is anybody with a crosman 2240 trying the Powerplay mod

[Gippeto]

Never mentioned any connected names other than Alexs and my own...and Walter for setting me straight.

You belittle his product at every opportunity...not surprising in the least that he would choose to not have your comments on his forum. If I constantly shot down your skill as a luthier would you welcome my comments on your blog or forum? Lets be realistic.

It isn't perfect...it IS what it IS...and works for most folks in the way it's intended to. Could make you a nicer one, but it WOULD have a price attached to it that you'd likely find less palatable.

My regret is for blindly following someones belief when I should have thought it through for myself...might have been able to end the BS sooner...and would be responsible for less of it than I ended up being. Believe me, I've no issue with calling "a spade a spade" if I see it as one.

And now we're dreadfully off topic.

Would personally choose to not modify any of my 2240s in the described manor. If it appeals to you...it's yours...go for it.

In the worst case, it's a new breech and tube to get back to the point from whence you came.

Al

[chekbone]

All i wanted to know was what people thought of the mod. Didn't mean for it to become a personal. Gippeto, i think you hit the nail on the head. Somebody seems bitter. Sometimes one just get full of BS. Form what I've read he's been given a lot of it to eat on just about every forum I've come across, except his. Actuall Gerard, he states on his site that shooters with "unmodified" guns not go over 2000 psi. I didn't read what you're saying anywhere. I read the LOL about the valve flying out as a "they can't be serious" joke. I haven't been around but a two months or so but I can't see how it could happen. On his forum he says what you need to do to your gun to shoot at 3000 psi. Maybe he's perturbed because people give bad info to the masses. I've read some of it on his forum. Heck, spread a word to the masses that I said something I didn't and I'll get perturbed too. Reminds me of an old TV show called Both Sides of the Story. Just my thoughts.

[Gerard]

I do point out the flaws in the HiPAC when the subject comes up, true enough. As I explained to Alex after he insulted me both in his forum and in a private email, I would make it my business to let people know what kind of person and product they were dealing with. He gave me a 'lol' to that, but I've held to my word. A few specifics:

* My HiPAC's single extension tube was coated inside with a waxy red-brown substance, possibly a cutting lube or a polishing compound, which was not soluble in alcohol nor in acetone. I had to manually scrub out several grams of this material.
Alex's answer: "Don't know about red pasty chunks, which sounds a bit exaggerated. Maybe there a big chunk under the fill nipple. You have too many problems for you not to be the cause of any."

* My extension tube to rear section joint leaked until after I'd polished it carefully a couple of times, then used hydraulic grease and a lot of pressure to tighten it onto the third O-ring I tried (my own; his supplied 2 O-rings were both lower grade).
Alex's answer: "I guarantee it to work, not look pristine. I think you're having some user issues."

* My fill nipple started leaking after a couple of dozen fills to 2,000psi and a few fills to 3,000psi. I had to make a custom hard urethane washer and burnish the seal seat which was very bumpy, sloppily machined.
Alex's answer: "May have been a mishap on my part, don't know. I ream the fill-nipple seat with drill n bit. Maybe after two years my bit is dull and skipping. I'll have to look at it. I guarantee it to hold pressure, not look pretty"

That's just some of it. Most of his nonsense he's long since deleted from his forum.

As for paying more for a better-made product, I have no problem doing that. I have a $2,000 Pardini K12 which never needs any fussing, it just shoots exactly the same every time I pull the trigger. I wouldn't expect to pay that kind of money for a mere air reservoir, but something along the lines of what a Pardini cylinder costs, about $350, wouldn't bother me if the product were up to those sorts of standards. Even half way between the two in terms of workmanship would be perfectly acceptable. But the inside of a HiPAC is so poorly finished that the European regulator maker Huma-air said, when I asked if he'd consider making one for the HiPAC: "The HiPac units doesn't match with our standards, so we are not interested in
any development into this direction."

