Wildcat 25 Cal MKIII 600mm barrel tune

[Pesty3782]

I will put this out first.....I am not an FX guy, but I was gifted a Wildcat MKIII VP in 25 cal.

I am attempting to tune this rifle, but it has me loosing more hair then I can afford to loose......Front reg is at 170, back reg between 80-100.....I am trying to get a good tune for the JSB 25 grain pellet. I have tried between 860-930...I will get some nice groups at 50 yards and then the next group looks like a shotgun pattern. Or the 2 shots in the same hole and the next 2 in the same hole, but only 1-2 inches away....I have not tried any 33 grainers yet.

If anybody has a good tune they can send my way. I do know each rifle, barrel, etc are different, but a starting point would be great.

Tony P.

 

[JBarnes]

Tony,

I have been down this road a bit, but the truth is, sometimes the barrel isn’t great? A few things that can do what you are talking about from my experience or what I would do is…

1- is your liner nut too tight? If they are too tight they can do some erratic things, snug, certainly not tight!
2- the jsb 25 grn king is probably the most stable and accurate pellet at most pellet speeds in FX liners, I’m assuming it’s the pellet liner? So make sure you are not clipping with your moderator? Yes they can clip sometimes and be in the ball park believe it or not? Remove it and shoot 5 or 10 shots to check.
3- if it’s a newer shroud? MK3 should be, make sure the shroud bushing is 25 cal, not 22, they are usually .040-.060” over the caliber dia, so yours should be .280-.300’’ ish? this is usually a hard one for most, but I have seen it a few times over the years?
100 bar and shooting around 900 fps should be good!
Give that a go and see if it doesn’t help? Good luck

 

[Matt mulnix]

Seems like the regs are plenty far apart . I ran 20 - 30 bar difference. New to me rifles i clean liner really good. Good luck.

 

[Pesty3782]

Thanks

Liner is clean, but i will check the liner nut and I will try a different moderator on it also. I do have some JTS 29 grainers I can try plus the JTS 33's......But I know the JSB 25 grainers shoot pretty good in all barrels.

Tony P.

 

[Solo1]

My m3 would do that consistently when i first got it—-2 here 2-2” away carbon fiber sleeve helped alot. Indexing the barrel to 12 or 6 helped too

 

[Pesty3782]

My m3 would do that consistently when i first got it—-2 here 2-2” away carbon fiber sleeve helped alot. Indexing the barrel to 12 or 6 helped too

Thanks.....I have a carbon sleeve ordered....After I start getting some sort of groups I will index the barrel

Tony P.

 

[Solo1]

Thanks.....I have a carbon sleeve ordered....After I start getting some sort of groups I will index the barrel

Tony P.

Tony when you put the sleeve in test at 10 yds thats how i index and check how tight i had the barrel nut. After that you should ( fingerrs crossed) be good. Lol

 

[JBarnes]

a lot of good tips here! clean fx liners can shoot really weird until seasoned, 15-30 shots, so don't go judging to hard out of the gate on a clean liner, they will also gain some fps when clean,(7-10fps) then will come back to normal when seasoned in. also, indexing will not fix what you are seeing, but it is a thing? if you hit the line@ 50 and same line horizontally at 100 why index, right? some matrix shstuff right there.
Do not lube your pellets for this test, lube can be from better to real bad,, just depends, so set a baseline first.
sleaves are a good idea!

 

[jlowe]

I own several versions of the Wildcat MKIII and Maverick. If I were shooting 25cal with 25grain, I would drop the front reg down to no higher than 150 and more than likely 140 or even as low as 130 bar on the front reg, especially if your running the 2nd reg no higher than 100 bar. When you first buy an FX, the regs take time to break in, but even while they are breaking in it does make a different if you are running them that far apart. Also, out of the 4 I have I only have one running 1st reg at 170, while the 2nd reg is running 145, and its maxed out shooting slugs with 700mm barrel.

 

[Beanflip]

Gifted a Wildcat! That's great! Hope you get it well sorted.

 

[Solo1]

@Pesty3782 how did you make out with this?

 

[Pesty3782]

Haven't touched it after the first outing. Hope to get back at it as soon as the weather gets better.

Tony P.

 

[Pesty3782]

Well we had no rain today so I spent about an hour working on the Wildcat. I really wanted to get the AEA 33's shooting for hunting. I put the carbon fiber sleeve on the liner after cleaning it again and started with the back reg at 115 and worked my way up to 140, playing with the HS wheel the entire time. I do have the SWP FX Wildcat Quick Tune Kit from HPP on it. Boy was Augie right this is a game changer in micro adjusting your hammer spring.

I shot about 200 pellets while getting the tune just right. I shot from 880 up to 950 and I stopped here.



Both these groups are 5 shots at 50 yards. Speed is 930 FPS. Any higher the groups opened up and any lower than 920 they would open up. The gun is shooting great and I get over 40 shots on a fill with a 480 bottle. Best part these are not cherry picked groups

I have all the info in Chair Gun and the dope is perfect from 30 yards to 60 yards. 60 yards is all the further I can go out here at the house.

More rain coming so I guess I will be done shooting for a few days.

After the rain I will see what speed the 25's shoot at and if they are accurate with this tune. I also have a few tins of the AEA 29 grainers here at the house.

