Hector's Airgun Blog

The 2020 N. Carolina State Championship.- An Educational Experience

10/13/2020

I usually wait for the "official" report to come out, but since CoViD 19 has driven everything into a "limbo" (and not precisely of the dancing kind), there is precious little information about results, classes , equipment, etc.
In fact, there have been precious little matches going on.
SOME clubs, like Rochester Brooks, or Connecticut Airgunners never lost pace, except for the absolute lock-down phases, but others, like DIFTA, have been forced by range rulings to only re-open the season fairly recently, when "Stage 2" of the opening up had been achieved.
All this to say that few shooters have kept pace with activity, training, or match participation.

When the news came that the North Carolina State Match was going to be held at Will & Ginger Piatt's place at Ennice (right at the heart of the Blue Ridge Parkway), I told my wife and we decided to make a road trip out of it. It would not be the dream road trip we had imagined in 2015, but now we would have a lot more company, LOL!

Besides, my niece is now in the last stages of her driving practice, she'll be taking her final in-car exam soon, so what better opportunity to have her drive the highway and night time requirements?

We set out on Friday and arrived late night, as we got stuck in traffic in two spots.

After a good night's sleep, I was packed and ready to go! Everything I needed was in the range bag, and with the appropriate rain gear (remember 2015? LOL!)

As is often the case, when you are best prepared, things are not too bad, or at least they do not LOOK too bad!

After an early morning breakfast (we were staying in Elkin, about 45 mins from the range), we got there on time, I got setup and started the process of shooting some pellets downrange to see how he trajectory had changed (notice it is NOT a question -if the trajectory had changed-, that is a given when you go from 500 FASL to 2825 FASL), as my MV had probably gone down from 780 to about 745 fps.
It didn't occur to me to check a chrono, I thought there would be a chrono station, but there wasn't. Should have checked. Now I am dying of curiosity! LOL!
As the match developed and as the rain came and went, it was obvious there was something not quite right. Inexplicable misses, POI changing all over the place . . . not the usual quirky behaviour of a springer, more like a schizophrenia.

But, never argue with reality.

I had been testing reverting to the DIANA OEM style of bedding for my 54 and it was clearly not as stable as the CCA designed one. At home in the backyard, it had proven accurate, but once different inclinations and positions where thrown in, the POI changes proved too much for the OEM bedding.
Anyway, I have reverted to my own design and hopefully, this will cure some of that.

The Match, as all matches sponsored by THAGC, was a hard one. 40 T would barely start to describe the deviousness of the MD, LOL!
But still, if you do not shoot hard matches you never learn anything worthwhile, so after all was said and done, we did have a ball, we learned a lot, and I think we will convert those learnings into experiences.

Rain gear performed like it should, pellets performed as they should. The gunsmith . . . hmm so-so. And the shooter did its best to keep a stiff upper lip and go through lane after lane of complete surprises.

Apologies are in order on the quality of the pictures, but I had taken my waterproof camera and it is not as good a camera as the normal one. So that, added to my limited skills as photographer, will make you think that the things were rougher than they really were.
Now, Let's see some pictures!

Will Piatt delivered a succinct and precise shooters meeting:

There was a wooded section, an open section, and transitional lanes. This lane is peculiar because the lane is in the open, but the wooded section is right next to it, so any wind will "bounce" and create very interesting challenges to the WFTF shooter

Targets are to the left of the picture.

Here is a close-up view of the targets, radically different positioning, the upper target wide open in the wind, the lower target more sheltered from direct wind, but subject to eddies and swirls.

Another example of the MD's crooked mind ;-) :

Shooting from the dark, sheltered, woods into the open is one of the more challenging shots, you have no information of what is happening out there!

A close up of the targets reveals how different the distances really were. As you can imagine, the slope of the land also creates an interesting challenge.

And there were several of these. LOL!

Out in the open, wind gusts of up to 15 mph moved the shooters, let alone the pellets. See how the water ripples in the pond at the back and notice how there is a tranquil area to the right of the pond, while the left side is rippling. This gives you an idea how the wind "rolls".

Most of the shots were long shots, and under these conditions, you can imagine what the wind was doing when it came over the trees on the left.

A close up of the targets reveals how different the shots were.

Bet you cannot find the targets!

But,. there they are! Or, are they? the blocks on the right are NOT one of the targets.

Even what seemed to be a wide open, long lane

Posed severe difficulty when taking into account the target color, the very dark background, the "flying" location, and the dark day.

By the end of the day, my score of 35 exceeded the 50% and bettered my performance of 5 years ago by a full 10 percentage points, LOL!

High score was something like 63/68, so that gives you an idea that the course was designed more with the 20 ft-lbs PCP shooter in mind.
It would be interesting to see the difficulty rating of the course.

In true FT fashion, and in the tradition of all "Southern Belles", Ginger Piatt served us a bountiful dinner with Shepherds' Pie, home baked rolls and an absolutely fantastic "Eclair pie".

