters with 10/11 fpe being tops but 7 is a little low, maybe look to re-set the barrel, the bolt handle should tighten as it's closed, if it doesn't then the barrel may have moved forward a bit losing the seal at the front of the cartridge.

A couple of protos were made using the Herald cartridge, they were a bit pokier

[premierpistol]

...for the pistols/Safari were the same, pumping them more and more is a a waste of time as you found out, they were never power monsters with 10/11 fpe being tops but 7 is a little low, maybe look to re-set the barrel, the bolt handle should tighten as it's closed, if it doesn't then the barrel may have moved forward a bit losing the seal at the front of the cartridge.

A couple of protos were made using the Herald cartridge, they were a bit pokier

Thanks for that SBD. I'll suggest that to him and hopefully get it running right, not that it matters though, it sits in a glass cabinet with the rest of his collection.... just to show off..... the git.

Merry Christmas all!

[premierpistol]

A colleague of mine still has a safari, a lovely looking rifle, light enough to carry all day but it's not very powerful? he reckoned it was over the limit but a run over the chrono showed it to be 7FPE? we experimented with number of pumps from the slim-jim and found that 10 pumps gave the same as 15 or 20 or 25 i.e. there was no more air being compressed into each TAC?

I suggested getting the pump resealed but another buddy suggested his TAC's might have been designed for the pistol Brococks?

Never the less a great looking rifle.

Wish I could own one, I'd swap a HW100 for one tomorrow...

[mike.watkins]

A colleague of mine still has a safari, a lovely looking rifle, light enough to carry all day but it's not very powerful? he reckoned it was over the limit but a run over the chrono showed it to be 7FPE? we experimented with number of pumps from the slim-jim and found that 10 pumps gave the same as 15 or 20 or 25 i.e. there was no more air being compressed into each TAC?

I suggested getting the pump resealed but another buddy suggested his TAC's might have been designed for the pistol Brococks?

Never the less a great looking rifle.

Wish I could own one, I'd swap a HW100 for one tomorrow...

they looked great i always wanted one

[sbd]

they looked great i always wanted one

...Purdiest one I ever saw was a proto action with a stock that Mick Dawes knocked up for the fun of it, the daintiest thing I ever did see, wish I'd kept it

[para]

Some very interesting info about a rifle I'd never heard of until recently! the guy I spoke to was involved in making the barrel assembly and of course owned one. I have sent him a link to the BBS so hopefuly he will sign up and be able to pass on his knowledge and experience.
Would I be right in thinking these are now under the same FAC restrictions as the brockcock cartridge range

[Geezer]

Some very interesting info about a rifle I'd never heard of until recently! the guy I spoke to was involved in making the barrel assembly and of course owned one. I have sent him a link to the BBS so hopefuly he will sign up and be able to pass on his knowledge and experience.
Would I be right in thinking these are now under the same FAC restrictions as the brockcock cartridge range

Yes, sadly they are.