Last night we cooked at the Lodge. I was all set to go but Hoosier Momma was still "Primping".So I grabbed the new "official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time." and shot BB's in the garage range until she was ready.
Gun I put together from two guns and extra parts. Airforce talonss frame, TalonTunes sho valve, altaros regulator with plenum extension, medium sized high pressure aluminum tank, 12" .25 barrel and sound loc baffles in the shroud (from a .177 gun drilled to work with .25). With the medium port restrictor it shooting at 30-38 fpe depending on the projectile. Acceptable shot count - 25+ I believe but need to retest. With no restrictor it shoots at 40-48 fpe. Goes through air faster - maybe 15 shots, again need to retest. So at 150 bar set point at least I get less power than I got out of that 12" barrel with an unregulated stock talon p bottle and valve. Not enough volume in the regulator to take advantage of the high output valve... pretty much what I was expecting... I don't have a 100cc (or whatever) plenum on there the high flow valve needs. This is just an experiment and I will put a regular condor valve on the regulator and put the high output valve directly on a bottle. I 3-D printed a collar to hide the goofy gooseneck of the looong altaros regulator with the added plenum and more importantly reinforce the regulator and prevent flexing. Trying to make this into a tame regulated highly accurate lower power shooter to complement my other unregulated airforce with Doug noble valve which is just a bit less tame at 95+ fpe. Using a smaller bottle and putting the collar on it it's about the same size as a regular condor bottle without the regulator. Fewer shots...I am planing to design and print a collar like this for my unregulated gun - something with a nice tight fit to the frame. I hear people say that these guns are hold sensitive due to the position of the bottle - so I am hoping this will have benefit to accuracy. Ive been using artillery hold for the big one - works great. Feels natural too because that gun has a lot of energy and tank ping and a bit of kick and it feels like a springer... so artillery hold just feel natural.
Sometimes I wonder why I ever bought anything else than my Crosman 2100.Today, from 12 meters+ (approx 40' ), with my usual very low end 4x32 scope, standing up and roughly rested on a very small tree branch, I got the well renown and so satisfying "ragged hole" with ten shots. For the first time, I used an "official" competition paper target which made me even more admirative of the pro shooters. Had I used iron sights, I'd have barely seen its black center.