My family arrived in time for desert (you can bet the 3 and 4 year olds were happy about that, LOL!

What happens with children, when one is paying attention to the camera, the other is distracted, and by the time the older starts to pay attention, the youngest gets distracted, LOL!

Brian Van Lieuw took first in Open PCP

Gary Palinkas took second in Open PCP

Gerald Long took First in WFTF PCP

Lukas Richter took Second in WFTF PCP

Miguel Sanchez too First in Hunter PCP

Amon Piatt took Second in Hunter PCP

Phil Hepler took 3rd in Hunter PCP (and by the way, designed and made the awards!)

A very Happy Piston shooter!

I love shooting with the THAGC crowd, they challenge you and they feed you well. LOL!

Hopefully, we'll meet again along some lanes.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

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A SHORT Note on tuning the DIANA 280

10/12/2020

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A friend says that I CANNOT write a short note, ROFL!

So, in part this is an acceptance of that challenge, and in another sense it is just the result of the reality that I am extremely busy and I have two other projects in the pipe and I cannot devote much time.
Anyway, the usual disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER.- The operations performed in this rifle void all warranties. Nor I, nor anybody else, has control over what each individual decides to do, so no warranties are given, or implied. It's up to each tinkerer to be safe in his/her endeavours.
The modifications performed were safe within the objectives and the context of the gun in question.
Which may not be exactly the same as yours.
All machining operations carry some risk, be safe, be careful and always err on the side of caution.
When working with open flames, specially the high temperatures one, extra care needs to be taken with all liquids and gases present in the area. Do NOT risk it.

Having added that, let's tackle the "little" 280:

The 280 is a gun that is not popular at all in the USA. In part, it is the traditionally American drive towards "more is better", and partly the result of a mismanaged marketing strategy by the former exclusive importer of DIANA airguns into the USA.
Now, with DIANA looking at more options and even doing some small direct shipments to pre-qualified individuals, there is an opportunity for savvy airgunners to enjoy the petite airgun that is available in two models:
There is a Classic version that is the "no-frills" one, and there is an elegant version called the "Premium" (as most upper-scale models in the DIANA lineup are.

We'll work here on a "Classic" version.

One of the reasons why this entry will be short is because we are basing the whole "re-tune" of this gun on the work performed for the "12 ft-lbs gunsmith's tune of the LGV" , and which will also be the base for our final approach to the 430L, to be done in the near future.

We started by testing what the gun can do off the shelf, and pretty sure, it IS a "12 ft-lbs gun". in OoB / OEM form, the gun yields between 11 and 12 ft-lbs depending on the pellet.
For sure, with proper running-in and proper lubing these guns could yield a foot-pound more, but we are not going to go there, this is a special job undertaken as a "light tune" to see how much a gun can be improved within a limited budget.

So, WHAT IS a "limited budget"?
Basically the gun is a $350 gun, landed in the USA, which essentially puts it into the HW-50 "region" though the gun itself is about a lb heavier and yields a couple of ft-lbs more at the muzzle, it is a "medium gun" region by all measurements.
Customer desired a "lightly tuned" one to 10 ft-lbs or thereabouts, because he basically shoots in his garden; and we setled on: basic trigger work, change of powerplant, and overall smoothing which, we agreed, would put the budget at $500
During the course of the project, he decided to add a SIGHTRON Si FT scope, and that drove the total "ready to shoot" cost to $685 plus Sh&Ins (and pellets, ;-) )

So, we started with this (catalogue photo):

Removed the unnecessary hardware, and tested the gun:

As received the gun needed close to 38 # of Peak Cocking Force (PCF), and we did start the "running in" procedure of shooting and cleaning till we felt there were less fliers than proper shots, and then we decided to test a well made guide with the OEM spring.
We disassembled the gun, having established a benchmark, de-burred and smoothed everything in there, changed the piston seal and lubed.

Atop is a CCA guide, at the bottom is the OEM guide. Not bad, but definitely not what the gun COULD profit greatly from.

With better guide the gun jumped in performance almost ½ ft-lb, while the cocking effort did not change (nor did we expect it to), but it was still twangy and the shot cycle clearly reflected the place in the "price ladder". I felt the gun could be much more refined.

So we brought in a Titan #1 spring and started the process. We will not go into the detail, as it has been written in the abovementioned entry.

By the time the little rifle was doing 10¾ ft-lbs. we stopped, and measured the cocking effort:

Yup! It takes only 26 # PCF to yield 10¾ ft-lbs. Quite an efficient arrangement for a break barrel with a traditional piston.

When we removed the "unnecessary hardware" the obvious muzzle piece missing looked real bad, so I decided to make a Harmonics tuner with a new design that fits into smooth barrels and is adjustable by ½ mm's.

In the end, the gun looks like this:

I added a Zip Tie at the rear of the HT to be able to read the wind in the tests, but that has been removed.

And how does it shoot? Like this:

At 10 meters offhand, it is a real joy to shoot! Easy to put pellets where you want to (if you concentrate, LOL!)

