Post by Who? on Nov 18, 2020 13:11:47 GMT
More money than sense?... Not a lot of the former, so a damning statement of stupidity!
I could live with the number of shots/fill, even though the idea of a reg increasing the shot count was attractive. What decided me was the gradual increase and decrease (+/- 0.5 mildot) in POI over the 30-40 shots.
Which reg though? Lane: fitted these to my S400 and Diana Bandit. Tench: available via Ratworks, but not as supply only. Airtech Rifles: mixed (extreme) reviews. Altaros: used them on my S200 and S400, I was left 'meh', removed them from both guns. HUMA: highest cost but nice integration, good reviews and seems to be the industry default. So HUMA it was.
XTX Air have stopped trading, but their YouTube videos are gold. Not sure how much longer they'll be up on YouTube though.
So having bought a few bits (from John Knibbs) that I thought I'd need and with the delivery of the reg, I set to.
With the removal of the aluminium blank I was able to remove the trigger assembly. Next the breech - the rear bolt came out ok, but had real difficulty with the front bolt. Much scratching of head and surprisingly mellow thinking (I'm getting more patient with age) I managed to get the pellet inlet, probe bearing and pellet probe out - I believe this was just 'gumming' up with dirt as the Ultra is 2ndhand. Now, how does that transfer port come out? Aha, the magazine release catch also holds the transfer port in place. Also discovered the pellet probe had been replaced with an aftermarket stainless steel version and the later banjo pin fitted. Fitted the replacement 4mm transfer port (part #16-7445) and replaced the pellet probe o-ring. Gave it all a good clean and put the breech components back together.
Replaced the hammer spring with a lighter version (part #16-6712) having polished the ends of the spring. Removed the knock-off restrictor from the valve seating assembly - the valve stem need cleaning and the verdigris removed from valve seating body (someone wasn't using dry air in the past!). Disassembled the air cylinder, thread connector and body adaptor. Previously a 'Blast-Tamer' had been fitted, I removed that as it took up air space and (apparently) you don't need it as the reg stops the shock wave transferring into the cylinder. Replaced all the O-rings and put it back together.
Before final re-assembly I unscrewed the end cap cover so I could make the changes to balance the hammer spring. After making a tool to turn the power adjuster I was ready to put some air into the cylinder and give it try.
Happiness - no leaks and after a half turn of the power adjuster it was firing pellets about 11.5fpe. Coming from shooting predominantly 8.5gr pellets, I was surprised at how big the fpe difference is with only a few fps change of a 15.9gr pellet!
The dive tank had about 195barg, some way short of the max 232barg fill of the Ultra (I have read you can go to 250barg fill with the HUMA reg fitted). Even so, the shot string over the chrono indicated it was 40 shots before the fps and POI started to drop significantly - this was with about 100barg showing on the gun pressure gauge.
In conclusion: fitting the reg has removed the vertical POI problem (the primary purpose) and seems to have increased shot count (need to confirm that with a 232barg fill).
I could live with the number of shots/fill, even though the idea of a reg increasing the shot count was attractive. What decided me was the gradual increase and decrease (+/- 0.5 mildot) in POI over the 30-40 shots.
Which reg though? Lane: fitted these to my S400 and Diana Bandit. Tench: available via Ratworks, but not as supply only. Airtech Rifles: mixed (extreme) reviews. Altaros: used them on my S200 and S400, I was left 'meh', removed them from both guns. HUMA: highest cost but nice integration, good reviews and seems to be the industry default. So HUMA it was.
XTX Air have stopped trading, but their YouTube videos are gold. Not sure how much longer they'll be up on YouTube though.
So having bought a few bits (from John Knibbs) that I thought I'd need and with the delivery of the reg, I set to.
With the removal of the aluminium blank I was able to remove the trigger assembly. Next the breech - the rear bolt came out ok, but had real difficulty with the front bolt. Much scratching of head and surprisingly mellow thinking (I'm getting more patient with age) I managed to get the pellet inlet, probe bearing and pellet probe out - I believe this was just 'gumming' up with dirt as the Ultra is 2ndhand. Now, how does that transfer port come out? Aha, the magazine release catch also holds the transfer port in place. Also discovered the pellet probe had been replaced with an aftermarket stainless steel version and the later banjo pin fitted. Fitted the replacement 4mm transfer port (part #16-7445) and replaced the pellet probe o-ring. Gave it all a good clean and put the breech components back together.
Replaced the hammer spring with a lighter version (part #16-6712) having polished the ends of the spring. Removed the knock-off restrictor from the valve seating assembly - the valve stem need cleaning and the verdigris removed from valve seating body (someone wasn't using dry air in the past!). Disassembled the air cylinder, thread connector and body adaptor. Previously a 'Blast-Tamer' had been fitted, I removed that as it took up air space and (apparently) you don't need it as the reg stops the shock wave transferring into the cylinder. Replaced all the O-rings and put it back together.
Before final re-assembly I unscrewed the end cap cover so I could make the changes to balance the hammer spring. After making a tool to turn the power adjuster I was ready to put some air into the cylinder and give it try.
Happiness - no leaks and after a half turn of the power adjuster it was firing pellets about 11.5fpe. Coming from shooting predominantly 8.5gr pellets, I was surprised at how big the fpe difference is with only a few fps change of a 15.9gr pellet!
The dive tank had about 195barg, some way short of the max 232barg fill of the Ultra (I have read you can go to 250barg fill with the HUMA reg fitted). Even so, the shot string over the chrono indicated it was 40 shots before the fps and POI started to drop significantly - this was with about 100barg showing on the gun pressure gauge.
In conclusion: fitting the reg has removed the vertical POI problem (the primary purpose) and seems to have increased shot count (need to confirm that with a 232barg fill).