Still, I've made mine work, and work well, and with a Lane regulator slightly modified to fit. The strength, at least, is there with a HiPAC. That and the fact that it threads easily into a Crosman main tube are about the only positive things I can say about the product as supplied to me. Alex's over-riding answer to all my complaints? "You could have done what most sensible buyers would have done and asked for a part replacement." Yeah, I could have. But judging from the second unit I had ordered at the same time for a friend, which I inspected, there really isn't a lot of variation in workmanship. It's pretty shabby.

And yes Gippeto, if I started doing shabby work, I'd of course expect people to dump all over me online and in conversations with other musicians. But I don't do shabby work. Why would anyone, really? Perhaps because, as with Alex, they just don't care?

[PBguns]

[chekbone]

Gerard, if you had all of those problems couldn't you have just sent it back. Seems it would have been alot less trouble. Not like the guys a car dealership where once you drive it off the lot it's your to keep. Mine was as clean as a whistle and worked the day i got it. I screwed it up because I wanted to see what was in it so I took it apart. The inside was a little rough but it doesn't affect how it works. I posted directly to him on his forum and he was in touch within two hours. Maybe you just got a bad one. Don't know, but the guy's been more than straight with me and seems prettylevel headed and knows his products. I would venture to bet that you're forgetting some of the finer conversation points. Maybe you insulted him first and he retaliated in kind. I read a lot of those post from years back. I don't know and i don't care.

I was posting to talk shop, not Alex.

[Gerard]

Off topic, sure, I guess. But Alex is still happily bashing away at Gippeto and rsterne in his forum:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/665650/message/1440086868/Giving+bad+info%2C+then+admitting+it+was+wrong-+That+takes+a+bit+of+character.
Does't name Gippeto, but this reference, considering what Gippeto said last evening, makes it pretty clear:

I don't expect there to be any added stress on the valve, but there's no problem with the set-screw. I messed up another tube testing my SS screw in the HiFlo valve. The old GEN1 with the hex nut on top was perfect for wrenching the HiPAC in until it bottomed out against the tube. I didn't get a torque wrench reading. They said that that's no way to test the shear strength but don't remember which idiot said it, but it wasn't Bob. It deformed the backside of the set-screw hole in the tube and but the screw didn't give way. I'm guessing it'll work as well in the other direction. Right now the only difference is that mine is heavier, lol. I haven't taken my gun apart to test it. Guess I could put one of my other ones back together. I'm also considering making it adjustable for weight. I got that figured out too. That would really change things. I'm still waiting for the HiPAC to vanish ("dang" a slow leak) and fill the tube with 3Kpsi and explode. He said it would so it must be true...since he said it.

And from later in the thread on his 'forum' where he's someone's asking him who he's talking about:
"The long time pain-in-the-@ss negative-basher old fart."

Seems Alex hasn't moved on, though apparently it's been years, Gippeto. He just keeps confirming what I'm saying about his nature. A leopard can't change his spots.

But back to the subject at hand... Apparently he still hasn't actually done this slot-milling operation himself, it remains a thought experiment. No doubt it'll do something like he suggests it will, making swapping out bolts and hammers simpler. Which may well be cool for someone who wishes to experiment with a range of options for both. It'll be interesting to see if anyone actually does, and documents the results gleaned, to contribute to the body of knowledge available for would-be 2240 tuners.

[chekbone]

I'll take a page out of my "Grown-@$$ Man Book". Any man who's man enough to specifically point out that a person didn't say something is man enough to point out the specific person who did. From what i've read the guy had too many critics to name them all. He does mention Bob a few times where he disagreed with the information Bob gave, but I've also read where he gave Bob credit or even steered somebody Bob's way for information. Why would you even bother to copy and paste that in my post. I thought forums were for sharing information. Not to judge but it sounds like you have it in for the guy yourself.

I'd just like to add. One could see it as if he were making reference to Bob alone with every other old fart that bashed his head in. SO YEAH, maybe he needs to clean up &^^& like that a little bit. He ain't human.

