So I took my Taipan X to the club again, in freezing frigid temperatures, but this time I did a complete disassembly and lube on everything last night (the disassembly was not my favourite and revealed some design issues like why on earth did they design the screw behind the pistol grip that required removing the pistol grip first (which then involves ensuring the small spring and detent are reinstalled right). The whole disassembly thing with multiple sized screws was not a great experience, and neither was having to align the cam on the bolt to align on the action bar, while compressing the pump spring - that bolt seating to the chamber once everything was aligned took a few tries. I did function test it at home last night and hoped for the best.
I am pleased to say that there was significantly less hiccups today. What pleased me the most was that I was able to run a mag of "pointy" varmint rounds (Superformance with VMAX bullets) and they fed 95% without issues.
I noticed with the cold, the cycling of the pump seemed a lot tougher. But everything worked and I am pretty pleased.
GAZELLE'S NOTE ON RE-ASSEMBLY OF THE OUTER PUMP PIECES:
Be aware of the reassembly of the pump pieces - grip cover, or pump forend" or whatever those 3 plastic pieces at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock are called - there is a proper way to orient them - start with the bottom (6 o'clock piece) - the BIGGER end faces forward, or goes to the front. From there, that is your point of reference and the other pieces then align with it, leaving almost no gap.
If you don't put these pieces on correctly, or on the wrong orientation, they can still be installed BUT you will not be able to tighten them - if you do, the pump won't move, but the big telltale sign is the large gaps between the pieces. Don't make the same mistake I made - orient the bigger side of the 6 o'clock piece facing front and then install the other pieces accordingly. They will then be able to be tightened, but don't overtighten as it is plastic. Once tightened, the pump mechanism should work flawlessly.
BTW, note the above first paragraph when I mentioned that silver ring - make sure you install that with the spring initially onto the action bar piece - if you forget to do this and have the ring left, you'll have to disassembly everything all over again - just make sure you install the ring at the same time you do the spring.
Back to the range stuff...
While I didn't try the 62gr Green Tips today, the VMAX rounds had just as sharp tips - no problems feeding them for the most part. Was using a PMAG Gen 3 and also a polymer 10-round mag from some manufacturer I don't remember (MFT maybe).
The disassembly and lube on all the parts did something to improve function, I suspect. Many of the screws/bolts were SUPER tight - probably were lock-tited.
Will definitely caution those who take this thing apart - make sure you identify all the pieces. There is a small rectangular piece - think it was the magazine insertion stop or something that can fall out without notice. Also make sure you install that steel ring on the spring - I forgot to do it the first time and had to take the whole thing apart again (which again was not fun).
Overall, quite happy at the range trip with the Taipan X today. I quite like this gun and can see it being a regular additional to the range trips. That said, I can't wait for the Evo to come out...
