Best Ammo For .45 Caliber Sam Yang 909S Big Bore Airgun

[scalper]

Recently purchased a Korean big bore airgun known as the Sam Yang 909S. It is .45 caliber with about a velocity of 730 fps (approx 200 fpe).

I have been reading a variety of things about the best lead projectiles (bullets) to use. I have been reading about .452, .454, .457 roundballs, as well as, various conicals. I have the ability to cast my own bullets too, so if you have specific molds (Lee, Lyman, etc), please let me know these as well.

Just trying to shorten the learning curve so that I can eliminate some time and money.

 

[BUTCHER45]

Been there done that lol!

.457 is the size of roundball you want to use. For conicals you want them to be at least .454 diameter, and preferably .455-.456. It can be tough to find boolits that are .455+ that aren't .45-70 rifle designs (read very heavy). Though some designs shoot great out of a 909 at up to .458 diameter if the bands are narrow.

Keep the BHN as soft as possible.....if you go much harder than BHN10 velocity suffers.

For a lightweight boolit, the EPP/UG's beat ALL! Very accurate, and more efficient than RB due to a better seal (I get an extra shot or two over roundball from the same fill pressure). Designed to exceed the performance of roundball in cap and ball revolvers, EPP/UG's duplicate the RB's speed while also being a little bit heavier (read more fpe). My go-to small game boolit. Get the mold at biglube.com



These are the only two groups I shot with the EPP's that day, off the steady sticks





The 180grain Buffalo Bullet Company 180grain Black Powder Pistol Bullet (advertised .452, but actually .454+) is a real nice shooter. I haven't tried the 190grain version yet (advertised .457) but want to soon.

Medium weight 200-220grains-the 200grain REAL, and Lee 220grain ROA slugs are long proven performers in this weight range. I think the 210grain BigLube version of the ROA slug may be just as good. They shoot very hard out of my power-tuned 909, but I have yet to do any real accuracy testing with that version of ROA slug. 205grain Black Widows work excellent (very EXPENSIVE), though they are designed for muzzleloaders, and do not expand as designed at airgun velocities.

Heavyweights 230+grains-Maxi-Balls (EXCELLENT accuracy) 250grain REALs, Lyman 452374 (I think that is what the RN's I have are), the old Lyman #45266 (I hear the old Lyman 452 molds dropped them a bit fatter way back in the day) , #454424, and #454424 hollowpoints, #454190........ I would try every old Lyman #454*** design I could get my hands on, as they should drop a fat enough boolit.

I see you live in Missouri, where hunting Whitetail Deer is legal with bigbor eair rifles of .40cal and over (you lucky dog!).
The ultimate big game hunting heavyweight for the 909 is the "J.R." WFN series cast by BlackHogDown. They were designed specifically for the 909 barrel profile.
Here's the 240grain version (my favorite) of the "J.R." WFN (available in four different weights), and a typical 50 yard group I shot with them off of my steady stix (the small squares on the target are .5 inch). I think they'd make one hole using a solid rest. I had a limited supply, so this is the only group I have shot with them after doing the fill pressure/chrony testing, and getting them sighted-in.

These hit harder than Mike Tyson!





If you want to boost the power of your 909S to 350+fpe, I know a couple of guys that tune SamYangs. You'll get two power shots, and a finisher or two. My 2tube 909 is tuned for four 250-260fpe shots, with a few finisher shots. The 2tube can also be tuned to 270-280+fpe for three power shots, and a couple of finisher shots.

 

[scalper]

Butcher, Wow, you really are full of a bunch of info. Really appreciate it.

I was reluctant to look at .457 as some of PyramydAirs advertisements on their web site say the .457 "are not for the sam yang 909". However, I have been reading at numerous places on the web, that .457 is the best for round balls. As a consequence, I have been trying the .454. Not sure what to think yet since too much snow outside and my basement range is too short for legit testing.

Would it be possible for you to PM me the name of who can tune my 909S? Any idea what they charge?

