Originally Posted by
Muskett
I'll add my two cents, though I can't say I've had that many tuned rifles, but I have shot a good few rifles. Presently have a HW95 V-Match factory tuned and a HW77 Short Stroke Venom.
In the early days circa 1980's when budget Jap scopes arrived on these shores in numbers the accuracy beyond farmyard ranges was less than perfect. Match 6m and 10 rifles were fantastic, but nothing with 12ft/lbs.
So people looked at what could shoot straight and the HW35 was it! Much must be that trigger.
The early tuners found that the HW35 all shot differently and tuning was hit and miss. FWB Sorts even more tricky. Very frustrating at times and many a colourful word spoken I should think. You could say the early tuners cut their teeth trying to work out how to better what the factory did. A debur and polish was a start. Transfer ports experiments too with differing results. It seemed no two guns were the same when tuning. The factory rifles weren't built that well! Pellets weren't that great. Chronos results said it all.
The HW77 arrived and that was pretty good out of the box. New machinery must have helped. Tuning was easier and just that little bit smoother.
Those early tuners had many a frustration I suspect. But lessons were learnt. Not every factory rifle started true. Plenty top tuners were machining parts to be straight. Then the lazaglide. A lot of knowledge was gained and far greater understanding of what was happening and what effect was got from different stages and parts. Long story short its the reason AA can make the TX.
Much now is what start stock rifle is chosen. A little luck of out of the box. Drop in tuning kits upgrade parts that should compliment the actions. For the outlay a small but significant improvement should be seen. Not a lot.
A full tuning factory shop should ensure that a rifle leaves about as good as it can get. Its best potential found. Each tuner has their angle of how to get there. Each model of rifle reacts differently to a tune. Lastly there are a couple of different "feels" like short or long stroke. The cost in time to do all the work will add up and the result smooth but its all still a spring compressor contraption.
Tune or no tune, the rifle is not going to shoot itself. So much is in the marksman, fit, and familiarisation of it all. Tuning a spring gun does not turn the rifle into a PCP. Nor does it make one model of rifle behave exactly like another model; the how to get the best out of the model is about the owner working out how.
Much to get any springer to hit the centre is working out what the rifle likes. Heavy, and heavily tuned, should make that easier, the best behaved rifle are heavy and smooth.
Is it all worth it?
Its an extension of the hobby. I think, as anyone progress from factory to home tuned and beyond, new knowledge is found. Jumping straight to a tuned springer misses some important lessons. Many a PCP or rimfire shots struggle with spring guns because they don't appreciate whats going on with a spring 12ft/lbs system.
As no two springers are the same then there is a hobby in that, and how different models react to tuning, and the pure challenge of how good a rifle can be made to shoot.
The numbers don't really add up due to the man hours put into tinkering. High level tinkering but the results are small increments of improvements. If the result is pellet on pellet at 25m then the rest is for the fun of it all. Its a hobby so what has the money got to do with it?
When buying an established tuners custom tune then the value is in the tune and most importantly the relationship with the tuner. The value is buying their best effort, and their reputation's best effort.
If their best effort isn't hugely different from your best effort then so what? You still have bought their best effort which is recognisable if they are a known name.
Sadly, tune be it drop in or a named high profile tuner rarely retains much value once put on the second hand market. Your custom tuned rarely hold value for others much. Certainly unlikely to get your money back. So tuning investment is for you and no one else.
Lastly, cost of living is high enough. If you have the spare disposable income I can think of loads of ways to blow what the cost of tuning costs. The payback on having a really well tuned and working great rifle, the pure confidence of it all, is well worth the outlay if you like that kind of thing. All depends how "into it all" you are.
Much the same can be said about a well tinkered and working PCP. Heck, if you are a shooter a well sorted combo, whatever the calibre or system, is fantastic. What final result is, and always will be, the bod behind the trigger.
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