Hey folks.
I am new kid on the block here but not new to guns.
I have been an airgunners for many years but have had a "break" from the airgun-scene for some 8-9 years.
I have decided again to get into airguns and have made up my mind get buy a RAW. Daystate are nice, FX are nice and so many other, but I want the RAW.
I have watch YouTube and read pages up and down here and other places to get as much intell as possible in regards to RAW. I do however have some issues.
I have a great diificulty in seeing why some one can make aftermarked products to make improvements on an already highend airgun. That goes from O-rings to silencer. If I buy a new gun from Holland & Holland I don't send lt to a bubbagunsmith for improvements...Do I?.
I will wait to a new gen of RAW comes out. I have read here Huma regulator might be one of the things. Other features could be a real silencer, quick detachable, with sub 70 db. Adjustable regulator, quick detachable barrel and so on. Maybe now when they have joint in with TexasAirforce airguns something new will happen. I want the best and not a gun where some after marked products must be apllied for improvements. Now...hurl the stones .. Lol
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First-welcome! You have made a great choice in going with a RAW-a product that is phenomenal straight from the factory-with no modifications needed.
Let me speak to your concerns here (at the risk of offending people on this thread-which I do not intend to do). I can understand your confusion between seeing the overall excellent experiences shared related to the RAW product line-which are ALL shot with products delivered straight from the factory (with the exception of Umair's postings, but he's been clear that he's modified his gun) and then seeing other posts about modifying the RAW. Hopefully I can clear up some of what you're seeing in this excellent thread.
I will speak to your items, one by one:
O-rings: no issues noted by anyone that I know of. If you are referring to Umair's addition of the O-ring, I suspect that was related to him adding it to the probe as he encountered a problem with
his own work when adding a thimble to the BSA .22 barrel he fitted to one of his rifles. He was experiencing louder than expected noise and (I believe) he traced back a loss of air to somewhere near the breach of his modified gun. As a way to address it, he put seals on everything in the area. While he was at it, he decided to try to improve the way the probe seals to the breach. Throughout this thread, Umair is the only one who has decided that the factory RAW configuration 'needs help' or 'could be improved'. The factory design, as delivered by Martin at RAW, works flawlessly and (in my opinion) is NOT deficient in design.
Regulator: I have ZERO idea why Huma would even consider offering something for the RAW actions-I am totally not at all interested in this offering. My extreme spreads while on the regulator regularly are in the 7-9 fps range for my shot strings-MUCH better than most of the FX results I see that include Huma regulators so I see them as having nothing to offer here for RAW. Umair may not like that answer, but I think the majority of RAW owners stand with me on that sentiment. (Sorry Umair...)
Moderator: Yes, I think Umair, Craig, and others have a legitimate desire in trying to quiet down the RAW's further compared to the factory moderator. DonnyFL and Ken (Spaweapons) have been working on coming up with a solution to make the report more muted. Initial feedback from Craig is that they have a super efficient solution that should resolve the situation-at the expense of added length. This is one area of 'legitimate' critique that's fair when leveled against the RAW lineup. I personally live in an area with no neighbors, so I am not at all bothered by the report of the muzzle from my .25 cal and .30 cal HM1000x. Everyone's situation (neighbors) is different though, so it's a personal thing...
Adjustable Regulator: I don't think this will be coming any time soon from either Martin or AF-nor do I think it's needed. The results are optimized via thorough testing by Martin to give the absolute best accuracy results. Once found, the shots / fill are what they are-and they are more than adequate as delivered in my opinion (especially considering we're talking in the 35-40 shots/fill range with in .30 cal power levels). FX likes to make the option available for users to tinker with the regulator settings-good for them. RAW delivers a product optimized to shoot lights out-don't screw with it! If you want more than one caliber up or down from what you have, then buy a second (or third) rifle-that's my take.
Quick change barrels: Already present.
I have written the guide and regularly do the swap in under 5 minutes-start to finish. Regarding sighting in: I have a 3 MIL shift (left to right) and a 0.5 MIL (up to down) shift when swapping between calibers-repeatably,
every single time without exception. It's completely predictable and accounted for when I swap calibers. No future work could make this any easier...
Detachable Moderator: This will not happen, if Martin has any say in it moving forward-period. I have talked to him about it and it's an issue of his interpretation of being on the 'correct side of current legal interpretations in the US'. You can order a barrel from him without a moderator and seek your own solution if you please-but his will NOT be removable.
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a RAW at all nor would I recommend waiting to see what AF comes out with. AF and Martin were pretty clear at last year's Shot show what they would focus on next: bringing back the 'Theoben' brand as a more cost effective, mass produced lineup. It wouldn't surprise me to see an update announced during this year's Shot Show (I have no insider information-I'm speculating).
Trigger: In reading through the thread, you've seen posts made by me wishing the trigger was a little 'better'. I've really been one of the few that have made this request. It really comes from my days of shooting 10m air rifles with phenomenal triggers. I liken my 'wishes' about the same as 'wishing' I had one of Umair's excellent .22 cal BSA barrels to install: there's absolutely nothing wrong with the LW Polygon offering, but the 'Legend' would just take the gun up one further step into is 'legend-hood' (now that's actually debatable with the .22 LW polygon barrel vs. the BSA barrel). In a similar sense: the only thing I wish I could do is directly install a top of the line 10m trigger into my RAW action (an Anschutz or FWB trigger, or a Steyr-those would be my choices). My RAW's trigger is now setup very, very well and I rarely think about it any more. Having said that: If I could throw $500 - $800 at someone and they would convert my gun for me-I'd take them up in a heartbeat (the Anschutz 4k trigger unit alone sells for $525 as a spare part, just FYI). Anyway, the factory trigger is excellent and my posts are simply just dreams...
Regarding Umair's posts: he comes to this thread from a non-US country and has had considerable experience with modifying other airguns over the years-plus he has access and experience as a machinist. As such, he has taken it upon himself to see if he can do different things with the RAW HM1000X that he had as a spare (started off with a .25 cal gun). I don't blame him at all for what he's set out to do: the BSA barrel (in .22 caliber) is no longer in production and has a legendary following (I know this from reading posts by Yrrah (Harry) over the years, along with others...). If I had access to one of those barrels, had as spare .25 cal HM1000x and his machining experience / access I would have done exactly what he's done and posted for the benefit of anyone who want to learn more about the process or gun. I appreciate him sharing his knowledge and experience in this thread-but I also understand how that could convey a sense that the design was somehow 'inadequate' from the factory. This is simply NOT the case. He's merely putting a 'legendary' barrel into a 'legend in the making' platform-something I wish I could do also! I really only disagree with him on the points I clearly noted above (no offense intended Umair!).
BTW: I found Umair's posting of the thimble most educational and interesting to understanding what they look like in person. I would have pursued the same thimble approach in his situation. However, if the gun was coming from Martin directly: it is my understanding that Martin has an 'indexing rig' (based on rumors only) that he uses to find the 'sweet spot' for the barrel and does this for each barrel he builds-straight from the factory. Once the sweet spot is found, the purpose of the thimble has really been served (unless you want to add a barrel in the future and need to find the new barrel's 'sweet spot' for setting it up-then the thimble can be used as Umair has shown above).
Umair: If I've mis-represented anything you've done, said, or intended in this thread-I apologize (feel free to correct me).
With that being said: again, WELCOME! I don't see any point in holding off in pursuing your purchase of a new or used RAW. (On that note, my second one will be showing up in the coming couple weeks...)
I hope that helps you better interpret the comments, photos, and discussion here in this thread?
Sean
. Uj