At longer ranges:

It can easily group 10 shots with the right pellets into ¼"-½" groups from the seated position.

I was surprised at the good results offered by the GTO (non-lead pellets); in the lead class, the 8.44/4.52/Pledged pellets perform the best.

Do note that about 1 in 10 shots is still a "flyer". The gun still is settling down and the Harmonics Tuner will have to be re-tuned once it does. The HT's final position, will also depend on how the gun is shot, whether sitting off a silicone knee-pad, or off the bench, things will be different.

For those of you that like numbers: the JSB Express were coming out of the muzzle at 770 ± 2 fps and the JSB Exacts were coming out at 758 ± 1 fps, so the consistency of the engine/machine is already there.

More seasoning to the barrel is needed (more shooting), some tests and then the final decision about the pellet of choice and the final adjustment of the HT and that should be a nice little gun, with power to spare for most things inside 35 yards. At 8# 14 Oz, "all in" it is a lightweight gun, somewhat "whippy".
LOP is short, that is why I added a temporary recoil pad to take it to 14½", otherwise I "scrunch" into the gun.
That has also been removed.

;-)

For ME, personally, it is not a gun I would HAVE to have. But it is an interesting class of airgun that could have a lot of success in some markets. Sadly, it is not slated to be kept in the lineup.

Though the project took a lot more time than expected, I learned a lot and I loved the end result.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

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The Gunsmith's Tune; Part 2/4.- 12 ft-lbs Walther LGV

9/29/2020

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Tested the QYS, JSB 8.44/4.52, and the JSB 8.44/4.52. While short range tests were interesting, at 40 yards the whole thing unraveled.

I thought that indicated that we needed to treat this gun as a different gun, and so we were back to square 1 testing different lubes in the pellets:

It seemed that the barrel really liked Pledge as a lube, so we tested different pellets:

But again, at 40 yards the whole thing fell through.
And so I decided to test something else, the harmonics tuner:

The fact that the HT made little difference told me that there was something wrong.
Completely frustrated, I decided to test myself, and this is the benchmark:

As you can see, it was not a shooter's problem.
I started thinking that the spring and the guide were simply not in agreement with the rest of the gun.
What followed then was to check the gun with a Walther kit, to see how it behaved.
And so, I installed a Walther 12 ft-lbs kit (piston, spring and guide). MV's were quite satisfactory:
QYS's: 786 ± 5
JSB Xp: 825 ± 3
JSB Xact: 786 ± 2
Testing pellets with the barrel's preferred lube:

Indicated that at this power level, the light Express pellet was performing better, so I decided to tune the HT to that pellet, with this process:

From this test, I selected the setting of the HT at -5.14 mm's and proceeded to shoot some medium and long range tests:

Again, while results for 19 and 39 yards were satisfactory, when taken to 50 yards, the results were poor.

So, clearly, this barrel simply does not want to perform at long range at this power level. Yes, there are barrels like that. I would say that MOST barrels are like that.

CONCLUSIONS:

While it was somewhat disheartening to see the good behaviour not carried out to the low power level, it did confirm that the ABP, as a technology, is more reliable at these power levels that a large pre-load.

I have reverted the gun to its higher performance and, MAYBE in the future, I will shoot a "Hunter" course with it, as the performance of the slightly heavier pellet at the limit of stability is indeed interesting.

And, so we learn more from our "failures" than from our successes. Yes that is science, that is life.

Next will be the application of these findings to the 430L.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

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The Gunsmith's Tune; Part 1/4.- Full Power Walther LGV

9/8/2020

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DISCLAIMER.- The operations performed in this rifle void all warranties. Nor I, nor anybody else, has control over what each individual decides to do, so no warranties are given, or implied. It's up to each tinkerer to be safe in his/her endeavours.
The modifications performed were safe within the objectives and the context of the gun in question.
Which may not be exactly the same as yours.
All machining operations carry some risk, be safe, be careful and always err on the side of caution.

UUffff! LOL! OK, so that is out of the way.

Let's go back almost a year to the last Pyramyd Air Cup.
Back then a good friend asked me: "OK, if you REALLY wanted to do something for YOURSELF, what would it be? Forget DIANA, field is open to ANYTHING, no limits. What would it be?"

I gave him the standard answer: "I am perfectly happy with my D54's, there is nothing I cannot shoot with either of the two (I was obviously referring to the full power 0.20" cal and the WFTF 0.177")

He took it in good stride and we parted, as usual, thinking that we would meet again in Ohio next year.

Next year came and, with it, an unexpected upending of ALL our way of life. No more FT matches. No more socialization in close proximity.
I barely made it back to the US from GERMANY, one day before all borders were closed, IWA was cancelled.
I did get to go to Puerto RIco, but that was the last big Match I shot in 2020, and only last week did we have a match at DIFTA.

