Well I couldn’t resist the urge and ordered a .22 cal. It arrived yesterday with nearly every external screw not even snug, and with about 1200psi in the reservoir. The seeming randomness of 1200psi gave me pause, lower than the usual regulator setpoint. Hmm…is it a leaker? I went ahead and snugged the screws and aired it up. Not hearing a leak and it looks like the regulator is set at 2200psi according to the gauge.
Then I cleaned what is easily one of the top 5 dirtiest barrels I’ve ever encountered. A cursory peek at the muzzle seemed to show a cut cleaned up with a disc sander. No obvious defects in the crown but no bevel whatsoever to indicate it had been deburred. At this point I’m telling myself this is about what I expected for the money…a project gun. It could be better but I’m not disappointed in the slightest.
But of course I wanted to get a baseline before taking it apart so I mounted a scope and grabbed a tin of pellets that I had written off. Just want to get it on paper before moving on to something better to check grouping. I quickly note the trigger is better than I expected and it is delivering about 33fpe. On to the 30 yard target, it starts putting 4 out of every 5 on an aspirin-sized bull. Huh? I’ve tried these pellets in everything, including two of my least picky barrels. Totally did not see that coming.
What about the regulator, does it creep? Nope. Not according to the gauge and not according to a velocity check after 2 hours idle.
Were my concerns about a leak vindicated? Not that I can tell. The gauge did not budge after 8 hours.
So what does all this say of my intuitions? Pffft, total garbage. But I’m perfectly happy to be wrong.
Then I cleaned what is easily one of the top 5 dirtiest barrels I’ve ever encountered. A cursory peek at the muzzle seemed to show a cut cleaned up with a disc sander. No obvious defects in the crown but no bevel whatsoever to indicate it had been deburred. At this point I’m telling myself this is about what I expected for the money…a project gun. It could be better but I’m not disappointed in the slightest.
But of course I wanted to get a baseline before taking it apart so I mounted a scope and grabbed a tin of pellets that I had written off. Just want to get it on paper before moving on to something better to check grouping. I quickly note the trigger is better than I expected and it is delivering about 33fpe. On to the 30 yard target, it starts putting 4 out of every 5 on an aspirin-sized bull. Huh? I’ve tried these pellets in everything, including two of my least picky barrels. Totally did not see that coming.
What about the regulator, does it creep? Nope. Not according to the gauge and not according to a velocity check after 2 hours idle.
Were my concerns about a leak vindicated? Not that I can tell. The gauge did not budge after 8 hours.
So what does all this say of my intuitions? Pffft, total garbage. But I’m perfectly happy to be wrong.
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