But: Not with slugs like last time, but with pellets this time.
We had removed the shroud and made the barrel completely free-floating, since we were going to be shooting JSB 82-grain pellets and AEA 110-grain pellets.
We weren’t able to do a quick test in the workshop beforehand this time. Without the shroud and silencer, the Mora is a real thunder god, and… well, our neighbor can’t handle that very well. It immediately throws her off her game. And we value a good relationship with our neighbors! So, we decided to take measurements right there at the shooting range using the Labradar LX.
As soon as we arrived, we got right to work: We hooked up a full 3-liter tank and got going:
With the JSBs, we immediately hit 275 m/s. That often seems like a good result, but our experiences with 9mm RAW rifles were still fresh in our minds. 222 m/s was the big secret there. “The hotter, the better” certainly doesn’t always hold true!
I decided to give the heavy AEA pellets a try to slow down the velocity a bit. They look exactly like JSB’s .30 heavy pellets. And they’re 110 grains! That’s about the same weight as the SWC cast heads we’ve had so much fun with in our Shinsung rifles. But: the AEA pellets were still flying way too fast.
So let's start by lowering the regulator pressure. And again, and again, and again.
End of the ride: The air supply in the tank had dwindled considerably, and our AEA reading was at 228 ms. The groups were starting to get a bit smaller.
But: We'll have to put a little extra time into this. Oh well, there are worse things, right?
Next time, we’ll start with a full bottle again and check more carefully just how deep the pellet probe was set for pellets. Because: Since the skirts are deeper compared to slugs, it can (and should) be set a bit deeper.
We also hadn't adjusted the valve timing yet. The lap times were already very consistent. But: We might be able to squeeze a little more out of it. And get even tighter lap times.
The 100-meter dash is always a race of discovery. The athlete with the best performance is usually the one who has put in the most hours of training.
In the photo on the left are my (Joost’s) results at 50 meters using the AEA knoppers.
The photo on the right shows Bram at 100 meters.
The JSB 82 grains at 100m with 223 m/s. Look: Now we're talking! Sure, one shot ruined the nice group. But: three hits right on target at 100 meters, one just beside it, and a flyer? That tells us we're on the right track!
We're going to keep going…