FX Basic airgun do’s n dont’s?

[Cran]

So, where might an old man new to airgunning find a “basics” blurb? I get some conflicting views on reg pressure too high too low, never let bottle press get tp reg press.. and more

anybody? And thanks a million.

further, and to be a LITTLE less vague, i load my wildcat3 to 215-220 ba, run the reg at 115 (best i can tell). Gives me 7 (8 if i run pwr 6) magazines and im back for air at 130-140

got my older dreamline back with the reg at 150.. with a 220 fill i only get a mag n a half. So

anybody think i can/should run the fiberglass bottle at higher bar (on either gun) and what do WE think about that 150 reg pressure?

shootin squirrels at 100 yds or less (mostly)

 

[PEP3]

Whatcha shootin? Regulator pressure will be different from gun to gun, ammo type, barrel length etc. Let everyone know what gun it is and the people that have that same gun can help out a lot.

 

[Gerry52]

Never store gun without some pressure in bottle/air tube. Always clean a new barrel. Don't clean barrel until accuracy drops off. Calipers are essential to airgunning, you'll need one for the o-rings that will eventually need replacing. Never lube o-rings with petroleum based lube, use silicone. ALWAYS have fun! Can't think of much more. Try not to shoot down to below reg pressure.

 

[Patrick1]

YouTube is a good resource but this website is excellent! Just ask a question.
Here’s a link on what you might need, too!

Needed/wanted PCP tools?

While looking for an answer in the search function, I noticed a comment about reverse tweezers to make it easier to take out a hard-to-get oring. A little thing but it got me thinking about all the tools I have acquired for this hobby and thought it might be useful, especially for newbies, to...

www.airgunnation.com

 

[Cran]

Whatcha shootin? Regulator pressure will be different from gun to gun, ammo type, barrel length etc. Let everyone know what gun it is and the people that have that same gun can help out a lot.

Thank you, think i got all that in the next one. i was hopin to run both the dreamline and my new wildcat (both 25 cal) alike. To keep itmsimple. What were we talkin about?

 

[Cran]

Never store gun without some pressure in bottle/air tube. Always clean a new barrel. Don't clean barrel until accuracy drops off. Calipers are essential to airgunning, you'll need one for the o-rings that will eventually need replacing. Never lube o-rings with petroleum based lube, use silicone. ALWAYS have fun! Can't think of much more. Try not to shoot down to below reg pressure.

Awesome, good stuff thanks

 

[PEP3]

Thank you, think i got all that in the next one. i was hopin to run both the dreamline and my new wildcat (both 25 cal) alike. To keep itmsimple. What were we talkin about?

That's it, there are a lot of people on here that have tuned both of those guns, very nice btw.

 

[Patrick1]

So, where might an old man new to airgunning find a “basics” blurb? I get some conflicting views on reg pressure too high too low, never let bottle press get tp reg press.. and more

anybody? And thanks a million.

further, and to be a LITTLE less vague, i load my wildcat3 to 215-220 ba, run the reg at 115 (best i can tell). Gives me 7 (8 if i run pwr 6) magazines and im back for air at 130-140

got my older dreamline back with the reg at 150.. with a 220 fill i only get a mag n a half. So

anybody think i can/should run the fiberglass bottle at higher bar (on either gun) and what do WE think about that 150 reg pressure?

shootin squirrels at 100 yds or less (mostly)

As I usually do for Wildcats and Mavericks……
Look at the Easy Tune System by “Shooting with Phil”…

 

[WorriedMan]

Any reason why you're not filling air reservoirs to maximum fill pressure? WM

 

[ctshooter]

The difference in reg pressures could be due to different barrel lengths? It will take more reg pressure to push a projectile the same speed from a shorter barrel.

Also - most FX are rated for either 230 bar or 250 bar. You don't want to go above those max fills as it will be harder on other parts of the airgun (ie: o-rings, seals, etc) and may exceed working pressures for some parts.

I don't see it mentioned but the one thing I see missing from the discussion are specifics on what projectiles and at what speeds. Do you have a chronograph? Most pellets do best out of most airguns at around 880 fps. Some like a little slower, some of the newer JTS and AEA pellets like a little faster, but 880fps is basically the ballpark.

Once you know where you want to tune the gun (ie: 880 fps) you take your ammo and start shooting over your chronograph to see what speed you are at. You will need to likely perform a combination of tuning the regulator setting and the hammer spring to find you're ideal tune.

Here are the details for a basic 5% reduced max tune (my words - don't think there's really a name for it):

1. Find your current max speed.
   1. Shoot over the chrono and record speed.
   2. Increase hammer spring and record speed.
   3. Continue to increase hammer spring until you max out your speed. Don't keep going once you hit max as there is no benefit.
   4. See where you max fps is. Your goal is to tune to 880 / 0.95 = 926 fps (will explain below)
2. If your max speed is above 926 you need to reduce your regulator a bit and start the process over. If your max speed is below 926 you need to increase regulator pressure and start the process again.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above until you have a nice tune maxing out at 926 fps.
4. Now reduce the fps by 5% to 880 fps.

Your rifle is now tuned just before the knee of the power band at the regulated pressure. The reason you want to drop back 5% is that at max power your efficiency has dropped a bit and you are just blowing a bit of extra air out of the barrel. Dropping back 5% will give you a tighter ES (extreme spread of fps across a string of shots) and max shot count for that power setting.

A chronograph is important for the tuning you want to do.

If you search there are threads here which detail the process outlined above with much more explanation.