AirForce Texan .357: The Road to a World Record Air Rifle Shot - Research and Planning

Time to take the AirForce Texan out as far as it can go! Just a little back story before we get to the actual video... My goal in all of these attempts at topping my own personal best long range records is to be able to say I was shooting these shots with a gun that is either stock or close to stock form with openly available 3rd party parts and accessories (no custom machining - valves - etc).

I also have set a personal standard that I will be shooting off a bag or bipod so it isn't just me pulling a trigger on a gun in a bench rest vise. This is about real marksmanship and the combination of shooter and equipment and environment all working with and against each other to reach these crazy distances.

So onto this video specifically...
I struggled to decide if I was going to make this video or not, but I feel like in the spirit of building the air-gunning community and pushing this sport forward, I wanted to share my training, research, and development process leading up to what I hope will be a world record shot.

There are a lot of videos out there that show the end result of success, but all of us want to hear about the challenges and failures along the way. This video is part of my journey....

So on the shoulders of giants, I have learned so much from watching VeryBigRifle on YouTube (aka Rifle50 Carl on the GTA forums) where he shoots so seemingly effortlessly 800-1108 yard shots with his custom AirForce .257. I have also learned so much from the ammo makers and manufacturers and fellow shooters along the way - I thought it was good for me to release this video even though I am close, but have not hit my personal goal of a 1200+ yard shot.

So why now? I decided to release this video now, because I don't think I will be able to make any more attempts till Spring of 2018 unless snow covered targets with sub freezing temperature PCP shooting becomes one of the variables I need to overcome in this quest for my longest shot (which it just might).

I literally had one day left before my Long Rang shooting attempts on State Land had to end. As of today, Nov. 9th - we are now in the "quiet" woods time in anticipation for opening morning of deer season Nov. 15th.

Right before I recorded the video content for this video. I had just hit my 600 yard AirGunDepot.com Long Ranger shot and had a little air left and some random bullets left to shoot, so I thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag and let you all in on what all this Long Ranger stuff has been leading up to in my head. This most likely comes as no surprise that this is where this all was going.

So I am still searching for that unicorn bullet with a high enough BC (but not too heavy) and have some ideas on how I can get a little more FPS out of my gun to reach this range, but this is close to the absolute maximum range for a stock Texan .357 without doing valve work or Frankenstein-ing the gun into something that basically isn't even a Texan anymore.

So if you are a bullet caster and have a magic bullet you'd like for me to try - I am open to testing anything. I know I will hit this shot. I just want to share the full experience along the way with you all. Come with me along this ride - its been great so far!