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I've had good luck with shorter choked LW barrels in PCPs after polishing. I haven't had one yet that didn't need the full polishing treatment though. I suppose that if I get a bad one, I can always put in an FX barrel or track down a CZ (I'm working on sourcing one already).
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I'm surprised at your experience with LW barrels. I've had 8-10 I guess, and only one needed anything. And it needed more than polishing, ended up getting a replacement barrel. The LW barrel on my .22 Veteran Standard shoots great, and judging from Tony's target with yours, it should be fine. Judging from your posts, you're a tinkerer (not a bad thing), but there's dang little you need to do with these rifles. With the large TP area, I doubt you will ever need to touch the reg (well, there is that tinkerer thing I guess). Enjoy. 
 
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@sonny - thanks brother! I just scoped it last night with the NX8 1-8 that I just got recently. It's 4oz lighter than my ATACR 1-8 and the eyepiece doesn't rotate like the ATACR does, so it'll be easier to mount and use the Pard NV007 (it's a PITA using an eyepiece mounted NV on a rotating eyepiece lol)

@elh0102 - I have had to do the work on the choked LW barrels that I shoot slugs and heavies with. They all wound up leading up at the choke and some had scars on the lands / bore right from the manufacturer. Some leading will always be an issue to some degree obviously, but over time I haven't had any that I haven't been able to polish down to the point where accuracy isn't affected. They also go from needing 1-2 wet and 5-12 dry patches to 1 wet and 1 dry, where you could eat off of them afterward.

I was using JB bore bright, 3M cloth, and occasionally diamond paste with anywhere from 1-3 polishing sessions, until I discovered this jewelers compound from Canada. Now, it only takes me an hour and a half in one session and that seems to produce perfect results for me..

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mtnGhost, the Shorty coming from me on Thursday includes the 1/2 UNF adapter for adding on any moderator you want. It also has the pins to tune the hammer spring as well. Check the O-ring box for all those things including the fill adapter. I was shooting 18’s out of mine around 800 FPS. It was lights out accurate.
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Thanks man! I'm definitely keeping that rig fed with the 18 grainers. I'm probably going to put another NX8 1-8 on it full-time so I can also use my little NV unit on it at night. I'm going to have a lot of fun with it for sure 😎
 
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Holy moly, these things are not fun to work on. I wanted to get my barrel out, then decided to dive into the disassembly a little further and 4 hours later I finally got it back the way it was.

There's some serious caveats with the reassembly too.. not easy getting the spacing right between the trigger / scope rail housing and there isn't anything in the design to positively ensure that it doesn't cant a bit from the rear action (wound up having to use a level to get it straight again, but it was a little crooked before anyway).

I have one primary concern using this as a hunting rig.. the stock doesn't have great support for the rear half of the rifle. There is even a tad bit of play under stress. I think some hard foam padding strategically lined inside the rear section of the stock might be a good idea. All of the support is concentrated towards the front 🤔
 
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Given the Veteran's short OAL, and that the center mass is so much more concentrated centrally relative to the stock, I think it is supported in a much more robust manner than my other full length rifles. If it is damaged, or knocked off zero in the woods, then it has taken a heck of a thump. Assuming you don't add padding in a manner to upset the bedding surface, it can't do any harm, but I really don't believe this is an issue of concern, and I've heard nothing but praise for its durability in the field. 
 
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I used a piece of 3M adhesive foam in the rear section just for my own piece of mind but I don't think its really an issue. I have the older version with the CZ barrel and it's an absolute tack driver with just about everything I've fed it...including the new hybrids at 860fps. Going to do a power tune on this baby soon to get slugs in the 920fps range and think I'll be done with all the mods....then I need (Lol) want a .25 to play with after the holidays...because like was said you need 2 of these fine under rated rifles!!!

James from Michigan 

group at 50 yards with a 14 mph wind...FX hybrids 
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Regarding support for the rear of the action, one thing comes to mind. No one says much about action bedding in air rifles, and most I have seen are made with an assembly system that is stress free, and the stock doesn't contact the barrel or air cylinder, so it's just not an issue. With the Taipan Veteran, if you are going to add any rear support, you should be sure you don't create stress on the main, flat bedding area. If I were going to do it, I believe I would use a bedding compound and do it exactly as one would bed a firearm action. Although frankly, as someone once said, I think it's the perfect solution to a nonexistent problem. 
 
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Regarding support for the rear of the action, one thing comes to mind. No one says much about action bedding in air rifles, and most I have seen are made with an assembly system that is stress free, and the stock doesn't contact the barrel or air cylinder, so it's just not an issue. With the Taipan Veteran, if you are going to add any rear support, you should be sure you don't create stress on the main, flat bedding area. If I were going to do it, I believe I would use a bedding compound and do it exactly as one would bed a firearm action. Although frankly, as someone once said, I think it's the perfect solution to a nonexistent problem.
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Well here's my observation - the rear section of the (laminate) stock on my Standard has a little play in it, enough to "knock" against the action.

