Hatsan AT-44 LW

[Racing]

Yeah. So i just came into this Hatsan by chance, a "basket case" gun as it reached me if ever. Whatīs a tad different here is that itīs the single shot version, never even seen one of those before.

Glanced at the various parts, seeing the close resemblance to the BT of course - albeit a side lever. Enough of bolt version ANYTHING already! No more!

This then a 25cal and it dawned on me that i found the various transfer ports and what not rather small for a 25, for what i had in mind at least. Seat through diameter on that typical Hatsan white piece of plastic on a mere 4mm...

Being the AT-44 "long" brings that this thing came equipped with a 585mm barrel and one made by Lothar Walter no less. Seems that Lother Walter option isnīt available everywhere for the Hatsans? Around here theyīre more the norm than anything.

Thing is.. iīve kind of grown tired of Hatsans and all their friggin "everywhere" issues. Itīs to the point where iīve started to wonder if what we get around here is downright B stock, cause in a word QC is beyond bad. It downright SUX.
Iīve had them in the door with barrels machined the wrong end even, sporting the choking action at the breech. 

Anyway.



These single loaders have a loading port WAY longer than their mag version cousins. It being claimed that the singles provide better accuracy.. whatever.

In this case it kind of amazed me how pathetically short the hammer stroke was . So.. what to do? The receivers on these, as the BTīs, is rather large n long so.. I sure want to be able to smack the end of that poppet BIG time! Hammer weight in its own right, but thereīs no talking down hammer speed!

I opted to modify the hammer so it became drastically shorter. The thing here is that the stock hammer adjuster screw sits "the other end" on the hammer.. in other words within the actual hammer itself. At the base of it...so did away with that AND turned a rather beefy piece of steel i TIG welded onto the "new" face of the hammer.

To make this work though i had to cut a window in it for the charging pin.. and in turn i cut a thin line running the stretch of the receiver and installed a 1,5mm wide strip of sheet metal to that. Thereby creating a control for the hammer so it stays within its set path for it - by me. No more turning of the hammer IOW... Brazed that strip in.. works golden.

At that point i took a 10mm end mill to the cutouts for the actual transfer port that sandwich between the upper and lower part of the receiver, and this of course to be able to run a reasonably stable solution for the to come sealing o-rings to work upon. Actual transfer port, regular low grade aluminium. A stunt iīve pulled on my BT since previous that works rather well.
Of course drilled the port on the upper section heading for the barrel and the barrel entry itself too.



Valve though. From memory the Nova runs the same innards but truth be told i canīt recall the dimensions on the 22cal Nova of mine being as small as they were on this piece? Mind you lighter pills for that 22cal Nova on 25,4 Knock Outs, but they exit such that the thing runs at 90Joules all day.
Guess iīm wrong but.. hey. 

Again then end mill time, and this time to enlarge the hole for the actual valve seat on the valve body. Enough of that soft white plastic Hatsan insists on for the stockers. So 12mm it is..
Then a fresh seat out of PEEK thatīs a rather stiff interference fit vs the valve body (25/100mm) and in turn secured with glue. Poppet.. a completely fresh one. The stock thing runs out of diameter at 6mm which leaves rather exactly zero marginal for growth so.. nope.
New poppet i designed aīla the Rex guns with a sorts of "probe" that runs through the actual return spring stop, thereby trapping the return spring entirely between its seat on the poppet and the return spring "lid".
Poppets "bearing" diameter i kept at the stock 3,65mm diameter though, while i set "flow path" of it to 2,4mm.

Now.. results in, it just bloody short works and works rather well at that.





This "urban camo".. was done by previous owner. As to why? No idea. Looks decent at least.

Just got the gun yesterday and got it back together in working order today.

Yeah yeah.. whatever! What was the power increase then you fool?

Welp. Just first trials here across the FX brick tells itīs tossing 33,9īs around 1050 right outta the hole. The thing here is that i made the spring adjustment end up the other, more conventional, end and this by turning a small piece of aluminium carrying an M6 thread i installed into the plastic rear stop piece of the receiver.
Works as well as anything iīd say and is as adjustable as they come at that, but that said numbers above are from simply turning the adjuster screw in on the stock spring.
In short thereīs no doubt room for improvement.

Hush can for it.. had one laying around iīve made previous. Works golden this "new" design of mine, really keeps them puffs to a low keyed "thud" as they go off. Happy as pie with that, have to say.



So. The "thing" here is that way longer loading port leaving that this thingīll take 70 grain pills easy. To what avail, you tell me..
Whatīs more i got a basically new Huma reg with the gun, and the original stock for it too. Yeah that and the "small parts box" fwiw. Thing is though, to me at least, to run a regulator brings that the tank/bottle for it is to small really. At least if aiming for any appreciable power levels.

With the mods pulled as i regard it this AT should be able to run with any given BT 7 days a week but i guess the real Q in this case would be where to draw the line.? A side lever BT-65 if you wish.

Iīve even played around with the idea of making a regular spring loaded mag for it, just one to take as heavy slugs as they come in 25cal.

Y/N? Bad idea or no?
Why is it many a manufacturer limits their guns with to "short" a mag? The stock 22cal Reximex Throne mag comes to mind for instance..

Whatever.
What do you guys vote? Go BIG or go home?

[moorepower]

They do have some pop. As far as magazine length, when they were made, they made them for pellets that were available , not slugs. I think they called them Pneuma, and they came out before the AT44, at least in some countries the first generation was not the AT44.

[Racing]

Yeah, true.
Issue though is that the Reximex Throne and what not are "new" guns and still sport "to short" mags.

No matter how we regard this the industry is running two directions. One is that of greater and greater repeatable accuracy.
The other is increased power. The one NOT ruling the other one out.

Iīve had a number of puffs in the door by now that shoots just as well using pellets at 750 as they do tossing slugs inxs of 1000. Sure. Rifling twist will have an impact on WHICH slug, no argument, but still.

In turn. That solution Hatsan insisted on for quite some time with that side indexing setup out of sheet metal for their mags.. Only benefit to that, as i see it, is that the indexing left the pills be as the mag progress through its cycle. Ie; less chance of them getting damaged.
At the same time, it IS a setup way more complex than needed.