Reximex Daystar, that taught me a lesson

[Racing]

So i picked that Reximex Throne Gen 2 up and doing so i spoke to my vendor as far as another offering by Reximex.
Daystar.

By pics alone an IMO very very good looking PCP rifle if ever.



So i asked him if he couldn´t get one in 25cal for me to take a look at, so.. he called me up a couple of week later to tell that he just got the thing in the door and off i went.

At first, indeed a rifle pleasing to the eye no doubt but.. what i hadn´t taken into account was the (what i at least thought at the time) rather low "mod potential".
So i told him i´d have to think about it. Don´t get me wrong, as i do work for him he puts together downright fantastic deals for me.. so that wasn´t it.

However.



It came to the point where i saw this thing as i shut my eyes before going to sleep.. so, to H*LL with it! Fork it over, like NOW.
What i thought at the time was that if nothing else it´d at least be a real looker i could have hand me like maybe 50J or so which´d suffice go ratting at least.
Looking good doing it.



For some reason this particular gun is called "the Pretensis" in Britain and then Daystar for the rest of Europe. To my knowledge they´re by now at least imported into Canada (Reximex as a brand that is) and it might very well be they´re available in the US too as of this writing?

Which ever.. as Reximex is a sister company to Kral they share loads of especially thinking, and thereby design. IMO the Kral rifles are often a few notches up from say the Hatsan crop of guns, and often lighter (in pounds that is) while at it.
This Daystar then no exception.



That the turks know their way around walnut, seeing the hang tags of these things, is no lie. The various cuts and what not are to spec, and then some.
This for instance brings that the workings of the gun is held to the stock with one sole countersunk allen screw and that´s it.



She comes in two flavors, walnut or synthetic. The latter carrying even more adjustability but truth be told.. there´s ample on the walnut too.
177cal, 22 cal and 25 cal.





One of the "issues" that struck me with the Daystar was that the distance between the barrel and the tank is such that a shroud for instance is plain just out. That kind of got me a tad worried on how loud this thing would become as i got it to breathe, why i this time out tried a few new trix as far as moderator.
As you´re aware i build my own but.. never had i thought. This one is rather elaborate (due above) sporting 6 chambers and in turn a number of "decompression holes" to chamber 1.
in turn caliber is held, at least within vincinity, until the expansion is happening upon entry of chamber 1. This and the use of dampening material within (as well as "washers" of course) has made this my last design downright insanely effective.
To the point where we´ve started talking about producing the unit even.
Thing thing WILL take a roar to a whisper, literally.

Anyway.



That i hold the Kral (and now the Reximex) guns higher than Hatsan, Aselkon and what have you might be. It still shows here and there that they´re mid range priced PCP´s.
These days everyone and his grandmother are into "tensioned barrels", however that there is NOT a way to handle that. At that the barrel band in case is so tight vs the barrel that even the slightest HOPE of working with nodes and anti nodes is out.
In short i dressed that hole out a tad, why the barrel on THIS gun is free floating since. Yes. It of course came to affect accuracy.



Ditto. Here n there it´s like the R&D dept one day just closed shop as they ran out of money. With the gun comes this plastic piece of Pic rail, which i guess is sweet of Reximex, to be held in place with this BIG *ss allen cap screw. Right. Any idiot can figure that keeping said Pic rail in place with one screw on a wooden stock, OF COURSE the thing will move! Notice the small hole in front drilled by me though..



Yes. The add on of a small philips of course makes for all the difference. End of story, and it´s things like THIS where you feel they should have spent like 3hrs more at the drawing board - if you know what i mean.
But.
The thing with both the Kral and Reximex guns is that it´s LITTLE things that might be "less than optimal" and these are almost always to remedy by the end use using common sense and hand tools.
Not like say Hatsans where the entire friggin barrel is off and thus the thing won´t group if you so threaten it.

[Racing]

Safety is a common cross bolt. Work, what can i say but it and the actual trigger blade needs to come off and then that countersunk allen underneath needs to come out.. and that´s how you get the action out of the stock. Real smooth IMO.



Uhu. At the end of the actual valve this stylized big "screw" with a small through hole to act as a "de-pinger" most likely. I came to up that hole quite considerably.

Here´s the thing though. One PCP rifle known to carry loads of "motor" is the Hatsan BT-65 series. Well. I´m here to tell that my initial reactions and thoughts on the Daystar was about as wrong as i could get them.
The stock thing is based on mere 4mm port sizes, transfer.. exhaust port, barrel, "power adjuster".. the works.
Seeing that rather limited port size coupled with the fact that the ONLY thing you do atop that is to turn the hammer spring adjuster in as far as it´ll go and you´ll end up around the 60 Joule mark.. hello!
That´s BT-65 territory right there. Impressive, but just a GLANCE of what was to come.

Valve. Right. Did a bit of math on the subject and thought to myself that i´d start easy and up the port size to a mere 5,5mm. This then for a 25cal gun remember, so at 5,5mm we´re FAR from maxing anything out here!



For a while there we thought that most likely Reximex ran the same hammer and hammerspring setup for the Daystar as the Throne, nope. Far from it.
It needed more spring though, so for now i just added a generic spring i had on the bench that fit within the stocker.