Rather than risk fracturing the stock in the field with my rifle hanging from a sling or whatever other common scenario that I can think of, I'd feel a lot better with some hard rubber material to bed it flush to restrict the play / movement. I did this with another rifle long ago, I cut out some strips from rubber tie down straps and used just enough where the stock wasn't budging in opposition when it was bolted to the rifle. 

It may very well be a non-issue for some, it's just an issue for mine. This build is intended to be a full time hunting rig. It'll be wrapped in camo form most of the time anyway, so between that and the bedding I'm not concerned.

PS - I received the shorty from @NoLandBeyond, no issues like this with that one, it's pretty perfect lol. I need to get another NX8 1-8 for it and it'll be ready for greasing the crows tearing up my garden! 
 
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Mine has a flat washer, not a lock washer. A flat washer is correct for that application. It's not going to do any wood damage unless cranked down way too tight, and it needs only slightly more than snug.

Edit: My bad, you're totally correct, and mine is a lock washer too, but there will be a flat washer under it tomorrow, shouldn't have a lock washer against wood, especially laminate. Also noticed no washer on the rear action screw, not unusual. In my experience, most action screws either seat against a piece of flat hardware, a flat washer, or, have sufficient seating area that nothing is needed. Have to wonder about a lock washer against wood. But, IMO this is a very well designed and constructed air rifle, so maybe I'm just wrong.
 
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@douger - nice groups! I'm hopeful that my Vet will perform tomorrow when I take it out to the range for the first time. My barrel was NASTY. I wasn't going to polish it right away, but then around the 20th patch - this brown crap wasn't cleaning up quickly enough, and I had to put in some elbow grease on my lathe. Here is the second patch that I pulled out after the JB bore polish:

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I've never seen a new barrel that stubborn with brown material before! It took me a couple of hours to get it clean. 

I pulled out the reg and turned it up a smidge:

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Then the last order of business was installing the plenum extension that I got from Mr. Rowe..

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Prior to these mods my Vet was maxing out at 849FPS with the 25gr JSB Redesigned Monsters. Afterwards it's shooting them at 919fps.

I wanted to retrofit a new hammer spring to increase VDT for thr extra plenum volume. Unfortunately, NONE of my spare wire compression springs are a good match for it. I'll have to wait until late next week before I get the right springs. Should be around the time that my Huma arrives, so round 3 will have to wait.
 
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mine has no washers or anything also. used some flat washers to save the wood, I see lots shooting 900 plus I'm at 880 and just a great gun chrony is I just was putting a few over it 26 shots avg/882 stdev/2.5 max /887 min/878 spread /9
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I'll mention one thing to check on the front action screw, which might explain why they installed with a lock washer. When I replaced the lock washer with a single flat washer, I discovered that the screw was too long! An old method of evaluating bedding in a rifle is to loosen each action screw and check for movement in the action as each is loosened. When doing this in my Veteran, with a flat washer in place of the lock washer, the stock was loose. In other words, the screw bottomed out in the threaded hole before pulling the stock tight. So, to offset this, they put in a lock washer; very disappointing in an otherwise very well assembled rifle. So, I just added a flat washer between the lock washer and the wood, which keeps the lock washer from damaging the wood, and allows the stock to be pulled snug before the screw bottoms out. Of course, you could just as easily cut about .050" off the bottom of the screw. 
 
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I shot some groups with my Taipans today. Real estate on my paper targets was at a premium (I failed to pack spare targets, and was 70 miles from home). This was the Vet shooting JSB Monster RDs tuned down to around 890fps at 68 meters..

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I was rushed to get out there this afternoon. It gets dark here at 3:50pm and the fog was horrible up there in the mountains. I spent enough time with the Veteran to realize that it's not for me. I'll probably keep the Mutant, but the standard Veteran just isn't my cup of tea. My Lelya wins the spot for the compact 22 cal hunter in my backpack
 
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I spent enough time with the Veteran to realize that it's not for me. I'll probably keep the Mutant, but the standard Veteran just isn't my cup of tea. My Lelya wins the spot for the compact 22 cal hunter in my backpack
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Interesting, as I feel kind of the same. Not just regarding the Veteran, but I guess bullpups in general. I don't have a need for a compact rifle, and my longer rifles are easier to shoot. That said, I really admire the Taipan design and build quality, the great trigger, and its accuracy. So I expect I'll keep it, just add it to the stack of things I like, but for which I have absolutely no use.
 
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