Yet another Taipan Veteran problem

[Mink]

Long story short, I bought a Veteran Long .22 in May and have had nothing but issues with velocity inconsistency. As mentioned in a previous post, I had random large velocity fluctuations with the OEM regulator (30-40fps). After tinkering with the HST to no avail, I broke down and bought a Huma. I originally installed it with reg pressure 115 bar, and noticed a dramatic decrease in velocity of first few shots after the gun sat for a while. Yesterday I took the reg out and adjusted it down to 100 bar as my desired speed is 880-890 fps with 18.1s and I though that too light of a HST tune was the culprit. 


Today I was excited to shoot it to see if the problem was fixed. First 20 shots, VERY good. Even the first shot was bang on 885 so I was thrilled. Then I moved my target out to 50 yards and when I returned to the gun I shot the following string:

654 655 907 915 922 923 922 924 920 923 922 655 653 657 655 654 887 886 885



Now what?

Trying to stay optimistic but what a frustrating purchase...

 

[rangur1]

I was told it takes 300 shots for the huma reg to settle in. 

 

[Mink]

I was told it takes 300 shots for the huma reg to settle in.

@rangur1 300 shots after every adjustment? I probably have close to that through it now total. I guess I’ll keep shooting and holding my breath. 

 

[Franklink]

A couple of thoughts, perhaps chronograph issues and not gun issues...............at 50 yards, a 650fps shot will hit lower than a 920fps shot. You could verify point of impact to rule out chronograph problems. If you're keeping them within an inch or so at 50 yards, there aren't any true 650fps shots in the mix. BUT, if you've got a long, vertically stretched out group.......

I ran some numbers with Strelok. With a 30 yard zero, a 650fps shot with a JSB 18.1 should hit around 3 inches low of aim point at 50 yards. A 920fps shot with same pellet and 30 yard zero, should hit around 3/4 of an inch low at 50 yards. Those will all vary with scope height, elevation above sea level, etc. but should give you a decent idea in determining if your chronograph is having a hard time capturing accurate fps, or if you have a gun issue. 

 

[Yo]

Any accurate at 50 yards?

If it's accurate at 50 yards you're chrony is messed up.

If it's shooting like a shotgun then remove that hammer spring and adjuster and take pictures and post them here.

Assumong you are using the factory HST adjuster and factory hammer spring isn't screwed up and your accuracy is bad I would remove them and clean them and hammer etc and also inside the rear tube.

 

[elh0102]

I believe the rifle needs to be taken down and thoroughly serviced. But, it's new, and there is a one year warranty. Put the Taipan reg back in (which I expect fine, they are good regs), and return it for warranty repair.

 

[Yo]

Is this the same gun that was advised to have it sent back for exchange before the HUMA was purchased?

 

[RENVAL]

I would send it back and let the dealer deal with it, hopefully they won’t notice you already removed the reg, that might avoid your warranty.



Renz

 

[Mink]

UPDATE: 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. The gun is definitely the issue, not the chronograph. POI when reading 650 fps was very different than 880.


After shooting 60 more shots thru it, it seems to have leveled off at my desired 885 fps with an extreme spread of 8 fps over the 60 shots (including a fill). I’m hoping it was just the reg settling in after the 15 bar adjustment, but with my luck it’ll be back in the 600s next time I shoot it. 

I will wait another hour or so and shoot another string to see if it’s still shooting right. 

 

[Mink]

@Yo @elh0102 @regarval 

I have thought about sending it in for warranty but A) I have tried emailing Taipan customer service a few weeks ago and *crickets*, and B) I am not even convinced that there is anything wrong with the gun, I just think the OEM reg is set much too high for the speed that I want to shoot, and there is no way to measure how much you are adjusting the OEM reg without a reg tester which I dont have. 


So, instead of trying to send the gun back and being told nothing is wrong, I thought the Huma would give the the performance and adjustability that I needed to lower the reg pressure myself.

 

[Yo]

How does it group at 50 yards?

NEVERMIND the chrony.

 

[Mink]

How does it group at 50 yards?

NEVERMIND the chrony.

Groups look fine now, pretty windy here so POI is moving around. But there is one large ragged hole where the pellets going 880-890 are landing and other holes scattered around when the velocity changes from this range. 


With 10-15 mph winds its grouping 1-1.25” at 50 yards. 

 

[elh0102]

You can't test much in that wind. When it calms, shoot at 25 first, then 50. No need stretching the distance much to confirm that it's shooting. All the variables are magnified with distance. In good conditions, mine shoots one little hole at 25.

 

[Yo]

Yea wind REALLY BLOWS!

 

[jarmstrong]

Did you say, that the shots with the slower velocity shot like a scatter gun? clipping could cause that. loose shroud or loose baffles

 

[Yo]

Agreed clipping could be the cause and if you shoot it loud without shroud does it shoot more accurate?

 

[Mink]

UPDATE:

Shot a bit this evening after the wind died off. Only got 2 chrono readings before erroring due to low light. 878 885. After that, I shot 6 5-shot groups at 50 yards to see accuracy. 

Groups look acceptable to me. Note that I adjusted the scope after the top 2 bulls. That pull was due to a mosquito flying in my eye as I squeezed 4th shot. 


I doubt clipping is the culprit, I’ve shot it w/out shroud before and accuracy is the same. 


I guess I’ll just keep an eye on it for now as the last ~100 shots have been nicely around 880-890 with no extreme outliers. Im not an expert but my possible explanations to the bizarre string from earlier:

- the reg needed to break in/settle in after adjustment

- I lubricated the air tube before replacing the reg and cleaned the barrel right hours before shooting, so maybe lubricant/barrel cleaning solvent (ballistol) was affecting air transfer. Maybe the gun was coughing up one of these and now it’s cleared out.