Took my Wildcat out to other day to do some shooting and the pellet exited the barrel in a slow loopy trajectory. I had shot the rifle back in the summer with no issues. The rifle cocks with the same amount of resistance as far as I can tell and the hammer retainer plug is secure. I feel no blowback around the breech o-ring and as I said the report of the rifle even without the moderator installed is very quiet. Any ideas out there what the issue might be. Thanks Bill
Tuning Wildcat .25 MK1 Lost Power
- Thread starter AirgunBill
- Start date
Lay a piece of tissue paper over the breech and see if it moves when firing. It can sometimes be hard to feel blow-by from a bad breech o-ring. Not trying to be a smart arse but I assume that the air reservoir is full? (Happened to me once. Lol)
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Check barrel pellet probe lined up correctly and not loose and barrel port lined up and as mentioned the Breech seals then is still no go be sure hammer tension screw hasn't moved just back it out then chrony and adjust to proper speed then locktite.
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If it is not a newer model with the external hammer spring dial you can also add a second hammer spring jam nut to keep it from walking. My Wildcat MK1:
I got mine from 910 Airgun Tuning and Repairs
I got mine from 910 Airgun Tuning and Repairs
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Thanks for the replies guys. The hammer jamb plate is in there solid and peering in at the spring from what I can see is no spring break. The beech seal while worn does not allow any bypass air to move a piece of tissue when the rifle is fired. The air cylinder is maintaining pressure so there is not a leak in the system that I can detect. From what I can figure at this point maybe something in the regulator is not allowing a full measure of air to reach the breech. Oh and the hole in the bottom of the probe appears to line up with the bottom port. I have watched Ernest's Wildcat MK1 tear down which does not look too bad, however I need to find a video that shows how to clean and inspect the regulator if that might be the problem. Anymore ideas and links appreciated. Bill
Just found Ernest's youtube video on the regulator rebuild and will be watching it for ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYZRqnlerbM&ab_channel=FXAirguns
Just found Ernest's youtube video on the regulator rebuild and will be watching it for ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYZRqnlerbM&ab_channel=FXAirguns
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You might want to consider getting the Huma regulator and just swap that out since you are going to take it apart. The Huma provides a better ES and it is also pre marked with output pressure. No guesstimating like you would have to do on the FX regulator without having testing equipment.
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I'm with you there. I just got off the Huma-Air website looking at their regulators including the power plenum model for only about $12 more and you can use it with or without the power plenum. Plus would get their regulator tester gauge and the regulator rebuild kit. Of course I hope that would solve my problem but it still is not a bad upgrade and would allow me to do a power tune. Bill Oh and AirBuks does a nice Huma install video on youtube
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I have thought about swapping mine out and adding a (Dreamline?) power plenum. Using the Dreamline plenum would add plenum volume without reducing air cylinder volume. I have only "thought" about doing the mod because my Wildcat shoots so darn well that I am hesitant to mess with it. If my WC ever goes south then I will definitely do it.
Of course if this would not work on the MK1 model then somebody let me know.
Of course if this would not work on the MK1 model then somebody let me know.
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I would lean towards a bad oring on the regs piston. If it’s bad enough, your reg would be beyond acting creepy. You would be shooting off your air tube pressure. There’s no way your FX has enough hammer spring or hammer weight to overcome that. Hence the slow quiet gun.
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What Vetmx says makes sense. Easy enough to check. Shoot it and as cylinder pressure comes down the velocity would go up until it gets to the hammer spring preload vs cylinder pressure tipping point.
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Damn it I just spent some time typing a detailed answer to what my loss of power in the Wildcat was but the message got kicked off. I decided to buy Huma regulator with the power plenum to give me the adjustability and potential increased performance. Also got an analog reg. tester to confirm the bar settings. Long story short, the new regulator did not fix the problem. What the real problem was the the barrel being an older style does not have an alignment notch. Somehow with taking the moderator on and off or just not having the set screw not tight allowed the barrel port to come out of alignment. Barrel is now installed and in alignment and rifle is back to performing. Bill
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Yep have had the same issue as well , also having the problem with my wildcat mk1 and maverick the cocking leaver slipping on the cocking rod that resulted in misalignment pellet probe - transfer port
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New problem the rifle has a slow leak bleeding down from a full 230 bar fill to 140 bar or so overnight. I noticed that when installing the new reg and testing reg pressure the check valve one time was leaking badly. I have a Wildcat o-ring rebuild kit but there did not appear to be a replacement o-ring in the bag. I cleaned and lubed the parts and put it back together along with replacing the orings on both ends of the air tube. I have ordered some o-rings including the check valve one from the Oring Store. I purchased this Wildcat back in 2016 so I guess the o-rings are not in the best of shape as I noted with the check valve one and the air tube ones. It is possible with the system being totally depressurized the valveseat or another area has come loose. Hope I can figure this out. Bill
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