Author Topic: CFX, JSB Exacts, and Beta Chrony!! (LONG!)  (Read 3699 times)

Offline daved

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CFX, JSB Exacts, and Beta Chrony!! (LONG!)
« on: September 28, 2006, 07:35:54 PM »
How's that for a triple play review!  First, my freshly Tuna'd CFX.

To the many of you that have already had a rifle (or rifles, Gene!) tuned by Bob, this is going to be preaching to the choir.  All the usual superlatives apply, silky smooth cocking stroke, ZERO spring torque, twang , or buzz, no vibration, squeeze the trigger and all you get is a smooth, solid THUNK.  But for me, there's a bit of twist to the story.  I originally sent my rifle to Bob with a busted main spring, even though it was still under factory warranty.  Two reasons, I didn't want to wait the 4 to 6 weeks turn around for Gamo to fix it, and I was looking for an excuse to have Bob tune it anyway.  Since I wanted my rifle back ASAP, I sent it to Bob by 3 day UPS, and arranged for him to return it the same way.  And just to help out even more, he got right on it as soon as it got to him, and it was on it's way back the next day.  That's service!  But we're not done yet.  When I got it back, it just didn't seem to be shooting like it should.  I just couldn't get it to settle down.  I finally borrowed a Chrony from a friend, and the problem was obvious.  The velocity was all over the place!  Well, I emailed Bob my Chrony date, and his response was instant-send it back.  The problem ended up being a seal issue that had NOTHING TO DO WITH BOBS TUNE!  As we all know, Gamo parts can be hard to come by, he ended up having to make seals to fix the problem.  Extra cost to me?  Zip, zero, ziltch, even though the problem wasn't his fault, there was no charge to correct it.  He didn't even charge me for shipping to get it back!  Plus, he called me several times to let me know what was going on.  There have been more than a few snide comments made elsewhere about Bob's cash up front policy and general level of competance; based on my experiences with Bob, those people have their heads firmly planted where the light don't shine!  Believe me, Bob's service is a bargain.  And now for some numbers.

Prior to Bob's tune, my CFX showed a definite preference for JSB Exacts.  But my reading on this and the other forum revealed a quirk with the CFX barrels.  They are supposedly somewhat oversize.  So, I got Exacts in 4 head diameters, from 4.50 to 4.53 mm, with the intent of doing both chrony and accuracy testing.  The initial Chrony results are attached.  At this point, I consider these to be preliminary results, I've only started testing.  Right now, my Chrony is still in factory default set up.  I intend to change the default string length to something longer than 10, maybe 16 or 20.  And in addition to muzzle velocity, I want to do some down range velocity testing as well.  And of course, I still need to do some accuracy testing.  So far, I've done little more than get everything re zeroed.  And I'm still in "break in" mode.  But even with the limited shooting I did tonight at 25 yards, and with the trigger still needing some tweaking, I'm seeing serious potential for consistent 1/4 to 1/3 inch groups at 25 yards.  And yes, I will post target pix when I have them.

And this finally brings me to the new Beta Chrony.  I really can't say enough good things about having my own chronograph.  Shooting Chrony's tag line on the box sums it up perfectly--"Buy yourself an eye opener!".  When I borrowed a friends Alpha to test my CFX when I first got it back from Bob, being able to say "the velocity varies 100+ fps with pellet X" was much more diagnostic than saying "I just can't seem to get it on target".  This is not a tool that I expect to set up every time I shoot my rifle.  But at the cost, it's a tool well worth having.  Of the 6 pellets I shot for the included table, anyone want to guess what the most accurate one was?  If you guessed the 4.52 Exact, you're right.  With the caveat that that's at 25 yards.  I expect it to hold even at longer ranges, but that's the beauty of having my own Chrony, I don't have to guess.  And I expect to see some increase in overall velocity as everything breaks in.

Well, that's about all for now.  But this is just the beginning, so be watching for more to come.  And if anyone has questions, suggestions, or comments, fire away.  I think I need a "control" pellet, that's why I shot the FTS's tonight, but I'm thinking that's probably not the best choice.  Something more readily available and common might be better, like Crosman Premiers or RWS Superdomes.  Or both?  Later, people.

Dave


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Re: CFX, JSB Exacts, and Beta Chrony!! (LONG!)
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2006, 03:08:59 AM »
Hey Dave,
Have you tried CPL's ? Wondering about the difference. BTW, CFX on the way to CDT. Was debating on whether or not to wait for colder weather, but the spring broke.....That solved the debate although not sure why the spring broke so quickly. Didn't dry fire that I know of. Now I'm like you were, not even shipped yet and I'm waiting for return!

Offline daved

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Re: CFX, JSB Exacts, and Beta Chrony!! (LONG!)
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2006, 03:34:50 PM »
Hey, Bruce,

Yes, I have tried CPL's, but the tin, not the box.  And I havent' tried them since getting my rifle back from Bob.  Prior to the tune, they weren't that good in my gun or the Shadow I borrowed.  Maybe it's psychological on my part, but they haven't shot that well for me.  However, I was just thinking I need to go back and re-test pretty much everything I've got.  Happened to shoot a few Crow Mags last night, mostly just playing around, but they seemed to be pretty good, and they seemed to be hitting really hard.  Did something I haven't done before, filled an empty beer can with water then shot it with a Crow Mag.  Split the FRONT of the can wide open, and still blew through the back of the can.  Not what I would have expected, but logical in retrospect.  Still surprised they were able to shoot through, was shooting at 25 yards.  Got the same result with an un-opened can.  I've tended to avoid the heavier pellets, but I'm thinking I need to get some Kodiaks to try, even if it means risking accelerated wear on my main spring.  If I bust another one, I'll probably go to a gas ram.  Looks like Theoben is going to put out a higher powered Hunter ram for the American market.  Should work just fine in a CFX...

Same thing happened with my CFX after only a couple of months and somewhere between 2 & 3K pellets through it.  Absolutely certain that I never dry fired it, and at most a couple hundred heavy (Silver Arrow) pellets.  This isn't the first time I've heard of a CFX busting a spring too soon.  Maybe it's the "oversized" barrels the CFX is supposed to have.

I know what you mean about the wait.  Just got my CFX back, now I'm waiting for my new RWS 350 .22.  Supposed to be here next Friday, gonna be a long week....

Dave