Hi Guys,
Well, after working on it (and having it worked on) on and off for just over a year, my QB PCP is finally (98%) finished. It started life as a Mike Melick-tuned standard QB-78, .22 caliber, in a deluxe stock that Mike hand polished. It was a sweet shooter, and I wouldn't have done anything to change it, except that I wanted it to be impervious to the cold. PCP was the only way to go. I had Jim Csenki up in Canada make me up a tube and (one of my favorite things about this gun) an EXTERNAL HAMMER ADJUSTER.Â
(I rigged up the adjuster knob from a small knob I had lying around, JB Weld and black gun paint. Looks much better in real life). I sent the tube off to Jack Haley, who powder-coated it, threaded it, fit a fill adapter, drilled and tapped the valve and tube for extra strengthening screws (even gave me an extra fill nipple cap he had lying around). I ditched the plastic barrel band and got an RJMachine steel band. I bought a spare standard stock and .177 caliber kit from Archer Airguns. I sanded and spray-painted the stock with some textured outdoor spraypaint (suprisingly came out pretty nice, does not look Bubba'd at all) and added some sling swivel studs and a sling. That stock will be used for hunting/field work, because I just can't bring myself to take that beautiful MM-polished stock outside! ;)Â BTW, the gun is wearing a BSA 4x scope.
All the guys who did work on my rifle/sold me parts were great to work with, and I would recommend all of them. Thanks guys!
So now I have two different stocks, two different calibers and an adjustable hammer. I really could not expect any more from this one gun. For the most part, I have only tested the gun in .177. With an 1800 psi fill, I get about 33 shots starting out at 870 fps and finishing at 870 fps with a peak of 910 fps. The spread is larger that I would like, but in practice does not actually mean much. The average velocity over 33 shots: 889 fps. The only testing I did with the .22 barrel and bolt was one shot with a 21.1 grain Beeman Kodiak at (I think) 2,500 psi with the hammer adjuster turned all the way in (maximum power). That shot clocked 987 fps, power: 45.65 FPE. Also shot a 14.5 grain RWS Superdome at 1,088 fps, power: 38.12 FPE. I will test the gun in .22 to find the best hammer adjuster position, fill pressure etc. that will give me a nice shot string.
What I really need to do now is to get to the shooting range so I can do some accuracy testing (the little that I have done so far has been very promising).
I just can't get enough of this gun. I don't think I will ever sell it.
Matt
P.S. - The pics are not that great. The lighting was bad and the camera is old...hehehe
