THANKS MIKE , FOR THE FLYING DRAGON PCP , IT IS WONDERFUL .

[Nick Hammack]

I visited with Mike and was quizzing him about the BAM 51's that he had in stock ,  after visiting a bit on the BAM he shared with me the FLYING DRAGON PCP that he was converting .

I ended up purchasing   1 B-51 ,  2 - .177 , 1-.22 FLYING DRAGONS PCP  and 2 spare .22 cal barrels ,  the B-51 shipped first and I received that .177  last week .

I received the .22 cal on Monday and received the 2 .177's yesterday with a note in the box that the .22 Cal . barrels would follow at the end of the month .

I pumped the .22 cal up to 1500 psi and proceeded to shoot in the dark at the tree line ,  the 1500 psi fill was almost too much , the gun was on the verge of valve locking .  I shot it down till the point it sounded right and checked the fill pressure it was 1100 psi where the gun started shooting correctly down to the 600 psi mark .

I shot around 80 pellets thru the gun and then went indoors and took the trigger out and proceeded to adjust and polish the sear engagments ,  it is a wonderfully simply trigger arrangement and is very easy to adjust and polish out to a very nice hunting trigger .

 I then  loaded up again started to shoot another string to adjust and try out the new trigger job and it is wonderful indeed , after a few shots the gun dumped the fill pressure at the shot ,  I figured the valve gave way .

I pulled the gun down part way that evening and then finished the job completely dismantaling the gun 100% last night ,  it is a wonderful design and very easy to work on ,  this gun is the VW'S of PCP'S ,  it is wonderfully easy to work on and what I love about is that it is so easy to work on ,  fully adjustable trigger and an overall great design that is very affordable to own and operate ,  I have been following the thread that everyone is having problems with the guns that they got .

Well if your new to PCP's your going to have to pay your due diligence and will have a learning curve ,  if one has no mechanical aptitude or little to no patience then this or any PCP is certainly something that your going to have a hard time with .

One thing that everyone has to get a grip on is that this is a tinker gun ,  as Mike said  ,  your going to have to work on it ,  it is a wonderful and very easy design that is going to be a wonderful gun for my needs which is hunting ,  I will set it up to give me 10 full power shots  with very little  deviation in velocity .

Some of you guys are valve locking these guns and how to unlock them is put your hand pump on them ,  pump them up till you hear the fill valve click open , then very slowly open your bleeder valve up and let the air creep out until you get down around 1200 psi or below ,  these guns need tuned to use higher pressures it would appear and you will have to do the work to get them there . If your gun will still bleed off air even if it is a little bit then keep dry firing the gun until one gets enough of a shot pressure to discharge a pellet and shoot the gun down and keep it down low on pressure until you get the work done to your gun to allow you to use the larger fill pressures .

As far as sights are concerned this is a pcp it deserves to have a scope on it ,  it is a long range set up , sights are for springers 30 yards and under , this gun is for + type ranges .  Sights are to be taken off and a hush method to be used on the end of the barrel .  with scope mounted and the sweet spot found with a chrony and all the data worked up for this gun .

I am going to put my .22 back together now and get off here ,  I found the valve seat cocked and I will explain in a night or so as to what is going on ,  but this little gun is a diamond in the rough and for $ 100 I will be buying several more to lay back and make wonderful little hunting gun for some friends ,   Oh don't worry about the fill tubes as a weak link they are not ,  it will take 8K to burst these things ,  the weak link is the two 5MM screws under the action ,  one holding the pin valve assy and the other holding the backing ,  but don't worry too much for in the machine shop we lift 12K chunks of steel with a hole drilled in the center and tapped using a 1/2" bolt to do the lifting .

The weak link are these 5MM screws but 2K is well within the stress limits for such things but do not exceed this much or your just asking for it unless you drill and tap more anchor points .

