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

[Madd Hatter]

Soupyyy

If you find your Freedom dumping air at 2200 psi, you might try releasing a little pressure from the "PreCharge" side. I think the correct procedure is to have zero pressure on the breech side of the air tube piston, then you fill the "pre charge" side to 1750psi.

Makes sense.... now that I know about the pre-charge. I feel pretty dumb that it was right there in the owner's manual all the time.... which I failed to read.

Men don't read instructions!!  lol

[2K1TJ]

Where is the fill port for the front chamber? I don't remember seeing it and I don't have my Freedom with me.

[UlteriorModem]

Where is the fill port for the front chamber? I don't remember seeing it and I don't have my Freedom with me.

It is a little knurled cap on the end of the thin long tub just under the barrel.

[Bicycleman]

Men don't read instructions!!  lol <---  It probably says "Men don't read instructions!" in the INSTRUCTIONS.  But I wouldn't know anything about that.  Hee hee

[mikeyb]

Michael, again, please mark me down for a front chamber fill probe once you've refined them.. if you intend to make and sell a few...
Thanks

Me also

Ditto to what Bill said and thanks !!!

Can't make any solid plans or promises right now. I'd like to be able to offer the small probe to GTA members for material cost and postage (cheap!). The first one took 2.5 hours. At that rate I won't be making many more.

Hoping to get that time down to 1/2 hour or less while maintaining consistent dimensions. I'm grinding, filing, sanding on a wood lathe so the guys here with the small metal lathes have a big advantage over me in time and accuracy. Maybe someone with a metal lathe will come to the rescue?

I'll know more and post an update after testing the new tools this weekend.

[2K1TJ]

Where is the fill port for the front chamber? I don't remember seeing it and I don't have my Freedom with me.

It is a little knurled cap on the end of the thin long tub just under the barrel.

Ok thanks. I saw that, but thought it must be just a plug for the end of the tube.

[mikeyb]

Front air chamber pre-fill port location and fill probe ready to charge close-up.

[Jonnie]

Question, how do you bleed the pressure from the front pre-charged portion of the tube?

[soupyyy]

Question, how do you bleed the pressure from the front pre-charged portion of the tube?

Remove the hex screw from the front then push a 1/6" drill bit in the hole, flat end in.  I started tapping it with a piece of wood at first then slowly push it in further.  Just remember to put the hex screw back in first before refilling.

[Wayne52]

They sure have a lot of different parts on them that the Liberty doesn't.

[soupyyy]

I tried the dash-007 Buna 70A o-rings first and they just "squirted out" when I hit ~1000 psi.

Next attempt was dash-007 Buna 90A o-rings and they worked just fine up to 3600 psi.

I have removed the sliding piston from this particular Freedom so filling from the front port DOES fill the WHOLE air tube. As I suspected, filling through this port with such a tiny probe is very twitchy in that the probe must be positioned JUST RIGHT. IMHO the only practical use of this probe is to fill the pre-charge front of the air tube when the sliding piston is in the tube.
[/quote]

Michael, great job.  I was using #006 but if you say #007 is working for you I will have to try that out tonight.  Are you using drill bit 3/32" for the main hole?

[Wayne52]

The probe for my Airmax Dominator fits that I.D. of the precharge fitting perfect but the o rings are spaced too far apart. if I had a lathe I could make one but I don't.

[avator]

Question, how do you bleed the pressure from the front pre-charged portion of the tube?

Remove the hex screw from the front then push a 1/6" drill bit in the hole, flat end in.  I started tapping it with a piece of wood at first then slowly push it in further.  Just remember to put the hex screw back in first before refilling.

Hmmm.... sounds like another culprit for a potential leak.

[Madd Hatter]

Question, how do you bleed the pressure from the front pre-charged portion of the tube?

Remove the hex screw from the front then push a 1/6" drill bit in the hole, flat end in.  I started tapping it with a piece of wood at first then slowly push it in further.  Just remember to put the hex screw back in first before refilling.

There's a degasing screw a little ways back from the from of the tube where you fill the prepressure chamber. Just noticed it yesterday when I pumped up my freedom to 3600 psi.

[Troy A.]

