I just want to post another
update on this rifle with some shot strings. As a standby varmint rifle, I haven't put many shots on this rifle since I bought it in mid 2020. 1,397 shots total as of today according to my count. Back when I first received it, I tuned the rifle in a span of a few days because I notice that I kept missing the first shots after the rifle has sat unused for a while. I haven't touch the tune at all since then and the gun has wonderfully held on to its tune in the 4 years I've owned it. It does have a Huma regulator in it.
I also haven't had to re-zero the gun at all ever since I zeroed it for the JSB Hades all those years ago. I re-checked zero just a few nights ago and it was still on target. This is considering that I had the gun completely apart just a few months ago (attempted to change the barrel, but Talon Tunes sent me the wrong one, and also checked the valve inside the air cylinder). Also changed the stock and the suppressor.
Lately, I have been experimenting with slugs in the gun and I had the chance to shoot some strings with it. The strings below were not shot continuously. Most are 5 shot groups, move to the next projectile, and then come back and shoot some more. These strings were done in a span of a few days and include the all important "cold barrel" first shots. I have a few other projectiles not shown as I only wanted to show the strings with at least 10 shots. Some of the slugs I knew wouldn't work in my gun within less than 10 shots.
First "cold barrel" shots of the day are highlighted in
green.
H&N Slug HP 21gr 0.217 - 16 shots,
ES 4, std dev 1.204, avg 836 (FPS = 836, 836, 836, 835, 834, 834, 838, 836, 836, 836, 837, 837, 838, 837, 837, 835)
H&N Slug HP 23gr 0.217 - 24 shots,
ES 7, std dev 1.86, avg 801 (FPS = 803, 802, 802, 801, 801, 801, 799, 799 803, 800, 801, 800 804, 804,
805, 803, 802, 800, 801 802, 800, 800, 798, 798)
2021 NSA 17.5gr 0.2165 - 18 shots,
ES 24, std dev 6.615, avg 896 (FPS = 884, 890, 891,
906, 899, 900, 900, 900, 898, 902, 900, 901, 903, 900,
892, 882, 895, 891)
2024 NSA 17.5gr 0.2165 - 13 shots,
ES 6, std dev 1.89, avg 899 (FPS = 899, 903, 897, 900, 899, 898, 899, 897, 898, 902, 901, 901, 898)
Note: I have a sample pack of these NSA's from 3 years ago and then bought some from the latest batch. I decided to separate the shot strings because there was some difference in the diameter between the two batches.
FX Hybrids - 10 shots,
ES 8, std dev 2.16, avg 811 (FPS =
816, 812, 811, 808, 810, 810, 810, 812, 813, 811)
I noticed that some projectiles have a much tighter spread than others. I don't know if this indicates variations of weights and/or dimensions within each slug or it could also be how well each slug fit in the barrel. I realize my sample is small and it's impossible to tell either way.
Again, each shot string is between at least 2 or 3 sessions. They're also done with varying fill pressures between 190 bars and 100 bars. I know this is not how people typically do shot strings (all shots done in one session and in relatively quick succession) to gauge a gun's performance, but as a standby backyard varmint rifle, I feel that this very closely reflects on how I'm actually using the gun... especially when considering that all important first shot of the day cold barrel kill.
The gun was a real pain in the ass to tune. Having the regulator inside the air cylinder made it really difficult, but once I got it shooting correctly, it has held its tune quite well over time. I'm really happy with how the gun has performed in the past few years I've owned it.
