.22 Armada...the journey...

[TerryH]

That is a nice looking grip. It reminds me of my Volquartsen target grip on my Ruger Mark III.

Thanks Garry!! I check out those grips. They are similar. I do love the feel of the Royal Arms grip.

[TerryH]

Geeze Terry, your rifle just keeps lookin' awesomer & awesomer! VERY cool! Not to mention that super awesome shop! I'm most impressed!

Ed

Thanks Ed! I love the look of the stock Armada but of course can't ever leave well enough alone. If it's not pleasing to my eye then I have no interest in it. Function is absolutely necessary as well but pleasing form is also a requirement.

[TerryH]

Getting my fill station together...sort of. I need a 1/4"npt cross to enable me to cascade my 2 tanks but had to order it. I went ahead and got a 1/4"npt wye for now so at least I can use 1 tank. Tanks are supposed to be back from hydro on Monday.

Parts list for the main station..

SCBA hand tite adapter and inline bleeder from airtanksplus.com. $58 plus $8.50 shipping.
Glycerin filled 5k gauge and fittings from my local Parker store.  $41.51 with tax.
Ninja microbore hose assy. $44.95 on Amazon Prime.

$152.96 total.

2nd tank station...

I'm using the SCBA hand tite that come with my tanks so $0 for that.
Ninja microbore hose assy. with an additional quick disconnect so the hose is removeable from both the tank and the main fill station.  $44.95 + $11.95.
Local fitting. $4.68

$61.58 total.

I'll replace the wye with the cross when it comes to complete the cascade fill station. Total cost: $224.54.

If you add a second hand tite from ATP it would bring the total to right about $260.00.

Bottom line is that I saved a few bucks by putting it together myself. Worth it? It was to me. I got a couple of features that I wanted that weren't available on the commercially available systems.

The Stickman with cascade is $249 plus shipping ($15.00?) but doesn't have a glycerin filled gauge. I did like that the hose for the 2nd tank is separate from the main station.

JoeB's cascade station is $273.50 with shipping. Has a nice gauge but the 2nd hose is attached to the main so would have to buy quick disconnects etc...

Bottom line is if you like one of the commercially available systems you might as well just buy one and skip the head scratching and the shopping.

Main station with the wye instead of the cross that's on order.



This was my idea for the 2nd tank. It's just the hand tite with a 14/" x 1/8" bushing with one of the male fosters from the Ninja microbore hoses. Should be super simple to fill the tanks with this setup.





The cascade line will plug onto a quick disconnect thusly when I eventually get the cross. Should made the station much less bulky when just using one tank.

[FuzzyGrub]

Once you go to the cross and add the female QD, get a dead head so you don't have to have the cascade line hooked up.  Dead heads are good for testing for leaks, as well.   Maybe you already have one. 

[TerryH]

Once you go to the cross and add the female QD, get a dead head so you don't have to have the cascade line hooked up.  Dead heads are good for testing for leaks, as well.   Maybe you already have one.

Hi john. I totally forgot about that. I have a dead head to plug the QC that I got from Air Tanks Plus that has a lanyard on it so maybe I won't lose it.

I'll blame it on the Tramadol. I cut 2 fingers pretty badly at work and I'm under the influence. 


 

[TerryH]

And today was the day that all these shot strings just got easier.  Tanks came back from hydro and the last pieces for my cascade fill station also came in. I'll be at the paintball store on Saturday morning getting them filled and them lots 'o shootin' to follow. Little secret also. I bought a used Prod that's being delivered tomorrow. I know, I know. I got it bad.

Nice to get these tank goodies out of the box and on the tanks. I bought some boots but they are WAY too big for these tanks so I'm stumped on the right boots. Any help or links greatly appreciated.



1/4" cross also came so home brew fill station is complete.

The main station...



And add the cascade station with the quick disconnect...



And the completed system...



I'm super happy with how this all turned out. Especially since everything was less than $600 all in.

[robertr]

 Looks like you have all the stuff you need for easy filling Terry, just when the new muscles were forming.

[TerryH]

Looks like you have all the stuff you need for easy filling Terry, just when the new muscles were forming.

Ha! Just when the old, tired muscles were sore. 

[Dairyboy]

You bought a Prod? Lol you got it bad!!  welcome to us addicts! Your tank setup looks nice as well

[Hobbyman2007]

Congrats on the prod and fill set up. Hope you saved some money for pellets. You got it BAD is right. Welcome to the club .

