EVOL Evol .30 w/27cc plenum ext., Reg setting?

[Pumacarl]

Well, this weekend I am going to be setting up my Paradigm for coyote and I only want two magazines of shots at the most power I can get accuracy out of the gun with. To all you .30 Evol shooters out there, where do you set your regulator at? I ask because with the plenum extender, and a regular Evol (not a HPS) I have not seen any numbers for high power less efficiency hunting tunes. I haven't shot a coyote yet so I don't want to go in light and regret it. I was watching some of Tom's first videos with the .30 Evol and he had it set to 2400psi, so I am going to start there, unless someone has more info on the p!enum's effect, before I start. Thanks! I will be updating this thread with the numbers I get and the ammo that works.

 

[pan60]

following this for sure as this is a hunt thats on my this will happen soon hunts.
are you going to be using slugs or staying with pellets. i assume pellets?

 

[Pumacarl]

I am going to be trying 3 NSA slugs: 47.2gr, 49.5gr, 54.5gr.; FX hybrids, and JSB Hades along with the regular 50gr., and just getting a velocity check on the 56gr Zan BR100. The weather could screw me up but if all goes well I should have something to report by next Tuesday.

 

[Pumacarl]

If I can't get one of the NSA slugs to work, I will try some JSB KO's and from there back to pellets, unless someone reports on a real winning combo. I am also going to give the barrel a good JB scrub to see if I can get more shots between cleaning with the FX hybrids.

 

[bobgm3]

Good luck with those slug choices! I'm anxious to see what you find!

 

[pan60]

i will be glad when Tom has the HPS guns ready to go ; )
although i am currently more intersted in the .257 mayb the .223 i am not rulling out the .30

i was thinking the plenum extion would be great for some heaveir pellets but was thinking if the twist rate is geared for pellets then the gun would not shoot the slugs good regardless?

Tom did tell me once that the FX hybrids did good.

 

[bobgm3]

i will be glad when Tom has the HPS guns ready to go ; )
although i am currently more intersted in the .257 mayb the .223 i am not rulling out the .30

i was thinking the plenum extion would be great for some heaveir pellets but was thinking if the twist rate is geared for pellets then the gun would not shoot the slugs good regardless?

Tom did tell me once that the FX hybrids did good.

I do recall Tom saying slugs at weights similar to the pellets (44-50 gn) are best-

 

[Pumacarl]

The FX hybrids shoot the best out of my gun but I have to pull some patches every time I fill, that's why I'm looking for something else. I am trying what I listed because that is what I have on hand. I wish I had some heavier NSA, and the 62gr VK. I will get those and some JSB's if what I have doesn't produce a winner. Tom tells people to use pellet weight slugs because that is what he designed the gun for, where it's effecient, quiet, accurate. I am only interested in accurate and powerful. I don't really need more than a magazine if it comes down to it. I was reading a 2020 post by mtnGhost where he was getting best accuracy from 62gr Varmint Knockers which he said he got to 900fps but went with 850fps for better shot count. I will simply go for the heaviest slug that will shoot the most accurate, that's it. I am not sure how he got 111fpe out of his gun, as that sounds high to me (if stock) but with the bigger plenum I am hoping to get at least 95fpe.

[EDIT: The most fpe I could get with stock parts +27cc plenum ext. @2400psi on the reg was 97fpe.]

 

[pan60]

well i am a learning boss and i am very very intersted in your results.
i never really considered slugs based what what i have read just figured i would need a dedicated slug gun at some point.
it would be nice to be able to run slugs with nothing more then a tune.

 

[Pumacarl]

pan60, you could probably do nothing but get some FX Hybrids and try them out. They are very accurate albeit expensive. My gun, reg @ 2250psi, shoots them at 905fps super accurate. While my barrel needs to be kept clean to keep the accuracy up, some people on this sight have reported that they only clean every thousand rounds in their Evol. Guns vary. You have to try them to find out.

 

[Pumacarl]

So, I put the 27cc plenum extension in and raised my reg to 2400psi. Today was a lousy day to shoot for groups and I am low on air so I shot tethered and had a chrony attached to my barrel, not the best combo for accuracy but I just wanted a feeling for what was going on. I believe that I was completely off the reg when I shot the FX hybrids so I am not sure of that speed at all. I started with a spotless barrel that I used lead remover on and a good JB scrubbing. I did not clean between ammo types today but did shoot the FX hybrids last as they are the only ammo type that I have to clean after the most. This was all very preliminary as I have sot this gun enough to be able to tell if it likes something or not.

