LCS finally coming together

[Bigragu]

I recently picked up an LCS SK19 in 30 cal from the classifieds on May 1st. Since then I’ve only put one mag thru it just to see how it performs behind the chronograph. Very impressive as I’ve got it shooting 44.75’s at 966, with more power to spare but I stopped there. I had to send the gun back to AOA for a manufacturers defect repair, and I finally just got it back last Thursday.

One of the first things I did, besides create an o ring list, is to convert all fasteners to stainless. After doing fastener conversions on my wildcats and impact, along with other impacts for friends, I’ve come to like the look of stainless hardware on black. The LCS was no different in the final appearance-

I’ve worked on enough air guns to know that Allen head socket cap screws that are accessed a lot can easily be stripped or have the sockets rounded off, and stainless is actually worse for that that the factory hardware. So as an example, certain fasteners like on the impacts scope rail and the top tie plate, I opted for stainless Torx fasteners so as to rule out the possibility of rounding off the socket heads.

on the LCS, the area I will be accessing most are the two barrel clamp bolts so I can clean the barrel to my hearts content with no worries of socket head strip. I also opt for Torx head anytime I really need to put some muscle onto a fastener, and on the LCS the two scope rail bolts along with the bottom pic rail bolts really need some cinching down.

I want to warn fellow LCS owners about what I found out on the scope rail. When I first got the gun, something on the scope rail just didn’t sit with me right, and I took the palm of my hand and slapped it onto the front of the scope rail and the rail popped right off of its track. When I went to loosen the factory bolts they were on there really snug, too. So snug, that that scope rail should not have popped off by me slapping on it!

So fellow LCS owners, you may want to check and see how truly snug your scope rail is mounted onto your receiver. I would hate for you to be one carrying the gun by the scope and you hear a crash as you now see your $2K gun on the ground!

With the stainless Torx bolts I was able to really lock it down good.

 

[Bigragu]

Forgot to mention, I also added a magnetic QD cap onto the fill fitting, to protect it from debris as you all know can wreak havoc on pcp equipment.

when adjusting the power knob while shooting thru a chronograph, I pondered a bit on this whole power knob adjustment. Man, if one wasn’t being careful this knob could easily be turned a few clicks either way, upsetting the tune. So after hours of stewing on this, I drew up a few ideas on paper, wrote down critical dimensions, and reached out to Elis5173 here on AGN. Since the day I met Elis when I ordered my impact speed loaders, he has been my go to for custom design and fabricate of 3D odds and end parts. From a replica of a pistol forestock to my impacts cheek piece, he’s never let me down. 


after he looked it over and I clarified a few things for him, he took my ideas one step further and created his own, in which I’m very pleased with. Here it is, a reference attachment so at anytime I could look down and know my power adjustment knob is still golden-

Factory knob. No idea whatsoever at the 966 it’s putting out, would still be there if it were to move. A sharpie mark doesn’t cut it with me, lol

This indicator I have towards the front of the gun. It will not spin freely on the power knob. If I decide to change my tune snd get it set, all I have to do is pull the screw off, raise and spin the indicator to point forward, and retighten the screw. For this mod, the factory countersunk screw needs to be swapped for an M3 x 10mm length countersunk screw, due to the added thickness of the 3D material. I wasn’t sure on the color for bling, so I had Elis bust one out in black and red. 


I want to take the opportunity to thank him once again for a killer designed mod to add to this LCS. Great job, Elis, snd thank you!

 

[Bigragu]

Some of you know I’m a big fan of locking down barrels onto bottles or air tubes, for these three reasons-

1. To have no barrel droop ever, no matter what size moderator I choose to install 

2. I really hate when a barrel shroud “tinks” against an air tube, just from walking around with the gun!

3. For me, every gun I own thst I’ve done this to has helped with the accuracy. No BS there.

4. I never have to worry about POI changes if I so choose to lean my barrel in a corner wall like in a closet

So, Stuart Waudby at smwengineering has been my go to when it comes to these clamps. I’ve designed the ones for the wildcats, the impacts, the Hatsan Hercules bully, and now this LCS. He’s another guy whose products have never let me down, and each and every time when I slip these clamps on, they fit like it was meant to be-

the gap between the bottom of the shroud and top of bottle are constant in being parallel to each other from one end to the other. One of the side benefits to this clamp is my barrel shroud won’t loosen up and unthread, and at the same time I don’t have to gorilla tighten the moderator so tight to do a compression tightness to the front of the block. Just a snug fit on the shroud, snd the clamp holds it in place.



thanks a bunch, Stuart, for another well made clamp!

