adding 200+fps to any gun with no mods?

[Ace12GA]

Tippmann just released a paintball marker that is powered by combusting propane. How crazy is that? Its a pump action deal, I am sure some crazy person will adapt it to .177 or .22 pellets.

[killercrow]

ooh! someone like me!!! actually i had that idea, using propane and blowing it up... figured it wouldnt work so well... hey maybe im wrong!

[airsmith282]

in a springer its the heat generated that ingnites the oil and causes the pellet to exceed way beyond what the gun normaly will shot,,a springer reaches an average of 2000 + degrees for only 1 or 2 milaseconds which is more the enough to flash ignite most oils and blast the pellet out of the barrel, you likely will not see this happen in co2 guns becuase the air from co2 is ice cold... as for pumpup guns also again not a very good chance of it happening the air in pumpups is usualy a little warm but it is not hot and you need heat to ignite oil so not likely to happen there either, but in springers not a problem.. doing this pratice can also make the gun explode in some case and thats not to good for the shooter if he has to be rushed to the hospitial or kills him self in the process.. and if you get lucky you might just blow the spring apart in peices and or damage the piston as well and in guns with synthic seals you will have a Seal melt down after several shots...

[lauchlin]

i have not herd that name in a long time .tryed to buy one once in victora the guy just would not let it go .

http://www.funsupply.com/airguns/barracuda.html

[Keyrigger]

i have not herd that name in a long time .tryed to buy one once in victora the guy just would not let it go.l

I know what he feels like. I won't part with mine, either.

[scruffie]

Man those suckers are a rarity. A person would have to consider themselves very fortunate to own one. According to blue book only a couple hundred made which makes them a prime target for imitations. Hell I would even like to own a fake one as long as I didn't have to pay the going price of a real BARAKUDA EL 54. I know now why you won't part with yours keyrigger

[Keyrigger]

This is not the first time I have heard of the V/L Caseless ammo being used in the Barakuda. The first time that I heard it was when some one on the Yellow Forum mentioned about using a reduced powered V/L round. I think he said something about it being in a box that had green as one of the colours. It was the first and only time I have heard of a low power V/L round. The caseless ammo for my V/L is just black and yellow. The fellow that wrote the quoted article on the Barakuda was bang on. My 'kuda destroyed one mainspring, breech seal, and a trigger when I was using it with ether. That was twenty years ago and I have not used ether since.

Apparently, if you used the low powered V/L ammo, it was near to what the 'kuda would do with the Baracuda pellet and a perfect air/ether mix, but with excellent relieability. I still figure that the rifle would still break some parts, but it might have been forstalled. The V/L rifle uses a check valve to stop the high pressure gase and temperatures from reaching back into the piston. I would not want to use the full powered V/L round in any regular spring pistoned air rifle as the heat and pressure generated would rapidly destroy the piston, breach seal, and might break a few other parts along the way. As another reason not to use them in regular airguns, both the V/L and the Barakuda rifles have conventional firearm barrels and not airgun barrels. There is a difference between airgun bore diameters and firearms diameters of the same calibres. Had the check valve been incorperated in a modified 'kuda, I think the sales potential of the rifle and the ammo would have been greater. Oh well...

[Keyrigger]

Just for everyone's information about the Barakuda, they were in production from about 1954/55 to the mid 80's. There are no accurate numbers on them, but they were only made in .22 from the factory. I mentioned about the barrel being a firearm barrel and what they did at the company that made the system, was to buy any available HW 35's to produce their rifle (the rifle was still marketed through Weihrauch, with Stoeger Arms in New York City being the main importer). They pushed out the air rifle's barrel and pressed in the firearm barrel. If the rifle was a .177 barrel, they over stamped the 4 in the 4.5 with a 5. Mine is so marked. I have not heard of another one like it nor have I seen another deluxe stocked version. Every Barakuda that I have seen over the years in pictures has been the plain stock only. I doubt that it's a "one'r" but the odds are getting better. I have talked to a few owners and they have never seen one like the one I have. Supposedly, the one I have was bought in Germany and brought over by the original owner. I have no idea who owned the rifle first, only that I am the third owner of it.

