Dynamic .25 cal PCP - First Impressions and Observtions

[Rohmpm]

I emailed Ed today, mentioned the scuffed stock, bad magaziine, requested cone spring.
His response was that they are no longer servicing the .25's that have problems.
I  have two choices, send it back to SG for full refund or send it to him and I will get a no extra charge Gen 2 replacement next year in the second quarter.
Done, I'll be waiting for my Gen 2 for the $199.00 I invested. Meantime, 22 and 25 flash are on the way for fun.
If the DAR 177 isn't under the same  on repair  I might order a 177 as I have none and Wayne's is marvelous. Afte.r all  I already have the o rings, lol.

Received DAR 25 yesterday
nicely packaged, no damage.
White scuff under forearm
crappy magazine, had to dissasemble, grind the pi
aired up and fired ten JSB 25.4's
first shot 880. Progressively dimished to
860 for the last three.
No problems yet but am going to replace orings before progressing any further.

[Rohmpm]

This is the actual text from Ed. I am looking forward to the Gen 2



At this time we are halting further repair and sales of the .25 rifles. We are offering two solutions to issues with defective or damaged units. 1. Return the item to Sportsman's Guide for a full refund. 2. Send the item back to us to be added to a waiting list for the Gen 2 variant which we expect by 2nd quarter 2019. The Gen 2 upgrade will not incur additional cost to you

[Wolverineshooter]

Billy, good that they are taking care of the issues either way. My DAR177 and DAR25 will be here tomorrow, so I know if something is wrong at least there is hope next year, just a long wait.

[Gertrude]

Guys,
As I sit here typing this post, I am sitting with the R&D dept. of DAR.

 We are having a VERY productive meeting discussing ALL of the QC issues that many of us have been experiencing with these guns. I am very impressed with the reception I am receiving, and I can confidently say we "Have their ear". They are fully committed to making these guns right, and Customer Service is absolutely their top priority. These guys want their product to be well received, top quality, and they want to be known as committed to their customers.
I have been assured these problem guns WILL be addressed to correct all the issues for all guns that have already been purchased.
 
Ok, so I'm literally in the middle of this meeting right now. Got to get back to the business of addressing the problems and getting them corrected.
Stay tuned !
 

[Wolverineshooter]

Guys,
As I sit here typing this post, I am sitting with the R&D dept. of DAR.

 We are having a VERY productive meeting discussing ALL of the QC issues that many of us have been experiencing with these guns. I am very impressed with the reception I am receiving, and I can confidently say we "Have their ear". They are fully committed to making these guns right, and Customer Service is absolutely their top priority. These guys want their product to be well received, top quality, and they want to be known as committed to their customers.
I have been assured these problem guns WILL be addressed to correct all the issues for all guns that have already been purchased.
 
Ok, so I'm literally in the middle of this meeting right now. Got to get back to the business of addressing the problems and getting them corrected.
Stay tuned !

Wonderful to hear that they are behind their products, and wonderful work from you for taking this up!

I am waiting for delivery tomorrow for my DAR177 and DAR25. Fedex just sent me email for expecting the delivery. I am sitting here fingers crossed.

I might just as well order a DAR22 to complete the set, based on the encouraging news.

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

Ron,

What's the rational for not repairing or supplying repair parts for the .25.  Will they still supply repair parts for the .177 and .22?  I had e-mailed Ed earlier this week about getting a couple parts for my .25 and he didn't say anything about them no longer providing support for the .25, so this was a shocker!  Also, ask about the availability of spare magazines!

[Lastdog]

I guess I will have to wait till Monday to find out is going to happen to my 25. It’s on the way to AIM now. My 22 is still shooting great. Hope they got some mags in the shipment that was due today.

[Wolverineshooter]

As long as they can truly deliver on the gen 2, I do not  feel too bad. The worst would be that I have to wait for a few months. Hope at least one of the caliber will work for me

[K.O.]

nuthing personal but that is a long row to hoe with me... with what I have read... I feel all safety related tolerances need checked... every rifle...with the quality of tolerances on the valves... with needing taped... it gets me worried when so many mistakes show up...

Just being totally honest as a consumer...   

Heck a company as large as crosman had to move barrel production back here  to fix their production problem...   

[Wolverineshooter]

I will get both 177 and 25 tomorrow. If one of them works well then I am OK to wait. Otherwise it would feel bad.

[Rohmpm]

Ed told me no more parts or service for any of the DAR guns. I have mine boxed up with a RMA from DAR waiting for a Gen2. Jack, Jack, no take backs.


quote author=PaulT58 link=topic=146178.msg1504044#msg1504044 date=1535749065]
Ron,

What's the rational for not repairing or supplying repair parts for the .25.  Will they still supply repair parts for the .177 and .22?  I had e-mailed Ed earlier this week about getting a couple parts for my .25 and he didn't say anything about them no longer providing support for the .25, so this was a shocker!  Also, ask about the availability of spare magazines!
[/quote]

[Wayne52]

I was given the option to send my .25 back as well, I knew that if I did I'd probably be lucky to get another as good as I got for quite a while so I chose to hang on to mine.  It must be something inherent to the 25 cals is causing problems and I think that it could be more than just the regulator and leaking poppets.  I'm kind of thinking maybe they'll eventually do something different with the magazines on them because I'm not the only one with a cracked 25 magazine.  I predict that they may make the gen2's 8 shot instead of 10 myself but I could be wrong. 

I did get my .22 today and the only thing I've done so far is just look at it but it won't be long and I'll replace the o rings in the airtube.  I did notice how nice the stock was compared to my 25&22, the finish is better with no bad blemishes on it at all.  Again there's another bunch of hot weather coming up again so if I do get out soon with it, it will be early in the morning, I mainly want to get it shooting like I want it an then sight it in for the time being.  I'm sure that I'll be doing some chrony testing with it this weekend though because I'd really like to shoot the BBT slugs from it comfortably.

