The Making of a Field Target rifle ... Using the JSAR Raptor Mini

[Motorhead]

This to be a year long journey in R&D along with product fine tuning internally as well externally.
Had this rifle on order sense August of last year. Happened to be in house able to assemble it myself a couple weeks ago and get the color combo wanted ... Black & Silver.

For purposes of production and being realistic to perhaps having JSAR produce such a version .. or at least parts & pieces somewhere down the road we need to start somewhere as a base line & while Not a clean slate but building off what JSAR already has done and can manufacture.

Internally we will being keeping it as close to stock production specs as is practical, tho some massaging and cleaning up is going to / has already happened. This being nothing more than a bit of stone/hone work on trigger sears, making a custom probe with o-ring ( 0- ring Not in barrel ) and prepping the barrel to personal specs and crowning myself. Replaced the .250" transfer port with a Tapered one with .140" exit diameter.
A few parts added such as a Single Shot Tray, Double end handle for cocking lever so you cock on handles swing center line, Block out covers for the magazine slots along with a Full length adjustable Fore Stock for use in a Bi-pod which i use as a "Hunter" class competitor.
Out on the end of barrel made a departure and used an older WAR part ... a Sliding LDC can, that also kept the barrel tensioning feature intact. It's not loud collapsed, but is silly quiet extended.
Barrel a Raptor full size spec 22" ( In lieu of 17" standard on mini's ) LW standard rifling .20 caliber

* love my .20's !!

Up top side sits a HAWKE Airmax 30 6-24x50 with a Scopewerks Nautilus side wheel. BKL level and one of my telescoping antenna wind flags. One piece offset mount secures it.


This rifle will be shared and folks able to shoot threw out the AAFTA west coasts Field Target season 2020 ... so if you happen to make a west coast Match where the hooligans ( self included ) from the Sac Valley FT club are present, Look me up and check it out & shoot it too.

THIS IS AN R&D venture between JSAR and MOTORHEADS AG tuning services and the set up and configuration may very well change as the season go's along, but for now we start HERE .. Enjoy

Scott S

* The last picture ... Yea it shoots really really well !! Those 2 targets shot at 45 yards while sitting on a tri leg stool and shootin stocks ... 10 shots at each with a few sighters in the corner boxes. Black circle is 1"
Thinking it has a chance to make a few waves and raised eye brows ... We'll find out this 2020 season.

 

[Guest]

Scott,

Looks great!

 

[jdanvers]

That's awesome - and I (along with everyone else) HOPE we get to find out this 2020 season. ( .... on so many things, sports, etc . . . )

 

[Uglyjohn]

Scott I can only assume that many of those lucky enough to get to shoot it will like it enough to want one. If there is enough interest do you think JSAR will include it (with all/most of the mods that you mentioned) in their product mix? Uj

 

[Motorhead]

Scott I can only assume that many of those lucky enough to get to shoot it will like it enough to want one. If there is enough interest do you think JSAR will include it (with all/most of the mods that you mentioned) in their product mix? Uj

The idea is to explore the feasibility of a lower power tune & stable enough to be considered competitive. From there it becomes a case in how adaptable the platform is for alternative miens of setting it up for OPEN or Hunter FT applications. If after the 2020 season there is interest enough for the cost involved to create an FTS version ( Field Target Special ) I'm confident the owner of JSAR would have such a version offered in the future.

We have a year to wring it out, beat it up and shoot some matches with it, change it up and see what sticks.



Scott S

 

[nomojo65]

WOW!, nice transition, looks good keep um coming

 

[Davec107]

I can't wait to check it out, looks fabulous like all your other work....

Dave 

 

[Arzrover]

Cool project, Scott!

I'm curious if it will have the production version balanced valve? 

Bob

 

[Motorhead]

Cool project, Scott!

I'm curious if it will have the production version balanced valve? 

Bob

Well, guess we'll go there now than later .... The "IF" have no idea being we're just getting going with this journey and as stated we're working with for the most part PRODUCTION INTERNAL parts that are on all raptors as of this time.

Frankly i'm astounded the rifle operates well as it does throttled down far as it is. The JSAR MinI as I am working with with HIGHER reg pressure and increased hammer spring tension along with increased poppet lift via buffer adjustment would EASILY eclipse 50+ fpe WITH THE SAME BARREL & PELLET.

Thats just crazy power lurking inside we're just taking a SIP from in this current FTS configuration.

This R&D project is going either PROVE the balanced valve in all it's glory and power potential CAN play well a such lower power levels or it CAN'T and in such a case will be replaced with a design that will in this one rifle. Now if or not that will be practical for a production FT version is yet to be determined ?