But the conversation stuck in the back of my brain (what I call the back-burner), and suddenly, as we have been working hard in a long series of articles about recoil and harmonics with a really serious scientist, I found myself missing my ABP-LGV
As luck would have it, a used LGV popped up in the classifieds and at a very good price, so I placed an offer and the owner took it up, money was sent and rifle arrived.
From the description, I knew it was a shooter, not a safe-queen.

But that was what I needed.

As part of a long study process to tackle the tune of a FWB Sport (and then compare it to a Jan Kramer tuned FWB 124 of 30 years ago), I had decided to do some serious maths about springs.

And, looking over the stats of existing springs, I found some very interesting possibilities.

It also happened that Eric P sent me a version of his "curved trigger" for the LGU/LGV and I was absolutely delighted with the shape, but had no gun to mount it onto!.

So, when this shooter came up, I seized the opportunity. And I am glad I did.

The barrel was superbly dirty and leaded, but once cleaned, it proved to be an early and extremely well made specimen of the Walther factory.

AND it was threaded!

So, following the patterns established for the AM03 Compact we used as a base for the "Night Hunter" I made a front end for the LGV without any real intention to moderate it, as the end-goal is to compare this one with the ABP-LGV that is "on loan" and so, after this first chapter is done, I will probably tone it down to WFTF levels to see how they really compare. But that is in the future, where we will also look into the Gunsmith's versions of the 430L that builds on the success of the short-piston/long stroke concept.

I will not post detailed pictures of the gun, or how it was disassembled and how the tune was done, we have talked about that enough in other entries, so, if someone has not read them; please look into them:

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-walther-sport-family

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/swapping-the-walther-lgus-trigger

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/a-yankee-tune-for-the-walther-lgu-second-version

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-walther-lgv-a-second-look

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-walther-lgv-pushing-the-power-limits

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-supercustom-triggers-for-the-walther-lgu-and-lgv

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/new-super-custom-trigger-for-the-walther-lgulgv

I have always been a fan of Titan XS springs. They are of good quality material, they are reliable in their dimensions, they have proven to me, beyond doubt, to be some of the best springs in the industry. AND they do offer characteristics that are somewhat "heterodox" but very useful, as we will see.

The first aspect is that they offer larger than "normal", whatever that is for each of us, OD's for their springs.
Since stress in the material goes down with the cube (third power) of the OD, any increase in the OD is highly useful in the longevity of the spring, and that translates into many more shots at the same power level, which makes for enhanced reliability in the accuracy of the gun in question.

The down-side is that they do require carefully turned guides and the use of an "outside" guide, or piston liner is precluded.
Titan springs do not need it.
From the factory, they come covered in some slick, flexible, finish over the shot-peened metal that neither becomes brittle, nor flakes, nor chips. It is slippery and therefore there is no need for any further surface interface between piston's inside wall and spring.

Guides also need to be a little on the "hard" side. The softer grades of Delrin or other plastics will not do well.

Between the spring's finish and a hard-plastic guide, Ultimox creates the best possible riding medium. The use of VERY sparse lubricant in the spring makes it easy to accomplish the goal of the gun being an AIRgun. In the sense that no lubes are consumed to contribute to the power output.
Very little lubricant also gives the gun more consistency in the performance under different temperatures and ambient conditions.Hot or cold, these guns will perform in a reasonably consistent manner.

But I am sure most of you will be wanting some pictures, so, here are just a few, and I beg your forgiveness because I cannot divulge too much technical information, and I am not a really good photographer, anyway, LOL!

As you can see, the front end just adds about 3" of length and the gun is still compact. With the Bushnell Nitro FFP "Deploy" scope, it is rear heavy. Maybe I will change the CF tube to a thin steel one just to have a balanced rifle, but the truth is that it shoots so well that, apart from the power adjustment needed for international competition, I don't think I want to do much more.
I may, also use a different buttpad, a more "curved" one because a rear-heavy gun CAN be an asset in FT, as long as you ensure absolute consistency in shoulder placement.

The Bushnell Nitro is one of those cases where the logic behind optical equipment factories' commercial practices is hard to understand.
It was barely presented to the market . . . when it was discontinued! Only to reappear at 50% more money.
¿¡!?
I bought this one in a close-out at a very nice price (under $400), and have been quite impressed with the median-price range scope. In many ways it performs like a much higher priced glass, but in some others, it really is an inexpensive scope. Don't know that it is worth the new price (a bit under $700) to each his own.

As all of you that own Walthers know, the dovetails cut into the mechanisms tube is rather shallow, so an Accurized ZR mount was used to relieve the parts from the stress of the recoil and the need to use super-stout mounts that then run the risk of deforming the tube itself if too much torque is applied.

The leather cheekpiece has become a standard in the CCA guns, as it is real nice and there are left and right handed versions. In an ambi stock that lets everyone know that the owner has made the gun "his/hers".

AND (a VERY important "and") the trigger is the excellent "curved" trigger from Eric P as has been mentioned above that allows to be adjusted to break in a really set-back position so that, when using a sporter stock, there is no reason to "pull" the trigger. Just gently squeeze across the pistol grip.

