Got my Hatsan AT44S-10 Long QE .25 cal

[Rodeo]

Pyramyd Air is my go-to for all things air gun.  I've been very happy with their customer service.  I want to get at least one "high end" air rifle in the future and am leaning towards an FX 500 royale or maybe a Mutant.  Unfortuneatly PA does not carry them.  I knew that AGD is affiliated with PA so I am glad to hear that the apple did not fall far from the tree.

[JoeV]

***UPDATE***


AGD got back to me this afternoon, and they are exchanging the gun for another one. Should have the shipping label sometime tomorrow.


I got together with two of my brothers tonight, and we discussed the AT44. My older brother is a retired mechanical engineer, and younger brother is 63, and has been a gunsmith for most of his life since apprenticing with a gunsmith when he got out of high school. His knowledge on firearms is second to none, but his knowledge of pellet guns is almost nil. He is also a master machinist.


While discussing the barrel situation for the AT44, the younger brother had some insight that I had not thought of before. Since the first 4-1/4" of the barrel reacts as a normal rifled barrel while pushing a pellet through it, and the again at the last .603" of the barrel, his thought is that the barrel may have been reversed when it was machined to fit the breech...provided it was rifled before machining. I read somewhere that Lothar-Walther chokes their barrels the last 6", and Hatsan chokes all of their PCP barrels (http://www.hatsan.com.tr/en_at_44_10_qe.html), but does not say how long the choke is. If that's the case, it's possible the blank was reversed before machining. That's the only plausible reason for the 4-1/4" of continuous rifling on the breech side. Even so, that does not account for the free fall section of the barrel.


Methinks I've beat this horse enough, and now I'll just go through the exchange process which should take at least 10 days from them getting the bad gun, going through the inspection and shipping the new one from Utah. It's 5-6 days via FedEx Ground.


Hopefully the next gun will give me the performance I had hoped for. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[Privateer]

That would not surprise me at all Joe.
I have 2 AT44's. On is a .25 the other a .22 but both can hit a house fly at 45 yards with JSB's.

[JoeV]

That would not surprise me at all Joe.
I have 2 AT44's. On is a .25 the other a .22 but both can hit a house fly at 45 yards with JSB's.

That's the performance I'm hoping for, which is why I chose it. All of my other Hatsans are tack drivers, so I'm expecting the 44 to play well with the rest of the "herd!" 😂

[Privateer]

I got an Air Venturi compressor coming.
We gonna have to get a shoot set up in Ohio soon!
Lot's of Ohio Guys around now days.
 

[riverboats]

I got an Air Venturi compressor coming.
We gonna have to get a shoot set up in Ohio soon!
Lot's of Ohio Guys around now days.
 

I'm a new guy here, but down in the Portsmouth OH area. Wouldn't mind to visit a shoot, a long drive wouldn't bother me if there was some good smallmouth fishing streams as a bonus!

[Rodeo]

 If the barrel did get reversed and the choked end is now sqeezing the pellets at the breech, that could explain the pellet being loose through the center part of the barrel.  Guess  it's all conjecture at this point.  Hope you get a good one on round two.

[JoeV]

I got an Air Venturi compressor coming.
We gonna have to get a shoot set up in Ohio soon!
Lot's of Ohio Guys around now days.
 

I'm game! I'm retired and pretty flexible as far as time goes. As long as it's not 9-9-17, we're good. That's my wife's birthday and our sons wedding day. The 10th would be fine! 😂😂😂

[JoeV]

If the barrel did get reversed and the choked end is now sqeezing the pellets at the breech, that could explain the pellet being loose through the center part of the barrel.  Guess  it's all conjecture at this point.  Hope you get a good one on round two.

👍 Didn't think about that. Makes perfect sense to me...deform then free fall. BINGO!

[JoeV]

Just got my FedEx notification that the replacement gun should be delivered tomorrow. Here's hoping this one is fully functional and has a good barrel. Crossing my fingers....

[Vance H]

I look forward to your report as I am considering going with a AT44 Long in .25 instead of a Marauder. Here's hoping you get a good one!

[JoeV]

This gun left Draper, UT on 4/19, and now has just been rescheduled for delivery for the third time. Even though it arrived at the Local hub this morning at 5:20am, it won't be delivered until tomorrow. That's eight days in transit.


Either I'm extremely unfortunate when it comes to shipments via FedEx Ground, or they really don't have their stuff together. It would be my guess that the deals struck with FedEx Ground are extremely beneficial to the retailer, but horrible for the customer. But eight days for 1,758 miles??? I can drive to California from Cleveland in five days.


<Rant Off> Time to go find something else to do today while it's raining all day.

[JoeV]

ROFLMBO!!! FedEx must have heard my rant. Just got another notification that it's been rescheduled again for delivery today. I guess I'll believe it when I see it. 😆😫😆😫

[Back_Roads]

 Tuesday is their Monday ?

[Vance H]

Fedex just plain stinks often times IMO. People complain incessantly about USPS but for me I start wondering when I will get my item when I see that blue and orange logo.

[JoeV]

Hoping this one is a keeper. So far it's shooting as I would expect. Just need to tweek the power a little to get a better shot count. Taking it out tomorrow to sight it in at distance. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post.

[Scott Endler]

I wonder if these tend to have the same accuracy issues caused by the shroud that the Marauders have?

[Rodeo]

I noticed on my .22 short QE that when I tightened down the shroud retaining nut the barrel/shroud assembly would shift off of the the axis the barrel had without the shroud tighten on.  Seems that the shroud was getting squeezed between the retaining nut and the breech block and messing up the alignment.  I solved it by removing about an 1/8" off of the breech end of the shroud to relieve the stress + added a spacer (o-ring) under the baffle end cap to keep everything from rattling and in place.  I also removed the upper half of the barrel band; leaving the lower half to cradle the air tube.  The end result took my 10 shot groups from 1" at 50 yds down to 5/8".

[JoeV]

Sadly, this gun is doing the same things the last one did. Group nice in the basement, but on the bench at 25 and 50 yards it's a bonofide looser. When pushing a pellet from the breech, this barrel is exactly like the last one with about 4" of tight engagement at the breech end, then the free fall to about 15" with engagement for a touch, then tight for about 5/8" at the muzzle. Here are the targets before going to the outdoor range, and at 25 & 50 yards. Totally unacceptable, particularly the way the gun is being held. Zero movement by my, just a trigger squeeze. I also now have some nicks on the ID of the plastic baffles, meaning the pellet is not traveling true as it leaves the barrel.














Here is the pattern in the basement after the outdoor shoot, using the same rest I used outside.









I spoke to Pyramyd Air this morning when I ordered a part for my fill nozzle, and after a lengthy discussion, they suggested I contact Hatsan direct to see about a barrel swap. I believe that the inventory at AGD where's the gun came from, is all the same lot, and will have the same issues with barrels. I'll see where it goes from here.

[Rodeo]

I can only imagine your frustration level.  My first pcp was an at44 qe .22 short.  It was accurate and responded well to my newbie tuning attempts.  I was sold on Hatsan.  Then I got my Nova.  Have to admit my opinion of Hatsan has been tarnished a bit.  I have had a fair share of issues with the Nova.  The machining of the barrel being a majority of it.  I have put a lot of time into tweaking it and it has gotten better step by step.  Think Hatsan might need to spend a little more time and attention to what is probably the most important part of the rifle.  Really hope Hatsan takes care of your issue quickly and has the rest of the rifles in that lot checked out.