[airbuddy3]

Hi Keyrigger do you have a ballpark figure as to how many were made ?
And I know this one is hard to answer as there may not be enough sales or any recent sales ..but how much would a good condition one be worth ?

TIA ,
Regards
Frank

[scruffie]

According to the current blue book they made other stocks as it says to deduct 20% for Standard model with beech stock. Also came with chrome plating. Quote (Big warning. Caution: Specimens are not authentic unless factory stamped BARAKUDA. Air rifles with ether-injection tubes, but marked HW 35, or with other model numbers, are fake; compromised specimens of other models ) As a side bar it says 20 were specially made for Beeman Precision airguns in 1981 from the last remaining parts. In all only a couple hundred were made from 1954-1981

[scruffie]

With all the bells and whistle (correct markings Etc) Book says 95% condition = $2500.00 GreenBacks. Quaranteed that figure is probably low by $2500.00. Comparision. Book says a CR 600 95% is $250.00. The book is only a guide and sometimes a not very good one

[Keyrigger]

Hi Keyrigger do you have a ballpark figure as to how many were made ?
And I know this one is hard to answer as there may not be enough sales or any recent sales ..but how much would a good condition one be woth?

No, I have no idea how many were made. I might try to ask Weihrauch that question in the future, but I think that it has already been tried, but with no success. I think that they had no records of how many they sent out or sold to distributors. As to value, the Blue Book is strickly a guide and the values stated in that book have recently been coming under fire as they are very slanted towards what ever was marketed by Beeman's. From what I gather, he does not even acknowlege the existance of the EL 54 prior to him importing a few rifles. At one time, I asked some one that had the book, to look up the rifle and give me a price range. I would put mine at 95% stock and 98% action (one rub spot on the ether tube where the bluing is gone) and figured it to be about 1500 US. Would I sell it for that?, no, as I like the rifle far too much to sell it now or in the forseeable future.

I have heard a lot of stories about how many have been found in Canada and it was thought that there were more of these rifles, per capita, here than in the States. It could be, but those that have them are loathe to even think about selling them, as their rarity on the open market and in shows tends to point to far fewer really being around. I have only heard of five in Canada, three sold through Marvin, the one in BC, and the one I have. If many (like mine) broke the trigger, and unless a replacement was found (I have spares, lol), they would have been thrown out. That, to me, makes a lot of sense as they did require a lot of maintainence when used with ether and with the lack of repair depots for airguns in this country, fixing them would have been a lot of leg work that would not warrent the time and money. The average airgun user is more likely to replace, rather than repair and the number of basket case airguns at garage sales and gun shows tends to back this up.

[Keyrigger]

With all the bells and whistle (correct markings Etc) Book says 95% condition = $2500.00 GreenBacks. Quaranteed that figure is probably low by $2500.00.

Blank stare.........................................REALLY??? The price I was going on was based on the second edition. I still take the prices from Doc with a grain of salt, and I know that he had one plated for his collection, but that was not a production option.

[cfraser]

Gotta agree, without knowing ANYTHING about the gun. Book is always low for Crosmans, and HIGH for Beemans. That Beeman guy is well-known for his promotion. He puts down stuff he doesn't sell, then it's golden if/once he sells it. Beeman sells their own "used" guns for more than you can buy the "originals" (from actual manufacturer) for new, the book is just so self-serving I can't believe anybody uses it. Except to get a vague clue if something is rare or common.

[airbuddy3]

Thanks for your insight ,
I agree that your average AG user is not interested or unable to source out parts and knowhow to keep their AG in running condition , and that is how a lot of Cr 600's show up ..as a bb gun that is not working ..lucky for the finder/enthusiast .
I will keep my eyes peeled for a kuda ..who knows maybe I will need one of them triggers one day !!

Regards ,
Frank