Airforce .177 Condor dumping air

[Sleestak]

Ideas that could be the underlying cause of this?

I was shooting CPHPs and tried a 12.5 g slug from a recent NSA order and it degassed on me. So I originally thought maybe it was a combination of low bottle fill w a projectile weight issue and perhaps the power wheel was set too low.

After refilling and shooting just pellets some more it occured again. I hadn't looked at the manometer, but don't think that it was a low fill that time.

I've had big bores dump on me, but that occured at the end of a shot string when I was asking for it. I haven't come up w a pattern yet...this seemed pretty random & I'm just trying to narrow it down.

 

[Rob_in_NC]

What PW setting are you running? Has the Condor been modified at all?

 

[Rob_in_NC]

I just got a new .177 Condor with the intent of shooting slugs. Before the slugs came in, I did a few test shots over the chrony to get a baseline. Full fill with 13.4 gr JSB Monsters and PW set to 4, I was hitting 1135.

The slugs I now have in are NSA 15gr. I've not tested them, but will be a balancing act of fill pressure and hammer spring to drop them down around the 950fps mark.

 

[Chief55]

I've had it happen once from having the power set too high with a .22 Condor. I would say it was close to 1300fps. but I did not have the chrony on at the time. I just turned it down some and everything was fine.

 

[Sleestak]

What PW setting are you running? Has the Condor been modified at all?

Out of the box & it was set maybe at around 4ish? I've only had a couple sessions w it, so have a lot more familiarization to do.

I turned it up to shoot some more slugs (initial impressions are very positive) and then back down again. The fact that it did it w pellets actually made me feel better since I was able to rule the slugs out...& I really want to try to use them

Did you get yours directly from AF?

 

[Rob_in_NC]

Out of the box & it was set maybe at around 4ish? I've only had a couple sessions w it, so have a lot more familiarization to do.

I turned it up to shoot some more slugs (initial impressions are very positive) and then back down again. The fact that it did it w pellets actually made me feel better since I was able to rule the slugs out...& I really want to try to use them

Did you get yours directly from AF?

I did, yes. I've had dozens of AF guns over the years and so the platform is very familiar to me. I saw that they had the blems (I still cant find the blemish) for $395 and picked one up to play with.

 

[Sleestak]

I've had it happen once from having the power set too high with a .22 Condor. I would say it was close to 1300fps. but I did not have the chrony on at the time. I just turned it down some and everything was fine.

I probably need to run it thru a chronograph to get a better idea of what's going on.

 

[Sleestak]

I did, yes. I've had dozens of AF guns over the years and so the platform is very familiar to me. I saw that they had the blems (I still cant find the blemish) for $395 and picked one up to play with.

Same here..I wasn't looking for another .177, but at that price I couldn't not

 

[Rob_in_NC]

Same here..I wasn't looking for another .177, but at that price I couldn't not

I'd been toying with the idea of a .177 slug gun for some time and so when I saw that... well... just as you said.

 

[hotspark]

When it dumps, does it stop if you cock it and take the spring load off the valve/top hat?

 

[Sleestak]

I'd been toying with the idea of a .177 slug gun for some time and so when I saw that... well... just as you said.

I'd be interested in hearing how the slugs work out for you. So far I don't notice any discernable difference between the slugs and pellets...but it's deep winter here so I'm restricted to shooting @ 10 m in my basement.

When it dumps, does it stop if you cock it and take the spring load off the valve/top hat?

It just immediately dumps the entire tank and when I refill it shoots/ acts like it never happened.

very strange, but maybe I'm just getting caught up in my shooting and losing track of my shot count

 

[Mike_Lenardon]

Do you have any idea what size transfer port/top hat they have on your condor. If you run too big of a transfer port with a condor valve and a 177 Barrel you may get a bottle dump. You need to use a smaller transfer port

 

[hotspark]

Without air in the bottle you can push the valve in/open like a ball point pen, with your finger. Air is for the most part keeping it closed. Keep an eye on your tank pressure and where it's at before it dumps.

 

[Berserkeley Mike]

I have a couple AF rigs in .177 and play around a bit with the setups, but have only had dumps in higher calibers, when there was a lot of valve opening, relatively low tank pressure, and a projectile that needs a good push to get going.
As was said, most likely it is low tank pressure, and note the bottle gauge reading may not be accurate.
Double check that the breech slide fits snugly against the top hat when the gun is cocked and that the slide doesn't push the valve open a bit when it is "locked in" to one side or the other.
Check that there isn't stiction when opening or closing that breech slide. If there is, clean and lubricate.
Along with the "smaller transfer port" or orifice idea, try removing the hammer weight (metal cylinder between the spring and hammer), and just use the power wheel to preload the hammer. I find with the smaller caliber and at lower bottle pressures, this restores some ability to adjust power with the wheel.
An o-ring under the top hat will reduce valve dwell and may encourage the valve to close more positively.