R3 .30 caliber problem and fix
The Problem:
I first noticed after about 2K rounds my velocity dropped off. That can be common, sometimes the HST needs to be readjusted. So I screwed in the HST 1/4 turn and I was back at the 890 fps I was before. I was fine for about another 150 rounds until the real problem started. The gun started behaving erratic when trying to find zero on my target. I put the Matador on the chrony and I found a strange phenomenon. When the gun was full (220 BAR) no manner where the HST was set the most I could get out of the gun was 750 fps. As the pressure in the reservoir dropped the speed conversely would rise until below 150 bar the speed was at 912. I concluded that the valve must be stuck and the reason for the change in speed is that the valve gets more resistance from the air in the reservoir the higher the pressure. The valve must be allowed to move freely in the regulator. The belleville washers are clean, the O rings are perfect and the regulator is assembled correctly. What I found was the valve stem was slightly bent. I know this problem developed over time because the gun was super consistent when I was new. . The valve stem was not too long as it was in Ed’s factory specs. I straightened the valve stem reassembled the gun and I still had the same problem.
The fix:
what I found was the valve stem was slightly oversized and a little rough. Because the stem is steel and the valve stem housing is brass the valve was getting caught/sticking and in my opinion the valve couldn’t open enough. When the gun fell below the 150 pressure setting the valve didn’t have to work as hard to move forward when the hammer hit the stem. I polished the valve stem with 220/20/400/600/800/1200/2000 grit paper on a lathe until I could see my reflection in the valve stem. The valve moved like it was on ball bearings inside the housing. The regulator gave me 24 shots with the average at 880 and the ES at 2.6 fps.
I welcome any criticism you may have about my fix. It’s is possible that I just got lucky. Hell, it’s better to be lucky than good anyway.
All Replies
danke schoen. Email sent….
How do I contact John? Maybe I’ll just send him the gun.
Ed i sent you a msg, can you confirm you got it? thank you.
Thats awesome to hear and a hell of a lot of shooting too! One of these days man one of these days!
Like your new tag line to! That still cracks me up!! lmao.
DT
I am well over 2K with John’s fix. I have done my best to break it and it is still going strong.
Yep – that 875-880 fps seems to be optimal for my std. Has anyone got over a thousand shots yet with John’s fix? Some other fixes have come and gone. 😯
Brant this fix should eliminate future problems. I would grab John to make a new valve and get you the new hammer ASAP, I mean all the cool kids are doing it…
But seriously you know your R3 .30 is on borrowed time. You will snap a valve. Plus the gun really kicks ass at 880-890. I have been tuning mine and I am getting awesome results out to 250 yards consistently. I was at 28 shots with the regulator set at 135 but my ES was not satisfactory. I tried 140 BAR and I got good results. BUT I just last night re-tuned it to 155 BAR, Ho-Lee-fook a perfect shot string 3 FPS ES 890 FPS 20 shots on regulator! The reason I believe sub 900 FPS is the number has to do with gyroscopic stability. The EDgun barrel has a fast ROT. So I think it is creating a Magnus effect. I have been noticing some spin drift at 300 yards. Most people will not shoot that far so doesn’t manner I suppose.
😯 I didn’t read this whole thread post by post. Is it Ed or John that is fixing the Gen 1’s? Is it free? Confused.
My Gen 1 standard is still working perfectly at 2800 shots so I don’t want to break what might not need fixing. I would like to crank it up to 900 fps if possible but 875 may be more accurate anyways and it kills everything it hits.
Thanks in advance….
Well John has hammers you can contact him directly. He will also need to drill out your rear plug.
No on the hammer. He was out of them. I just got a heavy brass valve stem by itself i cant use of original diameter. I think Old Goat got the last heavy hammer he had back then.
Delete
Coda yes. I think Ed sent you a hammer already, right? yes you’ll get 880-890 FPS and a more consistent spread with the heavier hammer and new valve. No more broken valves.
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=34054&start=140
Did someone say factory Gen 1 updates? 😯
Ed – My gen 1 standard 30 has been doing ok at 875 fps (75 fpe). Do you think I could kick it up a bit higher with the new fix?
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What was the ES when set to 140 bar? Did the shot count go down with the reg set to 155 bar?