Daystate air wolf classic tuning help

[air hog]

Hi,

Retired last year and finally got to repair my old Air wolf .177. It is an original. I had to put it in the closet for about 10+ years. it was fussy and consumed too much time.

So this is the first version with just the electronic trigger. Bought it used , and it is an extra FAC . Anyway , new battery , new seals
good cleaning and it works but has shot like garbage mostly. I bought a Huma reg and installed.

I Tried the huma at higher setting 140 bar , no resolution on the electronic settings, Just dialed it down to 110 , still the lowest setting is the best for accuracy. Any thing higher and the group open up. I plan on getting the 120-125 huma suggests.

Some problems with consistency, I shoot near 1 moa and then it opens opens up. It only shoots decent on the lowest electronic power setting.
I am thinking it is way over powered for accurate shooting, I am considering now replacing the main valve spring with something heavier if nothing else to give me resolution on the electronic power setting. Current one is about 13.3 in-lb, thinking of at least tripling it.

I did polish the barrel , it did help and tightened the groups. The barrel was loaded with lead dust and wax .

Even 10 + years ago , it never really shot all that well.

Just wondering if anyone else has made the journey here. advice appreciated.

 

[starlingassn]

my guess is.....
anything but the lowest setting is pushing the pellets too fast, hence the bad accuracy.

pellets dont like going much over 900fps,
they can become unstable and accuracy plummets.

try some heavier pellets at the lowest setting,
id almost bet they will shoot better.

 

[Smitty911]

Couple of items to note:
1. You might need to find heavier pellets until you find one it likes.
2. If all else fail - I believe there is a Heliboard that will allow you to have up to 12 different settings and each of them able to be tuned.

Smitty

 

[Scotty1]

Great suggestions, a chronograph will be your friend here, pretty much a necessity.

 

[Emu]

Bad quality pellets and too much speed.

Try JSB 11 grain aprox at 900 fps.

 

[Emu]

Also the problem can be in the scope.

 

[Emu]

Tighten the barrel and the scope rings.

 

[Emu]

I bet that if you have a good scope dully mounted, the barrel tighten and good pellets, that rifle should be super accurate.

 

[air hog]

Thanks for your thoughts... what I plan on doing

I did tighten everthing double, triple checked tightness of scopes , mounting screws .....etc.

I have tried a few heavier pellets to include a few slugs, the were heavier , perhaps too heavy for a .177 .
1 foot group sized. The same for some other heavier pellets. Most averaged about a 2-4 inch group @ 47 yards ( backyard length). I am going to put a bit more effort into JSB 13.4 grain. At the lower setting , something may be work.

So what it looks like is a barrel harmonic problem with the larger slugs and pellets. I will shoot a 10 shot group and I will have what looks like 3 small groups fo 2 -4 pellets touching spread out by an inch ( + sometimes ) in a circular pattern. Usually in the same place as well(11 oclock , 5 oclock and 2 oclock) Still not sure how to fix this , I need free float , but it appears the barrel isn't stiff enough. Obviously, I need something to stiffen up the whole system, as is/appears to be a tuning fork ( barrel) with second tuning fork ( the should ) mounted to it. Not sure how to deal this yet , still seeking feaseable/economical solutions.

I have ordered main valve springs in varring spring rates in appropriate size. To proceed , I will start with a heavier spring and make sure the pellet gets out of the barrel on lowest setting. This particular rifle has 15 electron power settings. The goal hear is to make sure that all 15 are in a usefull range , not too fast for too slow for full range of settings.

Wish I had a chronograph, my last one died of old age. It would help but I think I have to get the power settings in a usefull range first.

 

[Emu]

Do you have silicone grease?

If you do, insert a bit of silicone grease in the barrel by the back, then load a pellet and shoot two times with pellets.

Don't ask me why, but I have proven that this work to reacquire accuracy on old rifles.