A different method of Gauntlet barrel support

"sonny"pretty cool how you figured that out! happy shootin.

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When all else fails, try last resort items on the list and hope for the best.

Actually, making a hard connection between the barrel and shroud then using the force generated by the springs to keep things in line and eliminate barrel / shroud vibration was the concept. There is a lot of leverage at the end of the shroud and only a small area with two small grub screws holding the barrel tight to the breech. That set up needs all the help it can get. It seems a good number of PCP's face this challenge.

Bands are a nice way of keeping the barrel somewhat stable. They have to be installed just right so the barrel is not shifted too far away from its natural position. The only concern I have is that the air tank is not exactly solid either and any movement of either the air tank, barrel band or the barrel itself will alter the POI.

Anything that stabilizes the barrel is better than what comes from the factory. As designed, that barrel vibrates like a guitar string. Maybe on some Gauntlets it comes back to its home position, but it didn't on mine until I added the spring.

The shroud screws on to a collar that is grub screwed to the barrel which is grub screwed into the breech. The shroud butts up against the breech when it is screwed to the collar on the barrel. It is not screwed into the breech which may have increased the strength of the entire set up if it had been.

I can now pick up the gun, aim it, and completely expect it to hit the target the same as it did the day before.

"MJGoebel"Springrrrr,
Do have a pic of your barrel support mod? I didn't really care for the barrel/bottle barrel support either but couldn't find any other solutions. 
Mikey

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Sorry no pix taken on this one. It was a frankenfiffer experiment that seems to work. Just get about a one inch spring that is the same diameter as the factory one and put it in with the factory spring. The idea is to add a larger force between the barrel and shroud

FROM spysir

Interesting read, on my .177 gauntlet the factory spring is rather strong ( read a BEAR to work with it ! ) and there is no way I could see using any more pressure and being able to assemble it. I have NEVER had shift, I can smack it about the head & neck, walk it into the door frame … … and no poi/poa shift. I have a friend with a .22 modle that is just like mine.
I wonder if all of them have the same spring or if those having shift might have a much weaker spring?That shroud does need to be tight! The worst advice I’ve seen posted on this forum for the gauntlet is “leave the shroud loose” that’ll mess with harmonics & such. I had thought about drilling & tapping that shroud bushing and the front of the receiver and adding a set screw or two but I’ve not had any issues so… . Maybe chime back in after a few tins to let us know if it’s still holding aim.John

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AND from Mauipilikia

Hey
thats pretty nifty, I am going to try that when i get home tonight on my .22 gauntlet. Was your Barrel end cap hard to put on before with the spring pressure before you tryed this.
Im haveing the same p.o.i
shift problem as you, my spring is pretty hard to push in when i put the baffles back in and im a little worryed about my air stripper cracking under the strain. I just got a new one from umarex and id hate to bust it, but at this point ill try it out as im sick of haveing to re sight in all the time!? great suggestion. 

MY REPLY

There are at least two people that make barrel bands for the Gauntlet due to POI shifting problems and a lot more people that bought them for that reason.

There have been a few posts I read like yours Spysir on other sites that claimed no POI shift with their Gauntlet. That remains a mystery to me. It is possible that Umarex just may have put in a more powerful spring on later shipped guns. I was one of the first to get one when they came out and may have picked up on an early production model with a soft spring, who knows? If you saw any early videos and or pictures of the gun when it was mounted in a holder on the wall while being supported by the stock and barrel, you can see the barrel bent up from the air tank under the weight of the gun alone. Now that weakness will most definitely lead to a POI shift.

It is difficult to judge how much pressure I needed to put on the end cap. It wasn't that hard to get it on with the original spring, but it did take a strong push to start the threads when I added the spring. I actually used the palm of my hand with a straight down push and a twist to get it going.

I went one step further to stifffen up the shroud weeks before adding the spring. It helped but didn't stop the POI shift completely. I was thinking of smacking the gun against a tree for a while there, but that was when the spring idea popped in. Not caring about the warranty, I roughed up the sides of the breech and fabricated two flat steel pieces. Then JB Welded them to the sides, drilled and tapped 6 screws into the shroud, 3 on each side. It ain't pretty, but it is better than the tree idea.

If the gun holds the line and continues to be accurate as it has been since springing it, with no more shift, the tree gets to live.