Posted on another-color-forum, so the picture links probably aren't going to work here.
I tend to play with smooth bores when it rains (and we get really heavy rains)
So I saved the "Dust Devil" test until a day like today.
The Air Venturi "Dust Devils" made with an old idea (at least 70 years old...likely older..can't find a firm reference date older than WWII), but these are for smooth bore airguns. Are made of powdered iron and a binding agent (letsjust call it "glue").
Evidently, due to weight the 4.35gr. weight vs a solid steel BB of about 5.1gr, there is a good bit of binding agent in there.
Also, not really being round,don't have high expectations for smooth bore accuracy.
Dust Devil on a magnet:
So, across the equator (the "belt") they run about .170"...but about .166-.167" acoss the poles.
Ah...well...they're markets as "shoot faster.shoot safer", so that's the major judgement.
Being lighter, you'd expect them to shoot faster. The .7gr. difference doesn't seem like a whole lot, but it's a pretty large percentage of 5.1gr. (like 13-14%).
TEST #1: are they faster (as calimed on the box)?
Benjamin 340 test rifle:
1 pump
Dust Devil - 435gr. - 377fps
Steel BB - 5.1gr. - 366fps
Lead ball - 8gr. - 307fps
pellet - 8.4gr. - 330fps
2 pumps:
Dust devil = 534fps
Steel BB = 511fps
Lead ball = 443 fps
Pellet = 468fps
Am going to stop here, use 1 poump for testing, as that's typical BB gun speeds.
Well...the light Dust Devil is not as much faster as it should be. Only averaged a little faster than a solid steel BB in this old pumper. They didn't lie, it is consistently faster, just not proportionally faster.
TEST 2: are they safer (as claimed on the box)?
Testing the "bounce factor" as simply as possible with 1 pump. Although that's slow for some BB guns, think of it as duplicating impact at 12 or 15 feet.
Simple test rig:
A box and a rusty hatchet head (dug up in the back yard).
Can adjust the angle of the hatchet bladeand hoipfully the box will at leasat slow down the boncing balls.
tried dead stright,15degree angle, and 40 degree angle.
DUST DEVILS ACTUALLY WORK. As advertized, the do go to dust, even at a 40 degree angle an a 370ish impact speed. Got to be some angle that will just glance them, but it's not 40 degrees.
I had to lay down a paper towel in order to actually see the splatter.
Did notice that the less sharp the angle, the larger the bits of splatter, but even at 40 degrees the "dust" would just rough up the paper towel but not put a hole in it.
OK...kind of work. I did get a dust devil bounce back when shooting the chronograph into a wood back stop. Weird case of where shooting steel would be LESS of a hazard than shooting wood.
As for the others:
BB test halted early... they hardly slowed down (as expected). Some exited the box, and figured as I hadn't broken any windows, I should stop.
Lead ball and pellets weren't going near fast enough to splatter. Didn't seem to bounce up much from a direct hit, but did rattle/dent the box on angled hits. (The more acute the angle,the more velocity retained.)
TEST #3: can they shoot? (accuracy isNOT a claim, but may as well test short range accuracy as well).
Benjamins were made with larger than BB gun bores...the old smoothbores were suppose to use lead ball (which is larger), even though they made allowances in many of them for steel BB's in some guns.
This one has that odd hollow/tapered bolt probe. Lead ball doesn't go into the hollow, but steeel BB's will slightly go in...and have enough friction not to fall out and roll down the bore when pointing the rifle down.
Still...an under szided steeel ball rattling down a smooth barrel does not present the ideal accuracy combination...So I tried at 25 feet.
OK...Dust Devils doen't shoot much differently at 25 feet from plain BB's or "Match grade" steel shot. (Why 25 feet? That's as far outside as I could get and stay dry in the rain.)
Pellets with a deep hollow base/forward round nose are more immune ffrom the rangom top-spin/bottom spin roation (in pool terms, the "english").
But the Dust Devils do let me shoot steel swingers (and even with their little 1.3-1.4 foot pounds, can actually knock down a firmly set field target at close range).
CAN SKIP THE FOLLOWING HISTORY LESSON IF YOU NEED TO.
Way back when, there were traveling carnivals (or permanet type attrrations) that offered shooting alleries. real .22RF rifles, real ammo (.22 short). Rifles were chained in place so you'dhave to work hard to point them at anything but the back stop, but I'm sure the world today would totally freak out at the thoughtof "real" guns.
Anyway, there were concerns for fragments. Popular enough pasttime that the ammo compaines stepped up with "Gallery loads". They tried compressed lead dust....but even back then, spreading lead dust wasn't a great idea.
Then they tried compressed (with a binder) iron dust. Back then,the bullet weight whent to something like 15 grains and the velocity upped to 1710fps to get it to cycle the .22short semi-autos favored by the carnivals (get 'em in,get their money, get'em out fast).
Some of that old .22 short ammo is still around, and if you suspect it might be a sintered iron bullet, try a magnet.
What made be ask is I am not real happy with the trigger pull of my Dan Wesson air soft revolver of 6 pounds . I see Crosman makes a SN 357 that is a smooth bore that will shoot BB or pellets with the same barrel . But you said that the BB were only .170 . I thought it would be nice to use these in my Crosman pistols with 2 pound trigger pulls inside the house this winter . I would like to find a BB pistol or air soft pistol that is CO2 that I can convert to air at CO2 psi that has a 2-3 pound trigger pull . Marvin
I received a few of the BB and some how we both measured them the same to the thousand . I put one in 1377 barrel and it quickly rolled out the other end . On the edge of buying a Sig Sauer P266X5 BB pistol . According to the video PA has it averaged 2.19 pounds of trigger pull . Looked at the Tanfoglio Gold Custom as well . But I have yet to find any info on the trigger pull . ANT makes a converter to use regulated HPA or bulk co2 . I have them on my Dan Wesson pistols and they work well . If any one has any personal experience with these pistols let me know . Marvin
