DAR Dynamic .177, .22, & .25 on Clearance at SG

[Wolverineshooter]

Well, my 177 developed a leak while I was away from home today. Gauge is now on zero. Time to put the replacement o-rings to use.

Did you change the o-rings on the regulator?

[Wolverineshooter]

FedEx supposed to deliver dar177 and fast today. Midnight now and still waiting...

[WeaselCat]

Well, my 177 developed a leak while I was away from home today. Gauge is now on zero. Time to put the replacement o-rings to use.

Did you change the o-rings on the regulator?

Still factory o-rings. Didn't have time to change them out and it will be a while til I can get to it. We are spending all spare time helping our son get his first house livable.

[Wolverineshooter]

Well, my 177 developed a leak while I was away from home today. Gauge is now on zero. Time to put the replacement o-rings to use.

Did you change the o-rings on the regulator?

Still factory o-rings. Didn't have time to change them out and it will be a while til I can get to it. We are spending all spare time helping our son get his first house livable.

Good to know that its the original o-rings having problems.

So far it seems the original o-rings have "consistent" problems. Have not heard a case where the duro 90 blown ups yet. So I will change the regulator o rings before doing anything when I receive my new DARs, which were supposed to be delivered yesterday but still showing "out for delivery", now for more than 24 hours. Don't know Fedex works on Sundays.

[Wayne52]

I tried my .177 without immediately replacing the orings and it was a waste of air cause the o rings that come with them are like putty, they're no good !!!  I replaced them on my .22 before I aired it up, the trigger is actually decent on this one as it was on the .177, I'll be going out this morning to sight it in. Once I get it sighted in I'll do a 40 yard shot group with this one too.  I also did a chrony test with it this morning and the way it's adjusted I get 27 shots on the regulator, I'll leave it like that because my air guy is on his way back from Florida (Keys) right now, he said to come by his house after 12pm Tuesday cause I just talked with him on the phone as he was just getting on the road.

[nervoustrigger]

Wayne, did I understand correctly that's 27 shots on the .22 cal?  I don't know how hot you have it running but I'm getting a similar number of shots on the .25 cal (45fpe with JSB heavies) after installing the shortened hammer spring and adjusting the end cap (RVA).  If you get motivated, give it a try and let us know how it works out.

[Wayne52]

Jason I basically only turned up the regulator one turn and that's about it so far, I got side tracked working on another gun soon after working on the DAR22 the little bit that I did.  Jason I'm not really crazy about the pellets that I was shooting with it today either, I'm sure that JSB's will be better, I'm really looking forward to getting my .22 pellet mold from NOE though, that will give me heavier pellets.  I never did have the barrel off it yet and next time I'll take it out to measure the port, I know there's room to open the port in my .177 but don't know about the .22 yet.

[nervoustrigger]

Wayne, I just saw your string in the other thread.  Something like 37fpe on average with Baracudas which is a hot .22 so I’d say our tunes are in the same ballpark.

[Wayne52]

Jason I'm super happy with these guns, the accuracy of them amazes me, even that .177 dumbfounds me every time I shoot it, the darned thing is like a laser!  I gotta hand it to the Chinese, they sure know how to make a great barrel but like yours was they don't go the extra mile to worry about everything like the crown, burr's etc.  Mine are the same way really and they'll all eventually get a chance to get a fine tooth comb through them.  Right now I couldn't be happier with these guns but not everyone cares too much about tinkering.  I've been smithing on guns in general most all my life when needed, it's almost second nature to me even without the nice lathe and mill I'd love to have, a person can do wonders with what they have at hand.

[Wolverineshooter]

I am at work but Fedex indicated that both DAR177 and DAR25 have been delivered.

[Wayne52]

Greg I'll be looking forward to hearing about your new DAR's when you're able to get to them !!!

[Wolverineshooter]

Wayne, I just got home and opened boxes, they look great. The wood, the big tube and thick barrel, and front barrel ring all making the rifle looks solid. I will try the change the o-rings first. I only got the 117 Duro 90 rings here hope those are enough for the regulator and air tube rings.

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

I used the Duro90’s on the regulator and both ends of the air tube and they are holding up just fine!  If that’s all you have available, I would use them and not think twice about it again...

[Wayne52]

I see that they still are selling all three calibers on Sportsmans Guide but they're at full price like they were to begin with.

[Wayne52]

Greg I've only used the 90duro on the regulator myself, if I hadn't had the 70 duro of the -117's I probably would have used them at both ends too but I already had a bunch of them that I had started out with after ordering a bunch from the O-Ring store.  The 70DURO weren't hard enough for the regulator application but they are for either end of the airtube though.

[Wolverineshooter]

Thanks Wayne and Paul, sounds i am in good shape.

Both rifles come with zero air in the tube. So I do not have to worry about emptying the airtube.

[Wolverineshooter]

Finally opened the DAR177 up and changed the 4 o-rings, lubed them with silicon grease, all looks really good and put it back - dah, it does not hold any air.

I found the tube is leaking air in the middle, so I installed the regulator on the wrong side of the tube. Fixed that and put it back - dah, still not holding air, all the air are going out from the barrel.

I noticed the bolt moves back and forth with applying little force, did not feel any spring engagement. I checked the DAR25, the bolt behaves the same.

There must be something simple I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

Finally opened the DAR177 up and changed the 4 o-rings, lubed them with silicon grease, all looks really good and put it back - dah, it does not hold any air.

I found the tube is leaking air in the middle, so I installed the regulator on the wrong side of the tube. Fixed that and put it back - dah, still not holding air, all the air are going out from the barrel.

I noticed the bolt moves back and forth with applying little force, did not feel any spring engagement. I checked the DAR25, the bolt behaves the same.

There must be something simple I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?

Did you cock it before filling it?  If not, try that.  Mine will leak out the barrel if I don't cock it after completely degassing it.

I have also put the regulator in the wrong end, that's easy to do!  LOL!

[Wolverineshooter]

Paul, that fixed it - thank you!

Interesting that the first time I cocked it, it would still leak. I pulled the trigger once, and then cock it again, and it worked.

[nervoustrigger]

Ah, glad to hear you got it working.
 
Your experience reminded me of something I encountered on the rebuild that caused the poppet not to seal.  There’s a brass bushing threaded into the valve body that guides the valve stem.  When I reinstalled it, I applied threadlocker and snugged it up (threadlocker is anaerobic so being tight helps it cure more quickly).
 
Unfortunately, the poppet then leaked badly when I tried to fill it.  So I took it apart to burnish the poppet against the valve seat with a slurry of J-B bore paste and polishing compound.  After spinning the parts together for a few seconds, I inspected the valve seat and sure enough, there was a polished crescent appearing instead of a uniform circle.  It occurred to me that the brass bushing might have canted ever so slightly when it bottomed out (tightened), whereby holding the valve stem at a slight angle and preventing the poppet from seating fully.  So I backed it off a quarter turn and tried again.  Very quickly a nice polished circle appeared.  Once reassembled, it sealed perfectly from zero pressure with a hand pump.
 
I then set it aside overnight to allow the threadlocker to cure.  The point being, if I had fired it right away, quite possibly the blast of air would have blown the liquid threadlocker right out of the threads and then the bushing would be apt to back out over time.
 
Tl;dr  Don’t bottom out the brass bushing in the valve body.  Apply threadlocker, thread it in until snug and then back off ¼ turn.  Then install the poppet, valve spring, and cap…what that does is it presses the poppet against the valve seat and aligns the bushing to the valve stem while the threadlocker cures.