Air Max Varmint

[TKO22]

(Updated info... see bottom of this post...)

Received a Air Max Varmint in .177 today to use as a

(Updated info... see bottom of this post...)

Received a Air Max Varmint in .177 today to use as a test bed for shrouds and other doodads.

Lightweight, great ergos on the stock, looong trigger with no 2nd stage but smooth and not gritty,

Ran a bore snake through it 10 times and shot a few 5-shot groups to quickly see if I had a good one... Well... very small groups for a quick test ...SO I...

Filled the rifle to the recommended 19 MPa (About 2700 psi) using my hand pump to see what it took to fill from the yellow band on the rifle's gauge (7 MPa or about 1000 psi). 55 easy pumps.



Used H&N Baracuda Match 10.65 gr. pellets, unsorted.

Shot these 5-shot groups, sitting against a wall,  at 18 yards indoors or about 55 ft.



Creepy trigger and all! I see potential with this rifle.

I'll try to detail in future posts the things I plan for it ...

- Replace the probe filling affair with a regular male foster fitting on the end of the tube with a fill cap.
- Create a 2-stage trigger
- Trim the barrel by 4-5 inches and full-shroud it even with the airtube. (Just barely enough room for a .75" full shroud.)
- Although I hate woodwork, I'm going to see if I can get the rifle under 4.5 lbs with a scope by "skeletonizing" the rear butt stock ala the Cricket Carbine.

I did shoot it through the chrony, but was getting errors every few shots, but here is what it recorded:

1 976
2 997
3-21 ERR
22 876
23 877
24 861
26 853

On shot 43 FPS was 691

Shot 50 was 627

5 shots later had dropped 100 FPS...

Shot 55 was 527 FPS

So no curve whatsoever, but the accuracy was maintained. As you can see, the groups dropped a bit each target. But that indicates the gun shroud be very accurate once I find the balance between air pressure, port and hammer pre-load.

The first 5-shots  was a VERY small group (Creepy trigger and all), and I worried it would fall apart further in the session, but never really did ... just a POI drop.

I think some of the accuracy potential is in the fact that the rifle is easy to operate, the stock has great ergonomics and allows a balanced relaxed hold and cheek weld.

More later!

Mike T.
TKO - Omaha ,NE USA

Updated valve and barrel info....

I disassembled the rifle and concentrated on the valve and barrel ...

During disassembly, there were two screws that were very loose. The barrel band cross screw and the screw that holds the small block that spaces the trigger guard out from the airtube.

First the barrel:

The barrel has the same problem that some of the Discovery rifles had in that a pilot was used to crown the barrel and the rifling is squashed near the muzzle.



Funny thing is this rifle had terrific accuracy when I tested it out of the box. I hope it gets even better with a trim and proper crown.

The inlead uses a o-ring similar to the Marauder rifle but I like the way the o-ring is inset into a counterbore and seats against the interior face of the breech, instead of within a groove like most magazine fed PCPs.




The inlead is a bit rough and there is a slight burr at the port entrance. The barrel stub that fits within the breech is rough, but again, the rifle shot great as it came from the factory. A little rough closing the bolt, but a smoothed inlead and chamfering the port should smooth loading greatly.

The valve/hammer assembly (I stitched together 2 photos):



The valve stem protrudes about .100 compared to the Discovery stem at .325. Very efficient and I suspect that is due to the limited stem/head travel. I didn't discern any audimle hammer bounce while shooting the gun down to empty.



Comments about the airtube and threading:

The tube seems to be made of a steel alloy of some type. A strong magnet does attract, but not nearly as strong as on the Disco tube. The tube also appears to be plated and then a finish applied ... doesn't appear to be paint or powdercoated.

The machining of the threads of the fill adapter and very well done, and there is almost 1" of thread engagement.

The trigger housing is welded to the airtube in 3 places, and the welds are well done.

That's it for tonight. Barrel work and a thorough cleaning before I reassemble the airtube.

Next up is improving the trigger and I have some ideas on how to make it a 2-stage trigger by drilling the trigger blade and adding another set screw to create a change in fulcrum point to create a 2nd stage. I'll have to drill the trigger guard to make adjustments easy. The standard squaring up the sear and polishing the contact points.

Curious, the lower tip of the trigger blade touches the bottom of the trigger guard when the rifle is cocked. Might have to look into that also to be sure to eliminate any possible friction there. The trigger could stand to be a bit further rearward as well.

Good Night all and have a great week!

MIke T.
TKO

[Skinard88]

I got mine in 22cal last week. Not that bad, IMO, Nice power, 868fps with JSB 14,34gr.  I'm going to work on the trigger soon and a foster fitting is a must. I think an ssg could help a lot. I'm thinking of leaving it with open sights. I find its kind of fun just to grab and plink. For the price I think I can have some good tinkering FUN with this little gun.

[Mikes Garage]

Mike,

Glad to see someone is writing about their experience with this new gun.

Did you shoot the groups with open sights or a scope?

MikeB

[TKO22]

Mike,

Did you shoot the groups with open sights or a scope?

MikeB

I used a nice older Simmons 3x9. Also used a set of shooting sticks.

I should mention that a fellow (by the name of Mike!) sent to me a AMV in .22 a few weeks ago for a shroud and that one didn't shoot near as well as this one...out of the box. But his barrel had a terrible crown and the leade was very rough. It is still here and when I get this one sorted, I bet I can get his to shoot nearly as good.