[TerryH]

You bought a Prod? Lol you got it bad!!  welcome to us addicts! Your tank setup looks nice as well

Thanks Dillon! Found a Prod for $200 with scope, bipod etc... Considering what I know that I'll do with it and to it, really didn't make sense to buy a new one but for $200 I couldn't help myself. 

[TerryH]

Congrats on the prod and fill set up. Hope you saved some money for pellets. You got it BAD is right. Welcome to the club .

Thanks Denis! Resistance was futile. 

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Congrats on the prod and fill set up. Hope you saved some money for pellets. You got it BAD is right. Welcome to the club .

Thanks Denis! Resistance was futile. 

WOW !...LOOKING REAL GOOD !  -  there Terry           My Best Regards   -   Tom

[kkarmical]

Looking really good Terry!  Just wait, that 1st gun fill with a new tank set up after all the hand pumping  is so satisfying.  Good pick up on the Prod as well, can't wait to see what you do with it.

[TerryH]

Got my cylinders filled today. Oh. My. Gosh. What a pleasure it is to just turn the knob and watch it go right up to 3000psi!!! Obviously I had to shoot the Amada even though it was cold and windy. 38 degrees with 15mph wind. I was shooting in my hoodie and gloves off the bipod. Chair Gun's recommended optimum distance is 41 yards so I setup at that distance. I zeroed the scope and shot some groups. Even though lots have had issues with these .22 barrels, I'm quite pleased with mine. The Armada loves the JSB 18.13's. I shot the H&N 21.14's as well but those groups were not as good as these with the JSB's. This is the tune that gave me 44 shots over 30fpe. As a total PCP newbie I have a hard time not being happy with these groups.











I've also had the RAW trigger for a couple of weeks but hadn't got it installed. It's a drop in replacement once the pivot hole is resized to match the pin in the Armada trigger group. The shape and reach is much more comfortable especially with the Royal Arms target grip. I defused the lawyer spring while I was in there.







I also added the UTG tactical fore grip on a pic rail. I kinda like it.





The regulator finally made a reappearance in Chicago after 18 days with no new tracking information. Beats me but apparently it's on the way here now. Once I have it in my hand then I'll drill the barrel, add the .160 TP along with a couple of other goodies that I have.

More to come....

[triggertreat]

I told you so.  That first fill with a tank after hand pumping for a while is quite a joy.


How far away were the targets set out, 41yds?  Never mind,  I read again.

[ShawninIL]

You still haven't got your regulator?! I ordered mine like week and a half after you and got almost two weeks ago! First tune on my .25 at 800ish fps from 3000 to 1350 psi was 64 shots. ES 25, SD 5. Talked to Tim and he gave me some tips to try to get better results.
Good luck with yours.
Shawn

[TerryH]

You still haven't got your regulator?! I ordered mine like week and a half after you and got almost two weeks ago! First tune on my .25 at 800ish fps from 3000 to 1350 psi was 64 shots. ES 25, SD 5. Talked to Tim and he gave me some tips to try to get better results.
Good luck with yours.
Shawn

Hi Shawn. The reg is still not here.  I thought for sure that it was lost forever but miraculously after 18 days with no update after it got to Chicago it showed up in Chicago again. Beats me. Now the tracking says that it departed the Chicago PO yesterday and it's in transit. I had already contacted the seller and he told me that sometimes they get stuck in Chicago for whatever reason. Been over a month now. Will be nice to finally get it in the gun!!!

[Dairyboy]

Not gonna lie I'd be pretty happy with those groups on a Crosman .22 barrel! Looks like it's a shooter and in wind heck you got a good one! Can't wait to.see your results with the reg when you finally do get it

[ShawninIL]

You still haven't got your regulator?! I ordered mine like week and a half after you and got almost two weeks ago! First tune on my .25 at 800ish fps from 3000 to 1350 psi was 64 shots. ES 25, SD 5. Talked to Tim and he gave me some tips to try to get better results.
Good luck with yours.
Shawn

Hi Shawn. The reg is still not here.  I thought for sure that it was lost forever but miraculously after 18 days with no update after it got to Chicago it showed up in Chicago again. Beats me. Now the tracking says that it departed the Chicago PO yesterday and it's in transit. I had already contacted the seller and he told me that sometimes they get stuck in Chicago for whatever reason. Been over a month now. Will be nice to finally get it in the gun!!!

That's crazy! After you said how long you had been waiting, I thought mine would take forever but it was here in central Illinois in less than two weeks.
You will happy with the results, like I said I'm getting 64 shots at 36 fpe with a .25 on a first rough tune. You should a ton of shots out of a .22!