I bought this .22 Maximus from Midway for $135 about a year back. Figured it would morph into something sooner or later.
So, since my Christmas gun was delayed and I was bored as I haven’t got out much with the temps in the 25-35F range and lots of rain and snow for the last couple weeks. So, I got the brand new never fired Maximus out and proceeded to tear it apart.
First thing I did was dive into my breech collection. Still have a few of the old BNM breeches, that take the Marauder magazines, so grabbed the only .177 there cuz I don't have a .177 PCP yet.
Found I still had an old shroud with baffles that fit the breech as well so, even though it was for a .22 I grabbed that and picked up the matching barrel band too.
Found a power adjuster in one of my boxes and the gun thought it should have it also.
What to do for a barrel? Then noticed I still have my Impact 500mm .177 barrel and thought I heard the liner saying softly use me.
Then came all of that werq;
I had to make adapters for the liner to make it fit in the BNM breech so used some brass stock I had on hand.
Then as usual the breech can't go on with just that tiny 4/48 screw holding it in the middle. So, I drilled the new breech, all the way through, up front with a #29 bit and a larger one on top to allow the screw head to go through. I can put a #12 set screw in the hole. Then drilled and tapped the tube to accept the new 6/48 screw to hold it better.
Decided to tap the breech up front so I can secure the liner with o-rings. Like FX does on the Crown. It was a pain to do and I messed the flats up in the vise while threading the piece. The threads are a bit sloppy but everything tightened up securely. I was impressed that the five squished up o-rings, behind that brass nut, really hold the liner tight.
Thought the thin liner could use some support from the shroud so found these on an old project barrel and made some Delrin bushings for them. Added a drop of locktight to make sure they stay put.
When I had all of the parts together and the adapters made I figured it was time to put things together. So, I screwed the breech on and fergot to put the hammer in. Pull it apart and got that taken care.
Got the breech on again and then realized I fergot the transfer port. I had not even made the new transfer port yet. So, yanked it apart again and modified the steel transfer port that comes with the BMN breech. Put the T-port in and the breech back on for the third time.
The tube and hammer were completely dry so I put a drop of oil on them.
Finally luck was on my side and I got it all the way together this time.
But then I realized I don’t have a .177 Marauder magazine so I had to single load a few to test the gun.
Man is this thing hard to cock!! I could not get it to cock the first few tries. I thought something was not right but then it got a little better.
Talk about a lightweight gun! This one is that for sure. Put a Hawke 2 x 7 compact scope on it to keep the weight down.
Yes, I know the barrel is a bit long I will make a carbon shroud for it soon enough but this one was already drilled and complete so made it easy.
With 12 baffles in the shroud it is dead quiet.
I left the internals stock as it was a .22 so it should be more than good power wise as a .177. If not I can fix that.
Still has that awful trigger though. I will take care of that soon enough.
Thinking about putting a regulator in it also.
Need to get a .177 magazine and go test this thing out. But it puts them through the same exact hole at ten meters.
EDIT;
Cost of the mod thus far;
$137 Gun shipped
$140 Breech
$30 Shroud $80 which will go down to $30 when I put the carbon tube on.
$35 Barrel band
$42 Power adjuster
$10 Brass rod say probly less as I did not use much.
$20 Magazine
$414 Total cost
$130 Huma reg soon to come and that will be about it.
$544 for a regulated, lightweight, well built and very accurate gun is a pretty good deal me thinks and far less than the $1000 I usually spend.
So, since my Christmas gun was delayed and I was bored as I haven’t got out much with the temps in the 25-35F range and lots of rain and snow for the last couple weeks. So, I got the brand new never fired Maximus out and proceeded to tear it apart.
First thing I did was dive into my breech collection. Still have a few of the old BNM breeches, that take the Marauder magazines, so grabbed the only .177 there cuz I don't have a .177 PCP yet.
Found I still had an old shroud with baffles that fit the breech as well so, even though it was for a .22 I grabbed that and picked up the matching barrel band too.
Found a power adjuster in one of my boxes and the gun thought it should have it also.
What to do for a barrel? Then noticed I still have my Impact 500mm .177 barrel and thought I heard the liner saying softly use me.
Then came all of that werq;
I had to make adapters for the liner to make it fit in the BNM breech so used some brass stock I had on hand.
Then as usual the breech can't go on with just that tiny 4/48 screw holding it in the middle. So, I drilled the new breech, all the way through, up front with a #29 bit and a larger one on top to allow the screw head to go through. I can put a #12 set screw in the hole. Then drilled and tapped the tube to accept the new 6/48 screw to hold it better.
Decided to tap the breech up front so I can secure the liner with o-rings. Like FX does on the Crown. It was a pain to do and I messed the flats up in the vise while threading the piece. The threads are a bit sloppy but everything tightened up securely. I was impressed that the five squished up o-rings, behind that brass nut, really hold the liner tight.
Thought the thin liner could use some support from the shroud so found these on an old project barrel and made some Delrin bushings for them. Added a drop of locktight to make sure they stay put.
When I had all of the parts together and the adapters made I figured it was time to put things together. So, I screwed the breech on and fergot to put the hammer in. Pull it apart and got that taken care.
Got the breech on again and then realized I fergot the transfer port. I had not even made the new transfer port yet. So, yanked it apart again and modified the steel transfer port that comes with the BMN breech. Put the T-port in and the breech back on for the third time.
The tube and hammer were completely dry so I put a drop of oil on them.
Finally luck was on my side and I got it all the way together this time.
But then I realized I don’t have a .177 Marauder magazine so I had to single load a few to test the gun.
Man is this thing hard to cock!! I could not get it to cock the first few tries. I thought something was not right but then it got a little better.
Talk about a lightweight gun! This one is that for sure. Put a Hawke 2 x 7 compact scope on it to keep the weight down.
Yes, I know the barrel is a bit long I will make a carbon shroud for it soon enough but this one was already drilled and complete so made it easy.
With 12 baffles in the shroud it is dead quiet.
I left the internals stock as it was a .22 so it should be more than good power wise as a .177. If not I can fix that.
Still has that awful trigger though. I will take care of that soon enough.
Thinking about putting a regulator in it also.
Need to get a .177 magazine and go test this thing out. But it puts them through the same exact hole at ten meters.
EDIT;
Cost of the mod thus far;
$137 Gun shipped
$140 Breech
$30 Shroud $80 which will go down to $30 when I put the carbon tube on.
$35 Barrel band
$42 Power adjuster
$10 Brass rod say probly less as I did not use much.
$20 Magazine
$414 Total cost
$130 Huma reg soon to come and that will be about it.
$544 for a regulated, lightweight, well built and very accurate gun is a pretty good deal me thinks and far less than the $1000 I usually spend.