Now, going to the power plant, it is important to mention that this is no tune for the faint of heart.

We start with a #1 Titan XS spring, then we create a guide that fits all the parts and "ties the system down"; on the rear end, the LGV trigger block arrangement needs one dimension, the guide itself is much wider to accommodate the Titan XS spring, so the "dual diameter guide" keeps the thrust washer captive between trigger housing and guide shoulder, on the front, the guide is fat enough that it can be "screwed" onto the spring, but it will not come out without twisting.
It also creates a HUGE PRE-LOAD (64 mm's):

So, you'ld better have a well made spring compressor because this cannot go in by hand alone.

Now, why is that important?

After my experiences converting my D34 to NTec, and then the AM03 (a native NTec gun) into a steel spring with an ABP, I noted that the NTec guns yielded a LOT more energy than the non-NTec guns (as in 16 vs 12 ft-lbs), and that getting the sharp, non-bouncy, shot cycle of the gas spring was something to be achieved.
The obvious way was with an ABP, but ABP's are complicated and expensive, so what other characteristics of the NTec were we overlooking?
The huge STARTING FORCE!

So, this realization was one of the reasons why I decided to start this project.

By having a large "at rest" force in the piston, it prevents a too big bounce-back (specially if no lube is burned), and so it is a more efficient duty cycle.
The disadvantage is that it stresses the spring to the limit. It starts from a semi-compressed condition and then goes to almost a solid. That is a heavy duty cycle for a spring. . . unless . . . it is of a larger than normal OD, AND it is made of the best possible material. ;-)

We also used our technique of using a very tight-fitting top-hat, and once everything was assembled, it became, actually, one piece:

Look, Ma!!!!! It FLOATS! ROFL! Trigger, spring, guide, and piston make one "unit".

Another interesting result, is that, by using more turns (therefore a longer spring), but of moderate wire diameter, the cocking is VERY SMOOTH, and the cocking force is very low, not more than the normal Walther spring.

After more than a few hundred rounds, the seal is almost as good as new, as opposed to severely "oversprung" LGV's I have seen in the past:

On the left is the "Gunsmith's Tune" seal, on the right is the result of a severely oversprung rifle. As you can see, the force of the secondary impacts has created dimples in the face of the seal.

OK, enough presentation! how about some stats? LOL!

Well, the gun yields between 14.6 and 16.9 ft-lbs depending on the pellet:

Baracuda Hunter Extremes exit the muzzle at 16.9 ft-lbs. (really good hunting setup out to 35 yards)
QYS Streamlined's zoom out at 14.3 ft-lbs. (FT capable)
Baracuda FT's at 16 ft-lbs (so, so, but Hunting accurate)
JSB Exacts at 14.9 ft=lbs. (reasonably good, but not quite as good as QYS's)

Here are few of the MANY target cards shot:

Pre-Tune benchmark. Good energy, but twangy and buzzy.

Post tune of the best shooting pellet (QYS). Notice that, apart from one shot I probably pulled, this gun is shooting to Match gun standards, but at 3 times the energy.

A first pass at Long Range tests (37 meters / 40 yards). QYS is still the best shooting pellet, and BHE shoot good, but are somewhat wind sensitive. By the end of the session, the Tunable MW was loose, so we quit till the next morning.

Next morning, with some wind, and after some warm-up, sighting in, and wind reading exercises, the 10 shot group on the upper left was shot at 35 meters/38 yards, then I backed out and shot the 5 shot 50 m/55 yards group. Drop between 35 and 50 meters is 1.25 mrads

All in all, some very rewarding results!

I know that IF I was to keep this gun at the present power level for hunting, pesting, and/or AAFTA/Hunter Piston FT, I could arrive at an intermediate tune of the Harmonics Tuner to be able to use either the BHE or the BFT, as required by the task at hand, with pretty similar results, since their weight and internal ballistics shape is pretty similar.

The excellent WEIGHTED BC (0.019 over all the distances to 50 m / 55 yds) of the QYS at such high speeds (879 fps), also points to the good possibility of having a SUPERB FT gun at WFTF levels.
Something we will look into in the next few weeks.

Lastly, the other objective of this exercise was to confirm the maths that govern spring behaviour with a view towards creating a special spring for the 430L, also useful in the 280.

Next we will explore the LGV at reduced power, the MAIN question here is IF the remainder pre-load will be enough to keep the good results while making the gun "legal" for WFTF, OR if at those low power levels the ABP is the better way to go.

So, stay tuned, keep well and shoot straight!

