Tuning FX Maverick full beans!

Awesome work as usual Ignoto! I have very little to add on the technical bits, since I never documented in detail the stuff I've done. You've far surpassed the valve work I've done anyway at this point. The biggest benefit to PEEK would be it is a little easier to open the valve, since it doesn't really compress into the seat as much as the other materials you're using for the poppet. It is also stronger, so you could probably get away with a slightly smaller diameter poppet. All of the ones I made sealed up on the first try, but I made sure the machining on the sealing edge was perfect.
Hi! Do you have any of your custom made parts for sale? I would love to get my hands on your upgrades but I don't have the tooling required to make them.
 
Hi! Do you have any of your custom made parts for sale? I would love to get my hands on your upgrades but I don't have the tooling required to make them.
I don't, unfortunately. Everything I made for my gun was one off parts. I have a hard time making anything for myself. I only have a small crappy lathe, so everything I do is a pain in the arse, lol.
 
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Today i finally tested the "more balanced" valve i meant earlier and i have some good and bad news to report.

View attachment 359843

I would also like to know what sizes have anyone tried as offset diameter for the poppets made and how well they sealed at first try.
I think i have finally nailed how to make and assembly them because for the 2 new valves they sealed first time without a shake or a shot at low 70 bar pressure.

The valve stem conical diameter is 7.4 and the poppets are 7.8 (0.4mm offset) and 8.2 (0.8mm) with sucess using acetal and nylon. But i would like to know what offset should be ok for peek.

Moving on to the valve results it is crystal clear no more tungsten or even heavy hammer weights are needed since the valve could easily overtravel with the lightest hammer weight for the maverick (the one with 1mm preload) at 170bar.
This means 200bar pressures no longer needs the hammer to twang the valve nor peek poppets are needed anymore.

This came with serious drawbacks so far.

Namely the shot consistency wasn't good anymore and this arrangement would sometimes overhang the dwell time too much and full throttle air downrange for half a second partially locking open the valve.
This is where fine tuning comes in, tomorrow i will test with the original hammer(lighter than the current one) and a harder return spring just for the peace of mind before tweaking the valve further. This has a 4mm shaft, but probably 3.5 or 3 should be better.

Obviously not reinventing the wheel but this should make high pressures easier to handle and with enough tweaking one hammer could fit all pressure ranges and still be reliable to control speeds.

Comparison between the original valve and this one achieved max travel in each with a diference of 5mm less preload on the hammer.

The following was my preload at 140bar
View attachment 359866

Also the hammer adjustment range sensitivity was greatly increased between 16 to 110joules which was before about 6mm and was today about 1~1.5mm preload on the hammer (too sensitive in this configuration)

This was handled with different power wheels i had made previously.View attachment 359868

From initial testing i think a lighter valve could also make the cycle snappier, this can be done by making the shaft hollow but it's just a thought for now.
I'm amazed at how you guys mod your guns. I don't have the brain nor the gut to tag along.

But I'm very interested in that finer adjustment power wheel. Do you know who sell it?

Thanks.
 
I'm amazed at how you guys mod your guns. I don't have the brain nor the gut to tag along.

But I'm very interested in that finer adjustment power wheel. Do you know who sell it?

Thanks.
 
I'm amazed at how you guys mod your guns. I don't have the brain nor the gut to tag along.

But I'm very interested in that finer adjustment power wheel. Do you know who sell it?

Thanks.
I gave away the model to europeairguns and it is currently being sold check it out. No interest in my part, have not tried or seen one myself even. Check under ea parts. There is also a video the owner as made about it. Spanish language only though.
 