My . 22 freedom arrived on the 29th after 2 weeks. I pumped it up to 3000 PSI and it's  still there 2 days later. The only issue is the shroud is bent about 1/8 inch just after the barrel (which is straight). I believe this is the reason the gun was returned, maybe clipping pellets. All the previous owner needed to do was remove the end cap and the problem is solved. I will buy a 25.4 mm by 600 mm carbon fiber tube and use it as a shroud if I can't straighten the stock one. I just need to buy 2 magazines and some .22 pellets.

[mikeyb]

[There's a degassing screw a little ways back from the from of the tube where you fill the prepressure chamber. Just noticed it yesterday when I pumped up my freedom to 3600 psi.

There are actually 2 screws near the end of the air tube which HOLD the brass end piece (parts 12 & 13, page 14) in the tube against the air pressure. If you loosen one of these screws it "may" act as a degassing vent, but I think the screws main purpose is holding the air tube parts together. BE CAREFUL turning these screws if there is ANY pressure left in the air tube in EITHER front or rear sections!

[mikeyb]

Michael, great job.  I was using #006 but if you say #007 is working for you I will have to try that out tonight.  Are you using drill bit 3/32" for the main hole?

I think the 007 90A o-ring is a better fit for the pre-fill port. The 007 is only a few mils (mil=0.001") larger OD than the port so it will be under slight compression when probe is inserted. IMO o-rings should not be under any significant tension when seated on the probe. Especially the hard 90A which will tear if stretched. I was trying to get about a 10% "crush" on the o-ring when inserted into the port. This seems to work well here and based on my experience with other o-rings under similar conditions, it should provide a reliable seal and prolong o-ring service life.

Since we are moving a small volume of air at high pressure, I wanted to use the smallest drill bit my tooling can handle without breaking.

I was going to try a 1/16" bit on a brass probe but decided to use a 5/64" bit for the steel probe. I was REALLY CAREFUL on drill and feed speeds, pressure, and lubrication. It worked the first time. Not certain if that was just luck or not. Will find out the hard way when I attempt to make more steel probes.

My woodworking tools are not really suitable for metal work and my experience turning these metal parts is "1st one this week!" so I am not even close to an experienced machinist. You know your own tool and skill limitations best, so you can adjust the probe dimensions to fit those limits.

[wll2506]

My . 22 freedom arrived on the 29th after 2 weeks. I pumped it up to 3000 PSI and it's  still there 2 days later. The only issue is the shroud is bent about 1/8 inch just after the barrel (which is straight). I believe this is the reason the gun was returned, maybe clipping pellets. All the previous owner needed to do was remove the end cap and the problem is solved. I will buy a 25.4 mm by 600 mm carbon fiber tube and use it as a shroud if I can't straighten the stock one. I just need to buy 2 magazines and some .22 pellets.

Yes, for sure.

wll

[Madd Hatter]

[There's a degassing screw a little ways back from the from of the tube where you fill the prepressure chamber. Just noticed it yesterday when I pumped up my freedom to 3600 psi.

There are actually 2 screws near the end of the air tube which HOLD the brass end piece (parts 12 & 13, page 14) in the tube against the air pressure. If you loosen one of these screws it "may" act as a degassing vent, but I think the screws main purpose is holding the air tube parts together. BE CAREFUL turning these screws if there is ANY pressure left in the air tube in EITHER front or rear sections!

I have no intentions of removing either one of the screws. I didn't know they held the end piece on.
You know, looking at the assembly drawings it looks like the pre gasing (?) end of the pressure tube screws into the pressure tube. I still will not be messing with it right now as I don't have the probe that fits it.

[Madd Hatter]

My . 22 freedom arrived on the 29th after 2 weeks. I pumped it up to 3000 PSI and it's  still there 2 days later. The only issue is the shroud is bent about 1/8 inch just after the barrel (which is straight). I believe this is the reason the gun was returned, maybe clipping pellets. All the previous owner needed to do was remove the end cap and the problem is solved. I will buy a 25.4 mm by 600 mm carbon fiber tube and use it as a shroud if I can't straighten the stock one. I just need to buy 2 magazines and some .22 pellets.

Where are you going to get the Carbon Fiber tubes? I spent 35 years working with carbon composites but have been out of it for the last 5 years.