HM

4 Comments

"Der Nacht-Jäger", or "The "Night Hunter"

8/17/2020

4 Comments

DISCLAIMERS:
1.- ALWAYS FOLLOW THE LAW! Shooting at night-time produces very different perceptions in different parts of the country and the world, so, make sure you are well aware of your laws and that you are not infringing on anyone else's right to safety, security, and tranquility.
2.- Application of the ancillary equipment to airguns is NOT sanctioned by SIGHTMARK. It is safe and a good investment when used in complete accordance with the stated layout. NO warranties are made or implied.
3.- Shooting at night requires 10X more care and the need to ABSOLUTELY identify your target. Take your time, wait for the shot, and make sure to make it count.
4.- Also make sure you visit/scout the place during daytime and that you KNOW the spot like you know your "farcebook" welcome page, or the nicks and scratches in your favourite airgun stock.
5.- If you know the spot and you know the distances, and you know your target, practice under as similar as possible conditions. Do not wait for the hunt to actually practice your viewing, lighting of the "work area", keeping track of personal gadgets, simplifying of trajectory data and having the facility to consult it at all times, even in the dark.

Precedent:

This is not the first time we set-up guns specifically to address some pests that are mostly active at night (Raccoons, Skunks, O'Possa, Foxes, Rats, Pigeons) and other vermin.
If you are interested in the previous version, it is here.
As you can read there, the originals were made using the Photon XT scope, but sadly that was discontinued some time ago in favor of a more technologically capable unit, the Wraith.
But we will get into technical details later, so, having said that, let's get into business:

The rifle:

We chose the DIANA Mauser AM03 platform to develop this concept on several grounds:
For one it is a gas spring gun, therefore keeping it cocked for extended periods of time offers no worries. It also is relatively free of vibrations post shot cycle. Therefore protecting, to some extent, the opto--electronic equipment (the night-vision sight).
It is also an airgun that has been proven accurate in the past at extended ranges, and very capable of reaching useful hunting energies with the right pellets.
The synthetic stock offers an adjustable cheekpiece and that was essential because night sights, by definition need very high L'sOS.
It helps that it comes in black, AND that short barreled versions are available.
Having agreed to the main ideas with the end user, we proceeded to source all parts.
Gun came directly from Germany.
In the US the short barreled version is only available from AoA and has an extended moderator affixed (as required by law):

But the resultant long OAL sort of defeated the purpose of having maneuverability while in a blind or tight spot. So, we decided to use what in the UK entered the market as a "Pro-Compact" version:

With one difference:
Ours has a threaded barrel that allowed us to create a reflex LDC.
In this way, we have a rifle that is shorter than the standard AM03, but still has all the elements to ensure we protect the tranquility of the night..
When compared side by side, it is quite interesting:

At top is the "Standard" AM03, the muzzle weight has been tuned to the energy level of this particular airgun, and uses the full length barrel, muzzle piece ends flush with muzzle.

In the middle is the "bare bones" short barreled version, without the DIANA heavy muzzle piece, with the threaded muzzle.

At the bottom is the N-J/N-H that adds a 4.5" to the OAL in comparison with the short barreled version, but incorporates a reflex device that also doubles as a harmonics tuner and so, is tune-able (within reason) to the pellet of choice. the Carbon Fiber sleeve also serves to distribute the cocking pressure over a larger area of the hand/fingers, and so makes for a pleasant handle

The Mount:

This is one of the most complicated mounts I have ever dealt with.
It started life as a "Scope Angel"; actually a quite good copy of the ZR Mount, made in Brazil by Senhor Boassi.
After all the Accurizing and customization process, it is quite repeatable and allows for a WIDE latitude for mounting different scopes and various optics.
It was necessary because night optics need the shooter to put the eye INTO the scope eyeshield as a means of getting as much contrast between light and dark as possible. BUT in a hard-kicking airgun, a solid mount was quite uncomfortable, as every time the gun came back at the start of the spring extension cycle, high pressure air was "pumped" into the shooting eye.
The fact that the ZR principle is to "float" the scope in its position (through inertia) makes it a very valuable addition in this case, not only because it protects the optoelectronics, but also because it gives good relief to the shooting eye from this "air burst" generated by the eye-shield acting as a bellows.

On top of this, because of the very high LOS, the mount needed a droop that would have been impossible to achieve in a proper ZR Mount (50 mrads). So I was glad to have the Scope Angel in hand.

As originally made, the mount tilted in the DIANA groove, and so it had to be corrected with a shim. Also the Weaver rail affixed on top was extremely thin and completely incompatible with the Picatinny standard spacing of cross bars.
Lastly, the drilling was made by hand, and so the rail had a side-bias of about 20 mrads, this also had to be corrected.

Look in detail at the dovetail and see that there is a "Wire Shim" that takes up some of the slack, but aligns better the groove with the dovetail.

In this picture you can see that the Picatinny rail has been milled and has had a stop built into it. so that the upper Picatinny rail has a solid "stop" against the sliding blocks. In this picture the rear screw has been tightened, and the front one hasn't so you can see a little "light" in there. But it also shows how the milling has not distorted the Picatinny Rail.

This picture shows that the Picatinny Rail is still straight. There is no further "droop" induced by a heavy scope cantilevered on the rail.