The first thing I shot were the Zan 56gr BR100 and the top speed that I could get out of them was 882fps. I turned it down to 870fps and did all the rest of my shooting at this hs adjustment. The accuracy seemed ok but not as good as it was at 846fps. When my air got low at the end I went back to shooting these (now going 850fps) and they were shooting a one hole group for three shots and then I got flier about an inch off. I hope the new version of these corrects this.

Next up were the JSB 50.1gr and these were now going at 912fps and definitely lost accuracy compared to previous 890fps setting.

JSB Hades, went from 925fps to 945fps and still shot ok, but not the one big hole group I was getting before. All my bench shooting is at 52y and this gun has easily made one hole groups that could hide under dimes at this distance, but not today. The Hades seems to be a super forgiving pellet that is always on the heels of the most accurate pellet or slug, at the widest range of speeds.

NSA: 54.5gr 820fps, not accurate; 49.5gr 885fps 1.5-1.75" group, meh; 47.2gr 908fps more "meh." I am done buying and trying these.

FX hybrids, only up 10fps to 915fps. I was most likely off the reg with these, it looked really close on the guages and my tethered bottle. I went, certainly, off reg while I shot through the groups. It shot the best of the slugs but no where near the hole in hole accuracy I have seen these do.

Here is my take away for today. My regulator setting of 2400psi was not too high because there was no observable increase in speed coming off of it. I went from 2250 to 2400psi on the reg and added a 27cc plenum and it all worked out to about a 25fps increase that didn't help the accuracy of anything that I shot. From here I will back off my HS to lose the speed increase and get back the accuracy and check my shot count efficiency. Not that it matters to me but I would like to know. It did seem to be quieter and will be quieter still when I turn it down, so that is a definate plus. When I initially turned the HS all the way up and got the Zan's to 882fps it was very loud and I turned it down to the noise level that I was use to. With the tank down to 2300psi shooting the Zan's at 850fps (very accurate minus the fliers) the gun got the quietest I ever heard it get. I am going to chase that. Hopefully Zan will get 2.0 right and I will skip trying slugs and just order straight from RMR for the hybrids because they shoot the best anyway. It is what it is and it ain't an HPS.

 

[wolfmangreg]

Great report!

 

[Pumacarl]

Thanks Greg! It was really a sloppy session but told me what I needed to know. I could go way up on the reg, and was planning on it, until I heard it get spooky quiet, and then I thought, 'isn't that interesting?', and now I'm going to learn to be happy with what I've got.

 

[Pumacarl]

FYI, after complete disassembly, removing scope, barrel, air cylinder, cleaning, etc., same zero. It shot a little higher when the speed was up, but when the speed came back down the Zan's were shooting the same, I never touched the scope.
Nice!

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

(Qualify my input to this thread with the understanding that in my .30 caliber I've got the 42cc plenum extension, a heavier hammer, and with some porting as well. These mods were to gain power for heavy lead, foregoing shot count and low-end efficiency.) My results are about the same as your's as far as gaining an increase in fps/pfe goes with additional plenum sizing. At 2400 psi the additional plenum gained about 30 fps, 3.5 turns out on spring tension though. I turned the reg down to 1750 psi and it really doesn't help me shooting heavy lead because there is just too much hammer weight and spring, waisting air. At 2100 psi it is getting better for the heavy hammer and spring with regard to getting adjustability back. Having a regulator setting between 2250-2400 psi, closer to what I had it at to begin with, is going to be the best for the gun's set-up and barrel length.

 

[Pumacarl]

(Qualify my input to this thread with the understanding that in my .30 caliber I've got the 42cc plenum extension, a heavier hammer, and with some porting as well. These mods were to gain power for heavy lead, foregoing shot count and low-end efficiency.) My results are about the same as your's as far as gaining an increase in fps/pfe goes with additional plenum sizing. At 2400 psi the additional plenum gained about 30 fps, 3.5 turns out on spring tension though. I turned the reg down to 1750 psi and it really doesn't help me shooting heavy lead because there is just too much hammer weight and spring, waisting air. At 2100 psi it is getting better for the heavy hammer and spring with regard to getting adjustability back. Having a regulator setting between 2250-2400 psi, closer to what I had it at to begin with, is going to be the best for the gun's set-up and barrel length.

Yeah, I have been looking at my numbers, and thinking about everything and the performance off reg, and I am going to lower my reg to 2300psi the next time I have it apart. I paid too much attention to everyone's HPS numbers when I really shouldn't have, lesson learned.

Thank you for mentioning that you upped your hammer and porting and used the bigger plenum and didn't get that much different than me. You saved me from going down more rabbit holes! This is why I love these forums.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

Yeah, I have been looking at my numbers, and thinking about everything and the performance off reg, and I am going to lower my reg to 2300psi the next time I have it apart. I paid too much attention to everyone's HPS numbers when I really shouldn't have, lesson learned.