I'm a tech guy & tuner very aware that in most match guns typically we see much lighter hammers, substantially smaller valving parts and pieces etc ... So by design we're not starting out typically low powered looking to get more, but working with mega High power looking to see how efficiently and effectively we can get LESS, a LOT less.

The Tech these guns have assembled into one package is pretty cutting edge and BY DESIGN they were made to be MONSTERS !!!

Can we tame the beast without neutering the beast is what we are looking at ????



Scott S

 

[mtnGhost]

Looking good! What's your shot count looking like? Also curious on your reg shim / spring stacking setup, how low do you think they can go and be "stable"?

I dig that handle setup too.. that gives me inspiration for a project on my lathe tomorrow for my Mini  

 

[Motorhead]

Looking good! What's your shot count looking like? Also curious on your reg shim / spring stacking setup, how low do you think they can go and be "stable"?

I dig that handle setup too.. that gives me inspiration for a project on my lathe tomorrow for my Mini  

Early testing has the reg at 1200 psi ( removed some shims to get that low ) on a 4K fill looking like an easy 200+ shots.

This STUCK at home thing has me fiddling more on the RAPTOR FTS that I likely should be .. it was shooting just fine !
But alas always the tinkerholic never leaving well enough alone. My excuse was R&D, yes lets see how that excuse fly's

Lighter hammer, MUCH lighter ... SSG devise as I've been using for a couple years now ,,, JUST GOTTA DO IT .. so i did it. Lol
Manufactured an 100% Delrin ( Not acetal ) hammer that retained basic shape and buffer adjustablity. Finished up with buffer and cocking screws in place @ 25 grams. This is less than half the weight of OEM hammer.
Tossed it in with the same HST and buffer screw positions .... MORE power than it had before jumping from @ 800 fps to 870's Well ok then, faster strike from the lighter hammer equates to lift happening faster is my WAG

Dial in even slacker HST ( already in free flight ) the power "Kinda" falls away some. darn Reg pressure gotta go lower !! or we need to loose some spring energy and that OEM 12# spring for this tune with a lighter hammer has got to go. So .. lets make an SSG device and get a better handle on spring energy delivery. Using the OEM HST parts simply placed a long 3mm screw threw the hole, make a containment hat for the end of screws threads to hold the other end of spring and put in a much lighter 6# spring from an M-rod. Give it @ 1/4" of preload and install it, setting the free flight gap to @ 1/16" or so.

Load a pellet and SNAP being 720's or so with the reg sittin @ 1200 psi. Curious where in the bell curve i was cranked up the pressure on reg and low and behold speed came up too. So my hammer strike energy is still excessive being I was getting more speed with more pressure. Once at @ 1400 psi we're back at 800 fps. At @ 1500 we peak @ 840's & start loosing speed ( so there's the peak ) dialed back to 1400 fiddle with the buffer adjustment to find just where reducing poppet lift starts taking away speed an move it back just enough to be in the sweet spot. 797/795/801/789/793/800 is the @ random pattern we see over the chrony. ( We're still hanging onto an @ 12 fps spread ) 

In making the hammer payed attention to sizing it for a better fit within the tube. OEM hammer was @ 1.040" where tube I.D. was 1.056" giving a .016" clearance which for a match rifle where we want the lowest cyclic vibration is excessive IMO. New hammer sits in the tube with @ .006" clearance. Length of the hammer had to be reduced by @ .040" to get rocker catch sear to reset correctly with the snugger fit. No harm no foul.

End result .. Gun cocks far easier ( 12# spring to a 6# ) Hammer simply slides better too. Shot cycle an even crisper SNAP and muzzle report different too.


Thats about it ... until next time

Scott S

 

[Motorhead]

We now have a Flip Gate single shot loader ... took @ 3 hours of mill time to get all the proportions right. For FAT thumbs into a narrow gap using a rollin tray where MAG would go was not working too well. Now a whole lot easier being able to flip the gate and load.

Also added some o-rings on the biathlon style cocking lever .. feels better & looks snazzy.

 

[Guest]

Nice

 

[mtnGhost]

Nice job! That looks great man, I could see myself spending more like an entire day on an end mill making exactly that  

 

[Motorhead]

Yesterday was doing further fiddling and while rifles holding a fairly tight ES in sequential shooting, if rifles sits for 10+ minuets or more the reg will creep up @ 50/75 psi and the next first shot was going 15-20 fps faster than wanted.
While I tried to get it tuned on the bell curve knee, these balanced valves are just so willing to make power that even a slight change in pressure has it making more / or less power accordingly.

SO ... took the Ninja adjustable regulator apart and pulled the inner spool removing bevels, o-rings. Chucked it up in the lathe and trued it. That done using a small .155" end mill removed the OEM nylon "Seat Ball" leaving a slightly larger hole with a small ledge the NEW SEAT will shoulder on. Out came the PEEK making a small cylinder that was then pressed into the end of spool, faced off very smoothly ending up at the same @ overall length of the ball seat there previous. With a Cratex point polished the raised volcano rim of portion the peek would seal against inside the lower reg body.

