Hope noone minds if i push on.
The trigger group on these gen1 guns ain´t really adjustable. Well, took a look at it and decided i´d install some well placed M3 grubscrews.. so to centerpunch and...
Us wary of heavy machinery have a nomer for Chinese material, we call it "chineseium" and that stuff is ALWAYS hardened til brittle.
You guess it. Hit it with the centerpunch and the thing broke i half.
Thank you very much.
Well now. I own an ac/dc TIG welder and know how to swing that so a few mins later not only was the sear back together, it had the 2,5mm hole in it too that i tapped for an M3 grub.
Presto. We were golden, and albeit this is by FAR a match trigger it still holds that being able to adjust sear vs hammer interaction goes a long way.
In turn, in contrast to the stock setup, this way i retained the first stage of the trigger pull. Now.. true.. that needs a spring and i´ll look into that as we go.
For now though, usable trigger.. CHECK!
As i had the action apart i put the two hammer springs in the other way around, the softer one going in first - into a recess in the hammer, which sure cut down on hammer spring kinks. What i´m using ATM is a stock hammer spring for an FX Impact coupled with a way shorter generic one - to make up for the space within.
That said.. well, read on...
Yes. This el-cheapo PCP is coming along nicely and yes.. that there is my LabRadar. As you can see i replaced the scope once more, for a newer lit Tasco in 4-16*40, and that´ll fit the bill nicely.
A long range PCP this will never be and "outrunning" 16 powers is a tall order.
Ditto, as you can see, i opted to toss a small piece of Picatinny underneath there and indeed.. to go with the "absolute basic budget PCP" idea i torqed down a just as el-cheapo Harris bi-pod copy on there.
Seeing how light the gun is and placement of the bi-pod it comes to a VERY stable rest as you shoot it, let me tell ya.
Uhu. That´s an overly large can, it´s for the Hatsan really but as it sports a 1/2"UNF industry standard thread.. yeah well. It sure takes the bark out of the gun, seeing we try our ideas mostly indoors.
TBH i´m even starting to find that dyed beech wood stock attractive. Traditional if ever..
There i was, starting to sight this thing in while the LabRadar handed me numbers along the 960-970fps mark. In my book that´s quite respectable for a 22 gun shooting 25,4 grain slugs out of a 400 something millimeter barrel.
In fact, question is if it hasn´t fit the bill even. A matter of judgement i guess, but it not only comes down to power. It certainly matters that the hollow point slugs used travel fast enough to expand on target and in turn it sure helps with an at least reasonable shot count.
Something that to an extent is an issue at that power level coupled with a mere 100cc´s worth of air tank. I´ll get to that though..
Indeed. "Chineseium". There i sat.. cocking the thing when i all of a sudden had the small bolt in my hand. Now.. that´s just plain wrong.
True. I´ve increased cocking force by quite a bit, but hello. We´re still talking by hand vs a bolt out of "steel". To hell with it though so lathe time and made me a fresh bolt out of SIS-2172 steel.
In short hindsight it might have been an idea to increase the threads from the stock M4 to M5.. but..
Anyways.
All good right?
More than you´ll ever imagine.
I guess we´re all aware of the idea of nodes and antinodes and quite honest i´d prefer to just toss that thing. However it DOES keep the air tank part of the gun in the stock.
In stock form though, seeing the stuff i press fit on at the muzzle, it sure wouldn´t fit anymore so what i did was to cut the absolute top off of it.
This left me with like a couple of "claws" still, and as these clamp down as you tighten the screw between the barrel n tank it performs what the untouched part does still.
However!
A long standing truth of these guns is that the gen1 guns at least are machined wrong why the barrel and tank differs vs each other in angle. Ie; that barrel band will pull the barrel DOWN vs the tank, which will of course have an impact and imply all sorts of issues.
Then again.. there i was shooting right..
..and the truth is that it´s hard to argue with results. Now. Mind you. This particular gun sports a stock barrel that has seen some TLC no doubt, and time permitting will see even more.
The flyer in turn is on me and that there is all in all 20 shots fired at a distance of approx 20 meters inside using either JSB King heavys of 25,4 grains or JSB Knock out slugs of 25,4 grains at the tune of 960-970fps.
In short at the sunny side of 70 Joules. THAT is promising.. One strange thing is that how it prints on paper changed very little between the pellets and the slugs - which they almost always do at a greater span.
I guess we´ll sort this as weather permits and ranges can be opened up a bit. Check to see what happens after 50 meters plus..
None the less it´s hard to argue with results, and FOR a result!
This thing shoots on par with my Impact for the love of.. Hotrods at their finest i believe cause this thing well shoot on par with guns 5 times the cost without breaking a sweat.
Total investment thus far (i bought the gun used at approx 110€) comes in way under 200€!
THAT`S a feat in my book. True. Been a bit of work, but it goes to show what can be done on a shoestring as long as you torq down on the correct bolts me thinks.
As you can gather i really can´t be but happy with the net result here.
One thing that i´ve come to regard as a drawback with this Artemis PR-900/ Diana Stromrider however is the mere lack of air tank volume.
At "hand her all the onions" i get to refuel the thing often, and a larger tank would sure remedy that.
Judgement call i guess cause i happen to like and enjoy what´s there in the pictures and the adoption of a say 400cc paintball tank with a reg would render that i´d have to cut into at least the fore end of the stock, and i´m not all to happy about that idea.
From a weight and weight distribution POW though we can afford that install.
The gun is featherweight as is so an added like 600-700 grams will amount to nothing.
Seeing where we´re at though i´ve got no complaints per se. It shoots lights out at anything at 20 meters and does so with the little authority a "mere" el-cheapo 22cal PCP gun can. 70 Joules goes a loooong way in this case and will certainly suffice, and then some, as far as the pests intended.
In short summary it stands here on its bi-pod getting handed layer after layer of linseed as is.. and will continue doing so until it´s filled up.