Air Arms Owners Club

I'm not sure if the Lane regulator uses the original firing valve and spring. If it does, 70 bar is way too low. For optimum performance the reg pressure needs to be set near the peak of the unregulated power curve - about 120 bar for the standard setup. You may get a greater number of consistent shots by dropping the reg pressure to about 110 bar. If set much lower the shot count will suffer. To achieve a given muzzle energy you need less mass of air (= more efficient use of air) at higher pressure than at lower pressure but, the higher you go, the less air mass available before you come off reg. As you lower the reg pressure you get to a point where loss of efficiency outstrips the extra air available. Then your shot count will drop and so will your muzzle energy.

Great information, many thanks. Even I understood it. Is it easy to remove the regulator, any tips welcome.

Just to clarify, if you want to find the peak on the unregulated curve you don't usually have to remove the regulator. Just turn the reg pressure up as high as it will go. You should get a flat line from fill/max pressure to the reg set point then the velocity will rise after the gun comes off reg, reach a peak, then fall off. If you don't get the increase after coming off reg then the gun's unregulated peak is at higher pressure than the reg's maximum set point (not usually the case).

Lane supplies his Air Arms .177 regulators set to 105 bar. You shouldn't have to touch that setting at all if you do everything right. I fitted one to my 400 carbine, after loads of trials and testing I'm now up to 114 shots before it drops off the reg, doing 11.3 fpe, that's filling to 200bar, the max fill pressure, Lane guarantees the reg is OK up to a 300 bar charge.
The Ultimate Sporter has the same "working" parts as the 400, I've also got an HFT500 which is basically the single shot US and compared the workings- hammer, spring, firing valve etc are exactly the same, the air cylinders interchange, I've stuck a shorter 400 one on the HFT, the US carbine cylinder is the same 300mm length as the 400 one. Part numbers are the same apart from the hammer which is probably because of the different surface finish but they are same size and weight. So you should be able to get in excess of 100 shots if you do it right. But that means following his instructions. I ended up making a longer, lighter hammer, different size hammer spring spacers used shorter stronger spring etc to mix and match but I never entertained altering the reg pressure, that is the very last thing you should mess with. Rob Lanes videos and website downloads cover just about everything, follow them and you're on the right track especially read the specific AIr Arms fitting download on his site.
Whoever fitted your regulator obviously did no set-up or testing, just a thought did the transfer port get enlarged you're chasing your tail if it wasn't.

tonyc wrote: ↑

Mon May 14, 2018 5:01 pm

Just to clarify, if you want to find the peak on the unregulated curve you don't usually have to remove the regulator. Just turn the reg pressure up as high as it will go. You should get a flat line from fill/max pressure to the reg set point then the velocity will rise after the gun comes off reg, reach a peak, then fall off. If you don't get the increase after coming off reg then the gun's unregulated peak is at higher pressure than the reg's maximum set point (not usually the case).

First off you can't alter the reg without removing it from the cylinder it's too far down. You need some kind of collar to fit over the reg to save damaging the adjuster, I used a small plastic tube, then tap it out towards the breech end. There is an M5 hole in the other end to stick a bolt in and pull it but it's easier to tap it out.
Filling to max then shooting until it comes off the reg is not the best way, that assumes you've already got the optimum firing valve tension, hammer travel, hammer spring strength and length before you start which you haven't. You need to get a set reg pressure, stick to it and then do all your testing to get the optimum power and shot count for that reg setting. As already said Lane sets to 105bar for .177 Air Arms and with his experience I'd trust that to be ideal, certainly worked for me.

My Ben taylor regs are set at 100 bar in .177 with 115 - 120 shots per fill fo 210 bar

BBF

Blackbaronfish wrote: ↑

Tue May 15, 2018 6:09 pm

My Ben taylor regs are set at 100 bar in .177 with 115 - 120 shots per fill fo 210 bar

BBF

Just out of interest Ray, who did you use to service your BTAS regs. Rog

Airgun Doctor in Staffordshire
http://www.airgundoctor.co.uk/
As I have a lad at work that goes that way and it saved me postage
They weren’t cheap if I remember

BBF

Blackbaronfish wrote: ↑

Wed May 16, 2018 7:21 am

Airgun Doctor in Staffordshire
http://www.airgundoctor.co.uk/
As I have a lad at work that goes that way and it saved me postage
They weren’t cheap if I remember

BBF

Cheers for that Ray, handy to know, my BTAS S510 .22 still works fine, never had a problem, but you never know, one day! Thanks Rog

Many thanks everyone for the advice and info. I have contacted The Airgun Doctor and await a reply. I think this is the way forward as it seems a bit complicated to get the set up just right.