Well.
On 5,5mm ports and a 100% fill coupled with that "home brew" hammer spring setup... i now had 33,9´s out the muzzle at 1060fps.
After a bit of tuning, 1088fps.

Yeah.
In short with an absolute minimum of effort i had this thing running at 120 Joules. That´s just friggin insane, and this with basically retained very good accuracy and at that.. about dead silent.
That moderator.. right. As you fire the thing what is heard is.. the spring and the hammer.. Exhaust note is about nil.



Trigger group is the exact same thing as on the Throne/Ixia though and it´s, as you can see, a spring loaded and balanced such. Draped in some sort of black goo paint that basically falls off as you start to manhandle the pieces.
Came to polish the contact points, the parts are out of mere cast aluminium, and hand it grease where needed. The thing can be adjusted rather tight but in all honesty that M3 allen stop screw that´s used to set sear depth.. the threads should have been finer. As is the "sweet spot" becomes real slim on the allen wrench.
No matter, it CAN be adjusted real tight with no apparent ills.

[Racing]

At this point i opted to hand the stock a bit of dye. Although the design of the rifle is beautiful IMO the hue of it was a tad dull.
Giving thought to darken this even more.



Came to drape the moderator in plain cheap "camo tape". Still noodling around with the design.

On a completely off note i had been real disappointed in my Yukon IR. Contrast being way over the top rendering that what is white came out chalk white you won´t believe and what is black.. pitch such.
Got me thinking.
These scopes come with a "daylight shield" why i thought to myself, can it be that simple? Well. What was about a perfect fit was the "barrel band" for my Kral Puncher Auto, so i tossed that on the lathe and ended up with a 14mm hole in it..
Bingo.
Now the thing works as intended and i get a real clear view of the rats amidst middle of the night.
Happy as pie!

The Daystar though?
What can be said?
First up, i was dead wrong on "mod potential". No two ways about that, read ´em and wheep kind of... Seeing that and the general qualitys of the thing i have to say that this is SO much more of a product than other mid range priced guns I have run into.
A Reximex Daystar is a REAL good platform to make into something of your own with an absolute minimum of effort if you´re just not "all thumbs", and if you are the jobs needed are so simple it won´t put you in the poor house to have them done even.

Seeing the performance out the snout of this thing wouldn´t a regulator be a smart move? Yeah, i guess. But here´s the caveat to that, the stock tank is of a mere 260cc´s.. In short toss a regulator in there with anywhere CLOSE to the plenum volume needed to uphold the performance level and.. not all that much main tank left.

Could/should the thing have been made with a slightly larger diameter tank to say reach 300cc´s? Yeah, i guess. Stock is certainly beefy enough to handle it.

All in all though i have to come out and state i´m REAL impressed by this thing. Where it stands it´ll shoot lights out at anything within 100 meters, and that with ease.

Impressed? Yes. Yes i am. Reximex got something right with this one if you ask me.

[dverna]

I really enjoy reading your posts.

It looks like a very interesting gun.

[MrWolf]

Very interesting. Thought about getting a pcp. I honestly have no idea about half (ok more than half) of what you are talking about but it is very interesting. Thanks.
Ron

[Racing]

All to happy you guys enjoy the threads of mine
Thank you.

Right. So i´ve played around a bit with this thing by now and have for instance come to try H&N´s 40 grain slugs, that are sent downrange around 1000fps in my case.

I still have to admit to being impressed with the performance of this thing seeing the "investment" made. Sure..admitted, reaming that stock hole for the "power adjuster" out to 8mm might not be for the novice but.. nor is it the end of the world to have done need be.
An 8mm reamer (or equivalent) and the making of a fresh "barrel" to go with it sporting a 5,5mm through hole sure isn´t the end of the world ( i made mine out of simple aluminium).
That.. and a 5,5mm drillbit is what this thing takes together with an inner "assist" hammer spring.. to make 120 Joules. That´s friggin insane.. !! Just a few yrs back it would have been unheard of.

But.
Had my first mishap, and i attribute that to the "old ways" of Kral. Ie; this isn´t unheard of previously and goes with the "old style" Kral poppet and valve housing.
What happened was that the spindle on the poppet broke right off. Right beneath the plastic, out of PEEK, - the actual seal of the valve.
Being the curious kind i took a file to that there steel spindle aaaaand.. tool room steel it is certainly not!

Anyways.
I made me a fresh poppet out of PEEK and way higher grade steel (spindle) in a heartbeat and we were back to working order at the drop of a hat.
Still slapping them pills downrange at 120 Joules.

Of course at 120 Joules this thing is so MASSIVE overkill on rats it becomes a laugh, especially so using them "massive expansion" H&N 40 grain slugs.
But... i took the thing ratting. This at approx 30 meters amid dead of the night, with that Yukon IR ontop. Mid sized rat, took a head shot and the truth of the matter is there was no head left. Decapitation, right there.
Humane kill if ever.
Then a smaller rat, approx the size of a larger mouse, hit the thing broadside which made the thing end up in two separate pieces.
So yeah.
Overkill, but then again.. rather that than the opposite. Ethics first on all counts. Might be they´re "just" rats, i don´t care.. it´s LIFE and as such we show respect due.

