Air Venturi Avenger

[tbhausen]

Looky what showed up yesterday… mechanical art. If you appreciate purpose-built machines that have everything you need and nothing you don’t, designed with simplicity and a bit of flair, this will almost certainly appeal to you. The workmanship is first-rate. Kind of like having my own reloading station It’s designed with maintenance and serviceability in mind, too… has its own preprogramed lubrication and maintenance interval reminders, and everything is out in the open where it’s easy to get to and work on. Yes, I’m impressed.

 

[tbhausen]

This compressor is officially bad ass! I put the fluids in it, fired it up, and topped up my Avenger from 2100 to 4300 psi in under a minute (and that’s starting from only about 300 psi more than when the gun would be falling off the regulator). It seems to be quiet enough for apartment use (at least they’re not beating on my door yet). Of course, it didn’t get nearly hot enough to trigger a pause for a cool down cycle. Hell, it didn’t even break a sweat. Good stuff, really good stuff.

 

[tbhausen]

Now here’s something interesting… Picked up my gun to do some measuring to figure out what scope mounts to get, and noticed that the regulator now reads 3000 psi. So perhaps these guns are still being shipped with the regulator pressure set way too high. It apparently came up (from 1800 psi) when I filled the cylinder yesterday. I guess I’ll degas it and start over and see where things were.

 

[tbhausen]

A bit more, in case anyone’s following along… The hammer spring was nearly all the way out. That would certainly tame the velocity with a 3000 psi regulator setting, but it’s hardly a balanced tune. I expected to find the hammer spring nearly all the way in. My hammer spring is a tiny bit over five turns total adjustment, so I set it just a bit past 2 1/2 turns in. I plan to leave the regulator at 1800 psi and fine-tune the velocity with the hammer spring.

This is a fantastic video about tuning the AVA in .22 caliber. I’m shooting for the middle, or “protune”, with 18.13 grain pellets:

 

[tbhausen]

Here’s some more info. I’ve actually done more study and more work to this gun than any other gun before I even got it to the range. It’s kind of the nature of airguns, though.

Since the regulator was set way up at 3000 psi, I bled all the air out of the gun and dry fired it to get the air out of the plenum. This allowed me to try the trigger without making a bunch of noise in my apartment and I’m in shock how good this trigger is. It’s literally match grade. I haven’t put a gauge to it yet, but it has a soft first stage and a tiny, almost imperceptible amount of creep before it breaks. It’s the kind of trigger where the break actually can surprise you. I don’t think I’m even going to bother trying to adjust it. It’s that good.

I decided to pull some patches through the barrel and whatever the hell the Chinese are using for a preservative is some stubborn stuff. It took about 15 patches soaked with Sage and Braker CLP before they started coming out clean. I’m glad airgun barrels don’t need cleaning very often, because the gap at the breech is only about 3/4” wide, so everything has to be done from the front. Since the muzzle is about 5 inches inside the shroud, I had to use a soda straw each time to get the patch pull-through started into the bore. It was tedious.

I decided on these Burris XTR Signature rings because I can cant the scope up to 40 MOA using the Pos-Align inserts. If I can get the scope zeroed near the top of its 16 MRAD adjustment range, I should be able to dial in come-ups up to about 175 yards with the scope zeroed at 50. These rings are inbound; mounting the scope is the last task before I get this rifle to the range (though I might go function check it and get the regulator set before I get the rings). The lowest available, which is 1” from rail top to the scope optical axis, are high enough to get the job done with my 30mm tube, 50mm objective Hawke scope:

XTR Signature Rings™ | Burris Optics

www.burrisoptics.com

 

[tbhausen]

Just for shits and grins, I decided to see what the reticle looks like with the scope dialed in for a 175 yard come-up if I can achieve it. The 10 MRAD available for aiming below the crosshairs only get me to 204 yards. I’d say that would be truly getting everything out of both the rifle and the optic.

 

[tbhausen]

I monkeyed around with the rifle and finally got the regulator set properly today. It took a while to figure it out. It required more twiddling than I thought to get it right. After you fire off a few shots, it drops about 100 psi and you have to keep sneaking up on it and firing until it finally stabilizes at the desired setting. My regulator is at 1800 psi for the AEAC “protune” with 18.1 grain Diabolo-shaped pellets. I’ll be looking for 860 FPS when I begin shooting.

No angry neighbors from dry firing or running the compressor in my apartment… yet. I even drained the gun one more time and filled it playing with the regulator. It took exactly 3 minutes to fill an empty (180cc tank) gun to 300 bar.

 

[Mongo59]

I monkeyed around with the rifle and finally got the regulator set properly today. It took a while to figure it out. It required more twiddling than I thought to get it right. After you fire off a few shots, it drops about 100 psi and you have to keep sneaking up on it and firing until it finally stabilizes at the desired setting. My regulator is at 1800 psi for the AEAC “protune” with 18.1 grain Diabolo-shaped pellets. I’ll be looking for 860 FPS when I begin shooting.

No angry neighbors from dry firing or running the compressor in my apartment… yet. I even drained the gun one more time and filled it playing with the regulator. It took exactly 3 minutes to fill an empty (180cc tank) gun to 300 bar.

You are going to make my transition so easy! Thanks for all the expensive information.

 

[tbhausen]

Getting there… Had to hang a sign on it so if the maintenance people come in they don’t have a heart attack.

 

[tbhausen]

Too windy to learn anything at the range this weekend… grrr…

 

[rugertoter]

Too windy to learn anything at the range this weekend… grrr…

Here too. Had wind gusts up to 50 MPH!

 

[Mongo59]

The further south you went, the windier it got...