Cleaned and lubed with a reassembly and a few shimming spec changes we have the regs low side at @ 1150 psi and high side +/- @ 2200 psi ... perfect.

Now the REALLY really really good news !! With reg set to 1500 psi which gets my wanted 800fps IT STAYS AT 1500 psi dead nuts !! you see pressure gauge drop during the shot @ 200 psi and it instantly within a few seconds is back at 1500 psi. Gun sat all night with 4000 psi in the bottle and came out this A.M. and it was still there ! ... took a cold shot over the chrony @ 801 fps. Now were talkin !!!

** This is NOT saying the adjustable regulators have a problem, Not at all. What I'm saying is for the JSAR RAPTORs to work as a high precision match power gun at these reduced power levels while also utilizing the Balanced valve the pressure the valve processes needs to be very very stable. Looks like we're daily inching along in making this gun more and more refined which in good for the short term and Great for the long term with much hopefully carried over to production guns in the foreseeable future.

Scott S

 

[mtnGhost]

Great work Scott!! This is no easy project. We always see tuners trying to turbocharge rifles for more power, but I can definitely see this R&D opening a lot of new doors. I think once you get the beast tamed and fine tuned, you'll have a very consistent shooter with some amazing efficiency behind it!

 

[Uglyjohn]

Any recent thoughts or development re the Raptor Mini FT?

 

[Motorhead]

Any recent thoughts or development re the Raptor Mini FT?

Shot its first official FT match a week and a half ago. Top three scores shot in the 58 shot match was 52-51-50 and the raptor shot the 50.

Top two guns were a STEYR and DAYSTATE ... so I would say that's some fine company more than legitimizing the guns potential to play the game at a high level as currently set up.

It is headed into the Bad Lands of Nevada's back country for the most difficult FT match in the country on the 12-13-14th of this month for the Nevada State FT Championship.

We'll see how it fairs once again.



Scott S

 

[Motorhead]

Another update ... * This an edited Copy / Paste from the primary thread over on the GTA forum. This bit of change done prior to the match mentioned above.

I had back a few weeks pulled the balanced valve internals OUT and replaced with a conventional poppet with cobra spring set up . Kept the SSG and light hammer finding my >20 fpe power on just a 1000 psi set point. Had taken off the 4.5k CF bottle replacing it with 3k 400 aluminum being it fit the JSAR adjustable regulator.
Shot cycle a very crisp SNAP with es values +/- 3 fps. accurate as heck so figured we had a good tune going and gave it no further thought ... UNTIL after shooting last Saturdays club FT match.

Had taken @ 20+ or so practice shots before the match and then shot the 58 shot match so comfortable is saying 80 shots give or take. Had started off with exactly 3k in the guns 400cc bottle and when match was done HAD ONLY USED 400 psi ... WHOA !! * Now this is with those really nice 1 1/2" precision gauges that I've proven quite accurate.

Into Lloyd's efficiency calculator we entered 400cc bottle, 3K start, 2.6k finish, 13.7 weight @ 800 fps ..... Efficiency a WHOPPING 2.32 avg FPE/cuin per shot

I'm not so sure about this ? being it is so non typical .. just crazy efficiency and will keep an eye on it and see how it does with some more testing. I've just replaced the bottle with a Ninja 13cu in using a second NINJA adjustable reg on 5/8" threading which is @ 213 cc & this should make seeing the air use more precise and able to get a more definitive look at whats happening.

Yup .. Nevada State in a week !!!



Scott S

 

[Motorhead]

* Replaced the 400cc 3k for 13 cuin ninja bottle ( @ 212cc ) along with another Ninja adjustable regulator in 5/8" threading set again to 1000 psi prior to below match.





Second match now shot with the JSAR FTS ..... Nevada State FT Championships. I shot the rifle both days to give it a fair and unbiased thrashing.
Saturday was super windy and was too little too late in realizing just how crazy of target holds offs were required. Days end was in the 4th ranking Hunter PCP position. Sunday from @ 10-12 o'clock winds were less and everyone was knocking down more targets, self included.
After noon the winds howled once more and we're only 1/2 way threw the course !! Time to get windage hold creative and seriously dope the wind !! Come days end set the HIGH day score from either day and secured a 3rd place finish ... shooting the .20 cal JSAR Raptor Mini FTS.

I am REALLY liking this gun as now modified and configured .... In this past weekends adventure in NEVADA it allowed stable and controlled shots i would have had difficulty with shooting my regular FT rifles.

BAD AZZ little rifle ... odd looker but a fine shooter !!

Scott S