Long a fan of Third World airguns, make that CERTAIN Third World airguns, I'd been watching the AEA brand for a while. But with an extra measure of caution due to reports of folks being ripped-off by an internet crook AEA 'dealer'.
What really caught my attention was a video of a 32" barreled .30 AEA Challenger bullpup measuring only 41" overall shooting excellent 50 yard groups. That it did so with 44.75 grain JSB pellets at well over 1200 FPS only interested me insofar as I knew that left a LOT of room for DE-tuning to more sane levels in search of a bell-curve power-band; something I've done to several Korean maxi-blaster PCPs with good results. Including in long-range competitions.
With an income tax refund as my excuse, I located one in stock at an online dealer that isn't a crook. I consider it quite handsome, and am impressed with the build quality, POWER, and wonderfully simple design.
Mine indeed chronographed 1235 FPS with 44.75 grain JSB's. But as expected, it also lost velocity with every shot from a charge; a character trait I will not live with. Thankfully the extremely stout hammer-spring is easily accessible. Matter of fact, cocking effort is so extreme that you gotta REALLY want it! Though the dealer sells lighter hammer springs, at $39.95, a quick trip trip to the local Ace Hardware saved me $35… even after purchasing 3 similarly-sized springs to experiment with.
The weakest replacement spring prove too weak to register on my chronograph (below 450 FPS). So I started cutting coils off one of two stiffer hardware springs closest to the size and strength of the original. It took three cuts of a coil each to see any change in velocity. My DE-tuning of 6-8 Sumatra and Career Korean maxi-blasters has given me a pretty good feel for the trial-and-error process that requires ever lower charge pressures with ever weaker hammer-springs. The fourth coil-cut landed me squarely on my target of a bell-curve power-band at 900 FPS with 44.75 grain JSB pellets, at a charge pressure of 120 BAR/1800 PSI.
Shot count is not as high as I’d hoped, due to the (only) 300 cc chamber-tube and greatly reduced charge pressure. Accepting an extreme spread of about 45 FPS returns 10-11 shots per charge, however the best 8-9 shots per charge narrows the ES to an acceptable 30-35 FPS. Happy coincidence, the magazine holds 9 rounds.
Next priority was exploring how much I could safely reduce the 7 pound, 15 ounce trigger let-off; hopefully without losing the crisp, creep-free break. Thankfully the trigger, sear and spring were also easily accessed, SIMPLE, and of much higher quality and tighter tolerances than some stamped trigger components I’ve trigger-smithed into (many) title and record-capturing tigger actions. After swapping to a much lighter trigger, moly-lubing the trigger and sear pivots and engagement surfaces, and 400-500 rounds fired, the trigger now breaks constantly between 32 and 34 ounces; still crisply.
Accuracy seemed ‘promising’ from the get-go, but the barrel crown looked like it could use some help. While polishing the muzzle-crown with rotary-tool polishing bits, I also polished the bore with JB Bore Paste.
Aforementioned “promising” accuracy became ever more promising as the angry, unregulated, Chinese .30 PCP beast settled down with break-in. Over the course of many, many groups, five-shot group sizes at 50 yards went from about an inch center-to-center, to averaging .70 - .80” c-t-c. My best average so far was four consecutive five-shot groups that calculated just .61” c-t-c. Unfortunately the fifth group included a wide flier that ended that session.
Part way through my smithing and testing of the AEA .30 I decided 2” or better average hundred-yard groups would be an acceptable end-goal. However, hundred yard testing exaggerates the difficulties of testing an unsophisticated, unregulated, hard-hitting PCP with a (still) heavy hammer-blow, and hunting-grade trigger. Average five-shot, hundred-yard groups were averaging a bit over 2” c-t-c, but always seeming SO promising!
One session of six consecutive five-shot groups at 100 yards produced an average group size of 1.42” center-to-center. Another session of only three consecutive five-shot groups at 100 yards produced a calculated average group size of just 1.24” c-t-c.
Not to be confused with AVERAGE group sizes, I’m hopeful that last nights phenomenal target recording 2 five-shot groups hints strongly of the gun’s potentials, notwithstanding the human variable behind the trigger.
Regardless, the .30 AEA Challenger Bullpup is already crowding accuracy of the finest regulated PCPs at any any price, the testing isn’t done, and Kung Kong seems to still be getting better and better.
A Huma regulator may be in her future.