 

[tbhausen]

I need a place where I can shoot 50 and 100 yards indoors! (don’t we all?)

 

[TheGhostRider]

How are you liking the new compressor?
I’m looking to purchase a new compressor soon for my Leshiy and the Hill is on my radar along will Alkin, Bauer and Coltri.

 

[tbhausen]

I’m not familiar with the others you mentioned, but the limited use I’ve had (draining my gun a couple of times and topping it up to 300 BAR) it seems like a really solid, well engineered machine. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it this season.

Edit: I took a quick look at the three you mentioned. Nice equipment, but the Hill is far more portable and about half the cost of the others. I thought the Hill was expensive when I bought it, but it turns out to occupy a really unique place in the market between all the Chinese stuff and the ones you’re looking at, and probably is the ideal compromise for personal use filling guns and topping off smaller tanks. I also like the fact that they put maintenance and teardown videos out there for us mechanically inclined types to do our own work on their products if necessary.

 

[TheGhostRider]

I’m not familiar with the others you mentioned, but the limited use I’ve had (draining my gun a couple of times and topping it up to 300 BAR) it seems like a really solid, well engineered machine. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it this season.

Edit: I took a quick look at the three you mentioned. Nice equipment, but the Hill is far more portable and about half the cost of the others. I thought the Hill was expensive when I bought it, but it turns out to occupy a really unique place in the market between all the Chinese stuff and the ones you’re looking at, and probably is the ideal compromise for personal use filling guns and topping off smaller tanks. I also like the fact that they put maintenance and teardown videos out there for us mechanically inclined types to do our own work on their products if necessary.

Thank you for your insight! You have reinforced my observation spot on. Were either stuck with china mart crap that may or may not work for a day a week or a month... that's if it gets delivered in one piece! Or... we have to spend thousands on one that is overkill when all we need is a "direct fill" for the gun or a single buddy bottle. I don't mind spending money on good stuff but darn! 3-5 grand for what I'm doing is not wise use of financial resources. Thank you again! Looks like its time to go shopping!

 

[tbhausen]

Thank you for your insight! You have reinforced my observation spot on. Were either stuck with china mart crap that may or may not work for a day a week or a month... that's if it gets delivered in one piece! Or... we have to spend thousands on one that is overkill when all we need is a "direct fill" for the gun or a single buddy bottle. I don't mind spending money on good stuff but darn! 3-5 grand for what I'm doing is not wise use of financial resources. Thank you again! Looks like its time to go shopping!

The Hill used to sell for $1000. Now it’s $1200. I got it on a Black Friday sale for $1100. Still a lot of money, but I’m glad to have “air independence”.

 

[tbhausen]

More “FYI”… the regulator on my gun creeps about 150 psi over the first 24 hours, but has crept less than 100 psi more over the following six days. That’s quite good, actually, as a bit of creep is very common. One dry fire resets the regulator for the first shot. Where excessive creep can become a real problem is while hunting, as more rapid creep can spoil a first shot after a period of time where being quiet was important (creep can both raise or lower your first shot’s point of impact, depending mainly upon how your regulator vs. hammer spring are balanced).

Some regulators “settle in” as guns are broken in, so I’ll keep an eye on that, though I’m quite happy where things are right now. Many guns creep several hundred psi over a few hours, or even minutes. A really leaky regulator will cause the reservoir and plenum pressure to eventually equalize. I think this may have happened to my gun over a long period of time between production and delivery, resulting in my initial confusion about both how the factory tuned the gun and how to adjust the regulator (the learning never stops, does it?). The creep rates I mentioned are from a full (300 BAR, 4350 psi) reservoir. A less-full reservoir would obviously reduce the creep rate.

 

[baranjhn]

More “FYI”… the regulator on my gun creeps about 150 psi over the first 24 hours, but has crept less than 100 psi more over the following six days. That’s quite good, actually, as a bit of creep is very common. One dry fire resets the regulator for the first shot. Where excessive creep can become a real problem is while hunting, as more rapid creep can spoil a first shot after a period of time where being quiet was important (creep can both raise or lower your first shot’s point of impact, depending mainly upon how your regulator vs. hammer spring are balanced).

Some regulators “settle in” as guns are broken in, so I’ll keep an eye on that, though I’m quite happy where things are right now. Many guns creep several hundred psi over a few hours, or even minutes. A really leaky regulator will cause the reservoir and plenum pressure to eventually equalize. I think this may have happened to my gun over a long period of time between production and delivery, resulting in my initial confusion about both how the factory tuned the gun and how to adjust the regulator (the learning never stops, does it?). The creep rates I mentioned are from a full (300 BAR, 4350 psi) reservoir. A less-full reservoir would obviously reduce the creep rate.

Excellent post! I’m concerned about your regulator though. It shouldn’t creep and may be faulty. Is it under warranty?

 

[tbhausen]

Yes, the rifle was shipped to me a month ago. But from what I’ve read online, it’s actually quite common for these reg’s to creep, and they often settle in over time. I dry-fired the rifle once three days ago, and it returned to exactly 1800 psi. It’s only crept a bit under 150 psi since then. Honestly, I’m not at all concerned about it unless it worsens rather than settling in. I’ve got 11 months of warranty left to see how that goes, but it’s far too minor an issue to send a rifle in for service over (and if I request an exchange, it’s likely it could be even worse).

Edit: I should have also added that the regulator in my gun seemed to stop creeping at just below 2100 psi after sitting for about a week before I dry-fired it three days ago. This would suggest that it is settling in, especially if the reservoir and plenum had indeed equalized between when the gun was assembled/filled and when I received it.