Benjamin .22 Benjamin Akela "HP" and .177 Cayden

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EPG

EPG

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Dec 12, 2020
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Connecticut, United States
I did this build yesterday... it turned out great !

Why did I pull apart a good shooting Cayden? It always seemed too loud for the power level that I was shooting it at - due to unshrouded barrel. It was very moderator picky and only liked one particular moderator that wasn't very effective a reducing the bark.

I had a refurb .177 Akela that I had not shot yet. I measured the barrels and the 4 inch longer Cayden barrel fits under the stock Akela shroud - once you discard the baffles and spring. It fits using both the Akela air stripper (to keep Cayden barrel centered in shroud) and with the DonnyFL moderator adapter for the Akela - which extends into the shroud a bit due to replacement "baffe" in its design.

I'm using a stock Benjamin hammer spring - cut to 2.68". I guessed and turned in the hammer spring exactly 1 turn - and using my fill pressure of 2,600 psi, I was immediately at 880fps with AEA 15.9g (barrel when on Cayden liked AEA 15.9s). Lucky guess on setting the hammer spring, but I'd rather be lucky than good when anxious to try shooting a new build.

.22 Akela "HP" or is it a "Caydela" is now VERY quiet shooting 15.9g @ 880-890fps - using only 2 sections of a Huma Mod30.

It immediately shot a 1/4 inch c-t-c 5-shot group at 30 yards. Took one shot to adjust scope. Then fired shots 7 to 26 at this 30-Masters card and shot 198 !! Dang - thats an unregulated "budget" rifle. If you are shooting 30-Masters cards with a $2,000 air rifle you know that 198 is a darn good score.

Thought I'd share the details (more info on pictures) with this community - as some folks with .22 Akelas may want to try the longer barrel from a Cayden if they are seeking more power or a milder tune.

Stay tuned for a .177 Cayden in the future, lol.

-Ed

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I did this build yesterday - a .177 Cayden.

Why a .177 Cayden? Because I always felt my .22 Cayden was a bit loud for backyard target shooting due to its unshrouded barrel. It was moderator picky, and the moderator that it "liked" wasn't that quiet.

So, essentially I swapped the long (600mm) .22 Cayden barrel and .22 cocking level/probe into a .177 Akela. As I've shown in the previous build, the long Cayden barrel fits fine under the stock Akela (or Kratos) shroud - once you ditch the spring and baffles (they adversely effect accuracy anyways).

In this build, I used a .177 barrel for a Reximex Daystar. I sourced the barrel from a Canadian supplier (wound up paying $140 for a $65 barrel - due to shipping, import, broker and tariff charges, lol - the tariff was only $15 - its all the other parasites that pile on). This Reximex barrel fits perfectly in the Benjamin Cayden - as the Daystar and the Cayden are essentially the same rifle. Reximex seems to have been the builder of the Craftsmen Series (Akela/Cayden/Kratos) rifles for Benjamin. This is good news for owners of these rifles - as you can use Reximex parts for your Craftsman series if Benjamin parts become scarce (Benjamin has discontinued the Craftsman series - its a shame as they are great performers for the cost).

So, if you have a Craftsman series .22 or .25 and want to try .177, you can buy a Reximex Daystar barrel (600mm) and a .177 cocking lever/probe assembly from Airgun Revisions and thats all you need to convert your Akela, Cayden or Kratos to .177 - probably less than 5 minutes to swap.

I'm currently using a custom hammer spring (not a cut down Benjamin spring) in this .177 Cayden. I'm getting tight ES across these 30 yard cards - and its unregulated - despite the fact that the barrel is not shot in yet. In fact, I have less than 100 pellets through this barrel counting these 3 cards. First 5 shots were with JSB 10.3s, then I dialed the scope and shot 10 shots with AEA 8.72s. The barrel really liked these as it shot a .35" ten-shot group at 30 yards immediately with them. It looked so good that I started shooting these cards. [edit: the 10-shot group measured .437 edge-to-edge - so .26 center-to-center)

I'm also using just two sections of a Huma Mod 30 - and the 1st section has an Avalance insert, which is not as quiet as the felt inserts. Despite this the rifle is pretty quiet - and as you can see on these cards I'm shooting at "full power" type velocities (860 up to 920 fps). After the 1st card, I dialed down the hammer spring adjuster 1 full turn - to determine if the rifle would seem quieter (not much difference).

Summary: You can use this 600mm Reximex barrel across all the Benji Craftsman series of rifles with essentially no modifications. Those wanting to shoot .177 slugs might want to cut the choke off this 23.5" barrel and see what it can do - it will still be pretty long.

BTW, I asked Pyramid Air - who now carries the Reximex Daystar in .22 and .25 - to order a .177 Reximex barrel for me - they said that they don't order parts from Rexi - just rifles...

I'm pretty sure that I can get this .177 Cayden shooting 195+ scores at 30 yards - once the barrel is shot in a bit and perhaps I lighten the trigger from where I've set it now. These 8.72g AEAs shoot great in a variety of rifles - including my "EPG Frankenstein" builds, lol.

-Ed

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Initial Cayden .177 Targets.jpg
 
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silverstreak said:
are you saying you can source the barrel from AG Revision or Canada?
Click to expand...

I sourced the barrel from Canadian Shooting Supply.

I said that you can source a .177 probe and cocking lever assembly from AG Revisions.

You can ask AG Revisions if they can get Reximex parts, but I believe that AG Revisions supports Benjamin & Crosman - not Reximex.

The Benjamin .177 barrel from the Akela is only about 410mm - much too short to work on a Cayden. The Cayden uses a longer barrel than the Akela and Kratos - regardless of Caliber. However, as my Akela .22 “HP” build shows, the Cayden length 23.5” (600mm) barrels will fit under the Akela/Kratos shrouds.

-Ed
 
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EPG said:
I sourced the barrel from Canadian Shooting Supply.

I said that you can source a .177 probe and cocking lever assembly from AG Revisions.

You can ask AG Revisions if they can get Reximex parts, but I believe that AG Revisions supports Benjamin & Crosman - not Reximex.

The Benjamin .177 barrel from the Akela is only about 410mm - much too short to work on a Cayden. The Cayden uses a longer barrel than the Akela and Kratos - regardless of Caliber. However, as my Akela .22 “HP” build shows, the Cayden length 23.5” (600mm) barrels will fit under the Akela/Kratos shrouds.

-Ed
Click to expand...
Ok- I go a bit lost there…. Cayden is a good looker, came out really nice.
 
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