Mods FX Ranchero Carbine in .177 & .22 Photos

I received the Altaros regulator today and tried the installation in my stock .177 Ranchero. After a tip from Mark404 it went in easily (helps to put it in the correct direction). I've charged it up and my Ranchero's air gauge is reading exactly 150 bar even though I filled to 230 bar. The regulator is working!

Now off to do some testing,

that's interesting as I put one in my new ranchero .177 and I have enough volume to get 21 full power shots from a 250 BAR fill before going off reg.
I also have the reg set at 130 BAR and the gun is shooting at 11.8 fpe

also the part of the brass end thats in the air tube fits into the big end of the reg

Hi Mark,
What is the length of the air tube with. the Altaros fitted please? Can you still get a moderator on the barrel?
I would be grateful if you could upload a photo of it.

Regards
Peter

I'll get a photo of it uploaded tonight if my internet is working at home, if its not I'll do it tomorrow when I get to work.
off hand I do not know how long the air tube is but its the stock air tube it came with.
I do have a Huggett Moderator on it.
I also bought the Altaros end cap with quickfill and the pressure gage in it so I know what the pressure is in the tube.

Mark404,

Thanks for that...I had it in the wrong way. Now testing.

also a reminder that you have to remove the O-ring that is on the brass fitting that screws into the air tube and leave a small gap .5mm between air tube and brass, that is how it vents to atmosphere.
I've talked to a few people that forgot this 

My fill was to 230 bar.

Without doing any tuning, here are 2 magazines of 7.87s. This looks like about 10.4 fpe and 10 well regulated shots.



And without making any changes here are 2 magazines of 10.34s. This is around 11.5 fpe and again 10 well regulated shots.



The regulator is set at 150 bar so I'm thinking about dropping it to 130 and changing the hammer spring tension to see if I can get more shots at the same power level that way.

here is My Ranchero 

Hi Mark
Nice photo. Yesterday I had to back off the Hammer Spring some more as I couldn't get 3x magazines of accurate shots before the pressure drop started to trail my shots downwards. Which I was not happy about. How many shots do you get before refilling as I assume that the altaros has negatively impacted the air capacity within the tube? Also with the Altaros End Cap with filler port, will this still accept the FX fill adaptor, or did you have to replace that as well? Thanks Peter 

I fill to 250 BAR though Altaros told me that there reg can handle 300 BAR, but I would be uncomfortable filling that high.
I get 21 shots and shot 21 may or may not be off reg but its so close I count it, how ever I refill after 16 shots or two mags.
The Altaros end cap uses the FX fill adaptor
Also I am shooting at 11.8 FPE. What energy are you shooting at Peter?

oh, and yes, I did lose a few shots, but I also lost the shot curve, I think it's a great trade off as the shot curve was extreme.

Agree with Mark404. I'd much rather have the flat shot curve and much more predictable (and flat) trajectory, I called AoA on Friday looking for a larger air tank and longer barrel for the Ranchero but have not heard back. Ernest was busy with projects the last time I called so I'll ring him again toward the end of next week.

Hi Not calculated FPE but my shot strings for 3 mags goes from 800-650fps. I wanted to get 3 mags because I can nearly get through a tin of Pellets in a weekend and i fill using a Hills Pump.

After lots of pellet today, when regulated my Ranchero does better with 10.34's than it does with 7.87's. I also get about 1 more ft/lb with 10.34s over 7.87s (which works better for target and pests). I'm keeping it between 11.5 and 12 fpe. 

I'm using 10.3's also, for me the 11.8ish FPE seems to work best for the barrel lenth and air usage efficiency 
I'm thinking of getting a 15" barrel and the next size up air tube

Hi, I am now considering getting a regulator but want to double-check which one fits the Ranchero.
Is it the USD$89 version that you both have fitted?

http://www.altaros.cz/en/fx-airguns/15-Regulator-fx-model-with-airtube#/

Thanks very much

By the way I plugged in the fps & pellet weight into PyramidAir calculator and it seems i am getting between 23 - 20 ft/lb which equates to 32-27 Joules, (but that seems awfully high).
​
Regards

Peter

GriffyGriff,

Yes, that is the one that I ordered for my Ranchero. If you put that into your stock airtube you are only going to get like 10-12 regulated .177 shots before it drops off the regulator.

Yes 20-23 is high for a Ranchero. Stock in .177 is around 16-17 ft/lbs on high. 

I ordered the 27J reg for mine then adjusted it to get me the 11.8 fpe.
I also now fill it to 250 Bar and get 20 regulated shots from it.
Altaros said that there reg will work with fill pressures up to 300 Bar, but I'm uncomfortable filling that high

Mark404,

The manual and the gun both state "Max Fill Pressure 220 bar". There is nothing I can find on my Ranchero air cylinder that states it's max fill pressure. Since the manual and gun stamp say 220, one would need to assume the air cylinder is designed for 220 bar plus an engineering tolerance. I wouldn't bet 250 is safe in the air cylinder just because the regulator can take it down to 150 or less which is what the rest of the gun would see.

Even on regulated guns like the RAW they are stopping at 230 bar fill on a bottle that can take 300 bar. On the Daystate, again it stops at 230 bar even though the bottle can take 315 (@65). There are probably solid reasons why those companies stopped where they did. Otherwise their shot count could really increase.