Had to jump on here and share this with you for it is getting out of hand and Mike will take care of things when he gets back ,  but everyone is going to have to work on these guns bar none ,  if you do not want to tinker then perhaps one should purchase a springer for PCP'S are a labor of love .

Now back to putting together my .22

Regards,  Nick

[Nick Hammack]

I put the .177 together with the parts from the .22 after I polished all the parts .

  the inside of the main spring , outside of main spring , the spring guide , the hammer external and internal where the mainspring slides up into the hammer and the trigger group was all polished to a mirror .




The valve wanted to lock out of the stock gun at 1500psi  now after the tune I charged the gun to 2000 psi and got the following string with the washer removed from the spring tensioner and screwed all the way in .

931
935
958
985
942
935
922
925
901
898
892
887
872
869
856
850
843
857
843
806

After getting what I wanted a 10 shot string that was this powerful ,  I proceeded to shoot a 20 shot group at 35 yards off of shooting sticks ,  will shoot off of bench in the future when I am done working on the little gun . 

just wanted to see what she was capable of in the rough ,  I have found my little dream gun of $100 indeed .




Took the little girl hunting this evening for a short time and took this pair at 30+ yards one shot each .




Will be doing more to the little gun as we go along and I will post pictures

Regards,  Nick

[bradyman1]

Nice shooting. Where about are you in mo? I am near st. Louie

[Tinknocker1]

fantastic job Nick great report 

[cwlongshot]

Thanks for the posting Nick and WELCOME!!

I agree with you, and went into this purchase with eyes open. Fully expecting a tinker project, as per a couple conversations via email with Mike.

I too really like the gun, I also plan on a complete tear down and fluff and buff. You have found (now confirmed) what I suspected. The gun needs some massaging!

Congrats on the harvest too!!

CW

[Nick Hammack]

Hello Brandyman  I am down by Lake of the Ozarks .

[bradyman1]

Beautiful area out that way. Enjoy your rifle and get some more of those squirrels. We only have about a month left in the season. I desperately need to get out and do some nutter sniping!

[airgunwarriors]

Hello and Thanks for the great informational write-up!

I too have the .177 FD-PCP and a the 10.5-grain CPUM pellets. It's nice to see someone else with a lot of experience posting information on a .177!

I have not yet tried any accuracy shooting with it, as I am still waiting to get some glass for it. I was able to pump mine up to 1500-psi from the get go, and have had it successfully up to around 1650-psi without any valve-lock issues. I did go beyond the 1650-psi once and did have valve-lock issues, but it self remedied itself after a few dry fires to release some of the pressure.

I am still waiting on a chrony as well, just as soon as I get one, I want to post a few shot strings using the 10.5-grain and 10.34-grain pellets.

All I know is that as of right now, with a 1500-psi fill, I can penetrate tin can material with up to 35-shots from 15-yards away. Mike did a chrony on mine and got a reading of around 900-fps using the 8.4-grain pellets.

I am shipping mine off to have some custom work done to it and upon its return, will attempt to do some of the things that you have done to yours in an effort to get all of its potential out of it.

I look forward to more of your posts on this $100.00 PCP!

Respectfully,

Al.

p.s. I will be transferring your data to the "Flying Dragon-PCP Tech Data Section". It is a "clean" section for those seeking some tech data in a hurry.

[Nick Hammack]

I am posting pictures of the disassembled FDPCP.

Here is a pic of the action and pressure tube .



Here is a pic of the fill valve and check valve assy  .



Here is a pic of the parts in order of assy



Pic of the top part of the barrel ,  note the indention for the set screw retainer



Here is a pic of the port on the bottom of the barrel


Pic of the crown job and the flat that is under the front sight .  Might have to work on the Crown ,  will have to shoot and she how she does .


Pic of the valve assy , this is the .22 gun that has a few parts missing , will get those fixed soon as Mike gets back on his feet .  Or just make the parts myself , either way it will get fixed .



