JSAR Raptor 22 - First impressions

Looks like you are off to a good start. Congrats!

I'm really enjoying mine. It started as a mine but is now a standard other than the plenum still be a mine. Shoots very well with a modded FX Superior .22, Brownells, .223, Walther .250 and TJ's" Slug barrel in .257. 



Knife

Let me know how this works for you. This is a compilation of a few posts on tuning the Raptor which worked for my Raptor mini in .22

RAPTOR AND MINI TUNING METHOD


The JSAR valve adjustment screws are very easy to adjust and quite responsive to very small amounts of adjustment. You will find that your optimal settings will come from within a very small tuning window. Therefore, when tuning your gun, be sure to perform adjustments at very small increments. Picture the minute hand on a clock and making adjustments at movements of 5 to 7 minutes at a time (sometimes even less). Clockwise (CW) turns increase settings, Counterclockwise (CCW) turns decrease settings.

First of all, we need to define our terms
1. Hammer Spring Adjuster- it is the closest accessible adjustment, 8mm allen. CW adjustment to the Hammer Spring increases it's spring tension. The spring tension adjustment dictates how hard the hammer is hit with spring tension when the trigger is pullled.
2. Hammer Striker Adjustment - it is located past the Hammer Spring; your 3mm allen wrench goes inside, deeper, and past the 8mm allen Hammer Spring screw to the 3mm Hammer Striker allen screw. The Hammer Striker allen screw adjustment dictates how deep (and for how long) the hammer hits the air valve that provides air to propel the projectile, this air goes into the barrel via the transfer port. So by turning the Striker allen screw CW the depth of the Striker is increased when the trigger is pulled, which in turn means the valve is open for a longer time as well.

Your Regulator should first be set at about 1700 psi, and your bottle should be filled to a 3700 psi maximum pressure.

The Hammer Spring Adjuster is sized 8mm allen. The Hammer Spring needs to be adjusted with just enough spring tension to open the air valve. Therefore, when the regulator is adjusted, the Hammer Spring must also be adjusted; increased or decreased respectively. If you are starting from scratch, such as after having made numerous adjustments and you need to start over, set the Hammer Spring where it is recessed into the adjustment range; 2 or 3 threads should be visible at the Hammer Spring 8mm allen screw.

The Hammer Striker Adjuster is sized 3mm allen. The Hammer Striker is considered the primary gun adjustment. the Hammer Striker adjustment determines how far the air valve opens when the trigger is pulled, and so the air valve is controlled by the striker. The Hammer Striker is accessed by reaching through and past the Hammer Spring Adjuster (8mm). Cocking the gun will bring the Hammer Striker adjustment screw rearward. Cock the gun and insert the 3mm allen into the 8mm Hammer Spring Adjuster allen and it will go past it and make contact with the Hammer Striker allen screw. Rotate the Hammer Striker CCW 10 minutes at a time and dry fire the gun. Repeat this until the gun does not fire. Then, turn it CW 5 minutes at a time until it dry fires.

Now, increase the Hammer Striker by turning it CW 5 minutes. Manually load a projectile and then fire the gun through a chrony. If the gun does not fire the round, increase the Hammer Striker by turning it CW 5 minutes at a time until you get a chrony reading; this means you successfully fired the round. Manually load and fire another round to ensure the adjustment itself enabled the round to fire and that it was not combined multiple "misfires" that fired the round. Repeat if needed to fire a round.

Once you have an adjustment that successfully fires a round, pull out and reset your allen wrench back into the Hammer Striker screw so that the bend of the allen key is pointing up as close to 12:00 o'clock as possible. Call this Hammer Striker setting "baseline". Now, document all your adjustments this point forward. Doing so will enable you to go back to "baseline" very quickly when needed.

Now, insert a loaded magazine. Increase the Hammer Striker 10 minutes at a time by turning it CW and firing it through a chrony, document your adjustments and the FPS. Eventually you will reach your maximum velocity and by continuing, your velocity will begin to drop. Now, turn your Hammer Striker Buffer back to your maximum FPS setting by referencing your documentation. Remove the 3mm allen wrench.

Now, using the 8mm allen wrench, turn your Hammer Spring adjustment in CW 5 minutes at a time and fire a round through the chrony after each adjustment (don't forget to document each adjustment and FPS), you will find your velocity increases to a point and then it will begin to decrease. Now, referencing your documentation, turn the adjuster back to your maximum FPS setting.

Now that you have a new Hammer Spring setting, return to the Hammer Striker and make 5 minute adjustments CW or CCW to ensure the Striker setting is optimal. Again, shoot through the chrony after every adjustment, and document all adjustments and FPS.

Shoot over the chrony and see if you are hitting your desired FPS with your selected projectile. If not, adjust the regulator up or down until you hit your desired power level.

Any changes to the regulator pressure requires adjustment to the Hammer Spring. A higher regulated pressure requires more Hammer Spring tension (increased by turning CW). Hammer Striker settings must always be checked after the Hammer Spring has been adjusted. Changes should always be in 5 minute increments, sometimes even less.

Pellets fly well within a range from 840 FPS through 960 FPS. Once you have determined what specific velocity your Raptors pellet/barrel combination works most accurately by shooting groups and measuring the best velocity, tune your gun to that velocity by using the above method to get maximum air efficiency and best consistancy.


ADJUSTABLE REGULATOR

The gun is MOST consistent when filled to 3600-3700psi. Fills higher than this and your extreme spread widens.
When your bottle is filled to over 3700psi, like to 3800psi and above, your regulator pressure will in turn be 100 psi HIGHER than it is at 3700psi and below. At fills of 3800psi and above, your first 10-15 shots will have higher velocities. Thereafter, when your bottle pressure reaches 3600 psi or so, your regulator pressure will settle and read what you set it to. From around 3700 psi down to 2000 psi, your gun should maintain a nice extreme spread.

You can use 1700 psi worth of air and get 65 shots at 58-60fpe.

The problem tuning is in not realizing how easy it is to over dwell the the valve.

Results for hammer spring adjustment within a 1/2 turn, this is just an example:

12oclock – hammer strike too light

3 o’clock – hammer strike increasing FPS.

6 o’clock – too much hammer strike FPS decreasing.

What barrel did you get for your raptor? Slug barrel or the pellet one?

Good instructions. However, it skipped the need to adjust on the knee of the reg adjustment to the beginning of the down slope. Once the highest fps is reached, back the hammer rate down apx. 3%. This will give a much more efficient use of air in an high power application such as shooting slugs. Shot count will be noticeably better with a chrisper/quieter report resulting from less dwell of the valve. 

In addition, harmonics will be improved as well. ;<)

KnifeMaker

While not a gun for the masses, if you can learn the set-up / tuning regiment there performance and accuracy is very very good.

As one who likes to tinker and change up stuff, have taken my JSAR "mini" to another level by redoing the entire valve configuration, much lighter hammer and an SSG spring set up.



When the stock parts are set up correctly the guns perform well .. NOT set up right they can be very frustrating indeed !!!



Hope you stay with it and have fun with your new JSAR.



Scott S

The only issue I am having once JSAR (Jacob) sent me the new version of poppet and seat is the o ring in the thimble keeps blowing. I find small scratch inside of it. (Thimble). I will polish it out again and think I will fully polisjthje spring in it as something is amiss here.

I've been using 70 duro. x o rings, which lsas much longer and tired a 90 duro silicone o ring last night. It didn't last 5 shots, and full bottle dump again. GRRRRR!!!

Knife