10 days with my new Crown

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fderry

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May 2, 2019
237
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Colorado, United States
A few years ago I tried to buy a Crown when they updated the MK1 to 4 barrel hold down screws but after a three month wait I canceled that order and bought a Dreamline Classic in .25. The DL is a good rifle and I have it shooting 33.95gr pellets accurately with 60fpe. I’m 75 years old now and changing over to .177 because I am restricted to my home range and I like the challenges of the .177 pellets. My range is setup to a maximum of 90 yards.

Nine months ago I put a 600mm .177 barrel in my Impact MK2 PP and was impressed with it’s accuracy (despite all the negative comments on the FX .177 barrels). Was going to buy a .177 conversion for the DL but noticed UA had a special on the Crown MK2 VP so I bought the Crown. Received my FX Crown VP .177 on 7 Jan 23 from UA. Had UA install a picatinny rail to stock. I installed Saber Tactical picatinny to ARCA rail adapter. Also installed Saber Tactical bottle mounted picatinny rail. Mounted Optisan EVX 5-20x50i scope in Eagle Vision adjustable scope rings.

The crown came out of the box setup as follows:
Regulator Pressure ~98 BAR (Gauge needle just below 100 BAR)
Hammer Wheel 23
Valve Wheel Medium
Altitude 7027 ft
Temp 46*
Barometer 23.13 inHg
Pellet JSB 10.34gr
Shot count: 13
Low: 895
Hi: 930
Avg: 913
Spread: 35
STD Dev: 11.1

Best configuration I found after testing with just hammer wheel changes is as follows:
Regulator Pressure ~98 BAR
Hammer Wheel 14 (change)
Valve Wheel Medium
Altitude 7027 ft
Temp 50*
Barometer 22.94 inHg
Pellet JSB 10.34gr
Shot count: 10
Low: 868
Hi: 877
Avg: 871
Spread: 9
STD Dev: 3.5

Because of snow and cold I couldn’t setup scope and test accuracy.

Changed the scope rings and fitted a K&L KLS-M butt plate for a better ergonomic fit. Had a window to get the Crown on the bench (enough snow melt to get on the bench and to get a target on 30 yard target stand). Six - five shot groups averaged 0.48” (measured from outside of most distanced pellet holes) with one group at 0.32”. For me this is great accuracy as I’m the limiting factor in a rifles accuracy (and I was cold).

Next I will be testing 13.43gr and 16.2gr pellets as weather allows (snow expected over the next 2 days).

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Nice set up. Looks really good. If I had better hands I wouldn't hesitate to get a .177cal. I am always very interested to hear what pellets and slugs work well in the .177cal Crowns though.
I bought 2 Mavericks when they first came out. Next I planned on buying an M3, but got side tracked and bought a Crown MKII. Then I bought another one, and the other day I almost bought another one. They are really light and have a great feel to them as well as easy to shoot. You will enjoy it. I bought the one below used from Utah Air on Black Friday. I was all ready to buy the VP Refurbished version when this one came up for the same price with the scope and mounts. It's a 22cal. Right now I am waiting on Bullet Central to get back in stock the Carbon Fiber Shroud and tensioner kit for my 600mm .25cal version, which, hopefully work great.
I'm not a fan of pre-ordering airguns but if a Crown MK3 came out, I wouldn't hesitate to get on the list.

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Love my walnut 22cal mk2. The ergonomics are perfect for me. It shoots so well off hand, I struggle to find something better. I converted mine to a 380 barrel to help with maneuverability while trekking through the woods, and it really makes a sifference to the feel of the rifle.
Welcome to the crown club. It’s a great place to be!!
 
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Nice rifle. The FX Crown MK2 is my favorite PCP rifle. I recently bought a .177 barrel kit for one of my Crowns. I haven't done must tuning with it yet so I will certainly pay attention to your settings. I even have a big pile of 10.34 pellets waiting. Thanks for the info. By the way, when you measured your groups outside edge to outside edge of the farthest holes did you also subtract the pellet diameter? That will give you the center to center measurement that most people use and you'll have even smaller groups :).
Kenny
 
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Thank you all for your comments! It is all qball's fault that I ended up buying this Crown! I saw one of his posts to a Crown thread where he included a link to the UA deal on Crown VPs. The rest is history.

