I've run across a couple more videos going into the FTE problem with some Aero carbines. Seems from all I've been able to gather that TNW basically tried to make a jack-of-all-trades out of this in the sense that it is supposed to shoot any old 9mm cartridge, but in real life that's highly unlikely with a blowback-operated action. A fair analogy might be expecting an AR-15 to cycle correctly for everything from a subsonic handload heavy bullet thing all the way to the lightest projectile super-hypersonic load with the same gas setting. It's just not going to happen. Machines have limits in the range of parameters they can handle without adjustment. One guy in a short video describes clipping off 1/2-turns of the mainspring until he gets it just right for the cartridge he wants to use, and then the Aero cycles perfectly. Seems simple enough to me. That's exactly the sort of tinkering I'd do, as an airgun tuner, trying to get the hammer spring strength and length and preload just right for optimal efficiency in a PCP.
Anyway, I managed to get out onto some crown land North of Coquitlam today and did a bit of sighting in with my Burris scope on the Aero. A lot of hiking but no properly long distance range to be found in the rather dense forest, so the longest distance I could get for bipod shooting was about 45 yards. Heavy cloud and raining steadily, and that seemed to defeat my Bushnell 'The Truth' rangefinder. Which was dismaying, as that thing has been 100% reliable for several years, until today. Oh well, I paced off the distance and aimed according to what Chairgun told me for my preferred cartridge - the Remington UMC 147gr, which is about $0.34/round at Reliable.
First couple of shots were very low. By my third magazine I had it pretty close to zeroed. Everything inside a 2" circle. I'll get it to a longer range location sometime this fall and see what it can do from a bag rest, but for now I know it'll slice a 1/2" vertical spread at 45 yards and the 2" diagonal spread is from my silly heart making the gun do a little dance on the bipod.
I had polished the crown on the lathe the other day as it looked not exactly rough, but a bit hardware store level crude. The bore looked clean before and after shooting. The gun cycles rather harshly, a bit more recoil than I'd expected, the bolt flying back hard enough that I couldn't quite keep the scope on target. Guess I'll get used to that and improve my hold. Not quite unpleasant, just a lot more than I'm used to with airguns.
In about 40 rounds I had no failures to eject nor feed nor fire. Flawless cycling. I tried some shots at a metal can lid at 80 yards as well, threading the needle through a lot of twigs, and managed to put 5 out of 10 on a 10" disc while leaning against a tree. Considering the zero wasn't quite established yet, again, I'm happy. As I left after 1pm the day had to end early lest I find myself on a strange trail after dark. Next time I'll make sure to go somewhere in the morning, as time really flies fast when shooting and putting up targets!
Anyway, I managed to get out onto some crown land North of Coquitlam today and did a bit of sighting in with my Burris scope on the Aero. A lot of hiking but no properly long distance range to be found in the rather dense forest, so the longest distance I could get for bipod shooting was about 45 yards. Heavy cloud and raining steadily, and that seemed to defeat my Bushnell 'The Truth' rangefinder. Which was dismaying, as that thing has been 100% reliable for several years, until today. Oh well, I paced off the distance and aimed according to what Chairgun told me for my preferred cartridge - the Remington UMC 147gr, which is about $0.34/round at Reliable.
First couple of shots were very low. By my third magazine I had it pretty close to zeroed. Everything inside a 2" circle. I'll get it to a longer range location sometime this fall and see what it can do from a bag rest, but for now I know it'll slice a 1/2" vertical spread at 45 yards and the 2" diagonal spread is from my silly heart making the gun do a little dance on the bipod.
I had polished the crown on the lathe the other day as it looked not exactly rough, but a bit hardware store level crude. The bore looked clean before and after shooting. The gun cycles rather harshly, a bit more recoil than I'd expected, the bolt flying back hard enough that I couldn't quite keep the scope on target. Guess I'll get used to that and improve my hold. Not quite unpleasant, just a lot more than I'm used to with airguns.
In about 40 rounds I had no failures to eject nor feed nor fire. Flawless cycling. I tried some shots at a metal can lid at 80 yards as well, threading the needle through a lot of twigs, and managed to put 5 out of 10 on a 10" disc while leaning against a tree. Considering the zero wasn't quite established yet, again, I'm happy. As I left after 1pm the day had to end early lest I find myself on a strange trail after dark. Next time I'll make sure to go somewhere in the morning, as time really flies fast when shooting and putting up targets!