Hi! Do you have any of your custom made parts for sale? I would love to get my hands on your upgrades but I don't have the tooling required to make them.
me neither, only made a bunch and wouldn't even know how to make a deal across seas. Don't even have an ebay account but could possibly make small batches as soon as I have the time. The timing is just not good at the moment. Every small time I have is for family. PM for parts I will see what can be arranged.
 
me neither, only made a bunch and wouldn't even know how to make a deal across seas. Don't even have an ebay account but could possibly make small batches as soon as I have the time. The timing is just not good at the moment. Every small time I have is for family. PM for parts I will see what can be arranged.
unfortunately I don't see an option/ability to send you dms
 
I decided it was time to give my Maverick all the beans, and see how far I could really take it as a dedicated hunting rig. Especially, since I have another one that I can stick to target fun with(or a backup).

The Maverick I'm using hasn't been "stock" for a very long time. Below are what it's power mods were prior to this latest tuning session:
-700mm barrels in .22/.30
-custom 15-16 gram hammer weights
-Huma hammer spring
-Huma extra high pressure regulators
-Opened valve seat to 7.2mm, PEEK poppet
-Modified barrel ports
-Pin probes
All of that combined with high reg settings gave me a peak of around 85 fpe in .22, and 136 fpe in .30. That was with the reg at 205 bar and a 300 bar bottle. I'm not telling anyone to run their guns at that pressure, and you do so at your own risk and voiding of your warranty. The bottle is a true 300 bar bottle, and the regs are rated to 210 bar, fyi. My hunting tunes were usually around 80 fpe in .22 with 36 grain slugs, and 130+ fpe in .30 with 65.5 grain slugs. Those numbers are quite good for a "BB gun", and would drop most any critter I wanted. Still, I wondered what more I could get out of it...

This past few weeks I set about doing the only other things I could think of to get more power(without major valve re-design). First, I ordered another rear plenum section. I removed the front section containing the 2nd reg, and simply replaced it with the extra rear plenum section I had ordered. Given the high reg settings I was using for making power, the 2nd reg wasn't really necessary anyway. Now the gun has one regulator and a massive plenum which is probably over 125cc. The best part is, I just screwed the 2nd reg section off and screwed the plenum section on, and no other modifications were needed. It don't get much easier than that! That simple change managed to send 36 grain .218 slugs at 1060 fps for 90 fpe in .22! Next up, the .30 managed to send 78 grain slugs at 931 fps, for 150 fpe! That extra plenum definitely helped the .30 the most. Either one of those calibers would put the hurt on a porker noggin, haha.

While that was it for .22(until the 800mm barrel comes out), that wasn't it for the .30... I ordered myself a 1:16 twist .300 blank from TJs to take it up one more notch. I started with a 34" blank, but bored and ported the last 2" so it would vent into a custom shroud. I still want to keep this gun quiet. The resulting barrel is about 32" long, which I finished up today. Thank god for bullpups, otherwise, this gun would be way too long. Anyway, I added a 1/4 turn to the hammer spring and let some lead fly over the chrony. The NSA 65.5 grain slugs were cruising along at 1043 fps! Then, time for the 78 grain Griffin slugs. Those tripped the chrony at 967 fps! That's 162 fpe
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NOW, the Maverick is a proper hammer
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On a side note, I don't know what the shot count is at these power levels, but it is better than you'd think. I didn't run full strings, because I didn't want to waste the slugs. I'm estimating 35-45 shots in .22 and 20+ shots in .30 at those power levels.

Of course, the real test will come down to how it shoots. I know the .22 is a laser with the 36 grain slugs, so not many worries there. The real unknown will be how that 16" twist TJs barrel performs. I haven't seen any info about anyone using that particular one, so I have no idea how it will perform. I've seen plenty of folks with the 26" twist TJs, but none on the 16". Heck, I didn't even know they had a 16" twist .300 barrel, until I emailed them and asked if they had anything with a faster twist. To my surprise, they did! It may be a couple of weeks, before I can test the .30 for accuracy. I don't like shooting those power levels at my house, it just isn't safe. I'll have to wait, until I can get to the range to test it. Hopefully, it won't all be for nothing. I'll try and post a picture in the next day or two for reference. Thanks for reading guys!
One question for you. How did you opened up the valve seat to 7.2 mm. Did you just drill it with a 7.2 drill?