My next step is to see how (with just adjusting the hammer wheel settings) various pellets work with factory valve, regulator and hammer. I'll be looking at ES figures to determine which settings I will test for accuracy. I can use the FX crony to do these tests without going outside and shooting at targets (just shoot out an open dinning room door). Weather will determine when I can do more accuracy testing.

Also will get some crony numbers with just hammer wheel setting for NSA 12.5gr and 15.5gr slugs, JSB KnockOut 10.03gr and 13.43gr slugs, and Howler 12.3gr slugs. Not sure I will setup the Crown for slugs, but am interested in initial ES data.

I understand that any slug final settings will require possible valve, regulator and hammer spring tunning for optimum performance.
 
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fderry said:
Thank you all for your comments! It is all qball's fault that I ended up buying this Crown! I saw one of his posts to a Crown thread where he included a link to the UA deal on Crown VPs. The rest is history.

My next step is to see how (with just adjusting the hammer wheel settings) various pellets work with factory valve, regulator and hammer. I'll be looking at ES figures to determine which settings I will test for accuracy. I can use the FX crony to do these tests without going outside and shooting at targets (just shoot out an open dinning room door). Weather will determine when I can do more accuracy testing.

Also will get some crony numbers with just hammer wheel setting for NSA 12.5gr and 15.5gr slugs, JSB KnockOut 10.03gr and 13.43gr slugs, and Howler 12.3gr slugs. Not sure I will setup the Crown for slugs, but am interested in initial ES data.

I understand that any slug final settings will require possible valve, regulator and hammer spring tunning for optimum performance.
Click to expand...


Guilty as charged! 😅

If you want to shoot pellets and slugs then crank the regulator to 140-145 bars and use power wheel/preload to tune. The nsa 12.5 shoots very well and 13 grain KO seems slightly better but NSA is my go to ammo. Since you are at 7000ft elevation you should be able to shoot the 15 grain well too, but the 15 grain definitely need 145 bar reg to push them.
 
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jasmlowe said:
Nice set up. Looks really good. If I had better hands I wouldn't hesitate to get a .177cal. I am always very interested to hear what pellets and slugs work well in the .177cal Crowns though.
I bought 2 Mavericks when they first came out. Next I planned on buying an M3, but got side tracked and bought a Crown MKII. Then I bought another one, and the other day I almost bought another one. They are really light and have a great feel to them as well as easy to shoot. You will enjoy it. I bought the one below used from Utah Air on Black Friday. I was all ready to buy the VP Refurbished version when this one came up for the same price with the scope and mounts. It's a 22cal. Right now I am waiting on Bullet Central to get back in stock the Carbon Fiber Shroud and tensioner kit for my 600mm .25cal version, which, hopefully work great.
I'm not a fan of pre-ordering airguns but if a Crown MK3 came out, I wouldn't hesitate to get on the list.

View attachment 323820
View attachment 323826
Click to expand...
Nice looking Crowns! I do understand difficulty handling .177 pellets. My manual dexterity is quickly going away with age. I am also interested in the direction a Crown MK3 will go, but I don't require more power for my current situation.
 
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qball said:
Guilty as charged! 😅

If you want to shoot pellets and slugs then crank the regulator to 140-145 bars and use power wheel/preload to tune. The nsa 12.5 shoots very well and 13 grain KO seems slightly better but NSA is my go to ammo. Since you are at 7000ft elevation you should be able to shoot the 15 grain well too, but the 15 grain definitely need 145 bar reg to push them.
Click to expand...
qball - Thanks for being an enabler (I think). Also thanks for the regulator recommendation. The hardest part of tuning, for me, is getting a good starting regulator pressure for the pellet/slug I am testing. It may be a month or more before I play with slugs because of weather. May be asking a bunch of questions then.
 
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fderry said:
qball - Thanks for being an enabler (I think). Also thanks for the regulator recommendation. The hardest part of tuning, for me, is getting a good starting regulator pressure for the pellet/slug I am testing. It may be a month or more before I play with slugs because of weather. May be asking a bunch of questions then.
Click to expand...