 

[Bigragu]

Ok, some loose ends to discuss- some of you here remember the impact donation I did in the beginning of the year. Me, along with five members here on AGN, and a few vendors got together and helped me replace an impact to Matt, who got two of his impacts stolen. Well, Matt hasn’t forgotten that, and that guy did me good the other day by sneakingly getting together with my wife and surprising me with the one scope I had planned for this LCS- the new Athlon Gen2 Helos in the 4-20 x 50 configuration. What an awesome scope, to mount onto an awesome gun. Of course, it also got a great mount, the Athlon cantilever mount with the built in 20 MOA- thank you, Matt, and my beautiful wife of 33 years, Karen, for this awesome Father’s Day/Birthday present!

For those that don’t know about that awesome coming together thread of members here on AGN along with the vendors, here it is. Definitely a great read-

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/oh-happy-days-unbelievable-what-people-can-do-to-bring-hapiness/

looking thru this glass in comparison to my Helos gen1 on both my wildcat 30 and my Impact, there is a big difference in quality. I’ve never been a scope critique like some of the pros out there that know their scopes, but just looking thru it, the way the turret knobs turn and lock, yes, big difference compared to the Gen1’s. 
Like Elis and Stuart in what they are both good at making, when it comes to add on parts to a scope I always turn to MK Machining. Their custom fit throw levers an parallax side focus knobs ooze of quality, in both fit up and performance. I’m a big critique when it comes to parts fit up, as my career of being a sheet metal worker has made me that way. No sloppy fitting parts for me. So between Elis’s parts, Stuart’s at smwengineering, snd MK Machining, this gun here could easily be my go to, at least for a good while.

im going to add on to this topic my chronograph tests along with accuracy tests as time progresses. Stay tuned, lol

 

[Peskådot671]

Great write up and customization on the SK19!

 

[mercado]

.. great looking gun..bolts looks awesome..

 

[darylm]

Nice job!

 

[triggertreat]

Good stuff!

 

[CyberDyneSystems]

Looks great, and always good to learn more about these as I continue to wait for one to be delivered.Thanks for posting.

I am very interested in the barrel/bottle strap. I found the SMW website,. and will likely be asking Stuart for another copy soon. Mine will be in .25, any idea if that will mean your specs for your LCS won't work? I assume not, and I'll need to provide Stuart with the out diameter for the .25 shroud.

 

[AirgunBill]

Thanks for sharing your ideas. I don't know if you saw my video and what I came up for a 3d printed power wheel but here are some pics, not great pics but you get the idea. I have my wheel set on 0 for Hades pellets at 920 fps and +3 for H&N Baracuda Match at 880 fps and +11 for the NSA 27.5 grain at 880 fps. Since there is 12 clicks per revolution I am okay with these loads. Next I 3d printed an l bracket and attached a pic rail for I mono pod that I put together and use on my FX Impacts. The mono pod is made up from photo camera accessories from a company called 'Small Parts?'. Finally when hunting I will at times have pellets left in the magazine that I don't like having to shoot or push back out for safety. I placed this pvc tube and cap filled with duct seal as an insurance policy. Bill

 

[Bigragu]

you’ll have to either provide a design sketch such as this or give the measurements(all as shown). Don’t use mine directly, either, cause every gun is going to be different in something 

 

[madeintheuk]

Awesome write up Augie! From a tuner point of view, how do you feel about the build of these guns? Are they friendly to the back yard repair guy? Or will they need to be sent out every time an oring leaks, or a pellet gets stuck? I’m really interested into getting one in .25, but I’m worried that it’ll be expensive to own in the long run if I’ve gotta send it out every time it breaks or forms a leak!