Should be a good schwacking rifle for hunting.

Tony P.

 

[Solo1]

Well we had no rain today so I spent about an hour working on the Wildcat. I really wanted to get the AEA 33's shooting for hunting. I put the carbon fiber sleeve on the liner after cleaning it again and started with the back reg at 115 and worked my way up to 140, playing with the HS wheel the entire time. I do have the SWP FX Wildcat Quick Tune Kit from HPP on it. Boy was Augie right this is a game changer in micro adjusting your hammer spring.

I shot about 200 pellets while getting the tune just right. I shot from 880 up to 950 and I stopped here.

View attachment 17456View attachment 17457

Both these groups are 5 shots at 50 yards. Speed is 930 FPS. Any higher the groups opened up and any lower than 920 they would open up. The gun is shooting great and I get over 40 shots on a fill with a 480 bottle. Best part these are not cherry picked groups

I have all the info in Chair Gun and the dope is perfect from 30 yards to 60 yards. 60 yards is all the further I can go out here at the house.

More rain coming so I guess I will be done shooting for a few days.

After the rain I will see what speed the 25's shoot at and if they are accurate with this tune. I also have a few tins of the AEA 29 grainers here at the house.

Should be a good schwacking rifle for hunting.

Tony P.

Glad you’re getting in tune!

 

[Dogowski]

Tony,

I have been down this road a bit, but the truth is, sometimes the barrel isn’t great? A few things that can do what you are talking about from my experience or what I would do is…

1- is your liner nut too tight? If they are too tight they can do some erratic things, snug, certainly not tight!
2- the jsb 25 grn king is probably the most stable and accurate pellet at most pellet speeds in FX liners, I’m assuming it’s the pellet liner? So make sure you are not clipping with your moderator? Yes they can clip sometimes and be in the ball park believe it or not? Remove it and shoot 5 or 10 shots to check.
3- if it’s a newer shroud? MK3 should be, make sure the shroud bushing is 25 cal, not 22, they are usually .040-.060” over the caliber dia, so yours should be .280-.300’’ ish? this is usually a hard one for most, but I have seen it a few times over the years?
100 bar and shooting around 900 fps should be good!
Give that a go and see if it doesn’t help? Good luck

Great tips and welcome to the forum!

 

[Dogowski]

Thanks.....I have a carbon sleeve ordered....After I start getting some sort of groups I will index the barrel

Tony P.

I need to order a 600 mm cf sleeve for mine too. What's the best place to order one? Thanks!

 

[Dogowski]

Well we had no rain today so I spent about an hour working on the Wildcat. I really wanted to get the AEA 33's shooting for hunting. I put the carbon fiber sleeve on the liner after cleaning it again and started with the back reg at 115 and worked my way up to 140, playing with the HS wheel the entire time. I do have the SWP FX Wildcat Quick Tune Kit from HPP on it. Boy was Augie right this is a game changer in micro adjusting your hammer spring.

I shot about 200 pellets while getting the tune just right. I shot from 880 up to 950 and I stopped here.

View attachment 17456View attachment 17457

Both these groups are 5 shots at 50 yards. Speed is 930 FPS. Any higher the groups opened up and any lower than 920 they would open up. The gun is shooting great and I get over 40 shots on a fill with a 480 bottle. Best part these are not cherry picked groups

I have all the info in Chair Gun and the dope is perfect from 30 yards to 60 yards. 60 yards is all the further I can go out here at the house.

More rain coming so I guess I will be done shooting for a few days.

After the rain I will see what speed the 25's shoot at and if they are accurate with this tune. I also have a few tins of the AEA 29 grainers here at the house.

Should be a good schwacking rifle for hunting.

Tony P.

You've got her nicely dialed in brother! These FX guns seem touchy until you find the right tune. I've got an FX Dreamline Tactical in 25 cal and I need some dry weather to shoot it and tune it for the first time.

 

[Dogowski]

I will put this out first.....I am not an FX guy, but I was gifted a Wildcat MKIII VP in 25 cal.

I am attempting to tune this rifle, but it has me loosing more hair then I can afford to loose......Front reg is at 170, back reg between 80-100.....I am trying to get a good tune for the JSB 25 grain pellet. I have tried between 860-930...I will get some nice groups at 50 yards and then the next group looks like a shotgun pattern. Or the 2 shots in the same hole and the next 2 in the same hole, but only 1-2 inches away....I have not tried any 33 grainers yet.

If anybody has a good tune they can send my way. I do know each rifle, barrel, etc are different, but a starting point would be great.

Tony P.

Gifted? That's amazing my friend. Enjoy!

 

[Pesty3782]

I need to order a 600 mm cf sleeve for mine too. What's the best place to order one? Thanks!

I ordered it from Utah, but shipping was expensive.....Like half the cost of the carbon fiber tube. I didn;t need anything else to get to the free shipping price which is I think 150

Tony P.

 

[Centercut]

I will put this out first.....I am not an FX guy, but I was gifted a Wildcat MKIII VP in 25 cal.

Tony P.

I think you forgot a word. Not an FX guy - ANY MORE. Seems both you and Barb started your competition journeys with FX guns…. Crown, Streamline, Wildcat, etc….