I’ve spent a lot of time, air and slug/pellets at tuning. My simplified approach is to set the reg at the highest factory “comfort” range balanced to hammer weight and use hammer adjustment to tune. Might lose a few shots of shot count but my bottle is always next to me. With highest reg it ensures shortest valve dwell which simplifies tuning by a country mile. I can get almost any newer FX gun to shoot MOA groups with slug in 15-20 minutes. I’ve tuned a ton of my friends guns and if start with highest reg I can tune for any ammo in no time with a few twist of hammer spring or preload. You will even be surprised by the high shot count. The ease of tuning and ammo versatility is amazing if you just get your reg to max.

Obviously for pellet only I don’t use as high reg settings but I never drop below 110 bars even with my little 10FPE backyard sniper.
 
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qball said:
I’ve spent a lot of time, air and slug/pellets at tuning. My simplified approach is to set the reg at the highest factory “comfort” range balanced to hammer weight and use hammer adjustment to tune. Might lose a few shots of shot count but my bottle is always next to me. With highest reg it ensures shortest valve dwell which simplifies tuning by a country mile. I can get almost any newer FX gun to shoot MOA groups with slug in 15-20 minutes. I’ve tuned a ton of my friends guns and if start with highest reg I can tune for any ammo in no time with a few twist of hammer spring or preload. You will even be surprised by the high shot count. The ease of tuning and ammo versatility is amazing if you just get your reg to max.

Obviously for pellet only I don’t use as high reg settings but I never drop below 110 bars even with my little 10FPE backyard sniper.
Click to expand...
👆👆👆

This is great advice. The higher reg pressures give it a snappier shot cycle, and that equates to less wasted air, and less turbulence behind the projectile. That’s how it shoots slugs so well. Even my dreamtac compact that is tuned for 700fps is running 130bar reg pressure, and i get 120 shots on a 300cc bottle.
 
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qball said:
I’ve spent a lot of time, air and slug/pellets at tuning. My simplified approach is to set the reg at the highest factory “comfort” range balanced to hammer weight and use hammer adjustment to tune. Might lose a few shots of shot count but my bottle is always next to me. With highest reg it ensures shortest valve dwell which simplifies tuning by a country mile. I can get almost any newer FX gun to shoot MOA groups with slug in 15-20 minutes. I’ve tuned a ton of my friends guns and if start with highest reg I can tune for any ammo in no time with a few twist of hammer spring or preload. You will even be surprised by the high shot count. The ease of tuning and ammo versatility is amazing if you just get your reg to max.

Obviously for pellet only I don’t use as high reg settings but I never drop below 110 bars even with my little 10FPE backyard sniper.
Click to expand...
qball,

I will follow your advice once the weather improves. It has been very cold and snowy since my last post. I tried to get some crony data for the as delivered regulator setting for 13.43gr and 16.2gr pellets but my wife shut me down after 1 data run for 13.43gr pellets. I'm not allowed to do any crony work out of the dinning room door until the weather gets warmer! Not sure when I'll be able to post any progress. The photo shows what I'm dealing with. It has looked this for the last 2 weeks!

P1000702.JPG
 
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Jlowe said:
Nice set up. Looks really good. If I had better hands I wouldn't hesitate to get a .177cal. I am always very interested to hear what pellets and slugs work well in the .177cal Crowns though.
I bought 2 Mavericks when they first came out. Next I planned on buying an M3, but got side tracked and bought a Crown MKII. Then I bought another one, and the other day I almost bought another one. They are really light and have a great feel to them as well as easy to shoot. You will enjoy it. I bought the one below used from Utah Air on Black Friday. I was all ready to buy the VP Refurbished version when this one came up for the same price with the scope and mounts. It's a 22cal. Right now I am waiting on Bullet Central to get back in stock the Carbon Fiber Shroud and tensioner kit for my 600mm .25cal version, which, hopefully work great.
I'm not a fan of pre-ordering airguns but if a Crown MK3 came out, I wouldn't hesitate to get on the list.

View attachment 323820
View attachment 323826
Click to expand...
Hi Jlowe,
Where did you purchase the barrel band from?
 
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