by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
This report covers:
History
Here is the deal
No more energy is needed
The TX2 valve
Summary
Twenty-five years ago big bore airguns were the stuff of dreams. They existed as antiques in collections, but for those who lacked big cash, they were unapproachable. Then, in 1996, Dennis Quackenbush did something about it. He started building the .375-caliber Brigand. It shot .375-caliber round balls and was a bolt-action breechloader. It was powered by bulk CO2 gas and put the ball out the muzzle at around 675 f.p.s. I tested mine on 1100 psi air and got velocities of 800 f.p.s. and more.
History
What followed is history, First the Koreans jumped on the bandwagon, followed by the Turks. They made high-caliber big bores, but in terms of energy they put out half or less of what a really powerful big bore did.
Back to Quackenbush — his .457 Outlaw produced over 500 foot-pounds (mine got 539 foot-pounds) and became the industry benchmark for a powerful big bore.
Big bores captured everyone’s attention. We even had an annual shoot at targets out to 300 yards.