I had pre-ordered the AEA challenger bullpup elite because:
1. I wanted a regulated big bore
2. It has a lighter trigger pull
3. It weighs less
4. I like the muzzle brake look, and looks overall of the new walnut stock better
5. It uses a QD instead of fill probe
6. It has air guages in more intelligent locations.
7. I can tether to my tank with valve full open (4500) instead of filling to 3300 and closing each time.
8. It makes about the same energy as my current challenger. That is, until now.
Now I'm considering canceling my order. I had my existing one listed for sale, and was even in talks with a potential buyer, when I learned about the upgraded valve for the older challengers. I read 700 FPE and knew I had to try it.
Just tried it out. I'm out of town with my gun and only have some slugs that I had already made before the upgrade (and no power washers). I determined that the gun was optimal with 200 grain slugs (.460 diameter). So I tested those. Filling to 4500 PSI, then closing the valve to see how the gun did with its own air capacity. Here were the speeds in FPS of the first 6 shots:
1145. 1144. 921. 1149. 1136. 963.
That's 514 average FPE with 200 grains, and a max of 586 FPE. If you ignore the lowest velocity shot which may have been a fluke seeing as the subsequent 3 shots were faster, the 5 shot average energy was 544 FPE.
This gun isn't even regulated. That's super impressive, especially because when I watched the bin tac vid, he said the last two shots would trail off in velocity. Remains to be seen if that is true with heavier slugs, I haven't tested 6 of those in a row.
I had some 366 grain slugs that I had actually made for my don cothran pistol, so they were sized down to .457. When I take them off the press, they're .460. So it's possible that they'd go a bit faster at that diameter which the gun prefers. However, the one that i tested made 932 FPS, for about 706 FPE. Now I'm curious what the ideal weight will be to max out energy with the least amount of lead. As it stands, my expectations are exceeded. This gun is now more powerful than my bushbuck .45 was. If you have an existing challenger bullpup or Long stock challenger, get this valve. Assuming you can handle the extra air consumption and fill pressure, it's amazing.
This road sign was already there, I didn't steal it off the road. I actually work road construction and my company gets contracts to replace interstate and highway signs. So in the past I've taken an old sign that we replaced to see if my air guns would do anything to it. Previously, this AEA would make a massive dent and crack the aluminum, but not penetrate. This is what it does now. Also a video of it hitting my thick steel spinner. It spins many more times than it used to. I'm busy with work so not sure when I'll get around to making more slugs to test, but I'm excited. Will post results when I can. Here's hoping that I find a slug weight that is between 366 and 200 grains that makes 800 FPE. A guy can dream. Beauty of having a swage setup is I can test many increments of weights to find what's optimal. Maybe I should cancel my order for the elite and buy another large CF tank instead, with a cascade setup. Over the 55 or so shots I fired today, my great white went from full to 3400 psi. No way I could take this thing to the range, shoot a fair amount of rounds, and still have air left for my other PCPs
1. I wanted a regulated big bore
2. It has a lighter trigger pull
3. It weighs less
4. I like the muzzle brake look, and looks overall of the new walnut stock better
5. It uses a QD instead of fill probe
6. It has air guages in more intelligent locations.
7. I can tether to my tank with valve full open (4500) instead of filling to 3300 and closing each time.
8. It makes about the same energy as my current challenger. That is, until now.
Now I'm considering canceling my order. I had my existing one listed for sale, and was even in talks with a potential buyer, when I learned about the upgraded valve for the older challengers. I read 700 FPE and knew I had to try it.
Just tried it out. I'm out of town with my gun and only have some slugs that I had already made before the upgrade (and no power washers). I determined that the gun was optimal with 200 grain slugs (.460 diameter). So I tested those. Filling to 4500 PSI, then closing the valve to see how the gun did with its own air capacity. Here were the speeds in FPS of the first 6 shots:
1145. 1144. 921. 1149. 1136. 963.
That's 514 average FPE with 200 grains, and a max of 586 FPE. If you ignore the lowest velocity shot which may have been a fluke seeing as the subsequent 3 shots were faster, the 5 shot average energy was 544 FPE.
This gun isn't even regulated. That's super impressive, especially because when I watched the bin tac vid, he said the last two shots would trail off in velocity. Remains to be seen if that is true with heavier slugs, I haven't tested 6 of those in a row.
I had some 366 grain slugs that I had actually made for my don cothran pistol, so they were sized down to .457. When I take them off the press, they're .460. So it's possible that they'd go a bit faster at that diameter which the gun prefers. However, the one that i tested made 932 FPS, for about 706 FPE. Now I'm curious what the ideal weight will be to max out energy with the least amount of lead. As it stands, my expectations are exceeded. This gun is now more powerful than my bushbuck .45 was. If you have an existing challenger bullpup or Long stock challenger, get this valve. Assuming you can handle the extra air consumption and fill pressure, it's amazing.
This road sign was already there, I didn't steal it off the road. I actually work road construction and my company gets contracts to replace interstate and highway signs. So in the past I've taken an old sign that we replaced to see if my air guns would do anything to it. Previously, this AEA would make a massive dent and crack the aluminum, but not penetrate. This is what it does now. Also a video of it hitting my thick steel spinner. It spins many more times than it used to. I'm busy with work so not sure when I'll get around to making more slugs to test, but I'm excited. Will post results when I can. Here's hoping that I find a slug weight that is between 366 and 200 grains that makes 800 FPE. A guy can dream. Beauty of having a swage setup is I can test many increments of weights to find what's optimal. Maybe I should cancel my order for the elite and buy another large CF tank instead, with a cascade setup. Over the 55 or so shots I fired today, my great white went from full to 3400 psi. No way I could take this thing to the range, shoot a fair amount of rounds, and still have air left for my other PCPs
Last edited:
