Little semi-auto AEA backpacker harvests it's first squirrel.

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Actually what was appealing to me was the light weight and semi-auto function for closer range pesting, so I guess having a regulator would not be as important or desirable. I was looking at the AEA HP SEMIAUTO 22 MODULER SYSTEM at $659 as a light compact short range pester. Need to find a little more info on the bottle size, shot count and overall length and weight. Bill
 
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My AEA Backpacker arrived today. It came with the same stock yours did. I'm probably going to eventually replace it with something nicer, but at the moment AR parts seem to be quite pricey! I also saw where you said the stock connection was loose. I fixed mine, but not sure how long it will last. I had some 2mm thick sheets of high density foam that were packing from something I had ordered. I cut a square of it, then cut a hole in the middle big enough for the post to go through, then applied some weight to the butt, compressing the foam, as I slid the pins back into it. I then trimmed the excess with an exact knife so you couldn't see the edges of the foam. So far, so good.

It came with 150 Bar in the tank, I filled it to 250. The first magazine was messing up, it would fire but only chambered a pellet every other shot. So, I'd shoot, a pellet would hit the target, the next shot was just air, then it would shoot the pellet, then air again. This just happened on the very first magazine shot through the rifle. I have shot 4 more full mags through it and haven't had another misfire. I stopped because my finger was getting tired! Yes, that trigger definitely needs some work!

Is this the spring kit you have?

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If so, do you recall which spring you used? Did you have to degas the rifle before you pulled the trigger assembly? I think I'll watch the video again on the trigger and give that a go this evening. Right now I'm just shooting the cheap Crosman Premier Domed pellets to break it in. So far it seems pretty accurate, giving me 1" groups at 40 yards, which I don't find too offensive given the 40 lbs trigger weight! Hopefully, a lighter spring, a good polishing and some lube will help lighten it a bit and make it a bit smoother.
 
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Yes. That is the kit I bought. I only replaced the trigger spring because replacing the other spring with one from the kit yielded full auto. That and a polish dropped the trigger from 8 and a half pounds to about 5 and a half (slow pull) to 3 and a half (quicker pull). I'm going to tweak a spring between the OEM and the full auto. Goal is just under 4 pounds on a slow pull. I don't think going much lower than that is a great idea on a semi-auto gun.

Be careful with the mags. They are similar to Marauder/Gauntlet mags where if you tighten the screw even a little bit it will cause a lot of drag on the pellet carrier and cause sluggishness and misfires. Worse, if it tries to slam home before the mag rotates it damages the dividers between the pellets and that causes more drag and feed issues. I'm working on a 3D printed mag design that should fix the issue.

On mine the sweet spot in the curve is between 2400 psi down to 1700 psi for a 35 fps spread and 50 shots. 2300 to 1800 psi keeps the velocity spread to to 15 fps for half that many shots.

Mine loves the JSB 18.1's. I've had a few 1/2" groups at 43 yards with them. It does OK with a bunch of other pellets too. The semi-auto is addictive. I've burned through tins of ammo!




 
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You just motivated me to give the springs another try. I got it down to about 3 lbs 11 oz and ran a mag through it with no surprise full auto. Did that by replacing the factory sear spring with a pair of lighter springs nested inside each other. 

When the new mags come I'm going to see if I can modify one to prevent the cover from clamping down on the pellet carrier.
 
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Hmm, interesting... Was one of the springs the same that you used on the trigger side? I may give that a try tomorrow. Are you removing all 4 pins? I was able to leave the on that holds the sear and just removed the two that hold the trigger guard and springs and the one that holds the trigger and could remove the trigger to polish it. Did you polish anything on the sear?
 
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The sear surface is probably as important, or more important than the trigger surface since that is where all the friction and load is coming from. Both were polished on my Backpacker...neither on my Varmint. Probably polishing the hammer surface wouldn't be a bad idea too, but I would be nervous to mess that up and round it off in the process. Maybe, I'll pull it out and have a see what opportunity lies there on a later date.

I think I used the same size as on the trigger side, and one that was in the kit that was slightly smaller diameter inside on the sear side. Also made the lighter springs a bit longer than the stock spring so they'd have sufficient preload...but still were softer than the stock spring. The springs I used were extension springs that I stretched to turn into compression springs...then snipped to length.
 
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Thanks, I had just used a compression spring that fit, I may try stretching one to see if it make a difference. Did you add any lube to the trigger or polished surfaces?
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Yes I greased. Some people say not to but I've had guns triggers come lubed from the factory. Use a lube that won't dramatically thicken in the cold if you do.

Did you measure trigger effort before and after? I used a fish scale before purchasing the Lyman trigger pull gauge.

P.S. I know you said you are getting a better butt stock but in the meantime you can reduce the slop with a couple of pieces of self adhesive Velcro (loop side) adhered inside the buttstock. I opened the slider, slid it off and applied two pieces inside...just below the cheekpiece area. 
 
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I'm picking up a Magpul butt stock from Academy Sports this afternoon. Hopefully, it will fit better than the one that came with it, if not, I'll try your trick and see if it works. I need to measure the folding stock piece and get the ID so I can see if I can find some of these spring washers that may fit. Hopefully the tension will stop the wobble. Mine seems okay now, but since I just used dense foam, it will eventually wear and compress.

I did not measure the trigger effort before and after, but it's still way too heavy to make shooting it enjoyable. I'm going to experiment with some more springs and pull the sear to see if it needs more polishing. Not sure that I'll mess with the hammer though, like you said, if I round it too much it may not hold.

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Spring washers is a good idea. 

4-5 pounds is pretty typical for a semi-auto. I can live with the 3 lbs - 4lbs or so of mine. It is interesting, if I pull the trigger quicker the peak load measures a lot lower...not sure if that is just an artifact of the response time of the Lyman gauge or real but it does feel lower when pulling it faster.

Another tip. Check all the screws and make sure the barrel shroud and mod are tightened well. I ended up using blue loctite lightly here and there. The recoil tends to rattle stuff loose.


 
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Took out three cowbirds with it today. One at 20 yards, the other two at about 30 yards. All with JSB 18.1 gr. diablo's. Our "pet" Redtail hawk already carried off the first two. I swear he is like a hunting dog. When he hears a shot he launches from his perch across the cove and flies in to retrieve it. He doesn't bring it back to me though. :-D


 
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Thanks for the tips! I hope to have some time to tinker with it this weekend. I'll see if I can find some spring washers that fit and see if they hold it tighter than the foam. I also want to degas it before I start playing with the trigger. Not being able to decock this thing scares the crap outa me!
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The trick I use to make it safe is firing it while holding the lever forward. That keeps it from recocking the hammer. Of course I remove the mag first.

Then, when I test the trigger pull I manually cock it and dry fire it pointed in a safe direction. 
 
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Took out three cowbirds with it today. One at 20 yards, the other two at about 30 yards. All with JSB 18.1 gr. diablo's. Our "pet" Redtail hawk already carried off the first two. I swear he is like a hunting dog. When he hears a shot he launches from his perch across the cove and flies in to retrieve it. He doesn't bring it back to me though. :-D

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Your training tactics must be off? Sweeten the deal for the Hawk:) lol. He is haggling with you. 
 
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Well, I finally got a couple pictures of my Backpacker today. This is it stretched out on the lawn..

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This is all folded up and ready to be packed. I still need to find a nice little backpack for it. 20" overall length when folded with the LDC removed.

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This is without the LDC and the stock collapsed. I 3d printed the band so I could mount the bipod.

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FLgunner,

I finally got mine in! I'm overall happy with it, but I haven't had a chance to shoot it. I aired mine up to 1k PSI just to test and she's held that for a couple days now, so no leaks so far. The only thing I really dislike is the cocking effort needed to remove a magazine.

I wish that bottle band rail/bipod mount was for sale. Is that a UTG 3-12x44 scope? I am thinking of getting one, how do you like it? And what mount did you use?
 
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FLgunner,

I finally got mine in! I'm overall happy with it, but I haven't had a chance to shoot it. I aired mine up to 1k PSI just to test and she's held that for a couple days now, so no leaks so far. The only thing I really dislike is the cocking effort needed to remove a magazine.

I wish that bottle band rail/bipod mount was for sale. Is that a UTG 3-12x44 scope? I am thinking of getting one, how do you like it? And what mount did you use?
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Yea, cocking effort did seem a bit hard to me as well, but it has lightened up a little with shooting it, and you really only deal with it when swapping magazines. Wait till you try that trigger! The cocking effort won't seem so bad after your trigger finger gives out! LoL

Yes, that is a UTG 3-12X44 and I like it! I have a couple of them on different air rifle. Very clear optics and they are compact. I don't know who makes the mount, probably some no-name from Amazon, that's usually where I order mounts from. I wanted something that was going to set the scope forward some so I could get the overall length to 20" or under when folded with the LDC removed. This did the trick and clears the magazine with room to spare!

So you decided to get a buttstock without a cheek piece riser? Looks way better than plastic toy that came on it. Did you find the 3D file for the bottle tube or design your own? Does it clear the shroud? Is it a friction fit or does it clamp on?
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I found that buttstock at Academy Sports for $37. It's a Magpul and is really good quality. I'm glad I didn't get one with the cheek riser because it wasn't needed. Cheek weld is perfect for me with the scope and mount set-up have. I found the 3D file on Thingiverse. It said for the FX Impact, but it's the same diameter at the AEA bottle. It clamps on using the bi-pod clamp to secure it. I did slightly modify the original .STL file in TinkerCad to thin the area between the bottle and the shroud so it would fit. I need to tinker with it a bit more because it was supposed to have a gap in the middle of the picatinny rail and it was difficult to get that apart on the first print. I'm going to play with it some more and see if I can get it to bring without fusing that gap during the printing process. Do you have or have access to a 3D printer? Is so PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you the .STL file.
 
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