Webley Raider 2 Shot regulator project

[moranmiket]

Hi All
I'm about to start in on a regulator installation on my pre2006 Webley 22cal. After an initial chrono test revealed that the rifle was only shooting in the low 500fps range, and a lot lower at the higher end of the fill pressure or 190bar (started out shooting around 230fps on a full fill), I decided to take the rifle apart and do some work on it. I experimented with different settings for the hammer spring tension, and got the gun shooting up to spec (820 to 880 fps with 14.3gr pellets, 25ft/lbs) and also tested a wide range of settings down  to 660fps / 12 ft/lbs. The higher setting was consuming about 4.3 bar per shot, and lowest around 1.8 or 2 bar.

So now I have a choice to make when I install the regulator. I bought a Robert Lane Regulator from GB. I could set it at 125bar with higher hammer spring setting, and shoot at 880fps / 25 ft/lb, getting around 22 effective shots off of a 200 bar max fill. Or I can go with a lower regulator setting at 110 bar and using the lighter hammer spring setting and shoot at 780fps / 20 ft/lb and get about 52 shots per fill.

I mostly shoot targets for fun. With the gun shooting more predictably, I could do some pest control shooting for some friends. Before doing this work the rifle was pretty much limited to 20 or 25 yard targets. I think now I could get out to 50 yards or more to practice longer range shooting. At the reg setting 110 bar and heavier hammer spring, I could get to a max of 845fps / 23 ftlbs.

So - opinions welcome! What setting would you choose? More shots per fill, or more power? Classic dilemma!

A photo of my rifle is attached.

[wolverine]

For mainly target shooting I'd go for 20 fpe.  Enough to accurately shoot out to 50yrds, a high shot count, and plenty of power for taking care of most "pests". 

[moranmiket]

Thanks Wolverine - it's my first instinct too, to go with the higher shot count. 20ftlb is still pretty good power.  I'm getting pretty good at taking the gun apart, so I guess I could always up the regulator at some point and see what difference it makes to accuracy and range.