A.E.A. the gun of the moment ?

[Wayne52]

I'm trying not to cross-post here but I just wanted to share what's going on with my brand spankin new AEA HP Carbine semi-auto .22. I have been working so no play time this week but on Tuesday after work and before momma got home, I sat down with the HP and after gassing it up to 3k, I loaded the 4th magazine of CPHP's into it and took aim on my 10m indoor target, shot the whole magazine and then loaded the 5th, the first shot hit a little low and yes, I check the bolt position after loading magazines, it was fully into battery, then shot number 98...

A loud pop, the gun degassed itself out of the barrel end and out of the chamber.

Classic poppet issue I believe, I did not try to fix it but I did try to gas it up with the result of air coming out the TP and down the barrel.

98 shots and she's dead. Better sooner than later I supose? I hope to get a video call with Bin Tac at noon today, I took some time off of work to address this as I really like the platform but dislike fragile guns. 

David I seen on youtube where the .22's were having problems with their guns and that's probably from the same batch that you got yours from.  That makes me wonder if most of those problems that I watched on you tube were probably bad poppets.  I bought my 25 cal early June last year so I figure if the poppet would be giving out any time soon would probably be unlikely.  They must be doing something different with them .22 poppets I figured they'd be about the same as what my 25 cal would be.  Probably a bad batch of whatever it is they're using for their poppets.

[Firewalker]

Both my DAR G3's shot like a dream out of the box, I have done no mods on them but I lubricated the trigger group because I like a lighter trigger. Good right out of the box.

[Firewalker]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

[Spacebus]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

Interesting choice. You will have to keep us updated.

[Raider03]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

Nice choice!

[Spin]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

Nice choice!

   It'll be great to hear how the .22 Challenger Pro preforms at 350 - 400 yrds. out. It has the power to handle heavier longer slugs
and I really itch to see what it would do with rebated boat tailed slugs. How much trouble would it be to put a different length and/ or twist rate barrel on that Challenger?

[Raider03]

Firewalker, on the AEA Carbine HP,
Try cocking the hammer, it may not have cycled at low pressure. Then try refilling again to 3400psi. You may have gone to low on the tank pressure and that caused the pressure dump, hopefully.

[Firewalker]

Firewalker, on the AEA Carbine HP,
Try cocking the hammer, it may not have cycled at low pressure. Then try refilling again to 3400psi. You may have gone to low on the tank pressure and that caused the pressure dump, hopefully.

I run her between 3400-2400 PSI, the feed issues happen at all pressures.

[Wayne52]

I got me a clip for my .22 today from the pellet shop.  A couple weeks ago I had bumped the bolt open made a shot and it cracked the clear plastic, I did glue it back together
and it's been working since but I'm going to retire it for now, 2 good clips is all I need.

[Firewalker]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

Interesting choice. You will have to keep us updated.

One of economic necessity as well as the desire to shoot heavy slugs fast. I have two .22 molds that drop 55gr boolits, I will size them to .218" and see if they stabilize. If they do, I will try to reach out to 100 and then 200 yards.

[Firewalker]

I got me a clip for my .22 today from the pellet shop.  A couple weeks ago I had bumped the bolt open made a shot and it cracked the clear plastic, I did glue it back together
and it's been working since but I'm going to retire it for now, 2 good clips is all I need.

Clips are for Garand's and hair, Wayne! 

I got three magazines from the pellet shop too and I found that they are a different model, have some small difference to the eye but best of all, they have tighter springs and dont mangle as many pellets.

I still need to tune the timing on my Carbine but I am having a blast hitting leaves floating on the water!

[Firewalker]

I decided to try out the Challenger Pro in .22 for long distance since it's touted as a "Powerhouse" for slugs. She sure is heavy but she has the goods to deliver the goods!

Nice choice!

