Vortek for the B-26

[Walt]

I ordered two kits specifically for my B-26's  Back in February when there was a typo on the site that made it appear that the kits were available for the B-26, so I ordered two. I was notified of the error and told they would be available shortly and they would hold my order. Well shortly has come and gone and even after hearing B-26 kits were in field test, I got some disappointing news yesterday in the mail. A refund check from Vortek with no explanation. I am thinking this is not a good omen for B-26 upgrades from Vortek. Anybody heard anything else?
W

[DMikeM]

I have also been waiting for news of a B26 kit, but last email I got from them was they were not being produced. Just checked the Vortek sight and it says soon for the BAM B26 - HW95
Wonder why this one is difficult, there are only 2 sizes of these from what I have been able to gather. Sure would be nice to have definitive information.

From Vorteks website.
Kits page, "  B26-FAC         Very Soon         #HW95-  "
Front page      -HW95/R9-  Comming Soon. Engineered Smooth, Innovatively quiet! Comming Soon

[Walt]

I believe JM quit doing kits for B-26's because of variation in tube size maybe Vortek came to the same conclusion. I am still hoping for a kit. If you don't have a lathe getting tight tolerances and improved performance is tough to do.
W

[shady816]

i have come up with some guides that will take all twang and buzz out as well as it sounds like one solid thump but still has the recoil less the twist.

[mjb108]

Seems like the RWS 48 Vortek kit were also delayed for weeks and weeks before they finally came out earlier this month.  Maybe the B26 kit will eventually emerge also.  Actually, if they just called it an R9 kit, would they have trouble with tube sizes?

They must be doing brisk business on all of the available kits; that may be slowing them down, too.

[DMikeM]

Good new guys. I posted a link to here on the DIANA forums for Vortek to have a look, here is his response that was posted on the Dianawerk Collective. Looks like we may eventually get a PG2 kit for our B26 guns.

 HW95/95 PG2
   April 23 2010, 5:12 PM

 Thank you DMIKE for the email lead on the PG2/HW95 dialog on the other site. We have not been to the China before.

 To respond and bring closure to the questions and thoughts about the Vortek ProGuide2 for the HW95/R9 damping kit, we are experiencing a slight longer delivery time on our spring order from our supplier. Further, the PG2 design has    been finished and we are committed on getting this DYI kit into the hands of the HW95/R9 owners. With confidence, once we receive the springs, we will up assembly and those that had an order in, will be the first orders out if they still would like the kit.

 Once again, thank you all for your patience and most importantly for your interest in our products.
 VORTEK

[turbonoma]

That sure sounds promising...crossing fingers

[Mark 611]

Hey you guys Tom Gore is a good guy I've spoken to him many times on the phone I'm sure he will come thru on these kits, I have a kit in my HW50's you will like them!

[DMikeM]

Vortek has updated the site. Looks like sales could start next week.

http://www.vortekproducts.com/

[speedturtle]

Mike, is that a metal rear guide that is shown on the HW95/R9 kit they are making? That looks like a lot of preload to me. I wonder why they did not go for their regular delrin material on the rear guide this time. Pretty interesting, isn't it?

[DMikeM]

ST,
I am not sure what they are using. Maybe they needed to preload to get power or stability and use a smaller spring.
I am just wondering what they are going to do regarding the 2 different sizes of these guns. I guess we will know in about a week.

[Mark 611]

DMike what do mean the 2 different size's?

[speedturtle]

IIRC, the BAM B26 which is a clone of the Beeman R-9 has 2 compression tube sizes namely 25mm and 26mm depending on the production date. I think these are the 2 sizes that they want to address also since there are a lot of owners of the B26 airguns. Mine is from 2006 and has the 25mm tube.

[DMikeM]

Such a small difference that I am starting to wonder if I actually have the small chamber since I got both of mine in the last year and I replaced the seals with the smaller ones I got from Mike. But I could actually fit the larger seal in the chamber if I was careful and forced it. I even took one of the larger seals and re-sized it just a little and installed in in my gun. Any way to tell the Man date on these guns off the serial number?

[Mark 611]

The reason i threw that out there is I know that some replacement springs don't matter on the tubs size, when you order a spring from MM I beliveve the spring is the same for both tube sizes and I would think Tom Gore would make a kit one size fits all kit would make more since than trying to make one for each tube size, and the seal in the bigger tube {26mm} is way to big to fit the smaller  {25mm} tube I have a 26mm tube and I've tried to fit the 25mm seal and it is way to small. If memory serves me correctly I think the HW95/R9 tube is 25mm tube.