[Gerard]

I was responding to yours and Gippeto's stated opinions, which seemed to indicate that Alex has moved on. He plainly hasn't, as he continues up to this week to call people names and besmirch their reputations publicly. Grown man? Hardly.

[rsterne]

Well, since Alex is still calling me names, I guess I should check in.... Yes, I was pretty hard on him, because I viewed him running a lot of stress on that single 6-40 valve screw as dangerous.... He wouldn't listen, called me all kinds of names (and apparently still is, I could care less).... but he DID start recommending on his website that people change out that screw for 8-32.... at which point I shut up....

During all of that mess, I pointed out that if somebody overtightened the HiPac into the gun they could likely shear off the screw without any air pressure, as it would only take "X" force to do that (I can't now remember the number I gave him).... He promptly used that number as being the ft/lb. of torque applied to the HiPac, rather than the force, and started calling me names, so I gave up.... He didn't seem capable of understanding the difference between tightening torque and the force it develops.... and to be truthful I no longer cared.... I have better things to do....

If the seal diameter between the HiPac and the valve is 1/4" in diameter, at 3000 psi that is a force of 150 lbs.... To that you add the force from tightening in the HiPac against the screw.... I still think there is a good chance of the original 6-40 screw failing, and I'm glad he upgraded it to 8-32.... That should be enough to prevent it from failing and allowing the valve to move back and vent the HiPac.... I was wrong in stating that the valve might come flying out the back if that screw failed, and I owe him an apology for that.... I never realized there was so much clearance between the valve and the tube.... Full Stop....

Over the years since our first altercations, I have been silent about the HiPac, either Pro or Con.... I personally don't like it, wouldn't use one, but I don't try and discourage anyone from doing so, either.... I thought this was all water under the bridge, but apparently it isn't, and I regret that.... I'm glad that if nothing else, he changed that retaining screw and made the conversion safer....

For what it's worth, addressing the original subject of this post, I don't see a problem with milling the slot for the hammer pin out the back of the breech and tube so that the striker and bolt can be withdrawn out the back by simply removing the rear plug.... in fact, I've had tubes and breeches that were like that myself....

Bob

[chekbone]

Thanks Bob. That's all I wanted to know. To the toilet with all that other BS.

[rsterne]

Giving this a bit more thought, do NOT mill the slot for the bolt handle out the back of the breech.... If you do, and then fire the gun with the handle not down and locked, or if it comes up during firing, the only thing preventing it from flying out the back of the breech (and possibly hitting you) is the striker cocking pin and the upper breech screw.... The striker itself cannot get back past the rear tube block / spring seat, and it is secured with two (or after the suggested mod, 4) screws.... When thinking back about the gun I had with the slot milled, it was only the bottom slot, where the striker pin runs.... that was milled to the back of the tube and breech.... NOT the slot for the bolt handle....

You will still have to unscrew the bolt handle from the side of the bolt to remove the bolt from the gun.... as well as removing the rear plug.... Is the rear screw and striker pin strong enough to withstand the bolt flying back?.... Maybe, but by milling the slot for the bolt handle all the way to the back of the breech, that is all that is left....

Bob

[chekbone]

His instructions mention only the striker slot in the breech and tube. No mention of doing anything to the bolt slot so I think that's a given. Yeah, he says you'll have to remove all that stuff but to me those are like pre-disassembly parts. Maybe a specific "don't do that". My daddy would always say, "If something can be done wrong somebody can find a way to do it."

[rsterne]

Yep, that's why I mentioned it.... I realize the bolt handle slot wasn't mentioned but thought it prudent for me to bring it to your attention....

Bob

[chekbone]

Yeah, I've fired when my bolt wasn't completely closed a few times already. I think it's because i keep a pellet in the tray but not seated all the way into the barrel. Scary as all heck the first couple of times it happened. Now it's pretty much that if the crow doesn't fall when I shoot him the bolt must have been open.