Tuning Impact M3 and .22 NSA 31s tune

Just received my 700mm M3 which was tuned by the store for .22 NSA 31s. It has the FX high flow port, the FX slug probe, and the slug power kit.

'Main bottle is 250 bar. The bottle regulator is at 160 bar. The rear regulator is at 150 bar. Power wheel came on 16. Tension picture is attached. Shot string is attached.

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For you M3 folks, does this tune sound like it should be shooting NSA 31s between 920&935 (~60 fpe)?

In some of the tuning videos I saw here, folks were pushing .22 slugs at closer to 1000 fps and 70 fpe.

Other than tuning for the smallest / most consistent hole (it's been in the 50 degrees / raining here for 2 days so I can't shoot outside to see the group) have folks reached a consensus on target speed?




 
Solo1,

Thanks for the info!. Interesting your 25 reg is 10psi below my .22 reg.



Impact 701,



Wow! Our hammer spring rebounds are both at "4" and our bottle regs are about the same. I have the slug rebound springs in mine. 

You have less 2nd reg pressure (135 to my 150) than I do and are sending a 3g heavier slug at 70 fps faster! I'm going to try patterning at 50 (when I can) the way they sent it to me then will try dropping 2nd reg to 135 and patterning again. The 135 might help me slow down my Hades pellets to a better speed. Right now, they are 1070 fps on power 1. I'd really like to be able to send Hades and JSB 18s from this gun as well.


 
I missed the fact that you are shooting .22 caliber, my M3 is .25 caliber. 

It definitely seems like you should be more velocity than what your M3 is doing. 

I read in a post here on AGN that the lighter spring from the slug power kit was reducing velocity. Velocity went up when installing original spring. 

I have the slug power kit in my MKII sniper, I had to turn the valve adjuster way in. It was wasting air and not gaining velocity.

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Thanks, Cahil_2. Yea, if that tune results in one rough hole at 100 yards, I don't care if it is leaving at 60 or 70 ft/lbs. With that slugs BC, anything I'd shoot at would be a done for with a head or heart short. I'm looking forward to seeing what the tune does on paper. I also have a small supply of patriot slugs at that same weight to test.


 
Something seems a bit odd on that tune... but it might just be that rifle and what it ended up liking.

The hammer spring tension is nearly maxed out, which doesn't seem right given the 59.5 fpe muzzle energy of the 31gr slugs @ 930 fps, especially with the 700mm barrel. 150 bar regulator pressure is going to require more HST to open the valve, but your current HST seems awfully high given the 59.5fpe muzzle energy.

Did they install the slug power kit (specifically, the 2x hammer spring spacers/weights) in your rifle? If they didn't, adding the 2x hammer spring spacers will add a little weight to the hammer for slightly more dwell time as well as increasing preload on the hammer spring so you can achieve the same hammer spring tension at a lower macro & micro setting so you don't need to run the hammer adjustment nearly maxed out.

If they did install the slug power kit, you may want to see if they adjusted the C1 protrusion to the correct distance. Also, when it comes to the slug power kit you really only need the 2x hammer spring spacers in the M3. If you use the rubber ball inside the valve return spring in the M3 it limits valve travel and severely restricts maximum power. Also, many have reported reduced velocity and power potential if using the valve return spring included in the slug power kit in the M3. You may want to try the current regulator and hammer spring settings with both the stock M3 valve return spring and the slug power kit valve return spring at the same valve settings and see what happens.

Also, I'd recommend increasing the first regulator pressure slightly to about 20-25 bar over the second regulator pressure, the current 10 bar delta might lead to some second regulator inconsistency as well as a slow plenum refill time.

For reference, I'm shooting the .22 NSA 27.5's in my 700mm M3. My M3 has the 2x slug power kit hammer spring spacers installed, a huma high flow pellet probe, and an Ernest Rowe dual transfer port (slightly larger than the stock M3 dual transfer port.)

My tune is 160 bar 1st reg, 135 bar 2nd reg, 1.5 turns past 4th line on valve (full open), 16 macro, 2.75 micro. This gives 955fps / 55.7 fpe with the 27.5gr slugs (your 31gr slugs at 930 fps are a bit higher at 59.5 fpe.) Peak velocity at those reg settings with max hammer spring tension is 985 fps with the Huma pellet probe (59.2 fpe.) Peak velocity was about 1005fps (61.7 fpe) with a Nielsen pin probe which flowed more air than the Huma pellet probe, but the pin probe didn't play nice with pellets so I went back to the Huma high flow pellet probe-- being slightly more restrictive it gave up a little peak velocity with the slugs but produced better accuracy and smoother and more consistent feeding when using pellets.

Also, since you mentioned running pellets in your rifle too, with my tune above when I want to shoot 25.4gr JSB RD Monsters I drop the macro to 12 and valve to 4 which sends them at 935fps with excellent accuracy, and for shooting JSB 18.1s I adjust the macro to 4 and the valve to 4 which sends the 18.1s at 915fps. You can easily go slower and less energy with the 25.4s and 18.1 JSBs by reducing the hammer macro further, but those settings are where the pellets were the most accurate in my rifle.
 
Even though I have a Maverick in .22 700mm, my results are similar to kiba's. I also am tuning to shoot the NSA 31.2. My current setup and testing parameters are;

  • Hammer weight is 13g (FX 17003), Stock .22 is 11g
  • Stock hammer spring (on a 13g hammer will provide a bit more preload)
  • Modified probe for better flow
  • Ernest Rowe dual transfer port
  • Testing Hammer spring grub set from 3.5mm-6mm
  • Power wheel set #7
  • Reg1=173bar 
  • Testing Reg2 from 130-157bar
  • Testing a shorter version as well, of hammer spring that came with my .30 WC (part# unknown)



My goal is to have the best accuracy @100-200+ for Pdogs. I am going to start at an efficient tune and tweak of 980 for the 31.2 and see where that puts me on paper, could need faster, could need slower, we'll see. This will be my benchmark tune for PW #7 and 31.2. I also have NSA 28.5,27.5 and 24.8 ,any of these could prove to shoot as good or better in the Maverick. Last night I was able to pull this string @157bar PW7 and grub @3.5mm . More tuning later today.

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Patrick