[Gertrude]

This is the actual text from Ed. I am looking forward to the Gen 2

At this time we are halting further repair and sales of the .25 rifles. We are offering two solutions to issues with defective or damaged units. 1. Return the item to Sportsman's Guide for a full refund. 2. Send the item back to us to be added to a waiting list for the Gen 2 variant which we expect by 2nd quarter 2019. The Gen 2 upgrade will not incur additional cost to you

Seeee, ... I TOLLLDDDD You Guys, ...
   I had a very productive day today, with the R&D dept. ! ! !           


Ok so "technically"  , (as a Moderator here  ) ... I'm "obligated",
 (and sworn to uphold on my 4th grade, dead hamsters grave      ), ...

  ... to put on my "MMU", .. (Magic Moderator Underwear) , ...
  and point out rule # 15, ...
    Or I risk suffering of the Unspeakable Rath of Thor       

BUT, in this case , and since it is intended for benefit all those who have purchased these rifles,
 I think We'll let this one slide this time,     
Hahaha.


I'm very pleased with the outstanding Customer Service, and progress we accomplished at Aim Sports today.
I am confident this company is fully committed to making honest, honorable and reasonable offers of compensation,
 to everyone who has already purchased these rifles.
 That's not too bad, in my book ! ! !
 

[Wayne52]

I'm going to keep my .25, I've got it the way I want it right now, I've actually been neglecting it since my last 5 shot string trying some cast pellets and doing a little hunting, I topped it off after the last time that I used it and it's right where I left it.

I've since been having a lot of fun with my 177, that rifle is unreal in the accuracy department as well and I think it's going to be married to both the JSB Monsters and Beast's !

I got my .22 yesterday and it looks great plus I put the required BunaN o rings in it plus I opened the regulator an entire turn.  It had the teflon tape in the o ring at the regulated end of the airtube but none anywhere else like I've seen(my .25 was loaded with tape).  I took ten shots with it, 5 with the 30grain bbt's and 5 with Beeman 21.14 grain.  It's doing the best with the Beemans right now but it won't be long before I'll be getting my new NOE mold for the 22 cal pellets.

I see that on Sportsmans Guide website they still have the 25's for sale

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

I see that on Sportsmans Guide website they still have the 25's for sale

I just checked SG this morning, not only are they still for sale, the price went back up to $287.99!  They still don't have the magazines listed...

I have not heard back from Ed, so I have no idea at this point if he's going to offer an RMA or send me parts.  If he offers an RMA, I may just accept and wait for a Gen 2 model.  I guess I'll wait and see what he offers. 

[Wolverineshooter]

Went to get DAR22 only to find the price is up. Oh well.

[Wayne52]

Wow I ordered my .22 in the nick of time, glad I didn't put it off longer, that's a $70 difference.

[nervoustrigger]

Another tuning update.  Last night I deburred and smoothed everything...the hammer, bolt, valve stem and bushing, valve spring ends, hammer spring ends, and all the holes in the receiver that can shred O-rings. 



I also gutted the trigger group and polished up the contact surfaces:



Reassembling the trigger group was tedious.  It is indeed much like a ship in a bottle.  Besides smoothing the parts, I swapped out the sear spring for a softer one (the trigger spring stayed as is).  I also added an M3 washer on either side of the sear to keep it from scrubbing the side walls of the trigger frame.  That part was especially fun...coaxing two washers and the sear into alignment with the hole way up in the trigger frame.

It was worth it though.  Previously it was about 4 pounds of stick/slip insanity and now it's just over a pound and buttery smooth all the way through.

I also wanted to back off the hammer strike because it was wasting air.  Nothing fancy yet, just tinkering with spring length and preload.  But before cutting the factory spring, I decided to check my Cool Whip Spring Medley and lucked out and found a candidate.

original: 0.475" OD x 1.75" L x 0.059" wire
replacement:  0.475" OD x 1.35" L x 0.062" wire

A little twisting on the end cap to adjust preload and I was on the velocity knee with a noticeably softer report.

Altogether it seems to be responding to mods quite well.  I haven't shot it much yet due to the weather but here's 5 quick shots at 30 yards.

[Wayne52]

Looks like you're doing a fantastic job on that DAR25 there Jason! I always deburr the ends of springs cause they do gouge into things.  The whole inside of my trigger assembly was loaded with salt on mine, it really was a mess.  I've since gotten screws for it.  Even the trigger adjustment screw was seized up out of the box. The trigger guard was welded in from the salt and that in itself was quite a job getting out of there, luckily I didn't damage it any.  My .22 and .177 are clean as a whistle in comparison.  I think the .22 is going to be a very nice gun, now I need to search around for a scope to put on it.  I do have a CP scope that I can mount on it, it's only a 3-9X but heck that'll get me by until I get something better for it. 

[nervoustrigger]

Thank you, sir!  I'm glad to hear your .177 and .22 are working well.  This .25 has been a challenge.

I just popped outside to try it on the 43 yard target.  Considering I've been up for 30 hours and the crosshairs are moving to the beat of the caffeine drum, I think this rifle is going to work out.



Regarding the stuff on the trigger group, on mine there was some translucent crusty material that they slathered on the screws which then squeezed out onto the surrounding areas.  I'm guessing it's some sort of adhesive because it's unlike any threadlocker I've seen.  A couple of solvents I tried (mineral spirits and acetone) would not cut it but fortunately I was able to flake it off with the edge of an old gift card.