[Skinard88]

My 22 is not shooting as well as your 177. I haven't had a chance to fiddle with it yet. When you get his lined out, let us know please.

[Flatcar1]

I got mine in .177 yesterday, mounted a good scope and cleaned the barrel. Today I went to the woods to sight it in at 25 yards (my standard set up). I was very pleased with the accuracy and operation. I was popping paint balls with boring regularity. The fit and finish was better than I expected on a gun at this price range. This is probably the best fitting rifle to my body that I have ever had out of the box.

[Mikes Garage]

I should mention that a fellow (by the name of Mike!) sent to me a AMV in .22 a few weeks ago for a shroud and that one didn't shoot near as well as this one...out of the box. But his barrel had a terrible crown and the leade was very rough. It is still here and when I get this one sorted, I bet I can get his to shoot nearly as good.

hmmm...  I know that guy

Look forward to seeing what magic you can do!

MikeB

[TKO22]

FYI... The AMV is on sale at $249 shipped.

[tkerrigan]

On sale now at $199 with about $26 shipping.  Regards, Tom

[TKO22]

On sale now at $199 with about $26 shipping.  Regards, Tom

$199 price is without magazine... Single shot tray only.

[TKO22]

FYI ... I haven't had the rifle apart completely yet, but I suspect the stock screws and or the trigger guard screw also has valve retention duties.

Til I'm sure, I would empty the rifle of air before removing the action from the stock.

[farmerjoe99]

FYI ... I haven't had the rifle apart completely yet, but I suspect the stock screws and or the trigger guard screw also has valve retention duties.

Til I'm sure, I would empty the rifle of air before removing the action from the stock.

Be sure to let a now when you do!
definitely something to be careful about

[rsterne]

I suspect the stock screws and or the trigger guard screw also has valve retention duties.

WOW ! ! ! .... I sure nope not.... That would be a disaster just waiting to happen to an unsuspecting buyer, IMO.... Is there anything in the instructions telling you to not remove the stock with air in the gun?....

I agree, if you suspect that, depressurize if first, for sure....

Bob

[dragonmaker69]

I have had mine apart, you have to take the pressure gauge out to remove the stock but it will come out by just pushing down with your thumb and unscrew it. and then you can remove the stock and adj. the trigger or what ever more you want to do but you do have to degas the gun first.

[TKO22]

Of course you need to degas before removing the gauge in the factory configuration, as the action won't come out of the stock with the gauge installed.

I was mainly referring to a few posts about a fellow that had bored out his stock so the action could be removed with the gauge installed. It that scenario, the stock/trigger guard screws are removed, which could be bad if those screws are part of the valve retention.

[TKO22]

The thought may be to a new owner that since most actions can be removed with the gauge installed, and it's not readily apparent that the gauge needs to be removed to remove the action, the first thing a fellow may try is to remove the stock/trigger guard screws, then find out the gauge needs to be removed.

Also, it's not possible to get the gauge out of the gun with thumb pressure with any appreciable air in it.

I'll get mine apart later tonight and see what I find. (It is shooting so well, I hesitate to do much internally.)

(edited for spelling)

[Skinard88]

The more I shoot mine the more I like it. All I have done to mine is put a FO front sight on.  I will be working on the trigger soon though. I also am thinking a LDC might be needed. This sucker gets pretty loud.

[TKO22]

Updated info in the OP above.

Also, the trigger guard screw does have "probably" the major responsibility in valve retention, but the tube also has impressed abutments (Much like the Crosman 1377 guns have for valve retention and positioning) as well as  the breech hold down screw. But the largest securing screw is the trigger guard screw and the gun should "probably be degassed before removing that screw.

[fly2mike]

I bought one in .177, and it had very bad accuracy. I talked to Mike about it and he just asked me to return it to him. I don't know what he is planning to do with it, time will tell. hopefully I will get it back soon with a new barrel? Or maybe he will send me an entire new rifle?
I really love the rifle in many ways, and I do think it has great potential. It is very light, and I love the way it handles.
  I posted about boring out the stock, so that the action can be removed with the gauge on. I don't have the gun to look at right now, but it seems to me that there are two screws accessible when the action is removed from the stock, the forward one which appear to secure the valve. How did you remove the valve from the rifle without first removing the stock? Am I confused here?
I'll be looking forward to seeing how other people are improving their guns

[TKO22]

Did a 2-stage trigger mod. Had to anneal the trigger before I could machine and thread it:



I milled a couple of flats and drilled an access hole for the existing set screw location. Then I drilled a new location screw for the new first stage set screw.



Installed in the gun and works pretty well. The spacing between the set screw holes could be wider but this is the limit that can be done with the factory trigger blade. Wouldn't be too tough to manufacture a new blade with proper spacing and maybe a swept back blade. Maybe one of the other machinist/hobbiests would take it up. I did talk to Michael Esch at Mrodair today for quite a while, and he is very receptive in making that rifle as good as he can.

Installed:

Put the gun together with a few coils clipped from the striker spring. I'm going to try to tune it to use a 2K fill instead of the 2.9K, and reduce the FPS to be a consistent 675ish with the Baracuda Match.

I also mounted a Industry Brand rear sight with an aperature insert I made. Makes the gun very handy. I did shoot a few groups with it at 18 yards with the peeps, and accuracy is still very very good. Not as good as with the scope, but I suspect it would have been better given the trigger is miles better.



Have a great week everybody!

Mike T.
TKO - Omaha NE USA