Despite all the new bull pup style PCPs on the market, I decided to look for something else light weight and short. I ended up buying a new 2014 Contour Elite S6. Sorry for no photos. I may put a few up when done. Nonetheless, here is my story. I checked the internet for takedown videos, and only found 1 which only removed the trigger, stock and shroud. Parts seem only to be available though AOA. Despite this, I forged on.
The 2014 Elite Contour in .22 has a 12" barrel, a shroud which doesn't help with noise reduction, a blade style air fill, a gauge at the end of the air tube, and a walnut cut out style stock, but not the one on the AOA website. You can see a picture of it on Top Gun Airguns. It weighs 4 lbs and 14 ounces, and has a 6 shot magazine. When I tried to put air in it, the blade style air fill kept flying out. When I did get air in it, it shot the 15.89 grain JSB at 685 FPS. I mounted a Lucid 4-16x, which only weighs 18 ounces, and was able to keep the total weight under 6 pounds. Accuracy for the 13.43, 15.89 and 18.13 JSBs was terrible, shooting about 5/8" for 5 shots at 20 yards. But it is cute.
So, it was time to dismantle the new toy and improve it. After firing out the air, I removed the action from the air tube assembly. The barrel is epoxied in, and required heat to pull the barrel. I also had to heat up the bolt to soften up the glue locking in the rear screw. What a pain. I put the barrel back in temporarily and loaded a pellet to check the seating depth. Half of the pellet hangs out the back of the barrel. Gee whiz. The bolt probe tip is simply too short. I checked the Lothar barrel, and the muzzle has no choke, and inserting a pellet in the tip of the barrel met with almost no resistance. I skipped removing the power valve at this point. It looks like you need a long extension socket to screw the mechanism out the back end. The hammer length is adjustable, and spring load is not adjustable.
I cut off the probe tip, and drilled and threaded a 3mm hole, and made a new tip from a 3mm cap screw on my lathe. I was able to add only 1.6MM length. Any longer and you can't use the magazine. I also discarded the blade style air fill mechanism, and made a 4 inch extension for the air tube of 7075 aluminum. I put a foster fill on the end, which makes air filling easy. I had a new Lothar Walther barrel with the same diameter, and cut it to 14.5 inches to replace the lousy one it came with. I drilled and threaded three small holes in the underside of the action to enable the barrel to be held in without epoxy. I also cut turned barrel so that it would have minimal clearance when sliding into the action. I opened up the .087" air supply hole in the action to .120 inches. The transfer port is .125 inches, which is optimal for the .22. I put it back together, and fired a few shots to see the results, before building a new shroud. Velocity for the 15.89 JSB is now about 765 FPS, so it is now a 20+ ft lb gun, and I can get about 15 shots before the velocity declines. The air tube can only hold about 115 cc of air, and that includes my extension. You can fill it to 200 bar, but I only filled it to 190 for testing. Accuracy through the magazine was now better. It shoots about 5 shots into .175 inches at 20 yards. Without the magazine it shoots about .125 inch at 20 yards. I have not yet adjusted the hammer length.
I have a counter bore coming via mail, and will cut about .035" from the barrel port in the action to enable the barrel to seat deeper, and to fully seat the pellet into the rifling. I also will build a shroud and the final length will end up being about 35 inches. The weight with scope and mounts will be 6 lbs, which is still very light weight. After enabling the pellet to fully seat, and making hammer length adjustments, I should be able to get it to shoot .100 inches or better for 5 shots at 20 yards. Why am I bothering will all of this work....it is cute !
Rob
The 2014 Elite Contour in .22 has a 12" barrel, a shroud which doesn't help with noise reduction, a blade style air fill, a gauge at the end of the air tube, and a walnut cut out style stock, but not the one on the AOA website. You can see a picture of it on Top Gun Airguns. It weighs 4 lbs and 14 ounces, and has a 6 shot magazine. When I tried to put air in it, the blade style air fill kept flying out. When I did get air in it, it shot the 15.89 grain JSB at 685 FPS. I mounted a Lucid 4-16x, which only weighs 18 ounces, and was able to keep the total weight under 6 pounds. Accuracy for the 13.43, 15.89 and 18.13 JSBs was terrible, shooting about 5/8" for 5 shots at 20 yards. But it is cute.
So, it was time to dismantle the new toy and improve it. After firing out the air, I removed the action from the air tube assembly. The barrel is epoxied in, and required heat to pull the barrel. I also had to heat up the bolt to soften up the glue locking in the rear screw. What a pain. I put the barrel back in temporarily and loaded a pellet to check the seating depth. Half of the pellet hangs out the back of the barrel. Gee whiz. The bolt probe tip is simply too short. I checked the Lothar barrel, and the muzzle has no choke, and inserting a pellet in the tip of the barrel met with almost no resistance. I skipped removing the power valve at this point. It looks like you need a long extension socket to screw the mechanism out the back end. The hammer length is adjustable, and spring load is not adjustable.
I cut off the probe tip, and drilled and threaded a 3mm hole, and made a new tip from a 3mm cap screw on my lathe. I was able to add only 1.6MM length. Any longer and you can't use the magazine. I also discarded the blade style air fill mechanism, and made a 4 inch extension for the air tube of 7075 aluminum. I put a foster fill on the end, which makes air filling easy. I had a new Lothar Walther barrel with the same diameter, and cut it to 14.5 inches to replace the lousy one it came with. I drilled and threaded three small holes in the underside of the action to enable the barrel to be held in without epoxy. I also cut turned barrel so that it would have minimal clearance when sliding into the action. I opened up the .087" air supply hole in the action to .120 inches. The transfer port is .125 inches, which is optimal for the .22. I put it back together, and fired a few shots to see the results, before building a new shroud. Velocity for the 15.89 JSB is now about 765 FPS, so it is now a 20+ ft lb gun, and I can get about 15 shots before the velocity declines. The air tube can only hold about 115 cc of air, and that includes my extension. You can fill it to 200 bar, but I only filled it to 190 for testing. Accuracy through the magazine was now better. It shoots about 5 shots into .175 inches at 20 yards. Without the magazine it shoots about .125 inch at 20 yards. I have not yet adjusted the hammer length.
I have a counter bore coming via mail, and will cut about .035" from the barrel port in the action to enable the barrel to seat deeper, and to fully seat the pellet into the rifling. I also will build a shroud and the final length will end up being about 35 inches. The weight with scope and mounts will be 6 lbs, which is still very light weight. After enabling the pellet to fully seat, and making hammer length adjustments, I should be able to get it to shoot .100 inches or better for 5 shots at 20 yards. Why am I bothering will all of this work....it is cute !
Rob