   It'll be great to hear how the .22 Challenger Pro preforms at 350 - 400 yrds. out. It has the power to handle heavier longer slugs
and I really itch to see what it would do with rebated boat tailed slugs. How much trouble would it be to put a different length and/ or twist rate barrel on that Challenger?

You and me both! 
I have a boat tail mold for .223 but it's a strange bullet, I may try it I may just stay with the 2 options I have and like. I have shot them out to 500 yards before but with a faster twist.

[DevilsLuck]

Just got my Callenger Pro in .30! I robbed a red dot off of a powder burner, and hand pumped this beast up. And what a chore that was... Were talking full body weight on the pump. It too me two beers to get the job done. Took it out to my range/porch, and centered for the biggest gong. 1 inch low. And half an inch left! Talk about lucky! This thing is gonna be sick once my Arken comes in!

[bear air]

Wayne, I did the same thing with my 30 cal challenger! Scared the heck out of me! My plate was in 3 pieces lol. It still works but I bought 2 new mags from Foxairpower.

[Wayne52]

Back in the mid 70's a friend of mine was working in a mold shop, they were making a prototype mold for helicopter face shields and had some prototypes which my friend
acquired two of them for testing purpose's.  We tested them with a 22lr and even the hot loads wouldn't go through. All it did was put a dent in them.
Bin Tac had a video on youtube about an improved clear piece that wouldn't break in such a case, whether or not you can buy the improved ones I don't know.  It seems
like it was what they were going to start sending with the newer Challengers at that time.  The color of them is even darker.

[Mr.P]

I had one pop on me as well… didn’t feel great so close to my face even with eye protection.  Quite a surprise!

[Spacebus]

I don't even use the magazine. Since the rifle came with two, I keep one stored away in a cabinet and I used the other one for shooting until i got a SST from eBay. I also took the plastic cheek rest off and just rest my face right on the receiver since I am using a low profile sight. That makes it easier to single load slugs. After removing the cheek rest I had to adjust the barrel a bit to hold in the magazine. The magazine is cool, but I never need to rapid fire this thing.

[Firewalker]

I got the barrel polished and even ran a patch with a dab of moly down the bore to fill the microscopic pours and slicken up the surface even more. Pushed another slug down the barrel and it sized .2175" so I know I'm on the right track.

Got the Pro all put back together and I will try the NSA's tomorrow.

Also, I hope to get the chrony on the gun and see what speeds I am getting with pellets. More later.... 

[customcutter]

David, how is the trigger on the Pro?  I hope it's better than the Carbine.  I thought about the Pro that was in the Classifieds a few days ago, but looked up the weight and it was a hard no for me with my back issues.  Hope it does what you want?  Interested in accuracy and velocities as well.

[Firewalker]

David, how is the trigger on the Pro?  I hope it's better than the Carbine.  I thought about the Pro that was in the Classifieds a few days ago, but looked up the weight and it was a hard no for me with my back issues.  Hope it does what you want?  Interested in accuracy and velocities as well.

Ken, The Pro's trigger is much better but still needs some smoothing. It's a completely different setup with more of a standard bar, dog-bone, sear arrangement and should respond well to a polishing and lubrication.

In-between coats of paint, I got outside to run the Pro with CPHP's and hand cast 25gr slugs, changing only the power wheel from Minimum to Maximum for them respectively.  The results were interesting and welcome. With the regulator set at 100 bar, I got the following speeds:

The twelve 14.3gr CPHP's on Min came in at 830fps and did so again and again with several identical readings on the chrony leaving me to wonder if it was broken? Nope, the Charger varies by about 10fps and it did again in testing it with the chrony so back to the CPHP's on Min and again, 829, 830, very consistent.

I loaded up a batch of freshly cast slugs that measure right at .218" and cranked the power wheel to Max and got... 930, 929, 928 fps for all 12 shots.  I am very pleased with the speeds I got and they are right where I wanted them to be. 

I have not weighed the gun yet but it is very heavy! It's also very long but I was looking for a dedicated bench gun so this fits the bill well.