AEA HP Max .357/general PCP question…

[Caleb321]

(Apologies for mentioning “something” in my earlier post. Won’t happen again.)
I have owned my gun for 3 or so weeks now, have fired probably 200rds through it at this point. Would’ve been more, but my residence is in Alaska and I have been subject to pretty active late winter weather. As is my habit with my Marauder gen2, I store the gun with a nearly full top off when I’m through with a session of shooting. Unlike the Marauder, every time I pick it back up after a day or so, the first shot is very low power. Like nearly 12” drop from zero at 30yds—low power. The immediate follow up shot, and those ensuing, are all normal. It does this regardless of being stored at 4000, all the way up to the 4500psi maximum. Any idea what I am dealing with here?

 

[darylm]

Cold barrel first shot?

 

[Guest]

Did you use a chrony to see if the first shot velocity was low? Sounds like your pressure is to high the first shot! My Condor does the same if I don't stay inside the pressure at which its zeroed. Not to the extreme you mentioned! But the first shot does strike way out of the group. Ohers may have a better solution for your problem.

I been looking at the AEA rifles myself! Can't convince the wife I need another. Lol, any solution for that problem? Rat hole is low right now! but I'm working on it.

 

[MrP]

I believe a heavier hammer or filling to a slightly lower pressure would solve that problem. Edit:I see you tried lower pressure. 


That’s strange that fill pressure difference had no effect, now I am not so sure hammer weight would help. I had my hands on one for a brief while, I noticed that I would have one or two lower power shots after a fill as well. I had dismissed it as slight overfill relative to the hammer and spring, it was a very big jump and I remember thinking it was odd,

I should have mine back tomorrow or the next day and I will top it off and fire a few shots through the chrony, refill and repeat and see what happens. 

 

[Caleb321]

This only happens after it has at least sat overnight. Every time, I might add. After the very first shot, everything is normal. Including the first shot on subsequent fills during the same shooting session. I first noticed it while shooting without the moderator. A very distinctive low power report. After the first shot, the normal loud bark that these guns are known for. So yesterday, with all of this in mind, I decided that my first shot was going to be a solid hold at the 30yds that it is sighted in for. That is when my suspicions were confirmed. At this point, I do not own a chronograph to nail down any exact numbers. I have left a copy of this thread on the AEA Facebook page, and so far a couple of responses have stated that this is more than likely valve related, that they own guns that act similar(not necessarily the same brand), and that they simply “dry fire the first couple shots” to get everything working properly—and then move on from there. To me, this should not be an acceptable practice for a gun that I’d recently pulled out of the manufacturer’s box. If it’s a glitch with my gun, and it can be addressed, I can live with that. If it’s considered common….well. As stated earlier, I’ve owned a Marauder gen2 for the last couple of years, purchased 2nd hand locally, and it will sit for 2-3 months on the 3000psi fill, and the 1st shot is as accurate as when it was last stored away.

 

[Pale_Rider]

That’s common with guns that are regulated, called regulator creep. Air will slowly increase above the regulator set point, making the first pellet shoot at a lower speed. So you shoot it once to get back to your set point. But I’m assuming your gun is unregulated. 4500 psi is ALOT for a valve to be handling. For perspective, the umarex hammer only uses 3000 psi per shot. And an unregulated big bore, like a quackenbush, will be filled to 3600 psi maximum. I wouldn’t fill that gun passed 3600 for best performance and longevity. 

 

[Caleb321]

Thank you. And yes, unregulated. 
However, the only reason I had considered storing it at this level was at the recommendation from the US distributor. I had queried that question to him on one of his YouTube videos, and storing it at 4500 was his answer to me. I think that today, after shooting for a bit, I will put it away at 3600 and see if it makes any difference.

 

[Pale_Rider]

That’s odd that they would recommend such a high fill pressure for an unregulated gun. That hammer would have to whack open that valve VERY hard to overcome the force of 4500 psi. Only way I can see it being done in a less stressful way is with a balanced valve. 
Let me know how it goes 

 

[MrP]

The poppet is a solid piece of metal, some kind of steel with a thick metal stem - poppet and stem are one machined piece. This one was constructed with that high pressure in mind I am told, and it is the high pressure and heavy hammer strike that can squeeze 160-170(or more for all I know) fpe out of its 13” barrel.



This is the first time really looking closely at valves for me and I was surprised to see the metal instead of delrin or whatever kind of plastic works for poppets. For this one, the delrin part is the surface that the poppet seals against when the valve is closed