After ensuring that the rail was perfectly straight and would not stress the opto-electronics, we mounted the whole thing:

The Stock:

The stock of the AM03 is quite good; from the design POV it incorporates elements that are very forward looking and will be retained in the future generations of airguns, but the current embodiment suffers from some shortcomings when considered for a "serious field application" like this one.
The pillars that allow the adjustability of the cheekpiece needed to be changed for longer ones. And the ambidextrous capability of the stock also implies that tightening the thumbscrews on one side, is simply not enough friction to keep the cheekpiece in place. So the plastic inserts on the "off side" were replaced by allen screws cut to dimension, and that allows the thumbscrews to put proper pressure into the cheekpiece.
The pistol grip cap has a tendency to fly off with repeated firings at full power, so we got rid of it.
The pillar bedding is good, but we add Nord-Loc washers on the gun side of each pillar and that has proven to be the solution to the loose screws normal to airguns. Between pillar and screw, the normal star washer was preserved as it does a good job once the pillar itself is prevented from turning with each shot's vibrations.
The rear stock screw was also changed to a suitably re-worked countersunk head allen bolt.
Finally, spacer plates need to be added in the trigger well because the cavity is way too large, and that allows the trigger pins to move more than they should.
The user also requested the use of a bi-pod. Being an experienced long range shooter, he feels comfortable using bi-pods and so, part of the challenge was to find a bi-pod that would work well with a break barrel airgun.
I had heard in the past that DIANA made some Bi--pods for the 48 and for the 34 (two different models), but I had never seen one. Finally located a reference, only to discover they were no longer available!
BUT, the principle had to be usable and so I started searching for side mounted bi-pods, and I found a company run by an airgunner and while I found the components in other websites for less money, I strongly believe in supporting companies run by fellow sportpersons so, I purchased this bi-pod for my customer and I am very pleased, as we'll see later.
Mounting did offer its challenges, but that is why someone goes to a custom gunsmith, ¿right? ;-)
Here are some pictures:

Customization of the Picatinny rails and marking of the stock

Holes drilled and pilot/threaded

Side-rails mounted and alignment checked.

Here we check the alignment of the bedding pillars inside the accessory rails.

With the action mounted, the whole rig is stable.

A note here: Some shooters have complained that bi-pods are not "rigid" enough. And that was the reason why DIANA discontinued the product. The truth is that bi-pods SHOULD NOT be rigid. SOME degree of final fiddling with the position must be allowed to the shooter at the final trigger squeeze.
In our case (and this is something that DIANA could consider in the future), the accessory rails with 5 slots allows for an additional degree of tuning to which is the best position for the bi-pod, given the power level and the style of engine in the gun (steel spring or gas ram). IN GENERAL, gas rams feel better when supported exactly at the forearm screws, other springs usually feel better when supported as far forward as possible.

The opto-electronic sight:

The Wraith is one of the newer models to come into the SIGHTMARK line. It replaced the Photon with vastly improved resolution and more facilites (video recording, picture taking, more energy efficient, included illuminator, higher resolution, color rendering for day time use -instead of the black/white of the Photon-). Still, it is a heavy unit (well over 2# 4 Oz.) and the shooter needs to contemplate this.
It also, and we cannot stress this enough, is NOT rated for spring-piston airgun use.
SIGHTMARK will guarantee and replace units that fail, but do consult beforehand.
It has a very short eye relief, so the extreme rearwards mounting will pose a problem for most airguns.
The Wraith uses 4 AA batteries, but each set of 4 batteries will be drained in about 5 hours of continuous use. Having a background in electrical engineering, I procured some high capacity (2200 mAh) rechargeable batteries and got rid of the issue. Use for 5 hours, then recharge overnight/next day and you're ready to go next night.
The Wraith also accepts an external power source via a USB, so that's another possibility, but I prefer the rechargeable battery way, less clutter and noise.
There is an IR illuminator that has is own power source, and the diameter of the illuminator is common to many "tactical" flashlights, we'll include one in the final packaging.
The OptoElectronics side of the sight accept a mini SD card of quite large size, enough to hold a whole hunt, and to take MANY pictures. I'm sure we will start to see "documented hunts" with these sights.
At under $500, it competes successfully with other sights that almost double the price.
I am sure that the newer I-gadget generation will find the operation very easy and almost intuitive. I had to read the manual three times, because I have never had an I-Pod in my life.
Still, it is not complicated to handle, just read the manual.
Please consult the manufacturer's website for full specs.

The Muzzle Piece:

The Muzzle Piece is an interesting combination.
It uses the threaded muzzle to attach, and the interfases between barrel and muzzle piece have been ORing'ed. The Shroud can be "peeled back" to access the tuning element. This can be moved in a continuous form to achieve the tuning of the harmonics.
The space between shroud and barrel forms a rather large cavity, and there is a second cavity between this and the false muzzle.
This part has been affixed to the barrel to comply with the law, but accessibility to the adjustable element has been safeguarded.

Still, the whole assembly just adds 4.5" to the OAL of the gun. So it is still a relatively compact gun.

So, how does it work?

