Cricket 2 Tactical .22 Long hammer spring testing

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mcoulter

mcoulter

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Dec 16, 2015
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Syracuse, NY, USA
I tested velocities on my Cricket II Tactical (600 mm barrel) the other day. Here are the results:

ct2 hs testing fx18.1633623876.png


With FX 18 grain pellets (at about 64f) I started with full tension (hammer spring adjuster fully screwed in = "0" turns) and went from 1029 fps down to 733 fps at 7 turns out (counter clockwise). I shot a minimum of 3 pellets at each 1/2 turn interval and averaged them for this graph. (update: I assume the regulator is set to about 130 bar)

Here are the targets. Most are 3 shots groups (with a handful where I shot more) at 50 yards. Note, I am shooting with a new scope to me. It's one of the Immersive Optics 10x24 prismatic scopes. It's not exactly a benchrest scope, but as you can see it performed pretty well. I would equate the reticle to a UTG wire (non-etched) reticle.

I'm posting more info on the scope over here...

0 turns to 3.5 turns out (no holdovers)

20211006_153542.1633624310.jpg




4 turns to 7 turns out (+1 md holdover starting at 5.5 turns & +2md on 7 turns out)

20211006_153550.1633624487.jpg
 



For reference, this is where the hammer spring adjuster ended up at 7 turns:

20211006_152607.1633624668.jpg




I think it's a pretty slick package!

20211006_171901.1633624739.jpg

 
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Wow, that is such excellent information.

Thanks for posting it!
Click to expand...

Oh, it was hard work. Really hard.

;-)

Next up will be to further test the velocity where I saw the best accuracy. Right now I'm thinking it will be at the 2.5 hs turns out setting which is 969 fps. I'll also see how it does with cheap pellets like Crosman Premiere Hollow Points.
 
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mcoulter said:
I tested velocities on my Cricket II Tactical (600 mm barrel) the other day. Here are the results:

View attachment 173341

With FX 18 grain pellets (at about 64f) I started with full tension (hammer spring adjuster fully screwed in = "0" turns) and went from 1029 fps down to 733 fps at 7 turns out (counter clockwise). I shot a minimum of 3 pellets at each 1/2 turn interval and averaged them for this graph. (update: I assume the regulator is set to about 130 bar)

Here are the targets. Most are 3 shots groups (with a handful where I shot more) at 50 yards. Note, I am shooting with a new scope to me. It's one of the Immersive Optics 10x24 prismatic scopes. It's not exactly a benchrest scope, but as you can see it performed pretty well. I would equate the reticle to a UTG wire (non-etched) reticle.

I'm posting more info on the scope over here...

0 turns to 3.5 turns out (no holdovers)

View attachment 173351



4 turns to 7 turns out (+1 md holdover starting at 5.5 turns & +2md on 7 turns out)

View attachment 173368



For reference, this is where the hammer spring adjuster ended up at 7 turns:

View attachment 173378



I think it's a pretty slick package!

View attachment 173382
Click to expand...
Very good post. I set mine up recently to shoot lightweight slugs (.22 FX Hybrids) at about 955 fps. To get to that power I had to increase reg pressure approx 20 bar and install a slightly heavier hammer spring. Initial reg pressure I’m guessing was about 120 to 125 bar, and I turned reg adjust counter clockwise about ten minutes. Generally with these regs 5 minutes is about ten bar, so I probably ended up around 140 bar. After everything settled out my max speed with the Hybrids was 975 to 980 fps, and I backed off the HST to get right about 955 ish fps. Haven’t tested accuracy yet but it was excellent this past weekend at 905 to 910 fps which was maximum available speed at the stock settings. We’ll see.
 
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Great bit of info! I picked up a used .22 but haven't spent much time with it. I had a cycling issue with the mag. I was skipping pellets or over rotating where the mag wasn't in line with the pellet probe. There is a set screw under the ball detent where the mag sits on. I had to back the tension screw out a few turns and now it cycles fine. Hope to get some trigger time soon. The thing looks to be built like a tank!!!
 
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Nice post, thanks for sharing. Can you please mention which spring you have in your gun. How many mm? I am in Greece and when I bought the gun online from Portugal, it came with one spring in the gun which was very short, was cut very bud with pliers I guess, and it did not produce any tension at all. And there was a second one, larger (67.4mm) in the spare parts, which was way too strong for the factory reg pressure, which was about 120 bar. So, I ended up using the sort one with some washers, and I am in the market for a new spring. My goal is to have a final set up just like the one you have in your post.
 
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Thanks for the kind words, @Kotsiaris.

This past winter I actually replaced the spring with one from Charlie and https://georgiaairguns.net/. To make a short story long, I ran into some velocity issues with this cricket as a result of trying to chamber a slug that was too large in diameter. Pushing too hard disconnected the cocking rod which shoudl not be a big deal, but it precipitated a bunch of issues... related or not it's hard to say.

Anyhow - this seems totally unrelated to your spring question, but I tried quite a few things to get my normal velocity / energy back and as a last resort I bought some new hammer springs. This more stout spring brought things back to normal in my C2T. But then one of the o-rings in my regulator started leaking and I've not revisited the gun in several months.

I'll try to determine which was my original and measure it - along with the replacement I have in the gun now. BTW, here in the US the gun also ships with a weak (non-FAC), spring installed. My understanding is this is tied to export laws in the Czech Republic. I had to swap the spring for the stronger version to have normal (FAC) power from the gun. Do you have airgun energy restrictions in Greece? What power level are you expecting?

BTW, when I was having this velocity issue, I really wanted a regulator tester. I could not source one for the cricket regulator, so I went with a HUMA reg and reg tester and 120 sounds exactly right. I went higher and lower with my original spring and have come back to 120.

With my original spring (and after the problem I described above), my C2T maxing out at 35-38 fpe with maximum tension on the hammer spring. With the replacement spring I am getting just below 48 fpe and this was 3 turns from the maximum tension on the spring.

Here are some pics of the reg and tester. As you can see, there is still a slight discrepancy between the labeling and the reg test results:

1717679823562.png



1717679839029.png
 
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Thank you for the reply.

I borrowed a tester from a friend and did all the tuning. I also have a tester and a Huma regulator on the way, for experimentation. My problem with the C2T is that I cannot find the sizes of the OEM springs. In Greece we do not have restrictions and I do suspect that the gun was meant to be shipped to UK but landed in Greece. The online seller does not reply to my emails, so I started looking around on the web and Airgunnation of course, and there you were, with very helpful posts and information.

This weekend I am going to the range for final tuning and evaluation of the gun and the famous CZ barrel. The build quality is excellent, but there are some things that are very frustrating.

I have the 700 mm model and the shroud, when fully screwed in, touches the block and if you continue revolving it, so it gets stiff enough, it pulls out the barrel, like a bud designed tensioning system. So, I must really crank down the 3 screws that hold the barrel, over 40 Nt (which I don’t like).

The second thing is the screw for the hammer, very flimsy, does not keep its adjustment. I am working on making a new one.

The third thing is that I must fully empty the bottle every time for tuning the reg. I knew it before I bought it, but still, it is time and air wasting for no reason. I also am working, with a friend, on making an adapter, to use the FX bottle adapter and bottle.

All my other guns are FXs and tuning is a charm. But wanted to try out CZ barrels and I chose the Cricket for that. I hope this weekend at the range, the results won’t make me regretting buying the gun.
 
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