 

[Bigragu]

Awesome write up Augie! From a tuner point of view, how do you feel about the build of these guns? Are they friendly to the back yard repair guy? Or will they need to be sent out every time an oring leaks, or a pellet gets stuck? I’m really interested into getting one in .25, but I’m worried that it’ll be expensive to own in the long run if I’ve gotta send it out every time it breaks or forms a leak!

Built well. But like I was sharing with someone, it’s a gun with a lot of steps- important steps. No shortcutting on these steps either. From airing up to pulling the trigger, just watch you tube reviews and see what steps are involved. 
ill know more on its performance once I spend more time with it

 

[Bigragu]

AIRGUNBILL- cool 3D mods you got there. I’ll check out your vid

 

[heavy-impact]

I'm glad to see you having fun with your toys Augie, you're living the good life.

 

[Bigragu]

I'm glad to see you having fun with your toys Augie, you're living the good life.

Ha ha, thanks, James, and it’s good to see you posting more often! Part of the reason I’m slow on getting this LCS going(I took ownership of this gun on May 1st from the seller and am just now giving it attention) is I promised my wife I’d pay it back into the general fund that runs the ship. So, until it got paid off, it never really felt like it was mine, lol. Money truly doesn’t grow on trees, and I consider myself lucky enough that I have a hard working woman willing to support my hobby and front me the $$. 

I don’t know what it is about this LCS. Out of all the cool guns out there, this one kept calling my name ”AUUUGGGIIIIEEE” in the wee hours of some sleepless nights, ha ha. I always felt that “I was missing out on something” till I had one in my hands.

Before I made the purchase I consulted with a couple of owners of this platform to see if it was a worthy investment. The results i got were 50/50 on either “go for it”, or “spend your $$ elsewhere”. It’s that semi auto feature that kept luring me in, not so much the full auto. In the end, I’m glad I made the choice to invest in it, as I truly want to know the workings of this gun.

In time, before my warranty with AOA/LCS expires, I will for sure understand and master the inner workings of this thing so I can confidently do my own repairs. All I need is to somehow get my hands on the parts diagram, ha ha, which is like trying to find the fountain of youth! 

Things I’d like to change eventually on this gun, is the factory rubber shoulder butt, somehow create a taller or adjustable cheek rest, and find either an aftermarket bottom pic rail for the bipod or somehow stiffen the one on there. I’m not at all a bipod user, but I don’t like the fact that I see flex when I’m push upwards on the pic rail. I sure wish Saber Tactical would offer aftermarket parts for this thing. I’m going to ask Donny to hire me to head off a department solely for creating aftermarket parts for this thing, lol

 

[CoyoteGod]

I have had success with my Huben doing the exact things you talk about in your post. It is so critical to not miss any steps. These guns are not forgiving, especially for someone like me that isn't able to trouble shoot too deep in to the problem. I cancelled my Uragan order I was going to have sent to Derrick and went with this and keeping it stock other than a barrel clamp. I wanted something "different". All my airguns are hunters first. Play in the backyard drinking coffee second. This LCS has the potential to be a real deal. Augie, I need you to be really good at fixing these in the future because I ALWAYS break something! lol

 

[davelarson]

Wow! Great job on the gun Augie, and what a nasty beast with the big pellets at 966!! Holy smokes that’s gonna crush the raccoons, better pick your shots carefully or you’ll be chopping apart everything behind the target lol!

 

[Bigragu]

I have had success with my Huben doing the exact things you talk about in your post. It is so critical to not miss any steps. These guns are not forgiving, especially for someone like me that isn't able to trouble shoot too deep in to the problem. I cancelled my Uragan order I was going to have sent to Derrick and went with this and keeping it stock other than a barrel clamp. I wanted something "different". All my airguns are hunters first. Play in the backyard drinking coffee second. This LCS has the potential to be a real deal. Augie, I need you to be really good at fixing these in the future because I ALWAYS break something! lol





You may may want to contact Stuart and have him add a clamp for your LCS along with your impact clamp, so as to save on that shipping from the UK, and we just take a chance that it’ll be identical to the one he mad for me. I’ll ship it back with your impact and test fit it on my LCS SK19 to make sure it’s all good

 

[2D1C]

Well written my man!