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Tuning the FX Wildcat BT Compact 30 cal

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J

johnp

Member
Jan 4, 2016
140
28
MA, United States
I just picked up this gun brand new! Out of the box at shooting 560 ft per second in 30 caliber. There are no instructions in the you will on how to tune it the picture of the regulator in the booklet doesn't look anything or isn't in the same place as the regulator on my gun anything I can find on the internet is just saying how great the gun is, there's nothing to show you how to get it to shoot to that greatness!
Does anybody know where I can find a video on tuning this thing? The best I've got it up to is 670 ft per second and it fluctuates.
 
johnp said:
On 7 its only shooting jsb 44.75gr pellets @670fps
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I see.

What does the gauge say at the rear of the airgun? It should probably read at 130-135bar. The compact version needs more pressure to get higher velocities because of the shorter barrel.

This is a terrific video on how to tune the regulators. It uses the Maverick as an example, but the Maverick and the Wildcat BT is the same gun in a different housing.

 
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johnp said:
Ok , i shot my crony by accident so no testing till i get a new one.
BTW the reg. Reads 150bar.
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You probably have the same issue I had with my Maverick .30cal, and that is the hammer weight that they sent with the airgun is too light.

Remove the hammer weight by removing the stock (just 2 screws). Then you will remove the power wheel, but you have to be careful, as there is a small ball bearing that is used so the power wheel moves to the detents. It should stay in place by being held in place by silicone grease.

After that, peeking down the exposed shaft, you will see you can turn the gun over and shake the hammer weight out.

There are 4 types of hammer weights for the Maverick/Wildcat BT (3 standard and 1 tungsten), and you need the 3rd heaviest (the heaviest standard one), and it looks like the one on the right. This is the 14 gram hammer weight. My airgun arrived with a lighter weight on the left, and because of this, there was not enough force to open the valve fully.

After getting the heavier weight from FX, everything worked as expected.


View attachment 343484
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Most likely a hammer weight issue. I use the 8mm hammer on my WC BT when I crank the reg up to shoot slugs out of my 600mm 22 barrel kit. So, I'm guessing with that 500mm 30 cal, the reg would have to be up there to get a 44 grain pellet in the 850-900 range.
Not certain, but I think Rick, aka shooter 1721 on youtube was getting in the mid 900's with a 150 bar reg on his 30 cal compact bt. My guess is with that kind of reg pressure, it's the 8mm hammer weight. I would call FX-USA and order one.
It still baffles me that FX does not include all the weights with a new rifle.
 
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Before you go jumping off the hammer weight bridge, check the internal hammer screw (IHS). If it isn’t backed out to at least 4.5mm your gun won’t produce much fps even with a heavier hammer weight. FX will tell you 6mm is about the furthest you want to back it out. I have pushed them past 6.5mm on a couple guns.
I would stick with the 6mm suggestion from the factory until you gain some familiarity with the gun and the tuning process.
 
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corny said:
Kinda strange that the gun was shipped without adequate power to open the valve. Was it not properly tested? Or did something break or move inside? Not sure if possible. I would reach out to FX support
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My maverick arrived with the wrong hammer weight also. I think the issue is they use different hammer weights for different calibers because different calibers use different reg pressures. I think this issue is so common, FX just sends out a heavier hammer weight upon request.
 
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The stock hammer will not open the valve adequately at 150bar. If you reduce the reg to 130, you will find that the speed increases to around 870-920 on level 7, depending on the hammer screw setting, as mentioned above.

Please note that you should not reduce reg pressure when the gun is pressurized. Please find a video explains how to change reg pressure!
 
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I was able to get my 30 compact shooting Zan slugs (45grain) at 950 with a 150 bar reg pressure. But that required a Huma power spring and heavy hammer. The gun was not fun to use in that state - the hammer noise alone mandated ear protection. I switched back to stock and settled on shooting the 44 grain pellets at 850-860, which seemed to be a sweet spot for accuracy and the gun feeling settled.
 
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Checking my notes, my silver (stock/came with the gun) FX hammer weighs 12.5 grams. It’s the one on the right on N15s post above (time stamped 3.15). The Huma hammers are 13.2 and 14.5 grams. I also have an FX tungsten hammer, which is around 20 grams but I’ve never used it and can’t imagine a scenario where it’s needed, given that the larger Huma will work up to 160bar!
 
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weevil said:
Checking my notes, my silver (stock/came with the gun) FX hammer weighs 12.5 grams. It’s the one on the right on N15s post above (time stamped 3.15). The Huma hammers are 13.2 and 14.5 grams. I also have an FX tungsten hammer, which is around 20 grams but I’ve never used it and can’t imagine a scenario where it’s needed, given that the larger Huma will work up to 160bar!
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I also have a tungsten hammer, as I was hoping to shoot ~60gr slugs at 950fps. The velocity was very inconsistent, so I went back to my Huma 14.5gr hammer and a slight reg boost to push 50.5gr JSB Knockouts at 950fps and that is plenty for me and any raccoon or coyote I may ever cross.
 
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weevil said:
I was able to get my 30 compact shooting Zan slugs (45grain) at 950 with a 150 bar reg pressure. But that required a Huma power spring and heavy hammer. The gun was not fun to use in that state - the hammer noise alone mandated ear protection. I switched back to stock and settled on shooting the 44 grain pellets at 850-860, which seemed to be a sweet spot for accuracy and the gun feeling settled.
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So now is your gun completely stuck shooting 30 caliber pellets at that speed?
 
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