I will give some of these things you suggest a try. Thanks again.

 

[TimboKhan]

Butcher, quite impressive. Thank you for helping a new (or, rather, newish) member!

 

[BUTCHER45]

My pleasure! I know exactly what it is like to be new to the awesomeness that is the Sam Yang hehe. When I started shooting this rifle a couple of years ago, there was virtually no information on what shot how. I went thru at least 1000-1500 rounds, and many different designs of slug to figure it all out (or start to, anyways). Consider that I was airing-up every 3-4 shots with a HillPump only the whole time. I "discovered" the BigLube designs as far as airguns are concerned, and those EPP's have a decent following.

I would venture to say that I have tested a lot more designs than even PyramidAir, and am testing more designs whenever possible (have some more on the way!). The swaged slugs Pyramidair sells are swaged from a little bit harder alloy than pure lead, and have a lot of contact area. So with a slug like that .457 would likely be a bit much. Mac1 didn't know where to turn to find a readily available slug on the open market that was fat enough for the 909 (this was before there were airgunners casting slugs for sale out of near pure, to pure lead). I told him about the BBC's. Now even Pyramidair mentions them on their site (they used to, anyways).

The WFN slugs you see above were .458 to better grab that rifling with the vary narrow driving bands. Works well. Going to test them out in .457, and .454 soon (it's a very new design).

.454 RB has shot better than .457 RB in a select few 909 guns, but .457 is the overwhelming favorite. These are mass-produced barrels that can vary a little bit. They are also somewhat "choked" at both ends. So there are three different diameters the slug passes thru. Some of the choking is tighter than others.

Testing tips: shoot thru a chrony whenever possible when testing for accuracy. Write EVERYTHING down.....not just the boolit used and it's velocity throughout the string, but also your fill pressures, both before and AFTER you have shot your string. This will tell you how efficient a boolit design is, and your optimum fill pressure for each slug. Goes a long way to stretch out your air supply, and lower the maximum fps variance. Some boolits are much more efficient then others.

I've killed wild boar, an exotic Corsican ram, coyote, nutria, and rabbits (headshot only on those, or you can walk-up on a bag of soup) with my 909......great gun.

 

[scalper]

Butcher - What kind of lead are you using for your cast bullets in your airguns? I have been reading that I should use pure lead, however, I have enough wheel weights sitting around that I would prefer to use them. I am unsure what BHN I should be using with my new Sam Yang 909S. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Gord]

Not to threadjack - but after watching a few videos of these things being shot, I have to ask, why isn't this sort of thing recommended more often to those who are recoil-averse or have shoulder injuries? I realize that parts and service (along with ammo) are probably a lot harder to scrounge, and that they wouldn't be ideal for home defense by a long shot, but something's better than nothing, as they say...

 

[BUTCHER45]

I have yet to cast any boolits myself, though I think you could put those WW to good use by mixing them with pure lead. Clean-up any impurities as best you can when melting them down.
You'll probably loose a bit of velocity going with the straight wheel-weights. I think a 50/50 mix of clip-on wheel weights/pure lead is about 8.5 BHN which should work well. Might even want to try 25/75 WW/PureLead, then compare your results with the boolits made with 50/50 alloy

Stick-on wheel weights (tape, rather than clips) tend to be almost pure lead, with a BHN of 6 (very soft) so separate the stick-on WW's from your clip-on ones when making your alloy.

Pure lead is more forgiving to being a thousandth or two to large for the bore diameter, which can be crucial for providing a good seal in the bore. Harder lead requires a little more precision when matching the boolit diameter with the bore diameter to get the best velocity, and causes a bit more drag on the rifling.

 

[the marine]

where is the best place to buy those bullits?

 

[BUTCHER45]

I would try IronMule (contact info found on the biglube.com site), DashCaliber, or Mark Whyte of Whytesleatherworks for the EPP/UG's, and several other designs. The .45Slim is a great one in my rifle as well....shot a .45inch c-to-c group at 50 yards with it.