New air hawk owners....

[Donny]

the vortek kit comes with everything needed and the instuctions have details on were to lube the kit, the kit is perfect, smooth cocking, firing cycle and improves accuracy, win win

[Rickt83]

Thank you Donny, I am going to order the kit now, I was going to open up the gun anyway but I might as well do it all at once since I know I will be doing it eventually anyway.  Now need to build spring compressor.
I plan to use the extra lube on my fathers gun after I tune it, hope there is enough....

I notice my rifle sounds much different than his at times.
Also while I shot it in the gun rest just "rested" on it, not clamped or anything, wherever the barrel was pointing after the recoil was where the pellet hit, so if I loosely held the gun and aimed and shot, after recoil and still holding the gun and looking down the scope, the crosshair/reticle would be right on the hole the pellet made, so I am trashing the gun rest and just using pillows as I did the first day we purchased these. Just thought I would share that.

[FerrumB5]

Thank you Donny, I am going to order the kit now, I was going to open up the gun anyway but I might as well do it all at once since I know I will be doing it eventually anyway.  Now need to build spring compressor.
I plan to use the extra lube on my fathers gun after I tune it, hope there is enough....

I notice my rifle sounds much different than his at times.
Also while I shot it in the gun rest just "rested" on it, not clamped or anything, wherever the barrel was pointing after the recoil was where the pellet hit, so if I loosely held the gun and aimed and shot, after recoil and still holding the gun and looking down the scope, the crosshair/reticle would be right on the hole the pellet made, so I am trashing the gun rest and just using pillows as I did the first day we purchased these. Just thought I would share that.

You might want to look into: http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=41567.0
This will work for AirHawk 100%

[Donny]

you may want to toss around the idea of chopping and re-crowning the barrel, usually 3.5 to 4 in. is the magic number,  a spring piston guns pellet velocity is reached in the first 11-12 in, everything after that is extra barrel, the idea is getting the pellet out of the barrel faster so the harsh shot cycle does not effect the pellets flight, or you could add a muzzle weight like the one that's on the airhawk elite, that helps to calm the barrels harmonics

[Donny]

Thank you Donny, I am going to order the kit now, I was going to open up the gun anyway but I might as well do it all at once since I know I will be doing it eventually anyway.  Now need to build spring compressor.
I plan to use the extra lube on my fathers gun after I tune it, hope there is enough....

I notice my rifle sounds much different than his at times.
Also while I shot it in the gun rest just "rested" on it, not clamped or anything, wherever the barrel was pointing after the recoil was where the pellet hit, so if I loosely held the gun and aimed and shot, after recoil and still holding the gun and looking down the scope, the crosshair/reticle would be right on the hole the pellet made, so I am trashing the gun rest and just using pillows as I did the first day we purchased these. Just thought I would share that.

You might want to look into: http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=41567.0
This will work for AirHawk 100%

X2 on this compressor

[Cathartes]

You don't really need tar on a lower-powered spring, in my opinion. I tried tar on my first (Beeman RS2) tune and I couldn't tell a difference even after ramping it up until tar was being slung off of the spring, which is bad. The Vortek is a superb quality spring with a built-in guide, so it shoots nice and smooth.

As far as power goes, my 34 actually lost power with the Vortek. It shoots 15.8 grain pellets at about 685, but with a deviation of around 5 fps, which is great.

[Rickt83]

Awesome compressor ferrum, I will likely copy that as I have every thing needed except a cheap c clamp, so cost will be minimal....
I ordered the vortek pg2 kit yesterday and of course last night I go down to the basement to shoot just for fun, shooting artillery hold off my knee, I would hit right around where I was aiming.(shooting cans and water bottles, so not exact science here). After not missing a single shot,(big targets), I took a piece of cardboard and drew some dots on it, I shot again from the same position and noticed I was pretty accurate with destroyer ex pellets, just like the first night the rifles were brought home....  So I had a piece of dense wood lying around and shot a random shot in, then I lay prone and used a paint roller to rest my hand on and rest the rifle on my fingers like a pool cue, I shot 10 shots with destroyer ex pellets into a clover shaped hole.....

Now I have this vortek kit I don't really need right away, but I will likely still do the swap after I keep shooting it more for accuracy....

[FerrumB5]

Hello Rick. Thanks!
I wouldn't save $1-3 dollars on a very C-cheap clamp - if you install a stronger spring in the future, the crappy C-clamp might not hold its pressure

[Rickt83]

Quick update, I finally zeroed my rifle I was able to hit the same spot on thick cabinet plywood about 5-7 times in a row, the pellets were hitting and ricocheting right next to each other within a .5" space at 30 feet, achieved with a pillow, prone, artillery type hold....
So I went to my sportsmans club where I am a member, I take my rifle and try to zero at 25yds.... Get it zeroed, first shot high so I adjust and am dead on, shoot again and it is low left, then again with no adjustments high left, then high right, I don't mean 1" from aim point, I mean about 6-8" at exactly 25 yards.... After about an hour of this and of just hitting steel spinner plates I grab my dad's rifle with a cabela's .223 scope and my buddy next to me finished shooting and practicing with his pistols and rifles, I take one shot, high right about 3 inches, I make my adjustments, bullseye, shoot again, bullseye, one more time, bullseye..... Good enough for me.....
My buddy comes over I tell him what happened and he looks at my scope, two adjustment washers loose inside the scope.... I go to cabela's pick up a red hot  crossbow scope, just mounted it yesterday and zeroed at 15 ft because that's all the range I had. And within 5 shots it is shooting clovers, I need to hit the range again Sunday....

This was all with destroyer ex pellets.... I got the vortek kit and will wait to put it in...

[Random Plinker]

Not familiar with that scope, but if the scope is not airgun rated the problem may recurr.  Spring rifle recoil is hard on powder burner scopes.  Leapers (UTG) scopes hold up well on airguns.

[Bullit]

There may be a problem with accuracy in the Destroyer pellets when you actually get out to range.  After being broken in well, (say 500-1000 pellets shot),  you may find that Domed pellets are a better choice for accuracy, and they are proven hunters.  You might want to look into a good crossbow fixed power scope, or better, a fixed power "airgun rated" scope.  The Leapers 5th Generation or Accushot series scopes are good choices.
I would recommend using a light coating of tar on the spring. Coating the steel is important, and the tar will not "sling off".

[kmiJ]

A friend of mine bought an airhawk at Wally world and wanted me to check it out...it sprayed every pellet I tried...about twenty brands. I told him take it back and get another. It's like night and day...not even broke in and making small groups at ten yards with the cheap scope that comes with them. So I can see why your gun is so different from your Dad's.