ATI Nova Freedom .177 "no warranty parts gun" (pic heavy)

[UlteriorModem]

They don't sell the single shot tray?

My Aspen came with one.

[AGEnthused2]

I also called ATI, I was feeling greedy and wanted to check if there were any liberty's available. No there aren't but there are still some .22 freedoms available.

[avator]

They don't sell the single shot tray?

My Aspen came with one.

Nope, they only sell mags.
The Freedom would have come with an SST + mags + oil + a fill probe it it were an "off the shelf" new gun.
Remember, these are "no warranty parts guns" sold for $108 shipped. What you see is what you get. Some guns had everything in the box. Some even had just a pile of parts. It's a $100 gamble.

[mikeyb]

You would think that there would be some type of warning somewhere.

So, anyone else here that has completely dismantled the gun have experience with this?

Just looked at my Aspen and stamped right there on the tube it says "Gas injection prohibited Only for professional maintenance".

If you unscrew the cap it has some sort of fill port which looks like it would require a very short fill probe.

I was initially puzzled by the Freedom design also. Hawkeye51's description is accurate.

I welcome experts on this design to correct me, but these are my observations of how my Freedom behaves.

There is a "free sliding 2x o-ring sealed piston" inside the air tube. IMO this is a kind of crude shot-limiter and pump-effort-reducer. The front fill port, in front of that piston, is used to pressurize the front partition to ~1800 psi. IF the front partition is correctly pre-charged, hand pumping from empty up to 3600psi should take about 30 pumps.

When shooting (22 cal), I got about 15 Hi power shots for rifle #1 which I'm pretty certain is still pressurized. This varied depending on the hammer adjustment. At some point the pressure gauge was close to 2000 psi and the next shot farted the pressure almost down to "0" in the REAR partition (there's a joke in there somewhere;-)

WARNING: If the front of the air tube IS still under factory charge of ~1800psi, BE CAREFUL WORKING ON THE RIFLE IN THAT AREA! I carefully checked my rifle #2 before disassembly and it had no pressure stored in that section. I "think" many of these no warranty Freedoms have no pressure on the front section, but please be careful!

IF the front partition is NO LONGER PRESSURIZED, or you intentionally remove the piston completely as I did for rifle #2, the initial pumping effort doubles. It takes about 30 pumps to get to 1800 psi and at least another 30 pumps to get to 3600 psi. I think the designers realized that this much pumping would really deter a lot of potential customers, so they came up with the sliding piston design.

Since my sliding piston is removed in rifle #2, there is no more "shot limiting function". I can get 2 full mags (20 shots) from 3600psi down to ~1800psi. Obviously this shot string will NOT look like a regulated rifle! I can also KEEP shooting another mag, but these shots are varying so much as the pressure rapidly drops they are really not useful.

If I pay attention to shot count and gauge pressure and only shoot down to ~2000 psi, the results are quite acceptable for my intended use of this rifle as a general plinker and "trunk" hunter/pester.

Removing the sliding piston had some minor potential benefits. It added ~2cc more air storage, which is by my best calculation/estimate no more than +5%. I can also now use the front port to fill the air tube, but the rear port still seems to be the better option.

Leaving the piston IN the air tube and properly filling the front reservoir to the factory recommended pressure does reduce pumping effort. It also limits shot count for more consistent shot strings. Based on my observations I'd suggest leaving it in and acquiring another(smaller) fill probe to properly charge that front section. I posted dimensions for that probe earlier in this thread.

[avator]

Well, who reads the dang manual anyways?
I did and there it is, plain as day in section 15.
It completely explains the precharged air chamber and how to test it for leakage.

[Madd Hatter]

Mine from Air Venturi Doesn't say squat about the pre charge air chamber just that it's for the pre pressurized chamber and that's it.  Well, I found a download for the freedom. I really wish I would've bought the freedom instead of the Aspen. If there's a problem they pay the shipping Air Venturi doesn't.

[superchikn]

Sherrie from ATI answered my e-mail today. She said that they don't sell the silicone oil. She said any quality oil will work. I'm not 100% on that. I didn't press her for an explanation.
I'm gonna stick to my plan.

How about this?
The O ring store carries this brand.

[only1harry]

Did I get any on me?

Thanks for not displaying the food Bill.  Empty plates is much better.  I am trying to lose the weight I gained hibernating over the winter 

And don't eat while reading the manual!  It's a big distraction... you might misinterpret something and damage the Freedom  

[avator]

Did I get any on me?

Thanks for not displaying the food Bill.  Empty plates is much better.  I am trying to lose the weight I gained hibernating over the winter 

And don't eat while reading the manual!  It's a big distraction... you might misinterpret something and damage the Freedom

True that, Harry. And the parts breakdown is just as, or more confusing. Which is one reason I decided to live with the very slow leak.... unless, of course, it becomes much worse. I feel like I hit the lottery on the "no warranty" deal. I'm gonna ride that out for the time being. This gun is going to get tossed around and abused with my intended use for it... I'm sure, at some point, it will need attention.

[Back_Roads]

  We used to do the same with a 100 dollar beater car, cars used to run pretty darn good for $100. till we were done with them in the back 40 

[avator]

We used to do the same with a 100 dollar beater car, cars used to run pretty darn good for $100. till we were done with them in the back 40 

Bicycles... chopped, modded, rode hard and put away... dead.

[Hawkeye51]

Another disadvantage of shooting the gun down to zero psi. is that, it allows the air tube to loose some of the rigidity from the pressure holding it in place. (along with the the o-ring) at muzzle end.

The combination of the o-ring, barrel band (front sight) and pressure in the tube all work together to form a more rigid  "unit" that helps ensure accuracy. Just my observations.

[avator]

Thanks Mike...
Lots of good info gathering here.
This will be good for folks who intend to "plink" with the gun. I plan to shoot 10 from 3k then pump it back up. When in use, the gun will never even make it out of the "green" range on the gauge.

[Hawkeye51]

Definitely the way to go. I also try to stay in the 2800 to 2100 range for shot to shot consistancy. Tuned in the 875 to 920 fps range depending on pellet, I get about 7 or 8 shots within 3 %.  I'll take that any day. Pretty fun little guns for plinking or hunting.

[avator]

Yep, and on board pump makes it a great utility gun.

[wll2506]

Just called ATI and the Freedom I ordered on the 18th still has not left the factory ... Well I won't be shooting it this weekend for sure ;- (

Maybe they are picking out a super nice one for me ;-  )

wll

[Madd Hatter]

Yeah, sure they are. Lol

[avator]

Hmmm... very unusual... ordered mine on Thurs or Fri. Shipped Mon and received before the end of the week.

[UlteriorModem]

Well lets post this in the correct thread shall we

Hrm, you guys talking about the FO sights on the Freedom reminded me.

The Aspen version does not come with sights, and the front barrel band does not have a dove tail.

If anyone decides they will 'never' use the open sights that come with the Freedom I would be willing to negotiate some sort of deal for them

[avator]

Well lets post this in the correct thread shall we

Hrm, you guys talking about the FO sights on the Freedom reminded me.

The Aspen version does not come with sights, and the front barrel band does not have a dove tail.

If anyone decides they will 'never' use the open sights that come with the Freedom I would be willing to negotiate some sort of deal for them

LOL.... I almost commented in the other thread. I'll be using mine but, I'll keep eye and ears open.