Thank you for mentioning that you upped your hammer and porting and used the bigger plenum and didn't get that much different than me. You saved me from going down more rabbit holes! This is why I love these forums.

I was asked "What is your goal?" yesterday and had never really thought about it in that respect before. Having then thought about it, I try to tune my guns for highest power and accuracy, with a couple of magazines worth of shots. What I was doing a tinkerer/hobbyist is turning an original and accurate pellet shooting Evol hunting rifle into a longer range slug gun without the required plenum volume for my caliber. With the new plenum extension installed, coupled with my mods, it is now "almost " what the new HPS is, but lacking some performance and a lot of efficiency without having the balanced valve, barrel twist, adjustability, etc. With the new HPS versions of the Evol coming available that I can silhouette shoot out to 200+ yards easily, and because I have peaked the performance of my Evol as a hunting gun, I am going to be buying a HPS that is purpose built/engineered for the mid range shooting sport and keep the original Evol as my hunter instead of being used for both.

 

[bobgm3]

I was asked "What is your goal?" yesterday and had never really thought about it in that respect before. Having then thought about it, I try to tune my guns for highest power and accuracy, with a couple of magazines worth of shots. What I was doing a tinkerer/hobbyist is turning an original and accurate pellet shooting Evol hunting rifle into a longer range slug gun without the required plenum volume for my caliber. With the new plenum extension installed, coupled with my mods, it is now "almost " what the new HPS is, but lacking some performance and a lot of efficiency without having the balanced valve, barrel twist, adjustability, etc. With the new HPS versions of the Evol coming available that I can silhouette shoot out to 200+ yards easily, and because I have peaked the performance of my Evol as a hunting gun, I am going to be buying a HPS that is purpose built/engineered for the mid range shooting sport and keep the original Evol as my hunter instead of being used for both.

I'm with you! My EVOL 30 shoots the JSB 44.75's like a laser to 100 yds. I recently picked up one of the 27 cc plenum extensions that I was going to try to make the EVOL work with slugs. Previous to buying the 27, I tried over 10 different slugs at different HS settings without acceptable results so I thought the 27 would be solution I was looking for.
After following this thread and seeing your and Pumacarl's comments and results it sobered me up and made me consider, as you did, why am I doing this and what am I trying to achieve? After going through the same thought process as you I've come to the same conclusion. My EVOL 30 is as close to perfect as a pellet gun can be for me. So, I'm leaving my 30 alone and I will wait and get a HPS dedicared slug gun if/when they become available.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

I'm with you! My EVOL 30 shoots the JSB 44.75's like a laser to 100 yds. I recently picked up one of the 27 cc plenum extensions that I was going to try to make the EVOL work with slugs. Previous to buying the 27, I tried over 10 different slugs at different HS settings without acceptable results so I thought the 27 would be solution I was looking for.
After following this thread and seeing your and Pumacarl's comments and results it sobered me up and made me consider, as you did, why am I doing this and what am I trying to achieve? After going through the same thought process as you I've come to the same conclusion. My EVOL 30 is as close to perfect as a pellet gun can be for me. So, I'm leaving my 30 alone and I will wait and get a HPS dedicared slug gun if/when they become available.

With the original Evol's the plenum extension's are well worth buying and using. It is a valuable tuning aid so you're not maxing out the settings to get good results in speed but at the expense of "shocking" the system; additional plenum space allowing for a calmer shot cycle, which improves accuracy. I bought the large 42cc plenum extension to compliment and complete the extensive mods that I did to shoot heavy pellets and slugs at a high velocity with the available twist rate. The ZAN's and longer slugs seem to like the higher air volume and speeds versus being shot at traditional pellet speeds the Evol was engineered for. For longer range accuracy I was getting MOA results with small 50 grain weight slugs at moderate speeds out to my 175 yard target.

 

[CTAirgunner]

With the original Evol's the plenum extension's are well worth buying and using. It is a valuable tuning aid so you're not maxing out the settings to get good results in speed but at the expense of "shocking" the system; additional plenum space allowing for a calmer shot cycle, which improves accuracy. I bought the large 42cc plenum extension to compliment and complete the extensive mods that I did to shoot heavy pellets and slugs at a high velocity with the available twist rate. The ZAN's and longer slugs seem to like the higher air volume and speeds versus being shot at traditional pellet speeds the Evol was engineered for. For longer range accuracy I was getting MOA results with small 50 grain weight slugs at moderate speeds out to my 175 yard target.

You have me wanting to buy a Tac 30 to send to you and set me up how you are, I can tune but am no machinist lol.