At 120 Joules though this thing will no doubt stretch and that´s one part i still have in front of me. Figuring out what slugs this thing will be at home with as ranges open up. First bench mark i guess will be 100 meters at the range.
If memory serves these like the Krals are of 1 turn in 16" and that´d render, at least in my book, that slightly heavier (longer) pills might very well be the ticket.
Issue with that is that very few mans of slugs mark the diameters of slugs in 25cal for some reason? No idea what so ever why..
I´ve tried the JSB Knockouts and the H&N "Grizzly"´s in it and... nope. Not worth a d*mn... (these are 33,5 and 31 grains respectively)
The H&N "massive expansion" 40´s though.. yep, and them are made as 44´s as well so.. going to give them a try as well. The mags will take the 40´s without breaking a sweat, the 44´s.. no idea. Need be i´ll use the single tray i guess?
But if not my Impact or the Hatsan BT-65 of mine will sure digest them so no harm no foul.

On a general whole though, i guess the question all said and done here would be... "would you recommend this rifle to others?"
I do find it one of the best looking PCP´s out there.
It´s not feather light but sure not a weight pig either. (Approx 3,5kg)
So check on both them counts. Colors flying even i´d say.
The walnut stock version that is.. It comes with a short piece of plastic (yikes!) picatinny rail.. which works (when bolted down per above). Neat little detail, if nothing else.

It´s INSANELY simple to soup up and at 120 joules it becomes a 22lr contender in my book. One that can most likely be silenced down in areas where a firearm can not.. Mine here, with "my" latest moderator design, it really IS whisper quiet. Literally. At 120J.
So check on that one too.

Handed the pills it likes it´s sure as accurate as any other high end PCP out there. Just, as noted, with the cheaper and as in this case mid range hang tag guns you might have to work for it a little but.. yes. She´s as accurate as my 25cal FX Impact since. No argument.

Drawbacks?
Yeah well, that a poppet breaks after like maybe 500 shots or so.. no bueno. Then on the other hand Kral spares works and those are both plenty, around and cheap at that.
The length of this thing?
Yes. She´s more like a "normal rifle" (read - powder burner) on that count. Fact is with that overly long can i made and installed she´s REAL tall - @ like 130cm (that´s a tad over 51")

Trigger setup.. is to work with. That done = real neat trigger. Trigger assy is clear to see how it works though why basically anyone could do it.. just take a pic before ripping into it.

Yeah! One thing i haven´t mentioned.. I use a Yong-Heng compressor. One of them sorts of "Walmart" chinese import jobbies (albeit the "high end version"), and this thing carries a filter at the end of its high pressure hose.
With said filter in place the foster male on the gun can not be accessed if there´s a can in place at the end of the barrel too. Iow i fill this one up from one of my scuba tanks.. certainly not the end of the world and could easily be remedied by just installing a slightly longer high pressure hose from said filter..
None the less worth mentioning me thinks.

So my reply would be, yes.
Yes, because atop all that there it´s dead simple to the build. The day it springs a leak you do NOT have to carry an engineering degree to pick it apart and replace whatever o-ring is busted.
It´s simple enough that anyone mech inclined given a bit of time and a clean workspace can pick it apart without any appreciable amounts of "previous knowledge on PCP´s".
Kind of like.. the tank, the valve.. the main body and the barrel. Done deal, and these various parts use o-rings to seal. End of story.

Mind you.
Many of these mid range PCP´s are made in Turkey, and there´s like a downright plethora of brands out of Turkey on this count - most of which many of you have never even heard.
Now we toss Asia into the mix as well, keeping with budget priced to mid range (so Evanix and what not is out).

Then, to me, two brands stand out.
Kral (Reximex) and Artemis (Snowpeak/Diana)
Although i for instance to this day own a couple of Hatsans (A BT-65 with a Lothar Walter barrel in 25cal and a Nova in 22 cal) i´ve about given up on Hatsan.
Their customer support is a d*mn joke and spares certainly not around in abundance.. Azelkon..(the brand).. same deal. Elkotran (or however it´s spelled) nah.. same deal.
Chinese AEA? Page is far from written on those, and they DO sport one h*ll of a product development. What´s more they market big bores as well. Many have complained about busted seals and what not though so.. still, page is far from written on AEA as i regard it.

Kral is a smaller manufacturer and IMO hold their flag higher that the rest of the turkish crop. Sure. Their QC miss out too on occasion, i´ve heard of MANY returning Throne/Ixias due leaks for instance. But.. again, they´re still just mere leaks. Ie; what can be handled by the replacement of an o-ring or two.
Hatsans?
H*ll, i´ve even had guns in the door where the barrel has been machined from the wrong end!!! HOW does that pass QC? How does it happen?

This "novel" written then...
ANY of these guns will benefit from being torn down and be built back up again. With attention to detail and a bit of know how. No. No it is not expensive, no it is not hard.
But rest assured that ANY of these budget to mid range priced guns will benefit from it. Every last one of them.
Reximex included.