Tuning What are your go-to mods for budget PCP's?

[Nico5999]

Hey y'all,

I want to create a "one-stop shop" for go-to PCP mods that people have used to reliably increase the performance of their PCP's. I'd like the focus to be budget PCP's and modifications that don't necessarily rely on aftermarket support. I have spent an absurd amount of time searching the forums and thought I'd make it easier for other "tinker"-minded airgunners.

So far I have:

1. Polish the barrel
1a. Recrown if necessary
2. Port/Radius TP and other air flow channels
3. Polish contact surfaces (hammer, bolt/side lever, etc.)
4. SSG/SSS/TSS (reduce/eliminate hammer bounce)
5. Add a regulator

What else can we add to this list?

 

[Rob_in_NC]

I think before most of that, one should truly get to know their gun. Test different pellets, different speeds, different fill pressure (within reason) to find the sweet spot (in an unregulated gun, of course).

I think often, folks will take a new or new to them gun and dive into modifications without having a sufficient baseline to compare what all they did. I've been guilty of that myself so not casting stones.

 

[Motorhead]

If Chinese ... ALL O-Rings changed out

 

[nervoustrig]

That’s a pretty good short list. I would say there needs to be a #1b:

1b. Break the sharp edge of the rifling at the leade.

And the preferred order would be:
1. Leade
2. Bore
3. Crown

 

[nervoustrig]

Another thing that comes to mind is that many of the budget PCP’s have inadequate barrel support which can lead to poor accuracy and/or a POI that wanders from day to day. So that’s something I’m always thinking about when disassembling any gun. In fact, expensive ones too.

 

[Stubbers]

#3b changing over lubricants to higher quality where it matters.

#5b lightening hammer when regulating a non regulated gun as the factory weight is meant for higher pressures. Swapping over to mds or uhmw on guns with drop sears to reduce friction, wear and galling helps with many designs, as well as high quality dry lube such as molybdenum disulfide. Also peek strikers reduce noise between hammer and valve.

#6 Rectify any short comings of the rifle. One example is simply slipping an oring between the marauder barrel band and shroud to eliminate poi shift from leaning the gun by the barrel or other movements. Also making the shroud position static as it's tension shifts poi due to the spring in the shroud behind the baffles. All budget guns have nuances such as these. Add to that the lawyer spring.

-Matt

 

[Stubbers]

#7 upgrading magazine to aftermarket such as carm or Orion is another, or getting single shot trays if they aren't provided.

 

[silvershooter589]

Accept its limitations and wait for something to break before possibly fixing it better than it was before.

I do agree with nervoustrig that a barrel band/support on some of these guns is absolute necessity and should have been a non-issue from the factory. Changing POI every time you pick up your gun (and gosh forbid you happen to touch the barrel!) is a no-go. Unless you like every shooting session to be a whack-a-mole game with the scope elevation and windage.

 

[JimD]

I adjust the trigger but rarely polish the contact surfaces. On my Avenger and my 3 P35s I put in longer sear screws so I can better adjust the sear engagement. That adjustment has to be done carefully, of course. A critical issue for me to shoot comfortably is the length of pull. I need 14.75 inches and in my experience guns don't come that way. So I have to extend them. If I like them, they get a new stock. Short term a block or thicker recoil pad.

I think too many seem to want to make a gun shoot a pellet they like instead of finding out what the gun likes. I have not had any success forcing a gun to like a pellet.

 

[Sicumj]

Each brand of rifle has its own set of issues. Many times someone has already found some easy fixes that you can use posted on the forum. Shoot it first, record trigger pull, velocity, accuracy, and ease of use. Add modifications to address those issues after you have created a bench line.

 

[WNYBill]

What Jim D said, adjust the TRIGGER !