As usual, I started with the "shooting in" routine of shooting and cleaning and shooting and cleaning . . .
Once that was done, we checked the possible accuracy of a number of 0.22" cal pellets at short range.
After all, I have never heard of converging pellets, so if they do not shoot pellet on pellet at short range they are not worth trying at long range, are they?

As you can see here, the JSB's yield fairly uniform energies, even for pellets with 2 grs of difference between them, so clearly the JSB Jumbo Exact was not THE pellet for this barrel. The RWS H points, while not bad gave some doubts, the Baracuda Greens performed well, but the JSB made GTO,'s were simply amazing. Do remember this barrel is barely 11" long, so slow pellets have an even worse chance of performing well.

Some further tests pointed to the Crow Magnum also, but we decided to leave that to the user. depending on how long his shots are, he might be better off with the Predators.

After tuning the variable element in the LDC WITH the Bi-Pod attached and operational, we re-tested the JSB's and the SuperH Points, but while some improvement was there, still not quite "up to snuff". "CB" means the first cold bore shot.

Good!, so now everything is mounted and functional, it's time we adjourned to the outdoor world and take care of long range tests and sound tests.

The Wraith comes with a bracket to hold the IR illuminator. The bracket has an espherical interfase, so that the illuninator can be focused and oriented towards the "work area".

Tests at 20 yards revealed that the GTO's were still shooting well, so we adjourned to the 37 meter/41 yards line and we proceeded to shoot some groups.
A 5 shot group taught us that for a heavy optic and a long, cantilevered mount, any pressure from the eye into the scope via the eye-bellows would open the group, once that was identified, we rested about 10 minutes and shot a three shot group (more appropriate to a hunting gun). The black blobs in the target are a little under 1/2", but I am often asked to put an object so that the groups can be better appreciated. Since the "dime" seems to be an established measure of grouping in the US, I decided to include one.
And for those that REALLY need to see what "three shots into a dime means" here it is:

For me, it was a lesson in shooting and I will be the first to acknowledge that I am not the best shooter, either from a bi-pod or otherwise, but the bi-pod did present me with some challenges I am not used to, the process seemed to be:
Lay down
Shoot
Roll on your back and sit up
Rap the muzzle open
Cock the gun putting your left arm between the bi-pod legs
Insert the pellet
Close the barrel taking care to avoid hitting the bi-pod legs as well as not moving the scope-floating mount.
Return carefully the rifle to position
Aim
Fire.
Start again.

Still, the system demonstrated that it is capable of perfectly good hunting accuracy/precision.

Comparing that to my normal routine of shooting seated it is MUCH more complex.
So, yes I am sure I was not doing justice to the system.

With the usual 20/20 hindsight, a table would have been a great asset, and possibly one of those shooting chairs that swivel. That would be a more versatile setup, though I would still prefer a blind with some table like support so that shooting could take place from the sitting position and the cocking of the rifle would not be so noticeable.
That would belong to a "fieldcraft" post, LOL!

As for the sound tests, I used the setup I have always used:

As you can see, the grass is quite grown and therefore it provides some sound absorption. Shooting at ground level on a hard surface would have added some reverberations to the sound signature.
The sound meter is located 1 m away,measured at right angle to the muzzle.

This picture shows more clearly the orientation and location of the sound meter relative to the muzzle.

And a look from the other side of the muzzle shows how the sound meter addresses the exact line of exit.

We tested the sound levels before affixing the Muzzle piece and found that, without it, it is a rather noisy airgun:

After affixing the muzzle piece, the sound averaged 9 dB less:

Now, this may not seem much, but since the dB is an exponential function that doubles or halves every 3 dB, these 9 dB's mean that the gun less than 1/8th as noisy with the device than without the device.
For those interested, you can note that the "Response" is set to "FAST", the "Weighing" is set to "C".

At this sound level, the gun is not more noisy than a toilet flushing (~70 dB) from 30-35 yards away.

All in all, it has been an interesting experience.

I still lament the discontinuation of the PhotonX, as I think that for serious airgunners, it was all that was absolutely needed, but I guess that modern times enforce the necessities of the luxuries, like video recording, color picture, and the like.

The more I deal with modern Consumer Electronics, the more I feel like a dinosaur, ROFL!

Hope this has been an interesting read, keep well and shoot straight!

HM

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Hector Medina

2012 US National WFTF Spring Piston Champion
2012 WFTF Spring Piston Grand Prix Winner
2013 World's WFTF Spring Piston 7th place
2014 Texas State WFTF Piston Champion
2014 World's WFTF Spring Piston 5th place.
2015 Maine State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 Massachusetts State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 New York State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 US National WFTF Piston 2nd Place
2016 Canadian WFTF Piston Champion
2016 Pyramyd Air Cup WFTF Piston 1st Place
2017 US Nationals Open Piston 3rd Place
2018 WFTC's Member of Team USA Champion Springers
2018 WFTC's 4th place Veteran Springer
2020 Puerto Rico GP Piston First Place
2020 NC State Championships 1st Place Piston