Pic of the polished trigger and hammer that all got polished ,   note the spring guide in this gun has been cut off , I would theorize that was done to reduce friction , a thing that could have been taken care of by polishing .



Well all for now ,  visit later ,   Nick

[Nick Hammack]

Oh by the way ,  this gun can be totally disassembled  and put back together in under 5 minutes each way ,  I can do it in under 3 minutes each way ,  just incase anyone wants to know .

[smythsg]

Nick, you are an FD-PCP Animal...and I really appreciate your post. There are many of us, me included, that came from the springer world and this gun is our first PCP. We have a lot to learn and appreciate someone that has the patience to provide us great information and pictures. Please keep those coming!! I currently have my FD-PCP shooting a somewhat similiar string as your post, with a high of 954 and about 12 good shots, but have only gone up to less than 1600 psi.

I trudged 6.5 miles through the North GA woods last weekend and never saw a critter move, but your two nutters and CW's nutter proves that this gun is a capable hunter. By the way, I can't find my screw driver in under five minutes, much less three...

[Kailua]

I don't know if it was mentioned but just found out the hard way there is a spring in the bolt held in by the bolt handle.  Also when taking out the safety watch out for pin that may come flying out unless you are not going to use the safety no worries.

[bocomomark]

I don't doubt this gun can benefit from some tinkering, but I haven't done anything other than clean my barrel and shoot it.  Don't have a chrony, so I cant say much about it's performance, but it seems to be hitting ALOT harder than my 15 fpe springers, it's sure as heck more accurate (in my hands) definitely a taste of the "darkside".  I haven't had time to tinker, and If I do have time this weekend, I will probably take it hunting, before I do any tinkering   Perhaps I got lucky, but so far it does not appear that my gun has to have tinkering done to it...  Good lord it's loud though, have to wear ear protection when shooting it inside for sure.

[Kailua]

If you do find time I would at least polish the hammer.

[QVTom]

931
935
958
985
942
935
922
925
901
898
892
887
872
869
856
850
843
857
843
806

After getting what I wanted a 10 shot string that was this powerful ,  I proceeded to shoot a 20 shot group at 35 yards off of shooting sticks ,  will shoot off of bench in the future when I am done working on the little gun . 

Not a PCP expert may any measure but your shot string indicates that you are not close to valve lock and you could benefit from a higher fill pressure.  If you increase the fill in 100 psi increments until you see your first shots velocities start to decline a bit more you will get closer to coveted bell curve and a few more shots to boot. 


Nice gun and what a value!  Enjoy.

I should add that a non regulated PCPs first shots will sound very short and crisp, this is not necessarily an indication that you are too close to valve lock.  The chrony results are the only true indicator.

Tom

[cwlongshot]

Good information. Thanks for posting it!

CW

[Nick Hammack]

Hello Tom:

I did take the gun up a bit at the time I was doing the test ,  2100PSI  yielded  520 FPS  ,  2050 PSI gave me 850 FPS  so the margin is razor thin ,  2000 PSI is where my gun likes after the polish job to start .

I visited with Mike today about my Valve Cartridge and the parts internal ,  I will be machining a standoff to replace the washer and create a spring guide in the process ,  I will also be drilling and tap the sides of the receiver and stop block behind the valve cartridge to place two more set screws in place to help prevent the movement of valve cartridge and stop block with only the two 5 mm screws holding the assy  I will feel better and it will way overkill the pressure issue .

I will take pictures of the parts and how I have done the work ,  later everyone .

Regards,  Nick

[TNK]

Outstanding . . . . . . 

[QVTom]

Nick,

I missed the part about filling to 2k after the clean up and thought those were the 1.1k numbers.

A nice write up with lots of good info for those wondering about these guns.

Tom

[Nick Hammack]

I just ordered 2 more .177 FD's and 2 more .22 cal barrels and a pump this evening  for others that have shot mine and wanted one ,  I should just buy a dozen  and lay them back for me ,  for Mike is selling out fast .

Regards,  Nick